Multi-Directional Scarf

So I took this class at the local LYS and when I got home I realized I had made a mistake the second multi direction so I took it all out and studied the pattern. Figured it all out and made some notes on the pattern and went to bed. The next morning I did something with the pattern--I have no idea where I put it but its gone!
At least I had studied it and remembered how to do it--as far as the basic scarf but there was an additional part of the pattern I didn't look at (yet)...that was...how to finish the thing. I need to know how to finish the last section so it looks like the first. I found the pattern on jimmybean.com. First I thought good grief, don't order the pattern again, you'll find it eventually but jimmybean also had some Lorna/s Laces Swirl on sale, The more I knitted on this scarf, the more I loved how it was turning out and the Swirl that was on sale was multi-colored just like the Plymouth Kudo that I was using. Couldn't resist, I ordered the pattern and yarn. So now here I am, almost finished with the scarf and awaiting the pattern and yarn. The pattern is Ann Norling's, Short Row Multi-directional scarf.

This scarf is so great because you can use any yarn, it probably looks best with a variegated yarn with medium to long sections of colors, any weight, any size needle that matches your yarn weight and knit till its as long as you want it to be. I like longer, thinner scarfs that I can fold in half and draw the end through. Love wearing them that way and this one is going to be exactly what I love. Kudo is 55% cotton, 40% rayon and 5% silk. Beautiful stuff and nice to knit with.

Oh, did I mention I also bought the Addi Turbo Click set at the LYS the day I took the class? I have always liked Addi Turbo needles, they have a smooth transition from cable to needle. That is one thing I don't like about some sets I've owned. These also don't screw onto the cable, they click and lock. No coming undone while you're knitting. I do believe I've found 2 of the best needle-systems on the market, the Addi Turbo Clicks and the Knit Picks Harmony Options. They rival bamboo in that you can knit slippery yarn and not have stuff fall off the needle. Well, a girl has to have needles for slippery yarn and for regular yarn, right? So I'm all set, my hand knitting basket is overflowing and so is the yarn basket (uh....cupboard(S) :-)

I think its time to share some yarn with my fellow club members. We have a box in the clubhouse here at the condo and we're rapidly filling it with books, supplies and needles for each other to use. I'm going to go through the yarn stash and add some yarn, there's just no way in this lifetime I can knit all this yarn. Its almost sinful to look at (and I have been known to say I was going to have to go to confession if I buy any more...but surely I'll be forgiven for buying that Lorna's Laces, especially if I share some yarn with my fellow knitters).

Ready for Winter

2 years ago I made the crossed stitches scarf and hat. It was inspired by a DIY hand knitting show, Knitty Gritty. Someone came on and showed a scarf with the crossed stitches. I knew it could be done on the machine but couldn't figure out how until Colleen Smitherman on the LK 150 group told me she had a pattern using that stitch. She generously shared the technique with the group and I absolutely loved how it looked. I had this nifty Bernat yarn that was on clearance at Walmart and made my scarf. Then I decided I could easily make a hat using the crossed stitches technique on the brim so I made the hat. Next I made a mitten but life got in the way and I never made another mitten. Now, I've moved and lost the yarn. To make it worse, I never put a fringe on the scarf and it really needed a fringe to finish it off. So while I was looking for the yarn I dug through my bags that moved with me and found some specialty ribbon yarn. I don't even remember buying the stuff but it was the same shade of beige as the scarf and had a dark brown in with it. The yarn has the appearance of feathers and fuzzies along with the ribbon. It was perfect for the fringe, don't you think?

So with that finished, what to do for a second mitten. I decided to go get some brown yarn that matched the brown in the fringe and make a new pair. I started last week and made a pair that turned out too small. Then I made a second pair that came out too big (2 different patterns). I decided the first pair was the easiest to make so I figured out my gauge and where I needed to put more stitches and rows to make a pair that fit using the first mitten pattern. Today I sat down and tried out my revised pattern and it worked. The pattern is from Kangamooknits.com but there is a problem with the web site. Its not a free pattern so I hesitate to tell you to go to the web site, apparently it has been struck by a horrible bug of some sort. Here's a picture of my finished set, I love it and I can't wait to go to club tomorrow to show the set off.


Unlike the original mittens, I didn't do the crossed stitches on the cuff, mainly because I wasn't sure these mittens were going to fit and really, it was 29 degrees out this morning when the dog and I walked...I needed mittens TOMORROW!

Now that I look at the picture of the mittens, they look like one is longer than the other but they're exactly the same size so thought I'd better write that or you'll think I've gone totally bonkers and can't count knit rows

I'm seriously thinking about making another pair now with the crossed stitches. I made a blue scarf just like this one and never made a hat to go with it. If I do, I'll definitely make the mittens with the crossed stitches cuffs. Only thing is...I wonder where THAT yarn went???

