A Proper Table

I love my office/craft space.  I have been tweaking it here and there over the past year.  Now mind you since Little Buddy arrived my time is a bit limited in this space but I still wanted it to work better.  I was using a cutting table as my table to hold my sewing machines and assorted crafty items.  It was way too high to sew on, too rickedy, and frankly not all that comfortable to sit on a stool and do any work there.  The cutting table started to become a storage area for me and I did not like that at all.  You see I am not much of a sewer.  I can dabble a bit to fix something or make a Halloween costume but that is about it.  I really did not need the sewing machines to take up all the space on the table.  On Saturday I had to make a trip to IKEA for my husband so I thought I might have a look around to see if anything would work better.  I  think I found the perfect solution and now I am tickled pink.  I put it all together this weekend, rearranged a few things and now I almost feel like I have a proper studio.  Here come have a peek with me............

  

Come on in.......lets take a look.

Here it is!!!!  Gosh I am in love with this table.  Look at the legs, this tripod feature allows me to store my sewing machines under the table when I am not using them which allows for more room on top of the table.  The table can be raised to various heights and even be made into a drafting table for those of you who draw and paint.  Those mismatched shelves might be next on my list of things to fix.  They hold yarn, fleece, and all of my knitting, crochet and felting books.  These shelves were used to hold books when my boys were little so they have been used for a long time.

I bought the chair on sale at Target and it fits in perfectly.  Now I have a nice table to work at and do not have to perch myself on a bar stool trying to sew or create.  This room is actually pretty dark, actually every room in my house is which is odd considering I live in Florida.  I had to lighten up these pictures a bit so you could see more detail.

  Turning to the left you see my computer area where I spend lots of time working up evaluations,  for work and of course reading up on all of your lives and creative endeavors.  I still love the crochet valance I made for the window.

Turning more to the left you see Caroline the Dress Form in the ruffled shawl I made.  I am thinking of making another one in the beautiful yarn hanging on the back of the door, that was from my lovely friend Bridget at The Ravell'd Sleave.  I think it would be fun in this color.  The closet next to my desk holds all of my toys, puzzles and games for work.  It is a crazy mess in there so we won't open the door.  I hope to turn it into my yarn closet when I retire someday.  A yarn closet, doesn't that sound like bliss!!!!!

Turning left again you see the door we came in.  This is my old, oak shelving unit holding a lot of my yarn, not all of it but a good bit.  The sign above my bathroom door was from my MIL's room in the assisted living facility, it says, "Vim and Vinegar, Old Age Ain't For Sissies!"  This room looks much bigger in pictures, it really isn't all that big, but it is space I have carved out just for myself. The new table helps make it perfect don't you think?

Thanks for all of your uplifting comments on Little Buddies progress, he amazes us every single day.

Look at Little Buddy go........

Since my Little Buddy moved in with us he has been practicing walking with a toy walker.  I slide behind him on the floor fixing his feet and helping him.  It is hard work for a little one.  Just over a week ago in Physical Therapy he got sized for a walker, he walked around the hallways for 45 minutes and said, "I can walk!".  We were so excited.  The problem is the walker takes two months to arrive.  So last Friday his Physical Therapist gave him what I am now calling the, "junk walker".  This baby is rusted, scratched and old, old, old, but he loves it and mastered it in just a few days.  When she saw him on Tuesday she called off the original order, that walker would be much to low functioning for him.  He is going to get one just like the junk walker, but brand spanking new!!!  These are not the best pictures as he was walking down the driveway and the sun was making him all squinty, but you will get the idea.  He walks EVERYWHERE in it, outside, inside and around and around. 

That is my Little Buddy, he is as determined as he can be.

Enjoy.

And yes he can even walk with pants on his head.

Enjoy your weekend.

We have a winner....well actually two!

Thank you all so much for entering my Chocolate Yarn Giveaway.  I was so thrilled at the response.  I think we all have something in common, a love of chocolate, a love of yarn and a love of chocolate yarn.

Look at all those entries!  I did it the good old fashioned way, write names on little pieces of paper, close my eyes, dive in, mix the names around a bit and draw one out.  No fuss, but lots of fun.

The very lovely Grammy Braxton at From My Front Porch, won the crochet giveaway.  Congrats to you my friend!

And the very lovely Pooch at Yarns won the knitting giveaway.  A big congrats to you!!!

I hope you both enjoy your new yarn and needles/hook.  And I hope you all had fun entering because I had a great time with this giveaway.  I wish you all could have won a little something.  I have contacted both winners and as soon as I get your mailing info your giveaway will be popped in the mail and on its way to you.

