an apple for the teacher

I've been doing a lot of knitting lately ('tis the season, despite the heat wave.) But I had to share this quick and adorable back-to-school-related project. I made two of these knitted apple cozies for Lo to take to her teachers on the first day of school, and they were super fun to make.

 

In case you haven't heard of an apple cozy, it's basically a cover for your apple so it doesn't get bruised in your lunch box. I have seen a lot of crochet apple cozies, but I really like how it looks knitted in stockinette stitch. I followed this free pattern by Linda Dawkins of Natural Suburbia and knitted with cotton yarn so the cozies will be washable. My only modifications were adding crocheted leaves and crocheting a chain for the button loop instead of making an i-cord. (What's on your needles these days?)

back to school

Last week, Lo became a first grader. Things are going swimmingly, as you can see.

Last year, she begged me to walk with her into the building and all the way to her classroom every morning for the first couple of months. Now she begs me not to. She's got this!

Her teachers are wonderful and she sits next to her best friend in class. She's excited to do homework and she's stoked about her new backpack. I'm stoked for a little bit more freedom/time with Bowie during the day and getting everyone back on a normal schedule. Summer is fun but back to school time is fun, too. (There she goes.)

weekend visitors

My dear friend Kristi, her boyfriend Ahn-Tuan and their little American hairless terrier Chloe stopped in Des Moines for an overnight visit in the middle of their cross-country drive from NYC to LA. (That's quite the roadtrip.) Their stay with us went all too fast but it made my heart burst at the seams with love and happiness to see my friend.

 

It was the very best way to spend part of our weekend and I only wish it could have lasted longer. We gave our friends a quick and dirty tour of Des Moines and stayed up super late talking and catching up. It was wonderful and looking back at these pics make me smile. Safe travels, my friends! Thanks for stopping by to see us.

black + white

Knitting! Back to knitting. It's been a busy summer around here, but don't think for a second that I'm not looking forward to fall while checking out all of the new patterns being released. I just had the chance to check out Rowan Studio 32 and I'm infatuated with every single one of these hand-knits, designed by Gemma Atkinson, Marie Wallin, Lisa Richardson and Martin Storey. Black and white never goes out of style and of course I'm a big fan of the mod/60s theme they used for the photography. Take a look.

Read more details about these gorgeous designs here or grab a copy of Rowan Studio 32 at your local yarn shop. And if you're a Row@n member, you can download 'Dionne' (above) for free! There's no fee to join – find out more here.

new to me

When I lose focus on myself I lose focus on everything. I sort of flail around. I'm pretty good at flailing and I feel like I've been doing it for awhile on repeat. I flail around the house, cleaning up little messes and changing diapers and filling up cups of milk and picking up Cheerios off the floor and brushing little teeth and reading stories and giving back rubs and singing silly bedtime songs and stumbling out of bed at 3 am to rock a crying babe. I'm sure a lot of people can relate. It never stops and I truly love it but sometimes I just need a breather. It's busy up in here. Up until recently, my free time was spent staying up too late each night and working on stuff. Some of it was necessary stuff. Work stuff, freelance stuff ... but basically, I was sitting on my ass. It wasn't doing my mind or body a whole lot of good. I didn't realize how refreshing it would be to take an hour away from the chaos of my home and do something just for me. Until I did it.

I have been going to yoga classes for a couple of weeks now and I feel like I'm awake. I'm breathing more deeply, stretching out sore muscles each morning and clearing my mind each night. It feels so good. I'm starting out slow and going at my own pace, especially since the studio I go to specializes in heated power yoga which is truly a new experience for me. I didn't think I would have time for this, but I'm realizing that I have time if I make time. I didn't expect to love it, but I really think I love it.

I'm enjoying the headspace, enjoying the quiet. Enjoying my instructors' awesome playlists and motivating words of encouragement. I'm enjoying my journey inward and my time with just me. If I can be a better me, I can be better to everyone around me.

summer love

Hello paper, nice to see you again.

Remember me mentioning Kara Haupt's Summer of Love e-course awhile back? Here's what happened after I sat down and looked through a stack of papers, trimmed them up and then reverted to a 7th grader and made friendship bracelets to tie everything together. (What are you up to these last days of summer?)

egg shapes

School lunch days are coming up, which means back to bento! Over the summer, Lo has taken a liking to hard-boiled eggs. This is after she started begging for me to make eggs 'that are white with the yellow in the middle.' And I was like, 'Yes honey. Eggs are always white with yellow in the middle unless they're scrambled.' And I kept making fried eggs for her until she finally said, 'No, the kind we had at Easter.' Ahh! I was excited because I love having hard-boiled eggs on hand. And hard-boiled eggs give me a super good excuse to put my egg shapers to use.

