Monday Morning Coffee

Good morning!  I hope everyone had a great weekend and your week is off to a great start.

Check out my guest post on Nap Time Crafters today!  I whipped up some crocheted dishcloths in great spring colors to help brighten up your kitchen.  I was lucky enough to grab a guest post spot over there while Amy enjoys her new bambino.  Her blog is one of my favorites -- definitely inspiring me to get back into sewing again.  Amy has some other amazing moms guest posting for her Bundle of Joy series, so keep checking back!

We had some fun here over the weekend..... the major highlight of the weekend was our adventure down to the Cubs game.  It was C's first game and M's second game.  We took the El downtown (which I think was more exciting for the kids than the actual game).  While it was bright and sunny, it was not warm here in the Windy City, so we didn't make it more than an hour and a half..... I guess I REALLY can't complain about making it 90 minutes with a one year old and three year old.  The hot chocolate helped to keep M's hands warm for a little bit and then we had to call it a game and head back to the train.  They were troopers!

C's first El ride

Enjoying the train ride....

We were high up :)

Enjoying his first stadium pretzel....

Like I said, it was COLD

My goal for the week..... finish my Lamb's Lace Cardi!!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday all!  I hope everyone is gearing up to enjoy a fun weekend filled with crafting and relaxing :)  I wanted to share my progress on my Lamb's Lace Cardi.....  I would LOVE to finish it up this weekend but don't want to get too ambitious.  I've divided for the body and have knitting just below the band that separates the lace top from the stockinette bottom so it should go much faster now since I won't  have to keep looking at the lace chart!  This lace really wasn't too demanding and it was easy to correct if I made some mistakes --- I'm often distracted!

I'm having fun playing with Little C while his sister is at school this morning.... doing laundry and getting a few stitches in here and there.  And of course I'm enjoying a nice cup of coffee in my Knit Happy mug that my mom got me for Christmas.  Have you seen these?  You can find them here at Knit Happy.  I love it.... it's so big and is matching my sweater right now :)

Enjoy your weekend!  What projects are you all working on?

I'm Back.....

I know I've been quiet.... I took some much needed time to step back a little bit. We're back and ready to get crafty again!  I wanted to share some of the things I'm currently working on....

I'm a self-taught knitter and crocheter and to keep progressing my skills, I know I need to work on someone else's designs to keep trying new things.  This week, I found a great pattern -- Christina Wall's Lamb's Lace Cardi.  The look is great and I love the fact that you can wear it pretty much all year round -- Long sleeves under it during the colder months and a tank top underneath in the warmer months.  I'm not great with lace so this sweater is supposed to get me more comfortable with it.  Maybe I'll start designing more lace sweater after I finish this!

Christina Wall's Lamb's Lace Cardi

Here's my progress so far.... I'm finding that the lace pattern really isn't too hard and I love how fast it's knitting up.

Of course I have a few of my own designs in the works right now.....  The first one is going to be a top down raglan made from cotton blend yarn for the body with a neckline and cuffs made from sparkling silver yarn.  I'm going to switch the gray at the bottom to white I think.

The inspiration for the top down raglan is this Banana Republic sweater I saw in the store a while back... the neckline and cuffs are made from a metallic bronze yarn.

Source: thestylecure.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

This is the start of another project I'm working on -- an open cardigan for summer.  I'm not quite sure exactly what this will look like yet and I don't have any direct inspiration, so we'll see what this morphs into.  Sometimes not having a plan is the best way to go!

Don't you love it how all of these sweaters are all about at the same stage in the knitting process?!?!  My plan is to finish the Lamb's Lace Cardi first and then move on to finish my other projects :)

Knit and Crochet Bunny Patterns

.....These are the cutest knit Teeny Tiny Bunnies from Little Cotton Rabbits.....

Source: littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk via A Crafty House on Pinterest

.....Tangled Happy featured an adorable crochet Easter Bunny pattern from Smitten With It All.....

