Dumbledore

I just love how these Irish Wellington socks knit up...

 

Fast and easy

with a warm wool worsted weight yarn

 on size seven needles.

 

 

They are designed for putting on over a lighter pair of socks

 to keep your feet warm in wellingtons.

 

Perfect I would say for the weather we have been having this winter!

 

 

Well said Dumbledore.

 

 

My struggles to teach myself how to knit socks was SO worth it.

Perseverance was the word!

 

~b



Where The Wild Things Are

That very night in Max's room a forest grew...

 

 

And when he came to the place where the wild things are

 they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth...

 

 

and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.

 

 And this is my favorite line in the book...

 

 

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

 

~b

 

 



fortune telling

 I see a new tote bag in my future...

 

 

Am I in love with green or what?

 

 

A new pile of books to enjoy while the polar vortex

lurks outside our door.

 

 

And these are the reasons I like winter...

the endless sewing, knitting and reading.

 

~b

 



relics

Gosh...

What kind of a grandma goes to the grandkids without her camera?

 

 

What kind of a blogger goes anywhere without her camera?

A forgetful one...that's who.

Five days without my camera was tough.

I love this old relic from Mr. b's army days.

~b



Big Time

I always have a dish rag on knitting needles...

It's my go-to knitting project when I know

 I won't be able to concentrate on counting stitches.

 

 

If you don't know how to knit...

and want to learn...dish rags are the perfect project.

 

 

And you will love using them too.

 

 

These sweet little finches are patiently waiting for their number

to be called and be seated at Mr. b's Dew Drop Inn.

 

I will be away from my desk for the rest of the week.

While the parents are away I get to spoil the granddaughters...

BIG TIME.

 

~b



stir it up

My weekend...

 

 

was very productive.

 

 

I love this box bag...

enough to keep it.

 

 

I'm hooked on stir fry's.

 

Happy birthday to our daughter-in-law...

 

 

her and our son are flitting off to Mexico tomorrow.

"Have fun!"

 

~b



hear me roar

What are your plans for the weekend?

 

 

I just vented over the purchase price mix up on this book...

but backspaced it...who wants to hear me roar right?

I know I don't.

 

Here's to a relaxing weekend

which may involve the perfect pizza crust and

beef/broccoli stir fry.

:) b



slow and steady

When I came across this ad in a 1913 newspaper today

it immediately got me thinking about my grandmother

 as she mended clothing on her sewing machine like it.

Slow and steady is how you used that foot pedal.

I spent all day yesterday with my sewing machines foot pedal to the medal.

I was trying out a new pattern for a bag and it had me completely stumped.

Here's a suggestion to pattern writers - don't use a professional pattern tester!

I am available by the way.

It was a free pattern

 and as I got to keep my ten dollar bill in my pocket

I won't complain to loudly.

I worked my problem out on paper today

 and after work will get my grandmother's old seam

ripper out to begin repairing the bag.

My grandmother's seam ripper is still in my possession...

however I can't say it is my favorite thing to have to use.

The treadle sewing machine is still in the family also.

~b

happy dance

I was stewing because I hadn't purchased an amaryllis bulb...

 

 

I only see them in stores at Christmastime and just knew I missed this annual treat.

 

 

Every time I saw them in stores I passed them up thinking later...I'll get one later.

 

You can imagine how happy I was when I saw a display of bulbs last week

 and at half off!

 

It only took me a few minutes today to get my bulb planted...

 

 

before doing a happy dance.

 

 

I hope it's blooming for Valentine's Day.

~b

 

 

 

 

 

 



polar vortex

Anyone know where I can buy a case of willpower?

I thought that maybe by now I would have found mine.

Who can say NO to lemon pastries in the middle of January

when you're still recovering from the polar vortex?

~b

 

 



Wing tips and pizza

This weekend I finished this sweet baby cardi...

 

 

And before this one was even dry I cast on for another one.

 

 

I also put the wing tip needle on the sewing machine

to prepare a couple of baby receiving blankets to crochet around.

And you thought wing tips were gangster shoes didn't you?

(By the way...we did watch Bonnie and Clyde Saturday night.)

 

 

I love everything about these soft blankets.

 

I even found time to finish a novel and begin another one...

 

 

My quest for the ultimate pizza crust also continued.

We ate pizza twice!

I'm on the right track but not quite there yet.

I may have to break into the Pizza Hut corporate office

to steal their crust recipe.

"Hey lady, what are you in for?"

"Stealing a recipe," I reply.

 

~b

 

 

 



Navajo

I was testing the look of this tote bag...

