Virgil

Virgil

Despite his hefty physique, Virgil is quite a fine climber and he uses his suction cup hands to maneuver to great heights. These hands also help him to collect things and eat them. Most recently, his favorite foods are building blocks and green olives. His mouth is really a huge pocket! He's currently available for adoption and more information may be found in our shop.

A Monster Of Your Own

We believe each person deserves a monster of their own. A whisper and secret keeper, a best friend who always waits for you. Each of them is one-of-kind and was handmade by me (Christa) right here in our studio. Each will arrive with a tag including his or her history, hopes and dreams. These ladies and gentlemen are all available and ready to ship.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yesterdaydream

Roadtrip! (A Belated Update)

Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania

So...I moved to Seattle! I've been here since early September and it's becoming more of a home daily. There is so much to see and do. I realized I never posted about it, so let me backup a little...

It was the end of a very long relationship. My best friend Susan and I packed up Quasi & Lola into my little car and headed west along the Northern United States. We have been friends for over 25 years and through school, boyfriends, children, family gatherings (happy and sad). There wasn't another person I'd have preferred to make this journey with. 

Goodbye, New Jersey. See you soon!

We took turns driving during the days and talked about everything. She would find the local Country music stations wherever we were. A bonus was her singing and dancing skills. I would knit and in-between, there was pug-cuddling. Sue had her husband of almost a year Ted and her dog Zoe home waiting, so she would be cuddling every chance she had.

Michigan-Indiana state line

I realized that car knitting is one of my favorite things. It's a great way to relax and just let your hands become a blur. With all of the unknown ahead of me and a new life, it was the best way to focus on something besides the breakup and epic move. Besides, one of the reasons I moved when I did was my brother Sam and his lovely fiancé Megan were getting married in less than two weeks. 

outside Fargo, North Dakota

Did you know that at the Fargo-Moorehead Visitor's Center, they have the actual grinder used in the movie Fargo? We stayed up late and talked about everything. We ate terrible food and drank way too much whiskey. These are all of the ingredients for a great roadtrip. The land was always rolling, always moving along with us. The clouds went on forever and we were in awe as we drove through miles of sunflowers, cows, plateaus, the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands. 

Big Timber, Montana

Montana is a clear favorite of the trip. The rambling rivers winding for miles around the most beautiful land I ever did see. It's where the prairies fall into the base of the Rocky Mountains. We spent the night in Butte, Montana. It's an old mining town on the edge of the mountains. Quiet and comfortable. We had local steaks at Casagranda's Steakhouse, located in the historic
Bertoglio Warehouse (built in 1900) and it was amazing. The restaurant was wallpapered with old documents found in the old warehouse from purchases and agreements for the Bertoglio business. 

Idaho

We would stop where we could easily walk the dogs. We would gather stones from the Rockies; they were all different colors and little pieces of our time together. We would almost run out of gas but only just make it to the most remote gas station in the United States. 

Wild Horses Monument Viewpoint, Washington

We would stop wherever we could and stretch our legs with the pugs and see the most beautiful things. Finally, after five days, we made it to Washington!

Space Needle, Seattle, Washington

Susan stayed for a few days before flying back to New Jersey and we did some touristy things like go to the Space Needle, check out the Public Market and stick our gum to the "Gum Wall" in Post Alley. She left me feeling fortunate to have such a good friend/sister and looking forward to seeing one another again.

Beanie Hats!

I've been whipping up some chunky beanies for my shop and also as gifts for the Holidays. This one is an alternate version of my Basic Ribbed Hat pattern. Instead of doing the 2x2 ribbing, I changed it to 1x1 ribbing. 

Do you already follow me on Instagram? If not, you really should and please be sure to say Hello!

Two-At-A-Time, It Ain't So Bad

At first, I thought the yarn would be a tangled mess, I would lose track of the needle(s) or some other random excuse. The truth is that it's pretty simple to figure this all out. Maybe a tiny bit more fiddling and sorting the yarn is in order if you're using multiple skeins but it isn't so bad.

Some of my more inspiring insta-friends have been whipping socks out and there I was, afraid to let go of my DPNs. For my next pair there had to be a change. I bought myself a 40” circular needle and some pretty yarns and here I go!

