one yarn at a time

moving day!

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:09:41 -0700

I'm moving this blog to TypePad so that I can find a broader community. While Vox is great, it's time to move on. You can find me at http://spjacksonphoto.typepad.com/.

Thanks!

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It's all about the totes and the knitting

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:40:11 -0800

It's the finished project round-up today. This was tote bag weekend. All totes, all the time.

The first two photos are of a birthday gift tote for our cousin Victoria, who turned 8 last week. It was filled with blank paper doll templates and ribbon and fabric for creating beautiful clothing and accessories. Next up is Lindsay's Very Sturdy canvas tote. Last, but not least is the makings of Gunnar's tote. It is now finished, but we don't have photos yet. A twin to Victoria's tote was also made for Annika.

Other finished projects include:

A Clapotis shawl knit out of Sundara Silky Merino Sportweight in Raspberry Ripple. It's slightly narrower than the original and used exactly two skeins of yarn (I had 24 inches left over). Next up is Jeff's blanket, partway done. I just thought I'd show the progress. I need to cast on the next color strip in brown, which will go across the light blue and green. Then we repeat the colors with more blocks. It's currently about 2 feet x 3 feet and will end up being 4 feet x 5 feet or so. It's knit in Lavold Silky Wool.

I am also working on a pair of Jaywalker socks that are a gift. They're knit out of Socks that Rock medium weight in Fairgrounds. I'm up to the gusset, then on to the foot. I'll show a progress shot this weekend.

Hope to be more exciting next time.

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Still running about a week behind (but I finally cleaned up the marble run)

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 19:03:03 -0800

Two weekends ago (I know, I know...), Jeff's cousin Mike and his son Gabe came to visit us for the weekend. They were both a delight to have around, especially when Mike mistook a photo of Jeff for "some guy who is a cross between a rugby player and an underwear model." Mike will now always be Jeff's best friend. What did we do with our lovely house guests you ask?

We played bocce ball in the back yard.

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If memory serves, Mike and Gabe were the big winners. Gabe was particularly good at ball placement. Jeff and Annika need some practice!

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We built marble runs. These take a lot of work, but are so fun.
Here is one creation. There were many others that had varying levels of success. This one was a winner.

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Annika climbed trees. Big shock. She's in the fig tree in the yard. She has a little perch that's about halfway up. It's way more fun when there are leaves and Mommy can't find you to take your picture.

Big fun was had by all. Gunnar had a sleepover at a friend's house, so Annika had Gabe all to herself. She was one happy girl, not having to share her cousin with her big brother.

I'd blog this past weekend, but I took no photos. We had a Mardi Gras party on Sunday that was much fun. We had a crawfish boil and Annika sucked the heads. Everyone else behaved well and the food was yummy. Yay! Now I'm caught up.

Next up - crafting help!

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Okay, this part of the post is primarily for Sarah, but anyone else can feel free to weigh in. Annika and I agreed on this color scheme and set of fabrics, plus one aqua blue that is not pictured, for her room. I can also add solids for some balance. I have between 1-2 yards of each one. Quilt? Large colorblocked coverlet backed in something coordinating (sort of easy faux quilt that is more at my skill level)? Denyse Schmidt style strips of color that don't have to be straight lines? I need ideas, but not complex ideas.

The girl needs to learn to love her room. I'm bribing her with pretties. Not with pink and purple unicorns and ballerinas with bows in their hair and the full set of My Little Pony type of pretties, but pretties all the same. In addition to redecorating, I'd love other suggestions for convincing her that her own room is cool and a fun place to be. Help...

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Just checking in...

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:39:59 -0800

A quick post tonight. It's been busy with work and knitting and cooking and kids. I'm trying to photograph along the way. Here are some recent photos.