I originally planned on  coordinating

 two wool squares for the bag.

I only have one of each pattern.

 

  I didn't like the look

 so settled on a solid black denim for the back of it.

It's a unique one-of-a-kind Dakota Maid tote bag...

large enough to hold your novel, I Pad, magazines, knitting, breakfast

and everything else you drag everywhere like I do.

 

~b



Irish cables

I finished this knitting project Sunday night

 while watching Downton Abbey.

It reminded me of something

they would be wearing during this era and gave me the

much needed push I needed to finish it.

 

 

I think it was this long ago that I started it...

 

 

The cables that run along the edge are fairly new to me

and the cable needle I was using just wasn't fun at all.

 

Until I discovered these on etsy...

 

It's so much easier to keep my stitches on these needles!

 

 

It's a beautiful scarf knit on the bias and

I love the look of cables...so Irish.

 

 

I don't think I'll be giving this one up.

 ~b



flags

I think these pennant banners for children's rooms

I have been seeing on the internet are so cute.

 

 

They can be a little spendy to buy and simple to make.

 

 

I made this banner in record time with the granddaughter's help.

 

 

Each print is backed with a coordinating print so it can be hung

to be seen from both sides.

 

 

I may just have to make a few more of these.

~b



Soup song

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.
Abraham Maslow
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/soup.html#BDfmwkhQhIS8TGJo.99

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.
Abraham Maslow
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/soup.html#BDfmwkhQhIS8TGJo.99

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.
Abraham Maslow
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/soup.html#BDfmwkhQhIS8TGJo.99

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

Abraham Maslow

 

This recipe is one of my top ten soup recipes... 

 

 

Cream of Any-Vegetable Soup

Makes 2 servings

 

2 tablespoons chopped celery

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

4 teaspoons flour

1/2 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon

Dash salt

Dash pepper

2 cups milk

Dash Worcestershire sauce

1 cup cooked vegetable, chopped

 

1. In a heavy small saucepan, cook celery and onion in margarine until tender. Stir in flour, bouillon, salt and pepper until blended. Add milk and Worcestershire sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, then cook and stir for 1 minute more.

 

2. Cool slightly; add vegetable and blend with an immersion blender. Heat through.

Makes 2 servings

 

“Soup is the song of the hearth...  and the home.”

Louis P. DeGouy

 

This is a great way to use up those leftover veggies

and to have homemade soup in just minutes.

 

~b



season 4

Are you as crazy about the show Downton Abbey as I am?

Did you catch the first episode of season 4 last night?

 

 

It's not just the story line...

It's the fabulous clothes

 

the Highclere Castle setting

 

 

and the cars...

 



 

I love British television.

 

I declared the day as Downton Abbey Day.

I made myself a cup of tea,

so British don't you think,

then went out to my sewing room to look for a tapestry print,

reminiscent of those used to make carpet bags or satchels from that era,

and made myself a tote bag.

 

 

I turned out quite lovely don't you think?

 

 

I think it will go perfectly with my new hat...

the one with the pheasant feathers in it.

 

~b

 

sisters and best friends

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." Amy Li
Read more at http://www.wow4u.com/sister/index.html#XvM13kG22ISM5kSg.99

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." Amy Li
Read more at http://www.wow4u.com/sister/index.html#XvM13kG22ISM5kSg.99

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." Amy Li
Read more at http://www.wow4u.com/sister/index.html#XvM13kG22ISM5kSg.99

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." Amy Li
Read more at http://www.wow4u.com/sister/index.html#XvM13kG22ISM5kSg.99

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." Amy Li
Read more at http://www.wow4u.com/sister/index.html#XvM13kG22ISM5kSg.99

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of.

You know whatever you do, they'll still be there."

Amy Li

 

 

I personally know how thick sisters can be -

I have two of them.

 

I really enjoy watching our granddaughters interact with each other...

thick as thieves they are.

 

"More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you've been bad and good."

Linda Sunshine

 

~b

"What is a sister - someone to confide in, a girl that bosses you about, a person that sides with you, a friend for life, a younger mother, someone who hogs the shower, smells like a chemist shop, aperson who's understanding. That's a sister." Louise Dye
Read more at http://www.wow4u.com/sister/index.html#XvM13kG22ISM5kSg.99



 

Not over yet...

 

While we did manage to put all Christmas decorations away here...

it isn't over yet at our house.

I still have three gifts to wrap and cards to get out.

This will be the second year these same Christmas cards

have had to be replaced with New Year's cards.

The older I get...well you know the rest of that saying.

~b