Source: lisapocklington.blogspot.fr via A Crafty House on Pinterest

Knit and Crochet Bunny Hat Patterns

These are just adorable.... I couldn't resist sharing these knit and crochet bunny hat patterns.  There's still time to whip these up before the weekend!

.....Check out this knit Bunny Beanie Pattern from BabyCenter.....

Source: Uploaded by user via A Crafty House on Pinterest

.....Check out this crochet Lil Bunny Cap from You Can Make This.....

Source: youcanmakethis.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

Knit and Crochet Easter Egg Patterns

Hey all..... I've decided to start my spring break a little early and spend more time with the fam to prepare for Easter and our trip to see my parents next week.   In celebration of spring break, I will be sharing a free knit and crochet pattern that I've discovered from my fellow crafters each day until I get back.  Enjoy and Happy Easter :)

.....Check out this knit Easter Egg pattern from The Purl Bee.....

Source: purlbee.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

.....Visit Petals to Picots to learn how to crochet these adorable Easter Eggs......

Source: petalstopicots.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

Tutorial Tuesday: Easter Projects

I have been neglecting Easter crafting.  Yup, I'm a bad crafter..... just can't seem to fit it all in.  However, while there hasn't been a whole lot of Easter crafting going on in this house, there seems to be quite an Easter craft extravaganza going on out there in the craft blogging world.  This crafty mind seems a bit tapped out of Easter stuff so I thought I would share some awesome crafts that I've found.  I mean, how can I compete with this great stuff?  There's just no way.... Enjoy these craft tutorials on Tutorial Tuesday!

.....Check out Lil Blue Boo's awesome egg decoration ideas......

Source: lilblueboo.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

....Couldn't help but share another project from Lil Blue Boo.  This Easter Skirt made from dishtowels is adorable!  This is what is inspiring me to get my sewing machine out this week....

Source: lilblueboo.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

.....Had to get some Martha in here.  This is great for setting your table on Easter.....

Source: marthastewart.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

.....Ellinee's Easter basket made from paper bags is adorable and a great way to use up those grocery bags.....

Source: ellinee.com via Moonie on Pinterest

.....I'm not one who goes crazy for wreaths, but I loved this Jordan Almonds wreath from Country Living.....

Source: countryliving.com via Country Living on Pinterest

....Check out this cute banner from Creation by Kara.....

Source: creationsbykara.com via A Crafty House on Pinterest

Hope this helps!  Happy Easter crafting :)

Monday Morning Coffee

Happy April!  I hope everyone had a great weekend and may your Monday morning be off to a great start with a nice warm cup of joe.

Source: Uploaded by user via Sabine on Pinterest

We had some fun hanging out with some friends, doing a little shopping, and relaxing at home.  Yes, we were able to relax today.  We went for a Sunday drive to explore some other areas of Chicagoland that we hadn't yet discovered and came home and took an afternoon snooze on the couch.  I got some good crocheting in Friday and Saturday nights (woo hoo!) -- I'm working on a project for a friend who just had a baby and hope to share it with you all soon.  

If you need a good project this week, check out my Chunky Seed Stitch Knit Rug Pattern that I posted on Friday.  I've gotten some great feedback and can't wait to see some finished products from some of you.  I've gotten some requests to make a crochet version, so stay tuned and I'll see what I can do!

We're gearing up for Easter this week and I have a few goals.....

.....To finally make some Easter decorations.....

Source: blog.amyatlas.com via Claire on Pinterest

Source: shelterness.com via Sara on Pinterest

...Consider (more seriously) getting my sewing machine out from the back room of my basement....

Source: onthevergeofsnapping.blogspot.com via Denise on Pinterest

...Start packing early for our spring break trip back to Cleveland next week to visit the Grandparents....

Source: modpodgerocksblog.com via Roger on Pinterest

What were you all up to this weekend?  What projects have you been working on and what's in store for you this week?  Come back tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday!