Tentacles

Those are tentacles... Well technically they're arms, but it's more fun to say I'm knitting tentacles.

Remember that giant squid I wanted to knit for Teenage Daughter? I took a closer look at the pattern and had second thoughts, but by then I'd already bought the yarn. My only two yarn purchases so far this year have been for that girl. I used the skein that I bought for her Weasley Sweater and I'm determined to  finish this project too. Wouldn't it be nice to end a year and be able to say that I'd made all of the projects I bought yarn for?

It's those bobbles that I'm not so sure about -- by the time I finish tentacle number eight, I'll have done a hundred and sixty of the nasty things. With double stranded yarn, something I don't recommend.



I've mentioned that my youngest two boys have quirky taste in reading material. I'm always looking for books that they'll love and that won't make me cringe. (I'm not about to tell them that I saw a book last week with the title Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger.)

Oliver and the Seawigs sounded like fun. Oliver's parents have finally run out of places to explore and he's looking forward to living in a actual house and going to school. He's never done those things before.  But when his parents go to look at some nearby islands and the islands themselves disappear, Kirby puts all of his exploring skills to use and sets off to rescue them. These aren't just any islands, they're wandering islands and are busy constructing wigs for the competition that will determine which of them becomes Chief. Oliver's parents have become decorations on the wig of the meanest island out there, the one that went bad because human sacrifices used to be performed in his temple. On his way to save them, Oliver encounters a near-sighted mermaid, sarcastic seaweed, and an army of sea monkeys. The story is completely different from anything we've read so far (without being dumb or silly) and the illustrations are full of clever little details.  

We're still waiting for the next book in the Imaginary Veterinary series. Got any other recommendations for us?

For more fun projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis.


Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance ARC.

I should have taken pictures...

We found the neatest estate sale last weekend, the kind where you don't buy much but have an absolute blast looking at crazy things you didn't know you wanted. I should have taken pictures, but I was having too much fun just taking in the wonderful old stuff. Seriously -- they had a camel saddle. And storage boxes for eight track tapes, still in their original packaging. I'm not sure which would be less useful.

If Hubby hadn't been with us, I think Teenage Daughter and I would've played Tetris to see how much cheap antique furniture we could fit into the back of the van without leaving a young boy behind. There's room in the barn and she's going to have a place of her own someday. Not soon, but it was great old furniture and dirt cheap.

I bought four old spring metal embroidery hoops. Not sure what I'm going to put in them yet since I can't make myself do needlework in round hoops, but I've seen some fun ideas on Pinterest. Hubby wanted to know why I was buying them since "You don't do embroidery." It wouldn't surprise me if next week he told me that I don't knit socks.

There was a neat metal case from an old microscope for five dollars. It had great graphics, but I told myself I didn't really want it. Just Googled for a similar one to show you and I think it's this same one that's listed on etsy for $75. Hopefully someone who got there later in the day got a great deal and it doesn't wind up in the landfill.

What I did want was the croquet set. I've been looking for one for a few years and they had one that was just old enough to look neat but not so old I'd feel awful about using it. I talked myself into being good, mostly because I've never played croquet in my life, but I'm starting to wish it wasn't too far to drive back.

Sometimes looking it just as fun as buying, isn't it?

Stars for Baby

Remember those scrappy yellow stars I was playing with last week? 

I like these a lot. They go together fast and I think the yellow stars really pop against that blue solid. It also doesn't hurt that I've got the perfect backing picked out, a wonderful crinkly yellow seersucker. Want the pattern? It's Buzz, one of my free baby quilt tutorials.

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Weekly Stash Report

At the quilt show last weekend, I bought some light fat quarters. Bits will wind up in my lozenges and in the low volume postage stamp quilt I'm making for Teenage Daughter.

Weekly Stash Report 

Fabric Used this Week: 2 1/4 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 14 yards
Added this Week: 3 yards
Added Year to Date: 48 yards
Net Added for 2014: 34 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 400 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 3775 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 1500 yards
Net Used for 2014: 2275 yards

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times.