a little crochet

A few weeks ago I got myself the newest Mollie Makes magazine, as motivation to finish a few commissions. It came with a free kit to crochet a rose brooch, which I was pretty excited about. 

Except I forgot about how bad I am at reading crochet patterns. I ended up starting this thing three times before I was able to complete it. (Hint: read up on the differences between British and American crochet terms before you start a new project.)

 Luckily it turned out pretty cute! 

After that hard-won success, I dove into Goodknits' Doily Brooch pattern. Lisa of Goodknits released this as a free pattern right before Mother's Day - she's so nice - so I crocheted up one for my Mom and one for my Grandma. This is such a cute and detailed pattern, and only took about 40 minutes! I will definitely be making another one for myself! 

baby's first commercial (background)

Hey friends. In March I worked background (aka I was an "extra") on a Norwegian grocery store commercial, and it's pretty funny to watch. You can't embed it right from the site, but you can click here and watch it. You can see me during the dance sequence, on the left side:

Enjoy! 

Makeover Wars!

Last month I had the pleasure of doing a little makeover on my friend, Rebekah, for a new web series called Makeover Wars. It's a bit of a competition between me & Rebekah's boyfriend, so if you want to vote for my look after watching, please do! 

Ps. How crazy is that face I'm making in the screen shot? 

"You Have No Idea" Book Review

As a child of the 90's, I really only knew Vanessa Williams as a pop star. She sang hits like "Save the Best for Last"and the pop version of "Colors of the Wind", but I was way more interested in singing along to the original cast recordings for "Les Mis" and "Phantom of the Opera." (Nerd alert!) Little did I know, that's what Vanessa would rather have been doing, too. I loved getting to know Vannessa as a more well-rounded person through her autobiography, "You Have No Idea."

"You Have No Idea," written by Vanessa and her mother, Helen, is not only a vivid re-telling of Vanessa’s life, but an interesting take on the form of autobiography. Each chapter begins with Vanessa's recollections and stories, and ends with her mother commenting in the same events.  Sprinkled along the way are little comments and anecdotes from Vanessa and he mother. The format really lends itself to Vanessa's story. Yes, there are stories if broadway and Hollywood, but the core of Vanessa's story lies in her family. Her strong familial relationships really shine, and it's clear how she was able to make a successful career - the support, warmth, and sometimes challenges of a strong family.

This post is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but the opinions expressed are my own. Past book reviews are here. 

a special dress for a special lady

A few months ago, my friend Kate asked me a huge favor - to design & make her wedding dress. 

I've often thought about my own future wedding dress - would I make it? Possibly, but I'd worry about the stress. I'd worry it would be too complicated for me to execute or that I would make a mistake. 

So when Kate asked me to make her dress, these same thoughts ran through my head. I said "yes," though, because she is planning a relaxed, simple wedding. I knew I could confidently make a simple, pretty dress with a few special details. 

Kate and I collaborated on the design, shopped for fabric together, and I did the actual construction. I can't wait to show you the finished product after her wedding in June! 

...until then, enjoy these in-process photos. 

Instagrams from April

       

1. Our little Easter Baskets. 2. A fabulous, but too-small vintage coat. 3. At the "Olympics"... on set for a commercial. 4. Vintage dress time! 5. Nail polish obsession (I blame Danielle and Cirilia). 6. Chillin' in the pool. 7. Flowers at work. 8. Two-at-a-time toe-up socks. 9. The set for Chris' play. 10. Double rainbow! 11. Mickey sweater. 12. A little fabric present from Caitlin! 13. A bunny ring I couldn't resist. 14. Getting back into juicing! 

sneak peeks

It's been a bit quiet here on the blog, but not for lack of crafty business here at chateau Canavan. It's just that most of the crafty projects are on the secret side. Like this little wisp of a knit.

I won't tell you what it is, but I will tell you that it's soft and light and lovely.

And then there's some of this happening:

I've been tea-dyeing wool yarn for an upcoming project with WORK + SHELTER. I'm so excited to be a part of this awesome organization. W + S is a shelter in India where "women in need can come to live and work," and are taught the skills they need to contribute to their community. Read more about it here. 

Finishing School is here!

My very first pattern, Finishing School, is here! 

Along with the rest of the fabulous designs from the first issue of Holla Knits.

Finishing School is a classic sleeveless sweater with an eye for detail. The sweater is designed to fit closely with gentle shaping around the waist, a curved hem and a sporty sailor collar. If you are scared of finishing, this sweater is for you, guiding you through each finishing technique before you can move on to knitting the next section of the sweater.

This sweater is designed to fit snugly with no ease. If you’d like the sweater to fit a bit looser, knit one size up. The construction is unique: You begin knitting at the front hem, then knit the collar separately and seam to the front. After knitting the collar, the back is picked up from the square edge and knit from the top down to the hem. While the hem stitches are live, the sides are seamed and then, finally, the bottom edge is picked up along the front and continued onto the live stitches to create a neat seamed hem.

The pattern is $6, and available for download here. Or you can just click the handy button on my left sidebar! 

A Tale of Two Socks... a story of failure

Oh, socks, how you continue to be my nemesis. 

These socks don't look too bad, right? Wrong. 

I started knitting the left sock last October, using dpn's, and they perfectly fit my foot. But, that was too slow for me, so I invested in a tiny circular needle, and finished the leg of the left sock at a quicker pace. Two weeks ago, I decided to take a break from the mini mittens and finally knit the second sock, also using the tiny circ. 

Guess what. My tension and gauge are totally different on the tiny circ, and I ended up with one sock that is about an inch and a half longer than the other. ....yup, sock knitting continues to illude me. 

From our Easter Bunny to your's...