A scarf, shawl or pillow ?

 Worked on this during our trip to NOLA...

used the join as you go method spurned on by Cogaroo.

So now the question is:

What should I make?

A shawl would be nice,

 or a scarf if these two strips were joined,

or a pillow for the Kosestua.

The pillow might win because I can use this:

You know that $1.99 IKEA pillow I like to brag about?

Well...now they have this $1.49 pillow...

just when I thought it could not get any better!

Furthermore, I think I only have enough yarn to finish the pillow, 

even though I thought the shawl would have been super cool.

Completed pillow post to come.

Hope you all are having a good week so far!!!

Stash-Buster #28 - More Roses and Hearts

 Mushroom Button Enclosure.

Can you stand it?

Since this post, the heart shaped pillow pattern has been refined and...
Pattern for a Rose heart pillow is now listed in my Etsy shop:

Click here for the pattern without the instruction for the Granny Rose Square in the middle as many of you have those patterns already (Yay! and thank you!). :-)

And here for the pattern that includes the 3 steps for the Granny Rose Square.)

This is another stash-buster from the:

The acrylic stash is almost gone - just some odds and ends left.

Yeah!

We're back from NOLA...now it's off to Rosemaling Camp

 and an unplugged Anniversary trip.

I miss checking on all your blogs, but will be back soon with a Rosemaling report

 and to check on your latest shenanigans.

Break Bread with Friends

I spotted something similar to this bread plate at my friend's home

 and commented on how much I liked it.

Thus, my sweet friend began a search to find one for me. 

When she was unsuccessful in finding one, she made one!

Such a kind and thoughtful gesture.

It means so much.

It has been placed on top of our refrigerator.

Yes, I had to clean the top of it before I could take the photos. 

Oh my goodness, what goes on on the top of the fridge? 

It's a good thing we are not tall.

 She really captured my style and my colors. 

She even included a heart in the middle and the "i's" are dotted with hearts.

 I like the way it looks with the heart crochet project from this post,

and this post, too.

Thank you my sweet friend and

Happy Spring to you as well!

NOLA

This is what goes down in New Orleans:

Crawfish Boil:

Friends and Family:

This is Pa and #6

Beignets and coffee:

Left to Right:
#5a , Astri, #6 (Little Bug aka Cilantro), #5 (Precious), NVO

I think I could get accustomed to this. :-)

My CAL Homies Part Six

It's been a while since I have posted about my CAL homies and their projects.

Surely, I have missed some and for that I apologize. 

Please send me your project photos or links and I would be delighted to include them on the next post.

Here are the latest:

Glenda in the UK crochets while caring for her 90 year old mum.

Her mum taught her to knit and sew as young girl, 

but couldn't get to grips with crochet as mum is left-handed and Glenda is right-handed.

Recently, Glenda learned the Tunisian stitch and made this spectacular afghan:

She certainly got a grip in on this now.

Mum will use this blanket in the car to keep her warm.

Glenda and her blind mum also knit square for rescue animals. 

Mum knits the squares and Glenda crochets them together and adds a border. 

She also noted that all this needlework keeps them out of mischief.

I'm still smiling over that one. :-)

Thank you for sharing your afghan and your story Glenda,

it made my day!

Look at the fun pin cushions from Mavi at

Tilde Patch.

Mavi has a wonderful crafty blog sprinkled with humor.

She claims she is caught in a spider's web of crafts and is not trying to get out.

(I hope I got the translation correct.)

Clicking on the photo will lead you to additional photos of this adorable project.

I'm feeling another stash-buster coming on.

Here are a couple of clever ideas for the granny roses

from Eve at 

The Garden Chef's Needle and Pen Blog:

Roses used as...

A very pretty necklace

and

A baggage identifier.

How very clever!

It's been a little while but check out these adorable entries from Melissa and Linda:

Melissa made this amazing afghan for her mother.

There are three rows of alternating rose colors and all rose squares alternate with granny squares.

A lucky mom indeed!

Here's Linda's Rockman Afghan!

She even lined the back with fleece.

You Rock Linda!

Kacie made this precious pillow for her daughter Rosemary.

I love the feminine colors.

Kacie does not have a blog to link; however, she wrote to me that the joining method changed her life. haha. I wish I could take credit for it but it's not my invention. It can be found with Google searches.

The pillow was made Caron Simply Soft and the pillow is extra cuddly.

