knitorious

Antique treasure

A box of chipped and broken Blue Willow china for $10.  Several cups, saucers, different sizes of plates, an oval dish, a creamer, a large sugar (or small biscuit) with broken off handles, a mix of Japanese and English marks -- I'm not sure what that little slip of red near the mark on the second small photo means, but it's also on other, similarly marked pieces.  (I should probably know these things.)  The "Occupied Japan" cup and saucer at right is one of my own from Grandma.  I have a cousin who lives in Milwaukee -- she is also a knitter, and she is also a mosaic-er, and if I hadn't bought that box, I know my aunt probably would have.  I'll give a large plate to Mom for her garden border, will use a small plate for my own border around the deck, and I'd really like to get together with my cousin -- it would be fun to make a gift of a broken dishes to her, spreading the cracked-and-chipped dish wealth.

If I were growing a money tree instead of tomato plants (or if I hadn't had huge car repair bills in the last month, didn't have college tuition, housing, textbooks looming, and upcoming driver's ed fees, yaddayadda-and-etc.), I would not have thought twice about whether to make this mine.  I could not stop looking at it -- a white, knit bedspread with two matching pillow covers.  The texture of the leaves and borders and ruffles -- OMG, the ruffles!  Honestly, I couldn't even open it up all the way -- I know I would not have been able to resist.  I took some secret pictures, instead.  I played around with the photos a little bit, trying to make the stitches pop to match the way my eyes popped...  Oh, so incredibly beautiful in person.  This had to have been knit for someone's trousseau, don't you think -- by a grandmother for her only granddaughter, perhaps, or an aunt for a favorite niece?

There will be days...

I have two things that don't always go well together:  a dog and a garden.  There's a hidden benefit, though, as I would normally enjoy the bleeding hearts only in the garden.  Oh, my, they make a lovely bouquet on the kitchen table!  Yesterday morning the sun was shining through the window and the "drops" were illuminated -- it was lovely.

Yesterday, I was in Oshkosh (home of little overalls, big trucks, and an airshow) at one of the largest estate sales ever.  It was in a small, brick ranch on an overwhelmingly Victorian street.  Oshkosh is a town built by lumber and it shows!  Anyway, it was a large sale and there were lots of people and we had to wait a while to gain entrance.  I came away with a few little treasures, lightening my wallet by only $6.00 (not bad at all), including some DMC booklets on knitting, crocheting and tatting, along with a couple of other knitting booklets (one, by McCalls, has Barbie clothes as well as patterns for real people).

The other thing I came away with was a collection of about a dozen old photos and portraits -- wedding, sisters, mother-daughter, baptism, etc.  I cannot resist these things and I choose them on total impulse and first impression based on clothing, expression, posture.  My favorites are school photos, weddings, kids (individually or in groups), men, women, families -- okay, okay, I don't really have a favorite... I love them all! This one -- OMG, this one -- is my brand new favorite!  (I wonder which one is his mother...)

Socks, socks, socks!

Simply Lovely Lace Socks by Karen Baumer, as found in the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits.  This pattern was written for two different yarn weights -- sportweight and fingering; I am doing the finer version and using Trekking XXL sock yarn in color 106, which was part of the bootie from a contest I won at JessaLu's a while back.  The pattern uses Gems Pearl and size 0 needles; I'm using size 2 needles with the Trekking.  I may go to a smaller needle at some point, but I may not -- my ankles aren't thin by any means, and I have problems with occasional swelling.  Anyway, I did the picot edge -- you've seen it around at Claudia's and Cara's and now Sandy's, and more -- but I did not want to wait 'til the sock was all finished to tack that edge down by hand, as written in the pattern!  I wanted to tack that baby down right away so I could admire it as I worked all the way to the toe!  I did my normal cast on over two needles and then worked the picot cuff as written, except I tacked down the cast on edge as I knit the last row -- similar to the way I'd do a hem, but much smaller scale.  I was winging it the first time around and that's why I ended up with a wonky edge and ended up ripping it out.  I may have gone a little overboard the second time around -- looping a length of yarn in a contrasting color all along the edge to mark each spot where the needle should go -- but it's straight and even and it was a little bit easier on my eyes.  Damn bifocals.

I worked on the sock yesterday, sitting on the front porch of the house while waiting to be admitted to the sale.  Unfortunately, my count was off and now I'm in the process of tinking back a couple of rows.  Last night, I worked on that last sleeve for Fib and I ought to have it finished tonight!!  Woohoo!  I am dipping into the small reserve for nearly every color now and I'm not sure I'll have enough of any one color for the button bands and collar.  I have a couple of ideas and will likely be putting out a call to all y'all, too.

