Three Things for Thursday: A Quick Yarn Hodge Podge

One: Pot Holders

If you follow me on instagram, you’ll know I’ve been working at mastering the coffee cup cozy. (I hope to have a pattern to share with you soon!) So, now that I’ve made a grand total of three of them, I think it may be time to turn my attention elsewhere. In my blog browsing, this caught my eye:

Image via Holly Knitlightly

This potholder is by the extremely talented Holly who blogs about knitting, crocheting, DIY, houses, and all sorts of other things. And, I think my house needs a few more pot holders… especially pretty ones, like this.

Two: Advanced Crochet Stitches

I’ve been doing quite a bit of knitting since finishing the baby blanket for my best friend a couple weeks ago. And, I’ve been enjoying it! Knitting is presenting me with a challenge that I didn’t feel I had been getting with crocheting. I’ve been turning to the Internet and Youtube, time and time again, to explain unfamiliar terms and techniques. I’ve even begun to wonder if enjoy knitting more than crocheting purely because of the vast array of new things to learn. 

But, wait. A quick peek around the Internet reminds me that crocheting is not just about single crochets and double crochets. There are a vast multitude of techniques to learn with a simple hook and a ball of yarn yet too! Like this one, puff stitches and crochet cables:

Image via Besenseless by Airali, in both Spanish and English

There’s a myriad of others, 32 recorded here. Perhaps I aught to start a sampler afghan, making one square of each new technique? 

Three: Craft Rooms for Knitters

It’s surprisingly difficult to find craft rooms targeted at knitters on Pinterest. There are plenty designed for scrapbookers, sewers, painters, jewelry makers, general DIY, and writers. Pinterest craft rooms involve large islands or sewing tables, and peg boards full of ribbon, scissors, and baskets of scrap paper. But people who play with yarn? We need good yarn storage, good needles storage, a little table for a cup of coffee, or tea, or a glass of water, a radio, or speakers for our audiobooks, and a nice comfy chair in which to sit for a long period of time. Simple things.  

Image via Casapink. Check out the post for more shots of her yarn stash!

In reality, there are likely so few yarn-inspired craft rooms because knitters and crocheters have so few requirements. The couch in the living room easily becomes knitting central. 

Do you have a craft room? If you knit or crochet, where do you do it?

Three Things for Thursday: A Turquoise Apartment, A Coffee Table, A Delicious Salad

This week, I’m featuring a few things that have caught my eye around the Internet lately.

One: A Turquoise Apartment

Designer Emily Henderson is responsible for this gorgeous space.

There’s a sweet story behind it too. Henderson worked with Sunrise Living, an assisted living home for seniors, to give a home make-over to one lucky resident. Head over there to read the whole story and see the whole apartment.

My eye was caught by this little sitting room. I think it’s the casters on the chairs. Or maybe the buttons. Possibly that bright blue blanket combined with the red pillows. Whatever it is, I think it’s all perfection.

Two: A Coffee Table 

But not just any coffee table. A coffee table made with such care and attention, it can’t help but blow me away.

This is the creation of another designer, Sarah M. Dorsey. She and her husband meticulously cut long sticks of driftwood down into small slips of wood, then glued them together to create this coffee table top. The result is absolutely gorgeous!

Three: A Delicious Salad

Before you think I’m going all themed with today’s Three Things (designers!) let’s shake it up with this salad:

This is Once Upon A Cutting Board’s Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad with Arugula Pesto Vinaigrette. Even the name seems drool-worthy.

I don’t know much about arugula. I’ve never bought just arugula and, while I’ve had it in those salad mixes you can get at the grocery store, I don’t think I could pinpoint the flavour of arugula. Which is why this salad has caught my eye. One of my hopes with my food shake-up is that I’ll be able to broaden my food horizons by trying as many different foods and flavours as possible, things like vegetables I’ve never tried or experimented with. Things like arugula. So, this salad is definitely on my list of recipes to try.

What has caught your eye on the Internet lately?

Warm blankets, Casseroles, and a Video

This week has been a difficult one. Last Tuesday, a Facebook friend posted a photo of a missing person’s notice sitting on the dash of his truck with the caption, “Heading out of find my buddy today.” We all know the end of the story now.

I am grieving with the community of the Ancaster CRC.

