I Think That Might be a Bird

Here's my current cross stitching obsession.... 

It wasn't until I took the pictures that I realized that thing in the top center window is probably the cuckoo.

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {7/12/19}

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

{Antique Store Temptations} Going Out of Business

A couple of weeks ago I saw signs go up that a local antique store was going out of business. I love that shop, but almost never make time to stop because parking is a challenge and estate sales and thrift shops are more my speed anyway.  When signs went up saying that it was the last week, I circled the block in search of a parallel spot I could get the van into because I was hoping that somehow the oval baby picture might still be there.

The baby picture was gone, but everything in the shop was 80% off. That is the most overwhelming feeling, to walk through an antique shop and know that pretty much anything you fall in love with is financially in reach. It was a whole new challenge because what always keeps me in check when it comes to dragging home fantastic old things is the budget.

We could have had  this guy, the mascot from an old bakery.

I was extremely restrained. I bought a stack of original text Hardy Boys books for my middle son and the cutest salt and pepper shakers I can currently imagine.

It's probably the least practical salt and pepper shakers ever, but you know I'm nuts for old fireplaces and dollhouses and this thing ticks all of those boxes -- and cost me a whole two dollars.

I went back the next day and filmed a shop with me video, so you can see all of the things I managed to resist.

When I was editing it I caught a glimpse of the chair, buried under a huge stack of books. I'd remembered to check for the baby picture but walked past the chair on two different days.

When I saw that, it was Saturday, the last day the store was supposed to be open and almost closing time. I had no idea if the chair would still be there or how much it might cost. So I talked myself out of driving twenty miles after dinner just in case they were still open and it was still there.

On Monday I drove back through town on another errand. The signs were still up and the doors were wide open and we made an unplanned stop. This whole experience is improving my parking skills out of desperation.

The store was technically closed for business, but I now own a chair with a prayer to protect my house from things that go bump in the night and I couldn't be more thrilled. (I'm using old pictures here because it's still in the back of the van while I rearrange some furniture so it can live next to my fireplace.)

I hate that the store is gone but I love that I got my chair.

{I've Been Reading} We Went to the Woods

We Went to the Woods by Caite Dolan-Leach

Five twenty-somethings step away from the lives they know and move into the empty buildings on what was, a century ago, a failed commune. Their story is told by Mack and we know from the first pages that whatever happened at The Homestead ended badly. 

Mack knows little about her new companions, but she's hoping to escape her own past so she doesn't ask a lot of questions. The residents of The Homestead are really just playing at living off the grid. They're not going to starve if they don't grow enough food or freeze if they run out of firewood. These aren't the sort of people I'd want to spend any actual time with, but they were intriguing to read about and I've always been a bit curious about communes and cults.

The promotional materials that motivated me to pick this one up compared it to The Beach and maybe it was that comparison that had me expecting a much darker ending than the book delivered. I liked this one a lot. It's more literary than most of what I've been reading lately and has a slower pace. I found myself stopping now and then to look up the details of the Oneida Community and some terms I hadn't previously stumbled across like "complex marriage" and "male continence."  That sent me down some rabbit trails that I plan to follow deeper.

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy. This post contains affiliate links. 

When the Mindless Knitting is Too Mindless...

I'm not loving either of these projects right now. There's nothing wrong with either, they're just not particularly motivating. 

I pick up the shawl while files are uploading and knit a few rows, but it's not particularly fun. I  think maybe I'm saving the socks for a trip to the river or laundromat.

It's definitely past time to cast on something new, isn't it?

More Quilts I Want to Make

My budget won't allow me to buy all of Elizabeth Hartman's amazing patterns. I thought there were only six or eight more that I wanted, then I made the mistake of Googling and there are sooooo many new ones since the last time I looked.  That might not be a problem if so many other designers didn't have the same effect on me. 

I've been wanting Awesome Ocean for a while. It's got otters and sea horses and puffer fish and that other wonderful sea creature that I'm too lazy to look up the correct plural for... 

I could think of so many different ways to justify buying this pattern and I almost snapped it up when I got a Craft Warehouse gift certificate for Christmas. I'm glad I didn't because when I stopped in on Friday they had a forty percent off coupon -- which is as rare as hen's teeth for that store.

I hadn't seen Cuckoo! Can you just imagine this one in scrappy calico browns?

As I was putting this post together I discovered that Awesome Ocean is available on Amazon for slightly less than I paid with my coupon. That is not a bad thing, because it puts the rest of her big complicated patterns within reach.

I should probably make one of these first, though.

The Weather is Dreary, But My Stitching Isn't

The weather lately hasn't been very summery, or predictably summery enough to make plans. I'm compensating with my needlework projects.  