Happy May Day

We did a little rummaging on Saturday and this is part of my haul from a sale at the home of the couple who own an antique mall in our area (not the one at which I occasionally fill in) -- it was bargain day!  Holy crap, they had a lot of stuff -- a lot of little stuff.  I selected these pattern books, along with a box full of miscellaneous crafty directions (knit, crochet, quilt) -- all for a dollar.  There was a very nice package of quilting templates in the box that my sister might be interested in, and lots of patterns sent for from the newspaper. It's possible that whoever these things belonged to taught knitting at one time because there were multiple copies of a few of the patterns.  Kate & Al went through boxes of mismatched silverware and came up with a handful each, and they found some other stuff, too.  It was fun -- I love early season rummage sales after the long drought of winter.

On Sunday, while Katie spent four hours cleaning up and throwing out, I copied all 1200 +/- pictures from her memory stick to our computer, then burned them all to a DVD.  I'm in the process of sorting them into folders (UK, France, Italy, etc.) and even subfolders (Wales, Ireland, Dover, etc.) for slide shows.  In a word:  WOW!  And so many pictures that bring to mind Sandy of the Skies.  ; )  The "orphan" photo above is one that Katie found at a shop in Italy -- she also brought home a couple of studio portraits, but this informal snapshot, with all the moms and aunts and grandmas and babies, is a favorite of us both.  Oh, that Katie... I'm definitely rubbing off on her.  ; )

Thank you for all the lovely "I" comments.  I think you can tell that my individuals had a good time helping me out with the photo challenge.  I chuckled at Robyn's comment about them all being in blue (Katie had a black shirt on) because I'd said the same thing when I uploaded the photos.  I think their individuality shows in very subtle, everyday ways.  Nothing was staged at all, it was very impromptu -- I said, "Let's go outside before I forget or it gets dark; I need to take your picture for my 'I' shot and my word is 'individual'; what can we do?"  We brainstormed on our way out the door!  You'll notice that Maddy doesn't even have shoes on... did you notice Ali's?

"The Royal Crescent and daffodils from Royal Victoria Park, Bath."  I don't have daffodils yet.  You know what?  I won't ever have daffodils unless I plant some!  I know, I know...  We had a pretty crappy weekend, so I didn't get to tour my yard to see if anything is happening.  Judging from last April's blog photos, I might see some sedum and tulips getting a start, as well as my favorite bleeding heart!  The sun is starting to come out, so perhaps I can take a look tonight.  Thank goodness for Katie and her camera!  Three weeks from today, she'll be back in the States -- I can't wait to see all of her pictures.  The continental tour begins this Friday -- first stop: Paris!  I doubt we'll be in touch very much until she gets home.

I scored at the antique show!  Three plastic and/or Bakelite belt buckles, perfect for the closure of a scarf or shawl -- I love those things and they were only $2.00 each!  A couple of pansy postcards, and the one that Mabel gave to her mother.  ; )  I love the Aero Knitting Pin & Tension Gauge and the proprietess at that booth made sure I knew that it was a U.K. gauge.  The painted pansy is on one end of a very long "Flemish art" box (decorated with wood burning) -- it's almost three feet long and divided into three sections inside; the top, front and sides are all burned and painted, the inside of the lid is done in an overall burn pattern.  I think I can make out "Joe" burned on the bottom of one section -- so maybe it was for his sweetheart.  It's missing the clasps on the front, which I didn't even notice until I had to ask the price and it was pointed out, so it was cheap-cheap-cheap.

I finished the second Trellis sleeve over the weekend and cast on for the back.  I briefly considered knitting the fronts and back as one piece to the arm decreases, but in the end, I'm doing it in pieces, as written.  I'm just past said arm decreases on the back, so moving right along!  I have pretty much memorized the pattern and am doing all but one of the manipulated stitch moves without a cable needle.  Such freedom!

I visited Michael a few times over the weekend, talked a few times, too.  He's doing great!  My SIL wheeled him out, walking us to our car, on Saturday -- it was SO good to see him outside.  He sounds stronger and more with it everyday; Thursday is still the tentative discharge date.  Woo.

The next step

I finished the wallpapering yesterday and I had a feline supervisor.  The tile that you see behind Duncan is a problem.  They're nice tiles -- handpainted trillium and mushrooms stuck randomly throughout -- in good condition.  They don't "go," but they're not coming off -- that's too big a can of worms, too many unknowns.  I'm happy to ignore it, but it's a thorn in Ali's side.  Do we dare paint it?  Can I fashion some kind of cover-up?