One: Warm Blankets

Since we’ve been messing around with the attic and, effectively, removing all the insulation we have, and, since the weather has been unpredictable and nasty, it’s been kind of difficult to control the heat in our house. It’s cold upstairs or boiling downstairs, no in between. 

This has me thinking about warm blankets, even though the weather is warming up. Warm blankets have me thinking about cool evenings sitting on the porch all wrapped up with a glass of wine or maybe a cup of tea. Those days are coming! In fact, they’re here!

What I really want is one of these.

These blankets are made out of old saris. Shelley, the owner of dignify.ca, sent me a small sample of the blankets, and even in the little square format, I could tell they would be soft and cozy, perfect for cool spring nights.

Unfortunately, they’re a little pricy for me right now. Instead, one of these days, I will get around to crocheting myself a good, full-sized afghan.

Two: Casseroles

Talk about comfort. Casseroles and I get along really well. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve come to realize that most of the meals I make involve more than one different kind of food all mixed together. Chicken, with potatoes, with veggies? Why wouldn’t you put all of those things together in a casserole dish with some kind of gravy or white sauce and bake it for 25 minutes? 

Chicken and asparagus in a cream wine sauce

Three: This Video

Worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/xmpYnxlEh0c&source=uds

 

Three Things for Thursday: Dog Beds, Dog Toys, Dog Treats, Dog Days

Dog Beds

A few weeks ago, Design Sponge shared a pet bed tutorial and I fell in love with it. 

image via Design Sponge

It’s nothing I couldn’t have figured out on my own, of course, but there’s something about having someone else show you how to make something so simple that inspires you to at least want to do it. And Kingsley desperately needs a new bed. We bought him a cheap, $25 one back when he first got too big for a his crate. It’s full of holes now and not nearly as much stuffing.

I think I’ll leave off that leather strap though. He would only see it as a chew toy.

Dog Toys

Speaking of leather, I wonder how well it would work for creating dog toys.

image via Fancy

Would the dogs have them mangled, destroyed and eaten in a matter of a few minutes as they do with most rawhide bones? Or, would a thick, tough leather be durable enough, in the right shape, to stand up to their vicious little teeth?

I expect it would be an epic fail and a waste of perfectly good leather. I will forever be on the hunt for the perfect, enthralling, inexpensive, indestructible dog toy.

I know, I’m asking too much.

Dog Treats

While we’re on the theme of homemade things for dogs…

image via A Muse in My Kitchen

I’ve been meaning to make homemade dog treats for a long time. But, you know how it is, right? I don’t want to make them while we still have a huge box of Milkbones to work through, but, suddenly, we’re out, we have none to give the dogs when we leave the house or go to bed and they’re looking for their daily treat. And, so, another box of Milkbones makes its way into our house. 

One day, though, I will make these. Especially since I could make them a cookie I could share with them!

Three Things for Thursday: My Skin, A Pretty Attic, and An Amazing Reno

One: My Skin 

 

 My skin sucks. This is largely because I’m not so good at taking care of it. I hate getting my face wet unless I’m getting the rest of me wet too, which means I hate washing my face unless I’m taking a shower. Usually, it’s not too bad. I don’t get any crazy teenaged break-outs anymore. But my skin isn’t super delightfully smooth to the touch, and my pores? Well. My pores. Let’s not talk about them too much, shall we?

When I started the Insanity workouts a couple weeks ago (I will talk more about this, in depth, soon! I promise!), my skin went nuts. So angry. The space between my eyebrows flaired up red and my cheeks became even more speckled. I responded by ditching all my make-up altogether in an effort to keep my skin clear and clean as much as possible. Of course, this meant I was walking around with no cover up on those little, angry red pimples at all.

Do you know how freeing that feels?

I slept in a full 15 minutes longer.

I could rub my eyes as much as I wanted. (I rub my eyes a lot.)

I could scratch an itch on my chin without filling my fingernail with powder.

My skin cleared up, slowly, but surely. It’s back to its normal, imperfect but bearable self and I’ve started throwing on a little mascara, a little blush again, before I run out the door. I haven’t, yet, been able to return to my full routine of foundation, powder, bronzer, blush, eyeliner, and mascara.

Perhaps one day, I’ll remember why I established that routine in the first place.

