shop is finally updated!

phew! well I am finally getting around to doing this, for real. I had been feeling in kind of a rut when it comes to my sewing and creating but I spent some time at home over Thanksgiving and got my spunk back. A few special people gave me some encouragement and it gave me confidence to get my machine moving again.

please check out my etsy shop, up and running again! I added a few new clutches today and I will be adding more each day. I forgot how much goes into posting just 1 item so check back often!! And I love special projects too... so if you see anything you like, please don't hesitate to contact me (a.orr0301@gmail.com) and I'd be more than happy and excited to work with you to create something extra special for you!

this is a special gift I made for a christmas gift.

Enjoy!

mittens!

I just finished knitting and then gifting these 2 pairs of beautiful mittens! (to my momma and aunt karen)

I figured it would be appropriate to share these since they were just here in Texas visiting and keeping me company for the past 5 days! These White Witch Mitts were really fun to make. It was my first real color work project that I did correctly and successfully finished. (Thanks to my wonderful friend Erika for giving me some helpful tips!!) I think they really turned out so nicely and it was fun to make 2 pairs with such different colorways and see the different results.

my aunt picked a more traditional color palette..

and my mom picked bright colors.

With the cold weather up north, hopefully these will actually get some good use this winter! (since they wouldn't at all here in Texas!) I really learned some cool new things from knitting these and I always enjoy that. And they are so cool, right?!

PS - I also just realized that I never re-posted a picture of my finished Tea Leaves Cardigan..

Finished! What do you think?

my new day job?

We finally got our internet installed today! I know it sounds and seems really silly, but I was starting to go crazy without internet. I mean I have my iPhone, but I hate using the internet on it. I hate writing emails on it. ha ha I really just use it for texting. Anyway!

I've spent the past week unpacking and cleaning and trying to get a little bit settled in this new house. I've also spent the last week trying to figure out what to do with myself down here. I really want to get my etsy shop back up and running and I've been sewing some new bags and clutches and I hope to have them in there by the end of the week. Here are a few things you'll see soon!

a new clutch I came up with. it has a snap closure and a little pocket on the inside.

little change purses

pencil cases

coffee cup cozy

This is hopefully just the start. I also need to figure out how to take better pictures.. I'm hoping to post more pictures soon!

my tea leaves cardigan

(please excuse my appearance in this photo. i had just spent 22 hours in a car)

Here is my tea leaves cardigan! Minus a sleeve and the 2 buttons at the top (and probably a little bit of steam blocking) but isn't it a beauty?! I just cannot get enough of this yarn in my hands. I've seen this sweater made a few times when I worked at Loop in Philadelphia and I always thought it was so beautiful and so simple. It was my first [completed] top down raglan sweater and I loved it. Currently, the sweater ALMOST has it's second sleeve. I hope to finish it this afternoon and I can post another finished picture and maybe look slightly more presentable.

This pattern is a madelinetosh pattern and I have to say, it's SO easy. The finished product really makes you look like you've got some serious skills but everything about this sweater is really basic and it turns out so nice. And if you've never worked with madelinetosh dk weight yarn - You Are Seriously Missing Out. Please go buy some and treat yourself to a magical knitting experience.

Luster is the colorway that I chose for this sweater and I just love it. It's all hand dyed yarn so most of them just have a subtle color change that is just amazing. (Can you tell how much I love this yarn?!)

I can't wait to finish my last sleeve, sew on my buttons and show you the finished project!

our new chapter

As many of you know, Evan’s job decided to move him into a new position in his company and to a small place called Beaumont, Texas. It’s a huge change from what we are used to and what we love, the busy city life in Philadelphia. We arrived in Beaumont two nights ago after a long 22 hour drive. Edward and Keety made the drive also and are very curious as to why they are in a tiny little hotel room and not their big beautiful house in Philadelphia! We are stuck here for 2 weeks until our house is ready for move in.

In the meantime, I am trying to catch up on some knitting, blogging, organizing my 'Great Idea Book' and trying to gather some recipes to try when we get into our house! What else do I have to do for 2 weeks in a hotel in a town where I know noone and don't have a car?!

I've been watching a lot of HGTV lately too and I've been constantly thinking of fun projects I can do around our new house to make it our home. Let me share some pictures of our new house and some fun projects I can't wait to start!!

instagram photo

the outside of our house

it's an open concept area - this is taken from the kitchen looking into the living room

here is from the living room looking into the kitchen area

check out this lovely laundry room! I know I'm old when I am overly excited about this area!!

oh, and heres my new backyard. and the biggest reason I am giving everyone to come visit me! :)

Now - to my home ideas!!

I have always wanted a super cool, bold, fun rug.....I am hoping I can talk Evan into something like this!

i love making useful things out of something you may not think would be useful anymore... how cool is this noteboard type thing?! it's an old window shudder. i love it and so easy!

we have a pantry in our new house (yeah a walk-in pantry...I'm going to be SO spoiled here in Texas) but I really want to paint it a super fun color like this yellow one. what a fun way to add some color without painting the whole kitchen!

I am always a sucker for photo walls. how beautiful is this one! so simple and clean, I can't wait to create mine in the new house.

