September Phatty

Yesterday I received my September Phat Fiber Box. I love getting this box every month. This month the theme was "Myths, Fairytales, Legends, & Lore". There are sooo many pretties in this box. Last night I sat down and spun up all the fiber samples and the yummy yarn samples have been added to my other phatty yarn samples from previous months. I'm saving up all yarns made/received from the Phat Fiber Box to make a larger project. For the sock/sport weight yarns I'm thinking about making some tall wrist / arm warmers. And, for the larger worstedish weight yarns that I have been spinning from fiber samples I'm thinking of a shawl or a very wide scarf. Anywhoo..... Here are the box pics. I'll post pics of the finished yarns today or tomorrow.
The box top and the "flat stuff" - In here there are some gorgeous pearl buttons, and a stitch marker. As well as a postcard and a matchbox note pad.
The fluff was plentiful this month. Just look at all those yummy colors. They all spun up beautifully, but I think my personal favorites are the "Dark Crystal" one (it's purple and in the backish) and the two batts in the middle. One is called "Fairy Farts"!
The yarns are so pretty this month. I think my favorites are the ones in the package (can't really see them here) and the bright blue one.

It's That Time Of Year Again

The preparations for Christmas have already begun. I've been knitting like crazy and planning what I'll be making. I've gotten a few knit projects finished. A few hats, a pair of socks, and about 4 things still on the needles. For now, I'll just post the socks.
I've finished my first pair of gift socks. I'm very happy with how they turned out. I bought the yarn on the Peninsula when visiting my folks. The yarn is "Jarbo Garn" color 1527, Superwash and Nylon, 150m (164 yards). I wanted to make some ankle socks with it. They turned out much bigger than I anticipated, but they are sooo snuggly and soft. I really like this yarn. I was 2 yards short on my last sock and had to dig up some superwash navy yarn to finish.
This pair is a lacy pattern.... I'll post more pics when I have one sock on the blocker. It's my first sock with a lace pattern and so far I am loving making these.

Good Luck At The Goodwill

I've been finding some great things at the thrift stores this summer. Last week was no exception. I found some great yarns. With the coupon I had, all these yarns cost me under $8.00.
These four were handspun in the grease. They are bulky weight and maybe 20 - 30 yards each. I have no idea what I'm going to do with these. Maybe some super chunky balet style slipper socks?
These two are sooo pretty. Silk and acrylic. I will pair these up with one of the fuzzy ones to make small shawl.
The teal Plymouth Encore yarn will be some socks. And, all those gorgeous cottons will become clothing for some of the knit animals that I will be making for Christmas. More on those to come!

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.