Just because ...

I've Moved

2011-08-18T10:08:00.000-04:00

I've moved. Ride on over and visit me at my new blog -

The Little Red Trike

Quilt Top

2010-08-16T16:45:00.000-04:00

I've wanted to make a quilt for my youngest son for ages, but teenage boys aren't exactly interested in that sort of thing. Then this summer he happened to pull out a quilt from the closet to use on his bed and told me the next day that he wanted one.

He chose the colours (so not my colours, I love cool colours) and the design. He originally wanted it in pure solids so it took some convincing to go for the marbles. It had to be symmetrical - no fancy patterns. The plan was to make it big enough that in a pinch it could go on a queen sized bed, but it's really closer to double size. He's currently in a twin so it'll be plenty big enough for that.

It's 8 colours of moda marbles (3 reds - red hot, brick red and california red, 3 oranges - popsicle, electric and carrot, key lime and flag ivory) in a 10 block repeat sashed with moda solid in black.

I ordered the backing today (black marble) and the binding will be in one of the reds (red hot). All the fabrics were ordered online because the local quilt stores here in Ottawa simply cost too much. I got this fabric for $5-$8 online so even with shipping the price doesn't come close to the $17/m I would have paid locally. Makes me sad (and feel guilty), but the money tree hasn't started producing for me yet!

Pillow to match the Throw

2010-07-13T19:47:00.001-04:00

Shortly after completing the throw for the family room I ordered more fabric to make matching pillows. Problem was, my sewing machine gave up the ghost. After a lot of going back and forth, I finally decided to buy a new one.

So I tackled the pillows today and wow, I felt like a completely new sewer (I've been sewing since I was a little kid). This was my first time tackling cording and it's hard! Don't let those cute tutorials fool you ... it's hard! I would not even attempt to give anyone instructions but I will give a noob tip - I sewed the cording on using a zipper foot trying to get as close to the cording as possible, but then I went back again and found I could get closer. I even went around the corners a third time to get really close.

Once the cording was on I then did another new technique - the invisible zipper. Again, don't let those nice little tutorials fool you ... it's hard to install an invisible zipper! Well, I guess not hard, just fiddly. But check out the end result. Do you see the zipper - no you don't (except the end but that doesn't count).

I am extremely pleased with how this looks, especially next to my new Capiello poster. Oh, did you notice there's only one? I am really trying to talk myself into making that second pillow. Unfortunately there was only one zipper at the fabric store in the size I needed so it's on hold for now. I could start on the cording but I need a break.

In case you were wondering, the machine I chose is the Kenmore Limited Edition 17 stitch. It's a great, basic machine. Smooth and great attachments. My old machine was a Kenmore so the learning curve was very small.

Linking to Saturday Nite Special #39

Willoughby

2010-06-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

I just finished knitting a beautiful stole. It's a Jared Flood pattern called Willoughby (rav link). This is one of those patterns that looks difficult, but is actually quite simple and straightforward. Although I never managed to memorize it, it repeats along certain patterns that makes it flow easily off the needles.

The only mod I made was to leave out the bobbles. I actually think they look great, but I loathe making them and I knit for pleasure so there was no way I was making 120 bobbles! I made the longer length but only did a total of 20 repeats per side because that used up almost exactly one skein of yarn per side.

I used Tanis Fiber Arts yellow label DK in Sand. The colour variations are gorgeous and subtle. There's almost a purply colour in there every now and then. This is my second time using Tanis' yarn and I highly recommend it.

If I were to make this again (which is highly unlikely, but you never know) I think I'd only do one yarn over along the edge. I find the two yarn overs a little bit too wide, especially after blocking.

How to turn a lampshade into a quilted throw

2010-06-14T13:35:00.002-04:00

Alternate title: How to get the perfect throw for your family room in many easy steps:

Go to IKEA to buy lampshades. Don't buy the lampshades but find perfect quilted pillow covers for your bed instead.

Image from IKEA - Alina bedspread with 2 cushion covers

Said pillow covers will only come in a set with a quilt and will NOT be in stock when you are there so stalk the IKEA website for a couple of weeks until more arrive. Oh, the quilt will be cut down to become a throw for your couch.

Buy a queen size quilt (you know almost 4 times too big for your couch) because you need two pillow covers for your bed.

Wash the quilt and covers, put covers on the bed (admire), leave the quilt hanging around for several weeks because all good projects need time to mature.

Visit at least 2 fabric stores because one will never have the fabric you are looking for. Buy half a meter of gorgeous Heather Bailey fabric even though it's not the colours you were looking for because you know it's hopeless trying another store.

Image from the Heather Bailey Store: Pineapple Brocade in celery from the Pop Garden collection.

