Jessie Knits...

Updates

Jessie — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:42:07 +0000

Happy fall, folks! I for one am glad the heat of the summer has ended and that we’re starting to see the leaves turn and feel the crispness in the air. October is my favorite month, I think!

Since it’s been a while, here is a bullet list of the last few months:

July:

Peru and Panama were awesome. Machu Picchu? Words can’t really describe.
Belated honeymoons are pretty great things.
It was hot in DC.

August:

We celebrated Kevin’s birthday with karaoke (as usual)
Restaurant week was a rousing success with some great meals enjoyed.
It was hot in DC. We also had an earthquake. And a hurricane.

September

The annual Labor Day sail took us to St. Michael’s, Maryland – a new-to-us destination and a charming town. We’ll go back!
Persistent hip pain led me to a doctor, x-rays, an MRI, another doctor, physical therapy, and the verdict of necessary surgery.
It rained. A lot. (That wasn’t so hot.)

October

I finished a sweater.
I’m finally getting to go to Rhinebeck (New York Sheep & Wool Festival)!
Surgery is set for next Thursday, 10/20. (It is arthroscopic, so minimally invasive, and my case is “classic”, according to my surgeon. Hopefully the recovery won’t be too bad!)

I hope to be back in this space while I am home recuperating. Your prayers, good thoughts & crossed fingers are much appreciated!

Blue

Jessie — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:08:55 +0000

My friend Lolly revived her awesome Project Spectrum again for 2011. We’re now in month 3 and I’m just now getting back to talking about it here. I participated in May, wherein I took some pictures, made some yummy stuff from strawberries and knit a red shawl. The shawl was blocked in June and may be blogged about in July, we’ll see. In June I thought about green, but it was a nutso month so not much else happened there, other than my admiration and appreciation of leafy, shady green trees and enjoyment of farmer’s market bounty.

When I finally got around to updating Flickr this week, I realized that I am actually ahead of the game for July!

Happy summer!

Happy Fathers Day, Dad!

Jessie — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:52:14 +0000

Happy Mothers Day!

Jessie — Sun, 08 May 2011 14:15:47 +0000

who you scowling at?, originally uploaded by jessiespress.

To my amazing mom.

Thinking of Holy Week…

Jessie — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:39:50 +0000

Prayers of the People, originally uploaded by jessiespress.

Wordless Wednesday

Jessie — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:58:26 +0000

Boat, originally uploaded by jessiespress.

To be precise

Jessie — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:39:46 +0000

I am really enjoying participating in the NewBee – a group of 12 lovely ladies all relatively new to sewing/quilting. Each of us gets a month where we send out fabric and instructions on what kind of block to make, and then receive back a stack of quilt squares. As a result of the last 6 months, I’ve gotten better at sewing in a straight line (no joke), improvisation, cutting accurately, working on my seam allowances, and all sorts of other things that go into making quilt squares.

January’s quilt blocks were for Kathy – and she chose the disappearing 9-patch. I was excited for this block as I’ve admired it while browsing through quilting blogs and photos on Flickr. (Although now I need to come up with a different block for my month!)

These blocks weren’t a slap-dash affair, by any means. It takes careful attention to make sure all the points are lined up and the seams are straight.

These are my first blocks where precision is super-important – more than in cutting or seam allowances, but also in the actual sewing.

It was painstaking (there was much seam ripping), but love the results! It pays to be precise!

Five O’Clock Somewhere

Jessie — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:36:03 +0000

YIP 86: Time for a beer, originally uploaded by jessiespress.

Happy Friday, all!

Hope you have a restful, relaxing weekend.

Hello again

Jessie — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:42:29 +0000

Happy New Year, friends! (now that January is pretty much over) Back from my travels, I am getting into the swing of things here in good old DC. Photos of the trip are slowly going up on my Flickr page – please stop by and check them out!

So. 2011. I was startled to realize that we’re not just entering a new year, but a new decade as well. This of course leads me to contemplate the past and the future. The decade departed was eventful – from a newly-minted college grad and two masters degrees to a “real job” and marriage. What does the new decade hold for me and those with whom I share my life? I am looking forward to finding out.

But first, let’s review, shall we? Last year, I set some goals for myself. How did I do?

Being stronger: Win! I ran my first 5K in March, my second in April and my 3rd in July. Yesterday, I ran 4 miles outside in the sub-30 degree weather. A new personal record!

Knitting goals:

Fair Isle/Stranded – utter fail. I kept putting it off and the year ran away.
A sweater for K – kind of win… I finished all the knitting, but the zipper defeated me. Thankfully, a friend is fixing it all up so he can wear it soon.
More sweaters for me – total win! Click over to Flickr and you’ll see a few that have entered my wardrobe in the last few months (as well as Kevin’s waiting-for-a-zipper cardigan).
Wedding kitting – total fail. Thankfully, I was able to hand Pia some yarn and she came through with a beautiful shawl.

Other Crafty goals:

Cooking/baking more: win! K & I eat in much more often now and are enjoying our kitchen adventures.
Sewing: also win! I’ve joined an on-line quilting bee and am getting more andmore comfortable with my machine. The fabric stash is growing!
Learning to spin: I had a lesson with my friend Paula and didn’t do so bad. But other things have taken my time… for now I’ve decided to keep on knitting some of the amazing yarn that comes ready-to-knit.

I’d like to again set some goals for 2011. Let’s see…

Fitness goals: I am going to run more races this year. You’ll likely hear more about this soon, but I am training for 10-mile race in April and plan to run a 10-K race in October, as well as more 5Ks. I’m still not sure I’m a “runner”, but my progress in the last year has inspired me to work towards more ambitious goals this year.

Knitting goals: Fair Isle/Stranded. Yep, I really want to conquer this one. Hopefully this year is the year.

Photography goals: I have a fancy new camera and need to learn how to take good photos with it!

Sewing goals: I want to make a quilt this year. I’d love to make more than one, but I don’t want to be too ambitious. I’m still new at this and want to take the time to learn and do it well – not rush and do a sloppy job.

Oh, and I hope to post here more often, too . . . so see you soon!

So there you have it. I am keeping the goals simple this year – since my biggest goal is to be intentional and enjoy what I I am doing and not be overly concerned with what I “should” have done, or what I didn’t do, or what I still need to do. Let’s face it – time flies quickly enough without the added stress of thinking about behind you are all the time!

All the best…

Jessie — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 06:13:35 +0000

Kevin and I are off on an adventure to Southeast Asia in just a couple of hours…we will be back in 2011! I hope to come back to this space refreshed and energized and ready to share. 2010 has been an amazing year and I am truly blessed. I wish only and all good things for you, my friends!