Treasures

My cousin has been cleaning out my Aunt's house after her death in April. She gave me these boxes of fabrics and yarns that she came across. So precious to me. I keep wondering, "what was she going to make with this stuff?" All kinds of fabs, some old, some newer, the yarns are more of the crafty type yarns. Good for making oddments and things. Even some knitting needles and a couple of crocheted projects that were started. All of these are very precious treasures to me.

I went to a garage sale yesterday and found these little snowmen plates. So cute! I just had to have them since I collect snowmen. More little treasures.

I did fix that little matroyshka doll ornament. I took the white beads off from the bottom portion and re-sewed them on with clear thread. It looks much better.

I went to an estate sale a few weeks ago and picked up this shelf unit. $5! Just had to have it. I'm keeping some of my little treasures on it at the moment. I'd like to repaint it but haven't decided on a color yet.

Are you watching the Olympics? I wasn't home for the opening ceremonies, but saw some on the news. Very spectacular! I do enjoy watching some of the games, such as gymnastics, swimming, diving. I have been keeping the Olympics coverage on the TV even if it's not an event I particularly enjoy as I like hearing about the background of the various athletes, and learning their history. Fascinating to me. I do hope the USA does well and brings home a lot of medals.

And lastly, my most precious treasure, my daughter, will be leaving to go back to college in two and a half weeks. So we've been busy getting some shopping done to get her ready again. The summer has flown by.

Coupon Savings

I love those Joann and Michaels coupons! I bought more Cottontots from Michaels with a 50% off coupon. Then I dragged my daughter (by the way I'm loving having her home for the summer!) to Joann as I needed to buy some size US 5 DPNs. I had two 40% coupons for Joann. I gave her a coupon and one package and I took the other coupon and we paid separately. I wish the Susan Bates needles came in sets of 5. But they don't. They come in sets of four and I needed five. So this was a good way to do it without having to make two trips.

I used some of the Cottontots yarn I bought the other day and made up two Grandma's Favorite dishcloths. I love making them. Very good mindless knitting for watching TV. Look how they came out almost identical.

I got all my flowers planted this weekend. My yard is going to look so pretty once they start growing and blooming. So then I decided to do a little home improvement project while I was outside. I painted my gate. Here's the before:

And here's the after:

It's amazing how a little coat of paint can really brighten things up! I had to replace the latch on the gate as it was broken and that's what led to this painting project. Sometime in the near future I need to refinish and restain the deck. Not looking forward to that.

New Yarn

I needed some new yarn to pet. Sometimes a knitter JUST needs new yarn. So, I went back to the new local yarn store that recently opened. I've been lusting after this yarn since I went there two weeks ago and didn't buy it. I kept thinking about it, wanting it. I don't know why and I don't know why I didn't buy it when I was there. Just one of those things. I went today and bought it. I have no idea what I'm going to make with it. Maybe an absolutely beautiful dishcloth since I only bought one skein.

And while I was there I signed up for a class. The class isn't until October, but that's OK, I have something to look forward to.

A couple of weeks ago I had a half off coupon for Michaels. I went there and bought this box. Just HAD to have it.

Isn't it pretty? I'm storing all my DPNs in there and circular needles. Plenty of room, and plenty of room for more!

I love my pretty needle box!

Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday. My sweet baby girl will be 19. Her last year to be a teenager. I'm making her a cake and it's just about time to get it out of the oven. So, I'm off for now. I hope you're having a great weekend!

Off the Beaten Path

It was a fairly nice day yesterday so I decided to go for a drive to somewhere I've never been. I went to a quilt shop in Wyandotte. I had never been there before and wanted to look at pretty quilt fabrics. They had lots of pretty fabric! It made me want to sit right down and quilt. I may take a quilt class in the future, probably not until fall. I bought these little pieces of fabric:

Such vibrant colors! I love them.

I also went to Joann and bought some DPNs. I needed some size ones for a project, five of them to be exact. I ended up buying this set of teeny tiny skinny needles, it has five of each size of 000,00,0 and 1. Oh lord are some of them skinny. They were $9.99 but I had a 40% off coupon, so I got them for about $6.00. Yay for coupons!

I finally finished the fingerless mittens I was making. I like them! It's so hard to get a picture of the beads in the yarn, I just can't get them to show up without totally blurring the picture. So this is the best I can do. You can see the glittery thread that also runs through the yarn.

I also went and saw my Mom yesterday. She's doing very well after that long ordeal with illness! I took some Finished Objects to show her, one being the first little Project Bag that I made. She loved it! I told her to keep it. She's so happy with that little bag. And that makes me happy! I'm so glad she's getting well again.

That's it for my weekend so far, it's been very relaxing. I hope you are having a great weekend too!

The Big Box of Yarn

There it is . . . the big box of yarn! Look at all that yarn. Isn't it gorgeous? Don't you just want to sit and knit 24/7? I do! Where did it come from you ask? One of the readers of this very blog is a former knitter. She has gone on to new pursuits and doesn't have time to knit any longer. She is doing photography (for a yummy cookbook which I can't wait to buy!) and needed the room to store her photography equipment. She offered to send me the yarn and in exchange I would knit her some fingerless mittens. I have mailed the fingerless mittens to her and am hoping they have arrived. I'm so paranoid they will get lost in our wonderful postal system. So, there you have it . . . the story of the yarn. With all that yarn she sent me, I feel like I should send more fingerless mittens, and maybe I will!

Just look at these cute needles! They are for big needle knitting, and they are absolutely adorable.

It's been like Christmas all over again going through this yarn! It's wonderful to know there are some truly generous people out there.

I finally got the fingerless mitts done that I was making for myself. I had put them aside to get the gift mitts done.

Finally, it's Friday Sweet Friday! The work week is done. I stopped at the library on my way home from work and picked up a couple of books and some videos. I got season 1 of Grey's Anatomy. I've recently gotten hooked on that show and I want to see how it started. I'll be knitting and watching videos this weekend. Peaceful and relaxing!

Have a great weekend!

My 10 Things List

My daughter is going back to school tomorrow, so I've been busy helping her get ready to go back. Not much knitting lately . . . sigh. I miss my needles. Nothing much to write about today so I'm going to do the 10 things weird about me list or whatever it is. Don't know if I'll make it to 10, but I'll try.

1. I love the smell of book stores. I could go in and just breathe deeply for hours.

2. I am extremely shy. Always have been.

3. I hate letting my car get below 1/2 tank of gas.

4. I'm sad if I wake up in the morning and I don't have one of my kitties sleeping with me.

5. I eat cereal every morning for breakfast. I love it!

6. I always have Ravelry open on my work computer, and check in and read forums all day long. It makes the work day easier to get through. I keep it minimized when I'm busy.

7. Every time I buy a new to me magazine I want to subscribe. But I set it aside for a while and think about it, and usually I don't subscribe. Besides, when I do subscribe, it seems like the issues that come in the mail aren't as good as the magazine that made me want to subscribe.

8. I drink caffeine free Diet Coke by the gallon. It's a food group in my life. Same with chocolate, gotta have some every day.

9. I only polish my toenails in the summer, no one sees them in the winter, so why bother. I never polish my fingernails, they get wrecked so quickly.

10. Wow, I made it to 10. Let's see . . . I love reading blogs! One blog links to another, then another, then another . . .