Knitionary

little black cardi

2012-02-13T22:06:00.000-08:00

So many times I have wished I had the perfect little black cardi to throw on. It seems as essential and timeless as the little black dress, but for some reason, I didn't have one! The remedy for that tragedy is this Kelly Cardigan from Erica Knight's Classic Knits. This is my third Kelly Cardi, being a sucker for it's simple classic shape and wearable style. Plus it's knit in Kidsilk Haze used double. Well, OK then! Bliss.

I bought the yarn for a great price from a fellow Raveler and immediately cast on. But black is tough on the eyes (just try to tink black KSH!, arggh) and I kept putting it down for months at a time. But last week I decided to get on with it and finish it already, it's a very quick knit after all. I wore it to knitting group today and I can't say it got much notice, it's not that kind of sweater. It's that essential kind of sweater that will be worn all seasons, when I need the perfect little black cardigan, which will probably be often.

Sorry about the head lobbings, but my face has had some scary grins on it lately, I hope it's not a permanent affliction. A few Ravelry notes are here.

rhinestone buttons

I'm standing in front of my dining room shelves recently re-done. I'm just a few weeks from being finished with the whole shebang and I'll take pictures. In the meantime, here is the DR with the walls in a dark smoke called Temptation by Benjamin Moore. Absolutely love it all so far.

This weekend we went to a mardi gras party and we wore these Diddam's masks. I bought the big flashy one for me and the smaller more discreet one for my hubbie. But the smaller one wouldn't fit over my husband's nose (sorry honey) coz it's kind of a child's sized mask I think, so he had to wear the larger, spectacular one which he hated because he didn't even want to wear one in the first place, so isn't that kind of funny?

And then I had this great nail polish to match. We were all black and silver and gold, perfectly mardi gras-ish.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and hope you have a sweet day filled with LOVE!

watery blue Water's Edge

2012-02-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Does this look familiar? I've knitted Water's Edge from Coastal Knits before and love it.

I wear it all the time and it gets lots of notice and compliments.

I loved knitting it and love wearing it,

so cast on immediately for another one in the same yarn,

this time in an ocean blue called Sapphire Blue.

Kidsilk Aura is a favorite yarn of mine. Aura is lightweight but warm.

The downside is there is a bit of an itch to it, even fine kid mohair can be a problem for sensitive skin. But since this is a cardigan, I'll always have a tee underneath it.

I finished the cuffs and neck/front edging with a 3 stitch i-cord bind off.

This finishing technique mimics the little pleat before the

ruffled peplum and it makes for a beautiful finish.

I have a tiny snap at the neck and it looks pretty open or snapped up.

I love it!

I have a case of Coastal Knits startitis with 3 knits from that book going on simultaneously,

Wildflower Cardigan, Sand & Sea Shawlette and Bayside Pullover.

It's a great book in case you don't have it yet, I love all the patterns.

Ravelry link.

baby moose twins in sprinkler

2012-02-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this? So dear.

edibles

2012-02-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

I found these sweeties on the "sweetest" Etsy shop. Can you believe they are all edibles! Gorgeous!

Decorative File Folders DIY

2012-02-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Redemption at last! Finally a reason why I saved scraps of wallpapers of rooms and houses past (and present).

A bottom drawer of my guest bath holds 40 (!) years of wallpaper scraps.

I loved the way they turned out.

I used this simple tutorial found here. I cut the wallpaper a little larger than the folder and then folded it in half. Outdoors I opened the folder and sprayed it with Alene's Tacky Spray Glue, then lined them up together and smoothed it out. I used a rotary cutter and mat to cut along the straight sides of the folder edges and used scissors around the tab.

Very easy, very fast and very pretty! But mostly I like that I'll be able to see my old wallpapers every day!

Fayer FO

2012-02-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

Kim Hargreaves pattern from Cherished.

I was wearing this sweater the other day while running errands with my husband. We were walking in a neighborhood and he looked over at me and said, "Is that a new sweater?" When I said yes, he asked if I had put it on Ravelry yet! Ha ha, isn't that funny, he knows the word Ravelry. Got to love that guy.

Rowan Alpaca Cotton, a Christmas gift from hubbie.

Anyway, I pulled out my phone and hopped onto a cute front porch step belonging to strangers and he took a few quick pictures. I had to crop my head, my expressions were just awful.

All the pertinent information is here on my Ravelry page, naturally!

vintage cute

2012-01-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

I have a box of embroidery transfer patterns collected over the years. The transfer patterns are heat transferred to cotton fabric with a hot iron, then embroidered. Used for baby quilts, table and bed linens, anywhere you would want to embellish with embroidery. And really, what doesn't look better with a little embroidery embellishment?

A collection that spans over 70 years, my grandmother's, my great aunt's and mine.

Here are two relatively new ones.

Here are some older ones.

Most of them are Aunt Martha's transfers, still readily available. I don't think she has discontinued one design, EVER! JoAnn's Fabrics always has a great selection.

Here are some early 1930's Aunt Martha packets originally selling for .10 each. They still stamp!

Some early McCalls dating from the 1940's and earlier. Those dancing teacups crack me up. 25 cents each!

The price has gone up to 30 cents!

Vogart is no longer available, but found this great site. Apparently they are pretty collectable. Love these pin-up gals.

I have a few posts in mind that will showcase some of the quilts made with these. So cute! Hope that post will be in the next few weeks. Also, numerous tea towels have been made, but those are mostly long gone to the rag bag or worse and made before I even thought of documenting my crafting with a photograph. Anyway, I knew you would enjoy seeing these, they are really precious, don't you agree?

Happy crafting!

Saturday morning

2012-01-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

I bet I'll love wearing this as much as I love knitting it.

Quiet Saturday morning.
Mad Men repeats and coffee.
Coastal Knits Bayside Pullover by Hannah Fettig.
Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply in Dessicated.

Bliss.

winter flowers

2012-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

I am one day new to Pinterest, a bit late to the party I know. I don't really know how best to use this resource yet but so far liking it very much. I have made up some fun boards, one is flower arranging. I don't know yet how to make the quality of the pictures better for blogging, but in the meantime enjoy these beautiful winter floral arrangements. (Does anyone know how to grab pins for your blog and have them not be blurry?)

Shaelyn Shawl and 4th Sunday

2012-01-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

Shaelyn Shawl by Sheila Raabe

I have some pictures to share of a shawl I finished and gave to mother for Christmas, finally got some pictures today. This is my second Shaelyn, and mother loved mine so much she requested one in black.

For this I used one strand of Cascade 220 and one strand of Luna, a thin strand of mohair/silk/gold metallic similar to Kidsilk Night.

The combination made a nicely warm and fluffy shawl with a bit of sparkle that the photos don't show. This is a super easy lace repeat and an A-plus pattern.

I really don't have white hair and ugly floors, I had to mess with the controls to get the lace to show.

Today was 4th Sunday which is my Sunday of the month to do food for fellowship after the last Sunday service. It's at lunch time and we try to have little sandwiches, deviled eggs, cookies, just little finger foods served up with lots of coffee. I find so many recipes on the web that I want to try, but since we don't eat many baked goods at home I usually end of trying these recipes for my 4th Sunday.

