Plum Stitches

cardboard

Oh, the places you can go with cardboard!  Particularly in your imagination.  Not sure how many people out there got the November Anthropologie catalog, but I'm mildly obsessed with the children's pages.

Which resulted in me salvaging these pizza boxes last weekend (they are clean!)  I have Chloe's birthday party coming up and a big holiday party for kids, so I've been daydreaming of cardboard and what can be created to entertain the under 5 set.  So many possibilities.

Check out the pages online at Anthropologie's Web site here.  The pictures start on page 50.

I'm off to see Bruce Springsteen tonight in the city with a friend and her sister.  You're either a Bruce fan or not so much.  I'm a big fan.  Not necessarily obsessed, but I do know most of the words to his songs, particularly the older ones. 

I saw him a few year's ago at Giants Stadium - so much fun!

overdrive

We've had a crazy week of non-stop movement, which hopefully will come to and end soon.  It's too much.  I think I need a week of doing nothing.  No commitments to anything, but I doubt I'll get that one until the New Year.

Despite all the non-stop movement, we had a blast, although both were just plain tuckered out.

Zepplin Hall, the beer garden that opened in Jersey City over the summer, had a kids party on Halloween.  So fun to see so many familiar faces from the neighborhood enjoying a beer as the kids raced around in their costumes.  Chloe loved getting her face painted (although I found the lipstick somewhat disturbing.)  Unfortunately just after getting her face painted she had a meltdown and it all ended up streaked.  But it was fun while it lasted.

We spent Sunday recovering from too much party  at another party in Chester at Alstede Farms.  Although the weather was a bit of a bummer, it didn't rain!

Suprisingly, Phoebe didn't mind wearing the lamb costume - I think it was cold enough out that she was nice and toasty in it.

 
 

yum

Before seeing Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, we stopped at Sweet, for a few treats.

  

what we're up to today...

 
At the Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken.

pile o' projects and more

I have a few projects I'm trying to wrap up by the end of the month.  At least that's the goal I've set for myself.  I love the apple green of the bottom project and the soft fuzziness of the top one.

I have a little idea brewing about a future career option.  I'm trying to hammer out the details.  This one involves me not going back to an office.  Really, when it comes down to it, I think the only reason I want to go back to an office, aside from money, is so that I can wear fancy clothes and put on a bit of makeup.  Of course there are other reasons, but they seem to be two of the silliest.

I've been working hard to clean up our back garden - dividing perennials, pulling weeds and experimenting with seeds.  So far I haven't run into any 'gifts' that the feral cats have left behind - thankfully.  This time of year I'm not sure what's more annoying the feral cats or the squirrels.  Yesterday I saw a feral cat stalking a squirrel in our neighbors back yard.  Not sure how I feel about that one.

   Phoebe's crawling all over the place and has stood on her own a few times, but no first steps.  Chloe walked late, so I'm thinking Phoebe may be following in her footsteps.

One other funny thing I've noticed about Phoebe in the last two weeks is that she actually has a neck!  The baby chubbiness is fading.  I suppose that happens once they celebrate their first birthday.

rainy day ramblings

I started this little scarf, for Chloe, I think, inspired by Sue's.  Although I'm opting for an embellishment and straight garter stitch.  I bought a similar scarf that was made out of cotton knit for Chloe last year from Anthropologie and now it's seem better days and needs to be replaced.

My littlest lady and I celebrated birthdays over the past two weeks.  I haven't hit the big one yet, but I'm getting very close.

We had a joint family party for all of the birthday celebrations and were able to eat out in our back yard.  A bit cramped, but that's city living, right?

On my birthday, I got a phone call from my two aunts in South Jersey saying they wanted to drive up for the day.  What a nice surprise!  Chloe was very excited that when they showed up her two cousins were in tow as well.

Jim booked me a massage appointment at the spa associated with our gym.  Sounds nice doesn't it? 

Well, I'm one of those people that prefers having female doctors, female masseuses, you get the picture.  I ended up having a male masseuse, which I figured would be fine.  It was fine until he started running his mouth about all his qualifications and then he started telling me about how I needed to tone up and lose some fat. 

I'm the first to admit that I have about 10-15 pounds extra baggage (I have lost all of the baby weight).  He also was kind of enough to point out and grab the spots that needed some toning.  So irritating!  The funny thing about all of it was that he's a personal trainer at the gym and gave me his number to call him to set up training.  I quickly lost the card.  Think I'll be looking up another trainer.

