To Momma’s everywhere!

Sorry for my absence here. Remember how I posted about the deck project? We hosted a baby shower for the beautiful, talented, and hilarious, Emily Steffen, and I used the party as motivation to some serious, speedy work on the yard and deck, hence the reason I haven’t written in a while! Do you remember the before?

Here’s the after:

Every last second was used to put a final coat of paint on the deck, or pull a weed. And this weekend ended up being the most BEAUTIFUL weather ever. We had so much fun, laughing, drinking fruity drinks, and celebrating one of the most amazing ladies I’ve ever known. We’ve known each other since middle school, and here she is, almost a momma. I am still reeling from how fun the shower was, and how excited I am for the arrival of baby Steffen!

Emily loves to sew and create on top of her already amazing photography business, so we all worked on a fabric alphabet book, everyone contributed with a page. There were some grumbles from those that aren’t sewing inclined  *ehem… Abby*, but I am happy to say most agreed it was fun once they got going!

Almost all of our “Knitch” girls were there ( We missed you Julie and Emily D!)

My sister  was my right hand girl getting everything together at the last minute, and Mark of course hasn’t had a break from the “honey do ” list in weeks ! I’m just feeling so blessed, I  hope Emily is feeling the same, as that is the whole idea of a shower Thank you Katie and Beth for the the help planning!

Mother’s Day started off with nice 35 ish mile bike ride with my Momma and sister.  Of course I didn’t get a picture of the three of us, darn! That’s cause we were too busy kicking butt and taking names, on some giant hills. I could go on and on about how awesome my mom is ( and sister), and what an amazing biker she is, but it deserves a post of it’s own!

Since we had worked so hard on the yard, we decided to have Mark’s side over in the evening for some grilling and more Momma celebration. I am so lucky to have married into a fun, loving family like the Joestings. We enjoyed watching the nieces and nephews run around the yard and giggle. A slice of heaven.

This is the adorable Miss Tess, our Goddaughter, and her Nanay ( Grandma)

After all the festivities were over, and Mark and I had done the dishes, I had to take a few more of the deck.  Then I sat out on the porch under the glow of more pretty lights ( I can’t get enough of pretty lights), and felt so grateful, so happy, so content. Happy belated Mothers Day to all the Mommas, soon to be Mommas, and Mommas in heaven.

Lots of Love,

Devin

5 Things this Spring

5 things that have been a part of my life lately…

1. The Deck. Our first home project that requires more than a can of paint ( although it is requiring several of those). My dad has been sharing his expertise, and power tools with us, while we give our deck a facelift. Here is a before. I’ll share an after, well, after it’s all done.

Of course I had already knocked out a couple boards before I took the picture above, but it gives you an idea.

Here is working shot. Typical construction. One person doing all the work, while the other just stands around, ha!

2. My constant disaster of an art/sewing space. Is it possible to work on a sewing project without laying out EVERY. SINGLE. PIECE. of fabric you have? I can’t figure out how to avoid it.

3. Seam ripper: you evil genius, you dreaded foe! On one hand, you save projects that would otherwise be hopeless. On the other hand, your mere presence means something went horribly wrong. Whatever the case, I’ve been seeing alot of you, almost everytime I sit down at my sewing machine.

4. Art Crank in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. A whole event, devoted to bike art? Don’t mind if I dooooo! I brought back THIS adorable MN themed art. I could not figure out the artist after I bought it! ahh! If you are out there artist, help me out!

5. Electric Guitars. Mark and I both play guitar, and I usually only play acoustic, but I asked Mark to get me more comfortable playing my electric. ( Mark is an electric guitar genius in my opinion, one of the reasons I married him!)  He helped me figure out the solo on this song by Dawes. I feel like when ever I learn a bit more about guitar, I appreciate the musicians I love even more. I love how that works.

Knitting Classes at Digs!

If you think knitting classes stop once the weather gets warm, you’d be pleasantly surprised to see that Digs in Minneapolis is offering plenty!

I am teaching two classes in the month of April there

-Intro to knitting: Devin’s Washcloth ( hurry and sign up, It starts this Saturday! ) Here’s the Ravelry link to the pattern, as well as the link to the pattern on my site.

