Fun Findings at Michael's

I was at Michael's this morning looking for yarn, of course, for an order.  For my friends overseas, Michael's is a craft store here in the USA.  They are gearing up for spring and I noticed some very lovely Cath Kidston/Greengate inspired goodies!  Gorgeous pencils for $2.00.  Eight are in a package which come to $.25 each.  I just adore them in all their feminine glory!

Lovely gift tags, as well for $2.00.  Twelve in a package for $.16 each.  I plan on using these in my "goodie bags" that are included with any purchase, excluding pdf patterns, in my Etsy shop.  In these little bags I place a coupon for a future order, one of my business cards and a little something else. 

These clothespins are a future gift for one of my out of town girlfriends who loves the color pink.  When I stay with her I like to give her something in her signature color and she will love these.  I think I'll crochet a little cotton bag to keep them in as I'm sure she will use them outside to hang her laundry.

These paper straws are cute too and perfect for a party.  Again, $2.00 for 36 straws.

They also have a bunch of bins with Betsy Johnson goodies.  For those of you who don't know, she is a fashion designer using bright colors.  These cel phone cases were $5.00 each.  I didn't look, but they might be for an iphone6.

  This luggage tag and plastic zippered pouch were $5 each too.  They have both of those is different colorways.  I'm just showing you one style here.

The 4 clothespins are great for keeping snack bags closed and are $5.00 and so is....

the zippered pouch.

This travel cup comes in different colors for $5.00 each.  Cute.  If you are gifting some yarn to a friend, put the balls in here with some knitting needles in place of the straw.

Lastly, these journals with an elastic band and built in bookmark are fun.  I don't remember the price, but it would be $5.00 or a little more.

I hope you  like my fun findings!  

Happy Hump Day,

Sheila

xo

Gift buying tip:

When I see something that someone would like, I buy it!  Especially if it only costs a couple dollars.  I know I will be needing a gift for that person whether it's a birthday, Christmas, get well, hostess gift or just because!

Lovely Handmade Tea Towels and Cherry Jam

I went on a little get away last weekend to visit one of my besties in Des Moines, Iowa.  Michelle and I have been friends for 14 years.  We were neighbors when I lived in Des Moines in the early 2000's.  Our girls are the same age and played together often.  I also got in a nice dinner and drinks with my Jr. High (middle school) pals from the early 1970's.  We fell right back in like no time had gone by.  They had the same laugh and mannerisms.  I notice mannerisms so often when I'm with people I haven't seen in a long time.  The way they move their mouth when they talk.  The hand gestures and the sound of their voice.  It makes me so warm and fussy inside! 

I can't imagine what life would be like without my gal pals.  It's not that I have tons of them, but the ones I do have are cherished beyond belief.  They accept you for who you are and don't try to change you.  They are there in times of joy and great sorrow.  Good friends are crucial for my well being.  I'm a hard woman, ask anybody that knows me.  Loud and opinionated with balls of steel!  But, if you and I end up pals.....I'm loyal, loving and very fortunate, indeed, to have you in my life.  It takes great effort to be a friend.  If you put forth that effort, so will I.

I actually know of a few girls that don't have girlfriends!  I can't comprehend that.  They have acquaintances, but not a single "girlfriend" to share laughter and tears with.  I give every soon to be bride one bit of advise.....don't give up your girlfriends when you marry.  If you don't have any, get some.  You're going to need them.

Well, I digress.  Sorry about that.  On with the tea towels!

Aren't these lovely?  I just had to add some real cherries.  The crystal dish is actually for olives, but I love the skinny single look.  Des Moines has a lovely East Side that is getting better every time I visit.  More shops, bars and vintagey little stores with all kinds of goodies inside.  I had to have these tea towels from a little shop called Porch Light. Very vintage looking, but new and sturdy.  The tea towels that is!

I love the rick rack and crochet edge.  You could so do this easily yourself, but I had to have them.  As much as I would like to give them as a gift, I'm keeping them for myself.  I'm not going to worry about getting them dirty, or if the edging comes off after washing them several times.

Four towels in a beautiful "envelope" for $24.00.  The fabric is by Moda....need I say more?  I just LOVE so many of Moda's line of cotton.  If you look close, you can see a little fork attached to the hang tag.  Each towel has a ribbon sewn in the corner to hang it from a hook.  I myself, drape them on the oven handle.

The fabric used for the envelope is my fav, but they all are lovely.

Nice and thick.  One could easily use them for something other than drying your hands.  Make slip covers for your couch pillows.  Sew up a cozy for your mixer, toaster or tea pot.  Toss them on the back of your sofa where your head rests.

