In His Grip

Warm Hands

I am one of those people who is always cold.  So when I find something that will not only keep me warm but is fashionable as well, I am all over it.  Sometime ago, I was shopping at my favorite  craft store, Urban Arts & Crafts, when I came upon this great hand warmer pattern.  One of the gals that works there is actually the pattern designer and she encouraged me to try my hand at making these with 9" circular needles.  I have never seen such short circular needles before and wanted to give them a try. 

 
They were kind of awkward to work with at first because they are so short.  But once I got the hang of it they weren't bad at all.  I used Lamb's Pride worested weight yarn in the color strawberry smoothie.  I know, the name of the color sold me too.  I have to tell you I am a self taught knitter and am never sure if my project will really turn out. Following a pattern is a challenge for me, but this one was easy to follow.

 
The hardest part of the whole project is the thumb.  The pattern had you use a lazy loop technique making the loop of the circular needles even smaller.  I was not sure if I would get this but with some patience I finally figured it out.  I love the challenge of knitting and trying new things.  You can purchase the pattern for downloading at Ravelry.com for $1.50.

I am participating in the following link ups: The DIY Showoff, Between Naps on the Porch, Its so Very Cheri, Mad Skills Monday, Skip to my Lou, Keeping it Simple, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Coastal Charm, Today's Creative blog, All Things Heart & Home, Me and My Bucket, Nikkis Nifty Knacks, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, Trendy Treehouse, The Thirfty Home, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Life As Lori, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Its a Hodgepodge Life, Its Fun to Craft, Its a Blog Party, The Shabby Nest, Stuff and Nonsense, Bubbly Nature

Three Word Thursday

Happy birthday, Lindsey!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

HGTV ~ Cash & Cari

I have found a new show on HGTV.  First of all, I love HGTV and get so many great ideas from this network.  I often go away from a show thinking I can do just about any kind of home DIY, until my husband assures me that we will not be tearing down that wall, and expanding the house out into the backyard, ha,ha.  The newest show that is an addition to my DVR programing is call Cash & Cari.  My sister Janet told me about this show and said that she knew is was my kind of program.  Boy, was she right.  The host of the show Cari Cucksey runs an estate auction business where she goes through the contents of the costumers' home and then has a big sale where everything must go.  If you like the show American Pickers, this show is for you. Cari sells the things that the American  Pickers pass up like old beds, chairs, and household goods.

 

 

 

Repurposed Recliner

This had been my project for the last couple of weeks.  There was a time when I thought the recliner would win but I kept at it and I finally conquered the challenge of the crazy recliner.  Early last year a coworker of Jeff's asked if I would want a recliner they no longer had a use for, he must have been aware of my dumpster diving hobby and allowed me the dignity of picking it up from his home rather than picking it up off the curd with the rest of the trash.  Since I have never upholstered a recliner before, my naivety, made me believe this would be no big deal.  Boy, was I mistaken!

 
Here is what the recliner started out as.  The fabric was a very worn polished cotton.  Although, this chair had been used a lot and the fabric thread bare, the structure of the chair was very solid and as it turned out a good brand name as well.  Score one for me!

 
When I begin to take a piece of furniture apart, I always start on the back and take lots of pictures of each step.  This is so helpful as you begin to put the piece back together.  I am always careful not to tear the fabric as I then use these pieces as my pattern, marking them with "top", bottom", "right", and "left".  This sounds like a bit much, but believe me it is more helpful then you know.

 
Recliners come apart, top and bottom.  This makes it easier to work with and I was able to work with each piece separately.  For the most part, I always replace or add additional dacron padding to the arms and sides.  On this chair, I added stuffing to the head and back cushion and dacron warp to the seat cushion, sides, and arms. 

 
Because of my lack of experience with recliners I miscalculated the yardage and realized I was going to be about a yard short.  Score one for the recliner.  As my luck was going with the project at this point, the recliner was winning, the store had sold out of the fabric I had purchased just a couple of days prior. Dang, dang, double dog dang!  New plan, this chair was not going to beat me, so I let my creative side take over and decide to add in a contrasting color to the back and sides.  I would only have to redo the seat cushion and add the contrast to rise so that it would go with the rest of the chair.  I ended up purchasing 2 1/2 yards of the contrasting fabric to make this new plan work. 

 
As it turns out, I like how the contrast looks and makes the recliner unique rather than just any other relciner. 

 
My mistake turned out to be something really good. However, I don't think that I will be tackling any more recliners any time soon.  This one just about did me in.  I did learn a lot, and if I ever do another one in the future, I will take waaaaaay more picture.

 
Now I think I will just pick up my book and cup of coffee and rest before I start my next upholstery project.  This time I am doing a sofa I found on the curb with the trash! Oh, yeah, re-purpose other people's cast offs, that's how I roll. 

I am participating in the following link ups: The DIY Showoff, Between Naps on the Porch, Dittle Dattle, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Making The World Cuter, Sumo Sweet Stuff, Today's Creative Blog, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Blue Cricket Design, All things Heart and Home, Me and My Bucket, Niikki's Nifty Knacks, Sew Woodsy, The Thrifty Home, Trendy Treehouse, Alchemy Fine Living, Miss Mustard Seed

Three Word Thursday

All warm inside . . .

