your questions

First off, thank you everyone for your comments on my last post. The thought of all your prayers being offered up for my dad is heartwarming, and they are so appreciated.

I am way behind on answering questions, so I thought I would try to catch up on that... Recently, Kim asked how I learned to make slipcovers and what sort of fabrics to use.

The chair above, I slipcovered in very inexpensive cotton duck; and for the chair below I made a slipcover out of white denim found on sale years ago for a couple dollars a yard...

My couch is an old mohair sofa which my mom found and passed on to me. It is sturdy as a rock, and I love it; it is also slipcovered in a patterned denim. These have all been washed many times, and the denim and duckcloth wash and wear great!

Most of our furniture is secondhand, so reupholstering or slipcovers are usually a necessity. I love being able to wash slipcovers, so I determined that I would learn to make them myself. This is the book that I found to be most helpful to me...

Simple Upholstery & Slipcovers by Carol Parks ~ {check your library or there's a link on my right sidebar}.

I also saw a three-part post on slipcovers over at Sew Mama Sew recently, which would be very helpful. I have never used a paper pattern as shown in the tutorial, but you might find that useful. Some people make a muslin pattern up first; I usually just wing it with my slipcover fabric, and thankfully that has worked for me.

I hope this helps, Kim!

Deb

Endless eye cords



Winter Pink

This week I'll be mostly making endless eye cords. Don't get me wrong I love my new project the skirt is just so vibrant.


But

Big but, boring!!! yet more eye cords, not long now and my pink jelly fish will be complete:-)

Knit lab Window

Canvas titled Pocket watch.


I Still have to pinch myself when I visit knit lab and see my dresses in the window, But this time it's a Double Wammy, my art too and a textile sample that I recently made from vintage sowing cotton.

Big thanks to Lenah..........again;-)

I have been so luckily living in Sweden and meeting so many kind and supportive people.
My list would actually almost be as long as my British friends! and I have many,I moved plenty, and I talk alot!(I know,never shut up!)

For this I am very flattered, knitting really does get you every where.

a request




My dad is ill...prayers for healing would be so appreciated,
Deb


My Dale pattern book arrived promptly from the US not Canada as I previously thought. The proper title is Dale of Norway Commemorative Collection: New Designs for Men and Women, NR 8501.

Some of the photos are a bit blurry and grainy but I did notice one interesting thing. The photographs from most Dale patterns I've seen look machine knit as in this sleeve detail from the Lake Louise pattern.



Check this out - this detail from the Le Massif sleeve almost looks hand knit, doesn't it? Or perhaps that is what Falk looks like machine knit? All the patterns are in either Heilo or Falk.



As I predicted, DH has requested I make him the Whistler sweater. I prefer the Le Massif pattern so I am at least going to make the Le Massif hat for him as my next project. Here's the Whistler in one colorway - it is all about the maple leaves.



In this colorway of Whistler you can't really tell that it is knit in both navy and black. I am admiring the fancy Dale zipper but haven't yet checked out how much that will cost. When I knit the Dale Sirdal cardigan the beautiful traditional Dale braiding and buttons cost more than the yarn I used.



I'm planning to knit this sweater for December although I will probably have many modifications. DH insists on ribbing so I'll add that at the cuffs and I'm also going to use the maple leaf motif there as well.

I think I'm going to knit this in Peruvian Highland Sport to cut down on the warmth - I've used sport weight before as an alternative to Heilo (DK weight) and I can usually get away with it by going up a needle size. I'd prefer knitting with Heilo but unfortunately he'll never wear it if I make it too heavy. I knit him the Dale SLC Olympic sweater in Heilo and so far he's only worn it once. sigh

The main color will probably be Tapestry Blue. I'm also going to add a few more colors than the original four to the cuffs, shoulders, and collar . I was thinking about adding a lice stitch to the boring plain stockinette portion of the sweater but unfortunately I don't think DH would like the effect.

I've got Blog Awards coming out of my ears!

WOW! Thank you, thank you to everyone who sent me a Blog Award in the last couple of weeks! What a compliment!

This one was sent to me by Gabes from SweetPknits. I met her through Ravelry awhile back and she is so sweet! Thank you Gabes, for the award!


And this one was given to me by AngelKnits who I also met a while back through Ravelry. This knitter is awesome! She has a great sense of style and is always inspiring me! Thank you!

This award was given to me by Knittinwolf who is maybe the nicest person I have ever met. I met her over a year ago now at the shop I work at. She stops by occasionally when she is passing through town. Since then we've become internet pals and she comments on almost all of my posts! Thank you Dawn!

Ok now each of these awards has a seperate set of rules and instructions for how many blogs I now need to nominate and so forth....ahh that is too much to keep track of, so I'm just going to tell you some of my favorite blogs. If the people that I nominate would like to pass this along, you are supposed to post the picture of the award on your blog, (Choose which one you would like) and link back to me. Also you are also supposed to put a link to your favorite blogs and leave them a comment to let them know that they have recieved an award from you.
Thus, the Blog Awards will keep on going!
Some of my favorites:
Faith from FlashBangFibers. Ive been reading this blog for almost 2 years and Faith has been a major inspiration to me. She also has an awesome podcast "The Knitting Cook." Ive always appreciated both her blog and podcast because she is a mother of 3 little ones yet still manages to knit, spin and cook amazing things!
Domesticat from Domesticrafts. This blogger takes BEAUTIFUL photos. I also find myself laughing out loud at all of her blog posts. I love her style and sense of humor.
Strikker from ObsessiveKnitting. I just discovered this blog, and I really really like this blogger's knitting style. She's funny and her photos are also quite nice.
Steph from Craftoholic. She doesn't blog often but she has a great sense of style. Her pictures are professional and I love everything that she chooses to knit! I just wish that she would update more frequently because I want to see more!
There are so many more that I could mention because I have met so many awesome knitters through this blog and have made many friends. I appreciate all of you!

