Doll House

A few years ago, DH and I bought a beautiful doll house at an auction.  Since this is a small town, we knew the girl that it belonged to and her dad who built it from a kit and her mom who probably made the cross stitch quilt and some of the rugs for it.  And we knew her sister who told us the story about the house.

The girl who owned it is now a missionary in Africa and since her parents where moving away to a bigger town but a smaller apartment, they couldn't keep the doll house for her any longer.  And so it was put up for auction with all the other things they couldn't keep any longer.

It was obvious right from the beginning that she loved this doll house.  The furnishings were well thought out.  And the walls had been papered.  But when we got everything home, we found folders full of letters that she had received from companies where she had inquired about purchasing things for her doll house.  She was very much involved with her doll house and had kept everything that had anything to do with it. 

I felt a little guilty having it instead of her.  But so goes life and the decisions that are made.

For Christmas, DH asked what I wanted, and I replied that I wanted a cart on wheels to put the doll house on because it was sitting on the floor and couldn't be moved.  And so couldn't be used.  Or cleaned under/around.  And being the sweetheart that he is, he made me a cart on wheels that fit the doll house perfectly.

And then the fun began.  There weren't many things needed but what fun doing the ones that I thought needed to be added.

First off I did a little knitting and counted cross stitch.

 

An afghan made from fingering weight yarn and knit on size 1 needles.

 

 

 

A quilt for one of the kids' beds.

 



 

And another quilt for the other kid's bed.

 

 



 

A crocheted rug for the master bedroom made from leftover Peace Fleece yarn.

 

 

 

A scarf knit on toothpicks and with lace weight yarn.

 

 

A counted cross stitch wall hanging from a free pattern at Herrschners.

 

And this little armoire was just calling for some clothes hangers and so I made a few from paper clips.

 

 

And now for what the doll house looks like with everything in it....

 

 

It has a wrap around porch and in this picture you can see the cart that DH made.

 

And here you can get an idea of how big it is.  It is as tall as the built in cabinets in the den.

 

This is the full back.

 

A closer shot of the attic.

 

This is the second floor.

 

The kids' bedroom.

 

The bath.

It needs a picture in here.  I just haven't decided what yet.

 

The master bedroom.

 

Main floor.

 

Kitchen

 

Living room

 

And a closer shot so you can see the knitting in the rocking chair and the afghan on the couch.

 

 

It has been so much fun putting all this together and adding my personal touches.  But it was also impressive that a young girl had been so in love with her doll house that she had planned and thought out just how she wanted to decorate it. 

 

I'm honored to be the new owner.

The story of a knitting bag.

The life of this knitting bag started with "free" things.

I got this very pretty bag when I bought cosmetics. 

And one fine day I received an email from KnitPicks saying that I would get these items free if I ordered a certain $ amount of other things. 

Who can resist "Free"??  (Not me apparently!)

But the big dilemma was this:  I didn't know what to do with these things because I don't have a knitting bag that doesn't already have all the little knitting accessories already in it.

What to do.  What to do.

Aha!  I can make myself another knitting bag!  Dilemma solved!

Now just for the sewing.

I had fabric on hand because for years I have been planning on making myself aprons.  You know the kind like everyone's gramma used to wear?  Well, that fabric became a knitting bag instead of aprons!  Although, I do have fabric left over.  I could still come up with some form of apron from that...hmm. 

Anyway!  Back to the knitting bag.

I wanted this bag to be cozy and so decided to quilt the fabric together. 

I also intended to take step by step pictures but that didn't happen!  These are it.

 

But here is the finished product.

 

 

 

I added lots of pockets and a zipper to keep everything safely inside. 

 

We won't talk about how much trouble that zipper was to install.  Or how long it took to put the rick rack on.  Or that it actually took me 2 afternoons and 2 evenings to make the whole bag.  Yikes!

 

 



I'm going to forget all that and enjoy my new knitting bag.

That started with all those "free" things!

side note...I am compulsive but it is purely coincidence that the fabric on the front of the bag matches the back.  I honestly didn't plan it that way.  Nothing that I plan works out THAT good!

2nd side note....you can tell the front from the back by the color of the buttons on the handles.

The treasure became a shawl

I didn't knit either pattern that I mentioned in the last post. I did spend more time on Ravelry and found the one I loved the most.

 

 

The pattern is Positive Thoughts #1.  There weren't any beads in the pattern.

 

 

 

 

But when I looked at the pattern is seemed to be calling for beads.

 

 

And so I listened and added lots of pretty beads.

 

I think I love it!  

 

All the details are on Ravelry, here. 

Laceweight handspun

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile.

The wedding was wonderful!  But, because the photographer didn't allow anyone to take photos while she was I have no pictures.  I will though...just give me a little time.

What brings me here today is this*...I just received an email from Peace Fleece and they are now selling handspun laceweight yarn in mohair.  There are 7 colors to choose from.  And they also have handspun laceweight in cashmere in 1 color.  It's not a lot of color selection but they are very pretty colors even if they are basic.

I know some of you can spin your own laceweight yarn (I'm looking at you Cookie!) but if you have a need or just a want for something like this give this a look-see.  It's an interesting story and you know, if we buy some, we could be women helping other women.

And now I am going to do some shopping...I think I like the sapphire the best...

*I don't get any benefit from saying these things...I just love Peace Fleece and the things they do and want to let others know about it too.

On the knitting front

There is knitting happening/about to happen. 

DH gave me this sweet book for Christmas.  There were two patterns I immediately fell in love with and had to order the yarn right away.

