What a nice long weekend. One more day would have been perfect, I was just starting to feel productive and was getting things done. My peonies opened up and the color faded as they got bigger to a pretty, soft pink:
In my typical ADD fashion, I worked on many different projects this weekend. I finished a cover for our hot water bottle:
It's still a bit chilly at night, so we could get a little more use out of it. I really should work on the timing of the projects I do. For instance, this would have come in handy a couple months ago when we were both sick. Isn't this much more comforting when suffering from feverish chills than a water bottle wrapped in an old towel which keeps slipping off and getting tangled around your feet? Ok, maybe if you're sick enough you don't really care, but I like this version better. The pattern is from Sarah Dallas Knitting. Which is a nice book full of very pretty photographs of projects that are nearly all stockinette stitch. Not that there is anything wrong with stockinette, the two sweaters I'm making myself this summer are nothing but stockinette, but a little more variety in a knitting book would be nice. I think this is the most interesting pattern in the whole book. I have to show a close-up of the top:
That edging? Is crocheted. That's right, I did it myself. It only took 3 attempts and 2.5 hours, but I sat there with the pattern and my Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework and a crochet hook and some pretty awkward maneuvering, but I figured it out. My technique is unique, I'd probably be laughed out of any self-respecting crochet group, and my wrist is a little sore, but it did it! Anyway, is that not the cutest hot water bottle you ever saw? I think it is (patting myself on the back).
I did some sewing this weekend too. I made a pillow cover:
Vintage eyelet, linen, a green satin ribbon and a pretty little print. It's not the most exciting pillow ever, but I think it's pretty. It has a buckwheat hull pillow inside. I also worked on my backtack project, and I'm happy to report that I think the fabric is going to work out well for the pointy kitty. I was a bit worried that the print was too big, but I lined it up just right for the face, and it looks pretty cute. I also tried making some patchwork coasters for my living room, but let's just call the results an 'experiment' or a 'learning experiance' and move on. I'll have to try that again.
