Ready To Relax On Our New Deck

 

Bought these tabletop water fountains at some local second hand stores. I've been looking for one for a while and yesterday I found two! Together they cost just a few dollars. I really like the one with the cherubs but the cubs were so cute! All I need now is some summer holiday weekends, a lounge chair and a good book.

 

 

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Playing With Julie's Old Glasses

 

Hehehe, Brooky is such a goof, she cracks me up.

 

 

"You said what?"

Winter Sunrise

 

 

So many picture have been posted this morning of the sunrise I thought I would add another one. It was beautiful! We don't get to see this often as we live in a rainforest and it rains a lot!

 

 

You can just see the crescent moon through the tree......

 

Fun In The Sun

 

 

I can't believe the weather we're having. I feel bad for the people in the Prairies and Eastern and Atlantic areas, what a mess over there and so cold! Here in our little town it was a balmy 13 Celsius today!

Let The Sunshine In

 

 

Longing for the days I get the sun shining through this window and watching the kids play in the backyard. The window isn't done yet, still have to put the frame around it etc, but I think it looks good with my handmade crocheted cotton curtain.(Not made by me mind you, that would take me 30+ years to finish or more ).

Cowichan Toque Pattern

Voila! The Eagle isn't the best but it turned out not too bad for not using a pattern. Can't wait for Gord to try it on. Feel free to print and use this pattern but please don't sell it.

One size fits all

You will need;

6 strand raw wool or equivalent

Sizes 8mm and 10mm knitting needles

Yarn needle

Cast on 52 stitches with smaller needles

Work in k1, p1 ribbing for 8 rows (Picture shows 4 rows) decreasing 10 stitches in last row. (42 st)

Switch to larger needles.

Row 1 Knit

Row 2 Purl

Next 7 rows follow pattern so that there is an Eagle on each side of the toque.

Row 1 of pattern; Knit 9st in Main color, knit 3st in Contrast color, knit 18st in M color, knit 3st in C color, knit 9st in M color.

Continue with pattern until eagles are finished.

Row 10 Purl

Row 11 Knit

Row 12 Decrease row: Purl 2 together, purl 9st, purl 2 togther, purl 8st, purl 2 together, purl 9 st, purl 2 together, purl 8st.

Row 13 Knit

Row 14 Purl 2 tog, purl 8st, Purl 2 tog, purl 7 st, Purl 2 tog, purl 8 st, Purl 2 tog, purl 7st.

Row 15 Knit

Row 16 Purl 2 tog, purl 7st, Purl 2 tog, purl 6 st, Purl 2 tog, purl 7 st, Purl 2 tog, purl 6st.

Row 17 Knit

Row 18 Purl 2 tog, purl 6st, Purl 2 tog, purl 5 st, Purl 2 tog, purl 6 st, Purl 2 tog, purl 5st.

Continue in this manner until there are 22 stitches remaining.

Next row, knit 2 tog – 11 times (11 stitches remaining)

Cut yarn, leaving about 2 feet and pass through remaining sts to fasten off.

Weave in all ends.

All Things Must Come To An End

 

 

You're probably wondering about the title but there's a reason for it. My mom gave me a bin full of yarn a while ago because she doesn't knit anymore. Well, I recently got into making hats (see other blogs) so I thought I would make one for Gord since he drives a semi to Alberta now quite a few times a month (if all goes well) and apparently it's COLD there. This yarn that I'm using is not your ordinary yarn it is an unspun sheep's wool ( Link Here ) called White Buffalo. It has been discontinued for about ten years now. Gord already has a Cowichan sweater so I'm very happy to have this yarn to match that. Maybe the wool is still available as different products, I'm not sure, but this is the reason for the title.

 

I'm at the stage now that I need some sort of a pattern so maybe a deer or an eagle. Maybe I'll take the design from his sweater and use that. In any case, I will let you know the finished product when it's done. I think I'll write out the pattern as well as it's hard to find a free pattern for these hats online and I like FREE. :)

One Of A Kind Baby Dolls - Girls

 

 

Asia

 

 

Josina

 

 

Anika

 

 

Sofie

 

 

Sara

 

 

Yolanda

 

I started making these dolls around ten years ago.  They are made from a polymer clay that you bake in your home oven. 95% of them have found new homes all over the world. Australia, The Netherlands, USA, Canada, Belgium, England and Spain.



