Ice Ice Baby

This is what it looks like out my front window. That is a sheet of ice people. I am sooooo tired of using my vacation time at work for this crappy weather. At this rate, I won't have any left when the weather gets nice. This is also one view of my "new" sewing/craft room. I, surprisingly was able to convince my hubby that it was a much better use of space. You see, my other space was upstairs and measured about 7'x9'. Very small and not user friendly, not to mention I just didn't go up there. Instead my stuff was usually spread around the dining room so that I could do laundry and other chores in between sewing etc. We also use a corn stove to heat the house, and with the cold weather we have been having, we hung a blanket at the bottom of the stairs and in the family room doorway to help heat up the main living space. We haven't really used the living room and the family room since TV went digital. We all watch programs together in one room so the family room was just sitting there not being used. I still can't believe he let me have the room. It took a lot of talking and convincing him that we could move the computer and weights out of Hathead's room so he had more space also. That is what convinced him. This has lead to multiple trips up and down the stairs to get everything moved. The boys had to be bribed with pizza to get this all done. Whatever it takes, right?! It took us two days, but things are finally organized and I am so excited to start on my many sewing projects. Oh, and I said I could make some money with my projects and that helped win him over too. Now I have to get busy. Here are some more pics of my space.

There is a large closet that holds off season clothes and jackets/blazers. There are shelves to the left and right of the hanging clothes as well as two full length shelves above the rod. I have a small bookcase beside the desk that holds my patterns and 2 larger shelves to hold books, accessories, sewing baskets and some of my fabric stash. The rest is in the closet as well as my yarn stash. In the middle of the room is a drop leaf table for cutting and work space. I can't describe the excitement I feel at having this space to use. I am so thankful to the men in my house for letting me have this room. I promise to use it and try to keep in in some semblance of order. I have multiple things cut out already waiting to be sewn. I can't wait to expand my wardrobe and do more refashioning. I am so lucky!

Jack Frost

I really hate driving in the fog, but it also produces beautiful frost clinging to everything. That includes the long winter hair on the horses.




This pictures doesn't look as cool as it really looked. The tail was the best part, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. They all kept thinking I had a treat for them so they just followed me around. You'll just have to take my word for it.


Now on to yarn news. I made to hats when we went through our deep freeze weather. One was knit and one was crocheted. I am enjoying crocheting again. I think it is faster.

Knit

Crochet

I am pretty sure these are both on ravelry. They were both quick projects. The knit cap was to be a gift to someone, but it came out too big. She has a child size head I think so I have to make her another one. I will keep it to gift to someone else in the future. The cloche is for me and I love it. It is also slightly large for me, but I still wear it. The boys laugh at me and tell me I look like an old lady, but as you can see I was able to get them to model the hats for me (after a lot of pleading). These were both made from some inexpensive acrylic yarn, but the cloche is made using I Love This Yarn and it is quite soft and works well. Next post I will show you a sweater I crocheted and completed in a weeks time. I hope to wear it soon and then I will get a picture. I have a dress that I shortened today that I think will look just right with it. I'm trying to decide if I can get away with wearing it to work tomorrow. I work in the medical field and it isn't typical for people in my line of work to wear anything other than scrubs. When I do, they think I am one of the providers (that's what we call the doctors). I wish I made that much money, but I really wouldn't like all that responsibility. I'll stick with being ancillary help. We'll see if I am brave enough because I like to wear dresses. With the much hated weight that I've gained, they are just more comfortable. I'll let you know what happens.

Cold start to a New Year

More snow and bitter cold temperatures, thanks to a north wind blowing down on us today. The snow is one thing, but the cold is just brutal. It does make for nice fiber time. Right now I am in a crocheting mode. I have been feverishly working on this sweater using some recycled cotton yarn from an x-large mens sweater I got at a thrift store. It has 4 or 5 strands twisted together that are in various shades of grey. It took a little time to dismantle the sweater, but I think it will be worth it when the sweater is done. I am probably going to add some length to the body and do the sleeves in HDC with only a few rows of the shell stitch on the end of a 3/4 length sleeve. I would really like to have it done to wear this weekend. We shall see if I can accomplish that. I hope to make it to work tomorrow and with the lovely weather we're having I think it will be a long 12 hours so maybe I can get it completed.

