Thursday, March 27, 2014

100 Happy Days

Have you heard of the 100 Happy Days challenge that's been sweeping the internet lately?

The point of it is to take a picture of one thing that makes you happy every day for 100 days in a row.  What I love about the idea is that it's not meant to be a contest to see who's happiest or a way to brag about all the cool things that are going on in your life, it's just a fun challenge to help you notice all the little things that make you happy every day.  There really is a lot to be happy about, isn't there?

I've just started participating in the challenge.  I'll be posting my pictures daily on my Instagram account and doing a weekly wrap-up here on the blog too.


It's only been 3 days so far:
Day 1:  This yummy smoothie was perfection by the beach.
Day 2:  Justin drove me around on a scooter in St. Marten (which was scary but fun!).
Day 3:  We played one last game of Catan with our diver friends who are leaving us this weekend.

So far I'm having fun with the challenge; we'll see if I make it to day 100!

What about you?  Would you ever do a challenge like this?

xoxo
Laura

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Hi, Kate!


Happy birthday, Kate!  You're the best!

I know it snowed in your part of the world today, but maybe some visions of our recent cruise together will warm you up?


As Birthday Week draws to a close, I can't help but look forward to this time next year because there's a good chance that I'll finally get to spend it at home with my family.  My fingers are crossed!

xoxo
Laura

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Hi, Mom!


Happy birthday, Mom!

I wish I could be there to do fun things with you like this:


Or maybe even just do a little knitting together.

This year, I gave my mom a book called Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting, which sounds awesome and which I haven't had a chance to read yet.  Have any of you guys read it? Hopefully I'll find a little time to download it onto my Kindle and start reading it soon.

Anyway, I love you, Mom, and I hope you had a great birthday!

xoxo
Laura

Friday, March 21, 2014

Hi, Dad!


Birthday Week is upon us again.

If you're a newish reader here, you may not know what that is.  You see, everyone in my immediate family (with the exception of me) celebrates their birthday within one week of each other, and we've started calling it Birthday Week.

I really like it because I get to dedicate the whole week to how much I love my family members.  So without further ado...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!

I hope you're spending the day doing fun things like this with Mom:


And if you're really lucky, maybe you'll even get to look at some pretty rocks!


(My parents are geologists.)

I love you, Dad!

xoxo
Laura

Monday, March 17, 2014

A Little Shamrock


Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(Try not to get pinched.)

I embroidered a little shamrock onto some pretty pink paper this morning, just for funsies.

It was super easy.  I used a needle to punch holes in the shape of the shamrock and then embroidered into them with a backstitch.



Perhaps I'll have the luck of the Irish on my side when I skate in the shows tonight?
We'll see...

xoxo
Laura

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A Sweatshirt Refashion

It's finally that time of year when people back home get to replace their coats and snow boots with sweatshirts and flip-flops (except, of course, for the days when we have random giant spring snowstorms).  It's also the time of year when I tend to pull out last year's spring wardrobe and feel a little bit uninspired by my old clothes.

So that's why I decided to do a sweatshirt redesign today that's super easy and effective.  All it took was a purple ribbon to breathe new life into an old staple.


To do this to your own sweatshirt, you'll need the following:
-  3 or 4 feet of satin ribbon
-  scissors
-  a safety pin
-  a lighter

Here I am, rocking my sweatshirt pre-ribbon...


I happen to love this sweatshirt because it's super cozy and because it was a Christmas present.  I also thought it would be the perfect canvas for this project because it's a solid color and, therefore, a blank canvas for the colorful ribbons.

That certainly doesn't mean you have to use a sweatshirt that's only one color for your version of this project, though.  The more creative you get with your color combos, the more fun you could have with this.

Here are the directions:


1.  Pull the old string out of your sweatshirt.

2.  Attach a safety pin to the end of the ribbon and insert it into the hole that you pulled the old string out of.

3.  Urge the safety pin to travel all the way through the edge of the hood until it reaches the hole on the other side.  The easiest way to do this is to scrunch up the edge of the hood (as shown above) then pinch the safety pin and un-scrunch the edge, thus moving the pin a couple of inches along the edge.  Repeat that process until it makes it all the way across the hood.

4.  Pull the ribbon out of the second hole.  You'll now officially have a ribbon where the original string used to be.

5.  Remove the safety pin from the ribbon and tie a knot where you would like each side of the ribbon to end.

6.  Cut off the excess ribbon.  Use a lighter to melt the edges of the ribbon that you just cut; it'll keep the ribbon from fraying.




Oh, and did I mention that this whole process takes less than 5 minutes and costs less than 5 dollars?  Seriously.  The only thing I had to purchase was my ribbon which cost $1 at the dollar store.  I already had the scissors and the safety pin and I borrowed the lighter from a friend. Pretty sweet, right?

Happy refashioning!
xoxo
Laura

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Many Colors of the Ocean


The world is full of endless inspirations, as long as you remember to notice them.

Right now I'm living in one of the hottest travel destinations in the world, the good old Caribbean, and I feel like I've been so busy photographing various craft projects that I haven't really been sharing my surroundings with your guys.  I'm going to change that, starting right now, because this place is beautiful, and also because most of my craft projects are inspired (at least in part) by the views I see in my everyday life.  I'd like to begin posting those inspirations here on a much more regular basis.

This picture is the view from the front of my ship, up on deck 15, in the late afternoon.  I love the way the water is a deep blue in the foreground and then in grows lighter and lighter as it makes its way up to the horizon.

Wouldn't this make a lovely color pallet for a men's knitting project?

I happen to know a couple of really great men with birthdays coming up.

Have you run across any good knitting patterns for men lately?

xoxo
Laura

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Link to Love: Penguin Sweaters

This week got away from me (as far as blogging was concerned).  My mom and her mom were visiting me onboard the ship all week, which was great.  Unfortunately, they're flying home today and we're all heading back to reality.

Luckily, I found the cutest thing ever on the internet just now...

Image via ABC Melbourne

Baby penguins in sweaters!

It turns out that the Penguin Foundation is asking for sweater donations for poor little penguins who got caught in oil spills.  The sweaters don't just keep them warm; they also stop the birds from trying to clean off the oil using their beaks.

For more info, check out the full ABC Melbourne article about it, and The Penguin Foundation's website.

The Penguin Foundation even includes a free penguin sweater pattern on their website.

I'm totally going to make one.  What about you?

xoxo
Laura

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

A Little Precip News


Guess what!  The Precip Hat knitting pattern is now available as a Ravelry download.

This means you can simply click the button below if you'd like to purchase it:



Yay!

In other news, I was messing around with my needles the other night and started knitting a headband inspired by hair braiding.  I didn't expect it to turn into anything, but now I want to make one for everyone I know!

There will be more on that headband in upcoming posts...

What knitting projects are you working on these days?

xoxo
Laura

Sunday, March 2, 2014

February in Instagram Photos

Two months into 2014, I've finally got a handle on my goal for this new year.

That goal is to be brave.

I don't mean being brave as in sky diving or buying a pet snake, I mean being brave as in putting myself and my ideas out there.

Far too often, I've stopped myself from achieving big goals long before they've even seen the light of day.  And why?  Because I'm my biggest critic.  But perhaps, if I stop stopping myself all the time, those goals may very well be achievable.

So with that in mind, I took a big scary leap and released a knitting pattern for sale, and so far it's been a great ride.


I also participated in another group yarn bomb, spent some time in Mexican coffee shops, did a little more knitwear designing, and cut up an old t-shirt.

Here's to the end of an exciting month and the beginning of another!

How was your February?

xoxo
Laura
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