Knitting Retreat Time!

Last week my knitting buddies and I

loaded up our knitting 

and made our annual trek 

to the mountains for

our knitting retreat.

We are fortunate to be within 

a couple hours drive from 

some wonderful mountain 

cabin rentals.

This cabin was new to us this year,

but suited us perfectly.

These cabins are suited for large gatherings,

and lots of comfort.

Perfect for a couple of days of intense knitting!

First order of business is to unload the knitting bags!

Of course, I'm the one who makes and sells knitting bags,

so why are MY projects stashed in bags from Ikea???

Go figure…

Of course, knitting is not the only order of business.

Meals and snacks are a big part of our retreat.

Everyone contributes to the meal plans

and no one goes hungry!

The retreat is a nice time to complete some unfinished projects.

Karen brought along her already knitted

mitered square bag

for felting.

After the felting process,

which is a very hot water, machine wash 

with lots of agitation,

the bag is shaped and left to air dry.

Karen's finished bag!

Isn't it gorgeous?

This year my sister Nancy joined us.

She is not a knitter but spent her time

making some of her beautiful

wreaths from up cycled sweaters.

Although lots of knitting happened 

during our retreat,

we all came home with more unknitted yarn

than finished projects.

There's always next year's retreat...

Buying Furniture on Etsy

The time had come to bid farewell to my office chair.

This chair has served me well for the past several years.

It was originally purchased at a Kirkland store, 

so it was manufactured as an occasional chair.

I had my Dad put rollers on it, 

had it reupholstered once,

replaced the rollers a couple of times,

made slip covers for it later,

and have sat in it for several hours

every day at my computer/desk
for the past eight years.

So, I probably gave it a much 

hardier workout than was

ever intended for it.

It finally let me know it was worn out 

and ready for replacement.

So, I've had my eye out for 

a new desk chair for a couple of months.

I definitely needed a chair with

rollers since I would use it

between my computer and sewing machine.

I also wanted one with no arms.

I checked out chairs at

Pottery Barn and Ballard.

Both had chairs that had the look I wanted,

but either price or reviews kept me

from placing an order.

All the desk chairs at the normal

"office furniture" stores,

were functional, 

but lacked a lot in aesthetics.

Then I checked out what was

available on Etsy.

I found my chair!
It was in a shop in Texas,
Silver Star Salvage.
I have never purchased furniture on Etsy
so wasn't quite sure what to expect.
What I could see was that this chair was
VERY reasonably priced.
It would be shipped via Greyhound Bus Lines.
The cost of the chair, plus shipping and handling
still made the chair a bargain.
It's a vintage 1930's lawyers chair,
all wood,
and still very functional.

I took a chance and ordered it.

I have never received anything packaged 
as well as this chair.
Even the man at the bus station was impressed!
(I presently have what I consider 
a very "pricey" chair on order from
Ballard for my living room.
It will be interesting to see if it is
packed half so well.)

Layer after layer of packaging came off.
Underneath was a thick pad to protect the chair.

The chair is perfect.
Its size is perfect for my small studio/office,
it rolls perfectly (a big concern for me),
and is perfectly comfortable.

There were a few nicks and worn areas,
something the seller had clearly stated.
That was not a concern because I
intended to "redo" the chair somewhat.
Hint:  chalk paint,
which I'll tell you about in a later post.

To sum up,
please don't forget to check out
Etsy when you are in the market for
a piece of furniture.
I am fully delighted with the service I got and
with my new chair!

Accessory Bags!

It's been a week of sewing.

I've been making Accessory Bags.

As a result, my Etsy shop is well stocked with a variety!

The first step in this process is doing an over lock stitch

along the sides of the zipper edgings.

This helps prevent raveling of the fabric

edges and thus snagged zippers!

Next is the insertion of the zipper.

For a project like this,

I like to do several at once.

Combining the vinyl and the fabric

is almost the end.

I first made Accessory Bags

to stow all my small knitting tools.

And, they're great for that.

But since I seem to find bunches of 

different ways to use them.

They are great for storing jewelry and…

…cosmetics too!

I also love them for travel.

Bet you can think of lots of ways

use them too!

Sewing Machine Woes

Like computers, sewing machines are wonderful…

when everything is working as it should.

For someone like me, 

who sews pretty much everyday,

my sewing machine is a big part of my life.

My Janome machine is the newer 

of the two machines I have

and the one I use the most.

It is about 12 years old.

Because I sew so much,

I take my machines in regularly 

to have them serviced.

About nine months ago, 

this machine went in for

its regular maintenance servicing.