Happy New Year!

It is still 45 min. to midnight here but I figured I wish everyone a Happy one now. After this post I am off to bed. No exciting party for me. I just realized I have had this blog for over a year now. I posted pretty regular at the beginning and then slacked off quite a bit once the weather got nice. I hope to be better this year. I am getting better about taking pictures and knowing how to download them and get them to where I want without having to ask the boys every time. I just finished knitting a hat for the eldest's girlfriend and hope to get a picture soon. I also crocheted myself a cloche during our stormy Christmas and will post that as well-- before the weekend is over. I find that crochet is still quite a bit faster for me so am on the hunt for some cardigan patterns in crochet. We shall see. I have at least 3 knitting projects on the needles now with a good many in the much wanted cue using some Christmas stash enhancement.. I also have at least 1/2 doz. sewing projects cut out and waiting to be sewn. Now I want to add crochet and I haven't spun since last winter I think. Everyday life just gets in the way of creating. I will leave you with a couple pictures from our Christmas snowfall.

Ready for Christmas?

I don't think I am ready for Christmas. I feel like I have run out of steam and of course I wait too long to start some of my gifts. I freezer paper stenciled some t-shirts for my nephews, but I don't seem to be able to find the pictures on my computer. That's what I get for having the b oys download them for me, you never know where they're at. I also crocheted what I called monster balls for the younger nephews. They were a hit. Just round, soft balls with legs and a face, but the boys loved them. I will post pictures when they are located. I am working on a couple of baby sweaters and I am in the mood to try and crochet some socks. I am so much faster with crochet so maybe I can get a pair completed.

Sorry for the disappearing act

I have done alot of refashioning lately. I hope to show you a few here. I have made some more underwear and have 5 more pair cut out ready to sew. I used a thrifted sheet to make scrub pants for work. You should have heard them at work when I turned in the $4 receipt for reimbursement. They wished everyone was so thrifty. I also purchased a fun cowboy/western themed sheet that is cut out and ready to sew a scrub top. I hope to get that one done today so I can wear it tomorrow. This top I made from fabric I got at the second hand store. I have gotten a lot of comments on it. I have been keeping up with reading wardrobe refashion site and have gotten a few ideas for sweaters now that it has been colder outside. I'll take pictures as soon as I can. I'll post some pictures for you of my flowers when it was still warm out. I hope to make posting on here more of a regular thing this fall. Enjoy!

Summer is flying by

I can't believe it is the middle of July already. I need to add at least one more month to the summer before the kids go back to school. I just looked at the school calendar last week and the boys go back to school on Aug. 21st. It makes me slightly upset. That is during the week of a local county fair. Not the county we live in but the county my boys are in for 4-H. That means they will not be able to participate in some of the things they would normally do. Is there a reason we need to start that early in the year? I think not. My husband feels a little differently, but I will be letting the school board know how I feel. This also makes me feel like the rest of the summer will be rushed. Not very relaxing.

Onto some recent fashions. I knit this cute little sweater for a coworker who was expecting her first child. Obviously she knew she was having a girl. I also knew she would appreciate a handmade garment and she loved it. It is small toddler size so I will have to wait a while before I get to see her in it, but I know I liked receiving gifts that I could save for later. I know I should link the website where I got the pattern, but I am too lazy to go search out the pattern. It was a free pattern and if you really want it jut leave me a comment and I will find it for you. I was very happy how it turned out. It was fun to knit something small and girly. I don't get to do that much.

Next post I will show you some of the new additions to our animal family. Enjoy your summer!