Finding a simple pattern for two-up "two-at-a-time" with an afterthought heel was a bit of a challenge so I did a combination of the cast-on and toe-up from Heidi Bears and since I'm making this pair for my Mom who has smaller feet, worked it up to only 56 stitches instead of the typical 64 around. Heidi Bears had a great diagram on her post as well to make this easier. The rest of the sock will be based on the pattern from Loop Knit Lounge which includes the afterthought heel and it is written for 48, 56 or 64 stitches. Perfect. 

For these socks, I'm using Knit Picks Stroll Fingering "Make Believe" and Black Market Wool's The Milo "Room Without A Window” to create my own stripes. I plan on doing the toes, three stripes, the heel and the upper band of the sock in the aqua and the rest in the purple-ish blend. 

The photo above marks one day's knitting in my spare time! How nice will it be to have two finished at the same time?

Ugly Socks

I will admit here and only once that my first adult pair of socks took me about two and a half years to complete. It was all because of that second sock. Call it "second sock syndrome" or whatever you'd like. They traveled across The United States! The yarn used for these was Lion Brand's Sock-Ease Prints in "Lemon Drop" and perhaps I chose the wrong project for them but these are referred to as my "Ugly Socks" now. I started the second sock's ribbing incorrectly and had to redo the whole thing. It was traumatic and I felt defeated but I pushed on. Happy I finally finished them.

Here they are:

I guess they aren't so bad.

We Have Yarn!

We are proud to announce we have launched new one-of-a-kind batches of hand painted Merino yarns in many different weights and fiber combinations. We source and mill locally and all of our products are made in America.

Have a look here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/yesterdaydream

Each of our skeins is guaranteed to have NO knots! How wonderful is that? We knit and crochet and understand the value of a perfect skein of scrumptious, lush, high-quality, squishy yarn. 

 

county fair

gaelic magic

This is so exciting for us! All of our yarns are also already on Ravelry so it will be easy for you to link/share your creations with us too!

We will be adding more fingering weight and worsted weight to our shop very soon. If you're interested in certain colors, we'd love to hear it. Comment below or get in touch with us another way:

website: http://yesterdaydream.com/
"Like" us on facebook: http://facebook.com/yesterdaydreamdotcom
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/yesterdaydream
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/yesterdaydream
Instagram: http://instagram.com/yesterdaydream

Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/brands/yesterdaydream

Basic Ribbed Hat

Today, I'm knitting a basic ribbed hat. This will fit teens to adults and it has incredible stretch for warmth and comfort. Scroll down for the link to the PDF file.

US13 DPNs
Wool-Ease Thick & Quick from Lion Brand Yarn

Cast on 48 stitches and K2, P2 around until the piece is 8-10 inches deep - this will allow you to choose the amount of 'slouch' you'd like.

For the decrease rounds:

K2tog, P2tog around (you will have 24 stitches at the end of this round)

K1, P1 around

K2tog around (you will have 12 stitches at the end of this round)

Pull yarn through to close.

Click here for the Ravelry link and PDF file. If you make one, email me a photo to be featured here...I'd love to see it!

These Days Are Golden

They really have been! Just yesterday, I was at the lake with my son Kevin and we enjoyed walking around, absorbing the beautiful Autumn colors. This is our "peak week" and it seems as if each leaf is a different color. To me, it's so important to get out and experience the seasons and all they bring with them before they pass you by. Too many people tend to complain their way through these spectacular days.

The gardens here have been cleaned up and readied for the cooler weather but inside, I've found myself baking cookies, cakes and biscuits. Lots of small things for the guys to snack on or bring along with them for the cooler days. I baked an apple spice cake last night but they finished it before I could snap a photo to share with you.

 

We've Been Featured!

Tex has been featured on the awesome ionlylikemonsters site! A big thanks to the j-monster for adding him. Tex is letting it get to his head a bit. We've been a fan of this site for a while and it's a huge compliment to be included with such fantastic creations.

How to Reseed Your Sunflowers!

This is how my sunflowers keep coming back each year. As I clip the spent flowers, I place them at the base. The bees are still happy and my flowers keep growing:

Jarmafali

Deep in the Atlantic Ocean is the island of Jarmafali. The creatures who inhabit the island live a rich life full of dancing, friends and the freshest berries. Depending on which berries a native of Jarmafali eats, their colors or shapes may vary. 

 

These measure between 6-8 inches and they're perfect for little hands to carry, hold and play with. There are some currently in the shop.

