a leisurely morning

My boss was sweet enough to let me come in an hour late yesterday morning…it was so nice to sit at the table and enjoy some hot toast with peanuts butter, a steaming cup of coffee, and sweet blueberries from the market. Most days feel so repetitive; I feel like I go from bed to shower to car to office without blinking an eye. Like the movie Groundhog Day, or like being on autopilot. So this morning, I took that precious extra hour to appreciate all of the little things around the house that I usually walk by day after day without taking much notice…it’s nice to slow down every now and then. The best part was getting in a few rows of knitting before work! It really is the little things, isn’t it?

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farmhouse dishcloths

{photo via homespun living}

How pretty are these petite French farmhouse dishcloths? I want to knit a whole stack of them for the new kitchen…cream-colored organic cotton paired with red french ticking-stripes is a classic I will never tire of. Perhaps I’ll knit some of the stripes in navy blue, and some in a sunny yellow, then pile them all sweetly into a basket next to our kitchen sink.

For the free pattern, please visit the Homespun Living blog!

 

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anthro love.

Yesterday, while out shopping for jeans (blech!), I came across this sweater throw in Anthropologie.  It was so soft and cozy and looked gorgeous draped over one of their sofas.  It was $198 in the store, but online, it is on sale for $99!

Doesn’t it make you want to cut up all of your old sweaters?  ~J

 

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oh, happy day.

Last night, I sat quietly in my room and despite the cramping in my hands, I finally finished the Montauk Throw.  7 months, 1,500 yards of fiber, 440 rows, and 71,280 stitches later, here it is in all of its glory:

I didn’t quite make it to the Ravelympics finish line, partially due to the fact that Jaime and I were out shopping all weekend, but I’m okay with that.  The throw is a very generous 64″ long by 39″ wide – the perfect snuggling-with-the-hubby size.  The garter stitch makes it nice and squishy and the DK weight yarn gives the throw a beautiful drape.  I love how the gray is flecked with caramel, cream and slate-colored tweed neps.

Here is a closeup of the 6×6 ribbing on the edge, which was picked up and knit after the main body was finished:

I am in love.  Tonight hubby and I are going to take it out for its first spin, on the couch while we catch up on LOST.

Here are the details:

• Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed DK (9 balls in Tahitian Pearl, 3 balls in Orca)
• Needles: Size US 10, 32″ circulars
• Size Made: 64″ x 39″
• Ravelry Link

Onto the next project! ~Jenny

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the montauk throw…

{a cozy wool throw for fall}

Remember all of that beautiful City Tweed I bought a while ago?  Well, after swatching it a few times, it’s finally on the needles!  Instead of knitting the baby blanket I originally bought the yarn for (which you can now buy the pattern for here – thanks Jared!), I decided to try designing a blanket of my own.

{tweed + garter stitch = heaven}

My sisters and I grew up on Long Island, and the silvery-gray color of the yarn, with its specks of beige and black, reminded me of the faded cedar shingles on the houses out East.  That, combined with the relaxed, beachiness of the pattern, inspired me to call this the ‘Montauk’ throw.

{beach house image: House Beautiful}

The majority of the throw will be knit in soothing garter stitch and finished with a wide-rib border.  This yarn is gorgeous, knitters.  It is a soft, luminous wool and the color of the yarn changes depending on the light.  I’ve swatched it in garter stitch as well as stockinette, and it looks equally beautiful in both.  I would love to knit this up as simple scarves and mittens for fall; an uncomplicated pattern will certainly highlight the subtlety of the wool.

{a tiny swatch}

I am really excited about this throw – I will post the pattern for you when it’s all finished!  In the meantime, if you want to pick up some of this yarn and get a head start on your fall knitting, click here.

I’d love to hear what you are working on!

~Jenny

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guess what’s behind these doors…

{hmm...give up?}

It is the new Sorella & Company Studio!

{our new space}

Up until now, Jaime and I have been doing most of our creative work at the kitchen table.  All of our knitting and sewing supplies were in a great state of disarray and spread out in various rooms of the house…we would spend way too much time searching through bins and boxes looking for whatever supplies we needed for any given project.  Not anymore!  Now everything is neatly organized in this old farmer’s-market cabinet:

{a place for everything...}

There is a cozy alcove for me to sit and knit, in my grandmother’s disheveled, but oh so comfy-cozy chair:

{the knitting side of the room}

There is a nice, long table for Jaime to do her sewing and quilting:

{the sewing side of the room}

There is a new shelf for my modest stash of yarn:

{waiting patiently for needles}

And I treated my sissy a new thread rack, as the plastic bag she was using wasn’t very glamorous:

{a rainbow of thread}

There is a cork-board waiting to be hung and filled with inspiration and ideas, a place for cutting out quilt pieces, and a light for those late-night marathon crafting sessions:

{this won't be empty for long...}

And there is also a little place for our sketch-pads and some new colored pencils, waiting to be sharpened and used:

{the creativity corner}

It is so exciting to have a special place where we can go and close the doors and just be creative.

~Jenny

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getting started

{my treasured featherweight}

First, let’s just start off by saying I will post one entry for every 10 or so Jenny makes.  She is so inspirational and committed to these things.  Me, I sort of fly by the seat of my pants, which often leads to a non-committal attitude around things that are optional and not required.  Poor Jenny ….

However, this whimsical nature of mine does have its advantages.  Take sewing, for example.  I literally learned how to straight stitch on a Singer Featherweight from my Mother-in-law (henceforth referred to as Mom Jodie) two years ago.  She travelled across the country (from Oregon to Delaware!) to visit us and along came a video camera bag from 1985, which had the darling Featherweight 221 snugly contained for my sewing pleasure.

Oh Mom Jodie didn’t push … she showed me how to thread the needle and wind a bobbin.  She showed me how to straight stitch and how to backstitch.  I learned how to top stitch and make a basic baby burp cloth.  This was my repertoire for two years … flannel baby burp cloths.  Don’t get me wrong, they were AWESOME – and friends and family adored them.  But alas, I grew bored of the burp cloths and away went the Featherweight and all of Mom Jodie’s hopes and dreams of having a daughter who would sew along with it.

Then a strange thing happened.  We moved.  We got a new house in January and with it came a renewed interest in sewing.  I wanted to sew something for the house … something simple … like a shade for the bathroom!  A roller shade … it was a perfect idea.

Straight stitches, very little room for error.

And it was beautiful.

And the spark was reignited . . . ~Jaime

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