Nima's Pillow

A friend of mine has moved to Strongsville (outside of Cleveland) for a job and started from scratch furnishing his apartment (he sold off, donated, gave away & threw away anything he didn't want to take with him).  I felt so honored that he asked ME to help him in his furniture search for his new apartment.  :)  After we made a list of the things he needed (or I *wanted* for him), we went to a couple different furniture shops around his area.  We ended up finding most of the stuff we liked at World Market & Value City Furniture (I think).  And to make his place feel more like a home (& save money), I told him I'd be making him a couple throw pillows for his couch, two round seat cushions for his bistro/patio set, and a set of dishclothes, handtowel, & hotmits.

Well, as simple as this sounds (and normally I'd be able to whip all this up in 2 weeks), time has sped by, like it usually does in my presence, and it's already been a month since he moved out there.  Happily, I have already finished one, solid-turquoise pillow for him...


...and just finished the striped light & dark turquoise pillow to compliment it (it is 18" square, 2" larger than the 16" solid square; but I think they'll look very nice together).  He is a pretty modern guy and I think matchy-matchy just wouldn't have been his style.


All together on his new, modern couch (and VERY comfy-firm):


Next on the list: the pair of yellow + white circular seat cushions.  Hopefully they won't take me another month to complete (though I can see it being true; I'll be making up the pattern as I go along, which means trial and error takes more time).

Who's Thinking about Autumn Already??

First, let me apologize for the month-long absence.  I have no excuse other than planning my October wedding.  The planning has really picked up.  It feels like this month, I woke up one morning and realized it was RightAroundtheCorner!  Invitations are printed and awaiting assembly, shower thank-you's need to go out (the first of two showers was this past weekend), and lots of stationary & details need designing.  So it's been busy & my crafting has been put on the back burner (though it still sits next to the couch whispering my name for any TV-time).  Now, back to crafting thoughts......

It's *almost* crazy to think that Autumn is already around the corner.  Just yesterday I got my daily email from Etsy Finds with subtitles like "Autumn Sneak Peak" & "Orchard Inspired".  Yikes!  It makes me feel like I need to get going on my Autumn "collection" (I can't wait til I can actually say that, hehe).  But then I remember that I still have a handful of scarves that didn't sell last year.  Maybe they just need more exposure this time around?  But don't think that will be all I'll have in the shop.  Scarves are one of my favorite things to knit because there are so many different patterns & looks to incorporate into a scarf.  Plus they're so fun & easy to knit and easy to travel with (my favorite part)!  So you can bet I'll be whipping up a few this September (especially when my hands need something to occupy themselves while my mind races with wedding to-do's) & October (to calm the nerves).

What are you thinking about this summer?  The hot summer days?  Crisp autumn days/evenings?  I have to admit, I'm already smiling about future crisp afternoons when I can wear sweaters, scarves & boots (my favorite outfits of summer).  Maybe a cute crocheted hat, too.
Happy Tuesday.

Oy

Do you ever catch yourself sinking back into an old fascination or obsession?  That's how I felt yesterday after my sister sent me a link to Pottermore.  Long story short, my obsessive research on all things Harry Potter (literarily speaking; I'm not as concerned about the movies), took a stronger-than-ever hold on my interest & motivation today.  I think I spent a good 5 hours (seriously) just clicking on article after article about the actors & link through link on the "extraneous" literary information J.K.Rowling had on her site.

I became very fascinated with Harry Potter when I was younger.  I would wait so earnestly for the upcoming books (especially 5, 6 & 7) that I would hunt down anything I could on the forth-coming books; any secrets that fans had found & posted on their websites or that J.K. Rowling herself had chosen to share on her website (which is still one of my favorites).
On a side note: It's good to know that she takes time for herself as well.  I noticed her News page hadn't been updated, minus the Pottermore announcement, since 2008!  And I have to admit I can't believe how long it's been since the last book came out. (4 years!!)  I've only read the 7th book once and after watching the 7th movie (part 1) I was thrown back into the obsession.  I dug out my (only Harry Potter) copy of the 7th book and started reading it from the beginning.  (I found an old bookmark, a wristband from the release of the book, about 100 pages in - I must have started re-reading it but forgot about it.)


The plan for the rest of this summer:
To re-read Dealthy Hallows.
Then re-read books 5, 6, & 7.
Then re-read all books, 1-7.

I've read 1-3 approx. 13 times, #4 about 10 times & 5 & 6 about 3 times.  So I feel it's time to give the last 3 books their time (or mine time) and get to know that as well as I once knew the first 4.  A part of me wonders if it'll be like greeting an old friend when I go back and read from book 1.  That's how it used to always feel.  Like I was reciting the words instead of reading them.  :)

Do you have a book or series or author whom you feel the same way about?