 

I bought this little crown off of Etsy in hopes of it becoming the 'birthday crown' in our house.  Unfortunately, it arrived late and Chloe quickly claimed it as her own.

bento box

I've been searching on and off since Chloe started eating lunch at school for a Bento Box.  I haven't been able to find one, until today at Whole Foods.  For some reason in my twisted mind I think if she has a Bento Box she'll magically start eating all sorts of things for lunch.  Am I delusional or what?  Although their site isn't so great, there are some good lunch ideas.  The company that sells them is Laptop Lunches.  

Pattern:  Kim's Hats, Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Size:  For a child, but I followed the direction for the woman's sizing, more or less

Yarn:  Berrocco Ultra Alpaca

Needles:  Size 8 circular

Notes:  Tired of this pattern yet?  I seem to be on a hat bender at the moment, we'll see how long it lasts ;-)

hat-fest

Having a little Hat Fest here in Jersey City...

Pattern:  Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn:  from my stash (purple is Berocco Ultra Alpaca, blue hat is from misc. leftover yarn)

Needles:  Size 8 circular, dpns

Size:  Purple fits a toddler, blue is child-sized

Notes:  Such a quick and easy knit!  I started the blue one yesterday and just finished it today...

Low and behold my sewing machine was exercised this weekend!  I just love this fabric and Phoebe is wearing them today.  Pattern Huck Finn Pant from Weekend Sewing, by Heather Ross.  They're a little short for winter, next time I cut the pattern I'll make them a bit longer.

Hmm, what else? 

There's a new show on NBC called 'Mercy' that's filed in our neighborhood.  I haven't seen it yet, but in the first show there's an accident scene that they shot right in front of Chloe's school.   And we frequent the coffee shop in the episode as well.  Kind of morbid, huh?  But that's my hood.  I think it's on Wednesday night's at 8pm.  

Still sort of looking for a job - passively.  I sent my resume along to an opening that my background fits like a glove.  Haven't heard anything, maybe that's for the best.

pizzazz

Now that the weather is getting a little cooler, Chloe's in school for longer days and I'm in the house, I'm starting a mental checklist of things I want to get done inside.  Our house could really use a interior paint job.  We painted all the rooms when we moved in, but since then we've done lots of work.  Lots of work that's created dings and marks in the walls.   Oh, and also, the occasional coffee accident that  creates splash marks everywhere.   I'm sure no one but myself notices dings, marks and splashes, but they're really starting to bother me!   

Check out this cool tutorial over on Etsy about how to make a felt pillow with rosettes.  I love the orange, so festive and fall-ish.  I have a pile of felt left over from last Christmas that could finally be put to use...

Pattern:  Bold Banded Mittens, from Adorable Knits for Tots, by Zoe Mellor
Yarn: Needles: Size 8 circular

Size: 3-4 years

Notes:  These are a gift for one of Chloe's friends.  I think I might add a flower to the front of them to pump up the bling.  Those four year old girls are bananas about bling. 

If you happen to be a power knitter you could easily finish these in an evening.  Also, I skipped the stripes in the pattern.

I had an unusual (at least these days) creative burst yesterday and cut three pairs of pants for Phoebe from fabric in my stash.  I'm hoping to sew them up over the weekend.  I love the corduroy and am considering buying  a bit more to make a skirt for Chloe.

she crawls!

We've been in and out of town for the past few weeks, so I haven't been checking up on all you crafty folks recently, but I'm back and excited to check in on what everyone has been up to.

I took Phoebe in for her 9 month appointment back in July and there were a few things she wasn't progressing so well on.  Our pediatrician recommended taking her to physical therapy if she didn't start pushing herself up (she was fine sitting up, just not pushing herself up) and pulling herself up.  I came up with my own physical therapy regiment for her, most of which she wasn't too happy about, but it did the trick.

She's now officially crawling on all fours and we caught her trying to standup on her own over the weekend.  (Please don't let that happen too soon, I'm not ready for that one yet.)

Chloe's first official day of school was today.  This year she's going full day, which I think will be really good for her.  I think at this point I'm just not an active playmate for her, so I'm sure she'll be much happier spending those extra hours with all of her friends.

We spent one last summer weekend at the beach for the holiday weekend.  Unfortunately, the weather stunk, so I wasn't able to enjoy my new favorite activity - boogie boarding.  The weather was good on Saturday and I hung out in the water with 8-10 year olds in search of a wave to ride.  I managed to catch a few, but definitely need to hone my skills next summer.  I did manage to eavesdrop on one Dad that was telling his son where to catch the waves and what to do.  The tips were pretty good.

The flower garden at the beach did so well this summer - pure luck as I really didn't have much of a plan for them.  Although in this picture, the Lantana could use a giant drink of water.