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Dear Diary, My man has the day off due to unfavorable weather. This distracts me to no end. I wrote a to-do list for him, but he made quick work of that. I’m going to crochet, I guess, and contemplate what to make for dinner now that he is home. Jodi
After ignoring a row of five hutches at my local thrift store for approximately two months, I finally let my eye wander to one last week, during my second trip to the shop in three days while on a desperate hunt for something to put a At long last, I noticed a hutch that was a mighty bit smaller than the others. At six feet, it was a solid foot shorter than most and a up to few feet more narrow as well. I had forgotten my tape measure, but I had previously eyed up a Danish-style dresser like my own and I knew that it was 18″ deep. Too deep for the space, although I had considered it seriously 48 hours earlier. I went over and measured out that dresser with my forearm, and then I measured the depth of the hutch. At that moment, I decided to bet my whole world ($75) on that piece being 14″ deep. If not, I’d probably be sleeping on it in the alley behind our house. [Note to self: It's good to know the length of your forearm.] [An aside, if anyone in the area is looking for a Danish-style, or possibly actually Danish, highboy and lowboy, there's a beautiful set at the local shop for around $125. I would buy them, but the lowboy and nightstands that I already have belonged to my parents. It was their newlywed set so yada-yada sentimental value. Oh, so much furniture in this world, so little house!!!] On Saturday, my man and his friend to whom I am dearly indebted, lugged this one-piece woozy home to me. Since then, I have spent most of my time oiling her dark body and Q-tipping her corners. It hurts me to admit that I have been unable to fully identify the model. Probably walnut. The hutch is quite like a Sculptra piece by Broyhill Premier, which was made from 1957 – 1965. However, it is not a Sculptra. The top casing, however, is nearly identical, especially in the fact that there is only one set of doors. (The knobs have clearly been replaced.) The outer panes of glass do not move. Most Broyhill Premier hutches were not solidly attached to the credenza, yet this is… I’m stumped. So, now it is time to begin filling the shelves and drawers and doors. I started out with my great-aunt Stella’s Table to Terrace dishes. She was so proud of her Mel-Mac settings. Like most things that were nice to her, she didn’t use them, but saved them. Oh, sweet Auntie, I miss you. Anyhow, then I started to add various other pieces of china, trying them out in various situations, until I got sidetracked by doing this:
And, I did that until I got sidetracked by doing THIS. P.S. Although I like the way that the yarn looks in there, my man will have me and the hutch sleeping in the alley if I put anything but dishes and various dining room clutter in it. Plus, I’d hate to go to the studio upstairs to get my dishes from an old yarn shelf.
(working on: daisychain abcs crewelwork sampler; old bedspread cushions for the garden furniture; cotton dishcloths for a friend)
I have been going through my summer humid-weather lifestyle shift, which is mostly a combination of adjusting food and activity, as dictated by my body. There might also be a bit of griping about the humidity although I have promised myself that I will try not to waste any time on complaining. It does me no good, or anyone else. But, I might have said at five o’clock this morning, “This is the coolest that it’s going to be all day, and I’m miserable right now.” Oddly enough, I don’t do well with air conditioning. I think that it’s a very personal thing. Some people can go from frigid rooms to steamy outdoors and their body doesn’t mind at all. In my case, I think that I’m best off to avoid unnatural air cooling, except in the most dire of circumstances. (Thirty years of juvenile diabetes and other autoimmune stuff, like arthritis, sometimes sends my body into a tizzy, and it can’t handle the heat extremes safely.) First and foremost, I work hard to keep my blood sugar in check and to stay well-hydrated. I limit, sadly, all gardening activities to the early morning and early evening hours. I ditch my AM cup of caffeine and instead prepare the base for an iced coffee or two later in the day. (I essentially use THIS RECIPE, but add a dash of vanilla extract, use WAY LESS sweetened condensed milk, and make frozen coffee for the ice cubes. Special thanks to my friend, Jac, for giving me the idea of making my own concoction. Plus, I think this tastes better than any cold coffee drink that I’ve ever bought. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with This also marks the beginning of my crochet season. I don’t ever really stop, yet I do slow down during April, May, and June, when my days in the garden are long and hard (in a good way). I believe that a lot of people consider fiber work to be a cold-weather activity. For me, though, it slows life down, forces me to sit still, maybe in front of the fan or in a chair outside catching some backyard breezes. I have been considering that I might sleep outside on occasion. When thinking about easy ways to keep cool, I look to the past for inspiration. During the summer 100 or even 50 years ago, a lot of people slept by the lake, on the beach, in the yard, or within a screened-in porch. Grandma Anderson and her 10 sibling slept in the yard, waking up with snakes in their blankets. My mum slept on a daybed on the porch. The maternal German-Irish side of my family always had a kitchen in the basement, which made cooking a lot more tolerable. I don’t know about other parts of the country, but summer kitchens were also very common here in Wisconsin. Our house originally had one. We can still see the foundation through the lawn on the south side of the house. Oh, how much more productive I would be with that summer kitchen! Today’s agenda: Iced coffee, the hose set to ‘mist’, putzing around with crochet ideas, trying not to scare anyone with my high-humidity hair.
Whew. I am finally done with the rainbow granny stripe afghan. Before doing the border, it was 51″ x 54″. It is the perfect size for a nap. I used about 4,700 yards of DK wool from Knit Picks. You can find more details HERE on Ravelry. (I believe that you need an account to view the projects.) I gave it to Paige.
At some point, I picked up this tiny crocheted apron. It’s the perfect size for my 18-year-old daughter, not that she wears it other than to politely pose for her mum. [This year, I'm going to log 365 of my family heirlooms and thrifted finds. All items will be considered vintage by the 20-year standard. You can find all of the entries under the category 'something old'.]
This two-sided blanket (the other side is solid pink as seen HERE) appears to have been made from a larger piece, perhaps a bedspread, as it is an odd size and has handstitching on some parts of it. I like to shove it under the covers on cold nights to keep my feet warm. [This year, I'm going to log 365 of my family heirlooms and thrifted finds. All items will be considered vintage by the 20-year standard. You can find all of the entries under the category 'something old'.]
My mom had this sofa doily when I was growing up, and I don’t know if she bought it at a tag sale or if it was my great-grandmother’s. Either way, it’s one of the most intricate and lovely doilies that I own. I think that it looks nicer on the wall. [This year, I'm going to log 365 of my family heirlooms and thrifted finds. All items will be considered vintage by the 20-year standard. You can find all of the entries under the category 'something old'.]
Yesterday, I finished the urchins and limpets afghan. I am calling my version The Life Aquatic. I thought that the project looked difficult, but it was actually very quick and easy to make, taking me eight days from start to finish. All of the yarn is Comfy Worsted (75% pima cotton, 25% acrylic) by Knit Picks. The colour of the background motif is ivory, and the limpets were done in honey dew, silver sage, and sea foam. I don’t generally like working with cotton. However, I really like this yarn and I will definitely use it again. Now that this is complete, I will be getting started on my crocodile stitch hood. I will be doing it in Knit Picks’ Stroll Sport Sock yarn (mink heather). Also on my shelf I have six balls of Palette fingering yarn in green tea heather. The colour is so gorgeous and it just doesn’t translate to the screen. My daughter picked it out for some crocodile stitch gauntlets. It is snowing like mad outside, adding to the thick blanket of white that was already there. What a perfect day to crochet and catch up on DVR’d shows on the telly, maybe make some soup and surprise the girl with hot chocolate.
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