-Farmer’s Market Tote, April 18th & 25th, 6:30-8

I am really excited about the farmers market tote. Such a fun project for the warmer months!  You’ll whip this up just in time to fill it with produce, or for anything you need to carry around this spring. Don’t you love my new knitwear model, Marisa? You may remember her from here. I think she makes the tote look effortlessly chic, no?

I will also be teaching a knit clinic April 29th, 11am-1. You can bring in a project you are working on, a new one to start, or come as a beginner, and I will help with anything you need to know!

Go HERE to find the class schedules, and call the shop to sign up. Also, just stop by Digs sometime, it’s an adorable shop with crafty items, local, handmade gifts, etc.

paint

The last few springs, since we bought the house, I’ve declared stage left of my porch, the ” painting studio”. How productive this studio is, well, it has its ups and downs. Last weekend, I brought everything out, and arranged it every so nicely, in hopes that I will be more likely to just sit down and paint something. I usually go straight to oil paint, but for some reason, I just felt like something simple, with easy clean-up. I reached for a set of watercolors, and painted. I definitely didn’t blow myself away, but it was nice to warm up to painting again.  Watercolors are FUN, if you haven’t attempted them since childhood, you should try them again.

Of course, it’s a bike. I am a sucker for bikes on anything. Kitchen towels, paintings, you name it. If there is a bike on it, I usually want to buy it, or make something like it. There is just something so pure and lovable about those two wheels and pedals, Don’t you agree?

Like painting, I’m reacquainting myself with city biking. This is only my second season really. My sister is queen of biking the city streets. Once I asked her when I should bike on the sidewalks, to which she quickly replied ” NEVER!”. Not sure if she even remembers she said that.  I love that she totally owns her sport. She’s got serious confidence in her biking, which I admire and hope to emmulate. Rest asuured my sister and I are safe, smart and  courteous bikers, so  let’s save  that debate of whether or not cyclists belong on the road for a rainy day, and look at this amazing view I saw from the Ford Parkway bridge in St. Paul. Purdy, huh?

I’ll keep you updated on the productivity of the porch studio. Any other watercolor and/or biking enthusiasts out there?

March

I think it goes without saying that Minnesota, and I assume, most of the country, is experiencing unseasonably warm weather right now. It’s amazing how quickly everyone in this city just popped out of their houses like groundhogs. The paths around the lakes are full of people biking, walking, running etc, and it is pretty awesome to watch. I really don’t think there is any other place where people enjoy spring as much as Minnesotans.

I spent a while the other afternoon just enjoying the intense sunlight and fresh air streaming through my window.

Kitty did too. Her little sniffer has been doing some overtime, taking in all the new smells of the great outdoors.

The crafting and making has been slow to go lately. I apologize to those of you looking for that kind of post today. Things I make usually change with the season. Less knitting in the summer, more painting on the porch, etc.

But for now, I’m spending some extra time on my little friend the bicycle… It’s been sitting lonely in my garage for the winter, and it needs some extra attention. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some sunshine to attend to.

West Coast Crafta’

Sorry for the absence here, I was busy escaping winter for a place to wear flips flops. No, we weren’t in Mexico or Jamaica, we went to San Francisco! I was however, in the minority with my flip flips, I think both for fashion reasons, and temperature reasons, but who cares?

Mark and I had been wanting to visit our dear friend Olivia for a while now. We all were in “Art Club” together in college and got along fabulously. And just when we thought the world of Olivia couldn’t get any more awesome , she married this guy Nic last May, and BOOM, we love him too. We HAD to visit them.

Here is the two lovebirds in front of their adorable place of residence. I’ll give you 10 dollars if you didn’t just say ” awwww!!!!”

So much green! I forgot what that looked like…

Like in most cities, I feel like we just touched the tip of the iceberg. There were so many things to do and see, that we simply must go back sooner rather than later. However Olivia and Nic formulated the perfect plan everyday,I’m still not sure how they did it!

We started with a trip over to Sausalito, which is basically on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge.

It was gorgeous and simple, and relaxing. The perfect way to start out our trip.

There were so many incredibly fit bikers, tackling those hills like they ain’t no thing! it made me excited to get out my bike this spring.

That evening we were treated to homemade pasta prepared by Nic, which I’m sad I didn’t get a picture of. Later, we decided to get out some intruments, as Nic is an incredibly talented musician. I checked a huge thing of my bucket list, which was to play ( or at least attempt to play) the cello. Nic taught both Mark and I learned a few notes, and played along with violin and guitar. Such a perfect evening, making music with friends!