*(Please excuse that this post is terribly off-topic; I promise to have much more in the way of crafting posted very soon)

Living Frugal

I know this is supposed to be devoted to my crafting, but I thought I would divert a little since I came across this blog post in so much of my "catch-up" reading today.
In a way, it does tie into my philosophy on crafting.  I like to knit & crochet items for my home to save money on purchasing new items.  I also like to use up leftover yarn scraps (and eventually cloth scraps) in projects that can be made over time.  I'll try to remember to post a picture of my draft blocker I've made specifically for those leftover yarn scraps that I just couldn't bring myself to toss.  I also stuffed it with used dryer sheets to make it fluffy.  Turns out they also make it smell yummy! :)
Do you challenge yourself to live frugally or re-use items you thought were trash?  I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to post a link to your post :)

Limbo Projects

Well, I didn't have anything exciting to share this week, no new projects started or completed and I've been house/dog sitting all weekend until Wednesday.  I didn't take any projects to work on because I couldn't decide on one.  The others are all in limbo waiting to be sewn or waiting for more yarn in their needed color.  So I was just going to say, "Don't forget me.  I'll hopefully have some posts coming out next week!"

But then I came across an old friend's post about her unfinished projects' closet and her fight to keep one of her projects out of that closet.  And it made me think about what I do with my uncompleted-"but-still-working-on" projects and how I keep them out of the "I've-given-up" basket.  My fiancé gave me an old folding knitting bag from his grandmother's house last Fall and I didn't have any place to put it so it ended up next to the coffee table.


Since I try earnestly to keep things tidy in the living room, I've made it a point to put my projects in there when I'm done working on them between sittings.  I've come to find it very pleasing to have my in-progress projects nearby whenever I go to watch a TV show or movie because then I can pick up my project and begin right away without stopping the "sink-into-the-couch-and-watch-the-tube" flow.  The best part is I don't feel guilty vegging in front of the TV because I'm *working* on a project!  haha.
Lazy productivity.  ;-)

What do you do to keep your projects from becoming abandoned?

Ahh... the Royal Wedding

Can you believe it's been two months already?!  Did you wake up at 5:00am to watch it?

I watched it on broadcast TV + youtube.com because we don't have the best reception.

..... yes, I did.  But only because I hate re-broadcasts.  They always shorten & compress the real events into all the "action" tid-bits instead of letting it unfold in real time and I dislike watching history that way.  That's not how real life is and I prefer to "witness history" as closely (to being there physically) as possible.  So I woke up, dressed & was watching it on TV (with my yummy, warm coffee) by 5:20 a.m. in time to watch William & Harry get into their car & drive to Westminster Abbey.

I then proceeded to watch it on youtube.com (via the live stream) once I got into work around 8 a.m. to catch their kiss on the balcony and then watched the re-broadcast in the background on my computer while I worked on editing.  I also happened to have a little (maybe 8"?) tv monitor hooked up to cable turned to the BBC to watch a live feed.  About an hour into the rebroadcast, out of corner of my eye, I caught the couple driving in the getaway car decorated by Harry.  I quickly googled it to see if I could get more news on it (because youtube wasn't streaming live anymore) and it took about 2 or 3 hours for anything to get online about their surprise getaway.  But it was cool to see a glimpse of it on live TV since it wasn't scripted.  :)  Ah, the joys of "making history" haha.

What are your memories for the day?

In Search of a Pattern


I came across this image somewhere online (I'll have to find the link again) and now I really wish to make it.  Does anyone have a pattern for something similar to this if not like this?  I'd really appreciate any & all help.  I think it would be so comfy for the wintertime without giving women *hat hair* ;)

Dishcloth Set

Continuing with my "old pictures" theme, I thought I'd share the first dishcloth set I've made.  It lives at a family's house whom I occasionally babysit for.  They just re-did their kitchen and, ironically, the colors match *perfectly*!

handtowel

hotmits

one of the four dishcloths

Check Them Out!


I've discovered & fallen in love with the Draft feature on Etsy (I have an inkling it was there before, I just never noticed it).  So I learned my way through it to list & publish the pair of coasters Friday & worked on writing the four listings for the Dishwasher magnets Saturday afternoon.  That way they'd be ready for publishing Sunday afternoon.  :)


So *this* is how most people publish lists of items within a few minutes apart.  Smart.....

A look at my own fridge magnets.

Lord knows I love learning new things, especially when it comes to increasing efficiency.  :)
Tootles.