thrifty

I needed to take the clarinet to get worked on and between here and the shop is a VIA thrift store so the car headed that way on the return trip, even though it was snowing.

No fibery finds but....

a beautiful mug for 99¢ love the shape and color. There were 2 more, but they weren't in such pristine condition.

glow sticks for next Halloween (yes I was thinking ahead.. hope that doesn't make me a hoarder) 300 10" with connectors for $5.97 They were a HUGE hit this year and I paid about $1 for 20 sticks

But the best find of the day by far, a 1.5 qt Calphalon infused sauce pan for 2.99

DH was happy with the last find. He'd like a set of cookware like that as would I without paying the original price tag. Guess I need to keep my eyes peeled. It gives me a reason to thrift.

Came home and took the kids sledding so that DH could get some quiet rest. He's recuperating from orthoscopic surgery on the knee.

DD and I made manicotti Friday for dinner... with crepes as the shells ....really yummmo. The recipe may become a staple!

snow!

This picture is actually from Saturday. This morning when I awoke, the ground was white.

wowee blogger looks different when uploading now :-)
I likey!

DD had to get her foot checked out today so I took a family sick day. It was a late start for me and it turned out that my kids had no school since they were scheduled for a half day. Hope my sub did OK.

At any rate... on the way home from the doctor I convinced the kids we should stop at the OP shop since it was buy one get 2 free of the color tag. They picked out books... lots of them. I got some sweaters.... some to frog and some to felt... 2 pair of pants for me, a marble cheese board/slicer, some gifts for some folks, a travel game for the kids and this cool pie thing... 2 pans, a crust saver and then the red thing is plastic that you press in the top crust to make apple shaped vents in while it bakes.

But the find of the day (OK the year for me) was this Barbara Walkers The Craft of Lace Knitting book... for 1.91 It's in perfect shape and the cheapest one used at amazon is $35.50.... Happy Dance Time!

great finds, great day :-D

the best find of the year!
Official Tour de France yellow t-shirt...


I am in love <3 new with tags for $3.50

It will adorn both me and louise during this year's tour... can't wait!

and what appears to be a black cashmere twinset in black for $3.50 as well FIber content tag was missing.. but it's got the feel and halo and says handwash or dry clean.

can you see me doing the happy dance????

also i got mom some photo boxes and when the cashier rung them up they were 50%off... YES! Truly it was my day of all days......

last night/this morning I made DD a hippie headband for her retro costume day at school


pattern: hippie
yarn: sugar 'n cream stripes
color: lime stripes
needle: US8
changes: 110 stitches CO, 3 repeats instead of 5

rock on!

tips on unknitting

I was asked if I ever posted how to deconstruct and frog sweaters from the thrift store.I won't presume to be the expert but here's a list of really good sites to visit if you want to try it on your own. I suggest you look at them before you head out to grab a sweater from your nearest thrift store though

• My Virtual Sanity
  
• neauveau fiber arts
  
• recycling yarn
  
• Soulful hues hobbies and random thoughts
  

And just in case you don't know where you nearest thrift store might be. Have a look here to help you out!

I joined NaBloPoMo for February.. at least it's a short month ;-)

thrifting again

yesterday in the morning I ran out to the thrift store and hit a motherlode :-)

These are for felting projects. Some valentine teachery things, some mittens and some Christmas.







JCrew This may be felted for a Christmas project or frogged for yarn, still deciding!








These are to frog:


100% cashmere























this one may need to stay in the felted state if I can't frog it.... will think of something nice to do with it as I have 2 other cashmere sweaters given to me that were felted.










GAP silk/wool blend












silk/cashmere blend









JCrew wool/angora rabbit blend already frogged the sleeves and back. The front was serged to the button band:-( so I'll felt that for mittens







I also got this beautiful mahogany serving dish made in haiti. It will be great for parties with crudité and dip in the center :-)






and 7 of these cute little silverplated knives which I'll use on cheese trays.

