Project Life

So for a looong time Doug has said we should do a scrapbook. This sounded like a reasonable idea but traditional scrapbooking just seemed dated and overwhelming and too much trouble. When George was born I thought we should do some type of memory keeping but I felt like I didn't have time or know where to start. My awesome cousin Annie told me about Project Life and it seemed much more manageable than the scrapbooking of yesteryear. So on NYE I started our book. It's 37 weeks later and I'm so glad I started this project. I started out with just pictures and me writing what happened that week. I originally bought the Cherry core kit, but then the Seafoam kit came out right after and I bought it and started using it instead.
 

I've almost exclusively used iPhone photos, which I used to swear I'd never do. BUT it's just usually what I have within reachable distance when something is happening. My iPhone has been invaluable for journaling/taking pictures/etc. I use Camera+, Afterglow, and Instagram to take and edit the photos. I started out using Snapfish to order my photos from, but slowly I've started using Persnickety Prints for most of my printing. Their quality is really great, there are so many sizes, and the shipping is super fast. I've used the DayOne app  for keeping track of what's happened that day or week and it's good, but sometimes I forget to use it. 

 Little by little I've started using some extra things, stamps, buttons, etc. In July I signed up for monthly Studio Calico kits, which are $19.99 a month when you sign up for 6 months (I think) and they're like artsy supplements to the core kit. I'm pretty sure there are several other companies that do monthly kits like SC, but I've been so happy with what I've gotten and how fresh and modern it is I haven't looked anywhere else. This is a peek into September's kit.

This week was one of my favorites, design-wise:

There are some amazingly creative people out there who inspire me with their Project Life pages. I adore Elise Blaha Cripe (who designed the Seafoam kit!) and Megan at The Nerd Nest to name a few. Plus I like to peruse the Studio Calico Member Gallery for inspiration.

This is a such a fun project, it's mostly memory-keeping and some art project/creativity thrown it. It's something that you can make as simple or as 'fancy' as you want.

Oh hello there - I still knit (barely)

Right now my knitting time is pretty compromised, there just isn't enough time every day but I occasionally get to sneak in a row or two. My WIP list is about a mile long. There's an open cardigan (wool) that I had been working on for months. I put it aside to knit a baby blanket for my best friend's new nephew. I finally finished knitting it, several weeks after he was born. It's the Chevron Baby Blanket pattern from Purl Soho and the yarn is Lion Brand Baby (which seems an awful lot like Cotton Ease).

Once that was finished I had fantasies of knitting a summer top. Most of my yarn stash is in storage. I had a particular yarn in mind for this summer top and went to look for it. Imagine my surprise when I found the yarn - halfway knitted - in a summer tank top that I must have started at least two years ago, possibly longer. It's a bottom up tank, the pattern is Lillian, and the yarn is Jo Sharp cotton something. I had to rip out a few rows because evidently I was attempting bust darts and they look like crap. I ain't got time for bust darts, so I ripped out an inch or so and started back again. I have finished the front, but need to whip-stitch the straps together and then there's a whole mess of stitches to pick up for the ribbing.

In the midst of tank top knitting, last Friday I some time to myself and wanted to start something new and squishy and pretty.  I pulled out the Everett cowl pattern I bought last year, as well as some Madelinetosh Vintage in a color called 'Curiosity'. It's a really large cowl, so it will take awhile to knit based on my current rate but it's satisfying to knit something new.

I also haven't had as much time to peruse Ravelry as I used to, but there are some super cute patterns I hope to get around to knitting eventually.

Palmer by Alicia Plummer
Surrounding Tank by Hannah Fettig
Everly Shawl by Mindy Wilkes
Emmanuelle Sweater by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark
Vasa by Dianna Walla