So I sent my Mom’s birthday present weeeeks ago. She just emailed me this morning to say she finally recevied it….11 days past her birthday. I am so sorry Mom! I think I could have walked it to Whitby faster. Nonetheless, I am glad that it made it there in one piece. I was starting to have visions of it being completely chewed up when it arrived. I hope it fits!
I made my Mom a short sleeved version of the February Lady Sweater. It’s done in Unplanned Peacock Whirly Worsted in the Blue Spruce colourway.
I hope that it fits alright – it is hard to figure out size when you are trying to make it a surprise!
The buttons are vintage, from one of my many button jars.
The lace pattern is just enough to keep your interest while knitting, but not so difficult as to need the pattern in front of you all the time.
I skipped the eyelet increases around the bottom of the yoke and just worked even. I was pleased with how it turned out (and I got it done before the end of Feb, which means I have stuck with my 12 in 12 sweater challenge so far. Let’s not talk about March, shall we?)
I hope you like it Mom! Happy very special Birthday!! You are the best Mom a person could ask for. Hugs to you!
Before Christmas (wha? how was that three month’s ago?) TJ and I found this incredible deal on tile at the HD. Of course we were looking for something completely different, but these things happen at the home improvement store. But seriously, this glass mosaic tile was ~$40 a square foot the year before (according to the guy at the store, so who knows if that is accurate) and it was on as a special deal for $4.99 a square foot. $4.99!! We were pretty sure that it was going to be a perfect match in the kitchen, but our local HD’s didn’t have very much of it in stock. So we bought one sheet to bring home and try, and of course we fell in love with it. So after tons of searching around, we found out we could drive to Greenboro NC (a little over 2 hours) to get enough to do the kitchen backsplash. Roadtrip!
When we were down at the Greensboro store, we decided since we were going to be covering up the wall that we could install under-cabinet LED lighting and wire it to one of the dozen or so switches we have in the kitchen. (As an aside, our builder LOVES outlets and switches. My little kitchen has 10 boxes for a total of 20 places to plug things in. And that doesn’t include the ones in the seating area). So TJ, being the master handyman that he is, cut apart the wall and wired in our awesome lights. Here is the closest thing to a before shot of the kitchen, post light installation, with the lights turned off.
Then the tile work began. And just because it is fun, we thought we would make a time-lapse video of the process. Make sure you turn your sound up. (And you can click the button that looks like 4 arrows in the bottom right hand corner to watch the video in full screen format. Just hit Escape when you are finished.)
Fun, yes? I have rewatched it a couple dozen times and have laughed at the stupidest things – like watching the handle to the kitchen faucet move. I think I need to get out more.
Anyhoo, after all the work we are super stoked with how the kitchen turned out. The red in the tile was exactly the colour of the cabinets, the grey is the same as the countertops, the gold is the same as the walls and the olive green is the perfect accent.
And we even managed to get it done before our guests arrived for Christmas.
That was the last house reno project we did, and I am absolutely itching to start another one. In April we are basically going to be gutting the living room, so I will have lots to show you soon.
…that I am working away here chez Miller. Today I added a new line to KSC Designs – photo cards! I have been making these for years for my friends and relatives as gifts (both written like a traditional card and packs of blank cards for the recipient to use) so I am really excited to get to share them with you!
There are lots of different styles of cards available, suitable for those who craft and those who don’t.
And each set of 5 comes packaged up ready for writing or giving.
Both my Mom’s loved receiving these a couple of years ago as a Mother’s Day gift. I hope you all will like them too!
Our dress won Viewer’s Choice at the quilt festival! I am so happy – that means lot of people liked it! (Or at least a few people liked it and voted a bunch of times each ) Yay!
) Yay!