CHALKBOARD PAINT ~ make your own with this super simple and inexpenisive recipe!

Source: theidearoom.net via LeAnn on Pinterest

Very inexpensive only requires two ingredients:

1.) Flat-finish latex paint.
2.) Non-Sanded Tile Grout which can be found at like Home Depot that is like only $4 dollars.

Simply mix 1 cup of paint and 2 Tablespoons of grout ! You can also use any color of paint. Some people also say any type of paint. Paint for plastics or acrylic paint or house paint. How fun is that? There are so many possibilities that price is now no longer a factor!

Did you notice the source underneath the above photo? PINTEREST .... Have you all heard about this site ?

FREAKING FANTASTIC for anyone who relishes an easy way sharing ideas, diy home projects, crafts and recipes! It's an online site where you create your own bulletin boards and pin idea notes, photos and or videos of literally anything! There are a gazillion possibilities because the site lets people pin a photo/videos & dialogy box for descriptions about it from ANYWHERE on the internet!

Makes searching for ideas so much simpler because you can categorized your bulletin boards... like Foodie or Recipes... or My closet dreams... or Gardening Tips...Bucket List... Holiday Travel Ideas or whatever!

Pinterest is basically a stand alone site seperate from facebook, but you can use your facebook contact list to invite other friends... that's why it asks you "to allow access" to your facebook account. For those of your family or friends who don't have facebook tell them not to worry as they can still do Pinterest as long as they have an email address they can go directly to http://pinterest.com/landing/

zportz hat that I knitted for my grandson :)

 


Looks fabulous!!!  Thank you to Susanna IC on Ravelry for the Zports pattern!!   It was alot of fun knitting this hat :)  Working on another one right now, it will be red & black.

Which color? hmmm.

I've been searching all year for just the right fiber that I could afford to buy for my Daisy Shawl pattern pictured below.

I think I've found it. This is @ Hobby Lobby. It's $7.99 a skein. 

Unfortunately I didn't write down the label name and it is not visible in this shot but that's ok as I love having a reason to go back to there.

I know I want to use the middle row for the background color.

And now after seeing this photo I am clearly going to choose the row on the right to pair with it for the flower power.

The pattern says I need 525 grams total and to use size 3.5 mm (US 4) needles. Now just need to save up the money.

This is the colorway that I'm hoping to achieve with the yarn I'm looking to buy.
The yarn in this photo is by Noro Silk Garden. As lovely and splendid as it is... it is beyond my budget limits.

This is my version of Harry Potter Hufflepuff Socks

TENSION.  yes tension is the reason for such a long delayed update on the Harry Potter Socks....  I could not get the right tension. The muscles in my hands definitely fought me the whole way. So I frogged it. Tried a second time. Really focused and paid attention training my hands and brain to let go a little. ack!  Frog to the rescue again.  ok. I know I'm slow. I should have thought and realized from the get-go that I needed to have used a bigger needle size to compensate for my death grip. On to round three!

ALMOST DONE!  yippee.  I admittedly and frustratingly admit near-defeat. My ego has been diligently deflated back down to newbie status. It seems my self-taught success in learning knitting so easily and how quickly I took to knitting socks and many other projects has sabotaged me in the end.

This two-color technique has been an enormous challenge for me.  My original intent was to finish these back in November by the 1st. hahahha. What a joke that turned out for me.

But I love challenges! yerper-doodles. Three times I have redone and re-knit this pattern.  Finally the toes are in sight.  Actually I just got these done Dec 29th.   I'm almost sorry that these are to be a present for a special someone mainly just for the fact it has taken me three tries to get it right and it almost looks like it. But I certain that a fresh and gentle soak will perk the fiber right up. I would opt for a fourth do-over with fresh new yarn but I don't have an extra $$.  It amazes me that organic and natural real yarn is so dang expensive to me whereas the rest of the world think it right inline with nature of the beast.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hufflepuff-sock-in-two-colour-knit

hello fellow knitters...  I am having a challenge with my current knitting project and was wondering if anyone might be able to give me some advice.

I am new to stranded knitting. Right now I’m working on a pair of 2-color Hufflepuff socks (Ravelry pattern). I’m having a lot of fun with these socks. I’ve just gotten the the cuff done and twelve rows of the pattern. Either my tension is way too tight (but there’s no puckering?) or my measurement calculations is off.. darn. I can see right now that they are not going to fit over my foot so I tonight I’ll be froggin it. I am wondering maybe I should NOT subtract the 10% off my measurements like I normally do when making socks to help compensate for my tight tension?

I’m using JaWoll yarn and size 2 circs. My cast-on was 64 sts. for a 9.5” ball of foot measurement. hmmm, maybe I’m having a braindead moment… her instep is 12” and Ankle cirucmference is 10.5” … OK, I have now officially confused myself… which measurement should I be casting on for since my gauge is so varied between the below methods? I couldn’t even barely get the sock on over my hand.

My gauge is all over the place.
8 sts = 1” stockingnet st swatch (on circs)

When I meaured what I had done so far it came out as….
10 sts = 1” for the 2 color stranded knitting
12.5 sts = 1” in 1x1 ribbing

How do others handle their differences in gauge & measurements??


If I cast-on for the 12" instep than that would make my CO 96 sts right??  12" times 8sts/per inch -96...
I feel like my brain just got lost in the Bermuda Traingle!!!

If we ever go on a trip again I know where I want to.... Greenfield Village

Oddly I've never ever been here before and this area was home of my birth.

Of course it doesn't help that we moved away when I was a mere child just ready to start school.  We lived in a rough neighborhood in Detroit in the mid-60's..  I have nothing but bad memories of Detroit ..  but that's a blog for another time.

Now, since I stumbled onto Front Porch Indiana's blog this destination has made it on my bucket list!  It sure offers new redeeming qualities for a road trip!  Her post gives a wonderful quick little tour of the Village Quilts!  And that's always one of my favorite parts too ;) 

I especially want to see in person the room where these penny rugs carpet the entire floor... these seem just so 'whimsical' yet cozy old fashion at the same time.

Can't tell for sure from this picture, but those penny rugs look to me like they might have been made on a square loom like I used to have.  The 6x6 squares that it makes come out at a right good thickness of an inch or better that would give the perfect cushion-ey-ness for your feet.  

This example gives you a good idea of how thick
 the squares will come out.
Great way to bust a stash of acrylic yarn!

I think this one would be more
 comfortable to use.

 Wish I still had that loom now. At the time I remember I kept thinking... there's no way this is for afghans because the squares come out so thick... ahhhh never did it occur to me that this was great for making penny rugs! dern it.

Of course the white yarn in the above photo is not very appealing in itself... but here is a modern colorful idea.

Remember those pot holders you may have made as
a child?  I made those too. But this color block gives me an
inspiration idea for penny rugs. 

You would't necessarily have to use solid colors. A variegated yarn along with the solids in one square would give you a knock off to those penny rugs at Greenfield.

BUT I digress..... 

hmmm, Halloween might be a good time to go visit Greenfield. The activities listed on Greenfield calendar promises a ghoulish good time at a decent price !

But if you can't make a road trip anytime in the near future as I doubt we can either the way price of gas is crazy... than go to Historical Ken's blog

Front Porch Indian is right when she says Greenfield is.... "one of those places everyone should see at least once in their lifetime" 

one way or another!

My Frosted Ferns is finally all done! It only took me about two months to knit this. Now all i have to do is block it n starch it.

The center reminds me of one of those 'sand dollars'.

A Good Time Fishing!

This was both my grand-babies first time ever fishing and it was a hugh success!