Cut down the quilt to approx. 140 x 180 cm. Forget that you have to cut off the quilt's rounded corner so it will actually end up smaller.

Spend at least 2 days googling quilt binding techniques because you've never actually done one properly before. Fix your sewing machine (um, yeah, sort of fix your sewing machine). Sew on binding using these fantastic instructions by none other than Heather Bailey.

Spend at least 1, preferably more, days researching how to attach the other side of the binding to the quilt. Realize that your sewing machine can't handle it so decide on hand sewing.

Using a ladder stitch, make an invisible seam on the other side. This will take many days (not done yet) but the end result is so satisfying.

If it ever gets finished (you know, that maturing process we already talked about) put it on your couch for tv/movie viewing cuddling.

Edited to link to Funky Junk Interiors, Saturday Night Special

Painted China Cabinet

2010-05-08T09:37:00.001-04:00

This is a project that I have wanted to do for almost 10 years but never had the nerve to do it. So there it sat, in all its orange glory. But since we renovated the kitchen it is now exposed to the family room and every time I sat on the coach it stuck out like a big orange blob.

Last Sunday I decided ... enough's enough ... I'm painting this baby. So, in my usual haste, I started taking off all the hardware before I remembered to take a before shot. This picture was taken when we were packing up for the kitchen reno, thus the chairs stacked up in front of it.

I wanted to paint it a darker grey, but the husband, who stated that he "didn't care what I did to it" all of a sudden got opinionated about the colour. I started with CIL Surreal Blue, went down a shade to Silver Trophy, but he finally won with the even lighter shade of Fine Silver. I do like it, but would have liked it to be just a tad darker. I'm toying with some kind of glaze over top to give it some oomph. Lindsay at Better After used a cool product today that I may try to track down.

I started with a primer coat, followed by two coats of paint, then one coat of varathane. I should have probably done another coat of varathane, but I was getting lazy!

There are lots of imperfections but that's okay. I'm just so happy to get rid of the orange. I kept the top in the original finish because a) it matches our dining room table and b) it was much easier to cover it then have to move the top and c) I knew I'd never get a nice even coat on it like it has now.

As you can see, I took off the doors. I was thinking about doing that and when the husband saw me taking the doors off to paint them he commented that it looked nice like that. Sold! Then I mentioned that it was really nice that their was already beadboard on the back. He looked at me like I was a bit loopy ... oh, he said, you mean the PANELLING. I then gave him the stink eye and told him, no, the BEADBOARD. (full disclosure, technically it IS panelling, but I wasn't giving that to him).

Without the doors I've been able to add my pride and joy ... my Keiller Dundee marmalade crocks. They look much better here than they did in behind glass in the kitchen.

Linking to Funky Junk Interiors' Saturday Nite Special.

Edited to link to Life in the Fun Lane's first Fresh Coat Friday.

I lived with these for 10 years

2010-05-07T17:30:00.000-04:00

10 years, yes, 10 long years I lived with these freakingly ugly light fixtures. When we bought our circa 1970 house all the original swedish ball lamps were still in place, expect in the kitchen where these beauties had been installed. Look at their lovely faux finish - would that be verdigris? We did take them out of the kitchen, but for some reason (I think we ran out of money) we reused them in the back hallway and laundry room. So for 10 years I've put up with these. But since renovating the kitchen I've found that my tolerance for ugly in my house has gone down. Finally, last weekend we picked out these new fixtures. ♥♥♥.

Unfortunately, they only had one in stock so I'm still living with my faux finished beauty in the laundry room. Please lighting store, please call and put me out of my faux finish misery.

First Foray into Refinishing

2010-05-01T10:15:00.002-04:00

This week Donna at Funky Junk Interiors has a surprise category for her Saturday Nite Special linky party - Dressers, Dressers, Dressers. I knew my little dresser just had to come out to play for this one.

This dresser was the first piece of furniture I ever refinished so she holds a special place in my heart. I was newly married and my mother-in-law passed this over to me. I wish I had a before shot but, unfortunately, we are talking 20 years ago and I never thought to take pictures of it or the refinishing process. Too bad, we could have had a laugh at the permed hair I was sure to be sporting at the time!

It had been well-used and painted over numerous times. The top coat was white, then red, then another coat of white, then I think there was a dark stain. There might have been another coat in there too.

So out came the Citra-strip (great stuff - works well, smells great and it's non-toxic). I have no idea how long it took me but I know I used most of the bottle of remover and lots of steel wool. I do hope I wore a mask because I'm sure some of that paint had lead in it!

If I remember correctly, I used tung oil for the finish. It's a bit more orangey than I would like it to be, but the wood is so beautiful that I've left it alone.

The original pulls were red plastic vintage 1980's beauties. Since I didn't want the holes to show, and at the time I couldn't find the odd size, I ended up using these. I am not a gold person so someday I may change up this hardware.

