The Boyfriend Scarf

As you've probably noticed I've been trying out different cabled scarf patterns.  I found this in a book from the library and then found it online.  I was originally going to make this scarf  and even started it, but it wasn't quite doing what the pattern intended.  I think for the yarn I was using it needed to have more than one stitch in between for the ribbing.  You just couldn't see any differentiation. So I found the Boyfriend Scarf instead and it does make me happy.

This scarf, with all the ribbing knitted into it, is rather thick and warm.





Daughter #2 has now put in her order of this scarf in burnt orange.

Details:

• Find the pattern here online. Or it can be found in the book "Chic Knits" by Phuong My Ly, pg. 59.
• I used Red Heart Soft Yarn in Grape, 2 skeins, for this scarf.
• Repeated pattern 8 times plus the rounds of side cables (rows 4-12) before binding off.

This is one cycle of the pattern (rows 1-51)--approx. 9 inches long.

Life Skills---DIY style

Over the weekend we worked on the next step to get our kitchen dining ceiling completed.  Taping and mudding and sanding were on the agenda.

Hubby did most of it as he is more particular about it than I am, which is probably a good thing.  Our youngest daughter wanted a chance and so he taught her how to mud and let her do a portion too.  Shouldn't every 10 yr. old know how to mud?




Tape it all off from the rest of your house before sanding because it will be a huge mess.




Hubby in all his sanding glory.

Our next problem to solve is on the left---painted over avocado green enamel paint = peeled paint and new paint and tile that won't stick unless we prep it differently.  Another yuck job that has to be done.  We'll tackle that one too.  Thanks to The Home Depot paint guys for their heads up on what to do.  I'll tell you about it when we get there.



All mudded and sanded.  This alone makes me happier to look at it.  It is going to be awesome.
Next up some primer and paint--once we get the rest of the kitchen area ready to paint.

Bye-bye popcorn

This past Saturday hubby and I hit it hard and got rid of the popcorn ceiling in our dining room.
What a big ol' pain!

There are always some surprises when you do remodels.  And once again we found out that the builders did not prime the ceiling before putting on the popcorn ceiling.  Before we did our main bathroom remodel we had removed the wallpaper which had been put directly onto unprimed sheetrock.  It just pulled pieces of sheetrock with it. Those brown spots below on the ceiling are beyond the paper of the sheet rock.

Thank goodness for mudding to cover up all that.



You can also see the regular ceiling of the kitchen side (towards the upper right of the pic), and the patch job of the ceiling where we removed the dividing wall some years ago.  It'll be nice to have it all done, albeit for someone else to enjoy more and longer than we will.

Bring on the Ombre

Two of my three daughters are ALL about comfort first when it comes to their clothing.  If it doesn't feel right then forget how cute it is because it won't be happening.

My youngest always wants to "see" the fabric, which actually means she wants to touch and feel it first before she decides if she will wear it.



Recently I made her a fun ombre t-shirt dress for Spring and Summer.  She is getting taller and a good portion of the clothes we held onto from last year for this year will be heading to the giveaway pile because they are too short.

She informed me exactly how she wanted this dress.
White on top
Light blue in the middle
Dark blue on the bottom

Luckily I had all those pieces of knit in my stash.



Used pattern McCall's M6276--which is crazily already out of print.  I swear I just bought this pattern last year. I cut and determined the widths of each section.  You can do this with any good t-shirt pattern and adjust accordingly.

I am in the process of making a color blocked t-shirt dress for me.  Got sidelined a little in that process by house stuff over the weekend.

Friday Finds--Kwik Sew patterns purchase

Haven't posted a Friday Finds in quite some time.  Not that I haven't been scoping out the thrift store, but I just haven't posted about anything that I've come across.

Earlier this week I stopped by my favorite fabric store that is still in the process of going out of business.  I found some orange poly-knit that will match perfectly with a skirt that I made a long while ago, but haven't had anything other than a white tee to wear with it.

I also bought some Kwik Sew patterns for $3.60 apiece.  We all know they never go on sale more than half off so this was a nice deal.

Here's what I bought.

Kwik Sew 3633 Color blocked dress.

























I could've just winged it to make this style, but I bought it in a moment of laziness of the brain.
I will probably make it exactly as is---white, pink, black.  I already have all those colors of knit.

