I'm addicted

It's growing!
Originally uploaded by elletrain

...to crocheting! Here's a photo of the latest project addiction, thanks to Charisse :) I'm making a blanket out of crocheted hexagons. It's very fun to pick out colors for each piece and add them on as I go. It's really starting to look like something, though I'm obviously far from the finished product.

I'm using Lion Brand Cotton yarn and it's got such a nice weight to it when crocheted like this. I think it will be a lovely blanket to curl up under. And the most exciting thing is it's finally getting cool here!!! Yay!!! So who knew I'd ever be working on 2 blankets at one time. I never used to even want to make 1.

I've found a cute tunic pattern to start next. I think it will be something I'll love to wear with leggings or skinny jeans. Here is a Ravelry link to my favorite version of it: Coral by Hiiragi

We will be learning how to crochet coasters at our next Craft Night on Oct. 6th. One option will be to make a hexagon like this. It should be a blast. I hope everyone enjoys this lovely Sunday. I hope you are having cool breezes that get you in the mood for fall where you are!

Baby pandas have got to be the cutest EVER!

Ok, so most people who know me know I have an affinity for pandas. The Panda Cam dashboard widget saved me many times when I used to work in a more stressful job. They provided much solace when I would get overwhelmed with either creativity block or other job pressures when I was at my desk job. So, I went to look at the weather widget this morning on my dashboard and I found this tiny panda on the Panda Cam...a lovely close-up of this precious little thing! Go...now! Check it out here: Panda Cam

The Beauty Shop and other Memphis lovelies

The Beauty Shop
Originally uploaded by elletrain

We had a super duper fun weekend in Memphis visiting our dear friends Hunter and Terrah. They moved there this summer for Hunter to attend med school and Terrah was fortunate enough to find a really great job with Ful bags (the main company is co-owned by Justin Timberlake!!!). SO, they're both doing great in Memphis town and we decided to pay them a visit.

Friday night we hit Memphis Pizza Co. for dinner and then went to Young Ave. Deli for drinks. They had lovely artwork on painted on the tables and I took a pic of ours. Saturday we headed to the Rendezvous for yumminess in BBQ form...the ribs are to die for and so was my pork shoulder sandwich. We walked around on South Main, kinda the artsy district. We saw the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his last speech. We also visited the Cooper Young Festival and had fun people-watching. I saw a Sugar Glider that this man brought and it was too adorable!

We finished off the evening at Molly Fontaine's...the coolest bar in an old house. It was lovely and we had a great time, great drinks, and great service. For brunch the next morning we hit The Beauty Shop...a great place for breakfast. The Bloody Mary's were excellent and they still have some of the original hair-dryer chairs from the old beauty salon. We think Priscilla Presley used to get her hair done there :)


It was a great weekend...Memphis has so much character and it's always fun to hang out with Hunter and Terrah. They are so easy and so much fun to be around. We miss them dearly. You should take a trip to Memphis soon if you've never been. It's a cool place.

Fun geeky-ness

So I spent way too much time this morning changing the application icons on my dock. Thanks Color Me Katie! She has a tutorial on her blog showing you how if you aren't familiar with the process. I've had a great time picking out photos to use. It's pretty fun :) Try it out yourself and spruce up your desktop!

Blanket squares so far...

Blanket squares so far...
Originally uploaded by elletrain

So, I'm kinda jamming on the Barn Raising Quilt knitted blanket I'm making. I've become addicted to collecting the Koigu and making the squares lately. I'm on my 11th square. I need 42 total for the pattern size. It'll only make a 42"x49" throw size blanket, but I'm pretty excited about the finished product. Who knows when that day will come that I'll be able to snuggle up in Koigu, but I CANNOT wait!!

My amazing antique store find

Vintage hand-embroidered calendar
Originally uploaded by elletrain

OMG...look how amazing this hand-embroidered calendar is! I just bought it today at an antique shop here in Nashville. The pieces all have velcro so you move them around each month. I love that all of the months are displayed around the edge so you can continue to see their loveliness throughout the year. I just hung this up in my craft room/office. It fits perfectly and truly inspires me. This is why I love going to antique shops. I don't go that often, but I think I'll start going more after today's great purchases!

I also found, at another antique shop, a set of lovely napkins and placemats with a pretty lace edging. I bought some vintage lace too to hang on a beautiful blue-bird hook I have in the craft room. It hangs right behind where I sit and looks lovely against the pale robin's egg blue of my room.

I'm so excited about slowly getting the house decorated with lovely things. I'm trying my best to reuse stuff and find vintage stuff in order not to buy a lot of new crap. I'd say I'm doing pretty well at not buying as much new stuff as I used to. Plus, it's much more fun to buy something that has had a previous life or give something old a new one!

New crocheted hat

New crocheted hat
Originally uploaded by elletrain

Here is my latest finished project. My friend Charisse has gotten into crocheting lately even though she said she'd NEVER crochet :) And it got me re-interested. I made this cute Puff Beret with a few adjustments to the original pattern. Love the slouchiness and the color. I think I shall wear this often!

