THANKSGIVING!

So...  I've been going a little coo coo nuts seeing all the black Friday commercials this week and all the stores open on Thanksgiving!  Don't you think it's a bit ironic that the day we are supposed to be giving thanks for all we have is now a day devoted to shopping - probably for stuff we don't really need?  UGH... ick.

So... that had me down.... and I seriously have a zillion papers to write (50 pages down- who knows how much more to go!).

But what was REALLY bumming me out was not being able to see my sister this Thanksgiving.  FIRST TIME without her.  About a year and a half ago, she moved to Boston to start a PhD program at Harvard.  She is brilliant, bright, funny, and a complete joy to be around.  I brag about her all the time and miss her so much!  We've known since the semester started she probably wouldn't make it out this year - she has to turn in all the work for her Pre- Qualifying Exam (PQE) this week and is ridiculously busy.  We didn't even want to visit her in Boston and distract her or stress her out.

So yesterday morning we were sending facebook messages back and forth while both working like mad on our school work and joking about Skyping her in on dinner and if Skype had a teleport pie function... and I was missing her so. darn. much!  Ugh... yesterday was a rough one...

Well... one of my favorite sister moments was during my Freshman year of college.  I had just moved away and we were missing each other quite a lot.  Amanda was on dance team and cheerleading (YES... she is brilliant AND talented... you'll just have to meet her one day) and she was competing at nationals in Las Vegas.  I called her a few times to tell her how sad I was that I couldn't be there before I hopped on a plane to Vegas...  I knocked on her hotel room and hid, when she answered the door- first she looked angry, then confused, then happy, then so happy she started crying.  So proud I was able to surprise her!

Well, last night I went to bed feeling a bit bummed.  In the middle of the night Amanda burst into my room and flipped on all the lights...  First I was angry, then confused, then happy, then so happy I started crying.  BEST. FREAKIN. SURPRISE. EVERRRRRR!

Amanda's arrival got me right into the holiday spirit- which was so sadly missing yesterday.  I hope you all have the most amazing Thanksgiving with the people you love.  I am so so so thankful for my family, holiday surprises, and all of you.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Love, Sara (and Amanda too! YAY!)

Lace at the Avenir ...and how crochet saved lives...

Hi all!  Hope you had a fantastic weekend!  I sure did!  (Check out my instagram for pics of the Maroon Bells up in Aspen - I really love my homestate!!!)

I keep talking about this fun DIY I want to share - but it involves black leggings - and with temps in the 90's here - I just haven't been able to force myself to put them on and take pictures of them.  If it ever cools down - it will be coming - till then, if you have an extra pair of black leggings lying around (or any other color), get them ready for a cool crochet DIY!

So one of the coolest things about the grad program I'm in (Design and Merchandising and Colorado State University) is that we have our own museum - WHAT?  Pretty cool, huh?  The Avenir is our own little textile museum that exhibits darn cool historical and cultural textiles.  Last year they had a ton of really cool Peruvian weaving and THIS YEAR historic lace!!!

HISTORIC LACE!!!  That means there are some wicked cool historical crochet pieces in there right now.  Fun fact learned at the lecture last week - selling Irish crochet lace helped keep families alive during the Irish potato famine.  It literally saved lives.  (I'm 1/4 Irish - and my family members lived through the potato famine - maybe they were crocheters - I'll have to check into it!)  Anyway - I love stuff like that!

If you can make it to the museum here in Fort Collins - you should.  If not, I've included some of my favorite crochet pictures down below.  Enjoy.  Happy stitching!

ROAD TRIP!

Hey all!

So definitely been missing in action since my final ended a couple weeks ago... family was visiting AND I have spent a lot of time painting walls and moving furniture to prepare for all that is going on come fall (needed space for dance choreography and lots of table space for working on my grad thesis... yay basements). 

And NOW I am leaving on a road trip to go visit my cousin and his new baby!  No blog posts while I'm on the road, but see what I'm working on AND some national park photos by following me on Instagram!

Why is the summer flying by too fast???

