granny stripe blanket + some other things

I finished my blanket a couple of weeks ago, and although I've been dying to brag about it, it hasn't been possible. 

Turns out that being pregnant in your third trimester and having an 18 month old makes things HARD. I mean, I always knew it was going to be tricky but in the back of my mind I also thought I could handle it. Yes, I have been able to handle it... that is when I'm not about to have a meltdown. 

The poor hubs just looks at me and tells me "we can do this, don't worry, it CAN be done." I sure hope so. I'm putting all my faith in him.

But not everything is that bad, we have also embraced fall (my favorite season of the year!) and we have been out and about enjoying all the colors of the landscape and also all the yummy baked treats that come with fall weather (pumpkin spice lattes and lots of baking!)

We celebrated Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving that is), and the hubs really wanted to start a new family tradition where we prepared turkey, cranberry sauce and pecan pie. So there has been lots of leftovers for dinner lately. But it was really nice. 

Santiago and I really enjoy cooking together, and little S is learning to help out with little things around the kitchen (and mostly eating everything his little hands can reach).

Oh yes! back to the blanket topic... It took me around 2 months of crocheting. My goal from the beginning was to crochet at least one line a day, obviously some days I didn't, and some other days I had to stop because my hands started to hurt. 

I was determined to finish before October started, and I manged to do it! Yay for me!

I followed two tutorials for the blanket, one by Lucy at Attic24 and another one by Easy Crochet Pattern.

The edging of the blanket is also from Lucy at Attic24. (I love her blog and all of her projects! if you like to crochet I'm sure you will find her blog to be very useful)

I'll be posting about the creative swapping with Lindsey from The Joyful Owl soon! And I will also post about our baby shower soon!

ps. I've also been working on knitting hats for newborns (surprisingly it is not that hard!!)

what I've been up to

 Summer is gone... you can already feel it in the crisp morning air, the color of the fields and all the fall recipes that are being collected for future reference.

Although we really, really make an effort to enjoy summer as much as we possibly can; I must confess FALL is my favorite season. The clothes, the accessories, the baking... hmm boots, a pumpkin spice latte, a good book, a nice cozy blanket and the couch!!! 

I'm already drooling!

Well... enough of this. I wanted to show you some pics of what I've been up to lately... so here they go!

Pekka and the begining of my granny stripe blanket

Pekka, what used to be my tiny baby bump and my granny striped blanket  progress

Pekka and my blanket

Crocheting in our garden, while Pekka enjoyed the sun and little S napped

More of my blanket

peaches, yogurt and maple syrup...

a yummy carrot cake!

told you it was yummy!

As you can see... my main activity this summer has been eating (the baby must be really grateful! ha) and crocheting... all this has happened between naps, books and more naps! 

I will miss the nice weather!!!!

favorite "loving handmade" pins and a creative swapping idea!

So, if you know me (or follow my blog) you definitely know about my Pinterest obsession...

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest then you know all about my "loving hanmade" board. Thar board has so many pins that I might never be able to keep up with all those amazing projects, but I do have my fave pins and I would like to share them with you.

So here are some of the pins that are top on my Pinterest TO-DO list:

via purlbee

via CRAFTYisCOOL

via The Boy Trifecta (I've already done one for little S here)

via Gleeful Things

via Persia Lou

Ok... the list could go on forever and ever but I really have to go and read with the little one so that would be all of my favorites for today!

Hope you enjoy!

*** About the creative swapping... I got the idea from Lucy's post from Attic24 

(I heart her blog!!! and although I didn't put any pictures from her blog on my list today, you have to know that I follow her patterns and super detailed -and photographed- instructions all the time!)

So I went ahead and asked around on facebook! So far my little sister and my friend Lindsey from the joyful owl are in! I hope I can get more people interested on the idea! 

If you are interested on participating just leave a comment and we can arrange the details! Like my little sister said: the rules are that it has to be something handmade!

I'm super excited about it, I think it's nice to do something special for others! ****

ps. I always try to link the images to the correct source but if you find some mistake on my links please let me know!

things I've been thinking about lately

Yes. I guess it's time to man up and confess I've been thinking about yarn bombing my house!!!!

I haven't told the hubs yet, I'm not sure how he will take it, he will probably smile and then say "you are crazy!"... or something sweeter like "I'm sure you are probably beginning with the -nesting- phase of pregnancy"... to be truly sincere with you, it's probably true... I am a little crazy and I've been feeling this strange compulsory need to start arranging everything for the new baby.

But don't you think it would look awesome if I just did a little yarn bombing here and there around the place? maybe the staircase and then the sofa in my office... I don't know, I think it will look cool and at the same time I think it will look super tacky!!!

Maybe I should just let it be an idea. One of those ideas that is always there in the back of your mind but that never truly gets done.

When we lived in Vancouver we saw some public spaces like benches and parks with some yarn bombing, I thought it looked neat. I haven't seen anything like it here though... so maybe it isn't such a good idea.

I guess I just had to say it out loud to realize how crazy the whole thing is! It does make me happy though to be able to write it down and put it out there. 

I embrace my weirdness! 

crocheted cushions

There's been so much going on around lately that I don't even remember most of the things I want to blog about!

The weather has been so nice, we have spent most of the time outside on our little backyard! 

Pekka and I spend most of little S's naps there, enjoying the sun and reading peacefully while the baby sleeps... It's been awesome!

Although little S keeps me super busy all day long, I've managed to find some "me" time. If I'm not reading you can find me crocheting... here are some pics of my latest project.

I must confess I have developed an addiction to granny squares... just last night I started a granny stripe blanket to go with my cushions!

Hope you enjoy!

let's keep it simple

As much as I love to sit down and admire lovely and wonderful blogs, I sometimes get overwhelmed by all the amazingness out there and wish design glimpse could get a little (or a very big) upgrade.  –Sigh-

And then I land back into reality. Santi is trying to get control of the keyboard, the mouse and everything else his little hands can reach…. Seriously, try to keep a 15 month old still while you try to figure out how to write a code (I believe that is how they’re called) to make your blog look nice.  It is not easy at all!! Then add my OCD to the mix and somehow I end up sitting on the floor coloring with little S and trying really hard not to get upset about my blog.

This has been how I have spent the last few days:

I’m trying to blog and upgrade design glimpse. Santi wants to sit on my lap and type or use the mouse or grab a pen or just do whatever a 15 month old can do with a computer. I put Santi on the floor and bring lots of toys for him to play. Pekka gets frustrated nobody is throwing her rat at her so she can play and starts barking. Pekka ends up sitting behind the safety gate at the stairs. Santi is walking all around the place carrying things from one room to the other. My computer is about to go to sleep and I’m still staring at my blog’s “template” design page trying to figure out how to make it work. .... It’s never ending.

So I’m keeping it very simple and I will not worry about the template, the codes and whatever else I was worrying about.

Besides nothing beats coloring with little S! (Even Pekka is starting to like that activity and she sits next to us and takes little naps while we are just having fun.)

ps. I've been working on some crochet cushions for my bedroom... I'll post pictures soon!

Little S's Elmo's first birthday party

Although Santi's bday party was three months ago... I'm posting some pictures of all the food and decor we (the hubs and I) made for him and his little friends.

I got many ideas from Pinterest, and I'm adding the links here.

Elmo Cake Pops 

Food and table setting 

Birthday Hat

Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Hope you enjoy!