My new hobby.

I've taken up knitting! I'm a knitter! And I'm so totally excited about it. I love the idea of making things to wear. I've done a lot of cross stitching and my friend Alicia and I have a shared craft blog. But, I haven't really created anything that I could wear. And, if you've been following along here at Chicken Fried Sushi, you know I likes things to wear.

Of course - before I even bought yarn or needles - I ran out and purchased a book full of difficult and complicated patterns.

Because, you know...that's smart. Sigh. Then I backtracked and went online. I found Lion Brand Yarn's Learn to Knit section really clear and helpful. It has both illustrated instructions and videos for each stitch. I also read somewhere on these here Interwebz that a knit stitch scarf was a very easy first project. So I made one!

When I finished it, I realized that I had dropped two stitches right next to each other which created a hole in the scarf.  So, I knitted a little rose out of my super awesome yet difficult book to plug the hole and it came out really cute!  But, also the size of half Cheeseball's head.  I tried to modify the pattern to make it smaller but apparently modifying patterns is waaaay over my pay grade.  I ended up just knitting a few rows of knit 2, purl 2 and then stitching the ends together and gathering the "flower" in the center.  I may go back and add a little button in the middle of it at some point.  I'm actually glad I made that mistake, because I think the flower is really cute on the scarf.

I think she likes it, too!

I ordered The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting: Learn to Knit with More Than 30 Cool, Easy Patterns and can't wait for it to get here! A lot of the patterns on line are easy and you can certainly learn to knit with them but they fall woefully short on the cool criterion.

I also can't wait to hit up the new etsy shop of an old high school friend. She weaves and hand dyes her own fibers and they are so beautiful. I'll need to wait until the things I knit doen't have holes that need to be plugged or wildly varied stitch sizing. So, it could be a while...

Ah, consumerism.

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I've gone on a bit of a shopping spree over the past few days. I'm rationalizing by pointing to the fact that I've been so focused on the house and the move that I haven't really bought myself anything in quite a while. Also, I really wanted this stuff.

Sunday was the Jean Paul Gaultier for Target release. I rose and I shone and I hustled over to Target first thing. Before 9:00. AM. Not only did my Target not have any of the stuff out, they had no idea what I was talking about. All the way up to the manager! Another reason I won't miss this town.

So, back home and to Target.com I went.  The trench I really, really wanted sold out by 4am Sunday morning.

But, I did grab this dress:

And this top:

Then, a certain someone got me in big trouble by texting me to check out the L.A.M.B. boutique on Rue La La. Big trouble.

Who could resist these!? Not me.

And then. And then. I went back to Target today. And they finally had the Gaultier line out! So, I bought this.

Which...looks ridiculous in this picture, no?  Yes.  Yes, it does.  But it's actually really cute!

Ahem.  And I bought this.

And, now I will go to Target every day until they get the rest of the line (specifically THAT TRENCH) in.  And I will buy the trench.  And then I will need to be separated from my debit card for a good, long time.

Tea Party Breakdown

I had so much fun getting everything together for this party that I thought I'd go through it all here for posterity.

I started off the decorations with these giant tissue pom poms I first saw on Nothing But Bonfires with instructions by Martha Stewart:



Martha's instructions turned me on to the matching plate decorations. Hers are napkin rings, but with no cloth napkins, I just prettied up the plates with them.



For the placecards, I printed the girls' names and a vintage teapot from The Graphics Fairy. (Who, by the way, posts a new vintage clip art every day and they're all pretty darn awesome. I highly recommend subscribing.) I added a sparkly piece of patterned paper across the top and punched out a few butterflies from the same paper.

I also used a tea cup from The Graphics Fairy and patterned paper for the invitations. Some of the leftover solid color cardstock from the recipe binders came in handy for the invite and its envelope.

I laid the bracelets on the table so the girls could wear them during the party. I strung these together with beads from Michaels, memory wire and some finishings I stole from a jewelry kit that Nana had bought Cheeseball a while back.

For refreshments, I wanted everything to be tiny and girly. As the decor and plans evolved, I seemed to be leaning toward a garden theme. So I made sandwiches with cheese, orange marmalade and peanut butter & nutella (not all together) and cut them out with flower and mushroom shaped cookie cutters.



I made chocolate cupcakes and orange cupcakes, both were recipes out of books from the library and neither were particularly special. I really like the idea of orange cupcakes and will have to tinker with a recipe until I can make that orange flavor really stand out.

I used pearl dust, edible glitter, sprinkles and a small star tip for the various cupcake decorations. The muffin cups came from the cutest little online store - Bake It Pretty. I had so much fun with these that I really want to work on my piping and get the hang of a few frosting flowers and other techniques.



I printed these cute tea cup note cards from Creature Comforts on cardstock for the girls to color.



I wanted to make a bingo style game with tea party clip art but I spent an hour that morning reinstalling drivers to get my printer to work so I didn't get a chance. :( Maybe next time!

Linked on Brag Monday on *The Graphics Fairy* and Making the World Cuter Monday.



Technorati tags: tea party, DIY, kids party