(I feel like I just wrote an article for Seventeen magazine. Though, I suppose if I had written an article for Seventeen magazine, there would be a whole list of products that everyone should be using and the moral of the story would be wash your face and moisturize, both things I’m not very good at doing.)

(I take that back. I moisturize daily. Mostly because I can’t stand dry skin.)

Two: An Attic in Blue

Image via Donna Magazine

Of course I have attics on the brain. I’m sure you would expect no less of me, considering everything I’ve been talking about this week. This one is gorgeous. And blue, which seems to be the colour scheme I’m leaning towards. This also makes me wonder how expensive it would be to add in two pretty round windows, one at each end.

Three: An Amazing Reno

Image via Realty Queen TO

This renovation was recently featured on Houzz. It’s gorgeous, one of those examples of a typical Toronto home that’s been perfectly, delightfully renovated. This one has been done by a blogger I’ve been following for almost as long as I’ve been blogging, Aleksandra Oleksak. I love it, particularly the brick walls. We would love to have so much beautifully warm brick in our house.  (Check out more of the reno here!)

Obviously, brick makes no sense in our little wooden house, so even a faux brick wall is out. But one day, one day we’ll live in a brick house and it will have a brick interior wall. 

And a fireplace.

Three Things for Thursday: Attics, Winter Fitness, and Books

One: Attic Bedrooms

I have talked about attics on this blog before and I can pretty much say at this point that you’re going to hear a lot more about them in the future. If that’s not clear enough for you, I’ll just say it straight: we are returning to an idea hatched, like, a year ago, that involves a very simple attic conversion from wasted and badly-insulated space into a cozy master bedroom.

Image via Houzz

There’s lots of awesome-ness about this idea, but the biggest reason we’re moving forward with it is to make our tiny home more liveable and buy us time (in the form of years) as we figure our real estate shit out. But, more on all that next week.

Two: The Winter and My Health

I have been feeling dowdy lately. I’m sure at least some of you can understand my sentiments. I’m usually pretty active, taking the dogs for long walks, running when I have the time, and eating as healthily as I can in between. But something about January to March changes that. All I want to eat is pasta and breads and cookies and cheese, and cup after cup of hot coffee. Now, don’t get me wrong: I don’t believe any of those things are bad for you, and you will never find me permanently cutting carbs, dairy, or coffee out of my diet. I believe in balance, moderation, and not denying yourself the foods you enjoy, but rather learning to control your consumption.  

Unfortunately, I lose my control in the winter months, when everything is so grey, so cold. Even worse, I stop moving. 

But! Now it’s March. It’s time to change that, kick myself back into gear, back to cooking healthy dinners, and taking the dogs for runs when I can. And, I’m trying out the Insanity thing. You know – Shaun T? The new thing since P90X? The Husband used the videos last year with good results and my reluctance to go outside in the cold has finally caused my resolve against it to crumble. 

So… we’ll see how it goes. ‘Cause I need to get moving again.

Three: Books

Image via Terrat Elms Interior Design (Photo #7 of the Ritz Carlton Penthouse)

I am still reading as much as I can. And I am still glaring at our book setup, our inadequate bookshelves, and dreaming of a proper library. Like this one! It’s gorgeous. Though there better be at least one more bookshelf if I want to display a few tchotckes on them along with the books…

An Early Three Things for Thursday

I know, it’s Wednesday! Whatever. Today’s Three Things for Thursday is dedicated to the things I should be thinking about, but that I’m not, not really.

One: My Garden

This time last year, I was jumping the gun on my seedlings because I was so excited to plant a garden. This year? Meh. Maybe it’s because the end of the season came around too fast and blind-sided me this past fall. I never even got my carrots out of the ground – though for good reason. They were disappointingly small and greater numbers than I would have liked came up half eaten by tiny, white spiders.

Either way, it’s almost time to plant seedlings. I’m ok for a few weeks yet, but I seriously I hope I can find some motivation to get a garden plan going soon.

Two: Writing

This one hasn’t been totally out of my head. Since November, I’ve thrown out most of my novel, but I have about 13,000 words that I kept to work with. I like it better than the rest of the 50,000 words, but I have no idea where it’s going. Which… inevitably means that I avoid writing as much as I can without making myself feel too guilty about neglecting it.