Today, besides little sandwiches, fruit and veggies, cheese and crackers, you know, the regular stuff, I made 3 new-to-me recipes. They were all big hits and found them right here on the web.

First off was Crock Pot Meatballs, maybe that's not new, but since I've never done it I assume some others have not either. This starts with a jar of jam, any flavor, but don't waste any homemade jam for this recipe, a bottle of bar-be-que sauce and 1/4 cup of prepared mustard. Mix it in the crock pot and add a bag of pre-made pre-cooked frozen meatballs. Stir and turn on high for 5 hours. They were gone in minutes and I doubled the recipe.

The next treat has the unlikely name of Cracker Toffee. Now friends, I make real toffee twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas and don't feel we need it the rest of the year, even though we WANT it. This recipe has intrigued me as everyone in blogland is always saying how fab it is and oh-so-easy. Well, it was another hit. Gone in minutes and so easy, I will make it again, but does not take the place of real toffee no way. I used this recipe from the Girl Who Ate Everything. Try it, you will be amazed. I didn't use saltines, but some butter crackers I had.

This recipe for Lemon Sugar Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod is via A Friend to Knit With who bakes a batch of cookies a week and shares her findings with us. California is lemon country and we love puttin' lemon in just about everything. Another big hit at church, so this 4th Sunday for me was 3 new recipes and 3 big hits.

Lots of football and knitting on the menu today! Next post I'll share my wip's, I have a few!

Emilien

2012-01-18T15:12:00.000-08:00

First off, I need to say that I DO love this sweater (and the guy that's wearing it!) but if ever there was a sweater project that could suck the knitting mojo from the soul, this would be it. The pattern is a stinker and would be better if it were offered free and reworked. I've discussed that over on my Ravelry page. I'll just say that in the end, after over a year of knitting and ripping and repeating, the sweater is...finally...finished and beautiful. My son loves it and fits him to a "t"!

The yarn is machine washable wool, Cascade 220 Superwash. Easy care for a young man to manage.

Did you hear me yowl on Christmas Eve when I was putting in the zipper?

My first sweater zipper, finally I hand sewed it.

The pattern does not explain the short row shaping for the hood, but once you figure it out, it comes out well.

The fit is perfect.

House Tour, the hallway

2012-01-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

A finished room to show!

This room is the hallway that leads to our bedroom. It sports new wall paint and new fabric for the window seat cushions and pillows. It's part of our redecorating plan and really is the first room to be finished.

This room has had several color reincarnations since we bought the house in 1985. It once was sunny yellow and then raspberry pink. I love these mellow neutral tones for a quiet change.

The hallway goes from the entry way to the master bedroom. We bought the house from the original owners, and when they built the house (1942), this hallway was private, with doors that closed it off from the entry way. It made this hallway more of a part of the bedroom, but we wanted this to be open as the windows face the front yard. We removed the doors and enlarged the windows as our first project in 1985.

The original house plans call this hall a gallery. The wall on the right had NUMEROUS nail holes from where dozens and dozens of pictures had been hanging. I have arranged Pottery Barn black and white frames for our family pictures.

We use the storage in the window seats and cupboards for old clothes and toys.

This glass case was purchased elsewhere, but last time in Pottery Barn I saw these in 3 sizes.

At the end of the hall is a bank of drawers that gets used every day. They hold my purses, belts, scarves and shawls. Our bedroom is just on the other side of the door and I consider this little holding area to be my last minute spot to finish dressing and grab my purse. It's almost a part of the bedroom.

Smaller family pictures are on the shelves above the drawers. I love this space so much. It leads to our bedroom, so is private, but open to the entry so can be seen when you first step into the house.

I love the way it looks at night when you walk up to the front door.

Having a hallway like this is an unusual and charming feature in a home. I love it for being beautiful and unique and is one of the reasons why I love my house so much. My husband will have to carry me out of here, feet first.

Linked to It's Overflowing and Cottage and Vine!

neighborly dinner party

2012-01-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

We had a dinner party last night, a long over-due welcome to the neighborhood dinner party. My table looked so pretty and I like to share these pictures with you.

I used my Le Jacquard napkins and a table cloth that was made from a large remnant of upholstery fabric. The dinner plates and soup plates are Arte Italica's discontinued Portofino pattern in a deep sage green with a pewter rim, very lovely. I have a set of 6 and hunting for more. The goblets are from my 39 years ago wedding registry, the very fancy Lalique, pattern Langeais. I was never more fancy than when I was 21. I just looked them up online and almost fainted at the price now. But I have to say, they are like holding angel's glass, ethereal and beautifully delicate. Now I am determined to use them more often, why not!

The champagne flutes are made by Roost.

The dinner was simple, starting with Tomato Soup with Wild Rice made from my husband's summer tomatoes that I roasted, pureed and froze. Followed by roasted Fred Steak with an artichoke salad. For the veggie side I had planned on making a flashy pepper and asparagus stir-fry. But yesterday I was looking for a piece of wire and had to move a stack of old books and then I sat down and looked through the old books for an hour. A trip to my past! My cookbooks from my childhood, also mother's from her childhood, so fun to look though. So many memories of a 9 year old me making Happy French Toast and Sunny Day Salad for my family. Then a familiar notebook appeared that I knew to belong to my Grandmother Pearl, full of hand written recipes from the 40's and before. As I was leafing through I thought, why haven't I ever made any of these? Like Cytha's Prize Lemon Pie ("my favorite" written in the corner) or Lelia Patterson's Chile Sauce whose first ingredient is "1 peck of tomatoes". There's recipes for Marshmallow Pudding, Mrs. Zimmerman's Meatballs and Casserole Corn. On a whim I decided to make the corn pudding and even though I doubled the recipe and had only 6 for dinner, every last kernel was gone. It's simple and I would file it under comfort food. The recipe calls for a jar of creamed corn, I know my family canned and bottled but I've substituted purchased canned creamed corn.

Casserole Corn
Mix 1 can creamed corn with 2 well beaten eggs. Set aside. Mix 2 tablespoons flour with 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups whole milk and beat until smooth. Combine with corn mixture and pour into greased casserole dish. Set in a pan of hot water (I forgot to do this step and it was fine) and bake in slow oven (325 F) for one hour or until firm and brown on top. Mine took longer at a higher setting as I doubled it. It was a hit!

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my previous post. I appreciated hearing from you.

inspired by

2012-01-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

This post by the lovely Twisted Knitter inspired me to write my own story. It's hard to know what is appropriate to share on this space or why I would even want to share personal things. Like Janet, I'm not sure if this will get posted.

I have through out my life imposed ridiculously high standards for myself and impossible goals that made me feel bad when I didn’t reach them. I also felt like I couldn’t say no to anyone. I resented my friends and family for expecting so much from me. What a mess, I was so unhappy! And it was all my fault, my doing.