She is stuck in a corner at the moment (and very hard to photograph where she sits) because we are in the process of rearranging the living room but cant do anything until we get rid of our monstrous piano. So please ignore the cords beside her and the plant that kept getting in the way. And yes, that is part of our record collection off to the right.

Now go check out all the amazing projects at Funky Junk Interiors, my favourite linky party of the week.

Stamping Spoons - Update

2010-04-27T07:40:00.000-04:00

I've had quite a few comments on how to stamp these spoons. I have already dabbled in stamped washers so stamping spoons wasn't a far stretch.

You can find good instructions here at Shrimp Salad Circus.

When I tried stamping for the first time I found several really good sites and videos. Try A Little Tipsy or Every Crafty Endeavor. There are also some really good videos on Youtube (can't find my favourite one right now).

I ordered my stamp set from 2BCreative on Etsy because I couldn't find them locally. I just checked and she is still selling them.

If DIY isn't your thing, Etsy is full of these. Typing "stamped spoon" into the handmade search yielded 7 pages and "spoon garden marker" yielded 8 pages.

Have fun. I plan to buy my mom a parsley plant and stamp her out a matching marker. I may just have to make a couple for myself too.

Stamped Spoon for Mother's Day

2010-04-21T08:32:00.002-04:00

Edited to link up to Donna at Funky Junk Interiors' Saturday Nite Special Linky Party.

I know these stamped spoons are all over blogland so I won't bother going into detail about how I made mine. Yes, these are two of my Goodwill spoons, so I'll stop whining that they didn't have anything good because I did pick up these fabulous specimens.

Here are a few tips I learned while doing this:

Smash the heck out of that spoon to get it flat ... it can take it, just don't hit the handle. I found I had to keep switching sides until it was completely flat. This is a good project for letting out some frustration.

Don't put your letters down backwards (note the D in grandma - I "fixed" it and we'll just call it a design feature).

The best tip though - after you use your Sharpie to fill in the stamped letters use a Mr. Clean magic eraser to remove the excess. Works better than anything else I've tried.

(why yes, that is me reflected in the unstamped spoon...)

From start to finish this took me less than a half hour, including locating the missing letter E from the stamp set (it fell into a box in the garage during the kitchen reno). I just have to make another one for my mom (don't know why but I assume this one's for my mother in law).

Love an instant gratification project.

Now to figure out how to get the pictures in to this post without using Flickr since too many family members look at my account (they don't read my blog!).

update: my apologies if these pictures are huge. I had to use an old Photobucket account and even though I resized them, they still seem to be appearing in gigantic size and I don't feel like fiddling around with it any more since I'll probably never use Photobucket again. We'll pretend I just like to show lots of detail.

Not Feeling the Thrift Store Love

2010-04-20T09:10:00.001-04:00

I love decorating with vintage things. Vintage, retro, antique, whatever you call it I like the style. I have been drawn to many of the blogs that I follow because they use this style - urban farmhouse, country (I don't like that word, reminds me of decorating with ducks), cottage, beachy - love it. And I've learned from my blog reading that the best way to do vintage is through thrift stores. Makes sense. Up until now I've been a fleamarket/ebay/etsy shopper. But I wanted to try some stamping on spoons for Mother's Day so I thought it would be faster to check out the local thrift store.

Now, I have been to thrift stores before and I admit, I'm just not a fan. Can't place my finger on it, but I just have never had any luck. But yesterday I found myself with a little free time so I headed off to my local Goodwill.

And I have to tell you ... I just don't get the Goodwill love. This stuff was not exactly cheap and pretty sparse for such a big store. For example, there was a white bowl, nothing special, wasn't a brand name or anything - $9.99. Seems a bit steep for a thrift store. There was very little silverware - 99¢ a piece (is that reasonable?). I picked up a few spoons and a fork just so I wouldn't leave empty handed (and I'm dying to try the stamping thing). I don't know ... think that's my last trip to Goodwill. Maybe it was just a bad day? Maybe I'm being unrealistic about the price points?

There is a second hand shop close by that I've never tried. Maybe I'll pop in there later today and try them out. Someone has to sell the junk beautiful items that I love.

Almost Done

2010-04-02T13:46:00.000-04:00

I haven't updated on the kitchen reno in quite a while but I am happy to report that we are almost done. All that's left is connecting the hood to the vent then I will make everything look pretty for some After shots. For now, here's a sneak peek.

Latest Obsession - eBay

2010-03-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

I think I'm one of the last people on earth to do this, but I finally made a purchase on eBay. This quickly led to another, then another ... that place is dangerous I tell you.

