Furniture Placement Options

When I put the deposit down on my soon to be humble abode, I measured it and drew up a floor plan.. sense my class is now finished I have had some time to play around with some layout options. Here are some of my options...
1.
2.
3.
4.

Which one do you like better (if you click on the pictures, it will make them bigger so you can read the labels on everything)? In the last option, instead of using a large shelf or tv unit to act as a divider of the two spaces, I will have a panel system. The scale of these plans is 2 squares = 1 foot. The main studio area is 18'x10'10"
I have the stools for the bar, and the chair and ottomans already, so those have to fit, and other than that I just have to have a bed, and some sitting room. I have opted for this sofa bed for the living room, it is love seat size, so it works for my space, it doesn't have arms, so it has more room to sit (3 people, as opposed to the typical 2 that a love seat fits), and I can also use it for company when friends or family are visiting.
I have an option that I am leaning towards, but I want to hear the input of others before I state my choice.

What's your vote for the Palace?

Obstacle Course!!

So sense we have a new baby in the house, I have been trying to keep the older two out of the house as much as possible.. with all of our wonderful June weather (rainy one moment sunny the next, and then rainy again all day long) it has been difficult. But one afternoon, while we were enjoying a lovely spurt of sunshine, I set up an obstacle course, and the kids rode their trikes and scooters up and down it all day long (even when it started to rain a bit!).
This is the last week before we head to Block Island for 2 weeks.. We have a few play dates scheduled, and I think we'll go to the aquarium one day, and then just hang at the house, and play with sidewalk chalk or go for a bike ride or something on the other days. It should be fun, and then we'll be off to Block Island before we know it! I guess I should go start the kids laundry so they have something to bring with us... and on that note, I should probably do my own laundry too!!

Happy Monday!

At this time last weekend..

I was packing and heading to the train station. My dad was heading to Baltimore from Seattle for a work conference. Sense I Seattle is so far, and Baltimore is considerably closer, I took the Amtrak down to meet him.

I was only there for about 24 hours, but it was a nice way to spend Father's Day... we didn't really do anything touristy, just hung out, had a few meals in the Harbor.. Walked across some cool pedestrian bridges, and saw the neat architecture of the Baltimore World Trade Center Building..

Here are the pictures:







It was a pretty good trip, and despite a little trouble I had with my tickets, Amtrak isn't a bad way to travel. Good to visit Baltimore, and to see my dad of course :)

The Newest Little

Baby little has arrived, and she was so tiny. With all the bed rest that G was on, she made it to 38 weeks. Miss OKP arrived this past Thursday (6.18.2009) at 4:50AM... They barely made it to the hospital... she came out five minutes after getting to the labor and delivery wing. She is the smallest thing that I have ever seen, and I hope that she receives all the love and care she deserves for a wonderful childhood.

Here is a pic of the new family:

Little Ann is loving having a new baby sisiter, but Little Dan on the other hand isn't so sure.... he is excited to be a big brother, but mostly just because it sounds cool. He hasn't even touched the baby yet, but he will sit by her and read stories together. She likes it when Little Ann and I read... when we stop it wakes her up.. it is very cute :)

Here is one of Miss OKP and myself:

I like it because, even though you can tell that I had been awake for about 18 hours at that point on only 4 hours of sleep, it looks like we are smiling at each other. So sweet!

Welcome to the world Little Baby! We are happy to have you :)
(and even happier to be moving out of the house in a month, and to not hear all the chaos of three Littles well into the night..even though I love you all)

I finished it!

At the shower as a matter of fact.



Here is the finished item as it was handed to the mommy-to-be:



I think it will look darling on the sweet little baby. It is a 3-6 month size, and made from another pattern from Essential Baby Knits. I'm not sure how my seem looks, a non knitter wouldn't know the difference... or care probably, but I think it looks wrong. I've never done a seem in anything before, so I suppose its not bad, but I think I could use some practice.

In any case, it is done, and barely off the needles when it was handed to the recipient. She loved it, and thought it was great that I made half of it right in front of her.

Another successful hand-knit item completed and delivered ... oh and speaking of delivered hand-knits... if you didn't see, over on the queen's blog, I finished Jessica's quarter of a century old birthday present.

It turned out quite lovely... I took this picture of me wearing it, just in case she didn't take any, but there are some over on my mom's birthday post for her. I guess she liked it... therefore, another successful hand knit item delivered :)

Happy knitting!

The last baby thing

well at least until August. I'm telling ya... its a baby epidemic over here!

One of my friends here is from Jamaica, and her sister (who still lives there) is expecting a baby girl. She came here to have the baby, so that she would be with family, and under the supervision of better doctors. And my friend threw her a baby shower... in which she so pleasantly suggested that I "whip up something cute with my knitting." Uh, yea... I'll get right on that, and so as soon as I finished the birthday shrug, I cast on this cute pink and white striped cotton hat. (You can't make wool baby stuff for a baby that is going to be living in Jamaica!)

Here's how it started:

It is made out of Purelife by Rowan, and is an organic cotton. Very nice to work with. It was sent to me from Cami of Clementine's Dry Goods, with the yarn for my Dad's Wife's sweater.
She sent it along with a pamphlet on the yarn, that included a cute little pattern for "Eco Eric" there cute little organic cotton yarn guy. Anywho good yarn, and the pink and white stripes are perfect for a baby girl :)

Happy Knitting!