When Autumn Leaves

So, I JUST finished a second website for Amy Foster and am so excited. She has written a book that is the first in a series, it's called When Autumn Leaves. It's a lovely story about magic, women, faith, and creativity. You will get hooked like I did. I can't wait for the second book. The first book comes out soon, the end of the month. Here are the two sites I designed for her:

amysfoster.com
visitavening.com

Avening is the town in which her stories are set...I had a great time creating the map and making the magical site to show it off, with the help from my excellent programmer Todd and my dearest Pinky who has become quite spectacular at building websites.

Check out her sites and pick up the book when it comes out. You will not be disappointed!

A cocktail for your holiday weekend

Here is a post from today's Design*Sponge (one of my favorite blogs). It is a recipe for Lavendar Lemonade Cocktails. YUM-MY! Plus, the post is beautiful and shows wedding pictures in a to-die-for setting in Southern California. Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone! Have a lovely cocktail, relax, and party safely. xoxox

Our First Craft Nashy Craft Night

Our first craft night was such a blast! Please check out the full post on our craft blog, Craft Nashy. You can follow along with our projects there, too, for those that can't join us or live out of town. Enjoy!

Preserving Tennessee Craft

This is such a cool site that I found on the CRAFT Magazine blog today. They are working to preserve all needlework samplers designed in Tennessee prior to 1900. It's great they are working to collect all of these lovely designs.

http://www.tennesseesamplers.com

What I Wore Today

I ♡LOVE♡ this new flickr group. It inspires me to draw even though I'm not much of an illustrator.

What I Wore Today

This lovely drawing is from Carolyn Alexander, one of the group members. Maybe someday I will post a drawing of what I wore...we'll see. Enjoy!

Blue finches and ugly books

These are my new obsession...I must have 2 of them to live in my craft room! I was in Petsmart today and I usually skip the pet section because a) it's too tempting and b) I want to take all of the animals home so they don't have to live in the pet store. I'm not sure how I feel about owning birds, but these darn things are so freaking adorable and beautiful that I think I must save up some money to get 2. They like to be social. They are called Cordon Blue Finches...how cute are they!!!??? I am almost dying because they are so cute. I really must consider them as new members of our household. I also fell in love with the tiny mice at the pet store too, but those might not get along too well with the dogs. The birdies can stay safe in their cages.

In addition to really lovely birdies today, I also saw a really scary knitting book. I already posted it on Twitter and FB, so you may have seen it, but whew, I may have nightmares about it. Sheesh. What is UP with the cat sculpture peeking over the lady's shoulder? I've been watching too much Doctor Who, but I'm just waiting for it to come alive and start gnawing on the sweater...yikes. I did find it at one of my favorite bookstores in Nashville though, McKay's Used Books. I found Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac there for $1.75! I didn't think you could buy any books for that cheap anymore, much less a book by the master queen of knitting. I also bought Pretty in Pink on DVD, as well as Anchorman and March of the Penguins. It was a great day for buying pre-loved stuff! I just finished watching Pretty in Pink and what a lovely movie that is...SO 80's and SO great!

Monthly Craft Night Take 1

Monthly Craft Night Take 1
Originally uploaded by elletrain

So...I think I mentioned this before but my friend Jill and I are starting a Monthly Craft Night...and the first one is this Thursday! I'm so excited...we have 12 people signed up to come. We're making headbands and hairpieces adorned with feathers, buttons, etc. I tried one out today and I think they're going to be lovely! This headband is pretty straight-forward and so super quick and easy to make.

The extra good news is that even if you can't come to the craft nights, I'm going to post the supplies, pictures, and information on our Craft Nashy Blog each month, so you can make your own project(s) at home! You have no excuse :)

Happy Crafting!

Another outfit, playing with iPhone apps, and Asheville

Another outfit
Originally uploaded by elletrain

I bought the Pic Grunger iPhone app last week. It's pretty fun. Here are a couple of pics I've used it on. I think it's hilarious I was standing on the bathtub for a bit of a change of scenery. I'm SO excited about the cool weather lately because I am the queen of wearing layers. It's hard to wear many layers when it's 90 degrees with the humidity at 80%. It's been so beautiful here for the past couple of days though!

I also booked our hotel today for our 1 year anniversary trip to Asheville, NC. Yay! Pinky and I will have been together a year at the end of October. It feels like we've known each other forever already :) He is precious and I'm so excited to visit a lovely mountain town with him in the fall. I've always heard such great things about Asheville and can't believe this will be my first time to visit. I know there are a couple of great yarn shops and of course we'll see the Biltmore. Woohoo! I can't wait to go hang out there.

Have a lovely one my friends!

Ok, so I'm a little obsessed...

SO, last week they showed this amazing little bit on Conan. I am obsessed with it's hilarity and cuteness. I've watched it like close to 10 times AND trot around the house singing it (which is quite a loud interruption to the house b/c Mattie barks EVERY time I say 'cat'). We were watching Conan again last night and they brought them out again! It was my lucky day and we were jumping up and down when the cuties were rolled out again. Please watch this if you haven't already, or watch it again for a true "Moment of Joy."

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/puppies-dressed-as-cats-082709/1151669/

xoxoxo