Kitchen Curtains, plus

When we moved into our house in the woods, I knew I was going to have "fun" with supplying window treatments for it.  For one, I really didn't want to take away the view of the woods, but then, I did want a bit of privacy.  Of course, those who have been here would say, "Privacy from what? The squirrels."  :)

The previous owner of this house, had remodeled the kitchen and dining room. He took out the wall between the two rooms, making one huge kitchen.  He also, put in three fairly large kitchen windows.  The view out those windows is great, but the western setting sun can be blinding when cooking dinner. 

We went for years with nothing at the windows.  I measured the windows and figured out how much fabric I would need for curtains.  Bought some fabric, didn't like it when I got it home.  Did that twice..........

Bought the curtain rods, LOVED them and The UPS Store guy put them up.  Then they sat empty. and empty. and empty. and empty, for what seemed like a year, maybe more....

FINALLY,  I had a brilliant idea! I have loved Early American, Folk Art, Antiques and now Shabby Chic decorating.  The idea for the windows incorporates those decorating styles and was embroidered dresser scarves! (Do you remember those?)

So, Rebekah and I went off to Canton(flea market), and voila! here are my curtains. :)  None are the same, but tried to make sure that each one had blue in them. 

There are three windows, so I took two pics. The center window is in each picture.

Another project that I have been working on, is a baby gift.  The UPS Store guy's cousin has had her first baby.  So, I thought that it would be fun to send something hand made for the baby to her.

I designed the shrug and hat. The flower came out of the flower book by Leslie Stanfield, that I mentioned in the previous blog entry.

Since I don't have a baby at my house, I have brought out one of my favorite baby dolls, that I used to play with, to model for us. 

Projects

I have three wonderful sisters-in-law.  Right now, one of them, Donna, is receiving chemo and fighting back hard to recover.

So, I decided that I need to make some soft and fun hats and a shawl. The shawl, even though it is a hot summer in the northeastern US, is helping in the air conditioning of the hospital.

I found the pattern for the hat below from LionBrand.com, it is a free download.  The pattern calls for fun fur yarn and another yarn to be held with it as you knit.  I used a purple worsted weight cotton.

The pattern for the flower is from the book 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet, by Lesley Stanfield. It is the Zinnia pattern.



 This crocheted green hat is a pattern that I found on Ravelry.  It is named, Ridge Hat with Brim,and written by Kool Stitch. The great flower on this hat is included in the directions for the hat.

This shawl is a variation of my pattern, that is named Terrific Shoulder shawl. I made the shawl longer than the pattern says to, and added a great edging to the bottom of the shawl.  Sorry that I don't have a picture on the mannequin, or a person.  :/ I forgot to do that.  I was so excited when I finished it and how the striping of the yarn worked, that I didn't think about an "up" picture.  The yarn that I used is Lion Brands Impressions, a bulky weight easy care acrylic. 

So, in the studio, I am working on a couple of new patterns, but also, trying to finish up UFO's (unfinished objects). 

I don't know about you, but with knitting, my mind can have it done tomorrow, but reality is that my hands don't work that fast.  :)  I have made a list, checked it twice and am going to finish the 20+ projects.  I will let you see them as I finish, I want the UFO's either finished or ripped out.

A New Pattern

I have been very busy working on some new patterns, and some family projects.  Today I want to show you my new pattern.

Its name is Ma Cherie.  I love this little shawl. It is quick, works up on size 19 US knitting needles and uses between 150 and 220 yards of yarn. There are now two sizes for it. One size, the shorter size, is shown in the top 4 pictures and there is a longer size, which is shown in the 5th picture.

 The teal and red ones are from bulky weight yarns.  The teal is a Bernat yarn and the red one is a Lion Brand yarn.

I have found this little shawl, great in air conditioned restaurants and I think it will be wonderful in the winter too. It adds so much to any outfit, really.

 This off white one, is made from worsted weight cotton yarn.

The off-white one below, is the longer version.  Some of the knitters, who tested this for me, wanted a longer one.  So, we added that version to the pattern, too.



This pattern can be found in my Etsy shop, here. Or in my Ravelry shop . I even have some finished ones in my Etsy shop, too.