Author: Marie Haigh

I started knitting 15 years ago right around the time of my marriage and the birth of my niece.

Ecstatic over Ugly Paint

Marie Haigh4 Comments

The two layers of white latex paint and one layer of latex-based primer have been scraped off.

The original ugly gold paint is visible again. I never thought I’d want to see it again, but I’m thrilled to have it back.

Now I can paint these walls again, but this time I’ll do it right. First, I’ll brush on a layer of oil-based primer. Next, I’ll add the base coat, a white latex paint with an eggshell finish. Then, I’ll start drawing and painting the stripes on.

It’s my understanding that once I paint over the oil-based gold paint with an oil-based primer, I can paint the stripes in either a latex paint or an oil-based paint. As I have already purchased all the paint in latex for the stripes, that is what I am using. If paint peels off again when positioning the painter’s tape,

I will just curse, cry and reach for our gallon of port – not necessarily in that order. Afterwards, I will head to Lowes and buy beadboard paneling. I don’t care that Dan hates it. No power on this earth could make me scrape paint off a wall again.

 

Don’t let Elly’s smile fool you, it is not fun.

Hooray! A New Camera!

Marie Haigh4 Comments

All my life I have only used a point and shoot camera.

These past 5 years, I have been using a Kodak Share camera. It was great in the beginning. Over time I outgrew it. I was no longer just taking pictures of knitting and sewing projects. I was chasing after Elly, trying to catch every cute expression and every new milestone.

The Kodak failed in me in several ways.
It was horrible at taking pictures in low light, which accounts for our entire house.
The flash distorted the colors of the pictures I took. The first thing I typically did before shooting was to turn the flash off, which meant I lost a lot of pictures to blur, but at least they looked better.
The maximum amount of pictures it could take back to back was 3. Once I snapped #4, an hourglass popped up with the word “processing” underneath.

Then, the camera started to break. I’m not sure it was built to take pictures every single day like I do.
Half the time when I pushed the On/Off button, it didn’t turn on.
When it did turn on, sometimes it froze and wouldn’t allow me to take a picture.
That was the nail in the coffin. The rest I could put up with, but I demand that a camera turn on and allow me to take pictures. So, it is now headed to the landfill.

Meet my new camera.

It’s a Canon Rebel XS (purchased from eBay used). I purchased the body only. Then, I bought a new lens, a 85mm f1.8 Canon lens. It’s touted as being a great lens for taking portraits, which will be perfect when taking pictures of Elly.

Elly got a new camera too, a Vtech Kidizoom.

Don’t you just love how the background is blurred?

And it can take black and white shots.

Though I have to read the manual to figure out how to duplicate this shot. I don’t know what I did, but I love it!

Harvesting Onions

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This is the 3rd year I have tried to grow onions.

Three times is a charm.

Not only did they grow well but I also didn’t lose a 1/3 of them in the drying process.

Here’s what I’ve learned about growing and harvesting onions.

Soil is important. I amended the soil with compost. I had done so before, but this year I increased the amount of compost twofold. It mattered. This is the largest they have ever grown.

Mulch is necessary. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. I used grass clippings. Yet, it helped retain the water that the soaker hose or Mother Nature delivered.

Air flow is essential in the drying process. The previous two times, I had laid the onions out on our front porch. They got a lot of sun thanks to the southern exposure, but there is very little airflow due to brick wall. This year, I laid them in the garden for a few days before transferring them to the chaise lounge.

Total onions lost in the drying process: 1. It was eaten by a bug.

Now to make my favorite onion dish, onion tart.

Underlining for the First Time

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I have never underlined a dress. Up until a few days ago, I didn’t even understand what an underling was and what it was used for.

Thankfully, one of the sections of Gertie’s Bombshell Dress class is on underlinings.

Based on Gertie’s recommendations, I will be underlining the bodice of both my dress and Elly’s dress. It will provide extra body to the taffeta fabric and also allow me to catch stitch the seams without my stitches showing through. Plus, it will keep me sane because I can write all my notes for each pattern piece on the underlining. Nobody will see them as they will be hidden in between the taffeta fabric and the lining. Brilliant!

