Anchors and alterations

My oldest daughter is a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding this Saturday. Thankfully the chosen dress was inexpensive because they didn't have her size at JCPennys. She really needed a 2 but had to get a 6. She didn't really want to invest money in altering the dress so she asked if I would try. I hemmed it to mid-knee and then took in the zipperless side and the back seam. It turned out okay-not the best since this was a quick fix. I didn't take out seams, I just took them in quite a bit and tried to keep the original shape of the dress. I also finished my younger daughter's circle skirt for a 50"s Unit Celebration this Friday. It was minus a waistband and had no decoration. I made the anchor and then used embroidery floss to outline and make the twisted rope. Still have to connect the rope to the skirt, but that shouldn't take long. I am thinking about making her a tulle petticoat to fill it out. I bought 33 yards of 120 inch wide black netting from Fabric Mart for $15. I hope to make some tulle flowers with it as well for another project.

Here are the pics of the dynamic duo I couldn't get to post yesterday as well.

More fireplace work and new dynamic duo!

This fireplace is a pretty consuming project. I will be glad when I can just sit and knit or sew in front of it! We did the grout work and have cleaned that off too many times to count.  Now comes the horrid sealer again. My husband would like for me to put it on before we leave the house for church today. Yuck-that smell! I hate to have to sleep with the windows open again, but as soon as it is dry we can place the insert-Yahoo!

On another note, I referred to a little journey my hubby and I made Sunday night.  I bought another sewing machine with cabinet and another serger.  I found them on Craigslist and the price was pretty good.  My hubby said you need another serger so you can keep dark thread in one and light thread in the other. Pretty supportive of my rather new found hobbies! So I brought the poor dirty things home and took them apart and cleaned and oiled them.  Rethreaded them both and they work great.  The only problems were a dull knife on the serger causing skipped stitches and my sewing machine won't run bobbins. My hubby says -no problem, we can fix that! When the fireplace is done I am sure he will look into it. Both of the machines are basically 90's Singer models. (trying to get pics in here, but the server isn't responding-will post them later)

The Fireplace continues and we are higher than kites

My husband and I went on a litlle journey last night (more about that in my next post). While we were gone our 2nd coat of Procrete was sealed. We came home last night and as soon as we got to the door the smell knocked me over-WOW! That sealer is pretty obnoxious stuff! The kids had just closed the kitchen window because they were freezing, but the fan was still running to pull air out of a living room window.  The smell wasn't as bad back in the bedrooms, but we still had our window open about 8 inches all night long. I don't like strong smells like that.  They make me feel woozy and my heart feels like it is jumping in my chest.  It is better this morning, but still strong.  It makes your nose and throat kinda burn.  Hopefully it will dissipate as the day goes on.  The great thing is that the hearth is looking fantastic!! We have to do grout now and then seal that, but then we will place the insert and away we go.

Home is Where Your Hearth Is

My whole family has been working on our new fireplace this week and my daughter's boyfriend has done 2 layers of Pro-Crete on our hearth.  It looks so good and we can't wait for it to be finished so we can sit in front of it! We have been scrubbing all the rocks that my hubby & son retrieved from our creek and then fitting them like a puzzle on the wall.  I love the progress, but it is a time consuming and very MESSY job! My house is a wreck and dust is everywhere from grinding the rocks to fit and mixing the powder mortar in the house due to the weather.  I am sure it will all be worth it when our house is toasty warm-YAHOO! I'll put more pics up tomorrow or Monday of the hearth dry. The last picture is of the tape being pulled up to form the stone look-that is so cool.  Happy New Year!

No Fear of Commitment Here

I finished my cowl tonight! I hope to wear it tomorrow because the weather is rather chilly.  This was a super easy project and I adore the yarn I bought from Etsy.  I think my gauge is a little bigger than the one on cocoknits.com. It is only supposed to be 9 inches wide and mine is a bit bigger than that.  I have already tried it on myself, but I photographed it on my very cooperative friend.

Knitting needle case give away and my Fear of Commitment Cowl

I spent quite a bit of my day working on paper work for my son's governor's scholar application.  I finally quit all that and worked on a new knitting /crochet needle case.  I seem to have needles all over the place and that is just ridiculous.  We inherited quite a few from nanny and have bought our fair share as well.  I have all different kinds and sizes. I wanted something that atleast appeared organized, but was pretty as well.  I bought this remnant indoor/outdoor decor fabric for $1 a yard last year.  I think it is so pretty.  It is heavier and that was perfect for this case that will see a lot of pushing and pulling.  I basically created a big pocket and added an aditional pocket at the bottom.  It works! I can also roll it up to store it.  I made a second one this evening, but haven't sewn the long seams yet.  Maybe someone who needs one could sew their own "made to fit" seams in. Let me know if you could use one of these in the comments and  I will choose one reader and send my second one your way!

On to my next project: Fear of Commitment Cowl

I love this project so far.  It is all seeded rib stitch and the yarn is absolutely gorgeous and great to work with.  I bought it from a Yarn or a Tale.  It is kettle dyed merino wool/ alpaca/ silk. I got 275 yards for a steal.  I will definitely buy from them again.  I can't wait to finish it, but my shoulder and neck are not appreciating all the knitting I have been doing lately.  Sewing has given it a bit of a break.

Martha Stewart neck scarf completed

I finished this on Christmas Eve and wore it around the house to see if it was comfy and warm. Check! It was a pretty basic pattern, but I did do some new things:
Created a pocket (hole) by knitting divided stitches
Had to use increase and decrease (pretty new to me)

I really like the pattern and next time I will use the right weight.  Mine is a little too bulky of a yarn.  It worked, but it doesn't have that soft look to it. I have started the Fear of Commitment Cowl from Coco Knits.  I was originally going to do a Burberry look alike cowl from a Ravelry member, but it seemed too small once I got 15-20 rows into it.  I found this cute Coco Knits pattern on Ravelry as well.  It is super cute and versatile. I also love the idea of having 4 or 5 different ways to wear the same piece using a button! Hope you are enjoying the holidays!