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Waiting on Ideas to Hatch

Everyday is a new day!  It has been a long week so far and it is only Sunday! Last week we took 2 kids to college and dropped them off. We then drove the quiet 5 hour drive home. It was quiet and it IS quiet now. We also took the leaf out of the table and it now sits four quite comfortably or five if you really like each other!  We raise kids to be independent and then we are sad when they finally are! So this week, I am concentrating on the one chick left in the nest. I am thinking of things like Christmas gifts, the Etsy shop, things I am thankful for and what I want to do with this blog!

Waiting on ideas to hatch
Hatching Ideas

 

 

Like these eggs, I am waiting on the right time for my ideas to hatch. There are so many things that I would love to do but I just don’t have the time. I am getting to take a painting class this year with my daughter. I will show you my work as I go. It has been ages since I have really painted and I am completely self taught.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Life is Busy

It is one of THOSE weeks, when everything converges and happens at the same time! So it is incredibly overwhelming but I think I can squeeze some crochet in between all the other activities. I love busy but this is a bit much!

Here are some lovely peaceful photos from our days at the beach. 2014-08-05 19.56.36 2014-08-05 07.08.20

It rained just a bit every single day! It was wonderful to sit around and play a board game with everyone involved. There were the 7 of us and my Mom. Our oldest son and his wife joined us and it was wonderful to have everyone under one roof eating meals together.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Early Morning

Vacation was incredible. I didn’t crochet any at all over the last week. In fact, it wasn’t until yesterday that I even picked up a hook. I did work on this a couple of times over the week.

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I woke early the first morning at the beach and got in a little stitching time while everyone else was still asleep. It was incredible to watch and just to experience. I managed to finish one end of the table runner, not both. So while I didn’t finish it as much as I had planned, I did get a bit more done.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Monet at the Philbrook

We took some time this week to go to the Monet exhibit at the Philbrook art museum in Tulsa.

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It is a lovely museum with lovely grounds and gardens. It was a bit too warm to wander around the grounds on this visit. We  did get to see the Monet exhibit.

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We were not allowed to take photos in the exhibit so the only photo I have of any Monet work is this one from the front entrance. His artwork is lovely and I really enjoyed how he worked with light. We also saw some Native American Pottery.

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The pots on the bottom are easily 3-4 feet tall.

I hope that if you live in the are you will take the opportunity and go see the beautiful paintings by Monet. FYI kids 17 and under are free!

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Tutorial: Crocheting edging to a Polo shirt

I had some polo shirts that I loved wearing. Polo shirts are knit shirts like a tennis or golf shirt with vents on the side seams and a knit collar. Almost as comfortable as t-shirts they are a summer wardrobe staple for me.  I wore them every week but then they shrank in the length. They became uncomfortably short. They were too short to tuck in and too short to wear outside my jeans. While I was out on a date with hubs last night, I had a brilliant idea. What about adding crochet edging to the the bottom of the shirts. If it is crocheted in place and not sewn on then it would look as though it was always there. The shirts were headed to Goodwill since they were too short, what would it cost me to try?

Instructions:

So I whipped out my ruler and made 1/4 inch dots with a pencil along the hem on the wrong side of the shirt.

crochet edging

I then tried several different methods of putting a blanket stitch along the bottom of the shirt.

1st row

The preferred method (for me) was to use the smallest double pointed steel knitting needle to poke a hole from the wrong side to the right side. You could also use a dull needle point needle. Then I crocheted along the bottom edge of the shirt. I ended up only chaining twice between each stitch because three chains made it scalloped, like this.

crochet edging

2nd row

When I reached the end of the shirt at the side seam. I chained twice and turned. This row was simply two single crochets in each blanket stitch.

3rd Row

The third row was double crochet in the top of each single crochet. Chain four and turn.

crochet edging

In the photo above you can see the starting row of blanket stitch, the row of single crochet and then the third row of double crochet.

crochet edging

4th row

Double crochet in the third double crochet from the edge. (You are skipping one double crochet across). Then chain 1, double crochet in the second double crochet across. It creates a grid across the bottom of the shirt. You will repeat this row 2 more times. On the last row chain four and turn.