 

Breath of Heaven

One year ago today my Dad took his first breath of heaven.  I imagine it was a long, full, deep, breath like none he had for quite some time as he had interstitial lung disease.  This last year has been full of firsts without Dad there to offer loving encouragement, share is his wisdom, prepare the boats for fishing, and not the least of which was to tell me how beautiful I am ever time I saw him.  Together my Mom, sisters and I, as well as family and friends, have navigated these days and have made it through with the comfort in knowing that this is not all there is.  We too will one day take a breath of heaven and Dad will be there cheering us through those pearly gates.  The memory of that last evening together as Dad prayed and blessed each one of his children and grandchildren knowing that he would soon be taking that first wonderful breath of heaven is one that is sweet and I hold very dear.   Although I know that this will not be my last experience of loosing someone I love so dearly, I do know now that I have a God that is way bigger than death and all the sorrow that comes with it. 

Valentine Sweater Pillows

During the holidays I kept seeing pillows made of sweaters out there in "blog-o-land" and just loved them so I decided to make some for Valentines.  Off to the thrift stores to find some pink and red sweaters just for my project.  One thing I like about our local Salvation Army store is that all of the clothes are arranged by color so it is very easy to find exactly what I was looking for in a short amount of time. I spent $2.99 per sweater and it was also 30% off all women's clothing day.  You've got to love a sale at a thrift store, right?

 
These are the two sweaters I purchased and I had the solid red one left over from my mom's project of making a red dickie for herself.  Dose anyone else even know what dickies are?  We used to have them as kids so we could wear a turtleneck collar under some thing without wearing the whole sweater.  It is just the turtleneck collar with shoulders on it.  Well, needless to say, Mom cannot find them anywhere so she makes her own. 

 

I cut the heart shaped pillow out of the front and the back of the sweater body and then the edge and cording of the pillow out of the solid sleeves.

 
Because the sweater was so soft  and I though the cotton cording would be too stiff, I used a heavy yarn for the cording instead.

 
On the solid red sweater I used fusible webbing and added a bright pink heart and then began sewing white buttons to it and filled in the whole heart.

 
I especially like the way that this one turned out.  The buttons just seem to make it.

 

I am participating in the following link ups: Its So Very Cheri, Mad Skills Monday, The Girl Creative, Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff, Dittle Dattle, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Today's Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, It's so Stinkin Cute, Life as Lori, Simple Sweet Home, Tales from Bloggeritaville, All Things Heart and Home

Three Word Thursday

Covered in snow.......

 

 

Tiered Heart Plate

Valentines day is on its way and when I took down my Christmas things the hearts went up.  Last week when I was at Target, I found these great heart plates.  Because I like to have tiered plates on my counter with treats on it, I thought that it would be great to have one that would represent the Valentine season.  When I purchased these, my friend Ashley was at the checkout counter and asked me if I was going to do something creative with the things I was buying.  I said that she would see my project on my blog soon. So, here it is Ashley, this is what I created with what you sold me.

I found these dowels in my craft supplies and glued two together.  I painted them all pink and then placed the longer one between the large round plate and the the large heart and the shorter between the two heart plates. 

 
My Valentine tiered plate cost me less than $10.  What a bargain for a great addition to my Valentine decor.

I am participating in the following link ups: Its So Very Cheri, Dittle Dattle, The DIY Showoff, Between Naps on the Porch, Skip to My Lou, Keeping It Simple, Today's Creative blog, All Things Heart & Home, To Sew With Love, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Its a Hodgepodge Life

Owl Hat Models

I just could not resist showing the beautiful twins that were the recipients of the first owl hats that I made.  They made their arrival into this world on December 29 around 10:20pm.  Both of the little guys were over 6 pounds and healthy.  It is always amazing to me the perfection of the little hands and feet of a baby but with two babies you've got twice the amazement and excitement.  Congratulations to the Lyman family.

I Will Become In 2011

This is my plan of action for 2011, to become all that God has planned for me. 

I will walk with the dreamers
the believers,
the courageous,
the cheerful,
the planners, the doers,
the successful
people with their
head in the clouds
and their feet on the
ground. Let their spirit
ignite a fire within
me, to leave this
world better than
when I found it.

~Wilford Peterson~

More Baby Gifts

I have spent time during my Christmas holiday making baby gifts.  It seems that every one of my young girl friends were expecting children around the holidays.  Most of these babies have been born and I need to get myself together and get these gifts finished up.  This hat and blanket went to a little girl who from what I hear loves this blanket.  The pink side is a very soft fleece and the pok-a-dots are flannel.  The hat was made with a pattern that I purchased from RAKJ Patterns.  She has some wonderful designs and they can be made in sizes newborn to adult.

 
This set I made for a little guy and his big sister.  He gets to sport the cool owl hat and use the toasty blanket and sister gets the fun flower hat.  I have enjoyed making these gifts and still have a couple yet to go.  RAKJ patterns is now one of my favorite sites for fun hat design.

I am participating in the following links ups:  Between Naps on The Porch, Dittle Dattle, The DIY Showoff, Its so Very Cheri, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Sumo Sweet Stuff, Giggles, Glitz, & Glam, Today's Creative Blog, Ladybug Blessings, Little Eme, Blue Cricket Design, All Things Heart & Home, Nikkis Knifty Knacks, Sew Woodsy, The Thrifty Home, Trendy Treehouse