Odds and Ends

Good Monday evening, friends! Mo and I feel perky because a lovely fall-y cold front blew in today. Nothing cuter than a Pug in a Puppia vest, so classic. [and Mo is relieved his old vest still fits,lol.]

And sad that this one still doesn't fit, despite Mommy's efforts to , um, make it bigger.

This weekend instead of sewing on the deck I decided to finish my long neglected Odds n Ends mitts.

Leftover bits and pieces are okay in quilting, some people even save scraps and make scrappy quilts. [more on that later], but tiny leftover balls of yarn are just annoying. Yarn seems too costly to throw these bits away.

If I crocheted I'd make a granny afghan, maybe, though Mel points out something she and I both despise, lots of color changes means lots of yarn tag ends to deal with while working and then to be tediously woven in at the end of a project. So---no granny square blanket or stripey vest for Mo.

I love fingerless mitts because I can handle Mo's leash better with free fingers; I also like them for driving and for flea marketing on chilly days. So when I saw the variegated mitts a few years ago, I knew they were a perfect project.

Of course I am even a slower knitter than quilter.

I made one mitten Fall of 2015, then got sidetracked making requests and Christmas gift mitts for other people. The pair do not exactly match because I don't use a pattern and my notes were for a different needle size and different yarn. The new mitt is lumpy because it's not blocked in the earlier pics too. This pair is just for me, so I simply did ''approximate'', no one looks at both hands at the same time, right. [Thanks to my dear friend LK for modelling!]

The original inspiration mitts were made with a single variegated wool yarn from Noro.  Or maybe not! Here

I used my odds and ends---a poison green Irish tweed, red cashmere/ mohair blend, black alpaca, and yes, two ends of Noro variegated. One is wool, the other other is silk and wool. They're the middle of the gloves and the variations were expected, even planned.

The good news is that this was ALL the yarn I had left!

Most of the black blew away at the beach  [cozy bird's nest come spring?] and the variegated leftovers were the ugly outtakes one does get sometimes on Noro, wine, puce, dirty grey. The bad news is, if I lose one mitten, as I usually do, I cannot now make another.

Oh, scraps and scrap quilts? ...I myself do not save fabric scraps. Coming from a garment industry background where every bit of fabric was hoarded, I do not save scraps separately, but instead fold the small usable bits back into the bigger piece or pieces. But Lori of Humble Quilts showed a scrap crazy quilt today that could change my mind. It's the cotton one , first two photos of today's post, where Lori admires the one striped block.  HERE  I love it too. Scraps might be my future!

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Mo and I walked at sunset, so early now. Makes me a little sad. Mo doesn't seem to notice when it's dark out---I wonder if dogs have extra good night vision?

Tonight's dinner is Pork chops or chicken cutlets with seasoned crust, oven ''fried''; Baked sweet potatoes and baked white acorn squash rings [yum!]. And microwaved ''fried '' apples, w cinnamon, honey, and a bit of water or  Grand Marnier. [The liqueur cooks off.] The house smells good! Like Autumn.

Enjoy your fall days and crisp cold nights! 

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Knitting Info:

Easy fingerless gloves on Ravelry [free pattern] HERE

or my Pinterest Knitting page for many fingerless glove ideas :here

best wool yarn, Noro: Kureyon  much better in person // be sure to look at the pics of the skeins.

October ~ Colors and Textures

Hello! Another Friday is here. I hope you all had a good week.  I've been busy! I am having unexpected, exciting guests next week! Family who have not visited in many years. I'm thrilled but scrambling a bit to get my home looking presentable. All the white slipcovers are off the sofas so I can't show you any big picture views.

I'm having a cleaning service come next week. The head woman came and looked over my admittedly not pristine house and she shook her head. The estimate for a ''deep clean''---team of 5, from 8 AM to 3.30 PM , TWO consecutive days , was $400.00 for each day; or $800.00. [and my friend L advised me I should tip each cleaner at least 25.oo more per day!]
Um. No. 
We haggled and bargained to $200.oo for noon to 4.30, one day. "It will look good!" Polish Kate the cleaner promised. But the look on her face said, but it won't be truly clean. Do I wish I could afford the thousand bucks? Sure. But even 200.oo is a huge budget crunch for me. If my guests look under the fridge drawers or behind the big Shaker chests, they deserve what they will find.
Why even bother? I am so hoping if they have a good time they will come again, stay longer. My family is very small and I miss having family around.

This cushion is my color inspiration. I love it. The cheddar cushion behind it is very old, my mom chose the fabric when we were in Cape Cod together. She had a great eye.

These large velvet throw pillows are a gift from a friend. Her boyfriend hated the brilliant blue velveteen, they of the pale grey house. 30" square. So far I've not found affordable fillers, just used other sizes for now. My friend kept the original pillow inserts; I made her grey batik covers instead.

These cushion covers [right] are thrift shop finds [they look squishy bec Mo helped by sitting on everything I fluffed up]. They look very Ralph Lauren to me but on close inspection as I put them out, I found they're Target. Fine. I love Target too.

Out came my mercury glass pumpkins.

Jars.

 Other pumpkins and drieds; Shaker boxes dusted off.

Blue autumn vignette.

The magnifying glass paperweight holds a tiny woodland scene, an acorn bird's nest, moss and twigs.

An early 1800s candy jar filled with tin heart cutters and molds. [handblown, Sandwich MA, c. 1820?]

Fall pitchers. Oddly I cannot find my black and sepia transferware. What is there will have to do.as switching to the brown is too  much effort.

Funny old time jacks.

The swan has a small quilt and a turquoise pumpkin.

Scented candle, candy corn in an heirloom covered dish.

The little acorn sugar bowl, from last summer's thrifting. Next to it is the tiny Dresden ladybug I've mentioned, from my grandma.

This is a huge basket with almost ALL of my little quilts, many from Lori of Humble Quilts sewalongs and swaps.

In case my guests would enjoy seeing them, one is a quilter herself, so maybe. They are really packed in too tight tho and I'll refold and store them afterward.

Next week the white slipcovers will go back on and the big quilts will be draped over the stains that I couldn't remove. Time for new covers!? Yes! But the set I ordered on eBay arrived in khaki, not white, so no.

Even Mo had the groomer/ spa van. He is all sweet smelling and manicured.

Here he is snuggling on the warm laundry freshly folded on my bed. He enjoys colder weather, loves to cuddle and snuggle.

Today at the grocery store I got mums and the first fresh pressed local apple cider. I love fresh cider. And I got honey crisp apple hummus???!! I tried it earlier for a snack. Quite odd, but nice.

The mums will brighten my doorstep and my deck. I didn't get a big pumpkin yet. I couldn't bend down into the crate to lift a 30 pound jack. Maybe my kids will help with that closer to Halloween?
I didn't see these planted bushel baskets til I was leaving. Is that--kale? Cute!

I'll take better pics when it all comes together. Hope you are enjoying Fall too. Hot here on Sunday, I better get Bitty [sewing] ready for the beach!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....