Honestly, I think I'm just as happy stitching a little girl who's splashing in the water as I would be splashing in the water myself...but I don't think the kids would agree. As soon as we get a decent day that lines up with some free time, we'll be at the river.

Cross Stitch Myth and Magic

I stumbled across Cross Stitch Myth and Magic at the Friends of the Library bookstore and I'm so glad I did.

It was this frost fairy that made the book a must-buy.

The chart is all in shades of blue and it looks like she may be kind of brutal to stitch -- but isn't it gorgeous? I'd have regretted not having her in my pile of ambitious projects that I'm saving for some distant future date.

There's also a Teresa Wentzler design.

I looked this one up on Teresa's website and it was designed just for this book. It also has fewer colors and fractional stitches than most of her big projects.

I can't decide if I love the mermaid or just like her.

The facial features seem to fade from the stitching, but so many needlework projects look amazing in person compared to the pattern photographs. And I do love her grotto....so she'll be another someday project.

The book also contains dozens of little spot motifs that are only shown as charts so I can't show them to you here.  If you want to see more of the big projects, click through to the Youtube video for a flip through.

Let's Make Baby Qulits! {7/5/19}

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Bicentennial Temptations -- The Weirdest One Yet

Happy Fourth of July! I don't usually do holiday posts, but on Wednesday we found the absolute weirdest piece of Bicentennial decor yet. That's at the end of the post. First, I'll share the mid-70s patriotic finds that you might have forgotten.

It started with the lamp with the Declaration of Independence on the shade. I don't know why I'm so fascinated by this stuff, but I am. I would've been four years old in 1976, so I don't remember the event but I remember the decor...probably from much later.

I still can't quite wrap my head around this lamp, but it's nothing compared to what the boys found.

The unframed Bicentennial crewel piece came home with me by accident because it was in a plastic bag and all I could tell was that it was embroidery and dirt cheap. I will, at some point, probably do something with it.

And then there was the tablecloth, still in its original package with the suggestion to buy one to use and one to keep as a cherished heirloom. We didn't buy that.

Yesterday we were in a local antique store that's going out of business (that'll be my next vintage post) and one of my sons pointed out this thing...because of course they want a rotary candlestick phone with the stars and stripes on it. 

The owner of the shop told them to take it, so now the two oldest boys are sharing custody. I know that I said last week I've always wanted a candlestick phone...and I have...but this is so totally not what I had in mind!

It was made in 1973 and it's red white and blue, which is why I'm assuming it was for the Bicentennial even if the first candlestick phones would've been a century too late for it to make sense. 

{I've Been Reading} Into the Frying Pan

A Twist in the Tail by Leighann Dobbs

Josie Waters is in over her head. She doesn't know how to deal with the two cats that came with the mansion she purchased, let alone how to repair the place and make a nice breakfast for her guests. Things are challenging, but she's coping -- at least until one of her guests is found dead in the ballroom.

The first Oyster Cove Guesthouse book is fast paced and entertaining. The two cats play a major  role in solving the mystery --  whole chapters are told from their point of view -- and it's fun to watch them try to convey their discoveries to the human they share the mansion with.




Into the Frying Pan by Sarah Osborne

I really expected to like this one. Ditie Brown takes her kids to a Civil War Reenactment and that was my first problem. Her kids have only been "hers" since their mother died (in the first book of the series, which I haven't read.) While it's great that Ditie considers them her real children, it was extremely confusing to me as the reader. A lot of the plot is spent parenting, which is what I was hoping for, but the rest is spent with Dities friends and acquaintances from med school. Seemingly everyone involved in the murder mystery was a doctor.  I never did really warm up to Ditie or get engrossed in the mystery.

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies. This post contains affiliate links. 

The Albany Carousel

I knew that there was a carousel in Albany and I'd been planning to visit, but somehow I never got around to it or even figured out exactly where it was. It was even on our list of museums we wanted to visit last year.  Earlier this week we discovered that it's right down the block from one of the Row by Row Experience shops. 

I'd also seen on Facebook that they offer free tours...so I was completely and totally out of excuses. One of those had been that Salem has a carousel and we'd been to that one more than a few times over the years.

There's no comparison. The animals in Albany are fabulously detailed...

They have some old animals and artwork on display. (Please let me know what you think is going on in those two panels. I want to see if your guess about the lady on the left matches ours.)

There are lots more animals in progress and I loved seeing the partially carved ones with their concept art.

I think I'd forgotten how much I love carousels....and that I didn't realize new ones can be absolutely amazing.

Somehow, I didn't get any still pictures of the actual carousel...but I did get a bit of video.

