I Wasn’t Kidding…

… I truly love this pattern of Cosy’s.

Here’s my second and third.

Yeah, I’m not one of those knitters who only knits things once.

A Lovely Little Knit

A few weeks ago, I cast on a test knit for my talented friend, Cosy, for her latest design, Orsolya.

To say I enjoyed it would be an understatement.

Not only did I finish this with lightening speed (after all, it’s knit with worsted weight)…

…I’ve already cast on for a second which is half way done, and I have a third going on directly after I’m done binding off. I’ve had some yarn sitting in the stash for at least five years waiting for the perfect project and this is it!

This dress is such a fabulous little knit; I can not begin to tell you how sweet it is.

The bit of eyelet trim, the teeny pockets…

The top down construction with no seaming.

It’s a great length for toddling around, although I believe Cosy also includes a shorter tunic length if you’d rather that.

For this knit I worked up the 18m size using some Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora, which sadly has been discontinued. It blocked out with an ever-so-slight halo (love!), and the stitches “fulled out” a bit, causing my gauge to go a little wide. That’s OK, she’ll get plenty of use out of this. This year as a dress… next year as a top.

Oh I can’t wait for Cosy to get this one published for you to try out! Make sure to check out her Ravelry shop or her book for a bunch of her other designs.

Rise and Spray and Shine

Unless you’ve been under an internet crafting rock (or experiencing a month like we’ve had… erHEM… then again, these projects have been around for a year or so…), you have probably seen tutorial or two about painting your old shoes. Tutprials such as this one (using nail polish) or this one (with craft paint) or this one (with just straight up spray paint) to give your old shoes a new life outside the depths of your closets.

Enter my loafers, a sunny and warm spring day, and a few too many cans of spray paint.

I’ve had these shoes for… hmm… well, for a long while. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, they have seen better days, and because the last light of day they have seen was the inside of the bag heading to Goodwill, I figured I had nothing to lose even if the paint didn’t take. So I taped them up, shook up a can of paint laying around from another project, and haaaaaaaad at it. No I didn’t do anything special like clean them, or scuff them, stuff them, or even dust them off. I wasn’t convinced it was going to work. Plus, I really wanted yellow shoes, so if the spray painting didn’t work, I wouldn’t have wasted a trip to the hardware store to buy yet another can of paint. If it did, I’d do a better job the second time around.

Well, it worked. I had purple shoes. But I didn’t wear them so much. Never did get out of the house to find the perfect shade of yellow.

So I decided, on a whim, to use up the last of the Silver Run n’ Buff, a metallic wax finish, from yet another project for the dining room. I put a little dab on a soft rag, rubbed it in, and buffed it out. Yes, the name of the product also doubles as the instructions, clever you for noticing!

Now I have shiny metallic purple shoes that I wear. All. The. Time.

Not so bad for a project that cost absolutely nothing.

A Deep Breath

Dear Friends
I am so sorry about my absence from this space. The month of June was filled with quite a number of time-consuming events—a birthday, unexpected emergencies, a few visits—and stays—at the hospital (no worries, we are all fine now), end-of-the-year school activities, visits (some planned, a few, um, urgently requested–thanks again Mom!) from beloved family members… there was barely any time to catch my breath let alone blog (or even do laundry).

We have managed to escape back home for an extended visit with my family for a few weeks. In the mad rush to get everything ready for our drive back home with four kids, one grandparent, one harried mother, and a dog, our family car broke down causing us to scrounge around for a rental just a few hours before we left town. I still managed to get everything packed for everyone—efficiently in one suitcase, even remembering my favorite flip-flops, my hat, and enough yarn to last me at least two months—only to discover once we arrived that I had not packed one stitch of clothing for myself. No PJs, no shorts, no tops, no bathing suit, nor underwear. Please tell me I’m not the only one to do such a thing! Luckily, I was able to locate my sense of humor, my emergency credit card, and the clearance rack at the local discount store, so the situation has been salvaged.

We are all being spoiled rotten and spending as much time as we can slowing down and relearning to breath deeply. I have a few things to show you, and now that I have some time, I’m looking forward to getting them posted.

Yours Truly,
-Cheryl