This beautiful cushion is by Jam at the Fairy Dress Blog.

It's so delicate and these colors are so deligthful.

I'm taking in that stitched item in the background with lots of fresh air, too.

How lovely!

The blog is in Japanese.

The granny rose knows no language barriers. :-)

Thank you all for trying out these patterns.

I love seeing what you make!

These are also posted on the "CAL" page.

Spice/Herb Alter Ego

Our youngest #6 (Little Bug) had (has) a precocious and mischievous side.

Albeit, in the most endearing and entertaining way.

For many years, this intelligent, thoughtful and kind child had an alter ego she named "Cilantro". 

Cilantro was the cause of many strange happenings.

Many times the answer to the question, "Did you do that?"
 was, "No, it was Cilantro."

At nine years old, I came home one day to find her boiling a pot of hooves (treats for dogs), wearing a colorful shawl. When I asked her who she was and what she was doing, she exclaimed, in a most curious foreign accent "I'm Cilantro, the Hoof Hat Maker", and went about her business in the usual manner, boiling the hooves, creating quite the scent in the home and
talking about the hats she would sell at the market. 

I do not recall any hats actually being made from the hooves, though.

I believe the only things she made that day were "House Stinker Uppers".

Cilantro was also a dog for quite some time, as well. 

Meals were served in bowls on the floor and there was a lot of canine activity going on. 

She accompanied me to the bank one day, on all fours in a pretty little dress, barking all the way. 

The teller said "Oh, what cute dog, what is your name little puppy?" and Cilantro replied "Woof".

That must be "Cilantro" in dog speak.

Now this Little Bug is 23 years old and a very charming young adult.

She claims Cilantro is not around anymore, but I'm not so sure about that.

I'll see evidence occasionally that she is alive and well.

One such occasion was April Fools Day, if you catch my drift.

This week we are down South to accompany Little Bug on a Graduate School tour.

You see, Little Bug, would really like a MPH - Masters of Public Health.

We are so proud!
Hmmmm...I wonder if mastering ones health
would include lots of herbs and spices in the diet...
they say it could be true...

I've often thought about what spice/herb my alter ego would be.

I've come to the conclusion that she is named Cardamom. 

My alter ego is sweet, spicy and...unusual. :-)

 Cardamom is commonly used in Nordic baking such as Julekake, 

which is fitting for a former pastry chef and baker from Norway, right?

It's sort of expensive.
 I am not expensive...but my alter ego might be. ;-)

The NVO claims his is Basil.
It fits...

he's hardy, strong, sweet and occasionally fragrant,
(if you catch his drift. haha.)

Here's the start of our herb and veggie garden:

It's waiting for Mother's Day for outside planting.

That's the day the experts tells us we are safe

 to plant without the threat of a freeze in our region.

Cilantro and Basil are included, of course

Can you spot them in their infancy?
Here's a hint:

Cardamom is not included. 

I'm not sure if that is possible.

What is your spice/herb alter ego?

and why?
Would love to hear about it. :-)

Armoire in Blue

Do you remember this 90's Armoire?

At one time I really liked it...oh brother!
I didn't even purchase it like this;
I actually did this to it.
I purchased it second-hand over 15 years ago and white washed it.
What in the H-E double toothpicks was I thinking?

Well, thank goodness it's been up-cycled a couple of times since.
Whew!
So here's the history
(after the initial white wash):

 First it was jazzed up to this:

It was better....
although those blue blobs and bright green knobs were
not quite right,
to put it simply, it was not doing it for me
so,

I added more "Summer Blue" paint:

Still didn't do it,

so

I added some handy dandy carved wood pieces from Hobby Lobby,

the pieces match the pieces in our hallway entrance,

(random insert.)

and my favorite part:

new hardware from The Home Depot.

I must have tried half of a dozen different styles before I found just the right one. 

The most time-consuming part of this project 

was running back and forth to the store with returns.

(My least favorite part.)

And now it's up-cycled to this:

I like to call it my "Scandinavian-French" style.

 What do my Scandinavian friends and French friends think?

Oops, I have only one French friend. ;-)

Here are the phases in a nutshell:

Perhaps, I could learn to stand in the same place, 

at the same time to get good comparison photos, haha - 

oh well, you get the gist of it, right?

Have a great rest of your week and weekend

and may your white washed items be up-cycled!