Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Standard of Grace?

Standards...we all have them. 
Some are high, some are low, some are ridiculous and some tend to waiver a bit. 

In any case, when it comes to YOU, might I suggest... you give yourself a standard of grace?

In other words, don't be so hard on yourself - okay? :)

Photo by: Joss&Main

I love this... had to pass it on.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 
-Ephesians 4:32

xoxo ~Dawn

Monday, July 29, 2013

Cucumber Tomato and Cottage Cheese Salad

Yep, that's it. Super quick, super easy and GOOD for you! 
I whipped this up tonight before heading out the door to get groceries. 
I needed sustenance I tell you! ;) 



What is not pictured is pepper... I added some black pepper later and it was YUM! ^-^

If you want more flavor - you could add a bit of ranch and or Mrs. Dash salt blend of some kind! 
Just saying ;).

To make for one: 
- Cut up 2 - 3 Medium size tomatoes
- Add 1/2 cup sliced and diced cucumber
- Finish with a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese

Stir and enjoy! :) 

I suppose on a larger scale you could make this for a cookout. Maybe.

Please let me know if you tried it and what you think!

Thank you for reading! :) ~Dawn

Saturday, July 27, 2013

♫♪ A Window Shopping We Will Go! ♪♫

 I like these shops... they offer some fun and unique items... 
whether I decide to get the items or not is of course a different story. ;) 
I normally leave with a bunch of ideas...
 where these items might be used, by what kind of a people and in a setting that maybe doesn't really exist.
But this is why I like window shopping :) ;) 
I hope you like a few of my finds from early last week in World Market!


               Not that I'm a truffle or an oil connoisseur but when I saw this I just had to snap a pic!
 I love the marketing, the colors, the picture. I imagine gray stone counters in an elegant kitchen... 



I love this throwback look. Bringing back the mason jars are we? :) I realize this has been going on for some time. :) This specific one makes me think of gingham in red and white - picnic time!
An idea of times gone by..
Ahhh... cookout anyone?

I did get this candle... it smelled delicious! Though I'm trying to cut back on my candle and yarn purchases ;) this one I thought I'd get for a friend. I purchased the candle, found out they didn't use candles and decided to keep it lol. 


Here is my sister agreeing with the me - no need to return it. 
The tahitian vanilla smell makes you instantly happy! ^-^

Later that same week while in HomeGoods with a friend of mine. I spotted this lovely horse head... it reminds me of the Trojan horse story or what a roman horse might look like in a chess game.



I also spotted this painting... after walking around the store a bit, coming back to it, picking it up and walking around with it, periodically glancing down to see if I still liked it... I bought it! lol


Here it is on our wall in the basement...


..and a close up. I love the colors and the dandelions! ^-^


We spotted an adorable notebook too!

 Just look at this wide-eyed owl and all the details around him! :D ;)

For a backdrop I took advantage of my fall colored blanket (in the making). Talk about cozy! No? ;)


I want to eat him he's *so* cute! ^-^

And each page has him looking at you too as you write! AS YOU WRITE! 
You'd think I would have already used all the pages by now with that incentive ;). tee hee


*gazes at owls eyes*

......

Okay - enough of that for now lol :) ;) 

I hope you liked a few of my finds! I had so much fun sharing them with you! 

Do you have a favorite? I'd love to know! ^-^ 

♥ ~Dawn

Monday, July 22, 2013

Vampire Bunny Pattern is Ready!

Sad Girls pal can now be yours! So long as you can crochet in amigurumi :). 

Pattern can be found for FREE now HERE.

Here's the sketch I made to have him worked to scale. :)
..and if you were here in the first 12 hours of this post being posted you will notice this bunny had a bit of an identity crisis. He thought he was a zombie initially... later realizing he's truly a vampire. 
I mean the sun came up and kind of scorched him... so while I've done my best to update his listings and patterns, you might see a few of his photos on the interwebs labeled zombie bunny... but he's okay now. :) He knows who he is and that before long I'll make a zombie bunny... who is truly... a zombie bunny. ^-^

Sunday, July 21, 2013

BBQ Things...

