I Hit The Button Load!

It's been really busy the past few weeks. We've been painting, cleaning, and destashing all over the house. We had a big garage sale this last weekend. It always feels so good when were done unloading extra stuff. Monday I did manage to bring home more stuff though. I stopped at Value Village to see if they had any hardcase suitcases. The vintage kind maybe in a happy color like blue, yellow or green. Anyway... no suitcases but they did have a ton of crafting supplies. Usually I don't find much there but I sure did hit the mother load. Here's what I found:
A doll clothing fabric panel. This is soooo awesome! I've been wanting one of these for a long time but haven't found one until now. It's got two outfits for 18" dolls. One is a jumper and the other is a red dress. The girls will each get one outfit for christmas. I also found 2 more sweaters to recycle.
These I just couldn't resist. 3 balls of Katia Magic arcylic and wool yarn. It'll self stripe and it's perfect for Rachel's bavaclava that I'm going to make her. In the button load I found some some buttons that matched perfect!
I hit the button load! I found 4 bags of buttons. They obviously came from the same donator because I found buttons in differnent bags that go together. These aren't just plain ol buttons either. About 90% of them are fun, big, colorful, and decorative buttons. I love love love them all! And, best of all... There are at least 2-6 of every button! I love buttons.....Last but certainly not least. I found some wool roving! I never in a million years thought I would find roving at the thrift store. I have no idea what kinda wool it is. It's pretty scratchy and a funky color. I'm going to spin it up this weekend and see what happens!
I've also been busy spinning and recycling yarn. The pic at the top of the page shows my most recent yarns. Today I've got to finish my Phat Fiber samples for September. I can't wait to get my hands on my drum carder. It's been sitting unloved for far to long.

Heywood-Wakefield China Hutch!

I've been looking for a china hutch/buffet ever since we moved into this house. I've seen many china hutch's at garage sales, thrift stores, and antique malls. But, non of them appealed to either our taste or our pocketbooks. We were looking for something unique, with simple details with a slight art deco / retro feel to it. But not at all scrolly or gawdy.

Quite unexpectedly while shopping at the local Goodwill I saw this one! We were walking do the checkout line when I saw it and I knew that second that it had to be mine. Fortunately my hubby loves it just as much as I do. So, we paid for it, drove home to get the truck, went back to pick it up and put it in the middle of the living room to be cleaned.
It cleaned up beautifully. I'm soooo loving this beautiful piece of furniture. I would love to know more about it. It says : "Heywood Wakefield" inside the drawer and the back is stamped " May 16, 1961" model M2961(on the buffet) and M2962 (on the hutch). I've looked it up but I can only seem to find information about their furniture for the early 40's or so. There is a book on their furniture that I intend to track down at our local library. It's not a piece of furniture that I ever intend on letting go of.

100 Degrees And Counting!

The title and this photo really says it all. For the Washingtonian that I am this weather is just stifling. It's been in the 90's for over a week and today the thermometer reached 104! It's hard to think about cleaning, sewing, knitting, spinning, or playing with the kids in this kind of weather. But, I have managed to get a few things done in the one cool room of the house. I dyed up some rovings (no pic of those yet) and I finished two commissions. Monday all I did was sew pants...3 pairs to be exact. And, today I made a pair of shorts, a denim skirt, and a Lara Croft gun holster. Pictured below is the Lara Croft gun holster and shorts....please note that these were made for a larger doll.
I did do a little spinning last night while watching a movie with Ray. Tonight I think I'll ply it up. Isn't this roving just ugggo! It was a dye pot boo-boo. I decided to spin it up anyways, as it weighs only 1.5 oz. I was sooo surprised with how it spun up. It's actually looking kinda pretty. And, my hubby told me that it was the nicest dye job that I've done yet..... Go figure!
The girls have been busy in this nice weather. They have been playing outside with friends and we've gone swimming. We also made some play dough and today they made log cabins out of popsicle sticks.

A Very Peacefull Weekend

This last weekend we took a trip to my parents house on the peninsula. It was a much needed vacation after a week of family drama and a whole lot of stress. We have never been down there for the 4th and I must say.... it's where you'll find us the 4th from now on! It was everything the 4th should be. Lots of relaxation, sun, sand, and enough fireworks all up and down the beach to rival any show I've ever seen.

Mom and I chillin by the bonfire. My hubby set up a log in front of our chairs so we could put our feet up.
lThe most beautiful girls ever. Ok... I'm biast (did I spell that right?) But just look at those curls glowing in the sunset and that adorable hat and the loving sisterly digging.... it just can't get better than that.
Busy hands make for a faster drive home. I'm so glad that knitting doesn't make me care sick.