All of the patterns in the book use Brown Sheep yarns.  This is what I got for the apron. 

Everyone asks what I'm going to do with an apron, and I say about the same as the shawls I knit.  Enjoy the knitting and then put it in the drawer.  I just love the idea of a knit apron!

This yarn is slated for the table runner.  And this won't just be knit and put in the drawer but actually used.  I have a dining room table just waiting for some pretty laciness. 

Strokkur is what I am currently knitting on.  The yarn is Patons Classic Wool. 

I haven't knit with this type of yoke construction so it'll be interesting when I get that far...

Yellow really isn't a very good color for me, so I'm changing out to plum instead.  Of course!

I just had to add another shot of Teddy.  The chair is new and guess who has been in it more than anyone else in the house?  Yea...you guessed right.  Teddy.

At least we ordered it to match whatever hair he leaves behind...

Acer...not such an ace.

I knit Acer quickly.

But quickly done doesn't necessarily mean happy.

 

In my opinion, it's too big.  Wearable but big.  Sleeves are too wide.  Body too big around.  Maybe too long.

Going in I knew the neckline tended to be big and open and I used 2 sizes smaller needles and did a cable cast-on.  That seemed to help tighten things up a bit.

The sleeves would have been several inches to long if I had followed the pattern.  The sleeve directions might have worked for smaller diameter sleeves but not on these honking huge ones.

I'll always love Peace Fleece yarn but this batch had more knots than I've ever seen before.  And an exceptional amount of vegetable material too.  I was a little surprised.  I do love the color though and actually the pictures are pretty accurate in that respect.

The buttons are LaMode and were purchased in a rush while DH waited in the car.  I love the buttons.  I think they look good with the color.  Just about the only thing I do like about this sweater.

I'll wear it.  It even fits over a sweatshirt so if I'm freezing it'll be the sweater I reach for.  I'm just afraid I won't do that reaching very often.

Finally finished and in the mail actually.

So.

Here they are.

Started over a year ago.

Intended for LAST year's Christmas.

I'm sure 2nd DS thought he'd never see them.

But they are done and in the mail.  I checked tracking and they are within a day or two of delivery.  So with a bit of luck he'll have them before Thanksgiving. 

Thank goodness!

And here is the start on the 4th pair of Northman mittens.  This pair is for my sister.  She demanded requested them by LAST January.  Yea.  She didn't get them.  Maybe this January.  If she's lucky.  Or I'm lucky.  One or the other.

Sorry about the horrid picture.  They are charcoal grey and off white.  Not that you can tell by this.

This is what I really want to be knitting on.  Acer is the pattern and Peace Fleece is the yarn.  I don't even have a Ravelry page for it yet. 

It is getting close to the body being finished and then just the sleeves.  And finding buttons that I'm happy with...

And just because, here's Teddy. 

Smile Teddy!  You're on candid camera!

Actual knitting content

Yes.  I'm sticking with the blogging.*

Since the name of this blog is Marilyn Knits I thought I might need to prove it....

And so...ta da...here is the latest Iceling Sweater Set.  Ravelry link. 

Cardigan.  Size 6 months.

Mittens with a cord to keep the new mom & dad from losing them.  Infant size.

Iceling hat without the turn up band.  Baby size.

The baby's dad is a nephew on DH's side of the family.  The baby is a sweet little fellow.  Already wearing a Viking shirt to go with his Dad's for those football watching sessions.

In other knitting news, I just have to bind off the shawl mentioned in this post.  I'll be so very happy when it's done.  As it turns out, unless I fall completely in love after I block it, I don't really care all that much for this shawl.  To small and no lace.  I knew that going in but I was in denial and I'd struggled to find a pattern to start with so I was happy just to find anything that the yarn agreed to be. 

 *After visiting with a couple dear people that explained how search engines work, I decided to continue but just keep in mind everything and I mean everything that goes into a post goes on to the great big www.

Saturday Sky and a couple other things...

I loved Sandy's Saturday Sky but I don't think to do it often enough.  And today is an especially uninteresting sky.  But I'm still going to show you what we have going on for the next several days.

Grey and rain.

The start of this farming season is horrid.  There was snow everywhere still in early May and now that the snow is gone and the fields are just starting to get ready to plant...this happens.  Uff.

We are SO late.  But the farmers are holding it together.  And we desperately need the rain.  It was so dry last year.  If only it had held off for a few weeks and given everyone a chance...  /sigh

On a brighter note...well, maybe...I'll let you be the judge of that...

It's CMMDI Mega May.  I didn't think I'd have time, patience or the right attitude for knitting but as it turns out I really need that time in the evenings.

But to find the pattern to go with this yarn, (Malabrigo Lace), turned into a "Mega May Effort".

This is the list of patterns I have tried.

1. My Heaven Shawl
2. Rock Island
3. Flower Basket Shawl
4. Dragon's Blood

And the pattern that the yarn finally said "Ok, this is the one." is Citron.  It's the only one that has Malabrigo Lace as the suggested yarn.  Duh.  I should have looked for that first.

 

 

It's looking pretty good and is just what is needed.  Simple knitting with a little counting thrown in for good measure.  The hardest parts are the M1s and that is because of the slippery needles.

 

News about the house building is good.  The siding is going up and is looking good.  The hardwood floor is beautiful with the 1st coat of finish.  The woodwork is mostly up everywhere. 

 

The only thing that made me freak out was the sticker shock from the price of cabinet pulls.  But I pulled myself together, got my p**p in a group, my ducks in a row, my head on straight and lived with it.

 

Have a great weekend!