World Wide Knit in Public Week begins!

Well I didn't do our craft proud today, I'm afraid. I worked pretty much all day, and spent a good part of the day writing a blog post for the shop about what you can do for the birds during summer. It's a pretty good article, if I do say so myself, but that didn't leave me too much time for knitting.

I did get over to my sister's where I showed off the Barbie dress with the cute little ruffled skirt that I designed on the fly the other day. My niece loves the style, but I bound off too tightly, and did not leave any wiggle room by using a snap for it's closure, so of course it doesn't fit. Back to the drawing board, but I think I can fix it. I used CottonEase, which normally allows some give, but it wasn't enough to get over those hips! Pix soon, I promise.

We spent a good amount of time leafing throug the copy of Nicky Epstein's Knits for Barbie Dolls that I just got from the library and the Princess has selected only 35 of the 75 patterns in the book. "Barbie is going to be so excited with her new wardrobe!" How can an aunt resist? I am honestly looking forward to every one! I hope to get started while I'm at the shop tomorrow.

Finally a pattern to publish!

I finished the Detroit Lions dishcloth a long time ago and wrote up the pattern some time after that.  Its the age-old story of modern life - time moves on, computers crash, data is retrieved, yada yada yada.  Anyway, this is my first pattern and my first time trying to add a pdf to the blog so its a big adventure all around!  The photo is dreadful, I'll admit it, but the cloth is now happily in use in another home so I can't improve the picture without knitting it again.  One of these days ....

Detroit Lions NFL Mascot Dishcloth

Fresh!

There is something terribly rewarding about finding an item and giving it a new lease on life.  Even when it's as simple as a fresh coat of paint.  After much internal debate on whether to go with colors that are predictably me or strike out into new color territory, my heart finally landed on a color for the new-to-me dressers that will be part of my guest room craft storage.  Although I was open to fate leading me down her path via the oops paint, I didn't find anything inspiring so I went to the paint chips and chose a color called Pink Grapefruit.  I must admit that I am intrigued by how many gallons of black or almost black paint that had been returned to the store.  Don't you wonder what colors those DIY'ers ended up with instead?  Oh, if a gallon of paint could talk.  But ... I digress.

To me this is a rich coral and will add a lovely, almost bold pop of color to the white room.  Its not bold in the sense that designers use the term these days (its not orange!) but its bold for me since I normally choose pale shades.  Here we have the tall dresser with two coats of fresh paint as it waits patiently for some new drawer pulls.  Shucks - I must go shopping!

As I painted the second coat this morning, I was listening to An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon - the latest in the Outlander series.  I have loved it from the beginning, and its very easy to get lost in the story.  She does a wonderful job of describing everything from the signs of the times to some serious character development and Davinia Porter brings the characters to life with her narration.  I can't recommend the series enough to everyone I meet!  Ms. Gabaldon must do an incredible amount of research - I feel like I have learned so much about life in the late 1700's as she takes us from Scotland to France to the Caribbean and finally to America.  No spoilers here, but I will tell you I'm listening to the events of mid-1777 and oh, how intriguing they are!

Unfortunately I was enjoying the rhythym of painting and listening to the audiobook so much that I ended up an hour late to work.  Oops!  More to come.

Crafty Cabinets - before

I love my new little house, but since I don't have all of my furniture with me yet I went out in search of some cabinets or bookcases to use in the meantime.  I'm going from a 3 bedroom plus office home into a 2 bedroom plus sunroom home so there is obviously going to be some downsizing and consolidating.  Another big challenge is that my bedroom storage is reduced closet space - horrors!  Instead of whining, I'm off to the races with this adorable set of dressers that I found at a local consignment shop for peanuts. 

Since I'm renting, I'm not going to paint the walls in the guest room so I will need to add some fun color through my 'stuff' - the comforter, artwork and furniture!  My old guest room was in a soft peach with a gorgeous floral comforter and a general sea shell theme to the room and guest bath.   I've chosen a pink flamingo theme for the guest bathroom, but I really think one room of that is sufficient, don't you?  (And yes, I realize most people would say one pink flamingo room is one room too many!)

I'm thinking a brighter peach, or perhaps coral?  Coral would be girly but a little more tropical.  If I want to use the space as my studio for HotPinkPeonies, then I might want to go with a sky blue with hot pink accents.  That would be cute, but not a very good 'welcome to the beach' color scheme.  Decisions, decisions.  I've thumbed through some photos of beautiful craft rooms online and on Ravelry (because of course one must go there first), but mostly I see where people have added color to their craft rooms or studios on the walls, and used or created white furniture.  I'm sure sure which direction I'll take, but its fun to have a new project!

Anyway, here's the "before" photos :

 

 

I stress, therefore I knit.