I came home smiling :-)

thrifting

so I had the itch to thrift today. I took my SIL to SA in A-twn hoping to clean up... sadly, I didn't. I got some great sweaters for mittens that are even already felted for me. And picked up this really soft autumn tweed sweater from the Limited..... got it home and remembered that I have a blue tweed one just like it that is such a bear to frog.. well deconstruct. The seams are mattress stitched and it's really hard to find the right thread in all the mess..... but the yarn is so soft. It's a blend of wool, viscose, nylon, silk and cashmere in really pretty colors (as is the blue) I could smack myself in the head!

I did find (well SIL found them but they were too big for her) a pair of nine west shoes for 5.99 that were brand new... very dressy black slides with a heel but the old kind of wide in width but not in length heel. You can see that my shoe vocabulary is expansive. I'm not a shoe girl, most obviously. But they have a square toe and are a kind of satiny upper so would look great for a concert, so they came home with me.

we were out most of the day looking for some things for her b4 she goes back home on Friday. I'm going to miss her......lots.

upcycling

so SIL and I went thrift store shopping. She got a really cute black pair of NEW nine west sandals for about $8 (it is summer in Argentina) I bought 4 ladies sweaters to frog (wierd all greens), one men's cashmere sweater to do something with and 2 leather jackets to upcycle for soles of slippers and AG shoes, purses etc. All for $23.... lots of leather. I figured someone already bought it, so it's not like I'm buying it fresh...

the kids are playing Wii and it's super ugly weather outside... YUK!

rainy saturdays = thrift shopping

and I came home with a bit of a haul
From top to bottom:
cezani 55% silk/45% cotton blend longsleeve crew to wear for 2.45
Neiman Marcus dark fuschia light fingering weight 100% cashmere short sleeve ladies XL for 4.94 (I may save this to wear or give it to my mom)
LLBean pink tweed 55% silk/30% cotton/15% lambswool blend ladies rib turtlenck in a DK weight for 2.60
Visions (never heard of it before) gray marl Longsleeve turtleneck in lookd to be DK 57% silk/25% nylon/13% angora rabbit/2% lambswool for 2.45
Calvin Klein mens XL blue tweed (kind of denimy color) pullover worsted 80% wool/20% nylon for 2.35

I also bought 3 longsleeved cotton T's. 2 were Gap and one Land's End for less than $2 each. (I really need these)

A VERY cute denim jumper with Christmas appliques from Quacker Co (QVC brand) that has 3 adorable wooden pins on it for $7. It's long and if mom wants it, she may have it, but if she doesn't I'll keep it for me. It'll be big but comfy!

The blade on the rotary cutter I had been using for making the wreaths broke this morning… and I found 2 replacement blades for 1.91 Now THAT was serendipitous!

And I bought a CD for school... alphabet with a song for each letter. Very useful for KDG.

I could have hit more stores, but didn't want to push my luck. It was heaven shopping alone. I think I'll go again next week!

This morning, I made another wreath, this time a little 8 incher. It's so cute! Also last night and this morning started cutting out pieces for the Christmas gifts... but I won't be mentioning those for a while.... sorry mom

still alive

I've been busy finishing Wild Stripes. The knitting is done. I've wrestled with the backing for a couple of days now.. I think it's high time I follow the pattern instructions. Step one is to block the correct size. I'm really sick of this blanket and can't wait to get it out of the house!

I've also been harvesting yarn from thrift store finds like crazy. I think I've finished 5 sweaters. So there's plenty of yarn to knit from.

The last thing I've been doing is contemplating Christmas gifts. I want to devote most of my knitting time to DH's vest knit with my handspun. So I have some other ideas for gifts up my sleeve that I hope will be well received. I know I'd love it if someone gave this gift to me. Then after the holiday I'll finish the BSJ that's been hanging around and see if there's enough wool for the poncho (I can't believe I may have messed up my calculations on that one) And of course there are socks to be knit!

On Saturday we took all 3 kids plus 2 more to the pumpkin patch. We have more pumpkins that I care to think about. But I did get one gourd that was already dried (from last season I guess) that I want to knit a beaded cover for to make it an axatse. I figure, it's a relatively cheap way to get a cool instrument and the kids at school will be so itrigued if I take it there to do the work.

I have no pictures to put in because those from the weekend aren't uploaded yet.