First though, I have some dishcloths to make on my Brother 970. I haven't used that machine in almost 4 years and its time to see if it even works after being neglected for so long.

Finally I have a knitting room

So what happened to the sewing room? Well, its a mess or I'd show you...its strictly for sewing, there's too many built in cabinets and things to make room for a knitting machine so I took over the extra bedroom for knitting. The room was soooo dark. It had a dull green paint on the walls, mauve-purple colored shades on the windows and absolutely no lights in the entire room, not even a ceiling light. I had my son put up some white blinds in the room and tossed the hideous purple things. I gave the kids the futon for their basement where they have a huge bedroom for guests. Then I emptied the room and the closets of the stuff I had packed in there waiting for someplace to go.. and had a painter come in and paint the room an off-white semi-gloss. Already it looked better. Then yesterday I went shopping for lights. I got myself a floor lamp that has 3 positional halogen lights on it. I positioned the KH 970 between the 2 windows. I don't like to be facing the windows when I knit because that makes it way too bright for me so I figured between would be better. The Halogen can be moved to sit behind me which is where I like my work light. I can always move it closer or whatever. I had some bookcases and a couple 2-drawer file cabinets so am using the file cabinets for lamp holders and of course the overflow of tools when I'm knitting. I put all the knitting accessories like color changers,etc in the closet. One whole wall of the room is closets so that's handy for storage.
Here's pictures of the work space I hope I can keep it looking as good as it looks now but we all know what happens when we get busy. One nice thing, the sewing room is handy when I need it for my knits and the ironing board is right across the hall from the knitting room. (steamer doesn't seem to have a space yet, I've stashed it in the master bedroom for now).



I should mention, the pictures go from 1. entering the room and looking to the right, 2. straight ahead from the door on the left and 3. on the left, the first closet.

Its not a very big room but looks like it will be fine for knitting. I have all my books arranged in the bookcases. Spinning, Weaving, Machine Knitting and Hand Knitting. I also have books stashed in the closet in order as well, hopefully I'll keep them in order.

Room done! Yaaay. I want to make a couple clocks, one for the sewing room and one for the knitting room (with my embroidery room) but have a couple other projects I have to do first. To begin with, I owe a friend a dozen washcloths and that's first on the list (as soon as I find the 16/2 cotton--I think its still in the garage.

Then I have curtains to iron and get up in the dining room which was also painted in this flurry to ginish and chill out for the winter.

Bought myself a Wii because I am absolutely terrified of driving in the snow after all the years of not driving so I don't want to push it by having to drive to a gym every other day...Wii has 3 or 4 excellent workout "games" and I got myself one of those...plus just moving around with the other games ought to be fun and good for an old lady

1 Hour Felt Hat

Materials: 1 4-ounce skein US Worsted Weight Wool
Suggested gauge on skein pkg 17st/21 rws = 4 inches
I used Shepherd’s Wool from stonehedgefibermill.com

Machine: LK 150 mid-gauge
Tension: Highest tension on the machine and antenna tension set at the highest
(Loosest)

Directions:
With waste yarn cast on 100 stitches and hang cast on comb and weights (we want this heavy to help make big open stitches). Knit about 5 rows, end with carriage on the left.
Knit 1 row ravel cord.

E-wrap over ravel cord with main yarn (2 stitches on needles).
Knit 56 rows.

Begin Decrease Rows
*Transfer every 3rd stitch to the stitch next to it (right or left doesn’t matter but continue the same direction all the way across). Push empty needles out of work.
Knit around 4 or 5 rows waste yarn. Remove weights and cast on comb and take work off the machine (or use a garter bar but beware, these stitches are very loose and you can lose them easily).*

Rehang the stitches on 67 needles. (check to make sure you have 2 stitches on every other needle.
Replace cast on comb and weights (important to keep the weight on the hat while knitting). Knit 3 rows then repeat decreases *-*
Rehang the stitches on 45 needles.

Repeat from * to *
Rehang stitches on 31 needles.

Repeat from * to *
Rehang stitches on 16 needles

Knit 2 rows then
Transfer EVERY OTHER stitch to the needle next to it.
Rehang stitches and knit 2 rows.

Cut thread long enough to run through the open stitches with tapestry needle or double eye needle and mattress stitch the seam. Weave any ends you may have.

