The sweater is FINISHED!

Finally finished and blocked the sweater I've been working on for my daughter.  The pattern is a Doris Chan's September Morn Jacket/vest.  She designed it using a Tahki cotton classic lite mercerized cotton.  I used  Panama which is a cotton, linen, viscose blend, by Rowan yarns.  The button is  made by crocheting over a plastic circle.

Since my flat pictures weren't showing much detail I threw it on the mannequin I use for tutu's.  I didn't get it on perfectly which shows more in these type of photos.  This is the first time I've made an adult size sweater.  I love the weight of this garment.

Again, it would have been so much nice to have pics of her in it, instead of the mannequin where it hangs up on every little thing being the lacy nature of it.

HOW do you get your house sold?

ARGH a little pirate speak here.  So frustrated on trying to get our house sold.  My realtor sent me a note saying that very few buyers are coming to the area overall.  We have gone through and re- stage several things, to improve the overall look.  The house is spotless. I'm actually considering painting the kitchen but no sure if I will.  Now that the weather is improving, we are working out in the yard.  I saw something that I found interesting on Today.  They suggested having 2 realtor's(from the same office) work for you, the one that sells it, gets the commission.  I'm seriously looking at this as a possibility if our house doesn't sell within the current contract.  I did send my realtor a note saying that at the end of the summer, we would probably take it off the market for a bit, so it didn't continue to look like a toad.  I mean if there's a fairy princess out there to give it a kiss by all means stop by and do your magic.   Does anyone have any good ideas for attracting buyers?

whats new off the hook?

Well did you watch the last episode of Oprah?  I was not a big follower of her program  but thought it interesting to hear her talk about the audience and what they meant to her over the years.  I was busy cleaning while it was on. So really just caught snippets.  One thing I kept hearing her mention was her gratitude journal, another was how people think things will make them happy and how they find out that those "things" don't make them happier when they own them. That particular thought made me laugh, considering how many give aways she did.   Oh well enough of that. 
Here are a couple pics of what just came off my hook this week. 

These booties still need buttons, and the color is a bit off but they are made from Caron Spa bamboo blend.  I love the feel of this yarn and its easy to work with.   I made a similar pair for a custom order.  While I was carrying them around to give to the client, I got so many comments, I decided to make a second pair in the same color. .

I then put together these hats last night.  This one is made with Tahki yarn.  Its the one with the melon, and blue colors, and short fringe top. The pattern was purchased from Sunset crochet. My camera has been most disagreeable with color and lighting these days. 

I took this at about 1 am, so I didn't mess with it all, just plopped it on here. 

They use a huge hook size N, I'm so used to using much smaller, b or c size usually but these were so quick to do.  If I had more yarn I would have probably done more.  I will get better pictures so I can put them on my etsy shop. Its really much better looking than the current photo shows.  Theres and interesting mix of colors in the 2nd hat.  I did  play with "pom pom" this morning twisting and knotting the ends.
The second hat was a made from a hand spun and dyed yarn I purchased on Etsy.  It had huge differences in the yarn from lace weight to chunky.  It was difficult at first to work with, but I think it came out alright. The most interesting thing was the Tahki yarn was 60 yards, which was just enough to make the hat but no trim.  The hand spun was 90 yards, and provided the extra for the braid, but I wish their had been less lace weight and a bit more chunky in the yarn. 

keep it or throw it out

Yep that's the question... Keep it or throw it out?  I'm in such a mood at the moment that my garage is in danger.  Our neighborhood has one of its 3 community yard sales this Friday and Saturday. I would have over half my garage out there if I wasnt' overbooked those 2 days.  I have to work Saturday, and I have to work Friday plus make two separate trips to the airport.  I've been slowly trying to go through things out there for the last year, but right now, I'm feeling like dragging it all to the dump and be finished with it.  I live in 3200 sq ft home.  I would like to move to a home that's about 1/2 the size we have now. 2 bedrooms would be sufficient, as long as it has a patio and a dining room  for entertaining.  I've been good I really don't run useful things to the dump, I take them to a charity station for donation.  But all the old papers and files, those drive me nuts.  I always feel like I need to go through them just in case something important is tucked in there.  Occasionally its been true something important is hiding in the wrong place. 
I have a stack of bags to go to goodwill, scrapbook paper and rubber stamps from when I use to sell these at home parties, Tupperware I no longer use. Oh and list of other items.

