birthday bangs.

hello friends. next week is my birthday and today my besties took me out for a little birthday shopping trip.  while we were out i decided it was finally time to get my bangs cut and my hair trimmed a little. i've been growing my hair out for almost two years now and want to keep it going (if you are new to the blog or don't remember how short it was you can get a refresher here..)


my little walk-in appointment is going to be the last time i go in to have someone cut my hair for a very long time. i'm happy with the trim up but i could not get the stylist to cut my bangs how i wanted them. she cut a tiny side bang when what i really wanted was a nice full bang... and after asking her to cut them shorter 3 times i gave up.  so when we got home i took out my trusty cutter bee's and took matters into my own hands... and i have to tell you i'm in love! i haven't been this happy with my hairstyle in a super long time!

(disclaimer: i'm NOT advocating cutting your hair with crafting scissors, even if they are awesome. for future bang trimming i will be purchasing real shears.)

i've been researching DIY haircuts for awhile. i've had my mind up to get bangs one way or another for awhile now and since i tend not to have amazing experiences with salons (unless i'm getting everything chopped off) learning to cut them myself has been a major desire. if you're interesting in trying to cut your own hair you should check out you tube and do some searches. there are a ton of really great videos to help you get on the right track. i suggest watching several until you are really confortable with it!


along with some new threads i got a new pair of Minnetonka's while we were out...

so comfy. all in all it was a beautiful saturday out with my two favorite people!


i hope everyone is having a great weekend... i'm off to cuddle with my little family as joey plays acoustic and little miss circle dances around us. happy days!


love.

outfit:

shirt: day trip

cardigan: merona (target)

jeans: h&m

moccasins: minnetonka

necklace: anthropologie

hooks & needles: falling leaves garland.

i'm very happy to finally be sharing this quick knit that i did several weeks ago. it was completed during my 'black out' period where i didn't have a camera to get decent photos of the finished product. i love this garland and keep moving it around the house so it's already getting a lot of use. i can't wait until we move and i have a real mantle (or at least better spaces) that i can truly decorate to my heart's content.

when i was thinking about garlands for my fall decor i really wanted to do something knitted... both because i love knitting simple quick projects and because i had a lot of yarn left over from my sister's lap throw. the colors were just too perfect for me to pass up the opportunity to put all of those scraps to good use!

i found a leaf pattern after some searching online that was nicely textured and also allowed me to practice a symmetrical double decrease which i hadn't really used before. it sound complicated but it really isn't... i love adding new stitches to my bag of tricks and discovering that a crazy sounding stitch really isn't all that crazy!

you can find the pattern here...

as i said i used the same yarn as i did for the lap throw i made my sister which was 'cozy yarn' by 'loops & threads'. i didn't really care about gauge so i used US11 needles.

the symmetrical decrease is written as (sl2, k1, p2sso) and all you do is slip two stitches onto your right needle, knit the next stitch normally, and then pass the two stitches that you slipped over the knitted stitch and let them drop. at the end of the pattern there is also a 'p3tog' decrease that you can stitch symmetrically by again slipping two stitches purl-wise onto the right needle, purling the next stitch, and passing the two slipped stitches over the purled stitch. easy peasy right?

it may take a few re-do's on your first leaf but after no time you'll get it and won't even have to think about it! the symmetrical decrease creates this really great vein in the middle of the leaf and it was perfect to use as a guide when i strung all of the leaves together.

sorry about the mobile photo, but it was my only option at the time!

i hope you can tell from the photo but there was a perfect V and then loop at each decrease that i used to determine how i would string them all together.

if you have any questions please feel free to ask! this is a great quick project for any beginner knitter who would like something to practice on. you can use smaller yarns/needles for smaller leaves, you could use them individually to hang on an autumn or thanksgiving tree, use larger ones as pot holders, make a table runner... there are so many possibilities!

happy knitting!
love.

be prepared to share.

it was another gorgeous day today. i feel so blessed to have this beautiful weather to enjoy with little miss before the temperature drops for good. today we made another trip to our favorite jersey city park/playground at lincoln park. the leaves have finally all changed and fallen. i think the shock of halloween's snow warned the foliage that despite the late amazing weather winter is indeed on it's way!

 

after some playtime in the leaves, we did our usual run around the playground. first stop is always the swings... little miss runs right to them. this girl would swing for hours. i think besides just the enjoyment from swinging she likes being up high and able to see everything going on in the park... she was having a great time today watching huge fat squirrels run around looking for handouts. i couldn't believe how bold these guys were...

this little guy kept running underneath abby as she was swinging and before i knew it...

what a little thief! he climbed right up onto the stroller and grabbed a cereal bar! to be fair i had forgotten that i'd opened it and offered it to abby as we were walking in... she'd rejected it for the time being and left it on the tray of her stroller. abby thought this was all quite hilarious, especially the little chase scene that unfolded as another squirrel realized the bounty that was to be had.

 

after that swing time was over and she just wanted to chase squirrels for awhile... those dang things let her get really close before taking off and it was scaring the crap out of me. i was afraid they were so used to all the kids that they would just charge her... they  probably wouldn't have. but we moved on anyway.

 

i know the weather around the country hasn't been quite as great this week so i'm very grateful for these days... we're doing our best to make great use of them.


love.

first roll.

 

 

we got our new camera!

it's been one and a half days and i've taken 600+ shots. many are just me testing the waters... but i'm really quite happy and inspired by my new friend! 

after i've logged more hours on the newbie i may do a full write up... but for now, briefly. we got the Canon EOS Rebel T3i. when it came down to it i liked my first rebel until it brokedown... and i dropped it. we wanted to stay in the Canon lens family, and the camera's overall first impression is pretty great. as i said, i'm happy. love the screen. love the weight. basic functions A+. haven't touched the video, that's for joey to play with. i don't have more than that at this point so 'to be continued'.

big week. lots happening. lots getting done. then my mom and sister visit!

love.