a thought for 'buttons'

this greeted me this morning

on the kitchen countertop

???

I love it!

My daughter has the best button stash!  Whenever I need a button I seek her out first.
~Lisa

a simple quilted bookcover

a simple quilted bookcover for a young friend's 13th birthday next week

after noticing this little book I wanted to give her had a soiled cover

quilted bookcovers on the internet are so popular now

it was such fun to pull out scrap fabric, batting, ribbons, trim and buttons

carefully measuring the little book ~ to be sure to include the spine

allowed 1/4" seam allowances all around

added 1/2" to the width

and 1/4" to the length 

my layers were: front material-batting-inner lining-side pockets for the book's cover to slip through

embellishments, like ribbons and trim, need to be included before turning rightside out

I left my opening to turn at the bottom of the spine area

and after turning and pressing, simply machine-stitched it closed

added some fun buttons knotted with embroidery thread

it fit perfectly

This was not intended to be a tutorial ~ simply sharing some of the ideas I used.  It took me a couple of hours from start to finish... and now I'm ready to make more!

~Lisa

Linking to these parties: 
Wednesday:  Sew Much Ado and Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Thursday:  Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, Craftberry Bush and  Thrifty 101


Happy Valentine's Day ~ 2012

A vintage Valentine's card from my grandmother Edith's collection

circa 1930's ~ maybe 1940's

Isn't the wording on the inside of the card quite interesting by today's standards...

Happy Valentine's Day!

~Lisa

a new trinity stitch pattern prayer shawl started

...recently a new trinity stitch pattern prayer shawl has been started....

...this simple knit project is worked in the evenings...

...an easy handwork that doesn't require following a strict pattern...

I wanted this particular prayer shawl to be approximately 48-50" wide...

...so I cast on 99 stitches...

...knit 3 - purl 3 repeating pattern....

...always begin and end each row with a knit 3....

...again, using Homespun Lion Brand yarn

...#315 tudor color was chosen...

...which is working up into a striped design...

...anticipated more of an overall mottled look, but this is pretty too...

...am just having to be careful about keeping the striped design when changing skeins of yarn...

...so it takes a little bit more planning...

Using size 13/9.0mm needles....

...cast on 99 stitches...

...1 skein of yarn knitted @10" of length...

....this will be knitted to @64" long- before fringing...

...I plan on fringing this like the simple knit prayer shawl...

...(trinity stitch pattern prayer shawl's printer-friendly link)

...so am already looking at other colors to add to the fringe....

...will let you know what is chosen...

...and when it's complete...

In Summary:

Trinity Stitch Pattern Prayer Shawl 50" x 64"

Finished prayer shawl:  approximately 50" x 64" (before fringing)

Needles:  9.0 mm/size 13

Yarn Used:  Homespun Lion Brand

Color:  #315 Tudor

Skeins of yarn needed:  5- (I purchased 8 skeins for choices in matching colorways in striping; if using a non-striping colorway, only need 5 skeins)

Cast on:  99 stitches

Repeating pattern:  knit 3 - purl 3    (always begin and end each row with a knit 3)

Work pattern until prayer shawl is desired length.  Bind off.  Fringe.  See a simple knit prayer shawl and printer-friendly link for more information. 

Note:  This prayer shawl modifies the simple knit prayer shawl pattern by casting on more stitches to obtain a wider finished prayer shawl.  The other instructions are the same.

~Lisa
UPDATE 6.19.2012 ~  This prayer shawl completed beautifully, only using 5 skeins of yarn. 

The #315 tudor colorway 'stripes' on its own as you knit, as you can clearly see in the photo above, so I was glad I'd purchased 8 skeins, as it gave me more choices matching up the striping when changing skeins as each skein begins and ends with a different part of the coloring.  I used the same yarn colorway for the 10" double-strands of fringe and it was pretty with all the different colors in the yarn adding to the 'fringe' effect.  The completed project notes can be found here that includes photos, notes and a link to my ravelry project page.  I still used straight needles, even though I cast on 99 stitches, and it worked well for me.

I hope all this makes sense, but if you should have any questions, or need more clarification, please feel free to drop me a note at [email protected].   ~Lisa