Put the hat in a pillowcase to keep the fuzzies out of your washing machine and tie the top shut or use a lingerie bag if it has small holes. Using just hot water (turn off the cold water tap) Add just a smidgeon of soap and run the washer through the wash cycle. Stop it and check the hat. It probably will need to go through the wash cycle again, reset the washer and when its half way through the second cycle check it. Try it on. If it fits you the way you want it to fit, it’s done. If it could shrink some more, continue with the cycle. Beware, it can felt very quickly at this point and suddenly it will fit your favorite teddy.

Once the hat is the size you want, wring dry and shape it the way you want it to look when finished and place it over a bowl or similar object to help hold its shape while it dries. Set it aside on the bowl to dry. Decorate with beads or chain or ribbon if you wish. Another idea is to needle felt a flower on it or wear it just as it is.

Living Room Painting is Done

TG, my DIL is ambitious. She came over to paint a little 8 x 8 wall that is between kitchen and living room, right next to the entry way. When I moved here she mentioned that she wants to try one of the "faux" techniques that are so popular now. Suede was the one she liked. Well, of course that piqued my interest so I went to several of the paint stores and looked at the faux stuff. I ended up liking "color wash" so when she emailed me that Sherwin Williams was having a weekend sale, I went to get my paint. I already had the samples that I've been looking at often so I pretty much knew the exact colors I wanted. I ended up with "Biscuit" for the majority of the living room, its sort of an off-white with a creamy base, not beige but very light beige. I should mention that the color when I moved in is pale green. I've never had a green wall and although its ok, its dingy and obviously been green for a very long time.

For The WALL , I wanted a darker reddish/berry color, more toward the berry than the red. So Saturday we started. She was planning on doing the red wall on Saturday so all I got was the berry colorwash stuff. I taped and she painted. That wall took longer to tape than to paint so when she was nearly finished she mentioned she really could do more if there were more to do so off I went to the paint store for the Biscuit paint. (no I didn't buy that color because of the dog--it just happened to be the color I picked). She ended up painting all but the wall that starts in the living room and ends all the way down the hall..so that still has to be done but it looks great.

Sunday she came back over and did the "faux colorwash" treatment...which we totally hated so we decided to just paint that color over the first color and be done with it. Its not quite as berry as I'd like but its done and some day I may give it another coat of a darker berry color but right now, ITS DONE!!!

Here's Biscuit...the off-white-creamy color


And here's the wall, on the left is the first coat, on the right is the finished coat but it looks very red in these 2 photos.

Yesterday my son came over and finished up by hanging my huge mirror that's been sitting on the floor since I moved in. Love the mirror but its so heavy I was afraid it would actually tear the doggone sheetrock down. So far, its fine. I changed the lighting on this to try to show the real color, it just comes out way too red in the pictures and its really a reddish berry color, this shows it better....

All I have left to do is hem the dining room curtains. For some reason the person who lived here before me had the draps but apparently made new ones and took the hems out of the others. The others match the living room drapes and I absolutely love those living room drapes so want them back up in the dining room. So today's job is to embroider a Thanksgiving Tweet flag and then the drapes. NO---Focus Roz! I want to make covers for those red cushions on the wicker chair...its way too red as it is now and I bought upholstery fabric for it so I'll do that today. Guess I'd better get off computer and get busy....

Autumn Tweets make Garden Flag

I bought myself a little garden flag holder because of a brainstorm I had that I could embroider designs on flag fabric. After I bought the fabric I wasn't so sure it was a good idea because embroidery has to be hooped really tight to keep it from puckering around the stitches and the designs I wanted to use were from Embroidery Library. Some of Embroidery Library's designs are a bit dense which was my concern. Anyway today I decided to tackle the project. I had bought Sport Nylon from Jo-Ann's which was recommended by the Babylock on-line projects. They happened to have a garden flag as a project. They recommended doing a 4-thread overlock around all 4 edges of the flat to keep the fabric from fraying so I did that, even though I haven't used my serger in a very long time. What the heck, its good to use these things if you have them, isn't it?

I must say it turned out pretty cute. I decided to put a cute dog under the birds just because everyone who walks by my house knows I have the little white dog behind my gate. I wish I had offset him a little but it was a matter of being able to hoop the flag farther down after I finished the Tweets, there wasn't room to hoop it tight if I had moved the dog over much farther so next time I think I'll do the embroidering first and then hem the flag,

Next flag will be Thanksgiving. I want to get some little hooks of some kind to attach the flag to the flag holder. Right now in case you can't tell, I'm using red paper clips, a bit ugly but one has to do what one has to do in a pinch. Besides, since the flag has to be inside my courtyard (nothing allowed outside the courtyard after October 30 because of snow plowing right up to the garage doors...so no one can tell from the road how I hooked that sucker up to the holder anyway. I'm really happy with the whole idea of the Tweets being using for the flag. Good Grief, I think I have a Tweet for every season...so glad I thought of it.

