Are You There Blog? It's Me, Elise...

Blog, sorry, I've neglected you! It has just been a busy, busy fall since coming back from vacation, having friends visit, returning to preschool, and keeping up with orders. Yes, orders have been coming in - yay!

Now let's get down to business because I have several things to report. First of all, we had an amazing trip down to Sunriver, OR. We did a lot of biking, swimming, golfing, and relaxing! The only downside to the trip was that it was a VERY long trip down and back. It took us about 7.5 hrs on the way down and (gulp) 10 on the way back! Argh! Note to self: we will do a Saturday to Saturday rental next time so we're not stuck in terrible I-5 traffic on the return. Fortunately these sweet little peg dollies from ImogensGarden entertained Kate for part of the drive. She was delighted to have a princess and mermaid and the dolls provided a much-needed reprieve to the endless playing of "The Little Mermaid" on the portable DVD player.


I enjoyed a lot of knitting time (since I was away from my sewing machine) and worked on a few fun and fast projects. I bought a fabulous hat pattern called Charlotte's Web to work on from one of my new Etsy "friends," knitwear designer Kate Oates who runs an Etsy shop called TotToppers and MakeTotToppers. I modifed the pattern and put the spider on a basic pumpkin hat to make it fresh for Halloween. The hat is for Caroline and love how it came out. The only problem? Getting little C to stand still long enough to take her pic in her new festive hat!



My other knitting project became a hat that my sister-in-law tipped me off on. She had spotted this great hat on this crafty woman's blog, so I emailed the knitter and asked her if she had any interest in selling me the pattern. She promptly sent me a message back saying that she was trying to put something together this fall or winter. I was already in love with the hat and couldn't wait so I modified the spider pattern (with some advice from Kate!) and was able to conjure up something similar for my beloved new little nephew.

I haven't had much time to knit since getting home because I've been catching up with a lot of sewing projects and orders, so I'm glad that I got some downtime in Oregon.

Last but not least, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I win this terrific dress from TheTrendyTot. In fact, I'm reluctant to even let you in on the information about the giveaway because I do not want any more competition! Oh well, check out Jen's blog for more info about winning one of her darling dresses. :)

Ciao!