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2016 Year In Review
Happy New Year! Wait, what? It’s February, I know, but due to too many New Year’s resolutions (Whole30, a fitness challenge and getting back into ukulele lessons), this is the first chance I’ve had to do a “Year in Review” post. I have written a Year in Review post every year since I started blogging as Rake and Make, so I can’t break with tradition, can I? Honestly, I am heading into my fifth year of this blog and I’ve thought about shutting it down, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I have said it before, but I’ll say it again, I love having my blog as a record of all my projects in the…
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Hetty Cardigan- A Blue Sweater for a Blue State
Happy post Thanksgiving weekend! Hope you all had a good one. I spent Thanksgiving day with friends, talking about how especially thankful we are (post-election) to have each other and to live in our little progressive bubble of the Pacific Northwest. I probably shouldn’t say “progressive bubble” and not say that we also talked about how we can’t be content to live in a bubble anymore and how it’s time for action. By saying that, it probably goes without saying that I voted for Hillary and the next day cried all day and started questioning everything. Like how almost half of the country could vote for a racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic person like Trump and what that…
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Brooklyn Tweed Bray Cap in Truffle Hunt Shelter
I’m still trying to get my back log of completed projects posted and am especially behind on knitting projects. This is the Brooklynn Tweed Bray Cap in Shelter that I finished back in March. See the lovely Lilac tree in the background? Everything is dead and rain soaked in my yard at the moment, so this makes me happy to look at now. In fact, I should be out cleaning up the garden and planting garlic right now. It’s so cold and cruddy out, that I am procrastinating by writing this post instead! That said, I’m going to keep this short and sweet, so I can get out there. We love garlic in this…
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Staple Dress #2- Birds in Flight Double Gauze
I’m happy to say, I have been sewing and knitting like crazy and I have several projects backlogged to share. This little number is the April Rhodes Staple Dress sewn in a double gauze I bought at Stitches on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Pattern- April Rhodes Staple Dress Fabric- Flight Shroom Double Gauze Organic Cotton by Birch Fabrics, purchased from Stitches This is my second Staple Dress and while I initially thought this dress was so not my usual silhouette, my first Staple Dress turned out to be something I wear all the time. Plus, it is super quick and easy to make. So when I saw this fabric at Stitches I had to make another one. I’ve seen…
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Roasted Garlic and Yellow Tomato Soup
We’re a finicky lot here in the Pacific Northwest. It’s true that it rains a lot in the winter, so we crave sunny and warm days. We had a especially beautiful and unusually warm summer this year, but with many 90 degree days (which we’re just not used to here), slaving in front of a hot stove has been the last place anyone wanted to be. That said, some may be grateful for the fall weather that is setting in. Personally, I am sad to see the warm temps go, but there are plenty of things to get me excited about fall, like getting to wear my hand knit sweaters and favorite boots and…
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40th Birthday Cambie Dress
I try to sew myself a dress for my birthday every year, but only manage to get to it about every other year. It’s a good goal though, because it gives me a deadline and feels special to wear on my birthday. One year, I sewed myself a Colette Crepe and the year I got married I wore my Victory Pattern Ava wearable muslin. I have been wanting to sew the Sewaholic Cambie Dress for a long time (this pattern came out in 2012), so I am totally late to the party in discovering what an awesome pattern it is. Pattern- Sewaholic Pattern Cambie Dress Fabric- I’m not sure if this fabric qualifies as Swiss Dot or not, but…
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Introducing our New Flock!
Some of you may have seen this pic on Instagram already and maybe you read my post about losing two of our four chickens in one month (due to old age). Since we were worried about losing a third chicken and then one being by itself, Matt and I decided it was time to get some baby chicks. Baby chicks are so cute and grow so fast, so I had to do a little photo shoot to document their adorable fluffy butts! There names are (from left to right), Ricki, Winnie, Birdie and Buffy. I know, we got real creative with the names this time. 😉 Ricki is a German Lakenvelder, so I thought…
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Yellow Fingerless Gloves
The knitting bug has got me bad. I’ve actually been knitting more than I have been sewing lately, so I’m a couple finished projects behind on sharing them. One project I finished recently is a pair of yellow fingerless gloves that I knit for my co-worker Lester. Lester and I worked together in the rental department of Glazer’s the first time I worked there, so we go way back. He is an amazing cook and baker and brought me cookies on my first day back to work. Technically, this was a trade for a pot of his signature chili and a batch of yummy molasses cookies, but he’s constantly sharing some delicious creation he brought to work, like whiskey caramels, banana bread…
