Weekly Roundup

This has been a typical week for me.  I babysat my adorable little grandsons on Sunday.  There is nothing I love doing more.  Monday night, my daughter and I and the boys did some curtain and grocery shopping.  We might have found some curtains for their new living room, but the final decision hasn't been made yet.  Tuesday lunch hour I spent at the fabric store picking up some fabric and supplies.  Tuesday after work I did a bank run to both banks and that evening Elsie and I hit the hardware store to look for paint chips for some new paint for their new house.  Wednesday night I actually stayed home and finished a sweater for Zachary, sewing on the buttons.  Thursday lunch Elsie and I and the boys hit the local bed and bath store looking for curtains.  Thursday night I worked on a car seat cover for Zachary.  I had picked out a couple of cute prints for the top and was going to line it with minkie, a nice soft velour fabric.  But the minkie, being stretchey, was giving me fits working with it and I finally decided to line it with flannel but had to wait until Friday to buy some coordinating fabric.  I finished knitting a hat for Zachary and replaced the elastic and velcro tabs on one of the diapers I sewed for Malachi three years ago.  Friday I babysat a couple hours and then purchased my fabric and went home to wash and dry it before continuing work on the cover.  All this and working a full-time job.  Needless to say my house hasn't received much attention this week.  Today I finished the cover.  I had all kinds of tribulations with the straps at the top.  I wanted them to button, but couldn't find suitable buttons in my stash.  I finally just used velcro like the pattern called for.

Mine is like this but a nice green and brown print.  I'll post mine when I get a picture of it on the infant carrier.



I also folded a huge mountain of laundry while catching up on "The Voice."  I knit on a hat for Malachi while my husband and I caught up on some of the shows we follow.  Thank goodness for On Demand.  I have so many projects I want to work on.  I have six diapers to finish and then my next project is Malachi's dinosaur costume for Halloween.  Next will be our Regency dresses for Jane Austen bunco night in November.  Malachi needs winter pajamas......the list goes on and on. 

~Jane

Saturday Catch Up - October 6

This has been a busy week.  I started by canning up 15 pints of applesauce from the apples on our own trees.  It is very good!

I started working on a sweater I began for Malachi, but will finish up for Zachary.  I love the baby green and the cable design on the fronts.  I'm working on the hood now and then it will be finished.

I spent all day today sorting out my sewing counter.  I have so many projects I want to do, but it was getting impossible since there was not a single inch of clear space around my machine.  I threw away some projects I had cut out years ago, like a dress for Elsie, since I knew she wouldn't be able to wear it now.  Out of style and different lifestyle as a mom.  I sorted out a lot of papers for recycling, and some things for the thrift store.   Mostly, I just organized things and now I have lots of space to work.  Ignore the ironing board, it has stuff to be moved to where it belongs in other rooms.  I felt very productive today, and it was so nice to spend a day at home.  I didn't go outside once!  :)

~Jane

Camera AWOL

I have somehow managed to misplace my camera and it is driving me nuts.  I have some pictures on it I want to share.

Tonight my daughter and I hosted a craft/movie night at my house.  It was a wonderful time to talk with friends.  We watched "The Help."  It never ceases to amaze me that I lived through that time period and was mostly unaware.

My craft for the evening was knitting on honeycomb hexipuffs for a way-in-the-future to be finished project. You can see here what the finished product it supposed to look like.  It's knit from the leftover yarn you have when you knit socks.  It's the Beekeeper's Quilt from Little Owl Knits.

I also am working on a nap mat (sleeping bag) for Malachi, a shopping cart cover for Zachary, a diaper bag for Elsie, some baby presents for my niece, and several other knitting projects.  I finished the sleeves on my hollyberry sweater and now I  need to block all the pieces and sew them together so I can knit the buttonbands on it.  Lots of things to work on.  :)

~Jane

Catching Up - September

I am sitting here typing, very sore.  I had a massage today and working out all the knots was a painful process.  This has been an incredibly busy month. 

The estate sale ladies did their thing.  There is still some stuff to sort through and decide what to keep for a future garage sale and what to donate to the thrift store.  Then a meeting with my brothers to prioritize the work that needs to be done.  I've decided to sell the house for sure.  For a while, I was thinking my daughter and her family could maybe live in it and pay off some bills, but I just don't think the floor plan would work for them very well, and the house needs a ton of work.  I am just willing to do enough to sell it.

My daughter and her family have moved, or at least are mostly moved.  They were renting a house from a family member, but the house, while beautiful, had absolutely no yard for Malachi to play in.  They could only have one dog there, and he had to be outside.  In the new place there is a big yard for Malachi to play in and they can have both dogs.  Also, it has a third bedroom for the baby.  The other house had one of those offices on the front of the house that realtor's call a third bedroom, but really!   The new house needs some sprucing up, but I think they'll be able to settle in and make it home.  However, first we have to get the old one cleaned up and that has been a real job, especially working around a three-year-old and a new baby who wants to be held all the time.  :)

My son-in-law had knee surgery last week, so that has been another thing to work in and work around.  My daughter went back to work from maternity leave.  Work has had a flurry of busy.  Hopefully, all the difficult things are done now, and life will be able to settle down for a while.  I have lots of projects in the works and need time to work on them!

~Jane - whose little guy turned three months today!

Estate Sale

If you've been following this blog at all, you know my mother passed away two and a half years ago.   She left a four-bedroom house stuffed to the rafters with things, most of which were antique or collectible, and the rest were at least vintage.  It was almost an unsurmountable task at the beginning and we had to move some stuff to storage, then to her greenhouse, and have several garage sales just to have enough space to sort through the rest of the stuff.  It's been a long, horrible process.  Long because there was just so much stuff!  Horrible because it was my mother's and I had to dispose of it.  Horrible because I knew enough to know stuff was worth something, but not enough to know what it was worthor where to sell it.  Guilt ridden when I had to sell something below its value.  Selling collectible stuff in this economy is difficult.  I finally sorted out the junk and the stuff I didn't want to deal with (stained linens and broken toys and junk), went through the neverending boxes of clippings, and drug home what I did want to keep, ever mindful of not wanting to create the same situation in my own home.  This summer I just didn't know what to do further, so I called in some estate sale ladies.  They have spent the last two months sorting and selling.  They are down to their final sale, a public sale this weekend.  Then the rest of the stuff will go to the thrift store and we will have a large part of the job done.  There will still be stuff there, the stuff in the garage and some stuff in a back room, but the main part of the house will be empty and we will be able to start repairs and painting in there.  I am so happy!

~Jane

Projects, projects, projects

When I got back from vacation, I was all fired up to finish projects. First, I finished some more of the extra-small diapers for Zachary. I didn't end up really making enough of them to be useful, but at least he had some.

Then I sewed three sets of summer pajamas for Malachi to take with on their Colorado vacation. I used fabric I already had, prints I had purchased years ago for a project that never was started.  But Malachi loved them anyways.

After that, I sewed two summer skirts for my daughter (who, I believe, has yet to wear either of them and probably won't). :)

Lastly, I sewed a car mat for Malachi to take on vacation, which turned out to be such a hit, I made another one for him to give as a birthday present to one of his friends.

I've knit a shawl for myself, which needs to be blocked. I'll post a picture when its blocked.  I'm back to knitting on my cable sweater. Fall is coming and I'm going to need it.

~Jane

Baby Shower Quilts

Just before we went on vacation, my daughter's friends had a baby shower for her and Zach.  I finished up a couple of quilts - one for one of the friend's little boy and one for Zach.  The one with jungle animals was for Leah and the one with forest animals is for Zach. 

~Jane