Yarny Goodness and a Kitchen Makeover

I just LOVE this needlepoint stained glass poppy!  It looks even more gorgeous in person.  It's been in the closet for years, just waiting to be framed or upholstered on to something.  Cover a pillow?  Maybe a little footstool.  What about a pad for a dining room chair?  Framed on the wall?

 I have been a crafter all my life.  Everything from glue to paint.   Cross stitch to knitting.  Fabric to pottery.  Needlepoint was my craft of choice in the 80's. I have tons of framed pieces all over the house.  I burned out right after that, but when I saw this in a craft store about 5 years ago, I just had to have it! This really needs out and seen everyday.  It's far to glorious to be put back in the cupboard.

                                      

Color in a little more subdued form.  My living room couch is in a soft turquoise, perfectly matching the color in the 5th row from the center.  I know many of you follow Attic24, as I do.  Don't you just adore her?  All that color, baking, shopping trips and English wit all from one attic!  I have made a few of her Blooming Flower Pillows for gifts.  One for a wedding shower gift in their wedding colors, one in matching nursery colors for the rocking chair.  

Lucy has the best photo tutorials for her yarny goodness.  This is a simple pattern with spectacular results!  If you use variegated yarn, as I did, there is no adding a new color for far less weaving in at the end.  The back is in a solid cream, worsted weight.  

Affordable fingerling from Knit Picks does all the work here.  Two skeins of Chroma in Soft Rock and a D (3.25) hook is what I used.

Christmas is around the corner.  We are having 8 around the table this year.  Prime rib, spanakopita, Mykonos cheese dip, roasted veggies, kalamata olives with feta cheese and baklava!  Did I mention that we are big foodies over here?  We had our dream kitchen put in a couple years ago....  

 before...

 .....after!  

Someone was remodeling their kitchen, so we bought the whole thing!  Everything from the light fixtures to the floor!  Can you believe they were getting rid of all this?  (If you look close, you can see little white bits on the floor.  We had the contractor put in some stones we collected from our trip to Greece a few years ago.)

 Maple cabinets and pulls, all the appliances, granite counter top, stone floor....we bought the WHOLE kitchen!  That pantry cupboard on the left was made over the chimney stack bump out (look at the 2nd picture above to see the before)

A working hood that vents to the outside.....awesome!  I don't have a pic of the backsplash that was installed.  Cream subway tiles with some green glass tiles here and there. 

Well, thanks for reading my ramblings!  

Merry Christmas to you all and a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Ribbing (k3 or more) will sit better and pull in tighter if you work the first knit stitch by knitting in the back of the stitch!