I'm really tired these days. Tired and weary and just plum empty. Hope I get some kind of mojo rejuvenation soon!

small pleasures

First g-girl gave me this award a bit ago and I haven't posted it or paid it forward so it's high time that happened.

The rules are:
1- Post the award on your blog.

2- Add a link to the person who gave you the award.

3- Nominate at least 4 other bloggers and add their links:


I'm nominating:
Cathy, knittin fun, miss liz, jennifer, and fleegle


My cousins daughter came to visit today with her daughter and we went thrift shopping for wool sweaters. We hit the Salvation Army and American Family Services. I came away with a pile to felt and a pile to frog.



All but one of this pile to frog has cashmere (one 100% and the others a blend with wool and some nylon or else blended with silk) and the other is extra fine merino. So I'm hitting with some fine fiber. Just need some time now to frog and knit!

I also got a 100% white cotton bedsheet and a 100% white cotton tablecloth to turn into curtains for my room in the new building. I'll tie dye them once the curtains are sewn. Last time I found that they wanted $24 for a set of sheets. These were $6 for everything (just one sheet though, not a set).

I was thrifting last weekend and scored some cashmere as well. That and some merino. I should be set for quite some time now.

And we had 28 guests on Saturday for DS2s party. It was a full house. Since the weather was beautiful (75° F) we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. I made potato salad, carrot raisin salad, 4 bean salad and spinach with strawberry salad as well as deviled eggs. It felt like summer. I hope everyone had a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't make the cake, but it tastes great and looked phenomenal. And my son was in awe!

Yes he's still a Thomas fan. And I'm happy for that.


OK.. off to finish some work and maybe, just maybe the knitting on the wild stripes blanket (finally... I'm really tired of knitting it!)

thrift hit

I hit American Family Services at their Easton store today while in the area doing some errands and came home with 4 sweaters :-)


Christopher Hayes XL men's 100% wool sweater made in Ireland. I love the colors of this sweater although this picture doesn't do them justice. This one cost $1.91!







A brand new men's XL Gap 100% wool in red 4x2 ribbing. It was only $4.94. I offered it to DH but he doesn't do sweaters. So to the frog pond it goes!









Another new sweater, this one is an Eddie Bauer Men's XXL 55 lambswool/45 acrylic. I had to give $2.92 for this one. I'll probably overdye it, although I'm not too sure.










A Woolrich mens XL 100% wool pullover. I'm wondering if this could make great hunting socks. This was the best bargain as I only paid $1.91 for it.





I also got DD a potholder loom kit for less than $4. She's busy making one right now!


Last weekend I stopped at Good will and picked up a couple gems as well. This is a Simpson & Reed men's M 100% virgin wool. It really feels silky. I had to pay $2.92 for this one.









This one is 100% silk and is a men's M manufactured by Tullo. It has a mock turtleneck. I'll need to be very careful frogging this one. It was a bit expensive at $4.99. If it's too thin I may use it to ply with something else.









I also bought this Alfani XXL men's extra fine merino placket sweater. This was expensive at $3.99


I was making real headway on Wild Stripes until I left it at school on Friday.. argh I hate stupid moves like that. So this weekend I'm working on a baby kimono for someone elses baby. Will make a hat and booties to go along with that.

well off to put my baby to bed. He's feeling a bit under the weather and needs some extra loving.

ten on tuesday

10 Inventions That Have Made Life Easier

1. Computer
2. Midi keyboard - these for me are coupled together
3. Microwave
4. Cell phone and blue tooth
5. Cordless/speaker phone - pairs with the above as well
6. Self defrosting freezer/self cleaning oven
7. Digital Camera - wish I had a good one again
8. TIVO - not that I have it, but maybe I'd watch my favorite shows if I did
9. tilt-in windows -for the rare times I wash them!
10. weed whacker - no more blisters from the hand trimmer :-)


I'm on the handle of the Squatty Sidekick. I should not knit late at night. I spend more time frogging than knitting.

Today I stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store in Quakertown on my way home from my cousins funeral. I picked up a black sleeveless dress that is 55% linen and 45% rayon for $5. It's really long (which is a good thing) because after I got home and was showing my MIL, I noticed a hole in the back. I'll cut it and make a sleeveless tank and a skirt (or some such thing).

