Checking in!

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So, my husband just won the “best birthday present ever” award. Once I got it out and set up, my first thought was, “I should blog this.” REALLY. I have been so bad at blogging, it isn’t even funny. I still knit and crochet and make stuff, but I don’t reach for my camera like I used to. I don’t know if I’ve fallen out of love with blogging or photography or both. I want to get back into regularly sharing, though. I wrote 7 posts for the Craftsy blog, last month! 7! I will make a massive Craftsy link-up in a bit. Today, I just want to sigh and ooooogle at this baby.

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WHAT A BEAST!! I am in love. I sew a few times a year on a second-hand machine my aunt gave me 7 years ago. I’ve made a few sock monkeys and bibs and blankets, but I never got to experience opening my own brand new machine. The one my aunt gave me just up and broke in the middle of a project (I troubleshooted and tried to fix it myself, but I think it needs a pro to look at it), so my husband told me not to worry about it and a week later, this was sitting on my door step. Kind of funny that it was sent with just a shipping label on the box, so there was no way it could be a true surprise for my birthday. ha! My mom gave me the desk it’s sitting on. A totally crafty birthday! I’m hitting up the fabric store, this evening, for some bits to make a quilt.

I hope a lot of you have stuck around to hear my crafty adventures. I love sharing and hopefully you can keep me accountable and I won’t end up with a half-made quilt that sits on my desk for a year.

Knitting: big blue pouf

blue and gray

My first project of 2014 is complete! I started it on December 30 and finished it up on the 6th.

Pattern: Pouf pattern from DROPS design with modifications, listed below
Yarn: 5 skeins of Loops & Threads Charisma in electric blue and 2 skeins of Lion Brand’s Homespun in lagoon; 2 strands of Charisma and 1 strand of Homespun held together
Needle: 9 mm (US 13)
Modifications: I used different yarn and needle size, so I adjusted the pattern a bit to accommodate. I CO 38 stitches and my short rows were worked to 6 stitches before the end, then 12. I knit in seed stitch instead of garter until it was about 50″ along the center.

I stuffed it with a standard pillow wrapped in a twin size duvet wrapped in a flat queen size sheet. It turned out the perfect height for use as an ottoman/foot stool in front of our new couch! Oh, I forgot to mention: we bought a new couch! Finally. After living in this house for 3.5 years and only having a love seat + 2 chairs, we now have a couch. I feel so grown up.

knitting: big blue pouf

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cozy times ahead

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knitted pouf

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It’s also a pretty great seat for my boys to do their homework at the coffee table.

What’s your first project of the year? Oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m only a week and a half late. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. The kids are finally back in school and so I have a little more time to knit.
Tell me: what’s on your needles/hooks?

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Saving an old lawn chair

I bought two lawn chairs last year when Target had them on clearance. Oh, I KNOW you know the magnetic pull that is a 50-70% off sale at Target. They were white aluminum with yellow (plastic) woven webbing and under $10 each. A series of events (rain, summer sun, etc) mixed with a bit of neglect left them in shambles. Like, a guest at my kids’ birthday party fell through one! Don’t worry, they weren’t seriously hurt. Unless you count their pride because…kids. They like to giggle when adult bums go through chairs.

I knew something had to be done. I didn’t want to just throw them away, you know? Plus, my kid secretly asked his grandpa to get him a trampoline for his birthday and HE DID (!!!), so I now needed something comfortable to sit on while I watched my kid jump. My remaining lawn chair quickly started looking threadbare and once one of the webbing strips snapped, I put it away until I could figure out what to do. Buy new webbing and re-weave them? Crochet a hammock-like seat and pray I’m not too heavy for it? No. No, thank you.

Instead, I Googled “DIY lawn chair” and one link led to another until I found myself HERE. Macrame lawn chairs! Brilliant!

Over the next few days, I watched the video several times, made a trip to Hobby Lobby, and got to work. It was more like weaving, in my opinion, but I think the knots you make at the end of each row with the hooks make it macrame. I didn’t have a book, so I just did a really simple weave pattern.

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I used two 100yd balls of 6mm Bonnie Macramé Craft Cord (Amazon link. I used ‘pearl’ & ‘teal’) and my biggest crochet hooks. I had a 15.75mm (US – Q) and a 19mm (US – S) hook. I would suggest two 19mm hooks!

Another thing I would suggest is gloves! My hands were SO sore while working on this. I don’t know if I HAD to pull the cord as tight as I did, but I felt like I should, so that the seat wouldn’t sag under an adult’s weight. You never know who is going to sit in your chairs and if I learned anything from that birthday party incidence it’s that a busted chair is the worst thing a hostess can provide for her guest(s).

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If I would have used just one color, the lovely herringbone pattern would be more apparent. I do like the diagonal stripes, though. The pattern was pretty basic: the contrasting color (beige) went OVER 3 groups – or 6 strands – of the first color (blue), then UNDER 3 groups of the first color. On the next row, you repeat the same pattern, but you shift it over once. After the first few passes across, it’s a really simple process. If it hadn’t been so hard on my hands, the other chair would be done already.

I’m in love. If you have any questions, let me know! Check out the video on the page I linked above. I referenced the video A LOT until I got my rhythm going. Imagine me pausing with my hook in one hand and my head cocked to the side with a “huh?!” face several times. It was a really interesting project as it was something completely new to me!

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See the tattered lawn chair on the other side of the trampoline? Yeah…

Would you save your torn up lawn chair? How so? Ever tried to macrame one?

my view

That’s my view. And yes, my kid is mid-Gangnam style in the background.

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Touch of Spring

54.365: potted

Who’s ready for Spring?! As much as I love winter and not sweating my bum off all day everyday, I cannot wait for flowers and plants and COLOR everywhere. I bought some new baby succulents a little while ago, when my husband was out of town. I also acquired 3 fruit trees for our backyard! They’re babies and probably won’t bear fruit for a while, but I’m excited at the prospect. AND for the shade. Summers are rough around here.

kalanchoe

49.365: new succulents

51.365: kalanchoe love

50.365: little lemon tree

black prince echeverias

52.365: overflowing princes

Remember my little Black Prince echeverias?? They’re so big now! They’ve outgrown their little planter (DIY here) and need a new one. Maybe I’ll work on that, this week.

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Last Day of Winter Break

07.365: at play

January 7, 2013. My kids’ 3-week vacation ends. We spent a chilly hour at the park.

I took photos with my Nikon 1 (affixed with the 18.5mm f/1.8 lens). I am in love with this little camera. I still adore my D7000, but this baby is just so handy! I also don’t feel like such a weirdo when I bring it out. The giant DSLR makes me feel like I’m screaming, “LOOK AT ME! I have a camera! I take photos! Ask me to take your photo!” when I bring it out. I need to work on my confidence.

Anyway. I love this camera and it helps me capture special moments with my boys. I didn’t even notice I was taking photos of each of them doing the same thing (sorta) while we were there.

They did some:

climbing
climbing,

crossing
crossing,

balancing
balancing, and of course–

sliding
sliding! Fast slides are the best.

It was pretty great. They’re back at school and, I gotta say, I miss these faces.

hanging out

seven years and seven months