STR Scarf

Here's some knitting. I finished this a while ago and finally took a photo. It's a very simple garter stitch scarf for Gunnar that I made from Socks that Rock lightweight in Titania's Revenge. He claimed it as his own. There's a matching hat that has a stripe of green in the middle because I needed to stretch the yarn a little. Right now I'm working on a blanket for Jeff. I'll take progress shots this weekend. I also finished the Argosy scarf. Must blog before mailing. Oh, and the Clapotis from Sundara yarn Silky Merino Sport Weight. I just ordered more yarn from her - the sport weight merino in Grass over Lime. It's going to become Wicked. I can't wait to get it.

Jakey

It's my boy. He was enjoying the sunshine and I stole a photo. He looks so majestic here. Love. This. Dog. We watched the dog show and no dog compares to my Jakey. Or to Luna. We'll blog her next time. Right now she's still on my list for stealing 4 raw hamburgers that Jeff foolishly left on the counter while he started the grill.

Soup?

Gunnar is mixing rainwater (yes! rain in Phoenix!) and leaves and stuff to make outdoor soup. Pumpkina also met an untimely death in this process. Farewell Pumpkina. It was nice while it lasted.

Goggles

Annika has quite the fashion sense. Not sure what else to say, other than I'm glad she has limited this look to the back yard. I think she's ready for it to be swimming weather.

Lasagne

Yummm... We made homemade lasagne and macaroni and cheese for dinner last weekend. Lasagne for Lindsay and mac-n-cheese for Gunnar and Annika. It was lotsa home cookin' that weekend. This weekend we're making jambalaya, crawfish boil, and bread pudding with whiskey sauce for our reborn Mardi Gras party. Hurricanes will also be served. Stay tuned for the report.

I think that's it from here. I'd just like to mention that it is now 62 weeks until Jeff finishes law school. Not that I'm counting....

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Hearts and Crafts weekend

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 13:01:25 -0800

The kids and I spent yesterday preparing for Valentine's Day - early for a change! Usually we have a mad dash at the end to make cards and it's a huge disaster. This year, in all our wisdom, we created the cards early so we just have to put names on them and sign them before delivery. Gunnar's valentines are shown above. Here are Annika's (yes, made by Mommy - she will decorate them):

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There are a few of them stacked together. We made red and pink. She'll color the hearts and add the names. We had much fun with our Valentine production line. Now I have to figure out how to use all of the punched out hearts. Ideas?

The second photo above shows our seasonal display on the buffet in the entry. It shares many elements with the Christmas display, since the red Swedish candelabra and the white hobnail dishes work for both holidays. We bought the hearts on the garland at Ikea for 99 cents per box of 4. They're supposed to be for Christmas, but I think they're perfect for the Valentine decor. Here's another look.

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The next project that was started this weekend (but not finished) was an Argosy scarf in the red yarn on the swift. It's Sweet Georgia Speed Demon sock yarn in Merlot. It's a beautiful, rich color of red that will be perfect for its mystery recipient. Here's a close up of the yarn. Progress shots later.

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Last on the crafting front (so far - it's only 1:45 on Sunday!) is a skirt for Annika. She has decided that she hates jeans and she hates cords and she will only wear skirts. I put her in a really cute pair of jeans that I bought her for Christmas and she had a huge tantrum. "I look like a rock star in these jeans and that is NOT cool!!!!" Sigh. Being too lazy to go look for patterns, I broke out the measuring tape and the butcher paper and made a 2 piece pattern for an elastic waist A-line skirt. We found some white twill in the cupboard
that was left over from some Ikea curtains 3 years ago that we used for the practice skirt. I didn't want to screw up fabric that I care about. A little bit of cutting, a little bit of sewing, and ta daaaa....

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It's a little white skirt! I trimmed the hem with a pink white and green grosgrain ribbon so it wasn't so boring. I'm pretty pleased with the result, but next time I'll make it a little wider at the hem - this is a little on the narrow side for serious running and tree climbing. Of course, it's also white, so tree climbing would be a bad idea. I'm sure it'll be trashed in no time, but I'm happy with it as my first try. Now I need to do the same thing for me. You want to see another look or two? Okay, if you insist.

