A Little Randomness

I was tagged a whiiiile ago by this lady and more recently by this lady and by a bunch of people on facebook. So here are 8 random things about me that I'll share with you. Since I fear I've worn out my tagging welcome with most of my blog buddies, I'll just leave it open.

If you want to play along, please do.

#1. I always start projects in the middle. And I usually have no exit strategy if it blows up in my face.

#2. I dream of one day entering a quilt into quilt exhibition. (And have it accepted.) I already have my designs in mind, I'm just not brave enough to start yet.

#3. My three daughters middle names (Mary, Celeste, Nancy) are after their great/grandmothers who died soon before each one was born. Sometimes I imagine my daughters are the reincarnated souls of those women. Especially when I get frustrated with them. You can't really be too harsh with Grammy Cook-Cook, now can you?

#4. I avoided coffee for years because I feared becoming hooked. It's the same reason I never tried a cigarette. I was right about getting hooked. Oh so right.

#5. The self-reflection required to think up random things about myself makes me queezy.

#6. I have 7 dead houseplants "living" in my house right now. I have a black thumb over the winter months.

#7. I used to be on the swim team in high school and sometimes I think I'd like to join an adult team.

#8. One of my first purchases on Etsy was this clutch. Look familiar? After I had bought the original, Flamestitch recreated it for use in the Pretty Little Patchwork book. I didn't realize it, and when I saw the book I thought, wait a minute that's my bag. And when I looked at mine it was slightly different. So I sort of have a famous bag. I've always kept it on a shelf in my dining room because it's so cute. It makes me feel like I have good taste. Ha. I guess lots of people will have them now that the pattern is published :)

Right now I'm working on packaging up the buttons I made last week and as soon as I do, they'll be in the shop along with this...
and this...
and maybe some more.

Lumped Out

I have been taking pictures and editing for the past two days and I finally accomplished a proper shop update today! I have so much stuff in my Lumpkin boxes that I just never list because it is soooo time consuming. It goes without saying that my children are beyond neglected right now, so no computer tomorrow!

Here's a sampling of the new things...

Lumpkin Recycled Notebook, $9.00
Wool Knit Lumpkin Tote, $22.00

I though they would make sweet little Valentine gifts for a little one.
Hey, it doesn't always have to be pink and red, right? Either way, you should really click over to the shop to see C3 in her first (sitting up) modeling gig in the lovely new TULIP bamboo sweater.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Sickies and Such

Like almost everyone else I know, we've been a sick bunch here in Lumpkin Land. We've got the drippiest noses in town. The littlest Lump got it the worst. She spent most of last week bundled in the sling. Then she lost her voice and I practically broke my back carrying her everywhere. It doesn't get much more pitiful.

Aside from the illness, I got my camera cord back!!!!! Which means I've been a photo fool and I'll have so many things ready to list in my shop update TOMORROW! I have a bunch of sweaters that need to be listed including a brand new one in bamboo that reminds me of tulips. I also have a ton of balaclavas that should be listed if they want to get some use this winter.

In other knitting news, I've knitting up some tiny clothing for the dolls that I've been dreaming of in my head. I've only worked on the pattern for the bodies once- a couple of months ago. But the heads I've had knit up for the better part of a year and now I'm busy making clothing for bodyless dolls. I even know exactly how the faces will be embroidered- it's just the darn body construction that has me wondering. It's still a mystery, but I'm getting closer.
Her head is a knittydirtygirl sample batt that I spun up. The heads came out of wanting to find a use for the little leftovers of the fancy handspun yarns I use for my sweaters.

Today was a button making day. I have some bamboo that I dyed back when I did the last batch of batiks and I'm now in the slow process of spinning (very sloooow process). So I thought I'd make some buttons to match. I really like this funky pansyish set.
But my favorite ones are on the tulip sweater;) I made some extras to just sell as supplies (we'll see how that goes). Getting out the clay was fun but it means that we are living like slobs today. It's one of the pitfalls of working at home. Some days I'm very productive at making Lumpkin stuff but the house is wrecked by the end of the day. I'm sure some people manage to have it both ways but lets just say that those buttons are the only pretty things I have to show for today.

I have a couple games of tag to catch up on but I'll have to get to that next time...

cozette

Well we named the baby. Here's the announcement I finally got to make this morning. She'll be 8 weeks old on Friday and she finally has a name! For the purposes of this blog she will henceforth be called C3 with her sisters M1(Mab,8) and M2(Mae,4). It sure feels good to be able to call her by name although I have to admit it's hard to get used to not just calling her baby. Soon enough she'll just be Cozy to us. We are still in Pittsburgh for couple more weeks so the shop is still closed for now, but feel free to window shop until September! The holidays are coming up fast and i'm working on lots of new items this year. I have to figure out a way to travel with my inventory or maybe just have two inventories. Stuff I make in Lancaster and stuff I make in the PBG. Or better yet, maybe just pick a city permanently, that's an idea!