When I got it home,

this is how it was sewing.

For those of you really interested in sewing and machines,

 this is the underside of the sewn fabric.

It would sew perfectly for stretches,

then start the above.

Back to the sewing machine shop.

Several days later, I am informed the machine is ready to go.

It seemed fine sewing at the shop,

back home, the above again.

Another trip to the shop which

I might add is a half hour drive from my house.

Let me say, this is the shop from whom I purchased the machine

and I am a fairly regular customer since they service 

both my machines and my over lock machine.

They had just been taken over by a new owner or manager,

I'm not really sure which.

He would not even look at the machine

this time, insisting I was using the wrong thread.

I will admit I use Coats and Clark Dual Duty thread

and I realize that is not considered a premium thread 

by many people.

So back home again, I try using some

Mettler, which is considered a better thread.

The thread made no difference.

At any rate this saga has continued 

for the past nine months, 

three different sewing machine repairmen,

 countless trips back and forth,

and the appearance of my face in all my local shops

bringing nothing but dread 

to the people working there.

("her again…")

I guess it might be time 

to buy a new machine.

Thank goodness, I had my backup machine 

on which I've been sewing everything

during this time.

I paid $40.00 for this machine about 40+ years ago.

It was a used machine when I bought it.

It does nothing but straight stitch,

is all metal (no plastic on this gal), 

 but still sews like a dream.

(I made my wedding dress on this

machine a hundred years ago,

for goodness sake!)

The tattered manual is copyrighted 1953,

making me and this machine very, very

close in age.

(I'll let you consider which is older.)

Notice the above paragraph from the 

old Singer's manual re "REPAIR SERVICE."

Imagine a sewing machine service rep 

coming to your home…

Since the sewing I do is not fancy sewing,

this machine is perfectly adequate for me.

My big concern is having a back-up machine

for those times this one is being serviced.

I did  research to help me make a 

decision on what I should buy.

Everything I considered seemed to

really be more machine than I needed,

is electronic and/or computerized,

and has lots of plastic parts.

And do I really need a machine

that gives me 300+ different stitches?

Then I remembered my sister Nancy, who is not a sewer,

had a machine she had acquired years ago from 

her former mother-in-law.

It has been sitting in our basement for years.

What a strange coincidence we should both

have the very same old machine.

Hers is actually in a bit better shape than mine 

since it hasn't had the workout mine has.

I have cleaned it and oiled it and

it sews perfect stitches too!

I have found my back-up machine!

My plan is to alternate these two machines

on a weekly basis and I am probably 

good to go/sew for years!

AND I don't have to buy a new machine!

Meanwhile, the Janome, with all it's fancy stitches

is packed up and waiting for this 

summer's yard sale.

Coming Late to the Table...

One of my new year's resolutions was to 

finally take the time to figure out

how to use Pinterest.

Armed with a brand new computer,

with what seems like a huge screen,

compared to my old laptop,

the time had come.

I do not know WHY I waited SO long!!!

I cannot tell you the fun I am having with Pinterest!

Above you see a screen shot of some of "my boards."

Establishing a board is an excellent 

way to organize pictures and ideas

of things you like.

The above screen shot is of my board titled,

"Cottage Chic."

Once you have established a board,

you then "pin" images you like

related to that board.

You can have as many boards as you want,

including "secret boards" of you'd rather not share.

Boards can be practical (perhaps a board of recipes 

you'd like to try) or as whimsical as my

board of French Store Fronts, above.

When you open your Pinterest page,

you will see a "feed" of things which have been pinned

by you and people you follow.

Please don't wait as long as I did to get started!

If Pinterest is still new to you,

come join me and taste a bit of the feast!

You can find my boards here.

Goodbye…Hello!

Goodbye…

This is the computer I have been using for the past 5 or 6 years.

It was a "hand me down" from my daughter Kate

when she graduated college.

She was updating to an Apple laptop at the time.

Since her "cast off" was newer than the computer I 

was using at the time,

I was delighted to get it.

It has served me well for the past few years.

However, I read several months ago that

this spring, its operating system, Windows XP

would no longer be supported,

(plus it was starting to get a bit crotchety).

So…time for an update.

Hello!!!

This is my after Christmas gift to myself!

I have had it about a week

and it is amazing how much of my time

it has consumed.

Apple's operating system is 

quite different from a PCs

and I am step…by…slow...step

learning the ins and outs.

One thing I have learned during this process is that

you CAN teach an old dog new tricks…

it just takes a LOT longer.

Woof, woof...