Archive for the ‘knitting’ Category
Caught your attention with that blog entry title, huh? :) Well, don’t get too excited … I’m talking about felt as in the material ~ as in knitting a felted purse.
Now, originally I thought that felt was just something purchased at the craft store ~ three pieces for $1, or something cheap like that. I thought that felt was a fabric made by a machine, not something you could create yourself. Many years ago, I accidentally placed a wool sweater into the washing machine, with hot water ~ and it came out all felt-looking. Oops. But then, a few years ago, I saw my friend Carol’s beautiful felted bowl. And felted bag. And I thought, “How the heck would you knit something like that? I don’t see any stitches!”
Dude! It’s’ chilly outside! Our temperature says 54 degrees at the moment … and a high of only 63 today. The low … 39 degrees! Holy cow ~ I’m totally in the mood to snuggle on the couch underneath a blanket with a cup of hot chai tea and my latest knitting project! That’s *so* odd for May, right? Oh, today would also be awesome for snuggling and watching a fun movie, too. This weekend, we watched “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Fireproof.” (Jeff had to fix our tv stands ~ but now everything is fine, thank goodness.) I can’t believe that I’m in “blanket mode” during the month of May! We’ve had such high winds here recently, too. If we open our front door, it creates a vacuum that blows through the entire house and knocks everything down! LOL! :) Anyway, a very happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
- Get the oil changed in my car (I keep putting this off, *sigh*)
- Take Meredith to the lab for lead testing (yes, this has been on my to-do list since October!)
- Drop off some files to a neighbor (today)
- Pick up our new bean bag chair today through Freecycle (yay!)
- Attend my moms’ group meeting on Tuesday
- Preschool
- PTA meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
- Mail some birthday gifts
Oh yeah, and there’s cleaning the house, fitting in some knitting … whew, busy week (but Tuesday especially will be very crazy!). What do you have going on this week?
I belong to a family photography e-mail group, and during the year 2009 we’re having a photo-a-day project (”PaD”). Such a neat idea ~ and much easier than Flickr’s “365 Days” project, where you have to take a self-portrait each day. Instead, this one photo per day can be anything. It’s nice not to have to take a picture of myself unless I just feel like it. For today’s shot, I chose to take a picture of a building not too far from where we live. It’s just a couple of houses down from the local yarn store, where I took a sock knitting class today. I’ve always wanted to pull over and snap a picture but have never had the chance, really. So today, since I had the afternoon to myself, basically, I figured that it would be the perfect time. :) Not too long ago, I started using the photo editing program Lightroom. I love it so far, but I’ve only lightly scratched the surface of what the program can really do. It’s amazing, though ~ Lightroom can work wonders! I love how the sepia tone of this picture really brings out the details and the antique quality of the building. So I’m curious … what have you been wanting to take a picture of but just haven’t yet?
I’m attempting to knit a tank top/sweater for Meredith to wear this spring and summer. And last night, I realized just how big this project really is. It’s going to take forever. With my luck, I won’t get it done until next spring ~ and then she’ll be too big to wear it! LOL! :) Anyway, I’m not using any particular pattern. I have a finished project image in my head, and I’m trying to create that. Dangerous, maybe? I don’t know. But I figure that I can work on other knitting projects on different needles and pick this project up from time to time when I’m in the mood. I think that she’s going to look awesome in this color. It’s called “Soft Mint,” but it’s really turquoise. And I found two gorgeous buttons to incorporate at the top, where the straps will meet the torso part. They’re turquoise and sparkly! Anyway, we’ll see how this project goes. I may be completely in over my head. But at least I got to practice the rib stitch for the very first time ~ bad photo, but I think that it looks so pretty!
Last night, I was so excited to finish the Indiana dishcloth that I’d been knitting. Unfortunately … I think the size 8 bamboo needles that I used were too large. You can barely see the pattern. :( It’s there, but I think that size 6 or 7 would have brought the design out more. I enjoyed knitting something red and Indiana-related, though! :) Oh, and I also messed up the top part. Those stitches were supposed to be on the other side, and I have no idea how that happened. Live and learn! I really need to buy some size 7 needles the next time I’m at our local yarn store. Next up on my needles ~ a tank top/perhaps tank dress for Meredith. I bought some really pretty turquoise-colored yarn (a color that she looks great in), but it’s going to be a huge project. I don’t have any circular needles yet, so I think that I’m going to have to knit the front and back separately and them seam them together! I have no idea what the heck I’m doing, LOL! :)
How do you relax at the end of a long day? Well, let me clarify that question ~ which piece of furniture is your favorite for stress-relief and relaxation? Do you have a particular spot in your house where you flop down and just veg out? Here’s the reason why I’m asking … I was surfing the Internet and happened across a neat website offering Conservatory Furniture in the United Kingdom. It was so awesome to see some decorating ideas from a different country!