Cats

 

 

 

Such a beautiful day today, sunny and up to 9C.

Jack Daniels is somewhere else.......

 

 

Malibu

 

 

Bella

 

Game Day

A beautiful day for a playoff soccer game. Our girls won 3-0, all the goals were scored in the second half so it was a little bit nerve wracking to watch. But those games are always fun. Julie was on defence today.

Veggies!

My family doesn't eat a lot of vegetables but this week we had lots. At the end of the week I used up all the vegetables I had left, and this is what I came up with. It was good! Added a bit of sauce and served it with quinoa. Everyone ate it so it made a happy momma. 

Five Minutes In The Backyard

 

 A busy bee in flight.

 

 

Grass growing in the bird feeder.

 

 

High in the tree about 20 feet up.

 

Seagulls flying past.

Jack looking where the noise came from.
 

 

Squirrel on the back fence.

 



 

Brown squirrel chasing a black squirrel.

 

Is spring on it's way early?

 

My Hoya Bellas finally planted in their pots, now lets hope they continue to grow. Some were ready to bloom in the glasses of water.

Child's Balaclava Pattern

Thought I'd try something different with my blog today. I made a cute balaclava and wrote out the pattern in sizes 12-24m and 2-4y.

Available here - Etsy.com

 

It's just a simple pattern and will take the experienced knitter about 2-3 hours to make.

Friends

It's so nice when they get along.................

 

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Brooklyn and Kyler

One of My Many Hobbies.....

New hats and  scarf. You never know if they're going to like what you make for them but these girls are happy! I don't use a lot of patterns, I just sort of design as I go along and the little balaclava was only slightly tricky. :)

The Video I was Looking For a Couple of Days Ago........

Aha!! I found it! Thomas playing with the big boys...

...... with John Goodrich of the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band.

 

Thomas Smith on Tenor Sax (click)

 

Collecting Antique and Vintage Items

 

I first saw a lamp like this at my sister in laws' house about 20 years ago or so, she still has it. In all those years, every time I went to a store that had any kind of lighting in it I would look and see if I could find one like it. One day, as I was searching for something else on the internet I saw this one for sale right here in Chilliwack. I had to have it! I was probably never going to find another one. One of the glass petals was broken a few months ago and so was my heart BUT..........................................

I managed to find another one in Ontario! I offered the person the $50 he was asking and to send me only the petals to one flower and I would pay the shipping costs. He did, and my lamp is once again in one piece and I have spare glass parts!! Yay!!!

I found this chair on Craigslist and just loved it! Although it had been re-upholstered by an amateur, I managed to restore it to almost it's original state. The fabric is not carpet as these chairs used to have but the way I put it on is almost the same way with strapping and burlap. I believe this chair is or is almost 100 years old.

 

Since we live in a smaller home we had some trouble finding a small size coffee table. Most of the ones they make now are 2 feet by 4 feet (roughly), but that's just too big for our living room. Tables were smaller back in the day like everything else so I was very happy to find this little gem. Love the hand carved legs and skirt. You can tell they're hand carved because the motifs are not asymmetrical. This table was made in around the 20's or 30's, I think.

 

 

This lamp belonged to my mom, she received it as a house warming gift from my sisters back in the 70's. Originally it didn't come with the shades and I'm not sure where they came from but they stop the glare just a bit so I'll continue using them. I'm thinking of redoing them at a later date.

 

This clock sounds really nice, it rings every 30 minutes and it's a 7 day clock. (means you have to wind it up with a key every 7 days for it to keep running). I did some research on it when I first acquired it and I found out it's a Kienzle clock made in Germany around 1920.

 

 

Music for Life

 

 

I didn't take a picture today as the weather is so wet and it's dark all day long so I thought I'd post one of my favorite videos. (There are more on YouTube just search for mine or click on the video link beside my name) This is one of Thomas' many solos he did throughout middle and high school. After graduating in 2012 he took a year off school to earn some money but this past September he moved away from home and started university to earn a jazz/music degree.

*Edited - Below is another I just found on YouTube. This was a great bunch of kids and when watching the concerts you could tell they were passionate about what they did. They were good!

 

And here he is serenading a lovely lady......