New blog posts in a couple weeks!!!
Happy stitching!!!
-S

Mother's Day SALE!

Most of us learned to craft from our mothers and grandmothers.  Let's celebrate how awesome these women are and take 15% off all pattern purchases on the day we devote to loving them extra lots.  Enter LOVEMOM at checkout on Etsy and Ravelry to get your discount.

Happy Stitching to you and your mother dear!

One Crazy Week Made a Whole Lot Better

Hi All!

If you have been following me on Facebook, you may have been eagerly anticipating the photos from the Sans Limites/ One OAK photo shoot... I was too.  But one crazy week started out with one crazy wind storm making our photo shoot impossible.  So... continue eagerly anticipating... they will come soon!

Other things that made this week crazy?  A blizzard.  Timed perfectly with the arrival of the amazing Liz Jones as she and her friend Sarah came to visit us in Colorado.  At least we were trapped indoors with fantastic company.

But the CRAZIEST part of the week... was watching all that happened in Boston.  As many of you know, my sister lives in Boston, along with some good friends from high school and family friends and relatives and probably a lot of people that mean a whole lot to all of you.  So as yarn enthusiasts, you can go to yarn.com and buy a whole lotta great yarn from WEBS - America's Yarn Store and they will donate 5% to The One Fund Boston.  Never been a better excuse to buy some yarn.  Boston Strong.

I love Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep based out of Nebraska.  A great American based yarn company if you are feeling especially patriotic this week.  

New patterns in the works... including a swimsuit I worked on during the blizzard.
Happy stitching.

Mardi Gras

Happy Fat Tuesday, all!

Make yourself a King Cake like we did and laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll)!

Throw DIY

This is a variation of the massive Blanket DIY that I made for my mom for her birthday!

It's so much quicker to work up, and still helps keep you warm... YAY!

So...
the variations...
Use a hook 2 sizes larger than you would use for the blanket.
Make 16 of the squares... leave the last 3 rows of sc off of these squares.
Join in a row of 4 using the same technique for joining that you used for the blanket, going back and forth making 3 dc stitches in each of the ch-3 spaces.  Join 4 rows of 4 together so you make one large square.

Just large enough to be used as a throw at the end of your bed, or for cuddling up on the couch!

YAY!  Have fun with it!  Happy stitching!

Birthday!

Today is my sweet Mother Dear's birthday!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

I learned to knit my first pair of mittens right after my mom learned (cause I wanted to be like her).  We took our first crochet class together when I was in 4th grade, and she helped me figure out how to turn a tote bag pattern into a backpack... my very first start at designing crochet and I couldn't have done it without her!  Thanks for everything, Mom!

Chocolate Binges

So... I had hoped to do all my homework last night, so I could spend all my free time today getting a fun DIY ready for you all...

Then I came home from class and found an entire box of chocolates... gone.

The next 7 hours consisted of lots of floor scrubbing, laundry doing, and some after hours time at the vet.  Fun times.  Has your dog ever eaten chocolate?  It's not pretty.

Here's hoping I get a whole lot done today!  I need coffee...

Harley... understandably worn out... as am I.

Dance Dance... otherwise we are lost.

Did you guys know I studied dance in college?  So many people don't know what modern dance is... sad day.  My New Year's Resolution was to go to dance classes regularly... then I got sick.  Class is tonight and I still have a 5 minute long coughing fit each time I leave the couch.  Doubtful I would make it through a class without turning it into a germ fest.  I'm extra wanting to go after watching Pina on Netflix.  There are so few good films about modern dance out there, and this is one.  Put your stitching down, open your mind, and go watch it.



Makes me think back to my old modern dance home!  Miss this place...



And you can spot some of my old performances and classes in this one...

On the Mend

Finally on the mend today!  HOORAY!

Saw this photo on facebook (thanks to our family friend, Patti)!  This is what my parents are up to this week.... on the island of Turks and Caicos... while I'm stuck here on the couch.  Trying so hard not to be jealous, but I'm not that big of a person...