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A post shared by Michelle Marr (@romantictangle) on Jun 26, 2019 at 9:22pm PDT

Mid-Year Totals 2019

This year is flying by so quickly -- how is it already halfway gone? 

I've done a little bit of knitting, very little compared to previous years.... 

I've done a lot of stitching. These are the finishes, and I've got a lot of new starts from Stitch Maynia ...and things I was working on before Stitch Maynia....that  I expect to have finished by the end of the year.

The Goblins Will Get You

I absolutely love the way Goblins came out! 

Pattern: Goblins (Cross Stitch & Country Crafts September/October 1995)

This one has been kitted up in my stash since before Quinn and Leif were born and I probably wouldn't have started it if I wasn't randomly grabbing projects for Stitch Maynia. I put in ten or so stitches on the bottom border, then set it aside to go deal with something outside and twisted my ankle.

It was a while before I picked it up again and started over and I'm so glad I did. From the magazine picture, I had no idea how great the colors and details would actually look. There are blended threads and the border isn't symmetrical and I complained about both, but the effort was totally worth it.

Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits

Knitting lace with thick yarn and big needles can give you gorgeous results fast and if that appeals to you, Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits by Barbara Benson is a great choice. The lace is simple enough for knitters new to yarn overs and decreases (and has a section on yarn overs that taught me some new things) and it's pretty enough to tempt more experienced knitters away from their laceweight.

There are pictures showing each project from multiple angles so that you can see exactly how it's supposed to look. The charts are large and clear -- and there are row by row written instructions for knitters who prefer to do things that way.

Now I want to go check my stash to see if I've got some yarn suitable for that gorgeous white throw....

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy. This post contains affiliate links. 

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {6/28/19}

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

{Thrift Shop Temptations} Another Musty Trunk

Remember that trunk I showed you in my last thrifting post? A week later, I found this one at a thrift store about a mile down the road from the shop where we found the first one. It's got the Hartman trunk company logo, but not the nifty "Gibraltarized" one.

It's almost as musty and it's missing one of the big drawers. I'd think that would be a significant flaw and detract from its value. But they're asking six hundred bucks for this one and that tag is a color that won't be marked  down.

Look at the shipping tag that's been wired to the handle for a hundred and ten years. I can't be the only one who loves that, right?

While the trunk didn't tempt me, this antique baby buggy sure did, especially since it was sized for dolls.

I want one!

I've told you about Grandma's knack for finding whatever we were looking for. She might have passed down that trait to my daughter because I'd been talking to Alex earlier in the day about a weird old children's show one of the boys was telling me about.

Alex found one of the dolls. This thing lights up and plays music and squirms and it's hard to imagine a more unsettling toy. But I'm beyond impressed that she was able to come up with one. (I left it at the store instead of bringing it home to torture her brothers...but we texted them pictures.)

Knitting in Public

For the moment, I'm doing most of my knitting at the laundromat or the bowling alley. It keeps my fingers moving while the time passes...and almost keeps me from losing patience with other people's kids who are using the laundromat as a race track. 

I definitely need to cast one something more fun. These were going to be road trip socks for a trip that got rescheduled and I don't have anything against them or that pink patterned shawl but it would be nice to knit on something I love.

{I've Been Reading} Man of the Year

I have got to stop picking up books because the advance publicity compares it to something else I liked. In this case the comparison was to The Couple Next Door, which I did read and review a while back, but I saw that title and was thinking of another book entirely. (I did have the same exact complaint about Man of the Year as I did about The Couple Next door once I figured out which book that actually was, so maybe what I need to do is start glancing back at my own notes to see which books are actually being compared.)

Man of the Year by Caroline Louise Walker sounded like a book I'd enjoy, with its description of a too-perfect-to-be-true doctor and his downward spiral. The first half of the book really dragged for me. Robert Hart is respected, and envied, and wealthy. Wealthy enough that his charitable contributions bought him that award mentioned in the book's title. People envy his boat and his career and the historic widow's walk on the roof of his house... but things aren't as they seem.

I don't have to like a character to enjoy reading about him, but there has to be something to keep me turning pages. In this case, it was my refusal to give up on many books before the end. About halfway through the pace picked up and the plot started to twist. Then it just kept twisted and turning until an end that I don't think many readers are going to see coming. 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an ARC. This post contains affiliate links. 

{The Row by Row Experience} I'm Loving This Year's Theme

Last year, I skipped the Row by Row Experience because I wasn't at all excited about the theme and I had a ton and a half of other things going on. I wasn't sure about this summer, but the theme sounded encouraging. 

Then I saw the block that Yankee Dutch Quilting came up with.

Between the vintage stand mixer and the saying, there's no way I'm not stitching that, regardless of whether or not I make a quilt or visit many more shops.