Here is me looking incredibly  frightened of the Cello.

I’m a bad wife and didn’t take any pictures of Mark learning, which is a shame, because he caught on really quick, and looking smokin’ whilst doing so!

We took in a quick wine tasting in their neighborhood of Alemeda, right across the bay. We had a great view of the city , and the Bay Bridge!

We also saw this sign, which Olivia made me take a picture of..

The next day we got a nice driving tour of the city, starting with the famous GGB

We went to the Twin Peaks and got an amazing view of the city, and my hair actually unbraided itself in the wind…

Got delicious french food at La Boulange, and sat OUTSIDE while we ate. I forgot that people do that. Eat outside that is.

We picked up some amazing coffee and Chocolate Eclairs that changed out lives at Tartine.

Our last day, we were let loose in the city while O&N went to work, and we found our way to Ghirardelli  square and had a salted caramel hot chocolate. YUM!

We stopped for a minute at Dolores park, which was just so so beautiful. I seriously debated just laying down for a nap there. N&O informed us they show movies in the park here. How great would that be?

Oh yeah, and I barely did any knitting. Nothing photoworthy, that’s for sure. But I’m ok with that.

I’m quite confident we left our hearts in that beautiful city.

Free Legwarmer Pattern

I’ve been waiting soooo long for the desired skien of Madelinetosh Dk to arrive so I can finish my pair of legwarmers.  It was so worth it, because this color is the most beautiful grey ever. I’ve been wearing these bad boys with leggings ever since.

Wanna whip up a pair? They are great with your favorite pair of boots, and oh so toasty. Here you go! P.S. I won’t hold it against you if you spontaneously brake out some Flashdance moves, in fact, it’s encouraged!

Modern Legwarmers

Yarn: 2 skiens of Madelinetosh DK weight ( 225 yards each). I used colorway ” tern”

Needles:  Set of 4, US size 5 DPN

Darning needle

2X2 rib stitch: * K2, P2* Repeat between *’s until end of round

Pattern

Cast on 58 stitches with any cast-on method that allows for a bit of stretch. I used the long tail cast on. If you have particularly slender calves, you can cast on 4 or 8 stitches less. Divide stitches equally across three of the DPNs. Join in the round and start knitting with forth needle, being careful not to twist. Begin 2X2 rib stitch.

Knit until work measures about 18″ or until desired length. You can also knit each legwarmer with an entire skein, which will result in a longer legwarmer than pictures.

Bind off all stitches, using something like Jeny’s stretchy bind off in this issue of Knitty.

Weave in ends.

 

Mishaps in Knitting

I’ve come to terms with the fact that when you teach someone to knit, you might not relay the information so perfectly….

Let me tell you about  my sweet friend Marisa. She was first a co-worker and friend of my sister’s, and I am now lucky enough to call her a friend of mine! When she expressed interest in learning to knit, I nearly leapt off my chair. She is super stylish and smart, this was going to be soooo fun!

I had her cast on what I thought was a reasonable number of stitches for an adorable little washcloth for her adorable retro kitchen. She cast on and started knitting like a natural. I was so proud. When we met again, she pulled out her knitting, and it was um, rather large. Like, a super long washcloth. There was definitely a problem. First  came the denial..

“It’s just a really BIG washcloth, right?

Then there was bargaining.. Maybe a scarf for June Cat? She seems to like it…

“Maybe a cool collar-type necklace thing? I bet something like this will show up at American Apparel soon…”

I think I felt guilt at some point for leading her attray… is that a stage?

I’m not sure what other steps we missed, but we did end up in the acceptance stage.

It was a little painful for her to watch me unravel her hard earned stitches. I , on the other hand, have become a bit numb to this sort of thing.  This is tough love Marisa, you will thank me for this someday. Or you will never want to pick up your knitting again. I’m desperately hoping for the former, rather than the latter .

How to make Skinny Jeans from Wide Legged Jeans

First of all, I’d like to point out, I’m probably not the first one to try this, but it worked so well I just had to share!

I had a couple pair of jeans/cords sitting in my closet that fit great in the waist, but the legs were wide, and can’t be tucked into boots, etc.  I used to be scared of the term ” skinny jeans”. I used to think you needed to be ridiculously skinny to pull them off, but nay, when they fit your body just right, have the right about of stretch , and you wear the right top with them? Guess what ? YOU look more slender. yippeee!!