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I hope everyone else had a productive weekend too.

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Big yarn destash

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 16:26:06 -0800

Koigu KPPPM pinks , purples yellow, orange

Yarn Destash. Please view my Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14632846@N00/sets/72157594490727704/

All lots are from one dyelot unless otherwise noted. Payment through Paypal. I will ship within 1 business day of payment. Thanks for helping me declutter!

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The clean slate of January

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:41:43 -0800

We're back in the swing of things in the Jackson household. Kids back in school, Jeff back in law school (halfway done!!!), me back at work setting new goals and looking forward to being done with having a job (did I mention that he's halfway done?). We went for a walk this weekend that for some reason, really kick-started that January thinking for me. Must have been the cold (45 degrees! In Phoenix!). We took photos along the way - here's some of what we saw.

The neighbor's lemons

All the citrus trees in the neighborhood are ripening. I'm so jealous - I think we're the only ones without one. Sniff.

Squaw Peak

This is one of the mountains near our house - the very offensively named Squaw Peak, as well as Piestewa Peak. To the north of us is North Mountain. I love the way the mountains turn pink when the sun starts to go down. The light can make Phoenix such a beautiful place.

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My boy. With a very Gunnar look on his face. Kid seriously needs a haircut - must happen this weekend.

Walk Time

Jeff and Annika walking in front of me. It really was cold that day - Annika has a coat on and boots and everything! That never happens. Jeff, of course had to be manly and keep his shorts on. He regretted that decision.

On those January resolutions...

I'm not usually a resolution person, but this year I really do have some areas of my life where I'd like to see some growth. Well, one area in particular. This is the year that I plan to grow my photography business so that it pays the bills and is rewarding financially as well as personally. My goal is to have photography provide 1/3 of the income that we generate this year. It's a big goal, but I think it's doable with a lot of hard work and some good networking. I'd love to know what has worked for others in growing a portrait photography business. What are the best ways to get your name out there?

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I want to expand my crafting activities into more sewing and creative crafts with the kids, teaching them to knit and to sew. They're also passionate about clay and the pottery wheel. We need to take more time on the weekends to dive into projects. I'd like to convince my husband that it's okay for the dining room table to look like this most of the time. It would be fantastic to have a craft room or a studio, but I don't. Since our living space is essentially one huge room, the arts and craft supplies tend to take over. I love having creative tools out for the kids and for me. It drives Jeff crazy. So I guess my resolution is really for him. He'll learn to love it. Really he will.

I think my most difficult goal for this year will be to just live in this year, in now. I've already mentally moved ahead from here to the next thing - to June 2008. To Jeff graduating and getting a job again. To Lindsay graduating and heading off to college. To not having a "real" job anymore and being able to work as much as I want at what I love. To living again in a place where I can walk to my coffee and to the store, and can go for days without driving a car. I need to remember to step back and enjoy each day as it comes. I need to do my best at work each day I'm there by being a good manager and by making good decisions. To enjoy my life in Phoenix because there is so much that is wonderful about Phoenix. I need to treasure each day that I have with my family, since this is the only year that they are 4, 8 and 16. This year will never come again and I don't want to miss it by looking ahead to next year. One way that I'm going to accomplish this is to bring my camera wherever I go so I don't miss the special moments or forget who they were this year. With photos like this one to keep me going, it's going to be a very memorable year.

Daddy Love

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Christmas Vacation roadtrip. Not crazy after all.

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 11:45:33 -0800

We drove for our Christmas vacation from Phoenix to the San Francisco Bay area, then to Portland for a few days, up to Seattle, and then made the trek back home. 2 adults, a 16 year old, an 8 year old and a 4 (no Mom! I'm 4-1/2 now!) year old, as well as 2 large dogs made for a very packed Eurovan. While Jeff and I put on a brave face about the drive, we were secretly dreading the trip. I was so pleased and surprised that not only was it a tolerable drive, it was even enjoyable.