Kate Shaw owns Porch Light in Des Moines, Iowa at 526 East Grand Ave.  She has a great eye for all things vintage.  Her slogan is, old time is divine.  Love that!  

Here are some more designs to choose from.  

I love the texture of these.

I'm a sucker for a nice hankie!

Gorgeous little plastic totes!

Darling little books.

How cute are these bibs?

Kate was lovely.  Greeting you warmly as you came in.  Leaving you be to browse and take in all the vintage goodness!  I like that.  She has tons of yummy, retro goodies.  I have three or four shops in Des Moines that are always on my list of "must see" when I visit.  Porch Light is one of them, so if you find yourself in Des Moines, be sure to pop in and see all that Kate has to offer.

Speaking of cherries...made some jam from the cherry tree in our back yard.  I think I cooked it too long as it needs to "slack out" on the counter when I want to slather it on toast.  The plate is not actually a paper plate.  I love these and picked them up on a trip to Texas last spring.  Nice and thick, but look like a real paper plate with little bees on them.  I also have a stack of plain ones.  Amazon.com has them.  They are called "What is it" reusable paper plate.

 Really cute with cherries and polka dots!

Love these colors!

Little ants....funny!

Ok, that's it!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

To keep track of washing requirements on hand knit socks, put in a row or two of color coded yarn in the toes.  

Red=hand wash, dry flat

Yellow=machine wash, dry flat

Green=machine wash and dry
Food tip:
When you make deviled eggs, after you pour out the hot water, shake your pan back and forth so the eggs crack against the side, then let the cold water run over them.  By doing this, the cold water gets under the shell.  When you peel them, presto, the shell comes right off!

Knitted Arm Warmers Kit

Spring kit

It's the end of spring in the USA and we are heading into summer, my favorite time of year!  Yay!  Vegetables from the garden await, the smell of fresh cut grass in the air and wooly knitting and crochet.  I know, not too much fun in the heat of summer, but this is the time of year I get my knitting and crochet kits together.

Fall kit

The first of which is knitted arm warmers.  After all, my friends on the other side of the world are heading into their winter!  

You can knit them in the round or on straight needles.  Instructions are given for both.  No thumb holes!  

I've put three kits together....Spring (the top photo), Fall (above photo) and

Winter kit  

Whether you are petite, like my daughter, or "fluffy" like me, they will fit!  You can make them shorter and get two pair or knit them longer for one pair. 

You get everything you need to complete your own arm warmers:

*Two skeins of machine wash yarn

*One printed pattern

*A coupon for your next order

*A surprise gift

Find the kits in my etsy shop

I've also got some new fabrics in my etsy shop  

below are just two

and 

a Cath Kidston Inspired Blanket Kit there too

Thank you for all your kind words of sympathy and encouragement last week.  It was very much appreciated!

Have a great week!

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Here's a tip from Knit Daily on weaving in your ends!

A Trip to Our Nations Capital and Shopping!

My husband and I were on a recent trip to Washington, DC, 

Rehoboth, Delaware, 

Alexandria, Virginia and 

National Harbor, Maryland.

We visited family, attended a wedding, and walked!  Why is it when you go on holiday, there is SO much walking?  Of course, when there is much walking, there is much shopping!

Just LOOK at all this gorgeous, porcelain dish ware from Pip Studio!  Very Cath Kidston and Greengate looking, but available in the USA!  Awesome sauce!  I bought the two fruit bowls in the top photo.  Now, I don't know what I will do with them, but does that really matter?  It would be a perfect yarn bowl!  Oh how I wanted to buy more from this lovely shop in Alexandria, Virginia.  

Decorium, "suppliers of whimsy and inspiration", was the most beautiful shop and the first one we walked in to when we got to King street.  Jeff Albert, the owner was there to greet us with a smile and he was very tolerant of my aggressively friendly nature.  All of the staff were so very kind and helpful.  I mention this as I have been to many a city where this was not the case. 

Beautiful shades of robins egg blue, the prettiest pinks and warm reds.  Those jugs......I must have picked them up a dozen times!  Pip also has this line in khaki, which is equally gorgeous.

What table wouldn't be stunning with any of these plates, bowls, tea cups, teapots and pitchers?  The photo is a bit deceiving.  These bowls and plates are very large indeed.  It was terribly difficult to resist, but one has only so much room in a suitcase and the airlines only allow two carry on bags, one being a ladies purse.  That's ok, I'll be back and will plan accordingly!

Pip Home, "happy products for happy people"!