This morning while getting ready to have a bunch of friends visit I had made myself an iced coffee... 
the bubbles created on the ice cube and the swirls of cream had me reaching for the camera to share this with you! :) 



My husband requested I make his grandma's chocolate chip cookies for the BBQ so I worked on those in the morning... complete with pics for you ;). 
I'm happy to report they were a huge success! :) We only have about 10 left!



...my sister and I cut up a few apples for a homemade fruit dip... 
the culinary arts and textures are so much fun! :D


Nearly 20 people visited us today with a total of 5 kiddos to boot! :D The oldest one was 3 years old so the gathering was as much about the kids as it was about the food ;). 
The rain decided to also attend our BBQ, luckily it didn't pour but was a steady trickle... our friends were enjoying their conversations so much they stayed outside under the umbrella while the rain visited.

The sun eventually came back out in time to send off our friends, it was such a lovely time but I'm spent! 
Is it really Monday tomorrow? ;)

Friday, July 19, 2013

Loving a few lovely things..


...a few flowers really ;)



Black Dahlia's set against a dark background... makes me want to paint a picture just like it!!!

♥♥♥♥♥


Remain Simple shared this lovely photo... blue/black hair has me swooning! 
Braided with what looks like babies breathe to contrast... now I'm daydreaming of fields and prairies... 

or a river..




MoonandTrees on tumblr is adorable :) 
I felt this pic finalized the post quite well between the complimentary colors, the show of nature and the encouragement to be still, find peace and rest. I love that nature can remind us of these things... 

To add a bit of reflection... 

Isaiah 26:3-4

You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always, 
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.  


♥♥♥♥♥

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  
I hope to post more this weekend of finds from this week as I was window shopping. :) 

Stay tuned! Or better yet - sign up for emails every time I post! :)

♥ Dawn





Saturday, July 13, 2013

Status of Harlequin Pattern Blanket with Fall Colors

It's true this lovely has been in and out of hibernation mode between projects :) Today I feel I've made enough headway on 'er to show a few pictures of the progress. Initially I thought I'd use a repeating color scheme, instead I'm pulling from my yarn stash whatever color I like next. :) This has given me a very  "free" feeling while working on it which I love... plus you know, fall itself, all the leaves and color changes are not standard ;) so why should this be? :)

Currently measuring 44 inches wide by 35 inches long here she is :) ...so far ;)




Looking to make one of these for yourself? The pattern can be found on ravelry for free!


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

When I am Sad Girl and Her Pal in Amigurumi

 A recent doll making request by a friend of mine had me viewing this short film by Aglaia Mortcheva called "When I am Sad"




Now that you've seen the film and the little girl you might appreciate my offering for a doll version of her. The request was that the doll be about 12 inches tall and that the rabbit friend accompany her :) ...


My very response to my friends request was:


"When I am sad, I crochet, when I am happy I crochet - when I am bored I crochet. 
When I am creative I think of making dolls and patterns and can't sleep. 
So this is a perfect request ^-^."


In order to make them to scale I pulled a few stills from the film and then proceeded to  sketch her and her doll pal.

Ta-dah!



From here I set to work - shopping my yarn stash for the colors I would need. I came up short on the yarn for her skin and had to order some... which was okay.. because I also had a different friend request a set of flamingo hats for a newly wed couple :) So I worked on that...

Awe.....


Eventually the yarn arrived and I started working on the head first... 
it took 7 plus tries to get the shaping just right.
 Since the characters were cartoonish and flat I kept a "raggedy anne" shape in mind...
 so.. a flat doll :) ...kind of :)  







Yes... Yes I went on to make a dress for her too! 






About now... are you asking yourself if I wrote the pattern as I went? Are you? 

....