While researching stuff to do on the island, my mom found the place is known for its stray dogs called "potcakes."  Read up on them HERE.  Since I've been begging for a puppy for about 3 years now... I'm kind of hoping that will be my souvenir (but probably not).  A girl can dream.

I may not be sailing or playing with that cutie, but Harley and I are getting lots of stuff done.  So if you've been waiting for a hat or a new pattern... I'm on it.  Hopefully photos and a new DIY to come soon.  Happy stitching!

Spotlight on Skin Cancer

Hi all!  I'm sick on the couch for the 4th day now...  bummer dude.

Luckily the Downton Abbey premiere and an email of this video have brightened my day!

Last year, Meredith bought the Power to the Pom Hat in bright orange so it could be used in this video about skin cancer awareness.  Definitely a topic important to me since many people in my family have had it.  So... stitch happy, get yourself checked, and try to spot the Sans Limites in this video!

Read more from her interview HERE.

Duckbill Platypus

We have a few Christmas traditions that are pretty silly but awesome... and they make me so happy.

1.  All 4 of us must be together to pick out our Christmas tree, but we can't get one until after my birthday.  This usually results in us not being able to get a tree until just a few days before Christmas.  Amanda and I always play argue over which one to get, and then we take some pictures hugging the tree (I know... we're weird).  We always go to the Fort Collins Nursery to get it (YAY local business) and the same tree expert is always working when we show up.  This year (2 days before Christmas with 3 trees left), he came out and said he wondered when we were going to show up and he was about to put one aside for us!  Haha...  so weird we're memorable... that's my family!

2.  We still leave cookies for Santa and he still brings us a couple gifts and leaves a thank you note for the cookies.  Although, our parents have become far better gift givers over the years than Santa. ;)

3. My parents still make us wait at the top of the stairs for at least 10 minutes so my mom can take pictures of us running down the stairs...  even though this year we made a yummy breakfast for them before that happened...

4. There is usually some amount of silly dancing to Christmas music in the kitchen. 

 5. We always go to a winter dance class with Sarah, one of our dance teachers from high school.  She lives in San Diego, and she's been doing a winter master class since I was in 8th grade.  (Back then we stayed to learn her choreography for dance competitions after... now we just have fun.)

6. My favorite... Amanda and I make a duckbill platypus face in front of the tree.  This probably started when my mom made us pose for a zillion pictures and we decided to liven 'em up a bit... but now it's a tradition all it's own.

Home Again, Home Again!!!

Hello all!

Hope you had a lovely week! In the last 11 days, I have spent 6 of them driving, 2 at Renegade, and 1 Christmas shopping when the highway was closed! I have done no crocheting... needless to say, I'm wound a little tightly.

Finally made it back to Fort Collins not even 3 hours ago, then left immediately after that to grab my sister from the airport... who almost got stuck in Chicago until SUNDAY because her flight was canceled. Holy moly, are we glad she hopped on a different one and is here... just in time for the world to END! (At least we'll all be together, haha!)

Now I need to start Christmas shopping/making, do lots and lots of laundry, answer all your Etsy messages, ship some presents and orders and stuff, make some custom orders from Renegade, get my life organized, work on the DIY's I promised you, find a Christmas tree... I don't even know why I'm still sitting here writing this with so much on my to do list...

But for now... a hot bath so my feet will be warm for the first time in 11 days... that was one cold road trip! More fun stuff to come tomorrow!

Insta-SLC

This was an overactive week for SansLimitesCrochet on Instagram...  Lots of holiday parade photos (this year's Parade of Lights and Macy's 2004)... lots of Krochet Kids photos (I hope you voted for them to win a million - if not, it's OK, just go buy a hat instead!) ...  and a pic from a Ugandan orphanage for World AIDS day...   oh yeah... and of course, some really cool stitching DIY projects.

Hope you have a lovely week!  Hopefully a new pattern coming out today... just working on taking some PHOTOS!  (PS  In the works with One O.A.K.  Photography for some really fun pictures that are more than just out by our front door...  get excited!)