So My House Nearly Burned Down--WARNING!

Yesterday I was rushing around getting ready for a Dr's apt so wasn't paying a lot of attention to my surroundings. As I came out of the dressing room into the bedroom I noticed smoke coming from near my embroidery machine--was it smoke? Was it steam from a cup of coffee? I went to investigate and good grief!!!

I have one of those wonderful lamps from Jo-Ann Fabrics that has a daylight and a large magnifying glass attached to it, perfect when I'm doing something on the machine. It sits next to the machine of course. My sewing room faces South and is very bright when the sun beams in during the day. In fact if I'm sewing I have to draw the blind behind the machine to keep from blinding myself. THAT is what happened. The sun was beaming in and reflecting off that huge magnifying glass and actually had burned 2 little holes in the cover I put over my machine--which I put over it to protect it from the sun.

I like the fact that the sun beams in because it heats the room which might be a bit cold to work in otherwise but wow, I never gave it a thought when I placed that lamp near the machine. Imagine if I had left already, my house might have burned. My expensive embroidery machine could have been toast. I'm horrified with the thought.

Luckily the magnifying glass can be removed so I took it off the stand and put it in a cupboard so that its handy when I want to use it but not burning holes in my stuff when I don't want to use it.

Lesson learned, I hope if anyone reading this has one of those magnifying glass/lamps you learn from what happened to mine and we can all avoid the awful consequences.

Kitchen's Done

Actually the guys were finished yesterday but I wanted to make my herb clock that I've dreamed up the day I bought the place. There's a couple little pieces of tile with herbs on them in the kitchen and so I thought, since I have this nickel colored clock I should embroider a clock with herbs in it. I searched around and the only design I could find that I liked in this larger than the usual embroidered clock was at Embroidery Library (www.emblibrary.com) Also it was the only clock design that was big enough to fit inside my clock. Unfortunately its bigger than my embroidery hoop so I spent 3 days working on how I was going to split the doggone design up and sew it out. I've only split a couple designs and really hesitate to do it for fear I'll screw it up. There are excellent directions in the Yahoo Group (MKEmbroidery) that our friend Sheila wrote for us, I highly suggest using her directions, they aren't complicated and long winded as some directions are. I also read the directions on Embroidery Library's project pages about hooping clocks and used parts of both directions. Anyway, that's neither here nor there, I finally got the nerve up to do it last night. This morning I took the clock apart, put the newly embroidered face in it and it turned out even better than I hoped. So here's the final kitchen with the new granite counters, new faucet, new sink and of course, the clock.

Counters Are Here!!!

What a mess, the guy called and told me to empty the cupboards because they didn't want to mess anything up when they came. So--I used plastic totes and my sewing cases and hauled the food and dishes out of the kitchen to the dining room. I even took the drawers out and hauled them over to the corner of the DR. I put the quilt over the table so I wouldn't scratch it with all the stuff. Keep in mind I haven't finished unpacking the stuff for the kitchen because I knew this day was coming. I may never unpack the rest of the stuff.....
THEN the destruction guy came. His job was to remove all the original counters.

Turns out the disposal needs to be replaced so he's bringing me a new one and will install it when he comes back. Meanwhile, Sears installer had screwed up the installation of the dishwasher, it was a little wonkey and this guy fixed that since he had to side mount the washer--it was top mounted before. Yaaay for him for fixing the messy installation. My impression of this whole company has gone up already.

After he got the counters and sink and disposal and junk out of the house, the granite guys came over. They had the granite, already cut and ready to install with them. I hid out in the back room because I heard them saying something about one piece was very big and they needed another person to help them get it into the house. Turns out they don't like carrying these big pieces of granite flat, they prefer to turn them on the side to carry in but because of the little galley kitchen, apparently it was a problem...but I was hiding out trying not to listen. This whole job started at 8:15 a.m. and ended around 4 p.m. Yaaay for them, they got it done. New sink is installed, the granite is in place and now for the back splashes. Yes, I had to get granite back splashes because the original tiles don't go down below the original backsplashes of course...and I really didn't want to get new tiles although in retrospect, I wonder if it would have been cheaper to get new kitchen tiles or even just wallpaper rather than granite back splashes. Oh well, too late to think of that now. So--here's the picture of what was done yesterday.
The messy spot on the right corner is where the kitchen garage thingy goes, I think they are going to put the backsplash on first and then reinstall that. (whoops, I just put the stuff back in the cupboard...guess it needs to come back out...)
Once these guys left the owner of the company came back over and remeasured everything for the backsplashes. Apparently the backsplashes are cut and polished but he makes sure that they will fit now that the counters are on since the new counters are probably a different height than the old ones. This morning they are fine-tuning them and will be bringing them over some time today.
Meanwhile, the owner told me the new faucet hasn't come in yet, it may be here today or tomorrow. Phooey! I really would like a finished sink--with faucets-- since its impossible to cook anything without a sink to toss crumbs in (so I found out last night when I fixed Biscuit's supper---he can't eat a TV dinner, after all.