My beloved Brother Ult 2003

Oh my beloved Brother Ult 2003 sewing machine had a giant hiccup this morning while I was working on a prom dress for a friends daughter.  I thought I was going to die.  It's so darn expensive to take in for service, its like taking a car in for a tune up.  Fortunately I have two other machines in storage, but it meant I would have to take the brother into the service center and drive to the storage which is where we plan to move, not where we live now. 
When I took the machine in, explained the issues, the woman says, "Have you considered upgrading to a new machine that uses  usb sticks instead of disk?"  Oh sure, the 5000 my husband spent 7 years ago isn't enough for you?  I said no, I would love that option, but  my husband bought this after I bought a basic 400 dollar brother machine that did embroidery- he went to look for a disk for me with alphabet on it, and traded it in and got the bigger machine.  I don't think I would trade it in quite yet.  One of my other machines is a New home that he bought the year my daughter was born- 20 years ago.  Its a real work horse and I love it.  What it doesn't have is a automatic thread  cutter, or the needle position stop up or down.  But I have built dozens of tutu's, and costumes on it, taken it all over the place, and it keeps chugging.  There's something to be said for non computerized  machines.  I was always glad to up grade from my mom's black singer because I wanted something just a bit nicer.  My New home which was taken over by Janome was/is the best. For the more fancy stuff and embroidery I love my Brother. So off to storage I go........

What a day

Sorry to have not been on, but between my computer having an  issue with windows 7, which made it an unhappy computer. =(( 
Sunday something didn't agree with me, and I spent the night very sick, and most of Monday.  I thought today would be better.  It started out better but then got unreliable.  My daughter flew in this morning, so I had to go to the airport to get her.  Fortunately I had mostly straightened up the house.  Then we stopped for lunch on the way home, and while out got a phone call for someone to view the house.  So we ran home she was vacuuming and I went out to mow the front yard. Having been sick the last few days, didn't help much.  I got about half the front yard done, when I saw the real estate agent coming early.  So I had to quit and run in the house, change and let them look freely.
We jumped in the car, and headed down the highway headed west.  Looked at each other and said  what are we doing?  So we drove into town, and she managed to get a cute haircut last minute, we went over for tapas at the Greek restaurant Olive You, and one of her friends showed up for a bit.  It was lovely outside sunny and breezy by the lake, we sat on the patio for 2 hours enjoying one of our first days of sun.  I love having my daughter at home, and know she's only here for 3 days to look for a job before moving back at the end of the month.
I'm tuckered out already.
trev

ZUMBA

Have you jumped on the Zumba craze yet? It really is fun, I've been doing it on the wii. I like to put in the dances I like, and the amount of time I want to exercise. I've been wanting to go to a class in person, actually I would like to try different teachers. Last night I got a taste of a class put on by a wonderful English woman who has been teaching dance for 35 years. She's a hoot.


My daughter and I have been talking about taking the instructors course. I just registered us for a instructors session in August. We were hoping to do it sooner but logistics just weren't coming together. I'm psyched. I wanted her to have a chance to take a skill with her that you have to be licensed for so she perhaps more easily find work once in London. She'll have enough time to get started teaching before she leaves in mid September.

I'm hoping to eventually get licensed in the Zumba gold , and the Toning component. I think I could use the Zumba toning with my ballet students I work with for something different. High school students are always hard to keep entertained. So check me out in August, and find out where we are teaching !