I also got this Cashmere sweater for $3 to frog and recycle the yarn. It's a Laura Ashley ladies size 8 so it would NEVER fit me... even when I was skinny. The side with the buttonholes I won't frog, but perhaps felt and cut to make a baby lovey. The rest I may dye, although I don't find the color obnoxious.. it's kind of a caucasian flesh tone.

The last purchase was a brand new 100% cotton white blouse for $4. I bought a white skirt not too long ago and this will really look nice with it.

There was no yarn nor needles to be had, but I think I fared well.

Off to pick up DD at her friend's house while DH takes DS1 to gymnastics.

finished object friday

I made a bookmark for DS's teacher as part of her end of the year gift.

Pattern: Elegant bookmark by Michele Thompson
Scroll down to 5th row for pattern
Yarn: from mom's stash
Color: light blue
Needle: size 2
Bead: wire wrapped glass bead bead package bought at Walmart

Since the yarn was really stiff I didn't feel the need to starch the bookmark. I did put my lace blocking wires on it and steam it with the iron however. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.





Also finished is square 11 of the Lizard Ridge in color 134C

and one complete sock for DH for father's day... and on the second, I'm turning the heel.

We went to IKEA on Wednesday to get plain legged desk chairs for the kids rooms and a toy box. DD's chair is light pink and DS is blue. The chairs still awaiting construction. The 'toy box' has 5 shallow white bins and 2 deeper red ones. We agreed that if we got the deepest blue bins, the toys would more than likely be scattered about the room. You can buy lids for the bins and all the Trofast styles would be great for storing yarn as well.

We also bought the cutest teapot in white. With the in-laws visiting, we're drinking loads of tea and I didn't have a proper pot. Now to figure a pattern for a cozy for the interesting shape!

Today is the kids last day of school. They are excited beyond belief. Summer vacation begins for everyone in 2 hours.

We are going to a committment ceremony tomorrow, perhaps I'll kip there ;-) At any rate I got a great blue reversible dress to wear at the VIA boutique near my home... love it and the price even more :-D One side is light blue with navy polka dots and the other side is navy background with light blue paisley. It's polyester but very light and flowing fabric and is cut straight... super comfy. I'm gonna love this dress :-) DH bought a new suit. 'nuff said

he's so sweet

we met at Wegman's for dinner and it was pretty obvious that my mood wasn't the best. (horrible last period class... really I'm so glad it was the last time I'll see them until September and with any luck the dynamics will be better from mixing the kids in different homerooms) so after we all ate, I took the older 2 to pick out gifts for birthday parties they're attending this weekend while he did the grocery shopping. (DS2 went to the store's child care) I got home with the older 2 and there were these sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be put in water.


His parents arrive tomorrow morning for 40 days. I'll say no more.

We stopped at the Boutique at the Rink while we were out looking for b'day gifts (scoping for yarn of course) Unfortunately, it opened yesterday and by this evening most of the good stuff is gone... no yarn but I found 2 pairs of needles; a size 10 in white plastic and a size 8 in metal. The 8s will be perfect for school next year :-)
I'm gonna work on getting as many 8s as possible keeps the heat of the chopsticks down, although I've already started collecting for them as well. Can never have too many. I'd like to start a knitting group at school. If my schedule allows that is!

These iris came from the yard. The rhizomes were given to me by our neighbor. I believe they're described as black. The picture doesn't do them justice. They look like velvet.


I finished yet another lizard ridge square last night while watching je t'aime Paris.
And cast on for Shirley's may mid-month cloth KAL that I was previously having some troubles with.. it's going rather well now, I'm happy to say. I'll probably gift it to a dear colleague/friend who just moved to her newly built house.

I also mailed out my Weekly dishcloth KAL out from ravelry. I hope my partner likes her cloth and the skein of Lion Cotton and magnet I sent her. (yes I forgot to take a picture of the goodies... bad blogger, I know!)

