snakes and owls

hey everyone! thanks for all the rusted root love. i am really enjoying it - it's a great summer sweater! and sorry for the extended break - it wasn't intentional. everyday stuff seems to have gotten in the way of both knitting and blogging lately, so i haven't had much to write about. i've been making minimal progress on my oak and apple socks, as well as the socks i restarted for my brother. i also started brigitte, and i'm completely unsure about it. i might hate the color, but i can't decide. i'm going to persevere with it for a while though - i figure there's nothing else really that i could do with that cotton braid i got to make with it! it's such a weird yarn. definitely in the novelty yarn category, and i think that fact is making me a little uneasy. i should just embrace it i guess. anyway, none of those projects are really photo-worthy at this point, but they should be soon.





i did finally make something from the lotta jansdotter book, simple sewing- a draft snake! this is the project that immediately captured my imagination when i first flipped through the book. i just think it's such a cute idea, and a great way to mix fabrics. and of course, it's a super easy project, so that adds to its appeal. i whipped this up in just about an hour, using some of the new katie jump rope fabric and a cute little bumblebee linen that i've had for a while. the funnest part was filling it with lentils. it's such a narrow little tube that i had to drop the lentils in with a tablespoon (i don't have a funnel but i certainly wished i did at the time). it was time-consuming but oddly relaxing. i think i overstuffed the snake a little though, because the seams look a little stretched now. oh well. anyway, i think it turned out very cute, and it's now sitting in one of the windows in our living room - not really doing its job at the moment, since there really aren't any drafts to speak of this time of year. but i'm sure it will work great in a few months! i can see myself making these for all our other windows too, and making them as gifts. i've already had one request for a draft snake as a birthday gift!



also, i just wanted to show off the most recent addition to my owl collection: little salt and pepper shakers! i love these. my friend jessica gave them to me recently, and they are cheering up our kitchen table now. they're so sweet!

hope you all have a good 4th of july (if you're celebrating). we're going to go see ratatouille here in a bit, then go find a place for a picnic and some fireworks-watching.