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.

Meemer!

Meet Meemer. He listens to your secrets and never speaks a word. His soft red body is so squishy and flops when tossed upon a chair. He is super special and I can't wait for him to find a great home. Hopefully, he'll find someone who loves him as much as I do. 

He was also featured last month in my Underneath it All post. He was the one with the purple heart carefully stitched below his hand knit skin. His over-sized blue eyes make him really hard to resist.

New In The Shop

This super sweet pair of fingerless mitts were created from a vintage wool sweater and now have a new useful life ahead. I love the shade of green and the hand stitched flowers really give them a lovely touch. More photos and info is here.

New In The Shop

Introducing the Mistress Cowl. It's made to draw attention to your personal beauty while keeping you warm with this incredibly soft wool blend. More information on this piece may be found here.

Monkey, geraniums, oh my!

I've been placing certain plants outside and I'm already seeing results. This geranium was adopted from my mother last Fall. As she was getting ready to throw them into her compost, I asked her for one. It's beautiful.

I'm beginning to work on some side-projects in my spare time and one of them is to continue my Monkey Socks. This is a project I started last Spring and haven't really looked at. In fact, I purchased another set of size 1 needles to accommodate for my procrastination. I was so busy that I didn't even think about this project much at all. I am comfortable with this well-written pattern, but not as pleased with my choice to make them using Knit Picks' Palette yarn. I do like the edamame color, but this yarn splits too easily. A photo of my progress is shown below and hopefully, in the end will resemble the sock above. So far, so good. 

Mom's Banana Bread

Yesterday afternoon found me with five ripe bananas. I phoned my mother for a basic banana bread recipe and loved it so much, that I'd like to share with you:

• 1/2 cup butter or canola oil
• 2 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 cup organic sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2-1/3 cups bananas (mashed)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch of orange zest
• walnuts (lightly tossed in flour to keep them from sinking) optional

Preheat oven to 350º.

Using your hand mixer, cream together butter and sugars. Stir in eggs and bananas until well blended. Slowly add flour, baking soda, spices and orange zest. Once mixed completely, stir in the walnuts and pour into a lightly greased loaf pan. This is a one bowl recipe. My loaf pan measures 9.25x5.25x2.75"

Bake in center of oven for 1 hour. Serves a family. Enjoy!

If you make this, I'd love to know how yours is :)