A Quilted Apron Collection

I absolutely fell in love with all the quilted aprons in Erika Mulvenna's (Miss-Sews-It-All) collection. Very inspiring! 

Are you getting excited about the February Apron of the Month coming soon?! I am!

How about a bit of Pink?

In honor of Valentine's Day I thought I would share a few of my favorite pink sewing patterns. Aren't they beautiful?

Happy Valentine's Day!

We loved our Christmas Poinsettia wreath so much, that I removed the flowers (held on with straight pins) and made hearts so we could leave it up longer.

I love how it looks in the dinning room window. And I finally figured out the best way to photograph it, at night. 

Pssst...... pass the word

 For those of you who are knitters I thought you would like to know I have published a free mitten pattern on Ravelry. It is very exciting, we have had so much fun watching the statistics!

I named them North Woods Mittens as they are double layer and very warm and cozy! They have been our favorite mittens this year! To find the pattern and more details visit Ravelry.

Here you can see one mitten inside out, with a scrappy sock yarn inside layer.

Cheese and Ways to serve it

Being a good Wisconsin girl, this little booklet drew me like a magnet! Plus there are aprons on the cover and inside. A treasure! 

This little cookbook is five and a half inches by 3 inches, tiny and cute!

 The back cover, with a better look at all the aprons!

 Put out by Kraft Cheese in 1931. Don't you love how all the big food companies came out with cookbooks to promote their products? You don't see that much anymore. 

 I love the little sketches in the corners!  Not only are the ladies cooking, but shopping, chopping, stirring and serving.

 How much more vintage can you get then bridge sandwiches!

 I didn't realize until I was scanning these, but each page is perforated for removal and easy filing in the recipe box.

New Rug

One of the things on our to-do list has been a new living room rug. I knew with the house and new curtains a lighter larger one would look better. The curtains I had picked out since last March, but the rug, that was a little harder. We finally decided to just buy one we liked and bring it home. If it was not right we could always take it back.

I think it is a winner!  It opens, brightens and defines the space very nicely.

I snapped a few quick pictures to see how it would look. Still trying to decided whether the pillows are okay or should be a different pattern........

At first I wasn't sure if it was going to be too matchy-matchy with the curtains, but it seems to tie it all together. (Kerri is at her favorite watching post!) I love the color tones in the rug, just perfect.

 A better view of the design.......and Kerri!

Knitted Tights

With all of the frigid weather this year, I have been knitting like crazy! And my favorite knitting project so far are my Tights! 

Yes, I knitted tights. And they were so worth it! It actually didn't take me very long to knit, about three weeks, but I had extra motivation, the weather forecast!
The pattern is Mel Clark's Tangerine Tights from Knitting Everyday Finery.

I love wearing them! So cozy and comfy with no pinching like spandex tights. The yarn is Cascade Heritage Sock, a very soft wool/nylon blend. I had three skeins in my stash and I used just about every inch.

 The tights are knit in a knit two, purl two ribbing at the foot and up the calf, then it changes to a knit three, purl three ribbing after increasing for the thigh. I added short row shaping for more room in the seat. The waist is simply turned over and sewn down with elastic run through. My ravlery page is here.

The nice thing about the pattern is you can try the tights on as you go as they are knit from the toe up. I knit most of the pantie up before trying on and realized I had accidentally put all the short row shaping in the front instead of the back! Opps! 

I hope everyone is staying warm!