During and before the time my son became sober, about 2 years ago, we had so much time to talk as a family. I used that time to take a hard look at myself, did not like what I saw, and set my mind to go about changing. Other people's behavior is not in my control. If you have ever had a child who is spiraling out of control because of alcohol, the pain is unbearable. It was making me sick, or rather I was making me sick. I just knew I couldn't be sick anymore. Perhaps others, including my son, couldn’t or wouldn’t change, but I knew I could.

I read a lot on this subject and talked to people I trusted and got a lot of encouragement. Then I tried to let some things go. First to go was my unattainable desire for perfection! control! speed! adoration! I got the courage to look the other way, remove myself from situations, and stay away from certain people. I started to say NO often! I eventually quit my unhealthy job situation. Most importantly, I set a standard for how I thought I should be treated and accepted no less. Believe me, these changes were not easy to make then, but easier now, you get used to making the changes and finally the changes become habits. The changes become the new you. Lucky for me I had a few close friends and a loving family to share things with. And prayer was my constant quiet companion.

It’s funny, I think some people may have noticed a change in me, but rarely did anyone say anything. Perhaps if they saw a change they adapted to the new me and still loved me. My son became sober and he was proud of the changes in me. I was proud of him.

I am now so much better, so much happier. I have a feeling of peace and contentment that was out of my grasp a few years ago. I know my husband is happier that I am happier, but truthfully, he had a bit of an upset at the beginning.

I acknowledge that I am very talented in so many ways. I love to create, do and make, and love to share all of it. But now it’s always on my terms and I never allow myself to feel guilty about how I spend my time or money or explain away who or what I love.

Those whom I love, I show it, I behave myself around them and give them space and acceptance. I expect it back too. It's way easier that way, why didn't I think of it before?

My son read this and suggested I add that it takes courage to evaluate one's self, come up lacking and seek out change. It sure does, I observed his courage with great pride and took pride in my own. This is not so much my story but my family's story, specifically my part in my family's story. Perhaps our story will inspire courage in others.

At 60, I am a real work in progress. God help me.

Bless you, and thank you for reading.

xoxo Kristen

a little reminder

2012-01-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

A little reminder to set your DVRs for the second season of Downton Abbey airing tonight. I've been looking forward to this since the last episode of season one. It's surely one of the best Masterpiece Theaters ever.

If by some terrible accident you never happened to see season one, for a short time you can watch it here on your computer.

The production inspired me to search out my cameos. All are hand carved shell.

These came from either my grandmother Pearl or my great Aunt Cytha.

My favorite aunt, Aunt Patty gave these to me when I pieced my ears at age 16. It was quite a feat to talk my mother into ear piercing as at the time it was akin to tattooing. My aunt always bought me the most beautiful gifts.

Enjoy Downton Abbey!

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cabled

2012-01-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

At Crate & Barrel yesterday and my husband noticed these. I love them! On sale at $8 each, they had a ton, but I couldn't find a link to them on their site, perhaps they just have them in the stores.

Embossed matte porcelain, made in China.

All it needs is a teensy cabled scarf!

(Sweater vases found at my local Crate & Barrel at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, CA.)

new year cheer

2011-12-31T13:09:00.000-08:00

We're passing these out to friends on New Year's Eve.

Most Perfect Cut-Out Cookies

1/2 cup butter for the flavor, nothing can beat butter for that
1/4 cup shortening for the texture, adds a crisp snap
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat first three ingredients until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and mix in. Form mixture into disk and cover in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with sugar and bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees F for 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to racks to cool. A simple family favorite.

Follow directions for Royal Icing on the Wilton Meringue Powder can. Use #4 tip for writing.

I'm feeling very wistful and thoughtful about this year ending and a new one beginning. It reminds me to take the opportunity to think about what I am thankful for and what I have to be grateful for. So much, and I pray I never take it for granted.

Thank you all for visiting my blog over the year. I appreciate all my readers, it means a lot to me that you stop by and I love it when you have time to comment. Thank you so much and happy new year!

California

2011-12-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

A new year and a new header. I was looking around for something to photograph for a header to replace the Santa header and decided to photograph this pillow.

The pillow was made by my maternal grandmother, Pearl. She came to California from Tennessee in the "teens" with her husband and 3 small boys. They settled in Fillmore, California and became tomato growers and had 3 more boys and my mother.

Pearl, as busy as she was, still managed to quilt and embroider. This is an example of her handiwork. Possibly made in the 20's, it's cotton sateen with silk embroidery with tinting on the leaves and the letters.

In California we call this a pepper tree. It's a beautiful evergreen tree with lovely papery red berries and thin leaves growing together in long droopy leaflet clusters. The pepper berries seem to stay all year. We have several in our neighborhood and I think they are mostly ornamental as I've never heard of anyone harvesting the peppercorns.

I never knew my grandmother, and surprisingly with her 7 children, she managed to have only one granddaughter, me, and since I grew up loving handiwork I have been lucky to inherit her handmade things plus her sewing basket and notions.

I have more examples of her handiwork, one is an absolutely adorable Big Bad Wolf quilt that I will share with you soon.

I'm gonna be busy

2011-12-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

My family knows me all too well. My Christmas gifts were the tablecloth kits and yarn bundles below. My family had a little help purchasing these gifts, wink wink. I think they all thought it was pretty funny how giddy I was over my Christmas loot. I know you'll understand, check it out!

First, enough Rowan Alpaca Cotton for a tunic.

Noro Taiyo, cotton and silk for a summer shawl. Love the bright pastels!

I fell in love with Isager yarn when I made my Volt. A pullover and a scarf to match? Add some beading?

Great yardage on Plymouth Mushishi for a shawl to wear at Christmas time. I need more red in my wardrobe!

Noro Aya, cotton, silk and wool. A striped pullover combined with some white Calmer in stash.

I also received two table cloth kits. This first one was found on ebay, total cost including shipping was $11! It's a 100% Belgium linen stamped cross stitch table cloth and came with the DMC floss.

The cloth is a creamy ivory and the floss is like old brass which will work well in my dining room.

It looks like the kit is from the 50s or 60s.

The linen is high quality and the edging is beautifully done. Very happy with this!

The next table cloth will make you laugh. You know I've made a Christmas table cloth before so I hardly need another. But while doing research to see if my old cloth kit was still available, I found this new one on the Herrschner's web site and I fell in love.

Had to have it.

Well, this ought to keep me busy for a while.

winning cashmere

2011-12-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

I entered a blog give-away, I always do, never win, but this time, can you believe I WON! Something so gorgeous and extravagant, two beautiful skeins of medium gray fingering weight 100% cashmere yarn hand dyed by Laura Schickli of Handwerks. It's beautiful. I wish you could feel it, sooooooo soft.

The pattern I choose for this needs to be very special. I'd like it to be around my neck and shoulders, so I can feel it and touch it constantly. I can't wait to get started on it. I'm looking at Lisa Mutch's Uncommon Clouds designs. Perhaps I'm influenced by the color, but aren't they simply beautiful?

I think the yarn is perfect for Nimbus above.

but I also love Askew.

