Isn't it amazing . . .

what one can do with a little grape Koolaid and vinegar? Remember that issue of pooling with my Handmaiden yarn? I knew that there was really no way to fix it as the entire skein was just too blue--other than frogging the entire sweater and alternating that skein every few rows through out the piece. No could do! So I knit a swatch, mixed up a small batch of grape Koolaid with vinegar and put it in a fine tipped squirty bottle! Then I did some dye painting on the blue patches. It made a huge difference! So now I can present my first knit finished object since my hand surgery.


This is Fete! C'est magnifique, no?
Here are the details:
Pattern: Fete by Amy Polcyn
Yarn: Handmaiden Double Sea in Periwinkle (3 skeins), Handmaiden Sea Silk in Ebony (small part of one skein)
Needles: Addi tubos, size 5, 32 inch
Ribbon: Artemis silk satin hand dyed ribbon, 1 inch wide in French Roast
Modifications: The smallest size was size 36 so I had to do major math to modify the pattern to measure 32 inches at the bust. It fits well, but I didn't make the length shorter so the armholes are a little too deep. I may just steek the shoulders and sew a shoulder seam to bring them up. I haven't decided yet.

Tomorrow will spent sewing. I took a little sewing diversion yesterday and made this little 8 inch pillow:

I needed something for Little Miss Dolly Girl to sit on. This is one of the antique reproduction dolls that I made many years ago. She is a reproduction of a French AT doll. The head mold was made off an original and I had to clean the porcelain greenware, fire it, then do the china painting on the face. After it is fired again, glass eyes are set in then the skull cap is applied followed by the wig. The hardest thing is painting the face to match the original doll. I'm not so sure my hand is steady enough these days to do that. I made quite a few dolls back in the day. I've packed them away for now. I made two that looked like my kids in their Easter clothes one year. Ems was about 4 and Bird was almost 2. Those are particularly special. This little dolly is sitting around in her undies. One of these days I will make a fancy French frock out of silk, but since it is summer, she can sit around in her slip!



Tomorrow I will make some project bags and work on Ems' project for the fashion show. I did start working on Labyrinth and I also want to start Sea Urchin. My yarn came from Webs today. Talk about quick! I just ordered it on Friday! I got a new yarn by Bristol Yarn Gallery called Lyndon Hill. It is fingering weight 85% pima cotton , 15% silk. It is quite lovely. This is for Sea Urchin which is pictured right below the yarn!



I also got 3 skeins of cotton fleece for the Ribs and Lace tank from the Sprink 07 IK which is my favorite issue of all time!

Ems and KC are in Rhode Island for his orientation and she's been spending the day looking for apartments. I went to their apartment to give Cosmo some love. He's very needy and hates to be left alone so he was very happy to see me. Other than that, I spent most of the day making phone calls. That is the one drawback to my job. When I am in school, I cannot make certain types of phone calls because of being placed on hold for long periods of time. I have even had to take a day off every now and then just for that purpose!

Here is another favorite summer recipe.

Ramen Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Broccoli Slaw (usually 12 oz.)
3 green onions, sliced
2 pkg. Oriental Flavor Ramen noodles
2 Tbl. toasted Sesame seeds
1 - 1 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/2 c. canola oil
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. sugar

Rinse and drain the broccoli slaw. Combine slaw, onion, almonds and sesame seeds in a bowl. Break up the noodles and add to slaw mixture. For dressing, combine oil, vinegar, sugar and two spice packets from ramen noodles in a jar or container and shake to blend. Pour dressing over slaw and mix well. Refrigerate until serving time. Stir before serving as dressing sinks to bottom.

This is really good stuff! I suppose one could add chicken to it. I have a great recipe for Oriental Chicken Salad which is almost identical to the one at Cheesecake Factory. Maybe I'll share that some time!

Bushism of the day:
"You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." --George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005

Kitty cam: Mike and Samantha veg out on the dining room table most of the day.

What goes up . . .

must come down!  After a week of record heat, the mercury has been keeping a low profile!  Our days have been in the low to mid 70's and our nights in the 50's!  It has been totally delightful!  I turned off the AC and opened all the windows.  That is definitely an advantage to living in an old house.  Our house was built in the early 1920's and every room has a lot of windows.  It's very easy to get a nice cross breeze and the big old trees keep much of it shaded.  As you can see, several family members really enjoyed the fresh air!

I've been trying to get stuff done around the house since I've been off.  Today I washed window sashes which had a lot of dirt from the screens.  I also hung the curtain rod in the kitchen.  I will make that curtain tomorrow.  

I have a number of sewing projects that I have to do between now and next weekend.  Ems' graduation from Graham Webb is on Sunday June 29 so I am making her a dress using this pattern and fabric:

I like the violet chiffon over the fuschia lining.  It gives it an iridescent look.  I made a muslin of the bodice for Ems to try on when she stopped by today.  I had to do major alterations but it fit. She wants me to open up the neckline a bit because it is somewhat bunchy.  That's the way the design is.  I've redrafted the neckline to show more of a plunge and expose the collar bone area.  I'll take pictures of the finished product.  I had a helper while I was sewing.
Greg has been following me around since I've been off.  He stays close to me no matter what I'm doing!  Rumor has it that he cries constantly when I go away.  Jeremy said he "cried like a little bitch" last year when I went to Boston!  Poor baby!

 I am also doing a lot of the sewing for her fashion show.  The participants are given a challenge.  This year the challenge is international or fantasy brides.  Ems has to come up with a concept, do the costume, make up and hair.  She is doing a British punk rock bride and a medieval sort of thing.  I am doing the sewing for that.  She came up with the design and chose the fabric.  I'll put it together for her.  I will have to take photos at the fashion show.  The entries are always very impressive!

The tooth fairy visited our house last week. This tooth fairy looked something like this:
Mikey's tooth finally fell out!  It had been hanging down, scraping against his chin.
You can see the tooth hanging down.  Then one morning I noticed it wasn't there and I found this on the couch!

So we put the tooth under Mikey's pillow and the tooth fairy left him a couple pouches of tarter control treats. I guess she's hoping that she won't have to visit us anymore!

On the knitting front--I have been working on Fete. I'm almost done with it, but I started my third skein of yarn and was horrified by the pooling of the colors! This yarn is Handmaiden Double Sea Silk. I've never had issues with this yarn before and the skeins have always matched. I had one skein left over from Gizelle so I bought 2 more for this top. I think this third skein is the leftover one. It is much bluer than the other two. Check this out:

That big chunk of blue is on the upper back and will be hidden by my hair most likely.  However I have to finish the upper front and I fear that I will have the same problem, though so far it doesn't seem quite as bad.  There's really not much I can do.  I don't want to spend another $38 for one more skein of yarn.  I think I will finish then knit a swatch.  I'm thinking that I can heavily dilute some purple dye and see what happens if I paint it on the blue part.  I have nothing to lose except the swatch!  I'll finish this in a day or two then I have to get started on Labyrinth.

Here is another summer recipe that we love around here:

Confetti Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 box tri color Rotini
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup black olives, halved
1/2 cup onion diced
1 container Trader Joe's Perlini (Pea sized fresh mozzarella balls), drained (optional)
1 bottle Kraft Italian salad dressing ( I use fat free)

Cook pasta to al dente. Drain and run under cold water. Drain again. Mix pasta, vegetables, Perlini, and 1/2 bottle of salad dressing. Refrigerate for an hour or so. Mix again and add remaining dressing before serving.


This is good stuff! I make a batch and eat it for lunch the whole week!

Bushism of the day:

"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?'" --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

Kitty Cam: Samantha takes some time away from the boys.