It all started with these little pots. I got them for $1.00 each and the shipping was really reasonable. It's like a conspiracy - you get that first thing for such a good deal that you just have to keep hunting for more.

This first score led to these Keiller jars. I am having a blast bidding on them. So far I have won four (only two have arrived) and have lost I think another three. Now part of my day is spent checking out what new Dundee marmalade jars have been listed.

I think it's all good as long as I set my limits. The day I start bidding on cars and houses I'll need my account locked up!

Team Canada - Ravelympics 2010

2010-02-17T16:17:00.001-05:00

It's kind of goofy for non-knitters, or more specifically, non-Ravelers, but I'm a member of Team Canada for the 2010 Ravelympics. Basically team members pick projects and enter them into Events. Finished objects win a medal of honour. So far, I've completed one project and received one medal. Silly yes, but lots of fun.

Event - Skelegurumi
Project - Minions by Heather Sebastian (my project)
Yarn - Elann Limited Edition Cantata

These little guys were great fun to make. I don't usually like making toys because I detest finishing, but I had no problems with these. I added beans to the bottoms of the hands, feet and bodies so they actually sit up by themselves.

My next event is WIP Dancing, where I am going to try to finish my unfinished zigzag socks. I finished one today and will try to get to work on the second this evening.

Adventures in Felting

2010-02-10T12:04:00.002-05:00

This past Christmas Dave bought me some awesome felted slippers off Etsy. Since then, he's been after me to make him a similar pair. Not a problem ... any excuse to buy yarn.

I had some Paton's Merino Wool (dark grey mix) lying around so I just needed a contrast colour. Luck would have it, Michael's had their Paton's Classic Wool on sale so I picked up 2 skeins of black.

The needles though were another problem. The pattern calls for 9mm (US 13) circulars in two lengths. The only ones I could find were $15 ... EACH. Oh well, I pulled out my discount card and bit the bullet. In hindsight, I didn't need the shorter one.

The pattern (felted clogs by Bev Galeskas) is not difficult, but virtually every row needs your full attention. I started talking to my family halfway through the second slipper and had to rip back multiple rows because I lost my place. They knit up quickly on the big needles though.

Once you knit the gigantic slippers which will have everyone questioning your knitting skills, the fun part begins - felting them. (btw - don't worry about hiding your ends - they just felt away) I have a front loader and although you can felt in one, the results seem to be mixed. So I decided to go the hand felted with a plunger route. There are great instructions all over the Internet (I mostly referred to these) so I won't go through every step.

After a quick run to Canadian Tire for a NEW plunger and bucket I got set up in the bathroom. Fill the bucket with the hottest water you can get and set it on a towel in the bathtub (to prevent scratches), throw in your slippers and some soap and go to town. I like the bathtub because there's lots of room for splashing. It took most of the morning, on and off, to get them felted down. But they still weren't short enough. So I tied them into a pillowcase and tossed them in a hot dryer with some towels and voila, perfect fit.

The last step was to put them on Dave's feet over plastic bags and mould them to his feet. I spent some time working on the arch and the curve of the toe. It took a little over a day for them to dry but they turned out perfectly.

A few hints. For the soap, I just threw a little bar of soap (Jergens maybe?) in the bucket until it had created enough suds, then took it out. I also shocked the slippers a couple of times by plunging them into cold water in the sink then back into the hot water. And very importantly, make sure you strain the water before it goes down the drain. The plunger causes a lot of lint and you'd hate to clog up your drain. I used filters you use for straining paint.

I bought suede soles, but the ones at my LYS weren't the fiber trend ones and I'm not crazy about the way they look. So we decided that when the soles wear out I will add the suede soles then.

Dave loves his new slippers - says he's stealthy in them because they don't make any noise. (insert eyeroll)

Weeks 4-5

2010-02-05T21:08:00.002-05:00

I didn't post last week because they only worked two days (Tuesday and Friday if I remember correctly) and it was just paint and trim. The doors went up early this week.

We finally picked a wall colour - Behr Sandstone Cliff. I wasn't crazy about the swatch but now that it's on the walls I'm pleased. It has just a hint of green in certain lights and enough grey to make it look nice against the white cabinets.

Oh yes, we have cabinets! Probably the most exciting part of the project so far (maybe tied with tearing down the walls). By the end of the week all the boxes were installed, most of the valance was up and the island was in place. I was so nervous that the island would be too big, but it's perfect.

On Monday the counter guy will be here to measure for the quartz countertops. They will overhang 30cm (12 ") on two side for eating.

The appliances are still on order because we thought this project would take a lot longer than it has. The lights for over the island aren't in yet either. And since we can't pick a chandelier I figure the bare bulb will be our modern touch.