I’m using a purple cotton from my stash for the underlining. The muslin in my stash felt too lightweight and it was 11 o’clock at night.

I still haven’t cut out the taffeta fabric or the colorful lining fabric. I’m hoping after I do all the thread tracing on the underlining I will feel more brave.

Introducing Baby Gertie

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Last week on our way home from the Hickory Park pool, I pulled over to check out a yard sale. Boy was I glad I did.

I found the perfect table to sit in our living room next to our wing back chair. It was a steal at $2.

Elly made out even better. She found a new baby doll to love.

Truthfully, the doll won’t win any beauty pageants. But, her carriage could make even Cinderella green with envy.

Not only can Baby Gertie be wheeled throughout the house in it, but it is truly magical. It has two air hoses in it that can move Baby Gertie’s hands up and down when the carriage handle is squeezed.

We had named Baby Gertie right away. Elly is obsessed with learning everybody’s names these days. Later in the evening while looking the carriage over, I learned that it had a name: “Karen and her Magic Carriage”. I asked Elly if she wanted to call the baby Karen, since that was her given name.

“No, she is Baby Gertie” said Elly. And so she is.

Baby Gertie is not allowed out of the house. I don’t think I could replace her if she was lost or tossed out of the car window as we have already lost a toy and a set of CDs that way.

Mixed Feelings about Mohair

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The skirt I am knitting Elly is a complete joy save for one thing.

The math worked out perfectly, which never happens. I had no intention of publishing the pattern for this skirt, but since the math was so easy to calculate for each and every tier, I’ve changed my mind.

The large spans of stockinette stitch makes the skirt a great project on the go. I can knit a few stitches while watching Elly run around at all the different playgrounds we visit. But if Elly needs a push on a swing or moral support to climb a ladder, I can drop my knitting on a dime without worry of losing my place.

The Malabrigo Merino Worsted knits like its colorway: butter. It’s so soft and squishy. I just adore it.

I loved Claudia’s hand painted boucle, consisting of mostly kid mohair with a bit of wool and nylon mixed in, from first sight. I still do. The colors are beautiful. It gives the skirt a fun pop of color, making it perfect for my vibrant, little girl to wear. My only complaint, and it’s a big one, is that it’s annoying to knit. All the loops on it get snagged on my needles.

I find that I have to watch my knitting closely to ensure the yarn is knit cleanly through each stitch. It slows me down considerably and takes some of the enjoyment away. I have a good mind to hunt down a substitute yarn for the next skirt I knit for Elly. Yes, there will be a 2nd skirt. The good outweighs the bad.

A Muslin for Me

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It fits!

It also looks nothing like Simplicity 1910.

I changed my mind. When I saw Gertie’s Bombshell Dress class on Craftys.com, I fell immediately in love.

Since having Elly, clothing with clear waist definition looks more attractive on me. It draws attention to my waist and bust and away from everything south, such as my squishy tummy and my American thighs.

It took two fittings to get the muslin just right.

The first thing I noticed was that the cups sagged. My days of being perky are over it seems. A halter strap came to my rescue.

Additionally, the initial fitting had me struggling to breath and that was without the underlining, boning and lining. So, I let out the side seams a 1/4 inch.

It’s perfect now. I can breathe. It fits.

Now, I just have to get the nerve to cut out the gorgeous purple taffeta and irreplaceable Mexican lace. Gulp.

Sunday Snapshots (of Weavers Orchard)

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This was our 2nd visit to Weavers Orchard.

Though other children were picking blueberries, I had no luck in convincing Elly that we should join their efforts. Elly only had eyes for the animals.

When she wasn’t chatting with the goats and chickens, she was scaling the playground.

Unfortunately, even after only 6 hours in the sun, the wooden ladder and the plastic slide were hot to the touch.

After about an hour of playing and buying fruits from the Farmer’s Market, we came home to play in “Cookie Monster”.