I'm hoping to go back to the sale tmrw or Sat (bag day) to look for cashmere or merino to frog and/or white cotton to tie dye for me. (sheets would be good too!) I may pick up a belt while there (I almost did that tonight, but the DC weren't that patient with dear old mom)

so much to do and so little time... who needs sleep?

First off. VERY early Thursday AM, I opened my cloth exchange from my partner Robbie. It's been sitting staring and tempting me for well over a week now. It's the 4 corners dishcloth which is based on a baby blanket pattern of EZ. I've been wanting to make this cloth but never got around to it yet. Thanks Robbie.. I love the colors.. I don't know what the colorway is though. I can still see myself knitting this patern someday.
She also sent me a postcard of Mt. St. Helens near where she lives and a cute notepad of M and M saying I melt for no one :-) Love it
Thanks Robbie!!!!!


This is the cloth I sent her:


Pattern: Annie Washcloth
Yarn: Peaches and Cream
Colorway: fairytale
Needle: US6

Along with this I sent her a long notepad that has a magnet on the back for your fridge. I hope you like your puffy Robbie.

On other notes, tonight I am working on costumes for the kids school music concert. DD needs to look like the 1900s. I bought a lavendar gown at the Salvation army thrift shopfor $2.97 on Tuesday. So I took in the bodice (It was a ladies 2XL and DD is 8 years old) It laced up the back.. so the laces came out and the spot that laced is now a seam. I took the lace and made spaghetti straps to hold up the dress. There was an offset zipper, which remains so she can get in the dress, since I fitted the bodice pretty tightly. Instead of cutting the length, and needing to hem a VERY full skirt in those poofy hard to sew fabrics, I bustled it all around and put in what is a makeshift waistline to the dress. The length is more manageable for her now.

The new bodice of the dress will be functioning as a camisole under this blouse which I found at mom's during the move from the house to the apartment. I wouldn't be the LEAST surprised if it is vintage 1900's. It probably belonged to my grandmother or her sister. The cotton fabric is in pretty good shape but the lace insets were falling apart, so I needed to do a lot of hand repair. It's really beautiful although DD put up a fight about wearing it. Now that she has her long 'dress' she's OK with it all thought. The blouse buttons up the back and the collar stands up. It's too big for her but will be OK overtop the gown. I'll post pictures after tmrws event!

For DS1, I bought khaki pants (for $2.99 at the Salvation Army thrift shop) and cut off the legs below the knees... I'm off to make cuffs that button and sew them at the bottom of the leg (after gathering it a bit of course) to make him a proper pair of knickers. DH found suspenders at American Family Services thrift shop that we'll arrange to fit him. I don't know how much he had to give for them though.. he'll probably not tell me either, because I doubt he remembers...

I'm also knitting him a bow-tie to match his hat. The yarn is the wrong weight and I need to make in Kindergarten size, so I'm tweaking as I knit. I'll post pics of him as well when the ensemble is all finished.


Yesterday, I washed out the tie-dye garments I brought home.. some will have a redye job this weekend as I'm not 100% happy with the results.. That's what we get for rushing. My chorus kids LOVE theirs though and I've had great reports from the mom's that are doing the washing out. Fortunately, my principal really likes his and is psyched to wear it to hte concert.

OK.. I'm off to hit the sewing machine. Wish it was the bed instead. I have no voice from the lovely spring allergies.. hit me like a truck today.

so much.....

to show.

I finished the Monthly Dishcloth KAL a couple of days early. But now that everyone could be done, I'll post the picture:

Pattern: Dots within Stripes April mid-month KAL for the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo group
Yarn: Elmore-Pisgah Peaches and Cream
Colors: Persimmon and Tea Rose
Needle: US7

I'm planning on gifting this to one of my friends from work. She's really having a rough go of it right now and I know she LOVES the cloths for her kitchen, which is orange. I'll try to whip up a ballband or two in the same colors as well.







I finished the prayer lap blanket for church.