So you will have three rows of the grid and then the edging. I really didn’t want a frilly edging so I opted for a light scalloped picot border.

The fifth row sets the foundation for the scallops and picots.

5th row

skip one double crochet and single crochet to the next double all the way across.

6th row

6th row single crochet 2 times into the first scallop foundation. Singel crochet again and chain three, single crochet to the same place and then sc 1 more time. There should be six single crochets. The two stitches in the middle will have the picot added to the top. It should look like this.

crochet edging

 

Weave in all of your ends and you should have successfully added about two inches to the bottom of your polo top. Then repeat this to the front hem of your shirt. Wash the whole thing and hang it to dry. You can shape the crochet lace while it dries and it should reduce ironing. I wouldn’t put it in the dryer as the lace might shrink. Here is mine drying. It will still need a light ironing.

crochet edging,

Yay, I am so  happy. I can’t wait to wear it. I have two more polo shirts to fix.I’m off to watch some more netflix and off to fix my knit shirts.

talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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June Flowers

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Here are the Gladiolus that we planted shortly after we moved in. Thankfully, they come back every year.

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The coneflowers that I planted this Spring are growing and seem really happy.2014-06-23 14.34.04

We planted these lilies about five years ago and this year is the first year I remembering them blooming. I keep having to remind the kids that these are not weeds.

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This is the Russian sage in full flower. The bees love it and it has been there for about 9 years. It has migrated from the middle of the flower bed to the edge and is now trying to grown in the yard on the other side of the path. I love it because it doesn’t take much care at all.

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The yellow Yarrow is growing beautifully and looks great next to the Russian Sage. I transplanted some to the new flower bed and it is growing  nicely.

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We also planted some Iris in this flower bed but only one came up. I think that more will bloom next year.

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Irises are my favorite flower and when I dig up the iris bed near the street I will move some more to this flower bed.

talk to you later,

Karen

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New baby bibs!

I have been sewing a bunch of beautiful baby bibs. They are so cheerful and happy!

2014-06-11 18.29.50They aren’t quite finished but they will be soon!  I can’t wait to show them all to you. I hope to get these bibs photographed and in the shop on Friday of this week, along with some new baby blankets. They are all lighter weight and perfect for summer weather. They all have snuggly flannel on one side and cool soft cotton on the other.

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This week has been a busy driving one back and forth to different activities for the kids. One is assisting at vacation bible school and the other has been needing a ride back and forth to work. So I have put many miles on the car this week. It ends tomorrow and there should be more down time next week.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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Date Night…

Date night….was wonderful. It is years since planning a date was a simple as a phone call. Planning date nights was as complicated as planning a cross country move and required just as much cash to pay a sitter. I was also not quite comfortable leaving the kids for long as they were mischievous. Last night was a wonderful time; listening to live Jazz and eating Mexican food with my brother. He lives out of state and it could only have been better if more family had been there.

2014-06-006This was parked out in front of the restaurant. Street legal and ready to go! The music was played by Grady Nichols. You can find out more about him here. http://www.gradynichols.com/ It was a lovely night to sit and listen to jazz.

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I have been sewing quite a bit this week and my new fabric came yesterday. I can’t wait to show it to you.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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June

It was a quiet day yesterday and I pulled these out to work on.  I love the bright colors and simple design. I embroidered the stems and leaves of these teeny tiny little flowers.  I choose the smallest buttons in my button box to sew on as the flowers. The bunting was cut from my smallest scraps. I guess this is why things are always in an uproar in the studio. I have an extremely difficult time throwing any of these little scraps away.2014-05-31 21.58.00-1I just have to finish up the machine sewing and then I can give you a better picture of what this is! It will end up in the studio eventually. We are in the midst of getting a child ready for camp and another child is at urgent care with his Dad. The cold/cough has gotten worse. He needs a letter from the doctor for his job as he is not ready to go back to work tomorrow. He has been off of work for a week and we would appreciate your prayers that he would feel much better super quick! Talk to you later, Karen