Hope you are all having a great day. 

Things that are making me happy on a beautiful Saturday....

The sun is out, the weather is perfect.  I got to sleep in a bit today and am starting to catch up on some much needed rest.  Stress is at an all time high at my house  lots and lots of things going on, so I needed some things this week to make me happy. I am usually pretty careful with money, not a big one to splurge, but I did have some fun this week, want to see?

Little Buddy and I had to make a trip to the dreaded Walmart to pick up a spare pair of his glasses, he is apt to break them a lot and Walmart is where his medical foster family bought the cute glasses he wears.  So while walking through the plant department, on our way out the door, we spotted this awesome rug.  It is perfect for this spot out in my back area.  I had a rug here for several years and have missed it.  This rug could not be more perfect, and for $49, it was a bargain.

The new Knitscene arrived in my mailbox, I have yet to open it but just knowing it is there for me to look through makes me happy.   Do you all read the Berroco Yarn weekly newsletter Knitbits?  You can sign up for it by visiting their website Berroco.com.  In every issue they talk about their latest designs, trends, and usually have a free pattern or two.  Every time I have seen their latest booklet Folio I have been sucked in.  I have eyed it for weeks until this week I decided I had to have it.  You can buy single patterns from their site for $6, but if you think you want two patterns in the booklet you can buy the booklet for $8 online or in your LYS, much more cost effective I'd say.

 

I even bought the yarn to make this beautiful sweater.  I am in love with it and it is just my style.  Don't you think it will be perfect in the creamy raspberry yarn above?  This will be next up on my list of things to make.

 

Here in Florida the art show season is in full swing.  Last year I bought this wonderful crochet bracelet at the Tarpon Springs Art Show, which I attended with my lovely friend Cathy.  I have worn this bracelet every single day since I bought it.  I love it!!!!  You wrap it around your wrist a few times, it never comes off, fades or breaks.   I swim in it, garden, shower, you name it and it looks good as new.  We knew the lovely Kristie who makes these, was going to be here this year, so I had saved up some of my fun money to get a couple more.  

I had my sights on a pearl one since last year.  Here it is!  I love it.

 

I also bought this gray pearl bracelet.  I wear so much gray and white I thought I would get good use out of it.  Each bracelet was $35 dollars (and can also be worn as a necklace), well worth it if you consider I wore one for a whole year and it looks as good as new.  Could I make these, you bet, but I don't have the time or the energy and Kristie does such a great job. The lovely Kristie, and believe me she is lovely, has an etsy shop I would love to share with you.  You can find Kristie here.  Pay her a visit, you might get hooked on these too.  She also has necklaces and is venturing into leather jewelery.

 

Seriously what could be cuter than Little Buddy eating agave sweetened icing off the beaters? 

 

A beautiful iris in my front garden. 

My back garden is starting to fill in a bit and looks very pretty.

 

And last but not least is my way to stop the deer from scratching up my baby pine tree.  It is tacky, but oh so effective.

Hope there are things making you happy today.  By the way thanks for the great response to my giveaway, nothing better than yarn is there?

April Chocolate Yarn Giveaway

I have been missing in action.  I can not believe I have not even had the time to visit my own blog and all of you, my friends!  Well to remedy that I am going to have a giveaway.  I meant to do this a while ago, but life has been excruciatingly busy for me these past few weeks.  Chocolate yarn is never out of season, so lets get busy with the giveaway.  

I wanted to do a knitting giveaway and a crochet one, so this giveaway is actually two giveaways in one.  You can enter both or just one depending on your craft preference.

Lets see what we have.........

The  knitting giveaway includes three skeins  of Cascade Yarns Eco Duo in colorway 1704.  Each skein is 197 yards and is made up of 70% undyed baby alpaca and 30% undyed Merino wool.  The picture above does not show this yarn off as beautifully as it should, these natural colors are mixed together beautifully.  Eco Duo is by far my favorite yarn.  It is soft and sooooooo beautiful to work with.  Included in the knitting giveaway are beautiful size 10 Brittany birch needles.  I love these needles, I somehow tossed out the package for them but they are brand new.  If I was making a cowl or scarf from this yarn I would use these sized needles to make a slightly looser stitch which would have a beautiful drape.

The crochet giveaway includes four skeins of Manos del Uruguay, Pure Peruvian Cotton Kettle Dyed yarn in color: 220.   Each skein of yarn has 116 yards.  This is very fun yarn with a lovely texture.  Manos del Uruguay is a non profit organization helping bring economic and social opportunities to rural women in Uruguay.  Also included in the crochet giveaway is a brand new beautiful Brittany, birch wood crochet hook in size J. 