This is definitely a scary new chapter for me but I think I have handled it well so far. Only 2 minor break downs so far... ha ha I can't wait to get into our new house and get settled! Come visit us please! :)

fanny packs

what a werid name for something right?! who came up with that term...

anyway..

a few months ago a few of my closest friends and i signed up to do this run called the color run. its a 5k run that has check points along the way where you get powered color dumped on you. you also get a little packet of color to throw around at the end of the race... point of this is I needed something to carry all my things in while i ran.. my color packet, my phone, my house keys.. i decided a fanny pack would absolutely be the best option for this!

i spent the entire day lugging my friends and evan around the entire city of philadelphia in search for a fanny pack. who knew they'd be so hard to find! walmart, target, jo mar, thrift stores...no one had one! so i put my crafty skills to work and googled 'fanny pack patterns.' and sure enough - i found one! a really great one actually that was super easy and very simple.

I chose to use denim fabric and bright zippers..... pretty cool huh?

i'm thinkin' i should add these to my etsy shop, i got so much good feedback!

my little children

If you know me, you know that I love my little kitties more than most humans. I treat them like humans and I talk to them like they are going to talk back to me. Evan thinks I've really lost it sometimes. So, until I have human children, I'll share pictures of my 4 legged children!

sister and brother, just hangin' out.

edward is checking out patterns on ravelry here with me...

I got the kitties brand new carriers for our move to Texas and I've had them out so they can get used to them a little bit.... This is how I found Keety one afternoon....looks like shes comfy in there!

things i love

I'm always constantly searching the web for super cool and cute things. I can't keep them all to myself... let me share some things i love with you!

I always want a cute new iphone case.... yet I just have a super ugly plain ole' black one. someday ill go for it and buy one like these!

if only i have $5,000 to spend at anthro. i'd go crazy! how cute are these?!

i'm a sucker for cute tape and twine and all that fun stuff.

well of course i'd love a few diamonds in my engagement ring someday, but there's just something about this wooden one that gets me everytime. it's so simple and seams so meaningful with those hand carved initials. 

it wouldn't be a "things i love" post without some jar picture. i love jars of all shapes and sizes - and i love that dark shade of purple so much!

happy monday friends!

friendship bracelets

This is what my wrist currently looks like.

One of my most favorite summer past times is making friendship bracelets. I can remember making very simple bracelets at summer camp when I was like 8 years old. I have really sharpened my skills and now make some pretty intricate designs. its so fun! everytime i start a new bracelet it makes me feel like i'm 10 again at summer camp.

I keep all of my strings super organized and neatly wrapped in my string box. I have had this box of string for more than 10 years!

check out this awesome friendship bracelet website for the coolest designs. ive already bought about 10 of them to try and make!

happy wednesday friends!

christmas socks

I do realize it's the first day of July and almost 100 degrees outside and who is thinking of wool socks, but I just can't help sharing (what I believe to be) one of my best ideas yet!

For Christmas this past year I decided to knit socks for the ladies in Evan's family. I've knit plenty of socks for gifts before this but I wanted these to be extra special. One night I was laying in bed thinking of all the things I still had left to do for Christmas gifts and an idea hit me - why don't I make labels for my socks like real socks come. Duh. Why had I never thought of this before?!

So I got right on indesign and came up with this clever little idea. Of course I printed them on brown paper bag paper and then wrapped them in small sock boxes.

I was quite pleased with myself after making these. I think it just made them look so nice and obviously hand made but it added a nice professional touch. Now I use this label for all the socks I give! The label also includes the care instructions for them...sometimes I'm so smart! :-)

mother's day monster

I really have the best mom that a girl could ask for! She's taught me so much and given me even more. She is also the one responsible for my blue eyes, my soft skin and my hard work ethic. AND she taught me how to sew. I can remember being a little girl making clay beads and friendship bracelets and every christmas she helped me make a holiday ornament for my family members. My mom has always encouraged me to be crafty and to try new things and to do what made me happy, no matter what others thought. Soooo - when mother's day comes around each year I feel the need to do something extra special for such a wonderful mother!

Something you should know about my mom is that she is really just a big kid at heart. She has countless craft books that are full of little stuffed animals and little things I call useless, but that she loves! She also has a book (one of her favorites) called Knitted Monsters. Even though she doesn't know how to knit, she still has this book. So I went to that and knitted up a monster just for her!

His name is Hugo..

My little helper! Sleeping right on my project, as usual!

I really enjoyed making Hugo for my mom. I knew she'd love him the minute she saw him. It was a super easy pattern and the construction was fairly simple. I made some small changes to the pattern but made him work just the same.

come on - how cute is that belly button?!

Instant best friends!

I love you Momma!!

edward photo of the day

edward helping me with the laundry. and by helping me with laundry i mean laying on all the piles of clean clothes i just recently folded. but come on - look at that face, who's going to make him move?

not me - that's for sure :-)

what i've been working on...

oh hi there! wow I know it's been FOORR-EV-ERR (you know the voice from the sandlot?) since I've been on my blog. i've been so busy that I lost track of it.. BUT I am determined to get back on track and update more often again. I have so many exciting projects and things to show you!!

so I always have like 8 projects on my knitting needles and it's no different right now, but I am currently teaching a class so i've been really focused on one project instead of 5 at a time.

Tinder, a beautiful sweater pattern by my favorite, Brooklyn Tweed, is what i'm working on now.

here is my back piece, finished! I always like to start with the biggest piece so now it's done and I just have all the smaller pieces to finish.

it has a nice 4 1/2 inches of ribbing before starting the pattern.

the main stitch for the sweater is a waffle stitch...pretty isn't it?!

and here is my first sleeve!

So you can see I have a lot left to go but it's knitting up really quickly and it's actually pretty fun. changing the stitch so often keeps me interested. also because I'm teaching this class, that's keeping me going so I can stay with what I want my students to have done.

I'll update again soon when it gets closer to being finished!

Hope you had a nice monday!