Kitchen Renovation - Week 3

2010-01-24T20:54:00.000-05:00

This was a quieter week. Monday the electrician was here to install the new panel (leaving us cold and in the dark until early evening). Otherwise it was just mudding, sanding and priming really until Wednesday.

The crown moulding is primed and ready to be installed in the dining room.

There was a lump in the floor so they had to cut out this piece to fix it. I like to think of it as a trap door, although it would only get you onto a beam in the basement.

Thursday was a day off. So nice and quiet.

Then Friday was new floors. They aren't exactly the same as the existing floors in the dining room but awfully close. I actually like the colour of the new floors better. There will be a peninsula covering the seam between the new and existing and only a small opening where you will actually see the difference between the two.

Next week is more sanding and priming (maybe painting too if we can decide on a colour). The following week will be exciting - cabinets.

The Temporary Kitchen

2010-01-19T10:13:00.005-05:00

Edited to link to A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day.

I may not be doing the work on the new kitchen but I came up with this beautiful space all on my own!!

When you decide to live in your house during a kitchen renovation, in the middle of the winter no less, you have to find somewhere to prepare food. We were originally going to use the basement, but thank goodness we didn't because it's practically as ripped up as the kitchen. So the logical space was my office.

We moved the old fridge in (had to remove the handles to get it through the door).
I cleared off one bookcase to use for storage.
The microwave sits on a small table while the hotplate and coffee maker sits on another little table we moved in to the room.

It's pretty cramped and really messy, but better than nothing. We also hooked up the dishwasher in the basement. We moved the dining table into one end of the living room so we also have a reasonably comfortable place to eat. Although not ideal, it's working out better than expected. And full disclosure, we're eating out way more than usual.

The Knit-Signal is Up

2010-01-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

Following the devastation in Haiti, the Yarn Harlot has put up the Knit-Signal to help Doctors Without Borders. Read more about Knitters Without Borders here and the Knit-Signal here.

Kitchen Renovation - Days 5 & 6

2010-01-14T07:04:00.000-05:00

After a peacefully quiet weekend, things are moving along at a steady pace on the reno.

The steel beam went in first thing Monday morning.

Andrew's bedroom now has heat.

Drywall is up on the dining room ceiling.

Family room is insulated and the strapping is up for the ceiling drywall.

Plumbing is roughed in for the island sink.

Best of all, the soil stack is moved to the back wall and all the pipes have been tucked into the ceiling so that the ceiling in all three rooms will be the same height.

Various Knitting Projects

2010-01-13T08:59:00.002-05:00

I haven't updated my knitting projects in a while, so instead of individual posts I'll just throw them all together here.

Christmas Knitting:

Niece #1 - Bella's mittens and Twisted bere t (rav link only) in Cascade ecological yarn (natural)
Both of these patterns were fantastic and this yarn was so soft. I modified the Bella's to fit a 10 year old by starting on row 24 of the pattern and using thinner yarn. They fit perfectly. I didn't do any mods to the beret. I would highly recommend both patterns.

Niece #2 - Classic mittens and Star crossed slouchy beret (rav link only) in Cascade 220 (natural and confetti)
I've made several pairs of classic mittens because it's just a good basic pattern with several size choices. The slouchy beret is a great pattern, but I wasn't crazy about it in the thinner yarn. Fortunately the recipient was thrilled with both. I think it was the pink. I used sprial stripes for both patterns but knit the mitten cuffs in just the confetti. Blogger is really dulling these pictures - the pinks are actually a lot brighter irl.

Mother-in-law: Ogee lace scarf (rav link only) in Cascade ecological yarn (beige 8016)
I don't like knitting scarves because of the boredom factor, but this one flew along in the bulky yarn. The lace pattern is really pretty but this yarn was itchy. Nothing like the natural. I ended up doing several conditioner, Soak, vinegar and glycerine rinses to get it to the point where I think it's wearable. I also did a very light blocking so the leaves stayed very organic looking.

Father-in-law: Ultimate stashbuster Juneau hat in various leftover yarns (malabrigo, Cascade 220, Tanis Fiber Arts)
I used the Juneau pattern, but substituted various motifs from the ultimate leftover vest. I love the way this turned out - very pretty and very warm.

Charity Knitting:

Foliage in Andy's Merino lined with Sisu
I love this pattern, but it's for charity and needed to be warmer. So I picked up stitches inside the brim and knit a lining using the Sisu doubled. I did it in reverse stockinette so that the purl bumps would not show through the lace. It turned out really well - warm and soft.

I think that catches me up to the various projects I've cast on in 2010. They will have to wait for another post.

Kitchen Reno - Week 1

2010-01-09T15:36:00.001-05:00

We've survived the first week of living in renovation land. No, it has not been fun living in this noise and dirt, but I just have to keep focused on the outcome.