The counters are beautiful. Here's a close-up...if you look into the depths of the granite you can see fabulous colors. One way you look you see shiny spots of silver and another way you see sapphire. WOW! So pretty!!

Next post will hopefully be the finished deal. I'm really glad I went with this granite company rather than with Lowes or Home Depot. The price was a little more but obviously worth it. I don't think they would have taken all the time to measure and re-measure and make absolutely sure things were right. I KNOW they wouldn't have repositioned my dishwasher so the door wasn't wonkey anymore.

Got the Blasted Drivers License

Got it! Went prepared with bills showing my address, passport, Social Security Card, SC drivers license, etc, etc....and registered to vote. Honestly, I told the guy I had never been in the Secretary of State office so often since I flunked the driving test when I was 20 (well---it wasn't my fault they asked me questions about rum runners (SC) and of course, I didn't know why you wouldn't have a smoke screen in the car, I thought it got cigarette smoke out of the car..turns out it blasts smoke out behind the car to divert anyone who might be following you There was something about brakes that made the car turn around on a dime which I thought would be handy, turned out it was the same sort of thing the smoke screen was. Who Knew?

Bonus was, I stopped at a cabinet-maker shop and he's making shelves for me for the sewing room cabinets that are the same price as the ones at Lowes and Home Depot that don't fit. Yaaay!

Got Out The Sewing Machine Today

Yes, I finally was forced to find the power plug and the foot pedal for the sewing/embroidery machine. Poor Biscuit has had to wear a coat the last 2 days when we went out. He really for the first time ever..didn't mind wearing it. I got him a cute down filled one from PetSmart and luckily the rain ran off it because we had to go out in the pouring down rain. I can stay under the umbrella but Biscuit doesn't realize that if he stays close to me he can stay dry. So out we went. Immediately I realized that his harness isn't going to work with the coat. The doggone coat needs a buttonhole in the middle of the back for his harness clip so we had to use the collar. It kind of doesn't matter, he is OK with the collar and doesn't pull when he walks so I wasn't worried about hurting his trachea (small dogs have that problem). But the lead kept getting caught under him and around him and under the coat...so he needs a buttonhole. I got the darn machine out and had to figure out how to get the buttonhole foot on, test one out, etc...and finally after fiddling with it for way too long got the job done.

Its supposed to clear up late this afternoon and hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow. Its cold here and I had to turn on the heat when we got home. Poor doggie's little feet were cold so I dried them with a towel. He's hunkered up on my bed now, sleeping on the down comforter.

I've decided to try Secretary of State once again today. Don't want the woman to forget me. Maybe she'll feel sorry for me or decide I'm a determined alien from SC and give me my drivers license. This is the most ridiculous thing I do believe I've ever done. I told her yesterday, Michigan was perfectly happy to give me a license 30 years ago...I'm the same person--just older. That didn't fly, of course. this time I'm taking my passport, a bill from Charter, a bank statement showing I opened an account in town (surely if the bank can trust me, Sec of State can) and of course, my Social Security Card. She told me NOT to bring my birth certificate because it shows my name spelled different.

Bright spot on the horizon, cabinet tops will be here sometime this week, they're being cut and polished right now!!!

Better Picture of the granite

Here's a much better picture of the volga blue granite along with the description:
Type: Granite
Surface: Polished
Color: Blue
Secondary Color: Black, Green, Large Blue Crystals
Origin: Ukraine
Description: When the light catches the large blue crystals (up to 1" in diameter), there is a brilliant blue reflection. Similar to Emerald Pearl.
silk fusion:

AND the Silk Fusion, this is what I found on the internet about the technique:
This unique method bonds silk fibres into a lustrous kind of "felt" which can be gossamer and transparent or thick and opaque as leather. Because the fibres are unspun, silk's rich lustre and texture are captured.

Update on Kitchen and ....

Boring everyone to death, I know. But I can't help it, I have to show off my beautiful house
Here's the latest pictures of the kitchen. All the appliances are in and if I do say so myself, Mike and I did an excellent job of picking appliances although Mike did make the comment he didn't know why I bought an electric range when I never cook

I love how the dishwasher just melts into the cabinets. I just have to learn to keep my fingers off the stainless.

