Cheryl Mason's Garden

Feeling Creative the Energy

cheryl — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:40:09 +0000

This pregnancy has taken most of my energy and creative powers but things are coming together for the nursery. Hubby and I went to a consignment sale last week and found one of our big ticket items for really cheap. It will need some work but what in life doesn’t?

In my free moments I’ve been working on my Duckies socks that probably thought I’d abandoned them.

These lovelies were started last summer at Sock Summit. Who knows, maybe I’ll finish them up by this August

It a gril!

cheryl — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:34:06 +0000

We’re super excited to announce our little potential is a girl

Ps: yes, you read the subject line correct, I hope, if not look again. If you haven’t seen this reference before check out cakewrecks.com

Baby Johanna

cheryl — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:45:04 +0000

My cousin delivered baby Johanna this morning. She is 7 lbs 7 ounces. 19 inches long.

Baby Knits and Project Fever

cheryl — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:59:57 +0000

My energy is slowly returning and along with it startitis.

Ok, here are my current crazy project plans.

Clean and paint the master bedroom
Clean and paint baby’s room
Knit purple mitts
Knit baby leggings
knit baby sweater
Organize tool area
Research wool baby clothing and blankets
Research eco friendly disposable and cloth diaper options
Make chapstick for a friend
Sort closet and donate clothing
Clear out the junk corner in the garage and put up shelving

Several of these I’ve started including the knit projects but it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day. Morning seem to be when I have energy which is used up at my day job during the week.

This lovely is the start to the baby sweater.

and these are the purple mitts

I really have no idea why I’m knitting these. Winter is over and I already have three pairs but they insisted on being knit. They might end up in my store or go to someone with a birthday. We’ll see.

Cheryl Mason’s Kitchen News

cheryl — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:11:33 +0000

My shop is again open and will be changing it’s focus in the next few months as I transition into motherhood in the fall 2012. Most items listed will be “ready to ship” instead of custom made to make it easier on me and faster for the customer to receive. Also more hand knit options will join my store.

Thank you to everyone who supported my mother over the last year. Her fight with multiple myeloma cancer ended January 15, 2012. Like last year, 5% of all orders will go to the American Cancer Society

Spinning Practice

cheryl — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:54:27 +0000

Quality of life the last few weeks has been improving, thank goodness! Between the all day nausea and twice a week IV therapy and debilitating fatigue my first trimester was the pitts. Now at week 13 I have energy! and a cold. Oy. The sore throat and sinus issues are a pain but I still have more energy than before so I’ll take it.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon spinning this woolie number.

This is a blend of cormo and soy fiber that I purchased at Lambtown 2011. I’m not really great at spinning yet so this is mostly for practice. Right now it’s a thick and thin somewhere around a fingering weight. Plied it might be more even overall. I was surprised at the spun color. Instead of the grey pre-spun color it’s turning out more of a light denim color.

The Pitter Patter of Potentiality

cheryl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:24:19 +0000

With everything going on lately an how early it still is I’ve kept a secret from the online world, till now

I’ll try to keep this area for my crafting and cats but if you want to read more about baby progress hubby has set up a blog over here http://baby.masongarden.com/

Missing You Mom

cheryl — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:25:05 +0000

Early Sunday morning my mother, Carol Jean Driver, passed away. She’s missed soo very much. God has taken away her pain and let her go in her sleep.

My 2011

cheryl — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 03:16:16 +0000

2011 started with my Mom. She was sick with what we thought was a cold that didn’t get better. Turns out it was cancer. The year was overshadowed with her illness.

In the realm of crafts I’ve learned a lot. It’s really easy to get into a craft rut so I’ve been pushing myself to learn new things.

February I tried to make mitts out of a felted sweater.

and made a salve with arnica and willow bark.

March I finished my first pair of socks.

In April I worked on using natural ingredients in my soaps.

and layering soaps

and made my first batch of marshmallows

and visited my first LYS

In May my Mom went in the hospital for a cell transplant and out of some mental preservation went crazy with crafting.

My first batch of rebatched cold processed soap.

I participated in a soap swap and had this beautiful soap

Hand balm pearls and coffee butter lip balm

Indoor rose bush cultivating

My first hand knit dish cloth

Got to see myself knitting (this is a silk shawl)

In June I turned 30 while I waited to see if my Mom would make it out of the hospital.

I tested out several premade lip solutions.

I had my hair cut with a cute aline bob (this is me in the morning before styling)

If you haven’t tried the card game Dominion I highly recommend it! It’s so fun and we played several games on my birthday.

Felted my first and second pair of slippers.

Tried weaving again using roving

In July I was still waiting for my Mom to get out of the hospital but I was looking forward Sock Summit at the end of the month.

For the 4th hubby and I went to the mall to see the show.

3 am pie!

The week before the summit I fostered a cute baby kitty for a few days before his family picked him up. Such a sweetie!

Sock Summit!

August

Astoria in August

A swift at the Maritime museum in Astoria

August was also when I decided that I wanted to make handmade things for Christmas gifts and also when I started knitting up these fun cowls.

Since this post is getting really photo heavy I’ll finish up the year in another post. I am wondering how 2012 will go though. After only half a day this year I managed to step on a knitting needle that has put me out of commission for the rest of my vacation time (maybe) and my Mom is back in the hospital. Wish me luck. I think my family could use it.

Happy New Year!

cheryl — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:52:48 +0000

2011 has not been an easy year and I’m really looking forward to 2012 with it’s endless posibilities. Live, Laugh, Love is the moto I’m following.