I'm also thinking that maybe something lacy would be pretty. I have 400 yards of fingering weight cashmere yarn. Do you have any ideas? I'd love to know what you think. This will be my first time knitting with 100% cashmere and you can imagine I want the perfect project!

Thank you Laura for the wonderful gift. I've used the lovely Handwerks yarn before, a silky merino blend when I made Exposed, pattern coincidentally by Lisa Mutch, and I love it.

still merry and bright

2011-12-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've got something to share that may surprise you, I know it surprised me. In California we can have roses pop up at any time, but nothing like this in December! With all our frosty mornings I was still able to pick these bright bouquets. The first is Simplicity Red picked from 5 bushes outside our bedroom. In my northern California garden with full sun exposure it grows to 6 feet and blooms about 6 times a year and is disease free. An amazing rose that I highly recommend.

Below is Simplicity Pink. I have a hedge of 25 of these in our front yard. They get trimmed after blooming, about 6 times a year, with electric hedge clippers just as you would trim any hedge. It immediately starts setting buds and blooms and in a month or two and I get hundreds of blooms from each bush. For me, this blooms more often and with more flowers than the red, but is not as hardy as it gets spots on the leaves and can get powdery mildew. In spring with the first spring bloom, it will be a hedge of solid pink, very pretty.

I'm spending the day brushing crumbs and glitter from every surface and am working on a post to show you my yarny Christmas gifts.

Nativity

2011-12-22T22:14:00.000-08:00

Our treasured family nativity. I played with this as a child, gifted to me a few years ago by mother. Merry Christmas and happy happy holidays to all my readers!

my showy travel knit

2011-12-21T00:37:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went on a quick get-a-way to Las Vegas. My husband likes to gamble, and me, I just think the town is beautiful. I love the city's exuberance, the way it looks, the way it feels, the place is energizing! But as much as we both like Las Vegas, we sometimes feel a little allergic to crowds. Their most quiet week of the year is the week before Christmas so off we went. And really, it wasn't quiet at all, only perhaps by Las Vegas standards.

We had the BEST time, sometimes I had to pinch myself. We saw two wonderful shows and had two wonderful dinners, one night at Delmonico's and the next at Bouchon. Gahh, just perfect.

We stayed again at the beautiful Venetian (all the rooms are suites and they have great specials all time time, not kiddin', we stayed for $110 a night) I found this cozy little spot above and settled in for a few hours of knitting while hubby gambled.

Knitting in public is an invitation for people to smile at you and come over and tell you how their grandma knit them caps, socks, sweaters. I tell them knitting is in fashion with young people now and they can't believe it. This scarf got everyone's attention, it's quite showy, just like Las Vegas.

Kidsilk Haze Stripe with colors by the color genius Kaffe Fassett, which is a perfect segue to...

...the beautiful Chihuly glass ceiling in the Bellagio. Our last day we visited the Bellagio just to see their Christmas displays in their famous atrium garden.

The Bellagio gets my Christmas Spirit award. Their displays were unbelievably gorgeous

carpeted with thousands of ruffled poinsettias.

Everything is on a massive scale. I stayed in the atrium for and hour to ogle.

The polar bears and gingerbread house were made of carnations.

I have come home to enjoy the week before Christmas in a quiet way... a fire to sit by with candles lit, a little knitting, a little baking. Sigh.

owl gallery

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun creating my granddaughter's Christmas gift this year.

Little pillows for her bedroom were inspired by these from the Pioneer Woman and

also by these from Pottery Barn Kids. I was able to make up my own pattern and use scraps of what I had around here to match her bedroom's black/lime/white color scheme. You can make these, even if you don't think you are handy at the sewing machine. They are very easy and took less than two hours for both.

I found this beautiful little leather owl purse at Therapy in Downtown Los Altos. The owl hat by Bonnie Jacobs is from this free pattern and the Peekaboo Mitts pattern by Abi Conners is also free. I used one skein of Malabrigo Rios in Lettuce for both the mitts and hat. My Ravelry link is here.

Take care and see you soon!

Favorite Cardigan

2011-12-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

Joy to the world! A gift is finished in time to ship and be there well before December 25th! Now I hope it fits and she loves it. Ravelry link for some modifications.

I have an owl ensemble to share soon and some other knitted gifts finished but cannot share over this space quite yet. I have two gifts left to finish, still working on my son's hoodie and a pair of Peekaboo mittens for his girlfriend. Those don't have to be mailed and am feeling no panic!

Gingerbread House decorating party

2011-12-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

We decorated gingerbread houses last week. SO FUN! I'm going to share my super secret recipe for the most perfect gingerbread house decorating party. Please pay careful attention.

Assemble your little house the night before so the icing will harden up and will withstand heavy-handed candy application!

First, invite the three most adorably cute and sweetest little sisters visiting from Australia.

Next, put lots and lots of candy out in nana's cut crystal bowls. Cut crystal is the key here. This is a very fancy occasion and if there ever is a time to make use of your pretty things, it is for candy at Christmas time. Little girls notice the sparkly table and are very appreciative guests.

Add giggles.

And also add one great-grandmommy.

When finished, present these candy cottages to the daddies and grandaddies.

My recipe is for very sturdy gingerbread, perfect for building projects. It does taste really good though, and if you plan on eating and not building, you can bake it for less time and it won't be as hard. I've passed this recipe on to many people and every one has good luck with it so I'd love to know if you use it.

Gingerbread House Recipe

Bring to a boil: 3/4 C shortening, 6 oz (3/4 C) molasses, 3/4 C sugar, 1 1/2 Tbls. vinegar

Pour this mixture into a heavy duty mixer and add: 4 1/2 C flour, 3/4 t. salt, 3/4 t. soda, 1 t. ginger, 1 t. cinnamon. Add 2 eggs and mix. Dough is best worked soon or it will be difficult to handle. Roll 1/8" thick and cut shapes. Bake at 350 F for approximately 20 minutes. Loosen cookies with spatula, turn off oven and return cookies to oven to rest for about an hour to harden.

Use Royal Icing to act as the edible glue to assemble houses together and affix candy. I use Wilton Meringue Powder and powdered sugar and follow the recipe on the container.

Over the years I have made perhaps a thousand of these 8" men. I'm not kidding.

This makes about twelve 8" men or three 6" houses. My house cookie cutters are from Wilton years ago, a quick internet search and I found quite a few, but they seemed bigger than this one I have. I double the recipe above and have made dozens for parties in past years. You can start baking these in October and store in shirt boxes and assemble the night before you plan on decorating. Recipe is easily doubled.

My son had a gingerbread decorating party every year until he was 18. It was a tradition even the cool teens were reluctant to give up!

Superbly Swedish Almond Tarts

2011-12-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

I keep meaning to show you my tree and the little San Francisco village under the tree, but I postpone that again today and instead show you my little almond tarts, an homage to my Scandinavian heritage. My family loves these and hope you enjoy them too! Recipe below.

I use a wooden spoon handle to poke a hole in the dough.

Nana used little traditional tarts pans like these but I prefer the non-stick pans.

Fill with scant teaspoon and sprinkle with nuts if desired.