Leaving early next week to head out to San Fran for Renegade!  (read up -------------->)
Blog posts may be sparse, so be sure to follow SansLimitesCrochet on Instagram or Tumblr for road trip, craft fair, and stitching photos!  

LET'S WIN THIS!!!

Dear dear friends!
So, last year, about this time I found out I was going to have the chance to intern at Krochet Kids international - a non-profit company that teaches women in Northern Uganda to crochet (and now women in Peru to knit). The hats these women make are sold in Nordstrom's stores, various boutiques, some Whole Foods stores, and Urban Outfitter's online. These women have a steady, paying job for the first time ever... combine that with business classes, a mentor program, and investment opportunities... and these women are now not only changing their lives, but the lives of those around them. That's how people are being empowered to rise above poverty. The coolest part? Each hat is signed by the lady who made it, so you can go online, look her up, read her story of change, and thank her for that hat handmade for YOU on the other side of the world... that's pretty awesome.

My fellow interns and I worked tirelessly for months because we believed so strongly that this could change the world (and cause crochet beanies are awesome- am I right?). Now Krochet Kids is one of 25 charities vying for a ONE MILLION DOLLAR GRANT from Chase Bank at the American Giving Awards, but they need YOUR VOTE to make it happen! (Go ahead and do that at http://bit.ly/vote4kki)

The number one criticism we got in our inboxes at KKi Headquarters was the wish for AMERICAN jobs... because we have problems here too (though nothing like the poverty in Uganda). I still remember working for KKi at a sustainability event and chatting with people about making this company more environmentally sustainable. The next week I discussed with the boys the idea of using recycled sweaters to make hats... they were so excited they went out and bought sweaters right then and there and started developing a plan for how their business model could work right here in this country for those living in poverty. I still remember how excited these guys were about the idea of helping more people. That always has been and always will be the focus at KKi. What was only whispers back in April could become reality this week - with YOUR VOTE.

There are few chances in life to do so much good with such a small action. You are just a few mouse clicks away from helping one small company change the world. So please please please take some time to vote before 9pm on December 4. And if you are even half as jazzed on KKi as I am, share this with YOUR friends. And watch the American Giving Awards on NBC on December 8 to see if your vote made a difference. And keep an eye out for KKi's spring collection with a ton of my crochet designs. OK... that's all.

Peace, Love, and so much THANKS,
Sara
(And I promise this will be the last time I facebook bomb you with so much stuff... thanks for your patience!)

Word from KKi HQ is that we are in a close second!  YOUR VOTE WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE TODAY!  #LETSWINTHIS

World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day.  If you have a free hour watch this film with great interviews from Bill Clinton, Paul Farmer, Jeffrey Sachs, Desmund Tutu and others. The full hour and a half is on YouTube... here's a preview.



"We're all part of this problem and we must address it head on together as one."

Here's the full documentary...

Insta-SansLimites (Thanksgiving Edition)

I had the most splendid Thanksgiving.  The best part?  My sister Amanda came home from Boston.  She brought me a cute T-shirt and Trader Joe's Cookie Butter (there are no Trader Joe's stores in Colorado... I know... it's pretty much a crime).  We also indulged in some cocktails including Ft. Collins beer and cooked... a lot.

Here are a few photos... hope yours was as wonderful!  Have a splendid day!

Be the Change

Be the change you want to see in the world.  Ever been so pumped about your stitching you thought it had the power to change the world?  IT DOES!  And these guys are doing it!

Stitchers UNITE!  Take to your facebook accounts, and help this knit and crochet non-profit CHANGE THE WORLD!!!

And exactly one year and one day after I found out I was going to have the opportunity to contribute a few crochet designs to this place, you can tune in to NBC and see if your ONE vote helped them win ONE MILLION DOLLARS!  December 8!

Do it!  Do it NOW!  HERE...   
Vote4kki!  Let's do this!!!

Displays

Took advantage of the weekend to try setting up a pretend booth in my tiny living room.  Here are a few photos.  Be sure to visit me at Renegade if you live near San Fran!  Dec 15-16 info is in the sidebar.  ------------------->