Happy Hour

I just made sangria!



I used white wine, rum, oranges, plums and a splash of pineapple juice. And yes, that is a sugared rim, which is probably not traditional, but I wanted it!

Friends RULE!

Meet my friend Cal Patch of Hodge Podge Farm!
She makes GREAT things, crochet style!
She sells at Treehouse like me and teaches many classes! She's a smart one! Check out her blog!

Something small

Organized charms

I love Bourne

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THE CHALLENGE
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I think I would make an ice pack cover for my dear little Bourney! See, he does all this fighting and probably gets a little sore sometimes. Slip the ice pack in a sleeve, so he doesn't get ice burn on that pretty face. Then I might also embroider a secret code into his underwear, so he never forgets his, or my, name.

Cleaning Lady

I sometimes wake up early on Saturday mornings to go do laundry, because it's less crowded. Today I woke up at 7:30! Which is before they even open, so I sat and made jewelry for a while, which was nice. I just got these two new cleaning supplies from Mrs. Meyer*s Clean Day in the geranium scent.On the left is an everyday shower spritzer and on the right, Laundry detergent.


Oh my gosh! My clothes smell so amazing! I couldn't stop smelling them as I folded. It's such a lady scent... I can't wait to go take a shower and wrap myself in a clean, geranium scented towel! (Can you tell I practically live for the shower??)

And now, because I said I would do it for every post not already having to do with "Inspired" ...


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THE CHALLENGE
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The first thing I though of was a small, mesh bag with a drawstring. You could put your delicates it it to keep them from getting damaged or tangled. Or, I would put my favorite pairs of socks in there so I would be less likely to loose one. (I'm convinced it's the dryers, not human error!) I would crochet the bag out of cotton.

Another thing that would be fun would be to crochet some flowers out of wool and toss them in with the laundry. They would felt and then after every laundry day you would have a whole new garden!

Outfits

My friend Anne, who just posted her first comment yesterday, has the cutest way of saying things. Whenever we're planning to get together she'll say, "ok, I just to have to put on an outfit..." so, in honor of you Anne, a new blog label: Outfits

Just your average wrap skirt




This was probably one of the most comfortable outfits I've ever worn, especially in 100 degree heat! Perhaps it worked because I was in an exceptionally good mood today... but sometimes a good outfit will do that to ya. I like the one layer tank with bra included (what a brilliant invention) and one layer of skirt. Because I tied the skirt just below my bust, it flared out nicely giving my mid section room to breathe. For some reason, in the heat especially, I get super annoyed by waist constrictions and I really don't like my mid section to show!! Tying the skirt this high also left more of my leg exposed, which sometimes has it's faults, but today felt so much cooler. It's amazing to me that I can feel ten degrees cooler just by wearing a tank top vs. a tee shirt. Having certain key areas uncovered, like the underarms, really makes a difference.

Sunset & Lingerie

In the afternoon, the sun sends a golden ray across my little frame collection

This image was one of my favorites from a bunch picked up at a flea market in Maine. It's a little bit odd since no one, not even the dog in the lower right hand corner, is looking at the camera, yet so intriguing. I think it's sexy how the moms stockings are rolled down and I like seeing the flowered wall paper a glow with a mysterious light source. I of course also love that the chairs arms and back have covers. I'm guessing there was some lovely needle work shown off there. Did you know that those chair back covers were created to protect furniture from dudes hair grease? I heard that waaaaaaay back in early America (I'm trying to confirm this theory...) women started making covers for the backs of chairs to protect them from the mens dark hair grease. I'm thinking it's because the hair slicking material left a dark stain and not because the men had dirty hair... although according to todays standards they probably bathed a lot less. I think the arm covers came about as to make a "matching set" which could be explained as all the rage, but really was added so as not to alert the men to the problem.... Ha! I just made that last part up, although I believe the matching set part. It looks better to have three vs. one.

Well this lady and her stockings got me thinking... I want to make some lingerie. Especially some thigh high stockings for a garter belt and maybe even a garter belt itself. It's a challenge to create items that are truly wearable, but I'm up for it!!

Here's a page out of my lovely Jill Bliss Journal


The other day I got this book:

Which pretty much spells out exactly how to make lingerie items like an underwire bra, garter belt, camisoles and stockings! Yeah!!! I don't have to reinvent the wheel to figure it out myself. Maybe one of these days I'll get to take some time to sit and make something for me! First on my list...

What I made today: Mini Grannies

I've been making these little ladies on my way to work in the morning. They are quite small, made from the woolen thread my mom got for me at a yard sale. I think I might put them on necklaces.

Something from Nothing Challenge!

I had this idea a while back to justify posts that had little to do with "Inspired Knitting." Here it is: at the end of every post that is more a story of life, I come up with a project inspired by the situation. I'll draw pictures, discuss yarns, etc. and prove my belief that you can really be inspire by ANYTHING!!!

I think my first attempt is a pretty good topic. I picked it to go with my my previous post about my bathroom. Read it first, Ok?

My First CHALLENGE!



In my cleaning frenzy, I removed a grubby toilet seat cover. I'm not really sure how it got there because I'm not a huge fan of toilet seat covers in the first place and doubt I bought it. Anyway, I deal with it and have come to realize that despite being a kind of hideous bathroom accessory (not to mention dirty) it has one function that I appreciate: quieting the crash of the toilet seat cover as it is dropped shut.

My challenge was to design a toilet seat cover that I could make myself and like the looks of. First a general construction note:


Some ideas I like but thought others might like too.



I personally would pretty much stick to cotton. It's easy to clean, durable and would dry quickly. Other options were thin strips of ripped up towel, cashmere for a luxury tooshie and maybe a chenille. What I dislike about store bought toilet covers is that they are non natural fiber carpet, so any homemade version would be better to me! I even thought it would be cute to take the idea of a rag rug... braided strips of fabric sewn into a circle... and use that as a cover. Cute, right?


But my final decision is this


A plain cotton top with a lace frill that hangs over the edge. So pretty I think I might actually make it!

Ghetto Living

Ok guys. I know you already think I'm weird and stuff, but right now I'm super excited to go clean my bathroom! And then take a long shower, if I want, and not worry if the tub is going to overflow!

See, my tub has hag a clog forever! Me being all miss handy lady, I have tried to fix it a number of times and ways. This includes many a drain de-clogging substance, one of those powerful pressure cans and an auger (aka 'snake') which failed. I have a hard time calling the super unless absolutely necessary, but I finally did. Together we snaked out some of the most god awful clog and it still didn't work! Oh man, you should have seen that water! The previously murky white-with-soap-scum water turned absolutely black and Walter turns to me a says "Can we finish tomorrow?"

Tomorrow! Are you kidding me? I haven't had a good shower in weeks and everybody know s how I love my showers!! I've had to go super fast and time them out according to my roommate to make sure the tub wasn't too full and gross. Besides, what about all this black water??? And it's 100 degrees outside! We need to shower people!!- of course I didn't say all that. I said, sure and wasn't suprised when he called to postpone another today. And no, I didn't shower in the black water. I scooped it all out into the toilet, scrubbed like crazy and continued to bail out the tub after each shower until he came back this morning with a power snake!

Man did he get that sucker! He also fixed the knob that had been leaking for nearly a year... so now, I have a practically perfect bathroom and all I have to do is scrub it down!!

Now if Louis could only catch that mouse I hear squeaking..