My new Wristlet from Rambling Designs!

First I would like to ask my friend Bridgett to forgive my lack of doing this in a timely fashion. The heatwave and humidity have made thinking such a chore and I have found it hard to do much of anything. That show that we baked at just made it that much worse. So I’m sorry, Bridgett!!!

Rambling Designs does beautiful work. Not only are the projects handmade just for you, but the owner, Bridgett, even spins and plies the yarn herself. When you order from here you truly get a one of a kind item designed for you personally.

You can find Bridgett’s online store at http://ramblingdesigns.storenvy.com . I urge you all to go over and take a look at her items. She also sells patterns for some of her designs. Wahoo! What a woman!

Here is my wristlet. It is a handspun Merino wool in Midnight Blue with gold buttons. I love it! Thanks again, Bridgett!

U is for…

UNABLE to find any “U” knitting stitches. lol.

Unique – No matter how many times I make something over again, it never seems to be exactly the same. There is always some little thing about it that changes the whole look. I like that.

Universal – Every culture seems to have their own method of knitting/crocheting. It’s really amazing when you start looking into it. A simple cast-on and there are so many ways to do it, depending on where you learned it or from whom, and yet…someone sees you knitting/crocheting and even if they don’t speak your language, they know what you are doing and can show you things.

Unbelievable – That’s how I feel whenever I learn something new. I do a project that had a learning curve and when it’s done…I think to myself, ‘that’s unbelievable that it came out!’.

Utilitarian – Warm socks, gloves, sweaters, scarves. Pretty lacy shawls, shirts, vests and jackets. Adorable accessories for around the house and toys that bring a smile to the face of those lucky enough to receive one.

Unafraid – to try new patterns. Sometimes I have to remember I can always take it out if it doesn’t come out right and there is no reason to be afraid to try.

Unbalanced – after you’ve tried and frogged that new pattern 5 times…

Underwear…I’ve seen knitting tushy cushies and well…. ’nuff said.

Unflinching - Knitters are unflinching in the face of those who don’t understand making socks rather than buying Walmart socks and making gloves when you can buy them for $1 just about anywhere.

Unnecessary – more yarn? ok yes, its necessary. There is no such thing as unnecessary yarn.

Unisex – you can make anything for anyone with complete freedom.

Useful – for keeping your mind, and hands, occupied when they need to be; ei…sitting in hospital waiting rooms, during menopause attacks, waiting for kids events to be over, when the cable or electricity is out (must keep a flashlight handy), when its cold out and the woodstove is just to toasty not to sit in front of it.

What “U’s” can you think of?

Tiles, Painting, Cooking and Cleaning

Phew! I know its been a little since I posted just a regular post, but things have been busy and I’ve just been keeping up with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I wanted to catch you all up on happenings here today.

On the knitting front, I’ve been trying to learn how to do socks Toe-Up but have met with problems. I just can’t get them to look right. I’ve knitting at least 6 toes and had to frog them all. I got a couple new books and think I will just go back to double circulars for now. I really need to make some socks. I found soooo much sock yarn while I was going through my yarn. lol. I’m excited about the books. I got Gifted: Lovely Little Things to Knit and Crochet , Mastering Color Knitting , (I thought after my sisters hat I really better. lol) and Knitting Scandinavian Slippers and Socks . I’m totally excited about trying these socks/slippers. Going to give the toe-ups a break for now.

I want to start working on my staircase. It’s a new staircase (put in by the owner before us), but never finished. I’ve been going back and forth on what I want to do and finally made up my mind. Here is a picture of what I had in mind for them. I’ve been trying to explain this to my hubby for a while now, but when I found the picture, I was so excited because now I could SHOW him what I had had in mind. I’m thinking that I might paint the tiles myself. They wouldn’t be that hard and it would add a special touch to them, plus the white tiles would be cheaper and I could work on them as I got time. I love those stairs though and will be looking for some nice rustic planks at the local hardware/lumber yard.

When we first moved into the house, I made my own shutters (the ones that had been on the house had been removed and never put back up. The house looked bad. It had no “face”.) Anyway, I made them out of 100 year old barn planks from the barn next door when it fell down. (obviously I used the good planks   ) I painted them and they looked nice, but I want something with more… pop. I found exactly what I want finally. So this picture is what my shutters will look like hopefully before the end of the fall. I would love the greenery, too, but the sweetie says no to planting anything that would be using the house as its prop. I know it ruins the house, but I love how it looks. lol. I’m going to paint my door as well, but still undecided on the color.

My house is a wreck right now. I’ve been tearing into cabinets, emptying, throwing out, reorganizing and generally trying to spruce(clean) things up. Spring is here and the itch to clean has started. Thanks to the influence (blame) of some of you frugal gurus, I’m redoing a lot of my kitchen and starting to make my own mixes and such again. I used to do that years back, but got away from it. I don’t make that many of them because sometimes it really isn’t cost effective, but I do like some. I had to buy ingredients this shopping trip and that was a little painful. lol. It’ll be worth it in the end though.

In a couple weeks we will be renting a rototiller for the garden. Yes, I know, many of you have started your gardens already. We in the Northeast though, know better. I mean we had two hail storms 3 days ago. We still needed the woodstove on until the day before yesterday. ‘Nuff said. I also have to buy some potting soil for some container gardening.

Well, I have tons of laundry and some cooking to do today, so I can’t spend all day here working on this blog. Thanks for hanging out with me a few mins and have a great day!