Yarn Along -16 April 2014

 

Lots to share for Yarn Along, though not all is knitting but it’s knitting related.

My stripey socks all done.

Grey ones are done now too.

Ella had a long weekend at Grandma’s so I was able to sort and organize (and dust) my knitting corner.  I always forget to take ‘before’ pictures.  But I can assure you this corner looks so much better, especially with all my sock projects tucked away in my basket.

Made myself stop working on socks and the afghan.  Grandma’s going to be wanting her sweater coat soon.

I think half the fun of having multiple knitting projects on the go at one time is that you need to have multiple knitting accessories.

So I made myself some cases for all my knitting paraphernalia.  The style is based on the 18th century hussif.  And of course there is no reason it can’t be pretty AND functional.

A spot for everything.  All I need to add is a short pencil.

I also made some needle cases.   I need to get some more knitting pins and a few more darning needles.  The red case includes scissors because it’s for my purse knitting.  I love embroidery and sewing so these were a lot of fun to create.

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Yarn Along -3 April 2013

One last sewing project to share for Yarn Along:

This is a Hussif for my knitting supplies.  It’s a little bigger than anticipated, I couldn’t get the computer to shrink the matryoshka pattern and I didn’t want to drive an hour (there and back again) to use a photocopier.

And here’s the inside.  Everything you need for knitting, there is also a pocket (for a notepad) on the back side of the scissor flap.

At first glance my shawl is coming along nicely.  But if you look closely there is something very, very wrong!!  I’ve been decreasing along on the centre section and then last night I counted my stitches to see how many more rows.  There are more stitches on one side than the other!!!  Yikes!  I have no idea what happened.  I have a feeling I’m going to have to rip back the entire centre section (and hopefully only that far).  Not happy  😦

I’m ready to start a cool new book.  It’s called Whiskey and Wickedness and it’s about Renfrew County in the early days.

I got Ella’s fingerless gloves finished and she loves them.  So much that they needed washed already.

If any one would like to join me, I’ll be participating in the 4th annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.  It’s lots of fun and she usually comes up with some great topics.

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Yarn Along -27 March 2013

Yarn Along this week shows little actual knitting progress:

But I have been busy sewing some things for me:

Outside and here’s the inside:

And I made a circular needle case:

I’m not sure how many needles will fit in this case.  I may have to make one for each needle length -just to keep them organized better.

Ella is back to asking for Little Girls Bible Storybook for Mothers and Daughters for her bed time story.  It’s got nice short little bible stories, perfect for bedtime.

Sharing this also over at Deborah Jean’s Sewing Party.

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Yarn Along -6 March 2013

Not too much knitting done this week for Yarn Along.  I’ve been fighting headaches – again!

I have some new books to share.  I got a Chapters gift card from my Dad and Step-mom for Christmas so I finally spent it.  This is the new Pioneer Woman cookbook, Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier.  Oh boy, I can’t wait to try the recipes.  Nearly all of them sound so yummy.  I also got a preserving book, Saving the Seasons: How to Can, Freeze, or Dry Almost Anything.  I’m going to get more serious about storing food this year.  I’m so serious I also invested in this:

I’ve never used a pressure canner before, but since frozen vegetables don’t go over well around here I’ll try canning.  It will also let me can meat and such and free up freezer space (for bread and such).  I can’t wait to test it out.

Another reason I haven’t had much knitting time is I’m trying to get the house organized.  This includes all my sewing supplies that have been living in the kitchen since Ella was born.  Before Ella, I had a sewing room upstairs.  But that really isn’t practical with a small child.  Since then that room has been the catch -all space.  I need to get it all sorted and organized.

Which means I’ve had to finish a few projects.

This ironing board belonged to Colin’s grandma.  She was my size but only weighed about 90 lbs (soaking wet).

Slip finally finished.  It’s really hard to take a picture of yourself.  Please ignore the dirty mirror, it’s just for sewing and doesn’t get dusted much.

