I finished this towel and gifted it to my Grandmother for her birthday. She loves it—flaws and all.
Hi,
Sorry for disappearing for a couple days there and skipping this week’s Mini Patchwork Block Tut and Weekly Finds. Things got a little crazy. Actually, they are still a little crazy, so I don’t know how regularly I’ll be blogging. We’ll see. In the meantime, here is a promised photo of my new hair.
Hope your weekend is splendid!
-Liesl
For quite a while now, I’ve seen posts on Jodi and Allison’s blogs almost every Wednesday titled Yarn Along. They share what they are knitting/crocheting and what they are reading via a prompt at this blog. Since I’ve begun knitting, I figured I’d join in. So here is my first Yarn Along.
I’ve decided, since I have a bunch of cotton yarn from my Grandmother, I’d give that Hanging Mitered Towel a go. I’m a little nervous about the hanging loop part. It requires doubling up the yarn and a button hole. But I’ll persevere.
The book I have my nose in now is Elizabeth Bowen’s To the North. I’m a sucker for pretty covers so I was won over when I saw it recommended to me on Amazon. I’m only forty pages in but so far so good.
Do you have a project on your needles (or hook!) and your nose in a book? (Maybe I should get into audio books so I can do both at the same time!) Go ahead and share it over at this (quite lovely) blog!
A Few Footnotes:
A little more info about yesterday’s post: Apart from trims, I hadn’t cut my hair in ten years. It was down to my butt. Monday night, I cut it myself. The braid is about 26″ long. I’m still up in the air about what to do with it—eventually I’m sure I’ll donate it* but right now I’m keeping it. I’m still playing around with styling my new bob, but once I get the look I like, I’ll share “after” photos.
*Locks of Love has gotten some flack over the years, so I want to be sure it goes to the right place.
As far as Monday’s post: Thank you all for the book recommendations! They’ve all be added to my list.
I don’t think I mentioned it here but there is a wickedly awesome giveaway going on over at Jacquie’s blog, Under the Shade of a Bonsai Tree. If you win the grand prize, you’ll get, among many other great things, a pair of my pot holders!
Books are one of my guilty pleasures. Particularly books about women (or men, but mostly women) that rough it in the wilds or on farms. It’s probably my ultimate dream “to take to the woods.” I’m not a fan of city living. I don’t really even like city-visiting. Despite living an hour and a half’s drive from NYC, I’ve only been about three or four times. And despite living so close, we are surprisingly rural here. Anyway, picking up and moving to the woods is a far off dream (and no doubt hugely different from what I imagine), so I live vicariously through books.
I think the one that started it all was We Took To The Woods and is, perhaps, my favorite. The author is very engaging with her words and observations. It’s hard not to feel like you too are roughin’ it in Maine.
There are few scattered in there that focus more on solitude. That’s something else I dream of doing, staying in a little cabin and avoiding human connection for a whole month. I’m sure you’d learn a lot about yourself, your limits and capabilities as an individual.
So far, I’ve enjoyed all of these books, except one—which didn’t even warrant being photographed. Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl seemed like it was right up my alley but within the first chapter I was simply annoyed. It’s really just a whiney book. It’s intended be funny but the humor lacks grace and feels forced. The author does not seem open to learning or growing from her experience. Though, as I said, I didn’t get far into it. Maybe her outlook changes by the end of the book, but I have no desire to trudge through it and find out.
Made From Scratch manages to be witty with grace. It’s a cute, simple read, perfect for someone like me, who daydreams of the homesteading life. It’s also laced with helpful resources and advice for someone who wants to go beyond daydreaming.
Another favorite has been Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I just passed it on to my father and it’s inspiring him to eat more locally/seasonally as well.
I’m doing this post because living a simpler life has been on my mind a lot lately. I do consider myself to lead a pretty simple life already, but I guess, just like with the yearlong challenge to buy only secondhand/handmade, I want to up the ante—take simple more seriously. I want to cut back on screen time and see more green (as in nature not money—though more of the latter would be helpful!) I want to get my hands dirty more often. I want to learn more about the natural world around me. I want to be more self-sufficient.
(Do you have any suggestions on books in this vein?)
Hi all,
This month I have two lovely sponsors here at my blog.
464 Handmade
Shop | Blog | Facebook
First up is someone we met back in November 464 Handmade located in Mexico. Offered are a lovely array of handmade goods (including bags, tissue holders, mug mats) made with quality materials and lots of care as well as lovely supplies (including washi tape organizers, jute twine.)
Threaded Basil
Shop | Blog | Facebook
Secondly, we have Threaded Basil located in Minnesota. I actually purchased one of the sweet little dolls a couple years ago and can’t rave enough about it. Top quality and super cute. Sarah also has a great foodie blog Vanilla Bean.
(If you’d like to sponsor in February, check out this page for details!)
Hello hello!
I’m super busy today (emails will be replied to later, promise) but I wanted to pop in to share my finds. To avoid a photoless post, I plopped an old one in of how I wished things looked right now. (My theory is that if it’s going to be cold, there might as well be pretty white snow on the ground.)
Very clever way to have it all. (But I’m still reaching for the scissors soon!)
I’d like to make this, this and this.
Ideally in this kitchen.
Don’t you just adore sheep?
Planning on giving this pattern a go.
Thank you all for the sweet comments on my new shop—especially the weekender bag. It sold really quick and I have plans for more! For those of you who asked about the tutorial, I am working on that. And also for those of you who asked, the tutorial will be free—I tossed around the idea of charging a small fee for the pattern/instructions but ended up deciding against it. Because it’s free it’s not top priority on my list, I hope you understand and can wait.
Well, it’s official. I’ve opened up my new shop at BigCartel. I’m pretty excited. Without Etsy’s help, I have a lot of work ahead of me in the promotional department. I’m currently waiting for the domain forwarding to go through, so that when you type in lieslmade.com you’ll show up at my new shop instead of my Etsy one. (In the meantime, you’re welcome to visit at lieslmade.bigcartel.com.)
There is a little nagging voice in my head that says this was a bad move, to leave Etsy. But it’s something I’ve wanted to try for quite a while. Besides, if it doesn’t work out, I can always return to Etsy.
Anyway, I’m slowly but surely going to get things listed in the shop. I don’t have as much stock as I’d like, but I’ve been busy working on other things (like the Series.)
Stripey Lonestar Quilt Block Tutorial
Published January 3, 2012 Quilting , Sewing , Tutorial 9 Comments
Good morning. Here is the latest block for the Series. I’m quite smitten with this one. Click the above photo to be taken to the tutorial document. I think it fits in with the quilt really well–I’m still on the fence about the Dresden Plate Block. I wonder if I should redo it more like this one, to make it mesh better with the “scrappy” feel of the quilt?
Here is the progress so far. What do you think?
I’ve found a lot of great music lately. Here are a few tunes—(which prove my taste is all over the board.)
I’m kind of busybusy working behind the scenes, getting things ready for the new shop and all.
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