Bring on the owls

Our house has been a tad bit owl obsessed lately...

First off...I
started this sweater (ravelry link) in June and I finally managed to sew on all 44
buttons and weave in the ends at the beginning of August. Thank goodness for a sewing machine that sews on buttons! I don't know what I would have done if I had to sew on all of those buttons by hand. Instead of
following the pattern, I followed Elizabeth Zimmerman's recipe for a
yoked sweater and then used the owl pattern in the yoke section
(modified to use purl stitches in the owl's body). I shortened the sleeves on the pattern too, because wool sweaters just get too warm for me in the winter. It either has to be a cardigan or short-sleeved for a wool sweater to work for me. This was a quick
knit and it was so nice to knit with thick, sheepy, Cascade Eco Wool!

• • •

Next, my youngest sister, Rachel, and I got together for another sewing lesson. She found this bag
on etsy and we copied the design to a T. Rachel did all of the applique
on this with a zig zag stitch and she did such a great job on it! It's
been a lot of fun having a fellow crafter over to make projects
together.

When we were younger, we pretended we were on Martha Stewart's cooking
show whenever we cooked together. We would stand behind the peninsula
in my parents' kitchen, talk to the camera and set up all of our
ingredients in miniature bowls so that we could toss them into the
bowl (just like on tv). If she keeps up with these mad sewing skills, we'll be ready to start our own "crafting show" on the side too. :)