Back in Business

I'm home!

Words can't express how happy I am to be here.  Everything will be easier now: photography with natural light, blogging with fast and unlimited internet, and driving to the craft store anytime I want.  I'm in heaven.

The Perfect Boyfriend Birthday Present

I successfully completed my boyfriend's Colorado Avalanche hockey team hat in time for his birthday (phew) and it was a total success!

The two most important criteria for a knitted gift were fulfilled:
1.  It fit.
2.  He really liked it!

Here are a few pictures of it in all its navy blue, burgundy, and white glory:

As usual, I made up my own pattern for this hat.

When doing so, I leaned a bit on the Precip pattern because I wanted this Avalanche hat to (at least vaguely) remind the viewer of snowy avalanches.  See it?  Maybe a little bit?

Anyway, Justin seemed really pleased with it, and I ended up learning a valuable life lesson:
Boys love receiving gifts in their favorite sports team's colors.

I'll be keeping that knowledge in my back pocket for further holiday use, and I'll also be writing up a pattern for this little guy sometime soon.

xoxo
Laura

Looking Forward

There are only 4 weeks left until I get to go home again!

Sure, I'll miss the ocean views (like the one above) a little bit, but I absolutely cannot wait to get back to Colorado.  I'd take the mountains over the ocean any day of the week.

I've spent the morning thinking of all the things I'm looking forward to at home, so I thought I'd share a couple of them with you.

Top 3 (crafty) things I'm  looking forward to at home:

1.  Getting to use my new sewing machine!  My parents gave it to me for my birthday right before I left for this contract, and I never even got to try it out.  I seriously can't wait for this one.  I've been dreaming of all the pretty dresses I'll sew.

2.  My yarn stash.  (Enough said.)

3.  Easily accessible natural lighting.  No, my cabin on the ship doesn't have a porthole unless you count our poster of a porthole, which obviously doesn't fix the lighting problem.

It's going to be awesome!
xoxo
Laura

August in Instagram Photos

August has been a crazy month filled with a lot of fun and skating and traveling and not as much blogging... oops.

Here's what my month has looked like in Instagram photos:

I skated in a million ice shows (that first picture is a view from the wings during a show), I tried knitting with teeny tiny knitting needles, and I rode on one of my favorite rides at Cedar Point: the swings.  I also hung out with my hilarious friend Courtney's stuffed animals backstage, watched my awesome friend Andy play his guitar, and rode on an antique carousel at the Merry-Go-Round Museum in Sandusky.

My feet were suffering during the shows at the end of the contract due to a very unfortunate run-in with some mosquitos, but then I packed up my crafting area and left town.  In Colorado I ate some really yummy spaghetti squash casserole at True Foods, checked out the cutesy stores in Cherry Creek, took some pictures with the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign, and hung out with my best friend who coincidentally has the same haircut as me.

Did you have a good time in August as well?  I'd love to hear about it.

Here's to a new month!
xoxo
Laura

This week I'm loving... Fall in Colorado!

Did you know that fall is my favorite season?  Saturday was the first official day of fall, and my friends and I went for a hike amongst the aspen trees.



Did you do anything fun to celebrate the changing of the season?  I'm thinking it's time for me to do some fall baking now.  (Yay!)

xoxo
Laura