Three: DIY

Yeah, there’s been none of that going on around here lately. I even have projects to do! We need some more bookcases because our two are measly in comparison to the number of books I own, and I have plans to pick up a couple cheap, white Billys from Ikea and paint them whatever colour I want. And then, I have about five dressers to make-over. And a bed to sell and replace. And then, there’s all the little things that we must do in order to sell the house just in case we happen to buy something else.

So, I’ll admit it. We’re house hunting. House hunting takes up a shit-load of head space, guys.

Tell me: how are you all doing? What are you thinking about these days?

Thursday Things: Vintage Kitchens, Big Scarves, and the Joy of Books

One: Vintage Kitchens

Over the weekend, we spent a lot of time talking about how we could make this house work for us. We were going to move into it just the way it is, slanted floors, cracked ceilings and everything, and live through the reno. As we waited for news the night of offers, I scoured Pinterest for vintage kitchens and ideas to make that little space work for a few months. 

image via Design Sponge. No surprise there.

When our offer was not the winning offer among 20 – it was, in fact, $100,000 off what we would have needed to offer in order to get the house – this is where the disappointment was felt most keenly. Don’t get me wrong: I love our little kitchen. But every so often, I wonder what it would be like to take a less-than-ideal kitchen, a run-down, rough-around-the-edges kitchen, and make it work. Would I have the skills, the patience, the creativity to make it not only functional, but beautiful? 

I don’t know. But one day, I would love to try. There is something so charming, so sweet, so personal about vintage kitchens. 

Two: Big Scarves

image via Twenties Girl Style

My brother- and sister-in-law gave me a ginormous scarf for Christmas. It’s pretty – a black and white geometric pattern with bright coral edging. I love it. But, I’ll admit, it took me a while to get comfortable wearing it. It’s huge. I would wrap it around my neck and stare at this pile of material resting on my shoulders and my chest. I watched a couple videos to try to figure out what I was doing wrong. It helped, a little. But still, to me, it looked floofy and silly and not at all like all the inspiration photos of women in scarves I had pinned. 

And then, I figured it out. There was nothing wrong with how I was putting the scarf on. It did, however, have everything to do with the confidence I had in my ability to pull such a statement piece off. So, what did I do? I wore it. That’s it. I put on a simple long sleeved shirt with my black work pants and wrapped that bright, eye-catching scarf around my neck. I may have played with it a little more than normal once I got to work, but as the day went on, I gained more confidence in my ability to pull it off.

Today, I’m grateful for it. According to Google, it’s -13 degrees Celsius outside right now. For the first day this week, I’m not sitting in my office freezing my butt off. It’s keeping me nice and warm, and looking cute too, if I may say so.

(I am also wearing tights under my jeans – which I chose even though it’s not casual Friday because denim is thicker than any dress pant material – and socks with my heels – black, of course. And, when I head home, I will bundle myself up in a super-thick, 30-year-old sweater that my Oma made for my teenaged mother, my winter coat, a second scarf over my face, hat on my head, hood pulled up and fluffy mittens on. The only exposed skin will be my eyes.

Overkill?)

Three: The Joy of Books

This video is fascinating. The books dance.

I agree – even though I love my Kobo, there’s nothing quite like a real book.

Three Things for Thursday

And, we’re back!

I took a break from blogging over Christmas. I’m sure you’re not surprised. I can’t promise that I’ll be a more regular blogger in the new year. There’s change in the air around here and I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to continue to focus on developing this space.

Then again, whenever I say that, I always seem to discover a hidden bit of motivation that pushes me along for another couple months. Fickle me.

One

Did you have an excellent Christmas? This was our first Christmas on our own, so it was a little odd and a little wonderful, and a little lonely, and a little perfect all wrapped up in one. I know. A Christmas of contradictions. See, we usually spend the weekend before Christmas with the Husband’s family and Christmas and Boxing Day with my family. But, since my brother got married and my sister had a baby, and since everyone lives so far away, this was the first year, the inevitable year, that no one came home to Ontario. My parents took the opportunity to escape all the artificial busyness of Christmas (and a little family drama) and skipped the province.

It was different. It was a little weird. It felt like Thanksgiving, not Christmas. But at the same time, it was nice. We went to our own church for the first time in the two years we’ve been married. We opened our gifts together after a quick lunch. We had chicken and mashed potatoes and honey glazed carrots and apple parsnip soup and apple pie with a pretty lattice top to finish it all off. The dogs had some delicious frozen soup bones.