If you run out of filling you can fill them with jam.

Sand Tarts

Cream together 1 C butter and 1 C sugar with 2 egg yolks. Add 2 1/2 C cake flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. almond extract and 1 C finely chopped almonds. Chill dough for an hour or more. Form into walnut sized balls and and place in tartlet tin and work dough up the sides. Fill with scant teaspoon of filling, sprinkle with chopped almonds and bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before removing from pan.

Almond Filling

Beat 1 egg with 1/2 C sugar and 4 oz. almond paste until smooth.

These are wonderful for breakie the next day, cold from the fridge with a cup of coffee.

hello dollies!

2011-12-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

I love making these little dolls. I've made them twice before, Flower Fairies for my granddaughter and last year for two bridal showers I was having, also a tutorial in that post. These I made for myself in red that will look pretty in my living room at Christmas time.

We (I) had such a fun day today. My dear and very sweet husband drove me to Knitterly in Petaluma. It's a pretty drive north over the Golden Gate Bridge, (love driving over this bridge and always think it's a treat), but it's close to a 3 hour round trip. He is a saint. He then bought me 3 sweaters worth of yarn for Christmas. Now you know I'm not lyin' about the saint part.

Petaluma is a quaint old fashioned town once famous for being the Egg Basket of the World. It's in Sonoma County so there are vineyards all around, plus the beautiful Sonoma coast is not far. It's a fun day trip with lots of shops and good restaurants, restored Victorian buildings and friendly people. And there's also that knit store!

Christmas table

2011-12-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

My table looked so pretty set up for a lunch that I wanted to share it with you.

A Christmas fantasy with a little snowy village installed down the middle.

Tablecloth was cross stitched by me 20 years ago from a Bucilla kit.

Spode Christmas Tree plates were collected by mother for years.

Painted wooden ornaments are from Wendt and Kuhn.

Santa and his reindeer on each side of the cloth.

Napkin rings are also Wendt and Kuhn. She is eating her porridge! So very cute, mwahh!

Tablecloth goes in and out of the washer and dryer like a champ.

Little cardboard houses are vintage with original prices on the bottom, from .50 to .75!

Iced tea glasses are mother's Candlewick.

xoxoxoxo I love this so much. "To All A Good Night" tablecloth kit from Bucilla.

Each corner has a tree with teddy and gifts.

The tablecloth kit included the DMC floss for the cross-stitch.

This tablecloth kit seems no longer available, it's been over 20 years after all, but it's the cutest one I've ever seen. I did look around the web and thought this one was lovely. This one is adorable too but looks like a tremendous amount of work, in embroidery instead of cross stitch.

I'm busy with all sorts of knitting projects as usual. Today I am going to make some owl pillows for my granddaughter for Christmas and also I'm finishing up some St. Lucia dolls which I will post. I've also got two more posts going, one about some Christmas jewelry and another about a gingerbread house decorating party I had last week. Stay tuned! I really enjoy sharing my crafty endeavors with you. Thank you for visiting.

12/20 Edited to add: I found this same tablecloth kit on Ebay for $27. I think you should buy it!

Turkish dinner party

2011-12-09T23:30:00.000-08:00

I always think it's a great treat to go to dinner at Casey and Jack's home, but when they have just returned from Turkey and promise a beautiful Turkish dinner, and their beautiful home is decorated for Christmas, and we are celebrating friends visiting from Australia, well, a dinner party doesn't get much better than that.

Even my iphone reveals the beauty of the evening.

Roasted peppers with anchovies.

I don't know why I didn't get more pictures of the beautiful buffet, but I think I was busy putting food on my plate.

Paperwhites on the kitchen counter.

Jack keeps bees and so keeps his friends in honey. With his honey I made baklava from this recipe. Very easy and so delicious!

Like little jewels.

What a beautiful evening!

granny square tote

2011-12-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

This started as a baby blanket but finished as a tote! I used 44 squares in all which includes the gusset. Each square is 4" made of scraps of dk weight yarn. The finished bag is approximately 16"x16" but seems roomier because of the gusset.

The inside has two pockets and is lined with some upholstery sample scraps. The handles are vinyl. I interfaced the gusset with pieces of vinyl to make it less floppy and more boxy.

This will be gifted and I will miss it!

VOLT

2011-12-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

Fantastic pattern with other beauties in Grace Anna Farrow's pamplet A Fine Line featuring 6 shawls "in bold stripes with lace weight yarn". Really hypnotic designs and gorgeous color combinations. The yarn is Isager Spinni 1 which I have seen at my LYS for ages but never tried until now. I look forward to using it again. I felt it was medium soft in the hand but makes an extremely soft fabric.

I'm mesmerized with chevron stripes. I love the name VOLT, it's electric !

Tubular cast off makes a lovely finish but took me several evenings to finish.

Light, lovely and warm and an absolute joy to knit. My Ravelry link here with some details on my changes.

Christmas gift knitting and crafting is moving ahead here at a fairly good speed. I am not in panic mode yet! It's funny tho, this year is my first "non-working" Christmas season in 13 years. So I thought with no job I would have tons and tons of fun decorating, baking, shopping, crafting and knitting time. But noooo, it seems that this time of year it's just plain busy no matter how much extra time you think you might have. (In years past I would have to say no to a lot of Christmas activities, this year I have said YES to everything!) And I'm lovin' it.

vodka and caviar

2011-12-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

We've just started decorating for Christmas.

Wendt and Kuhn angel orchestra. Go to their website. You will love these little guys.

Their faces!

Real cookies, fake pomegranates from Crate and Barrel.

So where did I get the vodka and caviar?

My go-to December nail polish. Vodka and Caviar by OPI.

Tomorrow, we're on to the tree.

Needlepoint Stockings

2011-12-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

I once had a small at-home business that kept me hopping at Christmas time. Needlepoint was all the rage in the 70's and 80's. I worked for about 5 needlepoint stores from San Jose to San Francisco turning finished needlepoint pieces into Christmas stockings. I would get the finished piece, wash it and block it, then sew it up with a cotton lining and back and welt it with cotton velvet. I also finished needlepoint pillows, eyeglass cases and ornaments for people. While it was a very lucrative business I was so busy I had stopped enjoying it so I quit!

I've made 6 stockings but my daughter and granddaughter have theirs in their own house. Also, my son-in-law has one that his mother made for him when he was a baby.

We have the stockings hung in the family room, it's were we spend most nights, the computer and TV are in this room.

The painters are here today in the living room where we keep the tree. That room is getting beautified, the ceiling raised and new lighting, that's done. The furniture is at the upholsterer and we should have that back soon and have the room mostly finished by Christmas. It is beautiful, I'm very happy so far and can't wait to show you pictures soon. The walls are a slate color!

But today I wanted to show you our stockings. We have a fun tradition. We each have to buy or make 3 things for each stocking.

We have so much fun opening our stockings on Christmas morning.

Detail of my doll house stocking.

Close up of my husband's stocking.

My son's jester.

Grandmommy is an angel.

patchwork tote

2011-11-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

I made a BIG tote, about 18"x24" with a gusset.

