So Simply Stephanie

Happy New Year! I will be starting off the new year with a Month of Knitting. I have many knitted projects lined up. My goals this month include: * Finish the Rasta Hat that I started for my husband so I can give it to him for his birthday next month. *Knit several pairs of longies and shorties (wool pants/shorts for my child). I have several skeins of beautiful Mosaic Moon yarn just waiting to be knitted into something nice. 8 oz. of Montana Targhee in the Woodland Tale colorway. 4 oz. of Gaia organic merino in the new Noellaig colorway (even more lovely in person) 4 oz. of Montana Targhee from Mosaic Moon in the Winter Solstice Sky colorway. * I also have some nice 100Purewool yarn that I'd like to use. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet. * Knit a few pair of fingerless gloves to give as gifts. * Knit a Skater Baby hat for my son. And given the time and money, I would REALLY love to knit up a February Lady Sweater for myself. I just adore the green s

Another purse made from the Buttercup Bag pattern ... for one of my cousin's nieces. Inside

Today I finished this cute little purse (from the Buttercup Bag Pattern ) for my cousin to give her niece. Isn't this just adorable? And it is even cuter in person.

Today I finished up this doll ( from A Bit Of Whimsy pattern ) for my step-mom to give as a gift... Close-up of her sweet little face and pigtails I'll add pics of the accessories (dresses, blanket & bag) when they are complete.

Here are some neat giveaways and great deals going on right now... Big Band Gift Set from Eden Home Livie & Luca Shoes Kids Trampoline from HearthSong Leg Huggers Giveaway $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook Giveaway HP TouchSmart Computer Giveaway Snapfish 10 page Photo Book for $1.99 plus tax Awesome deals everyday at Baby Half Off LOTS of giveaways listed at Me & My Boys AND A GIVEAWAY FROM ME! MY SON RANDOMLY DREW POST #1 - Yay Vanna. Will be contacting the winner shortly. Your choice of ONE of these diapers and wipes holders! (Even if you don't use disposable diapers, these are handy little bags for other things!) ENTRIES: 1st entry must be to comment telling me which holder you'll pick if you win. (Please leave your email address with each comment in the format "emailaddy AT gmail DOT com" to avoid spam) Open to US and Canadian residents. EXTRA ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each of the following): 2 entries if you blog about this giveaway (comment twice l

This evening, I tried making one of my new favorite meals... French Onion Soup. I did a quick online search and found an easy to follow French Onion Soup recipe from Tyler Florence . Both my husband and I thought it turned out great... and almost as good as the one at our local French restaurant! ... and it is perfect for these cold winter days/nights.

Today I finished up this Hobo Bag ( free tutorial ). It will be a Christmas gift for another of my sister's friends. I hope she likes it! About the tutorial... this certainly is more difficult to make than my most recent purse ( a Buttercup Bag ). It is still a great tutorial! It is easy to follow and if you have a bit of experience sewing, it shouldn't cause you any trouble. The hardest part for me was topstitching around the top of the bag. It's so hard to keep the stitching straight and even (for me). I guess I just need more practice. That said, I will probably make this purse again someday.

I have been working on Christmas gifts... a lot of Christmas gifts. Here is a sneak peak of a few completed items (don't want to give away too much in case the recipients check this site)...

Today I finished up this cute little Buttercup Bag ( free tutorial ). It will be a Christmas gift for my sister's friend. I hope she likes it! I didn't have any flat buttons to use like the tutorial shows, so I made some fabric yo-yo's ( free tutorial ) and added some shank buttons. I think the embellishment looks cute About the tutorial... give it a try, it's fun and easy to follow. The bag doesn't take long to make or use much fabric either. It could easily be a weekend project (or less). My only suggestion would be to use some decor weight (or similar weight) fabric for the outside so that the bag will have a bit of structure. Or you could add some iron-on mid-weight interfacing to the outer fabric.

A few Christmas items down... many to go. Today I finished up this set (crayon roll & child's tote bag) 3 flannel blankets