PINK

Button choice(maybe)
The cerise pink is the beginning of the under petticoat.

More about my winter skirts progress;-)

It's huge touchy feely and most of all pink. Tonnes of shades yarns and even a little ribbon. The jelly fish tentacles part is in two layers. I did the 1st and then decided it was not enough/ not thick enough.
The eye cords came after the tentacles, I have only covered one quarter so plenty more to make to get the effect I want.

The style, is in a wrap around. So the size can be adjusted and work has begun on the underlay
(petticoat part) so your pants won't show, if your Kate Moss not necessary! but for the rest of us coverage is a good thing.
The big button is a hand made bead I brought from Pearl Huset for 10kr(£1) so I think that's
what i'll use I just need 3 more. I will look about for some alternatives first, maybe four different rather than four the same, choices choices.........

Crochet is strange places

Winter pink, here are my knees at my hubbies band practice, the two singers feet at the rehearsal studio getting ready for their 1st gigs last week.

Big pink has grown huge, further post will show it's big pink progress.

A busy Heathrow and a que of curious children staring, trying to work out just what I'm making.

It also managed to get frisked, that's a 1st for my knitting. But security on the way home thought that they needed to check it the huge bag of pink. Personally I think the women just wanted to take a look;-). All they had to-do was ask?.

Handspun


Something strange happened last night....

Inexplicably I sat down at my spinning wheel.

I haven't spun in about hmm... a million ..or so.. years now. But for some reason last night I really wanted to spin. I actually started this spinning project about a year ago and never really expected myself to finish it.

But hey, I did! Now I have about 250 more yards of laceweight to add to the ever growing, out-of-control yarn stash.


I have some patterns in mind. But I need your help. Should I make "Ice Queen" or "Abby"?
I like Ice Queen better because I think that the lace pattern is prettier, but since this is not a super duper consistent yarn <I haven't spun in like a year, remember?> perhaps Abby would be better suited... What do you think?

our second giveaway winner

The little bowl was overflowing with all the new entries, so a bigger bowl was in order...

And, the winner of the second mug cozy giveaway is....sharon d.


Congratulations Sharon!

Remember, there will be one more giveaway to begin later this week. Thanks everyone!!


Deb



Sunday

Enjoyed a wonderful day of good food and family~
meatballs
garden salad
caramel apple cake ** with whipped cream
Promise to post the mug cozy winner tomorrow...Deb
**This cake was delicious...I didn't have Bisquick, but found this substitute:
1 cup Bisquick = 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tbsp butter


Cap-Sleeved Eyelet Top





Today I took my new Cap-Sleeved Eyelet Top out on the town...






I just couldn't be happier about the finished product!

It fits perfectly and the yarn is so soft and warm.


To me this top just screams Fall.....



The style and texture paired with this color is so soo Autumn like.

I was so happy when I found this heathered red color nestled in with the other shades of Misti Alpaca. It was so warm and inviting. It reminded me of Tomatoes or like.... hmm...


...BRICKS...




"Hey, it is the color of bricks, isn't it?!"





I knit this top with 6 skeins of Misti Alpaca worsted and used size 6 and 7 US needles.


The only modification that I made was that I shortened the top a bit. I am only 5 foot 1 inch so I needed it to be a little less overwhelming for my frame.



Front








Back






I love this top! I will get so much use out of it this season!

pincushion/needlebook swap

Now that swap packages have been sent and received, I can show you some pictures...
...this is the pincushion and needlebook I made for Louise. The pincushion is something I've seen out and about on the web, and it wasn't hard to figure out the construction. I had a lot of fun with the needlebook...
...and decided to add some little pockets for measuring tape, thread, needle threader, and scissors...
This is the package I received from Louise, all beautifully wrapped...
...and containing this pretty pincushion and needlebook...
I can't wait to see what the next swap will be. Thank you Rhonda, Sharon, and Louise!

Deb


harvest

What beautiful late summer days we have been enjoying, each one flying by much too fast as we try to fit in one more long walk, one more bike ride, and some more time spent relaxing on the glider. Tonight, the first frost is a possibility, so we worked in the garden. The pumpkins and gourds are harvested, peppers and eggplant were picked, as well as some tomatoes, and onions were pulled. That done, we headed inside for a dinner of (homegrown) roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and carrots. Then I realized that it is Thursday again already! and time for another mug cozy giveaway....

If you would like a chance to win please just leave a comment to that effect. If you entered the last giveaway drawing, your name is already in the bowl...drawing will be sometime on Sunday, Deb

Winter Stars Christmas Stocking



Here are the Winter Stars Christmas Stockings (on Lulu and on Ravelry). There are two color combinations and each use 5 colors of Cascade 220.




Next I think I'm going to do something with alpaca. I just love the rich, saturated colors of Elann's alpaca.