leftovers, books, and some things i'm working on

When my Valentine's Day roses died too suddenly for me to hang them up to dry, I plucked all the heads off them, stuck them in a pretty jar, and (of course) photographed them. Very pretty.

Lately, I've been getting a lot of Amazon.com gift cards with all the points from my credit card (just goes to show I've been charging way too much.) Because I'm such a dork, I've been using them to build my knitting/crochet book library. I'm fine with getting patterns and ideas online, but there's definitely something to be said about the inspiration I get from holding something tangible in my hands. Good photography helps, too. Don't get me wrong, Ravelry is great, but a bad photograph can really kill an otherwise beautiful handmade object. (I'm not saying the pictures I take of my knitting are the greatest, but then I barely have the time to knit, much less make amazing images of what I've created.) Anyways, my baby knitting books are by far my favorites. Two really good ones I've found are Easy Baby Knits by Claire Montgomerie, and Simple Knits for Cherished Babies by Erika Knight. The patterns are beautiful and simple, and the photographs are absolutely gorgeous. Below, I have posted a few for you to see:

Finally, some projects I am working on. I've been knitting squares and squares and more squares, which I will soon join together to make plush baby blocks to sell on Etsy. I've also become obsessed with knitting booties. As you can see, I'm currently knitting a newborn pair in wedgewood blue. I think they're precious.