I also got my new dress finished.  I was working on this before Isobel died and it kind of just got set aside.  It’s got a tiny leaf/flower type print, but since it’s tone on tone it’s hard to photograph.  It’s some of my Mennonite material I got in Elora.  Such nice quality cotton.  By the way, I hate having my picture taken 🙂

I am happy to show you that Ella’s toys are still being put away in their assigned locations.  I often have to help, but she’ll get it eventually.

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New at Bella Ella

I’ve got a new smocked sundress up at Bella Ella Creations.  It’s got a 21 inch chest, but smocking is very forgiving.

For any customers in Renfrew County, I offer a $10 discount if they pick it up here at the farm.  It saves me postage and handling charges, which I’m happy to pass on to you my customers.

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Yarn Along -1 February 2012 -Birthday Edition!

It’s a special Yarn Along this week since today is Miss Ella’s 6th birthday.  Wow, 6 years with our little ball of energy.  Where has the time gone?

Here’s my new hat.  This is the third pattern I’ve tried.  I’m beginning to think I’m not meant to have a new hat this winter.  This pattern is working out well.

I whipped up this little turtle Sunday evening.  I had been looking on Ravelry for something else when Ella saw the turtle go by.  She wished to have it and talked about it for days and how her turtle from the fair was lonely.  This was a very quick knit and Ella loves ‘Shelly’.

This is the first year I’ve made Ella a birthday crown.  I’ve seen them all over the internet but never got around to making one.  They are very simple.

First you need a crown shaped template.  I folded the strip in half first, so the it would be symmetrical.  The strip of paper is about 18 inches long and 6.5 inches wide.  I should have made it a little wider with the applique I chose.

I wandered around at Wee Folk Art for quite a while trying to chose an applique for the centre of the crown.  I was wanting fairy/angel/candle sort of thing and finally decided on the angel with the flower wreath.

All the pieces cut out of felt (two crown pieces).   The heart pieces are for the fairy wands for the party.  I know there are some felt snobs out there, but my selection is fairly limited.  Some of the felt is very polyester, but most of the felt feels like wool (but isn’t).  The pieces are embroidered together following the drawing. 

I worked blanket stitch around the crown pieces to hold them together (top and bottom), you could sew it on the machine too.  I cut a piece of waistband elastic 3 inches long and encase it in a material tube 6 inches long.  I sew this between the two short ends to form a circle.  The crown fits Ella and fits me.  It’s very comfortable to wear.

Ella loves her present from Momma and Daddy.  We got her the Calico Critters Townhouse.  It came with a few pieces of furniture.  The Grandmas gave Ella money to buy some more furniture.  She can’t wait till we get to Toronto, the money is burning a hole in her pocket  🙂  Ella hasn’t stopped playing or talking about the house since she opened it Sunday.

Check back tomorrow for a giveaway of sorts.

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Help Needed!

We really need to get the cold situation under control.  This is Ella’s third cold this fall.  It’s going to be a loooong winter.  Any suggestions out there?  Keep in mind Ella doesn’t like vegetables (except apples and grapes) and won’t eat anything that tastes weird or gross.

I also need some sewing help.  I am loving the side zipper idea I got from my bloggy friend.  But I need to figure out how to put in side seam pockets. I feel lopsided with a pocket only on one side.  I know it’s possible but I can’t seem to figure it out.

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Farm Girl Friday -1 July 2011 -Happy Canada Day

I’m going to start this Farm Girl Friday post with a question.  How do you farm girls get your laundry, especial whites, clean?  We have very hard water (hard enough to stand on-ha ha) and I can’t seem to get anything really white.  Colin’s dress shirts have dirty collars -and I just washed them (and dried in the sunshine).  My white blouses are positively orange from the sunscreen!!  Yet another reason I hate wearing sunscreen.

Please help!!

