Doll Blanket and Bunks

 

So DH assembled adult daughter's toy bunk bed set at my request. This set is circa late '60s and in new condition. I love baby dolls and have a few that I've collected just because they touched me in some way. I'm thinking that the bunk beds and the doll crib I have will be a lovely way to display them in my bedroom. I have kept them in my curio cabinet and would enjoy having them displayed differently. However, what about dust? They are so pretty in the cabinet, but less inviting to hold.

 

While pondering these weighty concerns, I am knitting doll bedspreads/blankets for the bunks and using stash! Yes! I know! This is straight, mindless stockinette minus the two inches of seed stitch border at each end. This Bernat Jacquard is especially fun for me since I don't knit socks and use all the interesting self-striping and patterned sock yarns on the market. Seeing these patterns appear is magical and does keep things interesting when knitting so much stockinette.

Click on the button to see more WIPs and FOs.

http://plumslife.blogspot.com/

Cuff to Cuff

What are you reading? What are you knitting? Join in at Yarn Along and let us all know!

I've started a new book and a new project, though the book title isn't showing well here! I've just begun Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman and am enjoying the Maine setting and the introduction of families with deep ties to the summer vacation village. What secrets and allegiances will be revealed?

 This cuff-to-cuff short sleeve sweater is the first garment I've made for my self in decades, so it's exciting to see it take shape. I've added stripes since I don't have enough yarn of the same color. The picture shows a sleeve with the bunched up part being the left front. The center section is seed stitch. After nine inches of the front, I'll cast on the back stitches then finish knitting one half of the sweater. After knitting the other half of the sweater, I'll graft the pieces together with a seam up the back.

 I am finally using the Rowan Summer Tweed that I purchased at Camp Stitches in Asilomar, California, several years ago. I'm using this color with cream.

This is the pattern picture from  http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/cuff-cuff-sweater where you can get the free pattern.

I'd like to hear about/see what you're knitting/crocheting and reading!

Succinctly Yours ~ Week 31

A microfiction meme hosted at http://grandmas-goulash.info/

Jack-O-Slot Machine enjoys October. The winners can rush home to roast the pay out or.... Have little O-Slot Machines have been harvested?

The Spinster Sister ~ A Reaction

The Spinster Sisters by Stacey Ballis

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This story began with engaging writing and a snappy premise regarding revisionist spinsterhood. The two sets of spinster sisters are well characterized and developed. The promising beginning chapters give way to a soft, spongy center of repetition and wordiness that appear to pad the book. The predictable ending could be forgiven had the writing held up throughout the story.
If you enjoy Lifetime movies, you'll like this book.
View all my reviews

Succinctly Yours #28

When the car wash shut down, Bill had to make the best of a difficult situation. Not only is Bill fastidious, but also pugnacious.

 

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Using the photo as inspiration, write a story of 140 characters/words or less .Using the word of the week is an optional challenge. Then post it here.

 

Child's Cottage Bag

The cottage purse for DGD's November birthday is finished, though I may find myself adding a bit of this and a touch of that between now and then. I posted about beginning this little gift here. It's filled with books, drawing pad, and colored pencils.

There are beads along the vine. I'm thinking I'll add a three dimensional butterfly or two to the right side by crocheting small butterflies and stitching them on to the fabric.

What are you working on?

The Spinster Sisters

For this week's Yarn Along, I am still adding crochet stripes to the throw for DGD, but reading a different book. The Spinster Sisters by Stacey Ballis turns the traditional concept of "spinster" on its head! This is a fun, happy read so far. I don't think that tone will change significantly through the rest of the book. Centered on two sets of sisters, the story follows their interactions and their life choices, though the consequences of those choices vary among the characters. I think this book will make you smile, maybe even chuckle too!

This blanket is so enjoyable to make! I was inspired by this web page and am so pleased with the process and the style. Details about my blanket are here.

What's your latest project?

The School of Essential Ingredients

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly book meme. Join us to share books!

Do you enjoy the books by Sarah Addison Allen as I do? Then you might well want to read The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Baumeister. Both authors share an ability to immerse the reader in the story as a sensory experience.

This is a beautiful account of people's lives and the importance of friendship wrapped in the delights of a kitchen. Memories of my Nonna's kitchen scented with baking bread, simmering tomatoes with basil, chicken roasting with rosemary and olive oil rose to the fore as I read this touching yet robust story that is bursting with life.

From p. 30, "Abuelita gazed at her, gently amused. 'Sometimes, nina, our greatest gifts grow from what we are not given.'"

***********

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.

Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page along with the title & author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they are interested!

Post your teaser at http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ 

What sort of books do you enjoy?

Succinctly Yours #27

The lush green leaves had gone to yellow.