Friday the countertop guy came and measured the counters. Here's a picture of the granite slab I bought, I found this on the internet, the color is Volga Blue. When you look at it from different angles you see bright blue highlights that look like they go deep into the granite. I love it. If you come to visit me and see me standing in my kitchen turning my head like an idiot, you'll know I'm looking deep into my countertops.....!

And I now have a bay window that a dog or cat can't jump on and sleep in. So that means I can actually make use of the deep windowsill. Yaaay! As I was unpacking I found the silk fusion my daughter Miki made me. She fused dogwood flowers into the silk and boy oh boy, sitting in the windowsill is where it was meant to be don't you think?

Finally (I know, you're sick of it, I'll be finished soon). I had this horrible shoe shelf/cupboard in the closet. The hanger rod was attached to it and it would have been handy if I had a hundred pair of shoes but the downfall of the thing is, only shoes can go on it and every time I touched a pair of shoes on it, the whole mess of shoes fell on the floor. It had to go QUICK! So I went to Target and found a closet cupboard that I thought would work. None of them were the right height but 2, one stacked on the other, would work. Unfortunately they were too heavy for me to put into the cart so I asked Mike to go with me the next day to get them and son of a gun, someone bought one while I had my back turned. Luckily Amanda went with us and she figured out that if I bought the one I wanted and then bought a shorter one, turned the shorter one on its side, I'd have the proper height! duh! It worked. We got the 2 and Mike came over and installed for me. It comes with backs for every other cubby and Mike thought I'd probably drop something behind the thing and then wouldn't be able to get whatever it was out and of course, he is right. So luckily Amanda had thrown a couple blue pull out fabric boxes in the basket. They work great. I'm going back for 2 more to fill the other 2 open cubbys, the cubbys with shoes in them are safe, there's no way a shoe will fall behind the thing since it pretty much sits flush with the back of the closet. It's wonderful. My neighbor looked at it and immediately said she needs one for her closet....no I didn't offer Mike, I'm not finished with him yet.

So that's the latest updates. Hope I didn't bore you too much. Next will be the counter tops and then I'm pretty much finished spending.

Guest Bathroom is ready

Today my neighbor and I went to my favorite store, she admitted she had never been there before. Pier One!!! Love that store. I was looking for a bathmat to match my fishy shower curtain and towels. Well, I found the perfect mat, it had sea shells on it. Then the manager knew he had a sucker in tow and showed me a package of real sea shells. To make it even more perfect, I had bought a set of seashell cup, soap holder and waste basket just the other day at Lowes and have a candy dish I bought for someone one year for Christmas and never sent to her and although I can't find my phone, I have found that silly dish so sea shells went into the dish when I got home. The fish bowl with soap in it is a bowl we bought one time with a beta fish in it. The fish died but I really wanted the bowl which is why we bought him (although I did feel bad when he died). I collected a bunch of hand made soap at one time thinking I was going to knit soap on a rope thingys to sell at the Mill in SC but never did because I loved the soap in the fish bowl.

I also wanted to get a cushion for my wicker chair that used to be on my screened in porch but now is in my living room and I thought a nice reddish color would be good to sort of offset all the brown. I didn't realize I had so much brown furniture until I got here. Anyway, Pier One had a sale on cushions. I got a brown set for the chair thats in the bedroom and red for the living room chair. Also got a pillow that has reds and browns in it. So I'm all set, 1 bathroom and 1 living room finished!

Still haven't found the phone although I did find the fish shower curtain that I embroidered quite a few years ago. Still love it and even though the shower has glass doors, who says I can't have a shower curtain on it as well? What do you think?

New House Shaping Up

Today I took it easy after working hard to find all my stuff. Still can't find phone and comforter for bed but maybe tomorrow. I tried to just open boxes today and look in them for the missing stuff but no luck.

I got a new electric range today. One more appliance is coming and then the new countertops. Here's what I have so far, a fridge, range and microwave. Dishwasher comes next week. Here's my kitchen so far:
And my living room and dining room is coming together. I need curtains on the 2 corner windows in the living room and want to change the curtains in the dining room but they're OK for now, I'm not sure what I want to do with that bay window. Initially I thought I wanted drapes but now I'm thinking maybe not.



Forgot to put up a picture of my garage, this is after I've unpacked what seems like a ton of boxes, keep in mind this is a 2 car garage.

Traverse City and Area

Today I have to go register the dog at the County Treasurer's. Hopefully my GPS will find the place. Then I'm off to search for curtain rods and curtains for my new house.

Tomorrow the fridge and microwave arrive. My son says I should be able to move once they're there since I never cook with a stove anyway NOT moving yet Mike, I want my bed and some furniture to sit on first.

