Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Posh

Look at this charming old chair El Guapo brought home to me yesterday! I've wanted a chair similar to this for a long time. Can't you just see it - dressed up in something floral and sitting demurely on the patio?
I sewed these posh pillowcases together yesterday, using the tute from here. I'm really please with how they turned out. I chose the fabric for Sunshine - her room is grey with lavender accents. Now, I am ready to crochet some pretty white trim around the edges.
I spend soooooo much time in the car waiting for girls - classes, appts., sports, etc. I need to have portable projects to keep me from going quietly insane. I hope the crochet trim lasts a while. Though, I do have one more set of pillowcases begun; a quilt to hand quilt; one more sweater sleeve; and I need to cast on another pair of socks. Surely, with that many projects going, I will have enough to do while waiting in the car!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Happy Birthday Me!

What a beautiful first day of Spring we had! And, incidentally, what a beautiful birthday I had!
The family's gift to me - aside from a delightful vintage charm bracelet - was a day with no parental responsibilities, just knitting in the sun. My gift to me was the incredible cake pictured above! Made with Gluten-free flour, it is a seriously decadent cake, perfect with tea on the patio!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Lacy Anklets

I made a pair of socks in just one week! I know, I know, they're really short - but still! I made a pair of socks in a week! If I can keep this up, I may never have to do laundry again!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Three WIPs

The Rosebud Cardigan is progressing nicely. I have the back, two front pieces and the front and neck trim finished. It is only lacking two sleeves and some sewing up along the sides. I am loving this cardigan!

Another pair of socks. For me this time! I have had to make them a little shorter in the ankles as I used extra yarn to repair the Zora hole in the previous pair. Actually makes them more like sports socks and I like the look.

The Crabapple Tree. Can't wait for it to bloom!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Husband's snoring leads woman to rediscover linen closet treasures . . .

El Guapo has a cold. When El Guapo doesn't have a cold and he snores at night, I elbow him and 'hurrumph' until he turns over and quits snoring. But when he does have a cold, I could pump my elbow into his side like a piston and 'hurrumph' like crazypants and nothing would happen. I know this. And, if he's zoned out on Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine, he will be completely unaware of my rising ire. So. If I have learned one thing in 20+ years of marriage, it's this. When El Guapo has a cold and starts with the snoring, go sleep on the sofa!

Two nights ago, at about 3:00 a.m., I rummaged around in the hall linen closet in the dark and finally identified two quilts that, combined, would keep me warm for the rest of the night on the sofa. One I knew was the Irish Chain quilt I made with fabric I bought on our trip to Ireland in 1999, and I was pretty sure the other was a quilt made by my Great-Grandmother, which I restored several years ago.
The neat thing about this whole nocturnal rummaging, was that in the morning I looked at the quilt made by Great-Grandma and was pleasantly surprised when I saw the work I had done on the back - which I had TOTALLY forgotten about! I chose to piece the back together and embroidered over every seam. I so clearly remember doing it - now. How could I have forgotten, even briefly, all that work?
It got me remembering about my great-grandparents. They were married for over 75 years and lived well into their nineties. One summer when I was pretty young, my Grandma took my sister and I to stay with the Great-grandparents for a few days. I remember being delighted by the way they ate a full meal, like pot roast or a roast chicken with all the trimmings, at lunchtime and then for dinner just had cottage cheese and fruit or a sandwich. I know, now, that this is how farmers used to eat - a big meal at lunchtime to get them through the day - but at the time, I just thought it a charming peculiarity of my great-grandparents.
I also remember my great-grandma allowing my sister and I to denude her rose bushes. She gave us a surprising quantity of Doan's Back Pills bottles, and we filled them with water and rose petals in an attempt to distill perfume. I think we had high hopes of selling perfume from a stand in the front lawn, but nothing came of it.

Two other little memories. Lots of gum - Chiclets I think. And a vague memory of worrying that my older sister might wet the bed. This was a very real worry, and I wasn't sure how it would be received by my grandma and the great grandparents.

So there, not only did I discover a forgotten treasure of the linen variety, but I also remembered a little treasure from my childhood.

All because El Guapo has mad snoring skills.

Monday, March 8, 2010

March So Far . . .

As mentioned earlier - On Presidents' Day the girls and I went shopping in Salem with El Guapo's sister and her two girls. We went to a new resale shop - Plato's Closet - and I went a little nuts! I spent quite a lot of money - but I bought two bags worth of really nice clothes. Pictured above are the Aeropostal long sleeve shirt and the Charlotte Russe Hounds Tooth jacket that I bought there. I'm also wearing the Ralph Lauren jeans I bought at our local 2nd Hand shop - Second Glance Annex.
I meant to start a second project because I like to have two projects going that I can switch back and forth between, in this case it was going to be my knitted cardigan and then these pillowcases with crochet trim (inspired by the lovely cases on Rosehip .
I didn't mean to get so carried away that I completed this project in one weekend - it was supposed to last a while. Fortunately, I have more fabric, crochet thread, and pillows in need of cases.
This fabric came from my stash and has been there so long it's practically vintage. I really can't remember where it came from or when!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

March Crabapple Chronicles

Impossible as it is to believe, the sun was shining so brightly when I took this photo that the tree is kinda bleached out. Looks like the lawn needs a trim . . .


Here is a rare sight.

I'm not sure if Ripple was asleep and therefore didn't notice the infringement of her space by Zora, or
if she's just given up.

Maybe tomorrow I will show some of the many items of clothing I got when the girls and I went shopping at the second-hand store in Salem with El Guapo's sister and her girls on Presidents' Day.

Monday, March 1, 2010

In the 2010 Winter (knitting) Olympics, I am . . .

. . . a participant, but not anywhere near a medal winner. I even reduced the challenge so far that I thought it might really be possible. I decided my olympic challenge would be to finish my rosebud cardigan, which I had already begun and nearly had the back finished on. But, I only managed to finish and block the back and cast-on, finish and block the left front. Too many mistakes and too many people side-tracking me. This, for instance . . .


It suddenly became urgent that I make this skirt for Cheerleader. Forget the knitting olympics, I must sew!