things these days

phew! what a whirlwind the past month has been! since we got back to beaumont after thanksgiving, I've been busy with so many things!

Evan proposed!

I was knitting like a serious crazy lady!

and then I had a sick little boy!

Luckily, things seem to be getting back to normal and I am focusing on all my sewing adventures! I signed up for a festival in February to sell my things (in Beaumont) and for another tiny 'show' here too. It's pretty exciting! We've also had so much rain here in Texas this week and I LOVE the rain!! Especially on days when I just spend the whole day sewing and knitting and snuggling with Edward!

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!