Knitting in a Round

Hi All! Almost the end of another week.  In fact, it's the end of the fourth last  week of school around here!  The kids are excited for summer - but so are Mom and Dad.  Handsome Hubby and I are both teachers and we can't wait to have all of our assessments, exams and report cards DONE and out of the way!  Just THREE MORE WEEKS!

Did you watch any of the Jubilee celebrations?  I'll admit, I didn't watch all that much, but I did enjoy the flotilla on Sunday morning.  To mark this quintessentially British event, I rose early that morning and made scones and tea for the family for breakfast.  I think these biscuits were the best I had EVER made - light and flaky and perfect with my freshly made strawberry jam!

I also took some time on Sunday to finish up my latest knitting project.  

I had seen this lovely knitted dress on Jenni's blog and knew instantly that I wanted to give it a spin.  I purchased and downloaded the pattern from here and got started right away.  

I used some of my favourite Cath Kidston inspired colours and began my journey around and around on my circular needles.  

Here are all of my sweater's pretty little parts:

TA-DA!

This little thing was a joy to knit.  The colours made my heart sing, the overall finished dress is absolutely adorable!

Now which of pregnant friends will receive this as a gift??   Hmm....Maybe I'll whip up a few more so that no one gets their heart-broken......  : )

In closing, I want to send out a big THANKS to Shannon over at Sew Sweet Cottage for awarding me with the  Sunshine Blogger Award.  

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Green is My Garden

Oh so much rain lately!  Though it's hard for the kids - they don't get outside as much as they would like ( and I would like!), the constant downpours have brought the garden ALIVE!!

Between the showers this weekend, I managed to work through all of my perennial beds, trimming, edging and weeding.  

Littlest man got in the action, too.  

Who needs a hoe when you've got a front-end  loader??

Wherever I go, my camera isn't fair behind.  So, even as I dug through my gardens, I took some of prettiest things in our yard this week.

Pink:   2 types of peonies given to me by my hubby for Mother's Day, an annual in my newest hanging baskets and my lovely pink lupin (this plant has never bloomed before!!)

 Purple and White:  Petunias, stawberry blossoms and my gigantic purple lupin

And Some Green: English ivy gradually making its way up our fence, my new Welcome sign, Froggy's little birdbath with my palest clematis in behind and a row of hostas, sedum and shasta daisies

I took a run across the border to the outlet mall near Buffalo one day last week. I had tons of things on my list that I wanted to find at Target and Big K (we don't have those stores here in Canada).  Luckily I was able to scratch "doormat" off of my list.  In fact - I came home with 2!!  After all I have a front door and a back door!  

This is the lovely natural-fibred one on the deck out  back:

And you are WELCOME anytime!  Drop back to my little part of blogland soon!

Caution: Colour Ahead!!

I love weekends like this- mostly restful with just enough excitement to keep the kids happy.  I cook, I clean, I create and I rest - all at whatever pace I choose.  No rushing unless I want to.  Bliss.

Bought a whole lot of these at shopping this week.  I made jam and we had them with whipped cream this afternoon for snack. Mmmm....

But I really made Hubby's day when I made this yummy dessert for supper today.  

Hubby is a gluten-free eater. He  gave it up 2 months ago and since then he has found his body feels more healthy - less stressed from the inside out.  He has had no problem giving up pasta, pizza and bread because there are suitable replacements out there.  But he says NOTHING can replace my home baking which he has grown to LOVE during our 12 year relationship. 

  So today, I made a a real effort to bake him a gluten-free strawberry-peach fruit crisp.  I think he thought he'd died and gone to heaven!  I'll definitely make this recipe again - perhaps strawberry rhubarb next time!

I spent a few minutes this afternoon finishing off this little project, too.  I started it a few weeks ago because  I had seen so many cute little hexagon pillows floating around blogland and I decided it was time to get started on mine.

I HATE cutting hexi papers.  The tracing, the snipping - ugh! Just get to the fabric part already!!

I was so glad to find these printable templates online!!

I picked my fabrics cheerfully - some scraps, some pieces of new fabrics recently joining my stash - but all colours  harmonizing with the shades found in  my family room. 

Two evenings later I had this lovely centre-panel for my pillow. (Do you like my hand-embroidered tablecloth?  Grabbed it for $2.00 at the local Goodwill!)

Once I had sewn on the white sashing, I could tell it needed more. So, on went some red ribbon from my stash.

I had some issues with sewing on the backing of the pillow (lots of seam-ripping and re-stitching!), but here she is:

TA-DA!!

She cuddles up cozily with the other colourful bits on our family room sofa.

Her backing is strips of the same leftover fabric used to make the hexis.  She looks cute both ways, huh??

I really like how cheery the colours are.  So many of the shades I love! 

I've been sewing and crocheting a lot lately  and I was beginning to really miss clicking two needle points together.  Sooo...with so many of my friends set to have babies in the next few months, I got started on this new knitty project.  I hope to be able to show it in completion in a few days.  Stay tuned....

Fun and Thrifty

The "FUN"

This time of year is always a blur- there's swimming lessons, dance lessons,  and of course the beginning of the newest season......SOCCER!! 

Here's our little lady all done up and ready for her first game of the year:

(Not sure I am a big fan of her uniform colours this year. I much preferred last year's teal  blue.  Regardless - she  still looks darn cute!)

Later in the week, we took the kids for a quick visit to the nearest fun farm/shop, Springridge Farm.  We LOVE it here all year long.  On this particular day, we shopped for snacks and coffee only. The farm is located at the side of the escarpment and has lovely views from every angle.