And now, we have leftovers. Lots and lots of leftovers!

Two

I do most of my clothing shopping around Christmas time. I’m not sure why exactly. Probably because everyone else is shopping around Christmas time. Also, probably because things are on sale. I love a good sale. So, naturally, two days after Christmas, I’ve been feeling the shopping bug a bit. I’m not so big on the crowds that exist in shopping malls around Christmas time though, so I’ve been satisfying my urges with Pinterest.

Over and over again, this is the look that’s catching my eye:

Skinny jeans or pants, tall boots, a loose sweater, and a scarf to top it all off. Comfortable, warm, pretty.

One of these days I’ll get to the mall.

Three

Since welcoming Kingsley home, our couch has, well… suffered. Mocha already did a number on it, and then there was that time when Mark leaned his full weight onto the arm and snapped the frame. But now, with Kingsley’s claws flying, it’s no longer pretty, nor comfortable.

But, We’re in a bit of a difficult spot. He’s not grown up enough yet to trust him with anything nice. This means we’re not about go out and buy our forever couch, the beautiful chesterfield I’ve had my eye on for a long time. We want something cheap, something that looks good, something that’s comfortable, and something that will hold up to the abuse of two dogs, two people and a cat with grace and dignity.

Ikea?

Three Things for Thursday

One: Dog Toys

Last night, I posted this on Instagram:

Yup. Mocha’s Kong, split in two like it was nothing. Mocha loved the Kong because it bounced, but she was particularly good at losing the thing, so it has lasted her almost her whole life. But now… we’ll still allow it for a little while longer, but it’s shooting home the frustrating time we have with dog toys. Every time we buy a new toy, especially one with a squeaker, she has it destroyed in 15 minutes. We’re hesitant to spend money on them to get a good quality one knowing that most toys will end up in her stomach – she is particularly fond of chewing them into little pieces and swallowing them, especially the ones with squeaky rubber.

(One day, this habit of hers is going to land us with a hugely expensive vet bill. Or a dead dog. I try not to think about this too hard.)

Now that we have two dogs in the house, having good toys for them, especially for Kingsley and his crazy puppy energy seems even more important. So, last night, I turned to Twitter and Facebook for a little help. This is what I learned:

1. Kong makes a black version of their toys that is supposed to be tougher for the extreme chewers like Mocha. I was vaguely aware of this, but after so many people recommended it, I think we’ll be replacing this red one with a tough black one. Additionally, they may replace the Kong once – but not a second time. 
2. There exists a store called Bark and Fitz in various places in Ontario, but unfortunately not Toronto, that will, I hear, replace their toys if the dog destroys them. The friend who suggested this noted that these toys tend to be a little more expensive. If they’re going to guarantee them for the lifetime of the dog, though? Totally worth it. Of course, I need to confirm this. They may have a similar deal to Kong’s guarantee that they’ll replace the toys a certain number of times. After all, they do need to be profitable.
3. Nylabone. We got a couple of these for Kingsley, which Mocha, of course, stole, and then proceeded to eat. She got halfway through it before I reread the package and discovered that, even though they’re in the shape of a bone, they are not edible. Seriously, our dog has a gut of steel. I may look for a harder one for Mocha (we got puppy ones, since they were meant for Kingsley) and see how that goes.
4. Deer antlers. This I can agree with! Mocha used to have a deer antler, scavenged by a coworker, and she loved it. We lost it somewhere in the move from the condo to the house, much to my disappointment. My only concern with all bone-like toys is our floor. Will it scratch?

I know I have plenty of dog-loving readers. Do you have any other suggestions? A toy we absolutely should splurge on because Mocha will not be able to destroy and she will absolutely love it? Please, share!

Two: Libraries

I said once that I find bookcases of books in homes to be kind of ugly. Books are shabby. Shelves of them look disorganized and messy. 

I would like to take that sentiment back.

Image via House Beautiful

Also, I really want that couch.

Three: Libraries of a different sort

On the weekend, I took a video of the Parliamentary library. I’m not a particularly good videographer (rookie mistake, holding my phone the wrong way…), so I highly doubt that it fully captures the grandeur of that place. But it is, I believe, the perfect library.

If you ever have a chance to go visit, do, just so you can experience that library.