Tiny Chickens Tail Add-On

I recently found Anna Hrachovec's pattern for Tiny Chickens and they've been so fast and fun to knit up. Some of you who recently received orders may have found one. 

In making these little cuties, I've come up with a quick add-on tail for them. You can easily use different colors and skip the comb at the top of their head to have the look of many other birds. Below is my version of a pigeon, made using this very pattern. 

The add-on tail is very simple: 

Flip the chicken upside-down and with color 1, pick up and knit 3 stitches on the bottom center of the body, just where a tail would be. 

Row 1: Purl

Row 2: KFB, K1, KFB

Row 3: Bind off

Break yarn and weave in ends.

When you're finished, it should look something like this. Happy knitting!

"Magic" Crayons

I'm enjoying the day babysitting for my twin nieces and their older brother Alex. He and I enjoy learning new crafts together so, while his sisters napped, we made "Magic" Crayons. 

It's a quick and easy kids' craft: Take the ugly, broken crayons from your collection, remove their paper wrappers, break into smaller pieces and place inside a muffin tin. You can do each one multiple colors or solid colors. Bake in a preheated 275°F oven for about ten minutes or until they're melted. Once cooled, they should pop out.

Alex was enjoying seeing them melt through the oven window and this is a great way to teach children how to recycle and re-use old, broken objects. 

This post was inspired by a post seen on Instagram. If you're on there say hello and please feel free to post if you've tried this craft. 

The Bee Keeper's Quilt

I've done it! I've finally started The Bee Keeper's Quilt. It's been in my queue for far too long and I was inspired by Thea at Ladybug Hill Farm. The photos from her instagram feed were wonderful. 

It consists entirely of 3 inch "hexipuffs" made from sock wool. It's pretty difficult not to quickly become addicted to these squishy hexagons. This is all I've finished so far, having just started yesterday. These make for a perfect small traveling project as they take up very little space in a purse or bag and knit up very quickly.

They are a great way to use up some of those tiny bits of wool from other projects. You know you have some of those pretty little scraps wound up in your stash, come on. This quilt is going to take some time and I'm looking forward to creating some custom hexipuffs to make my quilt very personal. 

Have you worked on this project? How far have you gotten? Are you in hexilove? I am!

Slithery!

Captured on a snowy morning in the suburbs, Slithery enjoys hiding under the bed and guarding the laundry. They say you can tell their age by the number of stripes. He is fun for children of any age. More photos here.

Happy 2013! I've officially become one of those bloggers who doesn't really update often enough. The truth is I was a bit overwhelmed with the holiday season and I'm happy it's a fresh year, a new beginning. 

I've been busily working on some new designs and some new monsters too! So many monsters are in the works and some have been added to the online shop too. It's been fun to run wild with new ideas and refocus where I'd like to take this little business.

 Wynter

The Little Ladies series is also available in the shop. These ladies were completely handmade by my lovely mother and I. We designed the dolls and created one-of-a-kind outfits and accessories for each one. No two are alike! Some have already been adopted. These were so much fun to do and it was so nice to work so closely with my mom. 

 Little Ladies

Piper and Some Fall Show Dates

Piper is now up for adoption! She is striped in soft cotton and features hand embroidered details, leg warmers and a pixie hat. Please have a look here feel free to share the link. 

We are still in the process of scheduling our Fall shows and so far, the dates are: 

• August 25th - 9am-2pm, Rancocas Woods Craft Co-Op, 208 Creek Road, Mount Laurel
• October 13th - 9am-3pm, Florence American Legion
• November 24th - 9am-2pm, Rancocas Woods Craft Co-Op, 208 Creek Road, Mount Laurel

Hope to see you there! We will be adding more dates soon.

Mini Monsters!

These mini monsters are ready to travel! Mini monsters are a special breed. They enjoys camping out with friends and snacking on marshmallows. This listing includes the mini monster, his pillow, blanket and sleeping bag.

Each is hand knit and felted using fine quality wool and have sweet hand embroidered faces. These monsters' bags and pillows are made of cotton and is their preferred way of travel. Easy to clean up because they can simply be smushed into their sleeping bag with their belongings.

I've gifted my nephews with these and they're the most convenient toy for children of all ages.

New In The Shop!

The Harwin Cowl is back in the shop! It can be worn as a cowl, shrug, hood, turtleneck, capelet or twisty scarflette. The brooch is included too and it may be unpinned and moved!