If you're into the bento thing, you can find inexpensive egg shapers here. And if you've never given these a try or wondered how in the heck they actually work, the whole process is pretty easy. Just boil your eggs as you normally would, and then rinse them in a bit of cold water or put them in a bowl filled with cold water. Don't let them cool off completely, because you'll want to peel them while they're still hot. Peeling the shells off of hot eggs can be a bit painful, but it's not too bad.

So, yes. Peel the hot hard-boiled egg. Try to get the shell off while leaving the surface of the egg white as smooth as possible. And then place the egg (firmly) in the shaper and close it with the tabs.

Put the shaper in the freezer for a couple of minutes or until the plastic mold feels cool, and then pop your egg out. That's it.

Beware that if your egg isn't exactly the right size, you may end up with something like this. A bear with no ears. But no biggie – it's still pretty cute. Also, if your eggs are super big, you'll end up with a ring of smushed egg white around the little face, but you can just trim it off with a knife. I've been boiling six eggs at a time to keep in a covered bowl in the fridge and they're great at lunchtime, on a salad or for a snack. I'll definitely be boiling a few each week during the school year for Lo's lunches. Now that I've finally figured out which kind of eggs she wanted.  :)

** Want to read more bento posts? Click here to see my attempts at Phineas and Ferb/Hello Kitty bentos from last year, or here for all my other bento posts ... including some pics of teeny-tiny preschool Lo eating bentos on a plate. **

summer art camp

We made a list of fun things to do on summer break, but now that school is almost here I feel like we're kind of running low on new ideas. So one hot and sunny morning this week, I packed Lo's backpack with pencils a blank sketchbook and didn't tell her where we were going. We drove to the sculpture park downtown in our beautiful city and drew pictures. Still life.

We talked a little bit about shape, texture, depth and perspective. (See my kid sitting under that tree?) ;)

 I wanted it to be fun so I just set her loose and let her pick what she wanted to draw.

 While Bowie and I strolled up and down the sidewalk.

She looked at this Keith Haring for a long time.

 And then decided to draw buildings.

And after she was done, it was really starting to get hot so we stopped for refreshments. It was a surprisingly fun day that I'll remember for a long time, and it didn't cost us a penny. (Well, except for the Starbucks.) I think we will do this again soon.

what's in the box?

If you're a knitter, you may agree that by the end of July you're already thinking about fall. Can't help it. The new yarns start to appear and you start dreaming of woolen sweaters while you sit by the pool. I'm certainly not wishing the summer days away, but I am definitely eager to knit fall sweaters. And! Last week was the official launch of the new Autumn/Winter Rowan yarns, which means it's time for another seasonal box for the Rowan Ambassador gang. (So, what's in the box?)

As a Rowan Ambassador I'll be reviewing the new yarns and pattern books over the next few months, but I wanted to give you a peek at what I'll be working with. Shown above: Angora Haze, Thick 'n' Thin, Tumble, Lima Colour, Kidsilk Haze Eclipse and Alpaca Colour. Gorgeous, right?

Rowan is introducing lots of beautiful new yarns along with old favorites in new colors. And of course, an abundance of new pattern collections.

So, the yarn is definitely exciting. Thrilling! But since I'm a graphic designer, the books kind of take my breath away. And there are so many this season. This is the stack we received for the Rowan Autumn/Winter launch, and there is something for every knitter within these pages. Truthfully, there are probably 20 things for every knitter. I'm having a terribly hard time deciding which project to start first because there are so many things that I really want to knit. And I know I've mentioned this before, but Rowan really knows how to put together a book. The photography, design and paper/stock/finish choices are perfection. The texture of the cover of Angora Haze may have actually made me drool. I am not kidding.

Here's a better look at Pioneer, Warm & Toasty, Autumn Knits and Alpaca Colour.

 

 

Here is Rowan Magazine 54, Angora Haze and a children's collection called Little Star. To see all of the patterns in these collections at a glance, check out Rowan's videos on YouTube.

Exciting, yes? What are you working on? I can't wait to dive in. August is pretty much fall ... right?

five-minute project: shadow box

This is a project that I have been putting off forever, but it only took a couple of minutes to complete. Not even five minutes ... like, two minutes. Anyway, you get the picture. A small (but deep) shadow box, a photo from Lo's first dance recital and her very first pair of ballet slippers that she has now outgrown. Add these things together and we have a sweet and simple keepsake to display in her room.

If this kind of thing appeals to you, you must check out Darcy Miller's scrapboxes. She's been featured on Martha Stewart crafts and her stuff is so good. She has assembled several fantastically cool shadow boxes that include mementos like tiny white baby onesies, seashells from the beach, a baby's first stuffed animal, memorable pieces of art and favorite bedtime stories. Super sweet and so easy to do. Check this stuff out for sure.