Pattern: Adapted from Lion Brands Prayer Shawl
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun
Color: Fiesta
Needle: US 13
Completed Size: 40" x 26"
I started this before getting the instructions from church so I cast on fewer stitches than they suggested, as a result I knit it longer so it's a bit larger than suggested, but I think it should be fine. This is really soft, but kind of a pain to knit with. My pop got the last one that the hospital had (since then they've received more from church) but it's part of the new knitting me.... you'll see more of the new side of the knitting me over time. It's a good side. I think you'll eventually agree :-)







I also finished the second Baby Kimono from the Mason Dixon book.

Pattern: Baby Kimono from the Mason Dixon Knitting Book
Yarn: Bernat Naturals Organic Cotton
Color: Cactus
Needle: US6
Button: from stash

I chose cactus because it's the color of the baby's room. I think the sweater looks much more casual knit in garter than in stockinette. I purposely made this larger by about 20%. I hope it fits little Sean.
I'm going to try to make a toy before I mail this out to Paula. Auntie Andrea likes it though, so that's good!

Hopefully you've noticed some more flowering proof of spring in this blog. I really love this season and I think the reason is the new life! The chicks in the 5th grade classroom are hatching. Tomorrow I think I'll take P up to see some.. I must take the camera along to get pictures of him with them. And one of my first grade classes had an emergence from a cocoon yesterday. I still don't know what it was. Need to do some research on that one! Maybe a buckeye butterfly, but I'm leaning more toward some kind of moth.

We hit the local annual booksale at the pool today. DS2 got a Thomas book (hardback with about 4 stories), a Beverly Cleary book (he liked the picture on the front) and the Pony train. DS1 chose Lego books and DD picked out 2 videos (spy kid and some barbie movie) and a Scooby Doo book. Me, I bought them the Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories, Dr. Suess Daisy-Head Mazie (never had heard of that one before and both were hardbacks) and I got the story of Peer Gynt (another hardback) and 2 sing along videos for work. All of that was $10.25 Not to shabby. I love thrifting :-)

the stories

As promised, the thrifting story:
DH and I had a dinner dance to go to a little over a week ago for the college he works for, given by the college for the faculty and staff. He's been there 8 years and we hadn't yet gone so this year we were determined to make it. Of course, this cow had nothing to wear that looked decent enough AND fit. As a last minute event, I decided to look for something. In other words go shopping for myself for clothing. This is an event that RARELY happens. So we went to the closest mall and I had intentions of looking at the BonTon for something. DD went with me (she never misses a chance to go shopping and I promised her a little gift for her outstanding parent/student/teacher conference) Once in the mall (if you can call it that) I told her that I wanted to go to the thrift shop first. This particular one is run by VIA and has only been in this location less than a year. So in we go, and I started to look for something I could wear. I took several dresses in but none of them were the right size. Then we went back out to look at slacks. DD ran off to the front of the store (mind you, the store is the about 15'x30') and I was looking at all the beautiful wool slacks from Talbot's and L.L.Bean that were priced unbelievably low. She comes up and says "mommy, come look at the outfit I think you'll like" So she takes me to the front where the shirts are and pulls out a black cotton knit top with a double knit yoke of white polka dots (the inside is white with black polka dots) and an ugly little white bow attached to the white trim of the yoke... I succumb when she tells me she has the perfect slacks to go with it. As we go back to the slacks and she pulls out these black rayon slacks with tiny white polkadots all over... and really it does go. So off to the dressing room, armed with that outfit and some other slacks of my choosing.
Well nothing that I chose suited me. So I tried on her outfit and voila, it really was comfy and worked. I looked at the bow (which I really hated) and saw that it was just tacked on in 4 spots... so placing my hand over the bow, tried to find some reason to not get it. But I couldn't. Then I looked at the tags. The shirt was $5.99 and the pants were $6.99 Now mind you, the shirt wasn't new, but the pants had the original CAROLE LITTLE tags on them along with the original price of $78.00......
How could I pass this perfect little outfit up? So I bought it and hopefully taught my daughter that we don't have to buy at department stores first. This isn't the best picture, but it gives you an idea of the great little shopper I have!

I also finished another chakalaka. I was at the gyno in June when making them for DD's special area teachers and he claimed... "I want one" (I think he really just wanted the contents) so I promised to make him one for my next visit. Well that visit is tmrw at noon so I thought I betetr get cracking!