I picked up two kitschy tea towels in a Rehoboth Beach, Delaware shop.  I love these by Catstudio .  You might recognize the design.  They are the folks who make those gorgeous, embroidered pillows.  They also make drinking glasses, of which I have several, aprons, beach towels, mugs and plates.  Just tons of fun stuff!   Great memento of our trip.  I purchased the Delaware towel as well.

I found these cute journal books which I use to jot down knitting and crochet patterns, renderings, ideas and doodles.  Isn't that Fifty Shades (illustration by Sooshichacha) book darling?  Peter Pauper Press puts out the best books!  The one on the right is Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life frieze (c. 1909).  If you pop over to their site, they are part of their small format journals.  We usually buy some kind of historical book as well, to remind us of where we have been.  In the last photo, you'll see one for Washington, DC.

I also like to pick up Christmas ornaments on my travels.  Our tree is full of them!  Everywhere from the US and Europe.  I put the year on them to remind us of our trips.  I don't have a photo, but I also like to buy charms for my charm bracelet and I found only one shop that carries them.  The White House gift shop had several and I purchased a tiny White House....of course!  My bracelet is getting nice and full too.  I go to the Iowa State Fair every year with one of my besties and they have two new ones every year.  If you are familiar with state fairs, think.....butter cow, corn dog, cherry pie, corn stalk.....!

The trip was super!  White House tour of the east wing, Lincoln and Washington Monuments.  WWII, Korean and Vietnam Memorials.  The Hope Diamond, Cherry Blossoms, food trucks, art museums, row houses, brownstones, family, new friends, beaches, a wedding, shopping and no plane delays!  Whoo hoo!

There you have it!  It's Saturday and Easter is tomorrow.  To my Greek Orthodox followers.......Christos Anesti (Christ is Risen)!

Happy Easter!

Sheila

On My Needles...Knitting in Technicolor

After the blog post and huge success of my four Technicolor Blankets to Crochet patterns (thank you so much, by the way), I had a fair amount of requests for the same look but blankets you could knit.  Who am I to deny a knitter?  So, I am translating them into knitting patterns.  This is the first in a series of four.  I had some comments from hookers that they could not find one or two of the colors from the crochet patterns, so for the knitting patterns I have substituted those hard to find colors for similar ones that are more readily available.  I should have this first of four patterns ready next week.

Thank you also for the HUGE response and lovely comments to my blog post... Cath Kidston Inspired Blanket!  I'd love to see photos of yours, so be sure to send me a snap shot!

You can find all my pattern shop links at the top of my blog or follow the links below!

Click here to find Technicolor Blanket pattern and Cath Kidston Inspired Blanket pattern on Etsy

Click here to find Technicolor Blanket patternand Cath Kidston Inspired Blanket pattern on Craftsy

Click here to find Technicolor Blanket and Cath Kidston Inspired Blanket pattern on Ravelry

Best,

Sheila

Yarn Tip:

Does a pattern call for worsted weight yarn and you only have sport weight in your stash?  Hold your sport yarn double throughout to get a worsted weight gauge of 5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch on US size 7 needles.

Cath Kidston/Greengate Inspired Bakeware and Blanket

If you're like me and LOVE everything Cath Kidston you will understand my joy at these incredible finds!  I let out a little squeal when I saw them, in a Michael's no less!  If you are in the USA, you should have one near you.  For my overseas followers, Michael's is a wonderful craft store.

Just LOOK at these measuring cups, dipping bowls and measuring spoons!  Doesn't it scream Cath Kidston?  I was like a little kid playing with the measuring cups.....stacking and unstacking them, admiring them, enjoying their lovely colors.  I found them in the isle where they have all the bins for things costing $1 - $5.00.  Not the bins in the front of the store where everything is $1.

 The spoons were $5.....and come in two different colorways.  Red and blue.  The little dipping bowls, in the 2nd photo, were $3.  The stacking measuring cups were $5.  All are ceramic, not plastic or melamine.

Of course, I then ran over to the yarn isle to pick out my colors for a baby blanket.  The pattern is ready to purchase from my Etsy shop!

I snatched up a few of each for future presents.  They also had big spoon rests and decent sized coffee mugs with the same designs.  If you are not familiar with Cath Kidston, find her site here.

Visit my Etsy shop
Craftsy shop

Till next time,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

When winding yarn from a hank, snip a little piece off and tape it to the yarn band.  Mark the label with any notes from your project.  You'll have a handy reference if you use that yarn again.

Food tip:

I use lemons all the time when I cook.  I love how they look in a bowl on the counter, but that is not the best way to store them.  They last 4 times longer when I store them in a ziplock bag in the fridge.