I had plenty of wallpaper and only had to use a few of the pieces that had registration problems -- and those I placed mostly above doors and windows.  DH stained the crown moulding yesterday and might put it up today (it's pickled, same as the ceiling).  He'll work his way down, building the cap and applying the strips to the paneling, and then he'll bow out and let the painting/decorating team take over.

Here's a closer view of the paper.  The background is off-white, but with a hint of pink -- the wood on the ceiling has a bit of pink, too, and they really look nice together.  There's kind of a dusky, antique coloring to the paper, which I really like.  The yellow pansies have an almost parchment look, very similar to those in a favorite, vintage Paul de Longpre pansy print* I have in the living room.  I'm no professional, but I don't think I did too badly matching at the seams.  (I did get paid to paper once; DH worked for a firm that designed trade show displays and one of their customers was Kohler.  They had a few displays that needed papering and I was tapped.  It was very cool, but scary -- limited quantities of expensive, handmade wallpaper made me kinda nervous.)

I had an email last week from Shelli in Canada.  She'd been searching for paint in a terra cotta color and was having a hard time finding one that wasn't too orange or too brown or too red.  She perused the While You Were Out album and asked for details about the color we used.  I copied and sent all the information from the sticker on the paint can.  She wrote yesterday to say that she'd taken my email with her to the store, had a can mixed to specs and it's perfect!  Yay!!

*I meant to tell this story at Christmas, but now's as good a time as any.  Quite a few years ago, I was at an auction with Mom and my sister Sharon.  I must have been distracted because by the time I realized that a beautiful, half-yard-long pansy print was on the block, Sharon was already bidding on it.  And she won it.  And I pouted and drooled.  Even though it wasn't mine, I think it's the item that made me a bonafide pansy collector.

A few years later, downsizing and preparing for a move from Wisconsin to New Mexico, Sharon decided that she didn't want to take the print with her, but neither did she want to give it up, so she gave it to me for safe-keeping.  Eventually, she landed in Ohio and had room for it, but knowing how much I loved it, she let me keep it a while longer -- with the understanding that I'd (happily/sadly) give it back at any time.  During a trip to the Outer Banks one fall, we planned to stay overnight at her house.  Knowing we were coming, she asked if I'd bring the print.  Oh, I was very sad to give it up, but it was time; we had a few good years together.

All my siblings were home for Christmas (festivities at my house!) and another sister, Karen, had my name that year.  When I opened her gift, I immediately turned, in complete and utter disbelief, to Sharon and said, "Thank you," then, rather confused, to Karen.  On my lap was the pansy print I'd just delivered to Ohio.  Karen had bought it from Sharon to give to me.  It was one of the best gifts I ever received -- so completely from the heart -- and like a gift from both of them!  Sharon says that that's the best gift you can give anybody -- something that you have that you know would make someone else happy.  I think she's angling to have it re-gifted one of these years...

If you've stuck in there this long, then run right over to see Celia.  She is a funny, funny lady and sure makes me look forward (even more) to International Pajama Day II.

Happy Groundhog Day!

My day is still rather up in the air.  One thing I will be doing, at some point, is wallpapering.  I ought to be able to wrap that up in a couple of hours and clean up all my junk so DH can move on to the next stage...

I got the Spring '05 anthropologie catalog in the mail the other day, and pages 31-33 made me wonder why we're busting our butts.  (One word:  dust.)  I love the green cardigan on page 18, too.  I think I'm half as tall and twice as wide -- no, she's a stick, I'm probably four times as wide -- as that model, so no clue how it would look on a real person/me.

One of the things I've been scouting for when thrifting is belt buckles like this.  The other day, I found only one -- huge, hideous, gold.  This buckle was found among the buttons and things in Great Grandma's sewing machine drawers.  It's just big enough to use as a closure for my Shapely Shawlette.  When I first came upon it, I thought it was black, but it's really a very deep green.  And I think it's Bakelite, which is very cool.

It really hit me yesterday that I have a significant FO on the horizon.  I hope I'm not jinxing anything, but I think it's very possible that I could have a new sweater by the 1st of March.  I'm not officially setting any goals (and sooner would be just fine, too!), but I am feeling very focused and determined -- feelings that increased with every encouraging comment yesterday.  You guys are the greatest cheerleaders!  I finished the first repeat and started the second last night and, if I remember correctly, the front will have one less repeat than the back because of the neck shaping.  Whoo!