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knitting homework

knitting retreat

Last night I was all ready to settle down with the sock I posted yesterday when I remembered that I had homework to do! I’m going on a little knitting retreat this weekend. It’s a local retreat — only 30 minutes away — with beautiful gardens and meditation paths. I’ll have my own room and bathroom. Meals are included. Doesn’t that sound lovely? The best part, though, will be guilt-free knitting! There will even be a few classes, which explains why I had to do homework. I can’t wait!

stash: Yep, you guessed it! My swatch yarn is thrifted from goodwill. It’s part of my acrylic collection for making amigurumi.

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my creative space

my creative space

I would have loved to post this earlier, but I misplaced my camera cord. Yes, it’s been one of those days. I’ve been hustling and bustling to get gifts in the mail. I don’t know why June seems to be a last minute month. I start planning early, I really do. I think part of it is because I really want these gifts to be special, and it takes a lot of searching for that perfect thing to make.

Now that everything is packaged up and at the post office, I am going to work on something just for me: my monkey socks that have been in the UFO pile for almost a year. Yikes!

You can find more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo’s blog.

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the kundhi family takes manhattan

bella and grandpa

I’ve been so busy making gifts this month, that I forgot to post pics from the Kundhi visit. I’m also guilty of being distracted by Bella’s latest milestone. Oh, well. Better late than never, right?

lunch at sonu's house

We drove down to Manhattan, Kansas to visit T’s cousin, Sonu, on a Sunday afternoon. The drive was nice and the weather was perfect. Sonu made us an incredible lunch — mmmm… koftas! I wish she didn’t live so far away. More pics in the gallery.

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new on julie-k: project to do: crochet jar jacket

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project to do: crochet jar jacket

crochet jar jacket

This yarn has been sitting in my stash for over a year waiting for the right project. I have six balls total and got them all for $5 at a garage sale. When they passed the burn test for wool, I was even more excited! I was thinking of making a blanket because they are so close to the color of our walls.

Since then, I have found Lucy over at Attic 24. Every morning I look for her latest post. The colors of her projects and photos are like a little dose of sunshine, which has been nice these past few cloudy days! Now, I’m planning to make some crochet jar jackets. The flowers are starting to bloom and I could use a fast and easy project to brighten my day. After a few of those, I’m planning to make this bag. I like the idea of having a place for my current projects to live that also matches my living room. After all, that’s where I do most of my knitting and crocheting!

I’m almost ready to start working on my to-do projects. I’ve finished the wedding, annivarsary and birthday gifts and should be able to post them on the blog next week. All I’ve got left are a few things for Father’s Day. Next week will be filled with finished photos!

stash: I’m so glad I didn’t walk away from this yarn when I found it. The colors are just perfect. I knew I’d find a project for it eventually.

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hurray for skittles!

hurray!

Hurray for going to the potty! I want to write more about this exciting event, but Mickey’s Clubhouse just ended, so computer time for me is over. Let’s just say we’re all happier around here without diapers.

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new on julie-k: project to do: rugs

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project to do: rugs

We have a sisal rug as a door mat that we bought from Restoration Hardware more than 10 years ago. I love the look of sisal, but it’s a little expensive. I thought it would be easy to reproduce by knitting with sisal. I got a ball of it at the hardware store a few years ago. It’s still sitting in my stash. I’m just not motivated to knit a big rectangle with scratchy twine.

In the meantime, I found a natural colored rag rug at Target a few years ago on clearance for $5. They only had one. We’ve been using it by our garage door and it works fine, but I don’t really like the look of the tassels. I do like that it is softer than the sisal. It feels a little nicer in our kitchen area.

rugs

Then one day at a church sale (have I mentioned how much I love church sales?) I found three more rag rugs that matched ours. The colors are all slightly different, but they are in the same family. I got an idea. What if I cut the tassels off and added fabric trim. I get the look of my favorite rug, but softer and cheaper. (I got all three rugs for $1.)