Mired in self pity Tree cried, "Laugh, jump in my leaves! Look at me! I am bald!"

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Using the photo as inspiration, write a story of 140 characters/words or less.Using the word of the week is an optional challenge. Then post it here.

Saturday Snapshot ~ Looming!

"To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at http://athomewithbooks.net/ It can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you."

Time to get off of the lake!

Colorado

June, 2011

Booking Through Thursday ~ In Public

"Do you carry books with you when you’re out and about in the world?

And, do you ever try to hide the covers?"

Absolutely!! Never leave home without a book and a book on my iPod tucked safely inside my purse. Reading while waiting for anything is an effective antidote for impatience and boredom.

Had to chuckle at the second question! No, I can't say I've ever hidden the cover of a book!
 

Capitol Betrayal

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly book meme. Join us to share books!

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page along with the title & author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they are interested!

From page 124: " 'For the past few weeks, the President has experienced what I would call a mild form of asthma....You try making policy in a pressure cooker and see if you don't wheeze a bit."

There's humor in this that made me smile. Bernhardt writes "smile nuggets" in his often tense fiction. It's an edgy book, not far removed from current events.

Succinctly Yours – Week #26

Using the photo as inspiration, write a story of 140 characters or 140 words.

 

It doesn’t have to be exactly 140, just not more. The added optional challenge is to use the word of the week in the story. Then post it here.

 

How much longer will they ignore me Duckie sadly wondered as he sat in the crowded corner. Without playmates, I know I will quack up!

[groan]

Cactus Majestic

At Phoenix Botanical Garden

March 2011

(Click on photo to enlarge)

"To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at http://athomewithbooks.net/  It can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you."

A Patchwork Planet

  

This post will serve double...er...triple...duty since the couple of rows I've added don't warrant an update!

 What are you reading? What are you knitting? Join in at Yarn Along and let us all know!

 

I'm just getting into A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler, a favorite author. I've finally settled on this pattern for DGD's throw in the colors she likes. This thing has been reinvented three times to get to this point where I am enjoying the colors and the stitches.

This simple, quickie stitch combination is all over the blogs and perfectly suits the "swirly colors" that DGD specified for this throw. It involves WW and lace weight yarns with size G and H crochet hooks. I'm crocheting a row of sc and ch2 after each row. There is a row of white two rows of color, then white, and repeat in dc clusters of three. The pink yarn has a silver lurex fiber through it that is a happy, sparkly touch for a seven-year-old!

Succinctly Yours #25

Which vehicle in the company parking lot belongs to Lola, the free spirit and Creative Director, a misfit in the methodical corporate vibe?

+ + + + +

Using the photo as inspiration, write a story of 140 characters or 140 words.

It doesn’t have to be exactly 140, just not more. The added optional challenge is to use the word of the week in the story. Then post it here.

Horsey Part 2

"To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at http://athomewithbooks.net/

can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are appropriate for all eyes to see.

How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you."

 

Paint your wagon?

And your horse?

Taken in Old Town Fort Collins, CO

Felted Tote on a Boat

 

The tote-on-a-boat is finished! Does anything feel as good as an FO?! Well, yes, I guess so, however an FO is right up there! The beginnings are mentioned here and here.
 

 It took two cycles of agitation in hot water, detergent, with a pair of jeans to felt the stitch definition out of this Rowan Colorscape yarn.

 

 I made a pocket by crocheting (because it was faster than knitting it) a rectangle and hand-sewing it on three sides with wool and a yarn needle. I was a bit concerned about how the crochet piece would felt compared to the knitting, but it is just perfect. Of course, I made the pocket twice the size of what I wanted and it worked beautifully.

 

I reinforced the bound off stitches for the handles by crocheting a strip across the stitches. I was concerned about the handles supporting the weight of the tote's contents. Does your bag ever feel like it weighs a ton like mine does?

This bag is ready to load with my netbook and camera and knitting and other necessities when DH and I board the train for the East coast, then a knitting cruise north along the coast to Canada and Nova Scotia! The cruise is with Craft Cruises, something that makes me smile as I think of it now. What is your Fiber news today?

On the deck table: Happy-happy blooms of pink geraniums and Iceland Poppies

Succinctly Yours #24

A school built by a  wood working class is still in use due to budget cuts in education. The practice project has seen students since 1940.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Using the photo as inspiration, write a story of 140 characters or 140 words.

It doesn’t have to be exactly 140, just not more.The added optional challenge is to use the word of the week in the story. Then post it here.

Horsey

"To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at http://athomewithbooks.net/ Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you."

Sculptures in RV Park

Sedona, AZ

Where we stayed

In beauty all around

Both natural and man-made.