Category: Family

The 9 Cent Tour

Marie Haigh6 Comments

We’re still not quite ready to give the 10-cent tour. There are a few more paintings and decorations to hang. Yet, the lion’s share is done.

Dan ticked off the big items on his Honey-Do list: assemble dressar, assemble crib, hang plate collection and move bookcase.

The penants were a gift from my baby shower. On each one is a message from a friend or family member conveying their congrats, well wishes or advice.

The funniest advice: “Drink heavily”
The sweetest advice: “Love each other”
The best advice: “Do whatever you want” for Elly will be just fine.

The last item remaining on my to-do list were the curtains and as you’ll see in the pictures, they are 99% finished (I’m awaiting buttons to arrive via mail so I can fold them up over the radiator).

Not to boast, but I am soooo happy with how Elizabeth’s room looks.

This post was added to TDC’s Kid’s Rooms link up.

Thrifty Decor Chick

Nancy’s Gift and More

Marie Haigh4 Comments

Dan finished working on the hardwood floor, so I can finally show you the amazing gift Elizabeth received from Nancy.

An embroidered pillow!

Isn’t is beautiful? I just love how the little girl has red hair and how the little boy has blond hair. Once upon a time, Dan had blond hair too. Now, he’s going for the distinguished look with his salt and pepper hair.

The pillow looks perfect on the rocking chair we plan to use in Elizabeth’s room.

You can read about Nancy’s process in making this pillow on her blog here.

Pardon the tag left on the rug, I’m still deciding if we want to keep this rug or buy a much larger area rug. Dan is done deciding; he loves the new rug. Yet, I think it’s impractical. Obviously, Elly will need a larger area to crawl around on.

The curtains are working out much better. I’m pleased as punch with how the 1st panel came out.

Usually, I list the stats on the pattern, but there are none for this curtain. I designed these curtains myself because I was unwilling to compromise on the length of them. You see, I love curtains that hang all the way to the floor. They have a sense of elegance and homeyness to them. Just my luck, we live in a house where I can’t have curtains that hang to the floor, since every window except 3 have radiators underneath them.

I can be stubborn when I want to be though. Elizabeth was going to have full-length curtains in her room so help me.

This design was my compromise: full-length curtains that can be folded up and buttoned when they needed to be closed over the radiators.

Since I still have the other panel to sew up, I will attempt to write-up a tutorial should anybody else have my desire/determination to hang full-length curtains on windows that sit overtop a radiator.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.

Match and Set

Marie Haigh7 Comments

Tamsie did the impossible. She found a matching yarn for Elizabeth’s shawl!

It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough for hand grenades and horseshoes. The funny thing is that it’s the same colorway that I purchased when I tried to buy more yarn. When Colinette states that they hand dye each of their hanks and thus no two are alike, they’re not lying.

I’m still in the process of ripping back a few rows of the 1st skein of mohair so I can gradually incorporate the 2nd skein in.

Though, to be honest, most of my attention is focused on sewing the curtains for Elizabeth’s room. I am in the process of hand tacking the binding down. It didn’t really ‘need’ the binding since there were no raw edges showing, but as my neighbor would say “it adds that finishing touch”.

Falling in Love with Stencils

Marie Haigh4 Comments

What I learned while painting Elizabeth’s room is the following:

The prep work takes the longest and is the least fun.
Painting a ceiling sucks as much as you thought it would.
Painting a wall is quick and easy.
But the one task that brought me the most joy was stenciling.

Stenciling is so much fun! You get a huge impact and a custom look for very little effort and time. That is my kind of painting.

Next on Marie’s to-do list (which is so much shorter than Dan’s to-do list. Not that I’m bragging.): Make curtains for Elizabeth’s room.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.

The 5 Cent Tour

Marie Haigh11 Comments

The room isn’t done, which is why this tour is only 5 cents. Yet, I couldn’t wait to show off all that has been accomplished.

Before photo:

And now?

Well, this is what the backside of the panel doors look like now.

The front of the doors have been stenciled with Elly’s name on them. (Elizabeth wouldn’t fit.)

The shortest of the walls features a home plate. (The rest of the walls are awaiting more stenciling and a pair of baseball bats).

I couldn’t resist buying this switch plate for her room.