Here's what I did:

I arranged 35 6" squares. Twelve for the front and 12 for the back and 11 for the gusset.

Using a 3/8" seam allowance I sewed the squares into strips and ironed seams open.

I try for perfect points each time.

The key to perfect points is accurate cutting, ironing and lots of pinning.


Iron front and back and gusset strip.


Cut lining for purse using your pieced pieces as a pattern, one liner piece for each front, back and gusset. I used upholstery weight fabric that I have had forever in my stash. Yay to stash busting.

Don't forget to make two inner pockets, I remembered just in time! Mine are large, 10"x8", but simple. I made a large 2" hem at the top, then zig-zagged raw edges, finger mitered the corners, ironed it all down and using zipper foot, top-stitched 1/8" to attach pocket to lining about 2" from bag opening.

Large pocket big enough for any knitting accessories.

Next, sew front and back tote pieces to gusset. Repeat with tote liner.

Snip corners

Now give the corners a good poke and iron both tote and liner as best you can.

Make two handles. Cut two 28"x4.5" strips. Lengthways, iron 1.5" in on each side.


Fold handle lengthways down center and using zipper foot, top stitch both sides 1/8" from edge.

Iron down a 3/8" seam allowance all around top opening of tote and tote liner. Sew handles to wrong side of lining, 5" apart and 1.5" down so you can criss-cross some top-stitching to secure handle firmly.

I didn't take pics of the next step, but with wrong sides together, pin tote and liner together at top opening and top stitch these two pieces together. You are done.

There is no knitting project too large for this big guy.

Next time I might add a stabilizer for the bottom gusset, perhaps a piece of lightweight plastic cut to fit.

You might have guessed I am not cooking for a crowd tomorrow! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have been invited out. Still, I am making a small turkey, only so we can have sandwiches and turkey soup this weekend!

I have a lot to be thankful for and hope my American readers have a blessed Thanksgiving day.

Tancredi & Morgan

2011-11-18T23:58:00.000-08:00

I'm very lucky to live close enough to Carmel-By-The-Sea to take a drive there fairly regularly for shopping and lunch. It's quite an elegant little beach town with loads to offer, but have to admit that my day trip would not be complete without a visit to Tancredi & Morgan.

The owner designs these bags.

If you find yourself in magical Carmel, I urge you to stop by this wonderful little shop. They are just a few minutes out of town up Carmel Valley Road.

The owners hand pick vintage goodies from around the world.

They also have a pop-up Christmas shop just across the street.

Little paper mache yule logs.

All the Christmas treasures are handmade by the owner using vintage finds.

I ended up taking this sweet guy home.

We stopped for lunch and I loved my pretty locally grown artichoke.

Water's Edge by the water's edge.

2011-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken on the big Monterey Cypress at the entrance to City Beach.

I love Water's Edge! In fact, I love it so much that when it was finished I immediately cast on for another in sapphire blue. The pattern is so fun and easy, top-down and cute with the ruffley pleated peplum. I am a sucker for peplums and loved the little pleat, a technique I haven't used or seen before. I've worn this almost every day since I finished it. Looks great with jeans or with a dressy skirt.

The pattern came from Coastal Knits and is designed by Hannah Fettig. The book has sweet stories next to the photos of their pretty sweaters photographed at favorite beachy spots in Maine and the California central coast. So in that spirit, I felt a coastal shot was necessary for the photo shoot of my sweater. My girlfriend and I went to Carmel-By-The-Sea for a day of shopping and lunch. She kindly took pictures of me on the water's edge for my Water's Edge Cardigan.

I made some obvious and easy changes to the pattern and noted them on my Ravelry page.

The yarn is Kidsilk Aura which has been discontinued, makes me so sad. If you haven't used it yet, you should try to find some before it's all gone. It's the bigger sister to Kidsilk Haze so knits up faster and fluffier and is the same luscious combination of kid mohair and silk. But just like KSH it's the devil to frog. You have to pull at it and you feel like the yarn is screaming at you, but it's strong and somehow you do manage it and then will actually re-knit up beautifully after all that. I love this yarn and will miss it. I bought mine at Jannette's Rare Yarns. If you get on her email list your stash may grow quite out of control, just warning you in advance.

I'll be using Coastal Knits patterns a few more times, I love so many of the sweaters. The book is crazy popular right now but I think I am the first to finish Water's Edge, or at least the first to post it on Ravelry. I'm honored.

Hannah also designed the famous Effortless Cardigan which went viral on Ravelry.

Thanks for coming to the coast with me, it was a beautiful day. Please stop by tomorrow, I'm going to post some pictures of my favorite shop in Carmel, you'll love seeing it.

Teddy Bear Quilt

2011-11-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

Today I'd like to share a little embroidered quilt from the early 80's. Originally made for a little one yet born, and finished when he was, erm, well about 10 years old. Now it's waiting for the right special little person, and it will be considered vintage.

The size is 38"x48", a good size for a crib quilt.

This was hand embroidered, pieced and hand quilted by me circa 1982.

Each little square shows a part of the little bears busy day.

They start out with breakfast and have countless adventures throughout the day.

Mother bear must be exhausted!

The quilt motif is a heart shaped feather wreath.

I still love to embroider.

I used 3 strands of DMC 6 strand embroidery floss.

Finger painting!

I love that they know how to make chocolate chip cookies!

I found the booklet in my file of quilting patterns.

It's dated 1981 and still has the iron-on transfer files.

The back of the booklet shows another colorway.

The bottom left, grandpa is reading a bedtime story. Next to it is a bubble bath!

Good night dear little bears....sleep tight...don't let the bed bugs bite!

Pillow Party

2011-11-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

I was able to spend a fun day in my beautiful sewing room. I love anytime spent in here, but today's pillow day was particularly rewarding. I made 5 pillows for under $13.00 and they turned out so pretty!

Pillow forms: No cost, just replacing some worn out covers and used the forms I already had.
Pillow fronts: No cost, collected pieces of designer samples that I pieced together. Remember this post? And how about this post which I should update because some of the quilts are done and came out great.
Pillow backs: 1 1/2 yards green cotton ticking from Joann's Fabrics, half off, $5.25
Welting: 5 packages of Wright's Piping @ $2 each, less 25% sale, $7.50

Here's what I did:

After piecing, iron seams open.


Using a zipper foot, sew pre-finished piping to the right side of pillow front.


When sewing piping around the corner, snip it a few times for ease.


Now attach right sides together of front and back and stitch together using the piping sewing line as your stitch line.


Snip off corners. It's easy to put in a zipper but even easier not to. Leave a 12" opening between two bottom corners.


Turn inside out and poke your finger into the corners to get a good corner.


Stuff in pillow form and close up the 12" opening using a blind stitch.

Three pillows on my guest room day bed. The quilt is blogged about here.

I made two 20" pillows for my bedroom. I love this snuggly little corner.

Colors are more accurate here. The walls are Benjamin Moore Pale Avocado. Love.

I love having cheery green and white in the bedroom.

One day to sew, photograph and blog! Must be some kind of record!

