Brrrrrr

I am still enjoying the snowy views out our windows, but I am starting to think that walking normally instead of doing the ice-shuffle would be a good thing.





We made it back safely from our little vacation and now are going to be on the road again. Carl is going to do a basement project and I am going to play with Addy, 9 months old. I am sure she will be telling me lots of fun things! I am taking my sewing machine along to do some mending and my knitting. Other than the two inches of ice they have under the new 6 inches of snow, it should be a fun week or so. The second picture is a long pillow I made before Christmas that I forgot to show you! It was a kit I bought through Country Threads in Iowa by Primitive Pieces by Lynda. The kit was for a long little quilt, but I turned it into a long pillow. It was so happy it didn't get shoved into the Christmas dec box like the other snowman stuff. When I was a young, new quilter, Country Threads was my favorite pattern and book source. I even went on a field trip to their farm store for a class with some very dear friends. One of my favorite books of theirs was Wear Warm Clothes. The cover quilt was the one you see in the first picture. To celebrate their 30th anniversary (can that REALLY be that long???), they have turned the quilt into a Block of the Month quilt. As a young mother , I wouldn't have been to afford the cost, and would not have had the time to complete the sections. I am tempted, now, to sign right up. I don't have a place for this on my walls, but the memories attached to this are just so precious! Two of the then-young women on that trip are now sewing in heaven. I wish I could call them up and say, "Remember that quilt with the red long-johns on the cover? Let's all sign up and do this together!" Today the wind chill is minus 15, so as I pack to leave again, I will wear warm clothes. Jerilynn

Location:Cumberland, WI

Yarn Yearning

Carl and I got away for a few days on a magical trip to Viva Las Vegas. A Christmas/Birthday/Construction present from oldest son landed us here at the beautiful Cosmopolitan with perfect seat location Rod Stewart concert tickets. Just what a vacation should be-drinks were great, food delicious, gaming fun and not damaging to the wallet. We go back home today, and I must say, we are actually looking forward to being back at the cabin, even with the news of ice and sleet! I think I am spoiled. The super soft, cushy bed here must be a close relative of the one at home. The big soaking tub in the marble bathroom here is nice and roomy, but so is the one in the pine bathroom in Northern Wisconsin. Drinks there are free. A guy on the elevator said the difference between winning and losing in Vegas is leaving. Well we are leaving for the airport very soon and have intact our cash and our unforgettable memories of this long weekend. Winners! We wish for a safe journey home and look forward to our cozy cabin. I find myself wanting to pick up the sewing knitting projects I have started...the picture is the Hue Shift Afghan from Knitpicks that is 3/4 finished...not my actual knitting...the shot is from their site. See you soon! Jerilynn



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Heart Crochet

I saw this heart crochet on Pinterest (bottom shot) and thought I would give it a go last evening.  The instructions seemed clear enough.  I had previously watched a tutorial on crochet, also found on Pinterest.  Dana Beach has written a serious of fabulous lessons in her Crochet School.  I highly recommend them!  Her style is breezy and so easy to follow.  Tons of work was put into her videos and I thank her for that!  So, after watching the videos over a week or two, I felt I was ready to tackle the heart crochet pattern.  I read all the information that people had posted on Ravelry about the pattern, so I was a bit aware that it would be a challenge.  It took me several tries, but I managed to get a heart square that looked somewhat like it should (top photo).  I am not sure what I am going to do with it, but it was a fun evening in front of the tv.  My current Knervous Knitting project was somewhat stunned that I had picked up a new project to work on, let alone a CROCHET project!  I am sure I will be back to the afghan again tonight.  Today I am doing some office work then back to the map quilt.  Thanks for the comments and the good idea to use the quilt as a record of state visits!  Fun!  Jerilynn

Domino

Our bathroom/laundry room/hot water heater room that is off our living room and kitchen area used to be the only full bath in the cabin.  When we bought the cabin 6 years ago, we did a slight remodel, adding the washer and dryer, pine car siding to the ceiling and walls, a new vanity and sink.  As the only full bath, it saw a lot of action!  Conveniently located on the main floor from the lake, it had lots of beach towels hanging on the hooks in the summer and wet suits dripping on the rod over the washing machine.  It was functional, happy and content.  The large expansion last year added three more full baths to the cabin.   Big soaker tubs, fancy shower stall.  The little original bath was still used for wet, drippy things, but got little use for baths and showers.  It was a little sad that all the newness passed it by.  I tried getting new shower curtains now and then, but my choices weren't enough to perk it up much.  After Christmas I saw a shower curtain that was brown, rust, red, gold and green striped, much cuter in person than how it sounds.  It looked great, but needed a new curtain rod in the dark bronze color with new dark hooks.  Oops.  The knobs on the vanity would look better bronze than white and silver...new faucet in bronze?  Hooks?  TP holder?  Light?  New rug?  Yep.  A mini re-do!  The bathroom looks cozy and fresh. It seems to have a new sense of pride at being the most newly decorated in the cabin.  That's what happens, though, when you do just one little thing...it gets out of hand and dominoes!  Jerilynn  P.S.  Forgot to tell you about the picture above!  It is the never-ending map project.  I have all the states pieced together and now need to figure out what to do with it.  It just isn't that cute.  Maybe I should have used dots or prints or both. 