Our youngest boy opted for "pie" as his snack of the day.  On this day it's strawberry peach. Yummy!

The "Thrifty"

Oh! Did I ever get some great finds at the thrift stores in the last week or so! 

For eating/serving I grabbed this wooden watermelon platter, a raspberry-covered serving jug, a wooden cake stand (this is getting a re-paint) and this pale aqua daisy plate.  

On a flowery theme, I picked up this hand-painted jewellery box, a pink and white porcelain picture frame (for little lady's bedroom) and the most heart-stopping item of them all - a hand-embroidered, wood handled  purse.  I saw it and I KNEW I had to have it.  Then I saw the price - $2.99!!!! SOLD! It doesn't hold much, but it is perfect for date night when I only have carry my phone, my debit card and some lipstick!

To round out my thrifty finds, I plan on turning these $2.00 spires into something prettier than their current golden state.  And these shoes - not thrifted , but still inexpensive from Target. Love the preppy look they have going for them (thought the first day I wore them they gave me blisters!)

(By the way - I am loving the new collage feature at PicMonkey.  These photo groupings were so easy to do!!)

Jam Jars - Dressed Up and Ready to Give Away!

My Mom was recently cleaning out her rather large freezer to make room for this year's produce.  Her freezer was bursting at the seams so I offered to take tons of frozen berries off of her hands!  I knew exactly what I was going to do with those cherries, thimbleberries and strawberries - JAM!!!

Don't they look scrumptious simmering together on the stove??

By the end of the 45 minute jam making session, I had 10 jars of thick, maroon-coloured goodness.  

That's a lot of jam.  Now, we go through A LOT of it in our home, but with plans to make strawberry, currant and  peach jam during the upcoming fresh-fruit season, I figured I could gussy up a few bottles to give away (Yes- there is a bottle or two here for you, Jim!)

Here is one way to dress up a plain canning jar - kraft paper and twine.  Simple and rustic.

How about the old stand-by ( yet still so pretty!) - fabric and ribbon.

And what about some lace?  This length of crocheted goodness was given to me by my hubby's grandmother.  I glue-gunned it on and fastened the seam at the back.

Did you notice my labels?  I printed them for free from here.

There we go.  Three jars filled, and made as yummy on the outside as they are on the inside!

When I was done jam-making I had a lot of berry juice leftover. I couldn't bear to dump the flavourful red liquid so  I poured it in some freezer popsicle molds  to enjoy later that day.

And BOY!  Were they ENJOYED!!

Now, That is MUCH Prettier!

Last year I painted my daughter's desk this lovely shade. It's Behr's "Raspberry Lemonade." Yep. We picked it because of the colour name. 

It looked good for several months, but my daughter is CRAFTER.  Like they say - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and if the little lady has any free time she can be found at her little pink desk "arting."  Uh-huh.  Art is a verb around here.  

So, as you can see, the desk is getting a little rough looking.  Last night, I gave the whole thing a re-paint.  

Hmmm.......Pink is cute, but kinda boring.

How to dress it up a little??   A couple of months ago I purchased a stencil to add pattern to the kid's bathroom walls. I haven't used it yet....  But really, I should try it out on something smaller first, right??

Well - lookie here!! Now that looks cool!  I used a can of creamy white I had lying around and in just under an hour, I had taken the desk from plain pink to pizazz!!

The stencil was just a little bit too small for the surface of the desk.  So, I had to use a lot of painters tape and a bit of stencil-jigging, but I managed to continue the pattern perfectly across the whole surface.  

Now after all of this work, the last thing I wanted to do was put the desk back in her room and have it ruined in mere days! So I purchased some of that clear plastic covering your grandma used to have over her couch or across her prized table cloth. You know the stuff I mean??

I cut it to fit the tabletop with a little extra so that I could staple it underneath the table surface and hold it in place.  

And here it is- back in her room and ready for the next session of "arting!"

I took some time to tidy everything up and give all of her favourite items a quick dust and a "restyling."

She received this bunny for Easter a few years back.  She likes to keep it high and out of reach from her little brother.  The tulips  were her choice too- purchased with a birthday present Michaels giftcard.

There we go - a nice freshening up.  Pastel-ly and perfect for spring.  And in my daughter's words:

"Now, that is MUCH prettier!"

Another One for the Pretty Pile

After finishing a few larger knitting and crocheting projects, I decided I needed a small-ish take along project that could easily be tossed in my bag as we travelled here and there with our 3 children over the next few weeks.  

A long time ago I  had pinned Bunny Mummy's  crocheted hexagon pattern and I figured it was as good of time as ever to give it a try.  

So I picked a plethora of bright, rainbow colours from my stash and got to work:

Gosh! How I love watching those hexis pile up!

After I had 10 of each colour I began stitching them together.  Even though I LOVED the stacked rainbow hexis, I wasn't really sure if I enjoyed them in the random fashion shown here:

But I went with it and I am glad I did. 

Of course, this afghan was supposed to use up some of those odd balls of yarn that had been kicking around.  But by the end, I had to buy more lime green and more purple to finish it up.  Back those 2 balls went - into my stash!!

After the hexis were sewn together, I crocheted a thick edging of rainbow double crochets.  

I think the border is may favourite part!!

It was hard to photograph this baby sized blanket inside.  I could never get the true colours  of the yarn.  So on a sunny day last week, my blanket posed in  a few places in the yard.   

Here he is lounging on the Muskoka chair:

And draped over a yet-to-be-planted window box. 

And here he is in full effect....

TA-DA!

When I look at this picture I see that some of my edging is kind of wonky, but it adds charm, right??