The kids spent a lot of time like this:

They also colored, read books and played Electronic Battleship. Lindsay slept, listened to her iPod, and read trashy novels as a 16 year old will do. We looked for happy cows on hillsides, we watched way too many movies, we commented on the terrible driving habits of others (because we are perfect drivers! Perfect!) we talked about life. We all enjoyed each other's company. At a time in our lives when every child is in a different school and we all go in so many directions, it was a real gift to just be together in the car.

Our first stop was at Uncle Jay's house in Fremont, CA. We loved hanging out with this little guy. The kids were so happy to see their cousin.

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We ate pizza and talked and watched Nacho Libre (again). Little Casey watched our dogs play in the back yard. My kids found their inner toddlers and had a great time playing with the noisy baby toys. Got up the next morning and hit the road for Portland.

We have always had a firm policy about spending Christmas at home. We made an exception this year for a very special person. Grandma Mavis. My grandma spent Christmas Eve with her 3 children, her 5 grandchildren, and her 5 great-grandchildren, as well as the assorted spouses. Great-grandchild number 6 was still baking in the oven, so he missed the big day (edited to clarify: my cousin Christine is the happy mommy to number 6, aka Drew, born on January 10. Not me). I was so happy to break the rules to give that gift to my grandmother and to all of us. That day is one that we'll always treasure. Here's Lindsay with her great-grandma.

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Santa did manage to find us at Grandpa's house. The kids were delighted. We scratched our heads wondering how we'd get everything home.

From Portland, we made our way to Seattle in the stormiest, nastiest, LONGEST drive between those two cities that I have ever experienced. 5 hours? It was awful. But we were thrilled to get there and see all of our friends and family. The highlights?

Unwinding every evening with Jeanne and Rob. Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! for taking all of us in.
Seeing Sarah and the boys. Sarah gave me the yummiest handspun yarn. The kids were so delighted to see each other. It's amazing that 4 year olds will remember each other after a year and just hug and run off and play.
Meeting Shane. Andrea and Max, you have the loveliest baby. Sorry Annika dropped him...
Jeff & Sandi's Christmas lights. They never fail to blow our minds. Sorry no photos - I was too overcome to take them.
Seeing the old neighborhood friends. Playing with baby Drew, drinking wine with Jeff & Eric, hanging out with Sallyn in her drywall and heat-free home. I expect some walls next time!
A wonderful evening and meal with my mom and Papa Don
Spending time with the rest of the Jackson clan

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The big super-secret surprise part of the trip was a 40th wedding anniversary party for Jeff's parents. We plotted and we planned and we pulled it off. The worst part was the night before when only 3 families came to the open house that they held for everyone to come and see us. Terry was so sad and disappointed and was putting on such a brave face. We felt soooo guilty but kept telling ourselves that it would all be okay the next day when this happened (see stage left). They walked into the banquet room at Maggiano's and Terry burst into tears. 40 of their closest friends and family were there to celebrate their 40 years of marriage. And they had No Idea. Thanks to everyone who kept their big mouths shut so this could be a proper surprise!

Paul and Terry - your marriage is a real testament to the power of being friends, loving each other, and forgiving each other day after day. You set a powerful example for the rest of us.

We went back to Portland the next day for a rousing night of Pink Martini with my dad and Donna. Carol Channing was the surprise opening act, which made the night even more amazing. She's 85 years old and still shakin' it. Thanks Dad!

Back to Fremont for a good night's sleep and an early morning start to Phoenix.

Home to sunshine and our own space. Our own beds. Whew!

Would I do it again? Yes. But not for a while.

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First Entry - it's a BIG day!

nobody@vox.com(SarahJackson) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:39:32 -0800

I guess it's time to jump onto the blogging bandwagon. I read so many blogs for inspiration and I'm anxious to share everything that I've been working on in my photography and in my crafting life. I'll start with a happy picture of the family.

November in the park

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