Big Paper Hat & Mrs. Weasley

I was knitting away on my "Mrs. Weasley Wrap" when the doorbell rang this afternoon. I answered the door to find this huge box on my front doorstep. I had no clue what it could be... The box said "The Village Hat Shop" on it and it came from California. I just kinda stared at it for a while. I thought maybe it was something from my husband, or maybe it was fiber that I had forgotten that I ordered and it was just in a hat box. I finally decided to just rip it open and what I saw made my jaw drop. It was a large brimmed paper hat! I've been wanting one forever now. I saw a receipt in the bottom of the box. It was from my mom. I have to admit a few tears fell before I could call her and thank her for the unexpected and thought full gift. I can't wait to wear it this summer. It'll be a staple while I'm gardening or just lounging at the beach. Mrs. Weasley? Well, I finished 3 skeins of scrappy yarn from that scrap swap I was a part of. I decided to make a wrap with it. I can't seam to put it down. I don't know if it's the simplicity of the pattern, or the awesome color changes. But, I love it and I am determined to get it done by the end of the weekend. I'm calling it "Mrs. Weasley Wrap" because it just reminds me of something that she would wear. I wish I could wear more things like she does, but I'm not sure I could get away with it!

June Phat Fiber Sampler Box

My box finally arrived today. I thought it would arrive on Friday, then Saturday, and by Sunday I just had to wait until Monday. I was sooo happy to see the box today. My camera batteries died before I got even one picture. I didn't want to wait to open it, so I opened my box and dug through it and then took these pictures “staged” later. I know... I'm bad. I just couldn't wait!

This month's box is insane! I thought for sure that I would have a few things to trade out, but no. I love absolutely everything. The colors, fibers, and misc items all made me smile like a fool. I'm still smiling like a fool. I still haven't spun up the samples from last month and I'm glad that I didn't. Because the stuff from this month added to the stuff from last month will make some awesome yarn. I just have to pair it all up and make some baby skeins. And, some of the yarn samples will go great with last months as well which will allow me to do some bigger projects. Anyways... here is what all came.

1 - sticktoyouknittin.etsy.com – Herbal Moth Repellent – Smells awesome!
2 - Comicknits.com – Secret Identity Mask in Knit or Crochet Pattern
3 - fickleknitter.com – Briny Sea Cowl Knit Pattern – I'm so glad I got this pattern.
4 - heartstone.etsy.com – Button Adoration Ceramic Button – drool.....
5 - winemakerssister.etsy.com – Adorable Koi stitch marker – so stinkin cute
6 - rebeccamhill.etsy.com – Blue stitch marker
7 - Misc. business cards and discount coupons
8 - Pirate map and little message in bottle
9 - coolclimates.etsy.com - “Misty Lagoon” handspun with beads!

10 - Galesart.etsy.com - “Deep Blue Sea” Sock yarn – lovelovelove
11 - northernlights.etsy.com - “Siren Call” Fingering wt. SW Merino/Seacell – gorgeous!
12 - Myfairyarn.artfire.com - “Champange Pearls” Fingering wt. 3Ply Handspun merino/tencel so pretty!
13 - My8kidsmom.etsy.com - “Sandy Beach” SW Wool & Nylon yarn – huge sample, I love these colors.
14 - kataish.etsy.com - “Great Barrier Reef” Merino lace yarn- so insanely soft.
15 - Serendipitousewe.com – Lucky Sock “Iceberg” yarn.
16 - Ambrosiaandbliss.etsy.com - “Clearwater” Handspun single merino/tencel – I have to say...this is my favorite yarn in the box. I can't stop looking at it.
17 - Bananamigraine.etsy.com – Fiber Batt
18 - wonderswaterfowl.com – Dyed Mohair
19 -holidayyarns.com – “Woodland Forest” Hand dyed wool roving
20 - farmgirlchic.etsy.com - “Sea Breeze” wool and mohair roving
21 - teresalevitestudio.etsy.com - “Mermaid Beach” 100% Baby Alpaca – yummy!
22 - Maudeandme.etsy.com - “Lost at Sea” 100% New Zealand Merino – so pretty and soft!
23 - Fiberfancy.etsy.com - “Mermaid's Home” Hand Dyed Merino – love this one
24 - Tactilefiberarts.com – 4 samples of their natural dyed rovings... this one is my favorite fluff of this month. I may have to buy some of this stuff. It's awesome.

I also received a dozen or so of these post cards with the Phat Fiber Sampler info on the back. I'm sure these are handed out like flyers and such. At first I didn't realize why she had sent me so many.... until I took a closer look at the photo. My handspun is in there! Very cool.

Comin' Down From The Buzz.....

We had a very very full house most of the weekend. By 11:00am today the verberating (I think that's a word lol ) noise of the house finally bottomed out. The constant buzz in my head from jugging extra kids, an extra (and very rambunctious) dog, and everything else has started to go away. Moms out there.... you know what I mean!

I finally got a chance to look through a box that arrived for me yesterday. I was soooo hoping that it was my Phat Fiber box. But, instead it was my Sheep Shed Studios order! I'm glad to have more fiber in the house to dye up and a full pound of misc. dyed wools to throw through my drum carder. I've made up 6 batts so far. No pics yet, maybe tomorrow. But, they are yummy!

Fathers.... Yeah, it's father's day. With my dad so far away and the extra commotion it kinda got passed by. The girls made darling cards and I made one of my hubbies favorite dinners. It's been a somewhat quite day actually once the house calmed down. He's been fixing his truck, the girls actually played nicely together and I got to use my drum carder.