My bloggy friend, the very very sweet and talented Madam Butterfly is having a wonderful give-a-way for the new Brooklyn Tweed Loft yarn. Let me know if you win!

Thank you so much for dropping by. Stay warm and dry and keep crafting!

Cozy Capelet

2011-11-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

I knit the super fast Noelle Capelet last month but forgot to share it with you, the weather was so nice I just put it away. Today was the perfect day to pull it out, chilly and rainy and ideal for my Lima Capelet.

The pattern was very easy, so easy in fact that I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even purchase the pattern. I actually never do this, I do like to purchase the pattern and support knit designers, but this time it was too easy to counterfeit.

I love the versatility of these little capelets. I think they are easy to wear and nice to pop on for some quick and stylish warmth!

I used the beautiful Rowan Lima in a light brown, color #888. Lima is worsted weight and has a chain construction out of baby alpaca and merino wool. It's lofty and lovely to knit up.

I have used Lima previously for the Hourglass Sweater (GREAT pattern!!!) Only after just a few wears the sweater grew in length and I had to pass it on to someone with longer arms and an even longer waist than me.

So, knowing that, I would not use this yarn for something that has to really "fit". But the yarn is so soft and lofty and warm that I knew I would be OK with this capelet. If it grows it won't matter.

Really must make Hourglass again, but right now I'm finishing two projects (Water's Edge and a shawl) and started a third, (Creature Comforts Cardi out of Kid Classic) and have several Christmas gifts started or in my head. I will be posting another project very soon, until then, happy knitting!

Flower Fairy Dolls

2011-11-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've made these again! This time for my little granddaughter whose newly decorated room is lime green, black and white. She told me, if it was not in those colors, it could not appear in her room.

Color coordination is the rule in her room and she was very happy with them.

Sewing Room Tour

2011-10-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

I have had a sewing/crafting room since forever. Even as a little girl I've been a collector of lace bits, spools, fabric, yarn, beads, shells, glitter, you name it, I have collected it, organized it and sometimes even found uses for it! I've just given my sewing room a good cleaning up and clearing out plus a fresh coat of paint. Since I LOVE to see other crafty places, I've been wanting to share my space with you.

I am crazy mad for my little space and LOVE any time I spend in here. I find calm in my room, and for sanity's sake I give this room a different lower standard of clean control than the rest of the house. I am not so crazy as to think I can keep my sewing room neat at all times, but it's almost always sorta clean and sorta organized. I love the freedom to be messy in here, then close the door and walk away. Now with that said, please step inside and poke around, and today I consider it about as tidy as it gets.

The color is Benjamin Moore's Sweet Butter, makes me feel like I'm inside a squash blossom, bright and cheery, sunny and warm.

Step into the room and you are right in front of my main work space. About 12 years ago I employed a teenage friend of my son to put up laminate cabinets. These cabinets and the black and white vinyl stick on tiles were close-outs from Home Depot, super cheap but have held up well.

There's plenty of storage in the cupboards. Boxes and bins of buttons, glues, glitters, shells, stamps, feathers, beads, patterns, trims, and all kinds of fun stuff.

If you can think of something that might be in a crafty place, 'tis here, tidily organized.

Below are two heavy-duty solid oak chests salvaged from a store downtown that was remodeling. We topped them with a piece of Formica which is the perfect indestructible surface for my endeavors. The large swing arm lamp is great, I pull it around to any angle and get excellent light for detail work.

I've covered up the units with some soft black pin-stripe linen shirting. I attached curtain rods to the top of the units, just under the Formica top.

The curtains are really easy to flip up or push aside to access the down under.

Fabric was half price at Joann's Fabrics.

So what is down under? Behind the curtains you'll find a big basket of fabric stash, a shelf for oversized paper, quilt stencils, paper cutter, and a bin of acrylic paints. It also holds my space heater that is needed for the winter months. This little room can be so cold!

The DVR on this TV has the best stuff saved on it...Masterpiece Theater, Fashion Police, old movies from the 40s. It's a great TV to watch.

But what is behind that curtain below? OK, here it is, get ready for the big stash reveal.

These drawers are huge!

I know I should have warned you, right? Mine is bigger than yours, I just know it, I'm not proud of that. Four big drawers hold 1) fingering and lace, 2) dk weight, 3) worsted and 4) aran and bulky.

In these drawers are some projects that need to be started, like this nice yarn purchased early this year for Veera's stripe study shawl, I would love to get cracking on this.

Pretty Hand Maiden fingering weight yarn.

Oh there's plenty more new projects in the waiting, but most is left over odd bits of finished projects waiting for that day when I make the large scrappy afghan, scrappy adult and baby surprise jackets galore and who knows what else. The yarn is the only bit of knitting supplies that is stored in here. My books and needles and other knitting notions are in the family room where I seem to do more of my knitting, a little more social, ya' know? I posted about that here.

Another tall cupboard with more boxes of trims and laces, needlepoint supplies, stickers, pipe cleaners, paper dresdens, doilies....

My favorite organizer is this DMC thread case. I bought it 35 years ago when I worked at a needlepoint shop. It holds my floss so nicely.

Next is the closet. The room is so tiny that I had to take the door off, it couldn't fully open with the large sewing table in the way.

Behind the curtains are big, deep shelves that contain more shocking examples of the hoarder in me: designer fabric samples I've collected, the remains of a business I used to have and can't seem to let go of, patterns, files, pillow forms, unfinished projects, paper, etc.

The big sewing table is from Ikea as is the notions drawer next to it. Each drawer is labeled for quick access. Another swing arm lamp, I need good light!

The only window faces north and looks onto the quiet street, not much to see but our big pretty magnolia.

My sewing machine is a trusty Viking. This table usually has a project on it, but it's been tidied it up because I knew you were coming!

Above the sewing table to the right is a vintage plate shelf that holds my pretty ribbons.

To the right is this bookcase rescued from a book store in town that was going out of business about 25 years ago (does any Los Altan remember the Book Nest on Main?) It's also oak and super sturdy.

Crayons are in this vintage doll wagon.

All my craft books are housed here, over 40 years worth. Most haven't been opened in years, I use the internet now. Still, I just can't get rid of them. Anyone interested in re-learning the cool craft of macrame? I love my dollies, dressed in cute little knits. I've blogged about these little dears here.

I needed a tiny but comfy chair for this little space and found this at Restoration Hardware. The wool blanket is used even in the summer, did I say this room is cold? A tiny chest of drawers holds handy little items and is topped with another essential reading lamp.

Behind is the built in ironing board. What a great invention. (You can see how I've used every INCH of space!)

Well, we have completely circled around the room and are at the end of our tour. Thank you so much for coming by!

Edited to add: This post was shared in a blog party over at It's Overflowing with Creativity and a linky party at No Minimalist Here.

Catch Up

2011-10-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

A bit of a catch up post with lots of bits I've been doing and thinking about.