Yesterday we went to Cedar, MI which is really right up the road about 20 miles. Inish Knits Yarn - Needles - Spinning Wheels - Patterns and Books - Open Knitting and Spinning Nights - 9031 S. Kasson - Cedar, Michigan 49621

I really was interested in the quilt shop too because my friend Sammie just showed me a crazy quilt that is done in the hoop on the embroidery machine. Doggone her, I don't need another hobby I'm thinking I could make a wall hanging instead
of a full quilt but who knows what this will lead to. (not going there).
Who can resist that hummingbird?

Meanwhile, I'm dreaming of the day my sewing machine comes and I can make my first project, a herb clock for the kitchen.

Almost Moved In

Darn, I wish I would have taken a picture of the tile on the kitchen backsplash. It is a beige color but what I love it the occasional tile with a picture of a herb and its name on it. Perfect! I have an embroidery design pack with herbs and their names. As soon as the movers bring my embroidery machine I'm going to embroider a clock to put over the sink (no windows in the kitchen). Then I'm going to embroider myself some flower sack towels with herbs on them.

This weekend we went shopping at Home Depot. Got a nice new brushed nickel light fixture for the dining room (just off the kitchen) and a new ceiling fan that will go between dining room and living room. Got them up yesterday. They don't look all that spectacular yet but when the new stainless appliances I bought come they will be great since the kitchen and dining room are so close together. New fan and light are on the right.

There's really nothing wrong with the old fan, its nice but the new fan is the brushed nickel and we thought it would go better with the dining room light fixture.
The fan is replacing a dark fan in the sewing room since the sewing room is all white, I thought it would look super there, besides it has a remote that must have cost a few pennies, the old fan in sewing room doesn't. I'll put the old fan in the garage along with the tiffany lamp that left the dining room. Maybe some day Tiffany lamps will come back in style - or I think I remember the church I just joined is asking for items for a garage sale they are having, if they want big items I'll donate them.

Wednesday my new refrigerator is coming along with the microwave. The range and dishwasher won't be here until around the 16th darn it. Never cook anyway so range isn't any big deal but dishwasher would be nice to have. Once they all get in place I'll have new countertops put in but don't want to order them until the appliances are in place so that everything will fit nice and snug together. I've got a price on a countertop, granite with bits of blue and green and white in its depths, depending on which way you stand and how the light hits it. Would like to replace the 2 sinks and countertops in the 2 bathrooms too but that might have to wait until later.

Meanwhile, I ordered new carpeting for the 2 bedrooms. The lady had put in new carpet in the house except for the bedrooms. The store where I ordered it was super. I went in around 4:l5 in the afternoon and picked up 3 samples, ran them back to the house to check against the new carpeting that's in place in the rest of the house. Ran back to the store (all within about 15 minutes time) and the girl called the supplier to make sure they had enough based on measurements we had made earlier.
They did have enough of it so the girl ran to the back of the store and asked her boss if he could run measure the rooms with me quickly. We jumped in the car and drove back to the house, he measured. While I was on my way home the guy called, gave me a final price and told me they'd be there Thurs afternoon or Friday to install the carpet. How's that for service. All done within an hour. Now, that's my kind of store.

Meanwhile, cable company isn't doing so hot. They will install phone between 3 and 5 on Thursday and the TV cable between 5 and 7. ? They can't do it all at once? Apparently not. To beat all annoyances, they've called me at least 5 times on my cell phone when I'm in a store trying to buy something else...just to confirm I did order the doggone cable. I finally asked the girl if they were going to call me again, please don't, take my word for it, I DID ORDER IT.

So that's my saga for today. I'm going over to measure windows, there's 2 in the spare bedroom that have some sad pink blinds. I'm going to replace the pink (pepto-bismo) blinds with something thats a better color. Saw some interesting ones at Home Depot yesterday but think I'll go to Lowes and maybe Penny's today for another perspective. Can't let Home Depot have all my money.

I'll close with some cute pictures of Biscuit. My son Mike got him running around the yard the other night and managed to capture some cute pictures. When Biscuit starts running, he goes in circles and honestly, you'd think there's a G-Force the way his hair and ears fly..see what you think.

The Courtyard

Yesterday we drove by the condo to show my grandaughters the potential new home for g'ma. They took pictures of the little courtyard for me. Each house has its own fenced in courtyard that you can decorate any way you wish.

This is where you come in from the street to get to the front door.


This is the front corner, which I'll see from the living room and front porch. There's a brick wall in the front of it which has an iron gate.



So yes there's some work to be done. I want to get some flagstone pavers to make a small patio for myself. Also some edgers and more pavers to make a walk from front to back so I don't have to walk to the back through damp grass. Other than that, I'll probably wait till spring to do too much since we all know what happens here in the winter....SNOW!