So far we've gutted the kitchen, taken down the walls between the rooms and removed the ceilings and floors:

Put in a new patio door:

Put up the wood beam on the dining room side, built out the wall around the sink to run all the utilities:

The other beam is waiting to be installed on Monday:

Lots more work has happened (electrical, plumbing, heating, etc.) but I'm not really qualified to talk about any of it (and lets be honest, it's the boring stuff - to talk about anyway - no offense to the awesome guys doing all the hard work). I truly am surprised by how fast they are getting things done. But I don't know how they will get that steel beam up there on Monday.

Kitchen Before Photos

2010-01-07T07:05:00.002-05:00

My posts are a little backwards, but here are the before shots of the kitchen. I wish I had remembered to take them before all the furniture was being taken out.

Family Room looking into the Kitchen

Kitchen (cabinets are were actually much lighter than they look in this picture)

Dining Room looking towards the kitchen

Pantry and eating area

Kitchen Reno - Day 1

2010-01-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

Today's the day - demo starts on our kitchen. It's 6:52 so it'll be quiet here for another half an hour then wham ... total chaos. The plan for today is to load the rest of the furniture into the pod, dismantle the kitchen and rip up the floors. They will also be cutting holes in the ceiling to see what we are in for re reinforcing the ceiling. Fingers crossed this is one of those good surprises days.

I haven't downloaded the before shots yet, but I can't have a pictureless post, so here's a generic shot of the pod. I'll have to remember to take a picture of ours before it leaves for podland. There's a little more snow surrounding ours. Update: here's a picture of our pod - surrounded by snow as promised.

Mittens to Match

2009-11-19T15:42:00.000-05:00

As soon as I finished the Miller's Hat I knew a matching pair of mittens was in order. Originally, I wanted them to be grey with red cuffs, but the amount of remaining malabrigo dictated the design. The following picture shows how much yarn I had left after weaving in the ends. I would have added another round to the body of the mitten if I had had just a little bit more yarn.

I used the cable pattern from Cheryl Niamath's fetching (rav link) for the cuff, but added one extra repeat to make them longer and crossed the cable in the opposite direction on the second one to make them symetrical.

The body of the mitten is based on this classic mittens (rav link) pattern. This is a great, traditional mitten pattern with a gusset thumb (a neccessity for me) and rounded top.

The cuff (grey) is Patons classic merino and the body (red) is malabrigo worsted. Everyone should have a pair of malabrigo mittens - they are just the softest thing without being fuzzy. Now to see how well they hold up.

(my project on ravelry)

Random Thoughts

2009-11-13T11:41:00.004-05:00

I was looking at my profile today and noticed that it says I've been on blogger since 2007, even though I just started "this" blog two months ago. I originally started on blogger when I was doing my library tech. courses and we had to do a course on multimedia. I had never heard of blogging before and frankly, thought it was going to be really stupid. We had to set up a dummy blog and publish, I think, three posts. I remember one of my classmates commenting (we had to comment on each other's posts too) that mine reminded him of Martha Stewart. I didn't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult (I chose compliment). I kind of wish I hadn't deleted those posts - it would be fun to see them now.

Fast forward a year or two and I resurrected my blog when I was digital scrapbooking so I could participate in contests etc. I never really got going on it and let it go when I stopped that foolishness. I probably shouldn't have deleted those posts either.

But my blog reader lists dozens of amazing people all sharing their lives, whether they are diy, decorating, crafts, knitting, or whatever touches me. And I have gained so much inspiration from them. My husband doesn't get it - why do I want to read about other people's lives? Because it makes me appreciate my own - I'm not alone in my feelings on this or that. Or I gain a new perspective into things I thought I knew. Not to mention all the decorating, craft, knitting tips I have gained.

So to every blog poster I have read - thank you. Thank you for sharing a little (or a LOT) about yourself, your home, you family, your lives. Blog on ...........

REMEMBER

2009-11-11T10:11:00.001-05:00

It all started in Soho

2009-11-09T20:02:00.005-05:00

I finally finished the hat I've been working on for Dave. This hat has been in the works for over a year.

Sort of.

No, I'm not a ridiculously slow knitter. It's just that the yarn and pattern wouldn't work together. So it has taken me over a year, 14 months actually, to finally produce something I'm happy with. And I am happy with it.

I started with a corrugated rib, followed by the initial pattern from this chart, followed by 2 stitch stripes. It has four point double decreases and voila, great hat.

I started with a corrugated rib, followed by the initial pattern from this chart, followed by 2 stitch stripes. It has four point double decreases and voila, favourite hat.