We have been obsessed with Phelpsvision-
I mean the Olympics. oops. I love the hype! Swimming is so fun to watch. At least for me it is. I can practically smell the chlorine. In related news, I'm about 20% finished with my Ravelympics project.
I'm freestyle knitting another kiddie vest in the Freestyle Free For All event. I am only really knitting while I watch TV at night- and that's usually Olympic coverage lately so it's very fitting. I'm using a commercial yarn instead of my usual KDG variety since I was out of Lanc when I discovered the Ravelympics so I wasn't prepared. It's pretty yarn, but I have to say that I miss the lumpy bumpy texture of the handspun. It really is my fave.

My parents visited this weekend and we took them to the Zoo and Phipps and we took a scenic drive up Mt. Washington. It was a nice couple of days. M1 went to Outdoor Discovery camp here last week, which I highly recommend for parents looking for a nice simple educational nature day camp for youngsters. It was her first camp experience and she loved it. Her favorite part? Digging up leaches in the pond...gross me out.

I probably won't get a chance to post again until I get back to Lancaster, unless something amazingly exciting happens. So, until then, have a great time winding down your summer. I hope you end it on a high note. That's what I'll be working on too.

(M2 overlooking the gritty city)

Camera Cord Found!!!

all cozy watching Enchanted Saturday night
Evidently I'm nesting. I know this because my new favorite past time is cleaning and not just surface cleaning, I'm talking about mucking out and ridding myself of all worthlessness. It's been an intense process of digging through closets and drawers and boxes in every single room of my house. I'm proud to say that the downstairs is completely clean and organized.
Living Room

Dining Room

The second floor is another story. I'm trying to relocate my small sewing room to a more spacious area of the house and transform it into a playroom for the kids. I've been resistant to the playroom, but there is no way the kids can live in the same room as their toys and not live in a constant mess.

I've also been doing lots of crafting for my own personal enjoyment and those close to me. I'm really into embroidering right now. I stitched on this cute little newborn shirt for our newest babe coming soon.


tiny embroidered Lumpkin
I have a little tip that I found works really well when embroidering names and text. I go to the this website and choose a font and size of my liking (up to 72 pt) and then I type in the text I want and tape my fabric directly over the computer screen to trace.

It's a great light box and you don't ever have to print anything out and waste paper. It's perfect. I highly recommend. I'm working on some little projects for my three favorite babies fresh from the womb.

I've also been doing some personal knitting. I made myself a little belly tank top for these last couple pregnancy months.
I think I'll fashion a little bottom part to it for when I'm back to the 'no-way-I'm-showing-any-belly' days. The picture is really bad, but the wool is so soft and richly colored- I'll have to model it on a later post.

Oh, and check out his great find, an amazing little hat box from the piles at Zenith in Pittsburgh when we went for Easter brunch.
It's the same shape of a Lumpkin!
Oh, I have some plans for that little box, and they do involve embroidery.
More on that to come though.

On the pregnancy front, I've officially went off my rocker with sugar intake and it's time to cut down because the pounds are piling on.
Plump at 28 weeks

Last night I was almost going to go eat a bagel for a snack, but with some advice from my recently pregnant pal I opted for a high-protein low carb alternative. Tofu on a bed of greens and tomatoes.
A lovely bedtime snack.
Sesame Garlic Tofu on Greens w/ Tomatoes

Mmm, I could go for some more of that right now. And I do believe I shall.

pregnant b. demented

This week I'm working on a few new projects. Actually, I'm working on six billion projects lately all at the same time. This being my third pregnancy I've noticed that I'm very distracted and my memory is fading fast. I notice it constantly. The other day I poured some water into my iron with a measuring cup. About 10 minutes later I required the same measuring cup to make my pizza dough. I went into the dining room to fetch the cup (still on the ironing board) and it took until I was in the kitchen standing over the mixing bowl to discover that I'd grabbed the iron instead. These things are happening everyday. Pregnancy Dementia? I think I'm onto something. I have just sort of been flitting around the house starting and never really finishing any particular task. Normally this would drive me crazy, but I find it somewhat comforting that there is a little project waiting for me around every corner (at least right this second I do- that's the thing with pregnancy hormones, they 'giveth' patience and they also 'taketh' away)

Sadly, we are still without power cording for the camera, so my blog is again without pictures, however I have a couple of nice little scans to share. First, is a cute little paper doll I finished last week for a little girl at my daughters school. I was pretty happy with the outcome, sometimes they can be brutal since I'm not always the best caricaturist. This one went well.