Finished Object 4

This is the final object that I finished knitting during my blogging hiatus. It is another baby item, and I actually gifted it with the last. I think that everyone around me is pregnant right now. I thought this would be my last baby item for a while, but a friend of mine asked me if it wouldn't be too much to whip something up for her pregnant sister (whose shower is this Sunday, and I've barely cast-on)... Then after that, I have a friend due in September, and she should be the last one for a while!




Little Pink Baby Booties :) What's not to love? They are so teeny tiny that they only took a few hours total (I didn't knit them in one sitting although I could've I suppose.) I used a pattern from a book called Easy Baby Knits by Claire Montgomerie. I have tabbed several adorable patterns form this book, and I also purchased Debbie Bliss's Essential Baby, which has some pretty adorable ideas as well.


So simple and so sweet, they were the perfect compliment to the baby sweater for G's bun in the oven. (She should be welcomed into the world any day now.)

Doggie Pops On Thursday

How shocking is this?! Not only did I actually post Munchkin Monday this week, but I am posting DoT too?! Wow! (Don't count on it happening too many weeks in a row.)


These little fur balls can be a handful! Especially when its really hot, and they are really cranky.. SO I decided to make them an ice cold treat!



Kongs filled with Pumpkin pie filling, and tossed in the freezer all day. I made them in the morning and took them out to treat the girls in the early afternoon, just when it gets pretty hot. The girls loved them! They really got there tongues going, and it kept them quiet for about an hour... 30 minutes to eat them, and 30 minutes to endure the food coma that followed.


Gotta love these pups :)

Workin on the Tulip Lace Shrug

This shrug is supposed to be a one skein shrug, however it is also a one-size fits all design. I'm sure as you all know, "one-size fits all" really means one size fits none (not properly anyway), and when you have the ability to make a better fit (or a fit at all) why wouldn't you.

So I once I had added all the stitches required for the increases, I counted to the middle of the sleeves, and then a quarter of the way towards the center from the raglan lines in the back. All together I placed 4 additional stitch markers, and sense each increase row adds an additional 2 stitches per section (arms, and back), I wanted to just add an additional 2 stitches per section around for an entire pattern set. So there is a little flare in the side of the sleeves, and reverse darts near the shoulders in the back. which added just enough that I didn't have to make the shrug too long to make it big enough across the back and fro the armholes.

However, adding these extra stitches, makes it a 1+ skein shrug. So I decided to add a different color to the tulip lace border around the edge of the sleeves and the bottom of the shrug. What do you think? It is almost finished and should arrive with the birthday girl in time for her birthday :)


(can you see the tulips in the lace?)


Happy Knitting!

Munchkins Venture to Mystic!

During Spring Break, we had a wonderful week, filled with all kinds of fun, which was a great thing, because it gave me faith that the summer won't be "boring" and it will be so exciting!

We drove up to Mystic, CT, where they have all these great old tall ships, and they have preserved a part of the town how it used to be in "olden day times" --little Ann. They were working on restoring one of the ships while we were there, and it was out of the water, it was huge! We had to climb up 72 stairs to get to the top. Once we were inside, we got to explore the ship and we all got to pretend to drive it too.



Then we wandered around, and explored the area where the crew would have slept, made food, taken care of business, etc. It seemed very cramp, and quite frankly, I'm glad I've never had to live on an old ship.

After we spent the entire day enjoying Mystic, we had a picnic lunch, and then the kids let me stop at the yarn store for a small detour before getting ice cream and heading home. I ended up with 7 balls of Lang Silk Dream in a pale dusty pink, and my first ever hank of sock yarn, purchased with the actual purpose of making socks (who knows when that will actually happen) and I really liked the colorway, so I thought heck, I can give it a shot. I believe it was a Misti Alpaca hand painted sock yarn... I will post pictures soon.

Finished Object 3

This is, yet again, another baby sweater from the same pattern. This one however, is made differently. The yellow one with ducky buttons, although it ended up being for a girl, I made the boy style as it was more unisex sense I didn't know if it was going to be a baby boy or a baby girl. This one, sense I knew it was going to be a girl, I made in the girl pattern, so it has little eyelet wholes going around the top. I also used two colors, using the hot pink for the main body and bright green on the bottom of the body and the sleeves. It turned out very nicely, and G adores it. Once again, I found the perfect buttons. The green in the green and blue daisy's couldn't be more of a match.



Happy Knitting :)

A new project in progress:

I started this one yesterday, realizing that the person whom it is being made for should be receiving it soon, and I hadn't even cast it on yet!

These pictures may not be the best but here are the details: It's a pattern from Valley Yarns that I was included in my goodie bad from webs. It is #245 One Skein Shrug and I am making it with thier wool in a charcoal gray color (which was also in the goodies).

Around the collar, the front edges, and the bottom there is tulip lace. I've never done lace but it is pretty simple.. just following the instructions and I can actually see tulips in the border! It is a shrug so I have a lot more to go, but its off to a great start, and hopefully I will have better picturessoon.

Happy Knitting :)