Part of the reason I am so excited that the painting is done (outside of the few stenciling projects) is because this belly o’ mine was starting to get in the way of crouching and climbing.  Do you believe there are only 9 more weeks to go? I fluctuate between excitement and utter disbelief.

Now Dan has to start tackling all the tasks on his Honey-Do list. The biggest item on it is to rip up that lovely green carpet that now sports splotches of white and red paint. With a little luck, the hardwood underneath won’t need any work outside of a good dusting and mopping.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.

Elizabeth’s First Dress and Bunny

Marie Haigh11 Comments

Last night, while watching the Phillies win Game 5 of the World Series, I finished Elizabeth’s 1st dress.

This pattern required a lot of hand stitching, specifically slip-stitching. Due to this fact, a month had passed between when I had cut the fabric out and when I had gathered up the momentum to sew the dress together. Yet, it turned out to be the perfect baseball project, filling the countless minutes (hours!) of TV commercials.

Stats:
Pattern: Simplicity 2900 from their vintage collection
Fabric: a gift, the mundu from a sari made in India
Size: Small (6 months)

In the mail, Elizabeth received another gift.

This yellow bunny was hand knit by Nicole, author of Throws Like a Girl blog. I had won a small contest on her blog, guessing correctly on how long it took her to make mac-n-cheese on her grill (1.5 hours!). As a prize, she offered to knit something for Elizabeth. She picked this pattern. Isn’t it adorable? I’m just so thrilled and thankful.

Baby Notes:
Elly is quite active these days.
Visits to the midwife have increased to biweekly.
My wedding rings no longer fit. I wear them on a chain now.
The pregnancy shirt I made may not make it the full 9 months. It already feels a bit short in the front.

Running out of Yarn Again

Marie Haigh15 Comments

Why do I always get myself into these situations? You would think that I would learn. But noooo. I have once again knit myself into a corner.

According to my original design (partially stolen from EZ’s Pi Shawl pattern), I’m supposed to knit 78 more rows in the mohair. Ha! There is no way that is going to happen. Do you see how much mohair yarn is leftover?

Not a lot. So, what’s a girl to do?

There is the obvious answer; I could rip it all out and start over with an adequate yarn supply. Just the thought of this option makes me light headed and nauseated. There has to be another way. Oh, please.

Option B: Knit with the mohair for hopefully 6 more rows so the length matches the previous mohair section. Then, switch back to the red merino yarn and add another lace section. The only problem with this option is that I’m not sure how far my merino skein will stretch. It too is down to half a skein. I really got myself into a fix, didn’t I? giggle and moan.

Option C: Settle for a really small shawl – something only a baby could wear. This seems absurd. I did not spend all this time knitting the shawl so it can be used once or twice while Elly is too young to appreciate it.

Option D: Incorporate a new color into the shawl. I’m worried that this would look odd, since I would be introducing the new color when the shawl is more than halfway finished.

Option E: Explain to Elly when she is older how it is the thought that counts.

I think I’m going to go cry now.

On a happier note, I reached a new milestone in my bump growth. Dan’s clothes now fit. Here I was thinking that I would need to go buy a maternity sweater or two for the upcoming cold weather.

I think this will do just fine.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.

The Priming Work is Done jingle

Marie Haigh6 Comments

The priming work is done
The priming work is done.
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The priming work is done.

All together now!
The priming work is done …..

After weeks! of working in the office/soon-to-be-nursery, only the priming has been completed.  

It was supposed to be a simple job. All I had to do was lightly sand the doors and trim and then slap on a coat of primer. Plan A failed when the paint fell off in huge strips with the slightest of pressure.

Plan B required much more elbow grease. First, the loose paint had to be stripped. Then, came the sanding, followed by more stripping in certain areas that were missed the first time around. Afterwords, everything got another douse of sanding.

It seems that the previous owners just painted overtop the glossy paint, bare wood or polyurethane doors without adding a base coat of primer. I honestly believe that the previous owners never used primer on anything. Walking around the house, I can see the paint just chipping away or bubbling up in so many spots. Those are projects that will have to wait for another day.

It’s a good thing Dan didn’t take up the carpet first. There are a lot of white specks all over it now thanks to my meticulous paint job.

The fun will begin tomorrow in the almost-nursery: painting!