So here are the rules.  You do not have to be a follower of this blog.  You just have to leave me a comment with your information, and tell me which giveaway you are interested in.  If you are interested in both I will put your name in both baskets.  If you are interested in only one, I will put your name in that basket.  See how easy I am making this for you?  I will ship anywhere, because frankly everyone in the world can benefit from chocolate yarn.  If you are a no-reply blogger be sure I can get in contact with you.  If you want me to delete that information right away I will.  If you would rather contact me by email that is fine too.  My email information is located under my profile information, just click there and you will find me.  This giveaway will be open for one week, I'll pick the names next Thursday, April 10.

So isn't this a fun way to start April?  I think chocolate yarn can be fun year round.  Hope you enjoy the giveaway and good luck.

The Life and Times of Fluffy

I hope you all don't think it is easy being a sheep.  Sheep have all sorts of responsibilities.   Now that Little Buddy and Fluffy are best friends, the work load for Fluffy has increased tenfold!  Fluffy thought it was tough having all those little lambs running every which way.  They are nothing compared to a little boy!  Little Buddy thinks Fluffy is the greatest, and thankfully Fluffy seems to feel the same.  Not many sheep would wear a shirt, while listening to a concert played by a boy with pants on his head.

  

Little Buddy thought Fluffy looked fantastic!

Fluffy has to help Little Buddy watch his new favorite show, Imagination Movers, every morning during breakfast.

Fluffy has to read books at nap time and bedtime just like Little Buddy does.  Fluffy's favorite book is Goodnight Gorilla.  It is a bestseller!  There are not many words so Fluffy can read it all by herself!

Fluffy has to take naps, too.  I am sure by nap time she is exhausted from all of her morning activities.  Sometimes she naps in the crib, sometimes on the floor, but she is always covered up in a blanket.

After nap it is back to work.  Riding on the blue rocking horse is lots of fun.

Fluffy spends most of her time right here on this truck getting pushed all over the house.  Well to be honest she is on the truck, off the truck, on the truck and off, over and over again.  She is such a good sport, always smiling, never complaining.  Fluffy has watched bath time, and almost got shoved into the shower one day.  Lucky for us the water was not running, we have to be careful that Fluffy does not felt!  Who knew that when Gracie surprised me with Fluffy in December, that this sweet little sheep would find a little boy right here in Florida to be best friends with?  She is always ready to go, loves to be hugged, snuggled and played with. Tomorrow she is going to Physical therapy with us, not only is she a good friend but a great motivator, too!  Busy times for a stuffed friend.

A new swing set and a conversation

Little Buddy's swing set is all set up and ready to go.  It is tiny, just his size.

 

 

He loves the swing, but sure does not like the steering wheel inside the little platform area. 

It makes a clicking sound we just are not sure about yet.

The most fascinating thing for him was crawling around in the grass with my shoes on his feet.  He also loves to do that in the house.  Most kids his age love to walk around in their parents shoes, since he is not walking, crawling is his way to do it and also be age appropriate.  Notice the little photo bomber (another bomb term I do not like) in the picture above.  How about photo surpriser.

Through the grass, on the pavers, round and round we go.

 

Max sure had a great time being outside with all of us.  Max and Little Buddy were very tired after this little excursion outside. 

Yesterday after Little Buddy's afternoon nap, when the swing set was ready, and we took him outside to see it together as a family, this is the conversation that followed.

Teenager: "What is that in the tree?"

Me: "I decorated our tree with yarn, it is called a yarn bombing, it's cool and happens everywhere."

Teenager: Huge eye roll.  "Everywhere?"

Husband; "Seriously?  Does it hurt the tree?"

Me: "Are you serious????"

Teenager: "It happens everywhere?  I have never heard of it."  Continue eye roll, with a bit of disgust on his face.

Me: "Google it and you will see it, and realize I am very cool."

Insert smirks from both husband and son.

Me:  "It is nice to know my self-esteem is high enough that I really don't care what you two think!"

Do you see what I am working with here?  I am worried that my neighbor's think I am batty and quirky when all along it is my family.  I am surrounded by males who just don't get it.  At least I still have Max, he loves to be outside with me and does not care a flip if I am decorating the tree.  Little Buddy is too young to do the eye roll, but I know it will be coming when he gets older.  I bet my older two teach it to him as soon as they can.