I’d have to say that my favorite places to relax in our house (besides our bathtub, of course!) are the futon in our bonus room, in front of my computer (a no-brainer there, LOL!), on our living room couch, and sitting in bed with some pillows behind me and the covers over my legs ~ knitting, of course! :) I haven’t had much experience with wicker, cane, or rattan furniture, but … that style would look absolutely perfect in our future sunroom! (We’d like to have one built off the back of our house someday. Our neighbors have one, and I’m completely envious! I know that we’d spend most of our time out there if we had one.) U.K. Conservatory Furniture Specialists has some great pieces that would look wonderful in a sunroom. A room like that would surely cure the winter blahs, I would think! But they also have a wide range of furniture for every room of the house.
U.K. Conservatory Furniture Specialists is having a big January sale right now ~ 40 percent off some styles. They have 32 different fabrics, and you can request free samples (however many swatches you’d like) by phone or e-mail. They have free brochures and an online showroom. If you’re in the market for some unique furniture, definitely check them out! You really don’t have to spend a ton of money to furnish your home with gorgeous pieces.
And now, because I have been feeling kind of stressed out today (trying to clean the house, needing a break, etc.), I’m going to go flop down onto our living room couch and knit for a while! :)
Today is one of those “survival” days ~ where I’m so tired that I don’t count on getting anything done and am basically just trying to keep the status quo until the kids fall asleep tonight and I can head to bed, too. :) Last night, I knitted until 10:30 p.m. and drank a cup of Harney & Sons’ Paris tea right before bed (it’s caffeinated). Couldn’t fall asleep, of course. My throat was so scratchy, too, so I decided to take a little bit of Nyquil. Fell asleep, but then Jeff left for work very early this morning ~ which woke the kids up, and they were raring to go bright and early at 6:30 a.m. :( I’m totally dragging. I did manage to fold and put away a load of laundry, but that’s about it. I have to run two errands while Lucas is in preschool this afternoon, and I hope that I don’t fall asleep at the wheel.
Today is a special day for our friends Tricia and Jim … it’s their ninth wedding anniversary! Even in my sleepy state, I’m thinking about them and wishing them well. :)
Forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog entry that I’m taking a sock knitting class on January 24th! I’m way excited. So, attention friends and family … be prepared for a lot of ugly hand-knitted socks as gifts, LOL! :) Well, hopefully my socks will turn out OK. We’ll see. The owner of our local yarn store just called and said that I’ll need size six double-pointed needles. Two points? That scares me. But if it only takes a couple hours to learn to knit a pair of socks, that can’t be bad, right? I’m totally looking forward to an afternoon all to myself, too!
I finished this knitting project last night for my mom. She asked if I would make her a bunch of kitchen dishcloths, which made me really excited. (Maybe she’s just humoring me, LOL!) They’re incredibly fast and easy. Sometime I’d like to try a tip that my friend Marilyn recently told me about. Wal-Mart’s craft department sells this threadlike stuff ~ it’s intended for a ballerina tutu or a wedding gown, to make the material somewhat pouffy. (I’d never heard of it before, but Marilyn bought some that’s green and said that there are different colors.) She holds this thread along with her yarn when she’s knitting a dishcloth, and it makes the dishcloth very scrubby. I felt one of her dishcloths, and it was like an exfoliant! Perfect for scrubbing dried grime off dishes (and probably lots of other household uses). I’m going to find some of that stuff the next time I’m there. One of my next knitting projects will be an Indiana dishcloth, and I’m very excited about that!
I think that we may have reached a new toddler stage: “I’m afraid to go into my closet because there’s a monster in there.” Just a while ago, I opened Lucas’s closet door to get some clothes for him, and he said, “Don’t go in there!” I asked why, and he said, “There’s a Screamin’ Banshee in there.” I laughed and said, “Are you scared to go into your closet?” And he said, “Yeah.” Then I asked, “Why is there a Screamin’ Banshee in your closet?” Luke replied, “Because I put it in there.” LOL! :)
So, let’s see … what’s new? Well, sometime this week I have to get my car’s oil changed (we should get some auto insurance quotes, too), take Meredith to a lab for some blood work (routine two-year lead check), start redesigning our town’s calendar because the file seems to be lost forever, catch up on our laundry, finish editing a book today, and schedule an interview for a feature story that I’m writing. I’m also planning to take the kids to our town hall for preschool story time on Friday, and Jeff has his state exam on Saturday. Sunday, I think that I’d like to fix a special dinner for us that my grandpa would have enjoyed … it would have been his 85th birthday on the 11th. Somewhere in there, I’d also like to do some more knitting (I’m making my mom a bunch of dishcloths), and I need to finish writing our Christmas thank-you notes. And we have a ton of cleaning to do, as always. What do you have going on this week?
P.S. I worked out this morning. (For like, five minutes.) But still … it was a workout, right? :) I’m excited that Jeff was able to bring my step aerobics set up from the basement into our bonus room. Before, the platform was buried underneath a bunch of stuff. Now, I just need to scour eBay for a good (and cheap) step DVD. I love step aerobics. I used to take a class in my hometown and really miss it. I also took a step class with my good friend Theresa when we were in college. By the way, a long time ago Jeff found that step set for like $5 at a yard sale. So awesome!