The only problem is, trying on a million pairs of overpriced skinny jeans at the Gap, is not my idea of a good time. So I’m gonna show you how to cut up a pair of your existing jeans ( or thrift store pants) to make your own!

What you need:

- sewing machine that can do a zigzag stitch

-thread

-sewing machine needle for medium/heavy fabric

-a pair of jeans/cords/pants with a bit of stretch, that you wish to alter.

-a pair of  existing skinny jeans that fit you well ( or you can pin the seams if you don’t have an existing pair, I’ll explain later)

Here are the criteria of the pants:

1. Only use pants that you are OK destroying to some degree. I hold no responsiblilty for what you do to your fancy schmansy True Relgion jeans with this tutorial. I only hack up clothes that were destined for the goodwill or scrap bag, but it’s up to you. That being said, if you try them on before you cut the excess fabric away, you could always rip out the seam with a seam ripper if things get truly ugly…

2. You want your pants to have a bit of stretch.

3. They need to fit in the waist.

4. You might want to find a pair that is a bit higher on the waist. Plumbers don’t wear  skinny jeans, for many reasons, so please don’t be a plumber in your skinny jeans.

First Step: Lay out your jeans that you want altered on a flat surface, inside out. Lay out your existing skinny jeans on top, inside out. Line up the inseams of both pair. I work on just one leg at a time. Trace the outer leg seam from your existing skinny jeans, to your first pair. You can use a pen or pencil, or a fabric marking pen. It won’t matter, because the marking won’t show. The top of your sewing line should taper outwards before you get to the waistband, since these pants fit your waist just fine, right? You don’t want to deal with sewing/cutting near the top of the pockets and everything. This line you just drew will tell you where to sew your seam. Make sure to error on the side of extra room. If in doubt, draw the line a bit further out than you think. You can always take them in more, but ripping out seams will make you crabby quick. I would put a few safety pins through both layers of the jeans you are altering, to hold the layers together while you sew

* If you don’t have a pair of jeans to use as a pattern, do this. Put your jeans on inside out. Have a friend use safety pins, and pin a line down the outside of your pant leg, making the resulting fabric hug your leg. This will be the line to follow as you sew your seam. Carefelly take off your inside out jeans, and ” connect the dots” gracefully between pins with your pen or pencil. Like I said before, error on the side of caution, and make them a bit looser than you think. you can always go back and make them more snug.

Second Step: Take your jeans to the sewing machine, and sew along the line you drew.  After you sew the first seam, turn them rightside out and try them on in front of a mirror. Move around a bit, and see them from all angles, and make sure you are happy with the fit. Put a safety pin in any area you wish to change/take in more, and sew the seam inward again at that area. DO NOT CUT THE EXCESS FABRIC UNTIL AFTER THE THIRD STEP.

Third Step:

Once you are happy with the exact fit, sew a line of ZigZag Stitch just outside of your first seam. You want  to set your zigzag stitch length and width so it looks like the above picturem not too loose, not too tight. Use a piece of scrap fabric to test the zigzag. Zigzag stitching is what will alllow your pants to stretch and move, and will give the seam strength.

Fourth Step:

Turn your pants right side out and try them one last time. If they look and feel good, turn them inside out, and trim your exccess fabric from the pant leg, leaving a little more than 1/4″ room from your zigzag seam.

Step Five:

Wear your “new” pants proudly. Dig through your closet to find more things to cut and and alter. It’s kind of addicting, watch out!

New Year, Old Year

I love the light that comes in my windows at about 9 a.m. My house doesn’t have a lot of south facing windows or bright natural light, but for a few magical hours in the morning it does, and Molly and I soak it up when I happen to be here with her.

favorite mug

The New Year has been good to me. Not in a profound, earth shattering way. I just really love the fresh start it offers. Last year was a really good one. Designing knit patterns, lots of glorious biking, and a new pet were some of the highlights.

dockside cardigan in progress

There are so many things I want to make, do, see in 2012. I’ve got an idea for a spring-type sweater in my head that is begging to get out. I also have the eternal sweater on the needles that is FINALLY past the 7″ of ribbing. whew. So much I want for 2012, but I know some of the best things about the coming year, will be surprises that I can’t even plan. Isn’t that always how it goes?

Happy ( belated ) 2012!