First is my living room fabric. SO EXCITED! Monday was spent in the city at the Design Center with my decorator. About half way though the long day I saw this medallion fabric and did a complete 180 (I had been thinking popsicle colors) and knew I had to have it for my wing chairs. In case you can't really tell from the photo, the greeny color is like an acidy bile-ish citrusy straw. Sounds yummy, right? It is! I'm hoping we can do the walls in that color. The other fabrics were chosen for the sofas, pillows and dining room chairs. Don't know exactly where everything will go but thinking the sofas will be the solid Michael S. Smith linen in smoke, a deep charcoaly, smoky navy, just gorgeous. The other fabrics are some equally gorgeous Rose Tarlow linens and that fabulous medallion fabric is from Plumwich, hand blocked on thick nubby linen. I know I am throwing around these designer names as though I am totally familiar with them, but I had never heard of these talented people until a few days ago. Thank heavens for a designer who can pull all this off, I would be lost on my own. This is very exciting for me. What do you think?????

Say goodbye to old sewing room color, baby blue is being replaced by Sweet Butter. The painters are in there now and there's no turning back. I have spent a lot of time last week going through the years of crafty stuff and have been proud of all the editing I've been able to accomplish. I know I haven't shared this room with you yet so after a coat of paint and a good clutter cleansing, it should be a good time to give you a tour. It won't surprise you if I told you I love every minute I get to be in here.

Next up is this sweet Tiny Tea Leaves made for my little granddaughter who will be 11 this week. This is a fun knit, my third one so I must really love it. Knit up with 4 skeins of Madeline Tosh Vintage worsted in color Georgia O'Keefe, a teal green. (Yarn color names and nail polish color names, aren't they the best?) The wool is machine washable, and please don't tell me what they have to do to it to make it that way, probably the worst chemical process imaginable.

The skeins even though from the same dye-lot are inconsistent in color, frustrating. I hate to alternate skeins so don't think this yarn will work for me again. I know Annie won't mind or even notice. She loves green and looks beautiful in it. Ravelry link here.

It's pumpkin time again. How about some velvet pumpkins? I saw this beautiful set-up in Alabasta, a little shop downtown. If you want to make them, there are tutorials all over the web, this one is the prettiest. I think the key is to use real silk velvet, not rayon and also use real pumpkin stems, not twigs. And to have TONS of them.

Thank you for all your kind well wishes for my husband's recovery from his surgery. He is doing very well, and this Friday he will be 4 weeks out.

Love my blog-time, thank you for reading.

Cranberry Capelet

2011-10-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to be making a post today, I have been missing blogging so much, I'm going to try and catch up! I have a few FOs that I'll be posting in the next few days.

First to show is the Cranberry Capelet by Baby Cocktails. Thea is so great, go check out her Ravelry design page, she has many must-make projects! I need to make that Irish Coffee pronto.

I love cables, one of my favorites is the big whale bone cable that runs up the front and back of this cape. These days I'm thinking capes are pretty practical, especially capelets that allow your arms to be free and allow movement such as getting into your purse and putting food and drink into your mouth, and knitting too! Yarn used was Cascade Yarns Venezia Worsted. 70% Merino and 30% Silk, lovely and good value. Recommend highly, both the well written pattern and the luscious soft yarn.

I've been fairly productive knitting wise even though we had such a very busy September, and phewie, I'm glad September is gone. Last month my husband had a hip replacement, long wanted and successful, but that first week home is very, very difficult. He has bounced back well now and does almost everything with his trusty cane and can't wait to be out on the links and back driving his Corvette in November. The best thing is he's back to about 95% of his cheery self.

I love that a few Joseph's Coat roses are hanging on!

We also finished our remodel, and maybe not so large as far as remodels go, it caused large messes. That these two things happened at the same time was not the best timing and still don't know how it exactly happened that way. Not good.

We also celebrated two birthdays and had one of our largest harvests EVER of tomatoes, pears, apples, and beans. Normally harvest time is a cause for celebration, but this year it was just all so overwhelming. Plus I had the flu and felt crummy for two weeks. So for us, we hope for October to be a month of healing, cleaning up and grateful that some of the things we had been putting off are now done and behind us.

Looking forward to a happy autumn with the yummy soups and casseroles in the kitchen, cozy fires, long evenings busy with yarny stuff and the holidays ahead!

Imperial Candlewick

2011-09-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

A recent remodel means there's dust everywhere and gives me the opportunity to clean (oh joy, but actually do mean it because I love to organize and clean) out every cupboard. Everything is getting emptied out and washed, and nothing is going back in unless it is either loved or used often.

THIS is something I use often and love so much.

I'd like to share my mother's beautiful wedding china that she gave me years ago. Imperial stared making Candlewick in the 30's and this high quality affordable glass quickly became extremely popular. Mother picked it out when she was a teen. In her small town there was a little china shop where all the girls would pick out their wedding china, and when a birthday would come around their friends would give them a piece of china to save in their hope chest. It's such a nice old-fashioned tradition, I wish they would have had that in my day. I have mom's cedar hope chest now holding out-of-season sweaters and I have her beautiful Candlewick. Take a look at some of the collection.

Tiered and footed pieces are so useful on the buffet table.

The extravagant punch bowl!

Extra large platters and bowls are used often. Large platters like these aren't easy to find.

Divided dishes were so popular in the 40s and easy to find now.

A quick search on Ebay showed over 1,800 pieces for sale! Candlewick pieces pop up in antique stores and rummage sales too.

Classic Candlewick fan shaped vases.

Stacked ashtrays and celery plate, so necessary in the 50s!

I especially love the heart shaped pieces.

The water goblets are just the right size for wine these days.

One big cabinet holds mother's set. The easy access, it's charming beauty and the way it matches well with every occasion and table setting make this pretty collection something I use often.

I recently finished 3 long neglected WIPs! My reward was starting this pretty shawl and a few more pieces too. For each piece I finished, I started another. I never manage to work on just one at a time, I have given up ever doing that. I'll share pictures soon. I'm loving knitting this one.

Kelly

2011-09-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

Kelly is a perfect cardigan. The soft pink mohair/silk KSH combo with a dash of sparkle, pearl buttons and timeless style make this sweater a hit. It's simple, but the simple ones get the most wear from me.

Now sometimes, for no real reason, a project will languish at the bottom of my basket, this one for about 3 years. I don't know why I ignored this sweet sweater. I LOVE Kidsilk Haze with a passion, and doubly love it when it is knit doubled. Plus I've knit Kelly before and love it.

This is the second FO of my US Open Challenge. While I'm watching tennis on TV, I'm determined to only knit projects that have been ignored. Kelly only had a sleeve and the finishing to do. Done in one 5 set match!

Now I'm on to the Cranberry Capelet that only has the rib to go. I'll finish that up when I watch the men's final tonight. I'm a girl on a mission and it feels so good to finish up some neglected projects.

Kelly Cardigan from Classic Knits by Erica Knight, great book.
6 skeins of Kidsilk Night in Ballerina, KSH with a tiny bit of sparkle.

The neckline on the pattern is pretty tight, so started the neckline on the fronts a little sooner for a bit more neck room, also made buttonholes instead of the snaps. Raveled here.