Baby Kimono Sweater for Zoe

I made this adorable kimono sweater for Zoe on a DC to New England road trip this weekend... 95 North has never experienced such speed crocheting.

This pattern is awesome- crocheted top down in one piece, so there are no awkward seams. The edging is super cute, and you can do ties or buttons for fasteners.

I can't wait to make it in more colors... I like this Violet Veil yarn from Lily, but I think a solid color with contrasting edge would be even cuter. Long sleeves could work, too.

I love this pattern so much, I can't wait to try this other cute sweater from the designer!

Crochet Spring Scarf

This scarf crocheted up really quickly and was super easy.  I like the hole-y look you get by skipping every other stitch. 

I really love the color of the yarn, too, and the fact that it's organic cotton.  My only complaint is that I don't love the lumpy texture of the yarn.  In the past I felt like lumpy yarn was helpful to cover up any mistakes I made, but now I don't really care for it... no stitch definition.  Apparently my crochet tastes have matured ;-)

Handmade Wedding!!

So... Tim and I got married this past weekend!  

Here are the deets:

The ceremony: held amongst the flowers in the gardens at the Landis Arboretum in Esperance, NY

The dress: hand sewn by the Real Martha based on this Butterick Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique pattern with cross-over bust, empire waist and full skirt.  Made with white linen (from Hancock Fabrics) and mauve linen (from G Street Fabrics).  Easy and comfy to wear, beautifully made!!

The necklace: handmade by moi using multiple strands of freshwater pearls from Stars Beads, chunky and funky to contrast the sweet dress

The tie: revamped from one of my dad's old ties from the '80s by the super cute, friendly and talented ladies at Ginger Root Designs on U Street

The rings: hand-hammered from recycled sterling silver by Beth at Elizabeth Scott Designs

The dinner: catered by the lovely folks at A Taste of Europe in Cobleskill, NY.. my favorite was the spicy and rich goulash, or maybe the coq au vin.

The photography: beautifully shot by Jennifer

Baby's First Lobster!!

Zoe pictured here with the Real Martha.

That's pretty much it.

Enjoy.

Individual Peach Cobblers

A couple weeks ago Tim came home from work with some super fresh and ripe local peaches. We ate most of them straight up as a snack, but eventually there were two of them still sitting there, getting a little wrinkly and begging to be mixed with butter and sugar and turned into dessert. Luckily for us, Joy the Baker had just posted this cute recipe for Peach Cobbler for One...

Joy's topping recipe is really delicious- a little body from the oatmeal, unexpected tropical flavor from the coconut, lots of butter and sugar.  

Since we had 2 peaches, I doubled the topping recipe. This may have been an unnecessary step. I never thought I'd say this, but there was actually too much topping. 

What?! 

Yes, too much topping. 

I think I could have done one topping recipe and split it among the 2 peaches...

Crochet Baby Cardigan

Wow. The end of August was really a doozy... earthquakes, hurricanes, car accidents, deaths... I barely knew (or know) how to wrap my head around it.

In the midst of all of this I distracted myself by crocheting and thinking about cute babies... 

I had been looking for a simple sweater pattern to get me started on crocheting something wearable (besides a scarf or hat), and I found and printed a baby cardigan project that no longer seems to exist on the Jo-Ann fabric website, strangely. The cardigan was made in three pieces (back with back of sleeves and two front pieces with the front of the sleeves). Crocheted with 2 different yarns held together, alternating rows of single and double crochet for a stripey effect, and finally whipstitched together at the end, this was pretty straightforward. It called for a tie closure, but somehow I miscounted and ended up with one side overlapping the other, so I sewed 3 buttons on in lieu of the ties. The buttons slide easily between the double crochet stitches, so there was no need for me to mess with buttonholes. 

Lincoln likes it.

UPDATE: Zoe looking cute in her sweater!

Martinis for Theresa

My grandmother passed away last month after a long life full of good times, good food and good martinis. In the middle of Hurricane Irene, we drank martinis in her honor. We drank them the way she liked them: bone dry with Beefeater gin. Ideally we would have chilled the gin in advance and used martini glasses, but the hurricane put a damper on our plans. Literally.

Here's how you make them (a skill all of Theresa's grandchildren had down to a T since we were kids):


1. Chill the glass by filling it with lots of ice and cold water

2. Once chilled, empty out the ice and water

3. Splash a small amount of vermouth in the glass and swirl it around

4. Toss the vermouth out

5. Fill the glass with Beefeater gin

6. Add your garnish... a twist of lemon or a stick of olives will do

7. Drink to Theresa