I have also completed four of the most beautiful little baby sweaters using my knittydirtygirl yarn supply. I'm officially tapped out. As soon as I GET A CAMERA WORKING!, I'll post pictures. whoa. In the meantime, here's a little idea I'm mulling over in my head. Two of the baby sweaters still require buttons to be truly finished. I had the brilliant idea to make little custom Lumpkin buttons out of polymer clay. I envisioned what I wanted the buttons to look like and I've even drawn a diagram of how I imagine one would make a cane of polymer clay Lumpies. The only problem is, I've never made a polymer cane. I have a bunch of books about it somewhere and I even have all the tools and some fresh clay around here somewhere. I've just never done it and it scares me a bunch, but, I'm going to try to follow this little diagram and tweak it as I go along. If only I had a camera to capture the madness that's about to begin. Wish me luck, I'll keep you posted.

Snow day part II

Well, it's happened again, the rare double snow day. It's truly beautiful outside but inside the family is getting feisty. I dare not venture out onto the ice with the girls in my condition and tempers are flaring while we are cooped up. So, we bake... This time Chocolate Chip Muffins and a recipe for once too!

Chocolate Chip Muffins (vegan)
1/2 +1/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 +1/3 c. unbleached white flour
2 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

1-1/4 c. soymilk
4 T safflower oil
1 egg replacer (EnerG)w/the water
1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips
sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease one muffin pan.
Sift dry ingredients. Wisk together wet ingredients.
Add wet to dry and mix thoroughly. Stir in choc. chips.
Pour into prepared muffin pan. Dust top with sugar/cinn.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or untiltoothpick comes out clean.
*makes 12 magnificent muffins

I'm using up the last of my real deal sugar before i make the switch back to more wholesome sweeteners like agave and rice syrup. This recipe only has a little actually sugar, the chocolate chips do the rest. they are really yummy and half whole-wheat, so you won't feel too guilty.

Yesterday I told you about some projects I'm working on, well here's one of them now.
I have been making booties as a starter project for my beginner spinning efforts. All of the booties are hand knit with fiber I spun myself with my drop spindle. Except one pair on the left made of organic cotton commercial yarns. None of the booties are actually finished yet, but soon. I also completed my second sweater vest using a new batch of KDG yarn I recently ordered from Rachel-Marie. I'm really pleased with her yarn, the colors are fantastic, the weight is very substantial, but it's also nice and soft. Perfect for little my Spring jackets and vests. I'll post a picture of the second sweater once I figure out which buttons to use on it.

And lastly, speaking of knitting, my 8 year old daughter, M1, brought home her gnome which she's been working on at school this year. She knit the entire thing and chose really great colors I might add.
She also photographed her handwork next to the cat she made last year. I'm so impressed with her. I've recruited her to teach my friend who's pregnant with triplets how to knit because M1 knits the right way (unlike her mother) and she's so much more patient than me. What an amazing person, that's all I have to say, except...
Let it Thaw to You All!

busy busy busy

I haven't been doing much of anything lumpkin related lately, but the excitement is building for some new ideas to come. Frankly, I can't wait for Spring to arrive. I get into such a funk over the winter, but Spring will come as it always does and with it my seasonal boost. And this Spring I have the added bonus of crazy pregnancy productivity so I am expecting big things. For now I'm doing little things around the house and such. This morning I am attempting to make vegan doughnuts. I settled on this recipe . Hopefully it will work out. I don't do much frying in my life but I've had a hankerin' for dough lately. I'm sure it will be way more trouble than it was worth. The dough is rising as we speak. Here some other things I've been attempting.

This is the front view of a sweater I knit for the baby while I was couchbound. I know it's blue, you're probably thinking it must be a boy, but I never reveal the sex, I just prefer darker colors for girl and boy babies. I used a gorgeous skein of KnittyDirtyGirl yarn that I had previously attempted to use for a knit hood, but there wasn't enough. I had just enough yarn to make this little sweater though. I knit it freestyle, as usual, but i think I managed to write down a vague pattern for it as I went this time.
That's the back view. I've been experimented with these rolled edges and random holes lately. I really like the way the handspun looks. The rolled edge is done in my standard Patons wool that I use for the seamonster collars. I have a ton of ideas for those little holes and a bunch of experiments to try soon. I love the handspun so much that I tried my hand at the drop spindle which I've been trying to avoid for fear of failure. Extreme boredom while on bed rest allowed me to overcome the fear and I gave it a try.

I only had some random roving that I've collected for felting over the years, but I gave it a try. I know nothing about the different types of wool, but it was fun trying them all out and seeing what was easier and struggling with the more challenging ones. I've since spun all the other roving in the back, the green one is bamboo which was my favorite. It was really wispy and messy but it was so beautiful and I was able to adjust the thickness better. I think that it was pretty fun, but I will probably resort to purchasing most of my handspun if I end up making any sweaters for the shop. Well, I'm off to fry up some dough. I'll take some shots to share with you soon....