Pattern: my own

Yarn: Koigu KPPM and Sandes Garn Lanett

Needles: 3.25 mm (my ravelry link)

The reason for the title is that I bought this yarn on our trip to New York City (I❤NY) in the summer of 2008. We were staying at the Soho Grand and one of my top priorities was to visit Purl Soho which was just up the road from the hotel. Dave picked out this yarn for a hat and I knit him up a turn a square. I will not post a link to it because I hate that hat. It didn’t turn out right, the colours all blended together and I screwed up the top making a spiral instead of a square. Not to mention my colour changes were horrific. What a waste of Koigu! Thank goodness for this hat, because now he has retired the other one and I don’t have to be embarrassed by it any more.

I will make a Turn a Square someday, but with different yarn.

The Perfect Hat in the Perfect Yarn

2009-11-06T10:10:00.001-05:00

Let’s face it, most people, particularly women, don’t look good in hats. Myself included. But I live in Canada and I actually like to get out for a walk in the winter so hats aren't just an accessory but a necessity. You can imagine my delight when I came across this pattern – Miller’s Hat by Kristen Kapur of Through the Loops. It fits all my needs – beautiful, cables, covers the ears and looks good on.

Hat perfection.

The herringbone rib band is fun to knit and the texture looks fantastic. Don’t be afraid that it’s going to be too tight, it stretches just enough. And adding the simple garter stitch trim really changes the fit of the band.

Then there’s the slouchy cabled top. More texture, lots of depth and again, great fun to knit. I did go up one needle size for this section based on what others had said and I’m glad I did.

I will wear it pulled down in the back like in the pictures.

I didn't block it because I like the fit and I know malabrigo can really grow with wet blocking. We'll see if I change my mind later because I am a bit of a blocking fiend.

I had forgotten what a dream Malabrigo is to knit. How to explain the feeling - it just glides through your hands. No itchy wool here. This red is very hard to photograph properly though. It's a deep red with quite a bit of variation in the colour.

Pattern: Miller’s Hat (rav link)

Yarn: Malabrigo (mmmm) and a tiny bit of Paton’s Merino Wool for the trim.

Mods: None, perfect as written

(link to my project on ravelry)

Love.

Although even with my new gorgeous hat, I am still not ready for this. Nooooooooo…….

More Baby Knitting

2009-10-29T06:59:00.015-04:00

I finished the knitting for co-worker baby #2. It took me some time to pick out patterns, but I finally ended up with the pixie hat from Crystal Palace. What's not to love about a baby in a pointy hat?

Pattern: Pixie Hat (ravelry link)

Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend (white) and Sandnes Garn Smart (lime)

Mods: Adapted for DK weight yarn by casting on less stitches. Didn't knit and sew on the bottom border. Instead, I picked up stitches along the back and front (2 stitches per knit section and 1 per purl section) and did a seed stitch edging (6 rows at the back, 4 along the front). (I can't take credit for the seed stitch border idea ... I saw lots of examples on Ravelry that inspired me). The ties I made by casting on 75 stitches then immediately casting them off using a p2tog cast-off.

The booties are the same as for baby #1. I wanted to make them in green, but one skein wouldn't stretch that far. In fact, I only have a little left from each skein after making the hat and booties.

Pattern: Blue Steps (ravelry link)

Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend (white) and Sandnes Garn Smart (lime)

Mods: Adapted for DK weight yarn.

This was my first time using the magic loop method - hello, where have I been? Talk about simple, no dpn's all over the place and best of all, no ladders. I can't wait to try this with a pair of socks.

All pictures are pre-blocked, so they should look even sweeter once I give them a nice soaking.

I think I'll take a break before tackling baby #3's knitting. Something for myself maybe. A skein of malabrigo sock I picked up is calling my name ...

Just because ... I wanted to join the vignette party

2009-10-24T19:00:00.003-04:00

I'm joining Donna's Vignette Party over at Funky Junk Interiors.

These are just a few gatherings I have around the house.

The first is my new coffee table tray. I've never had anything on here because the trunk is also our liquor cabinet. We rarely use it, but it's awkward to offer a guest a drink and then make them wait while we unload a bunch of stuff off the top. So I found this tray at Home Sense (love) and now I can just pick up the whole shebang if I need to get into it.

I recently redid my mantle. It is very narrow so decorating it is always a challenge. I repainted the candle tray a few weeks ago (it used to be cranberry) and added the numbers. I added the little white pumpkins today, which is the extent of fall/Halloween decorating in my house.

This vignette sits atop my hallway shelf thing we got from a friend. I can't give a full shot of this beautiful piece because it's a mess. I live with teenagers, enough said.

This is a little grouping of cream and sugar dishes that all belonged to my grandparents. They are on the bottom shelf of my dining room plate rack.

For some really great inspiration head over the Funky Junk Interiors to see the rest of the party goers.

(my apologies if the text is small with huge spaces in between - blogger is being mean to me.)