I do like the idea that I won't have to shovel and mow and do all the work outside that I've had to do the last couple years but there'll be a little bit to do of course, enough to keep myself busy but not so much I won't have time to knit and weave and all the things I prefer to do.

Maybe I found my new nest

We've been house shopping in Traverse City (MI) for a couple days now. DIL and I loved one of the condos I looked at, it is a stand-alone house in a group of alike-houses but most of them are attached to each other. This one has (gulp) a sewing room so of course it called to me. Today I took my son Mike over to look at it with the realtor. We also looked at 3 others that had the same sq footage and this one really did shine out above the others. One had 3 bedrooms which would be nice for company but that took away from the living room space. One had a huge mirror in the dining room (actually the whole wall was a mirror. Apparently lots of them have this huge mirror which I thought was hideous but probably made the place look bigger unless, like the one we looked at, actually was so cluttered with huge dark furniture nothing was going to make it look bigger. ANYWAY! each little house has its own small courtyard which people decorate to their own taste. Some were cluttered with plants and some were mostly stones and walking paths. The one I liked was grass and a border of flowers, a birdhouse and weather vane and that's it. At the end of it was a small brick sitting area. The front porch had room for a chair if one wanted one there.
I went ahead and made an offer on the place, we haven't heard back but the realtor thoughT we'd hear back fairly soon, then if we all agree on price I'll have 2 weeks to get inspections and all that stuff done. I want to get new kitchen appliances and perhaps paint the kitchen cabinets. We liked the 2 we saw where the cabinets were painted white, it really brightened up the place. I also want new appliances although the washer and dryer are new, if they weren't I'd get apartment size ones so I could use the space beside them as clothes hanging-drying space but...these are too new to replace. The existing fridge will go in the double garage as exta freezer space (or beer, as the realtor told me). Carpeting throughout looks new, its a light colored berber and although I wanted wood floors, I can live with carpet, especially since I may freeze the first year here after living in SC.

Here's the pictures:
Front Door, actually isn't colored, it just looks that way..

Living Room

Kitchen

Sewing Room

1392 sq feet, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage. Appliances include refrig, oven/range, disposal, dishwasher, microwave, washer/dryer, 4 skylights that actualy give off so much light we kept wanting to turn them off before we left. Cathedral ceilings, cable TV available. Huge pantry in the garage, handicap equipped, natural Gas heat. The kitchen floor is nice tile that I'll keep. The place has all ages living in it so it's not a 55+ but after driving through some of the 55+'s this is good. There is a building in the center of the place that has a heated pool and huge community room where they have parties and that sort of thing OR you can rent it for your own personal group meetings (knitting?)

My plan is, if I buy the house, to make the master bedroom a sitting room with a TV and couch that can be made into a bed or something similar to that. The master bedroom has french doors that lead into the sewing room so you know what's going to happen to the master bedroom--it will be my weaving/knitting room as well as sitting room. The place is 2 miles from my son's home, not too far but far enough. If I need help, my grandaughter can drive and of course, so can DIL and DS. I've met a couple of the people who live in the place and they are around my age. Doggies are allowed and actually, the gate to my courtyard already has a extra wire under it to keep the dog from escaping if he should desire to crawl under the gate. He has plenty of room to run out and play and people were out walking their dogs so all is well. The association takes care of the outer yard and the exterior of the house, I take care of the inside. There is a 1 year maintenance agreement on the house.

There's a ferry that can get me to Wisconsin to visit Natalie in 1 1/2 hours. Yaaay, car goes on it of course. Dogs have to stay in their crate or in the car (I dislike that idea but crate is ok, and I have one, he won't like it for 1 1/2 hours he'll live through it).

DIL took me to a yarn shop and introduced me as her MIL "who is a master knitter" YIKES! The woman asked for help with a sock she was knitting and luckily I could help. They also had an EZ Baby Surprise Jacket on display and I immediately picked it up and said...WOW, you have a Surprise Jacket made up...so at least the owner knows I can knit I did buy a ball of yarn to make the Drops Domino Socks, hopefully I can make the socks and bring them back to show off. I am also hoping I can figure out how to make them by machine but we'll see about that. I'm anxious to get my machines out and keep them out once again.

I see no reason that I would be unhappy here. The town is small enough to learn my way around reasonably fast. I have my GPS to keep me from getting lost. There's more going on than I want to do but isn't that a good thing? Who knows, after sitting around for 4 or so years because I couldn't go anywhere, I just may venture out more now that I can.

SO MUCH TO DO--SO LITTLE TIME!