Close Call

Hello from The Red Chair!  I haven't posted from here in a while.  My laptop rests on my shelf desk in the studio and I use my iPad from downstairs sitting in the big beige (boring) LazyBoy.  Tonight, however, I felt I needed the soothing comfort of The Red Chair.  What happened?  Well, I have been working on my United States of America pieced map project, and I am  making progress!  I found a fusible interfacing material that will feed through the printer.  So, I put my paper with the states shapes and scan it on to the fusible.  Cut out the fusible, iron it on to the back of the desired fabric, cut 1/4" away from the paper, and piece together.  Working great!  On North Dakota, though, I had a mishap.  I started pressing the interfacing on and quickly realized it was upside down.  I lifted the iron quickly to see how much gunk I got on the bottom, just as the powerful burst of steam happened.  Basically I power- steamed my face.  Yep.  Not good.  Thankful I had my glasses on!  It happened so quickly.  I have a slightly burned forehead and cheeks, but the eyes are fine.  It shook me up a bit, but I still needed to push on.  Went over to the desk where I am scanning the paper patterns onto the interfacing sheets and knocked over my whole cup of coffee - on patterns, under the laptop and printer...At that point I decided I should call it a day.  The studio was becoming a battle zone.  Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, I made myself a cup of coffee, added some Bailey's, and a big dollop of whipped cream.  I will tackle the Eastern United States of America tomorrow.  Tonight it is The Red Chair and the Kitchen Cousins on HGTV.  The above picture?  Three more of the cotton garter stitch afghans I made for the kids for Christmas.  I hope they are using them in their own special cozy chair.  Jerilynn P.S.  The sheets I am talking about are called Wash-Away Applique Sheets by C&T Publishing.  They are going to become part of my regular arsenal.  So many possibilities!!!

Breathe

Usually this time of year I experience a calming, lazy-day sort of feeling.  Once the Christmas decorations are put away, a quiet normalness takes over.  Well, not so much this year.  It has been more like the "whack-a-mole" carnival game.  I need to post some shots, however, of some of the things I have made.  For presents for the six kids and their families, I made six cotton afghans out of the Knitpicks Dishy yarn.  These aren't huge blankets, but just big enough to be cuddly and add some warmth.  This picture is of a brown one, the actual brown being more of a chestnut - the picture is a bit dark.  The stripe colors are off, too, but what I wanted you to see is the border on each end:  yep!  Funfetti colors!  The right side of the afghan just shows the random bits of color, the back has the exposed knots.  I originally was going to make the whole afghan like that and figured out right away that the blanket would be a Christmas 2014 gift at the rate I was going.  So, I did both ends with the spots of color and bigger stripes with a solid center.  It turned out good.  I am working on another afghan, at night during my Knervous Knitting time.  The pattern is simple, so I don't know why I keep making mistakes and have to un-knit!  Chalk it up to that crazy mole that keeps popping up and causing trouble!  At least the views out my studio window are still peaceful and gorgeous.  We could use more snow, though.  I think I need to spend more time just taking in the calming nature all around me.  Jerilynn

Now What?

Hmm.  This doesn't look too interesting, does it, for the first post of the new year?  The creative process is interesting.  You get an idea, and in your mind it is a really good one.  It bounces around in the brain for a bit, sometimes in the active part, sometimes in the part that you don't even know is still thinking about something.  Then you decide it is time to put pencil to paper.  I spent all day yesterday, January 1, 2013, working on a giant map of the United States.  I printed a small  map on some graph paper, then printed some of my own paper with lines, and drew it in a much bigger scale.   The pages are all taped together, and the states are somewhat identifiable.  I am sure some state residents will be upset at their lack of detail if this pattern ever gets published.  So, now that this is done....what next?  I just love this part of the process....I have no idea where this is going, how it will end up. I clap my hands together in anticipation.  I guess this is like the new year - full of ideas and plans and optimism.  What now?  What is next!!!  How will this turn out?  Let's keep in touch.  Jerilynn