First and foremost, I am grateful that I live in beautiful, peaceful place and that my family is healthy and mostly happy.  My heart goes out to the parts of our country that have had such catastrophic weather lately.   I haven't had any monstrous issues myself, but a series of little stresses piled on top of one another and very little time away from my business has resulted in craving to knit.  I NEED to knit.  I NEED to make something pretty (or at least functional) that is all about me.  I NEED to do something that is totally under my control. 

So I've taken up the remainder of the hat I started for my dad back during the February blizzards.  Technically, a hat for my father is not all about me, but I'm willing to sacrifice that little aspect of the 'all about me' project.  It is a pewter grey from KnitPicks and will coordinate with the Prismatic Scarf I made for him out of Brooks Farms Solo.  The scarf took forever, but is so soft and warm and lovely, and most importantly he likes it!  The hat is a simple cable pattern from Knit Simple Winter 2006 / 2007.   I just spent an hour on it, and I can't tell you how good that 60 minutes of moving needles and yarn was, for my soul.  I feel like my batteries are slowly recharging, and maybe, just maybe, I can handle the curve balls that have been thrown at me lately!

I also decided to submit an idea for the Cooperative Press's new series, Fresh Designs.  I saw a twitter about the call for submissions and I thought of something really cute that I've wanted to do for a while, and I just went right ahead and filled out the form.  I've never designed a project like this, and I think I'd like to get into creating my own patterns and self-publishing.  Having a professional deadline would give me just the kick in the butt I need to get my feet wet.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Birthday hats

This years birthday gifts for the little ones included hand knitted hats! Both my niece and nephew have January birthdays, and it was pretty cold here in Florida so they were a perfect addition to the birthday bounty.  The truly wonderful part is that I finished them!  Niecey-poo received hers on her actual birthday, and the Little Prince's was only a little late.

Princess got a Hello Kitty hat - its an easy pattern, and available from Beadwhore Knitting's blog here.  After a foolish misguided start, I eventually followed the pattern exactly and it turned out to be a great size for my now 6 year old niece.  The embroidery on the front was the best part of course when it comes to instant gratification - the hat really comes to life once Miss Kitty's features are on her sweet face.  I gave her a pink nose instead of yellow.  This used less than one skein of Loops & Threads White from Michaels, and I added some leftover pink from Bernat.  Isn't Miss Kitty adorable?

So the Kitty is cute, but obviously the Birthday Boy needed something considerably cooler for a 9 year old.  He loves Star Wars, especially the Clone Wars stories so I did a hat with an Imperial Storm Trooper motif in the round.  I found this fabulous chart by Sarah Bradberry here, through Ravelry of course, and added it to a simple hat pattern.  Unfortunately, I did not do any calculations as to the size of the pattern and the overall height of the hat, so it turned into a sort of Cat in the Hat tall affair.  Precious child that he is, the Little Prince is still willing to wear it at home.  I haven't caught a shot of him in the hat, but here it is on its own featured in the snow from one of the Washington DC blizzards this winter.

I loved Sarah's idea of the checkerboard border, and as a special bonus I used white glow in the dark yarn.  Very cool.  I do try to keep my title of favorite aunt, and I think I've managed it for the moment!  If I were to do this particular hat again though, I'd need to have fewer rows before the pattern starts, and perhaps decrease for the crown more dramatically than I did.  I would like to start designing my own patterns, so these are good lessons, right?

The New Year Ain't So New Any More

Yes, its been a while.  Let's not talk about that.

My house is on the market and I am keeping my fingers crossed for some good news any day now.  The first time home buyers rebate is only good for ratified contracts through April 30, and we are hoping for a buyer who wants to get in under the wire.  I had a nibble from a serious buyer, but we couldn't reach an agreement.  I have a feeling they panicked about the money they were spending, but who knows.  I wish them well, and hope they find a happy home.   I went home for a few days to take care of some things and get some spring colors planted, and now I'm back at the new shop.

The NEW SHOP!  Its beautiful and cheerful and just as much of a happy place as the old shop.   Its twice as big, so I am having fun ordering new things to fill the space.  There are still loads of boxes to be unpacked, and shipments keep arriving.  I suppose it will be a work in progress for some time to come.  I am however, starting to take breaks at the shop and allow my mind to wander to something other than work.  One of these days, I'll get back to knitting and my other crafts.  This morning I spent some time visiting my favorite blogs and Ravelry and was thoroughly inspired.

Katie loves our new neighborhood - the pelicans and palm trees are wonderous, and she loves being outside.  What a happy pooch! 

[caption id="attachment_173" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Happy Dog"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="mystery vine with gorgeous red blooms"][/caption]

I am still learning about the flora and fauna of Florida.  There are all sorts of wonderful plants in my yard here, and I am anxious to find out what they are, and how I should be caring for them.  I even have a lawn!  My postage stamp sized yard in Virginia was a shady spot, so I have little grass keeping experience.  There's a giant tree with woodpeckers and blue jays visiting the yard, not to mention lizards! 

[caption id="attachment_176" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="the tropical garden"][/caption]