Now for something to make a farm girl happy:

My sewing machine back from the machine doctor.  It had a tune up and cleaning.  Now it works great and is as clean as new.  I don’t think it’s been this clean in years  🙂

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Farmgirl Friday -3 June 2011

Joining the Farmgirl fun this week.

Yesterday, I discovered that adrenalin does NOT over power asthma (at least not in a minor type of situation).  The Canada geese were in this field eating the Indian corn that Ella and Grandpa had just planted this morning.  So I told Ella to run out in the field being as loud and crazy as she wanted  to chase off the geese.  I guess I should have told her to only go so far.  The geese wouldn’t fly away, only moved further down the field.  So of course, Ella kept going.  It was so windy yesterday that she couldn’t hear me screaming shouting for her to stop.  So I had to try to run after her (she’s half way across a 50 acre field by now).  I thought I was never going to get her stopped in time and had visions of her falling in the river (still full and deep) or disappearing into the swamp (has happened to cows) before I could catch her.  Finally the wind stopped for a moment and she heard me.  As I sat on the ground wheezing, we had a good chat about the dangers of the river and not going so far from home.

Inspired by my friend over at Heritage Farmgirl and due to dress desperation (aka nothing suitable for in public).  I’ve been making some new dresses.  The first 2 are a combination of 2 Simplicity patterns.  I really like them and Colin loves them.  The last is a Vogue and it is beautifully designed (fully lined and everything).  Vogue sure knows how to make a pattern.  I’m just home from Knit Night and Colin was sleeping on the chesterfield, so the pictures are a funny kind of angle.

We have a wedding to attend in June, so this was the first dress I made.  I had absolutely nothing to wear to a wedding.  I found this material on sale at Fabricland for $2.50 a metre -unheard of price these days.  I got enough to make Ella a matching dress too.  Once I finish it and the pins are out, I’ll get a picture of her too.  This is the style that Colin really likes.  I like it too, though I think I look better in my head than in pictures  🙂

This is just an everyday kind of dress.  Good for groceries or just hanging around doing stuff  🙂  The material came from the Mennonite store in Floradale.  I love that store.  They have such a great selection of cotton floral prints.  The fabric is great quality and very reasonable prices.  The staff is lovely too (which is more than can be said for the Pembroke Fabricland most days).  I have been known to make trips to the St. Jacob’s area just to be able to go there.  Luckily it’s only 1 1/2 hours from Toronto, so it makes a nice day trip when we are visiting my sister.  Of course we hit the market too.

This is the Vogue dress and I’m just not sure.  Like I said, the pattern is beautiful and went together well.  But then I put it on…

  I thought the pattern had a 20’s farm house dress kind of vibe and had high hopes for it.

Please be completely honest.  If you think it looks terrible say so.  It’s hard to get an honest opinion around here because Colin and Ella think I look beautiful in everything.

  My friends on Facebook have been sharing this old Body Shop ad and I thought this was a great place to share it too.  Obviously from this post it’s easy to see how true this really is.  Though I don’t want a super model’s body (child-like) I really would like the body I had when Colin and I met.  The size someone who’s only 5 ft, on a good day, should have.  Sorry I can’t make it bigger.  It says “there are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do”  Too bad Mattel made them stop the ad campaign.

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Easter Dress

I finally gave in and tried a new pattern.  I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it turned out.  I haven’t had much luck with new patterns lately.  This is a Simplicity pattern and I was able to make the 16 with only minor alterations.  I realize it’s a little cool for a sun dress, but soon the disgusting hot weather will return.  I think I’ll make this dress again and try the cap sleeve, my bra straps show with the sun dress (before pinning) and the cap sleeve will be just as cool.  It gets so hot and humid around here breezy dresses are a must.

Ella took the picture for me.  Please excuse the mess at my feet, it’s groceries that haven’t been carried to the cellar yet  🙂

Today is my Mom’s birthday!!  She’s 63.  I’m so glad Mom moved up here when Colin and I got married.  She and Ella have such a wonderful relationship.  Mom is such a help, I don’t know what I’d do without her.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

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