Just because ... everyone is pregnant at Dave's work!

2009-10-23T20:05:00.007-04:00

Well, not everyone, but five people are expecting babies and there are under 20 people in the department. When he told me about the first one, I was so excited to have an excuse to do some baby knitting. Enter the blanket ...

This one is basically my design, inspired by many others. All told the yarn cost about $75 and I was thinking, hmmm, that's a bit steep for a co-worker.

Then ... we heard about baby #2. Okay, I can whip up another blanket, but this time I'll use cheaper yarn. Still don't have a picture of it, but it's Serenity. No problem, except although it's superwash, it HAS to be blocked to look right. Hmmm, what if the mom doesn't want to block it. So now I'm starting to doubt the whole baby blanket thing.

Then ... we heard about babies 3, 4 and 5. Yes FIVE. That's it, no blankets. So, at the last minute I'm scrambling to knit booties and hats, because these babies are on their way.

First, I knit up a pair of blue steps. This pattern is brilliant! Using a figure eight cast on is tricky, but totally worth not having to seam up the bottom. And half-brioche stitch ... love it.

To go with them, I used the Sweet Baby Cap pattern.

They have been delivered to the parents and baby #1 has arrived. (it's a boy, as expected).

More on baby #2 knitting next post ........

Just because ... It's Thanksgiving

2009-10-12T08:51:00.001-04:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Just because ... I'm addicted to labels

2009-09-30T15:26:00.004-04:00

One of my latest obsessions is labeling everything. I'm just showing you my spice jars, but believe me, there are many more of these babies around the house.

The technique I use is simple enough. Print the labels onto full page white shipping labels (I use Staples brand). Before cutting them out, cover them in clear contact paper. That way the ink is protected from moisture. Then just stick them on.

I made the spice jar labels by photoshopping these beauties from Eat, Drink, Chic. I also stole used her idea of looking up the Latin names in an online encyclopedia. I think they look so neat and tidy lined up in the cupboard.

Just because ... the spare room was icky

2009-09-29T11:41:00.004-04:00

I had quite a few projects on my to do list this summer, but sadly, time only allowed for the completion of this one. We had company coming and I refused to let anyone stay in our icky guest room again.

Walls

I used the new Behr paint with primer - not a fan. It's expensive (for Behr) and did not cover very well. If it was a more used room I would repaint, but it's just a guest room that doesn't see a lot of action so I will leave it. The colour is Offshore Mist.

The "dream" is one of those vinyl wall words that I picked up at Michaels. I had to explain to my family that I'm not "into" the word dream, it was just the only word that made sense in the room and came in white. They were pointing out all sorts of things - pillows, art, etc. - with the word dream on it over the next few weeks. Yeah ... no.

Accents

I painted out some existing cheap, brown plastic frames with glossy black craft paint, added inexpensive mats from Michaels and framed up these batik names of my boys I bought when they were just little guys. Love them against the blue walls.

The lamp (you can see it in the picture below) was originally hunter green so I spraypainted it with the ubiquitous Rustoleum Heirloom White. I don't think this will last long term (it scratches easily) but it was good in a pinch with company coming and no time to shop for a new lamp.

I already had the bedding. I made the duvet cover years ago from two flat sheets and a zipper - easy peasy. The small pillows are pillow cases folded over and pinned in place.

I've had this old spice rack forever but never liked the look of it. It also got a coat of Heirloom White and I bought these cute spice jars for 99¢ each at Canadian Tire. Wish I had a before shot of it, but just picture that old, dark stained wood - ugly. Now I just need to hang it up.

The "art" is canvases I bought years ago with Amy Butler scrapbook paper modge podged over top. I hung them with these 3M picture hangers - it's sort of like velcro.

The hangers made it so easy to get them lined up properly because it's very flexible.

Closet

The closet is my favourite part of the room. When we had the hard wood floors installed years ago the closet doors were all too long and couldn't be adjusted. So this room just had a big gaping hole full of all my craft junk - rather scary for guests.

I bought the curtains at IKEA (Hedda Rund ) and cut off the tabs. Then I took the rings off some existing curtain rings, opened up the remaining ring and hung them hook like over the existing door hardware. I'll try to post a better picture. They don't move that easily so it wouldn't be a solution for a bedroom, but it works well to hide all my junk in the guest room.

You will notice that there is no full room shot. That would be because I use this room to hang my laundry (when we don't have guests!) and it currently has two full racks of laundry beside the bed. Someday I will add a full room shot so you can see the lovely old desk the spice rack is sitting on and where the artwork is hanging.

Just because ... I needed a fresh start

2009-09-01T19:30:00.010-04:00

I'm resurrecting my ancient blog ... hadn't posted since 2007.

Going to try this out for craft projects and see how it goes.

But no pressure!