The Spinning Purls Society

A few Saturdays ago, I hosted a cocktails and knitting party with the help of Benny who is the founder of the Maplewood Artist Collective.  The idea of this is various people in town are hosts for a night for a vintage inspired knitting party: drink cocktails, get dressed up and knit away. My kind of night!

Here is the invitation I put together for the inaugural evening!

 The group was cozy and we had a really nice time chatting and getting our knit on. We sipped gin drinks- Bee's Knees which was my favorite and The Clover Club. 

And, here are some photos that Benny Campa took of the atmosphere and of us knitting away by the fire.

belated birthday sweater

I intended to finish this sweater for his 10th birthday but, instead finished up the day after Valentine's Day so about 3 months late. The pattern is called Moonstone and I knit it using Quince and Co. yarn.
The yarn is  50% alpaca and 50% American wool. The color is Barents Sea. My favorite feature is the mismatched vintage wood buttons on the left shoulder. Though the pattern is nice it took me a long time to knit because the plain stockinette stitch is too boring for me most of the time so i would switch off to other projects.

...The little dot near the neck is dust on my lens (not a hole) but I can't edit my photos for some reason right now.

sashiko pillow

Here is the finished sashiko sampler sewn into a pillow with a blue linen backing. Always bittersweet to finish a hand sewing sashiko project because they are so meditative and relaxing.

madder root dress

A dress I made recently to test a pattern in muslin dyed with madder root. I love the shade this turned out. I took this photo in the evening so not the best light but, I like it. I put some vintage ric-rac trim on the edge of the shoulders.

kimono in paper garden

Faced with this half yard of seasonal Liberty of London the word kimono came to mind and instantly it was like it couldn't become anything else. Something about it clearly said Kimono!

Then I looked at the name of the print...paper garden...yes, it just fit so perfectly.
I hadn't made a kimono in years and since I only had enough for a new baby size that's what it became.

Of course, I want to make bigger ones now and I hope I can purchase some fabric for more soon.
This one is destined for the gift box awaiting the next baby gift needed.

I've got a lot in the sewing queue lately- a summer romper for Scarlet and a wrap skirt for me to name a few.

I am thinking of doing some animal masks and sleeping masks with the bits of Liberty I have an putting them up in the shop. What do you think? Here are just a few other things I've made with small pieces: memory game, quilts, envelopes.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

fairy dust in blue

I made a new top and listed it today. It's made with Liberty of London lawn in a seasonal print called Fairy Dust, in blue. I made it a size 2-3T  but it could easily be worn younger as well.  It's in my shop now.
Next up is a baby kimono.

8th birthday

I'm a bit late posting this but, we celebrated Scarlet's birthday earlier this month with a baking themed sleepover party. We started off with her ballet class which was the day the parents get to watch so that was nice. She takes ballet now twice a week and hopes to try out for the Nutcracker in the Autumn.

We had our own little celebration with gifts after lunch.

Girls arrive!

We ordered dinner in to make things easier for us since our guests were arriving at 6:30 to come help us bake. When her friends arrived we whisked them into the kitchen to make cupcakes and cut out sugar cookies. The baking was wild and super fun as you will see in the photos. They sang and then ate the results.She had wanted to take macarons but, because of the timing it couldn't happen and also I've not attempted them before. The two of us love macarons and we did serve store bought ones halfway through the night. The girls watched An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success. Then the girls who were getting picked up went home.

I made each girl a little night light with a battery operated candle inside a mason jar filled with moss and a cut out fairy.

They had fun with French themed photo props.

Four girls stayed the night. They took turns with the flashlight telling stories and playing teacher. Then they each read for a while and fell asleep. It was her third sleepover and the first time I hosted one. Matthew went on his first sleepover that night as well which was really fun for him and better then hanging home with a bunch of girls.

In the morning, Mick made them crepes. One of her gifts was a sewing machine which has really good reviews and is super cute. We are setting it up next to mine so we can work together.

Just for fun - photos from her first birthday!

bunny *handknit for her birthday *

Scarlet requested I knit a white bunny from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for her birthday. Ha! Though I did finish it at the last minute ( the night before) I worked on it for about a week. So, my knitting (and crafting) time is more limited these days so things don't get done as fast as they used to. The pattern was easy enough to follow and I like the mohair/silk I used on the inside of the ear. Gives it that little je ne sais quoi!