Gift Idea....Spineless Classics

Do you know a bookworm who is hard to shop for? Instead of a gift card at the bookstore, one of these might be the answer! I found these prints online at Spineless Classics, and I think they are such a neat idea. So I thought I'd share it with you. The entire text of the book is printed on heavy stock....and the print is readable with the naked eye.

This would be perfect for my Jane Austen-loving sister.

It's a little late for this Christmas, but it's an idea to keep in mind for future gifts. Another "why didn't I think of that?" idea!

Baby Time and Baking Time...Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These are just some random shots from the weekend...I went to my sister and brother-in-law's house to see their new grandbaby. We were overtaken by an urge to bake Christmas cookies. These are Chocolate Crinkle Cookies...so yummy.

Holly and Nicole baking.

Holly wondered aloud if she had the cookies rolled out to l2 inches and her engineer hubby stepped in to check it out.

Little Avery was not put down once during the weekend.

Aunt Nicole is pretty smitten with her I think.

 

We noticed that Hawkeye and Dad are starting to look alike...they may be spending too much time together!

Four generations of Harbin girls.

And finally I leave you with two beautiful photos my brother-in-law took:

Lamb's Lace Cardigan

This is the first sweater I've ever knitted, and I'm pretty pleased because it turned out wearable! It's the Lamb's Lace Cardi pattern available on Ravelry. If I had it to do over, I'd make a couple of changes to make it fit a little closer across the back, but all in all I'm happy with it. I finished this a couple of months ago, but it took a while for me to get a pic....and even now, it's a headless one! Oh well, that's what you get when you are shooting yourself.

Knitted Fish Scarf

It's a fun pattern to knit up and goes pretty fast since I used a size 6 needle instead of the 2s I use when I knit socks. The info on the pattern is here. The yarn is actually a little greener than it looks here...with lots of blues  mixed in...pretty!

And here's one of me wearing it. I made it 11 repeats instead of the 9 called for, to make it a little longer. Please excuse the foggy mirror...it's an oldie, and we all get a little foggier with age.

One Fish, Two Fish, Knit Fish Scarf

I'm spending a little time working on a scarf...it's cold out and I need one. I have lots of sock yarn, so I figure that's the way to go. This pattern is the School at Play Scarf from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks!. If you are a sock yarn addict/collector this is good book to have around. There are so many beautiful hand dyed sock yarns out there, and it's easy, easy, easy to find yourself with more sock yarn than you will ever knit socks from. This beautiful yarn is from Suzan at Barking Dog Yarns.  And here's why I'm happy to be sitting inside watching a movie and knitting:

Baby, it's cold outside!

So I switched out the bedding and went to flannel. And added some lights for a little Christmas sparkle. That's Michael's old monkey on the bed...he's dressed for Christmas year 'round.

Not your everyday barn....

Today Mom and I took a drive out to the country to check out the barns of two of our dealers at Old City Hall Shoppes. The first one belongs to Maurine. She and her sons put this giant garden together from old farm tools and all sorts of bits and pieces. You cannot help but smile when you see a garden like this blooming. It's going to be great in the winter too...with all these bright flowers popping out of the snow!

Maurine is a dynamo...she's just a little thing, and an octogenarian, and she has enough energy for 6 women.

Then we drove through the rain showers, which were popping up all over the prairie today, to Diana's house.

Diana has the cutest portrait of her and Ed and their grandchildren painted on their barn. Bill and Ben Diaz painted Diana's sketch on the barn for her. You can tell that is Diana too....she has the wildest, most beautiful, curly red hair.

That's our rainy day tour of the Livingston County countryside!

Indiana on Dwellable

Broadripple

I've always loved making things. There have been a few times (very few actually) in my life when my maker mojo left me, and the last couple of months is one of those times. I've been doing some art journaling, but that's about it. Then the day before yesterday, I got the urge to cast on, and make a pair of socks. Thank God. This pattern is an easy one and the colorful yarn does all the work. Very soothing actually.

Dot

Mostly, I'm posting this fantastic little piece so I can find it again later, but maybe you will like it as much as I do!

Driving home on US24

I just returned from visiting my sister in Indiana. I started noticing the barns along the way...there were several more with unique roofs. I should have dug out the camera earlier.

 And this spectacular sunset welcomed me back to Livingston County.

Monticello on Dwellable

Oh Baby!

My niece is expecting, and you know what that means...sweet little knitted baby things! I'm working on a little dress and bonnet. I love knitting baby things. They are right up my alley...small, fun, pretty projects that don't take forever to finish. I'm making this from Mandarin Petit yarn. It's a wonderfully soft 100% cotton that's machine washable (a must with baby things).

At the End of the Rainbow....

The rainbow ends right over our family's cottage. That's always a good sign!

And the other end over the neighbors.

And a beautiful sunset.

Gardens that Make Me Smile

This one is ours...the swing is back up and it puts a smile on my face (that it's done, and that it's such a happy color!). That phlox always reminds me of my Grandmama's yard.

More...just some flowers outside our garage.

Now, on to some other flowers in town! This is some of the City of Pontiac's handwork! It makes walking or driving to town over the Mill Street bridge a pleasure.

As I'm walking over the bridge I always look over at this building. It has offices in the downstairs, and a home in the upstairs.  They have a beautiful garden overlooking the river.

It must be lovely to sit up there, watching the hummingbirds and catching the breeze. It puts a smile on my face whenever I pass, which is several times a day.

Chalkboard Paint at the Shop

Since I already have a black and white and taupe kind of thing going on at the shop, I was inspired by this article in Cloth, Paper, Scissor's Studios Magazine to paint my office door with chalkboard paint. This is the studio of Kristin Krause. Check out her blog by clicking on her name.

So I got busy and painted a couple of coats of chalkboard paint on the door, and then used artists acrylics to paint details. You can see in the little sign above, I used chalk (clever, I know) to draw some guidelines on the door.

 (as always, click on the pic to see it larger)

I think it turned out kind of neat, and now we can leave notes for each other right on the door, too. This is a good technique if you can't draw a straight line...because straight is not necessary!

Going green....

Well, not going green in the way we ususally think of now, but in the actual green. In my attempt to post every day from now until the end of the month, you are getting some shots taken right at dusk, so I apologize for the little bit of blur you might encounter.

This color has been popping up on our porch in the cushion cover stripes, this lantern, a little in the hammock.

Of course in those sweet potato vines...I love those things...they brighten up any pot. Sometimes I plant them right in a bed where they go crazy and make a huge bright green spread.

I just put the second coat on the swing that goes in the back yard...tomorrow we should get to hang it back up. I got the first coat of green on a bench that goes in the front yard, just outside the porch.  Then that, quite possibly, is enough bright green. I think I may be able to blame this on Colleen who adores this color. I've learned to appreciate it, probably because of her.

I know that dress looks like a softer green, but the blue and purple tulle is toning down the brightest neon green you can imagine. That was her senior prom dress. Such a sweetie.