I’ve washed all of them and I’m just waiting for a little bit of free time to dive into this project. I don’t expect it will take long, but I think there will be some hand sewing involved. I don’t know about putting these under my presser foot, even if they do fit.

refashion: Refashioning isn’t just about making over your clothes. Try refashioning items for your home, too. Sometimes the best way to find the perfect accessory is to make one yourself.

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random thrifty finds

We drove up to NE Lincoln today for one specific garage sale. It was a teacher selling books, puzzles, flashcards, toys, games, crafts, etc. Bella was excited. Since we were driving across town, I checked for other sales in that area in case this one was a bust. I’m glad I did because this one was worse than a bust. It was canceled because of the rain. (You would think that someone web-savvy enough to post a sale on craigslist would at least edit or delete the post if it was canceled!)

Instead, we hit two church sales and a closing daycare sale and had a lot of fun dashing in and out of the rain. I found some craft stuff and Bella found some books and toys, so we both came home happy. Here are some highlights:

stitching supplies

sewing book: $1, knitting needles: 50 cents, spool organizer: 10 cents,
plastic embroidery hoops: 5 for $1

denim and felt

felt: $2, two denim jumpers: $1 each

I didn’t take a picture of the 1 1/2 yards of blue and white felt I also got for that $2. Not sure what I’m going to do with the larger pieces. I’m going to cut up the smaller ones for Bella’s felt board. She needs some spring and summer shapes!

The denim jumpers are huge and look like they’ve never been worn. I originally bought them for tote bag fabric. Now I’m wondering if I should refashion them into something for myself. I love dark denim!

books

books: 25 cents each

Someday Bella will outgrow her love of ripping paper. Until then, I’ll keep buying books at garage sales. I have less angst over torn pages this way.

bella's finds

wooden stool: $1, lightening mcqueen: $1, penguin: free

Last, but not least, if you are going to drag your daughter around in the rain all morning, you should let her pick out a few things — especially if you talked up a really cool teacher sale that was canceled! I thought the blue car was Sally, but Bella corrected me. That girl has a good eye!

update: Check out all of the thrifty finds over at Southern Hospitality!

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bella’s beach

Last weekend T was away at the track. It was kind of rainy and the week had been busy, so Bella and I hung out at home. We read books, played with puzzles and watched some Dr. Suess stories I picked up at the library. The only time we left the house was on Saturday for some ice cream.

By Sunday afternoon, we were both ready to be outside. The sun was finally starting to shine, but everything was still wet. I decided to turn our deck into a beach. We laid out a blanket and I filled a tub with sand. Bella got out her garden tools and asked for her hat. She spent hours shoveling and digging.

bella's beach

We were planning on building a sand table like Sarah’s, but whenever I try and put it up higher, Bella tells me she wants it on the floor. I like that it’s portable and easy to put away. It’s been rainy this week, so having it out on our deck has worked great. (I love my covered deck!) I’m not sure if we’ll make the table or not. In the meantime, she’s having lots of fun.

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new on julie-k: little bits, wardrobe refashion: green cardigan, and more

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new skills: satin stitch and cross stitch

June is a hard month for me to have a craft blog. I’m busy with birthday, Father’s Day, and anniversary gifts. Throw in the occasional June wedding and there’s not a lot of time left for non-secret crafting. Most of this month’s posts will probably be close-up shots. At the end of the month, I’ll do a full reveal!

Project #1 required two new stitches for me: satin stitch on the machine and cross stitch by hand. Both are taking a lot of practice.

My machine’s tension is very sensitive. One millimeter in the wrong direction and I get a tangled mess. Here is the wrong side of my practice fabric. The one on the bottom left was the best I could get.

satin stitch

Here are the finished stitches before pressing. (The iron was off at this point and I was too lazy to turn it back on for a photo.)

satin stitch

Here are my attempts at cross stitch. After my first two tries I went back to what I know best: the running stitch and back stitch.

embroidery

I think the single strand cross stitch initial is my favorite, though. I just need a little bit more practice.

satin stitch