Kwik Sew 3338--good basic t-shirt pattern.  I already have some patterns, but Kwik Sew seems to fit better than some of the other pattern companies I've bought from.

Kwik Sew 3489--good basic knit wrap dress.  Think Diane von Furstenberg style wrap dress.


Kwik Sew 3341--skirted tennis shorts.  I will end up using this as a basis for making skirted swim bottoms for me.


And finally, the craziest purchase I've made in awhile.
Kwik Sew 2881--men's swim bottoms

I've never made men's or boys' swimsuits.  You can buy them for so cheap it isn't worth the effort. However, our oldest son (12 yr. old) swam for the HS swim team this year and had a fabulous time.  They wear the swim jammers (black shorts above) all the time.  Those are not cheap--on sale maybe $25 if you're lucky. And then on Fridays....get ready for this---it's Speedo Friday.  My older 2 daughters just cringe at that thought but my son was so unhappy that he didn't have a Speedo to wear on Friday at practices.

Now we are all ready for next year.  I don't want to make them yet as he is growing like crazy, but he already has some swim fabric picked out from my stash for his Speedos---including a camo print and a gold sparkly piece so he can match the older guys who have their golden Speedos.

I just have to say that teenage boys are so different from teenage girls.
It has been awhile.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Dressing for Spring---10 yr. old style

We aren't quite technically to Spring, but we're having a few Spring-like days here and there.  Last Sunday was one of those with almost 50 degree weather and barely a need for a coat even with the huge piles of snow everywhere.

What to wear, what to wear...

If you're 10 yrs. old this is what you wear.

A fun Spring tiered peasant skirt and short sleeve shirt, with your fuzzy boots.



It's all good.

Skirt pattern--Simplicity 4650 (old Lizzie McGuire pattern)
Shirt pattern--Simplicity 4565
Thrifted sheet.

We're ready for Spring to arrive permanently.

Flared Assymetrical Skirt

This is the second skirt daughter #1 has had out of this pattern.  She outgrew the first one (almost the exact same color) but loved it enough that she asked for another one.



It's a little tricky to lengthen this pattern, but we've done it.




The pattern is out of print, but I did see some on Etsy and ebay.
McCall's 4153
Asymmetrical cut and flared hemline.
No waistband--just a fitted waist and side zipper.

Knit Cable Scarf--version #2

Now I might be getting slightly cable crazy here and not just my daughter.

Maybe it is the stupidcold (all one word) we've been having continually too.  Two days of 40 degree weather thrown in was not enough and made the next round of stupidcold even worse than before.

But really, cables just look so pretty.

And this particular pattern gives you a slight herringbone or chevron look to your scarf.

Quick pic because it was so cold.
If we wait for warmer weather to take pics I may not be able to post until June.

Details:

• Pattern found HERE at Michaels.com
• Red Heart Soft yarn in Tangerine--2 skeins.

Notes:

If you didn't want the scarf as wide as the pattern indicates (approx. 8 inches) I would suggest you adjust the pattern to do the K1, P1 edges only 2 times and not 3.  And/or you could also decrease the K26, P26 down to 22 stitches and then repeat the CB4 and CF4 only 5 times instead of 6.

The house madness begins

Well, we met with our realtor and got down to business with him as what we could do or not do to get the amount of money out of our home that we want.  Talked about projected dates, etc. and now the craziness begins in full force.

First up is our master bathroom (1/4 bath).
We needed to remove the tile, which was PLASTIC by the way.  The kids got into it.  And in fact there might have been a little fighting over who got to do the demo.  Please, there are plenty of tiles for each of you to get rid of.





This daughter wanted us to take out the toilet and sink asap so she could take care of the rest.  O.K. not quite ready for that, but hopefully this next weekend we can have everything in order of what we plan for this space and knock it out.


This view is to determine what space is available for a built in vanity into the wall.  We did that in our main bath and it is so awesome to not have this cupboard or shelving sticking out.  Not sure what we'll do as the space available is only about 14 by 19 because of studs and plumbing, but we'll see.

The next couple weeks will probably be mainly posts about house stuff.  I do have other projects I have done or am working on, but really this should take top priority for the next while.  Hope I can stay focused.  I'd really rather be sewing.