Well I DID... AND I took pics as well!
 I'm in the process of editing the pattern, adding a few helpful photos as I go. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the project! Thanks for reading! :) 




7.22.13 UPDATE: FREE Zombie Bunny Pattern can be found here.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Openwork Diamond Scarf - Free Knitting Pattern

***Hi everyone! *waves* 
This post has received a lot of traffic since it's inception. 
I'm so glad to have all the visitors! :)
 I feel it's necessary to tell you while every effort has been made to make this pattern accurate, I don't pretend to have written it as a universal pattern. 
The pattern began as a chart and because there were so many requests for a written pattern, I obliged. I'm not a savvy knitter, but thought it would be fun to share the pattern for free, to allow others who love to craft an opportunity to make it themselves. 
I blog and craft as hobbies, so I apologize for any typos in advance, and if I do not respond to your comments and inquiries right away - know I very much appreciate that you are here and have stopped! :)***

This scarf was one of the first items I made for the Etsy shop

So much detail went into this pattern! I used a set of Clover Bamboo knitting needles, size 2 ( reads 2 3/4mm on the side). Find a set of your own here. These needles are very tiny indeed! I charted the pattern on loose leaf paper (which is shared later in this post!) 

 and brought this to fruition...


Having come across the charted pattern recently I decided to share it with you! :) 

As mentioned size 2 needles were used. 
I knit with Aunt Lydia's mercerized cotton thread #10. 
Yes, this is the thread one would use to make doilies... as mentioned this scarf is very detailed. It took a while but was worth all the time it took! 

******

NOTE ABOUT EDGING:
 If you are using yarn with a weight of 1 - 3,
I suggest slipping the first stitch of each row purlwise to keep the edges from curling. Working the pattern this way you won't have to block your work.
 If you are using yarn with a weight of 4 or greater, feel free to follow the pattern as written, you more than likely will not need to block. 

Cast on 45 stitches

Row 1 (WS):  K1, Purl 43, K1 (45)
Row 2 (RS):  K2 K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 3 - 10:  Repeat Rows 1 & 2, 4 times more
Row 11:  Repeat Row 1 once more.
Row 12:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K9, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K9, K2 tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 13:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 14:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K8, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K8, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 15:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 16:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K7, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K7, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 17:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 18:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K6, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K6, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 19:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 20:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K5, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K5, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 21:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 22:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K4, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K4, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 23:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 24:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K3, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K5, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K3, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 25:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 26:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K7, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K2, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 27:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 28:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K9, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1,YO, SSK, K2
Row 29:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 30:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K5, K3Tog, K5, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 31:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 32:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K4, K3Tog, K4, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 33:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 34:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K3, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K3, K3Tog, K3, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K3, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 35:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 36:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K4, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K2, K3Tog, K2, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K4, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 37:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 38:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K5, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K1, K3Tog, K1, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K5, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 39:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 40:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K6, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K3Tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K6, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 41:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 42:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K7, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K3Tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K7, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 43:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 44:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K8, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K3Tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K8, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 45:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 46:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K9, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K3Tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K9, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 47:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 48:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K10, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K3Tog, YO, K10, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 49:  K1, Purl 43, K1
Row 50:  K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K11, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K10, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 51:  K1, Purl 43, K1


                 ***Repeat Rows 12 - 51 until desired number of diamonds have been knit***

Row 52:  K2 K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2
Row 53 - 61:  Repeat Rows 51 & 52, 4 more times, then work Row 51 once more.
Bind Off. 

If you want to work a swatch follow the chart below: 

CLICK on photo to make chart larger.
Here is an example of what a swatch of the above chart would look like (no repeating diamonds).

 The swatch is 9 by 9 inches.

I used Size 4 needles with Caron's Simply Soft Blue Mint yarn: 






*****
Because I still find the original chart to have endearing qualities (though it's not so clear - sorry!) here it is :) 


**Click on the photo to get a larger view **
Key: 

O = Yarn Over
\ = SSK (Slip, Slip, Knit)
/ = K2tog
^ = K3tog
- = Knit on WS
Blank Box = Knit on RS, P on WS





Thank you for reading and stopping by!

Please NOTE: 
This pattern is Copyright to Lostsentiments. 
You have permission to sell the finished item rom this pattern but rewriting, reselling, distributing or copying the pattern itself is prohibited. 
Please include a link back to my etsy shop or blog in all sales/listings of items. 
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...