West Coast Windfall

Skip and I flew to Victoria BC on Tuesday. We are house-sitting for my cousin and his wife who live in a beautiful Art Deco home on a bay. They left for a European holiday two days ago. This is the view from the living room.

My 'stitching chair' is in the corner of the windows on the far left. Looking out there, I can feel my blood pressure dropping by several points.

Yesterday, Skip and I ventured downtown to explore the Button and Needlework Boutique. It's one of the loveliest stitchery and yarn shops I've ever been in. They had charts from designers I'd only ever seen on Etsy (Satsuma Street) and online. It's easily found by the big button hanging outside.

The centre table has bins with many, many designer's charts. I didn't check but I'm sure I could find almost every Victoria Sampler chart here.

I have this chart by Little House Needleworks at home.

Overhead are several Sue Coleman designs inspired by Northwest Coast native images.

They have all the threads, needles, fabrics, and accessories for stitching as well as a full inventory of beautiful yarns. I will definitely need to make a return visit (or two) on my own so I can explore further.

Then, not surprisingly, we found a Mexican restaurant for lunch.

Otherwise, we`ve been pretty lazy while we adapt to the time change. Skip loves that he can watch NCAA and NFL football games starting at 9pm EDT and be finished sometime around 8 or 9pm PDT

Today it is raining so we may hop in the car and go up to Sidney where, on a previous visit, we counted 9 bookstores.

Buttons are Finally On!

It took me 3/4 hour at the button store to make a decision about what buttons to choose. I finally took the plunge and they were on sale 1/2 price! BONUS!

They're quite small to fit between the two i-cord edges.

I didn't want them to really stand out.

Unbuttoned...

Buttoned (as much as I'd probably ever button it)...

I really would love to knit another sweater with this yarn (Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift) or Jamieson & Smith 2-ply jumper weight. It is so light but very warm.  And the vast amount of stocking stitch wasn't that annoying. The waist shaping made it interesting. All over Fair Isle would also be fun.

I've had the pattern for Alice Starmore's Oregan cardigan pattern for ages. I could cough up the big bucks and order the kit from her with the Hebridean 2-ply or try to match the colours with Spindrift or J&S 2-ply jumper weight.

I would do a set-in sleeve because I don't like the look of a drop shoulder on my ample upper body. This would involve doing steeks for the armholes. After watching the relevant episode of Fruity Knitting (episode 40, starting at minute 11:00), I have the confidence to tackle that new technique. Andrea (in the video) uses a 10-stitch steek. I'd probably only use 5 or 6 stitches for my armhole and front steeks.

Finally Blocking Starry Night

I've procrastinated yet again by not blocking my Starry Night cardigan until just now.

I just laid it in the shape I want rather than use the blocking wires. The collar is pinned. I have the fan trained on it so it can dry overnight and I can take it to the button store tomorrow and finally get buttons on it. The weather is cool where I'm going and I want to take it with me.

I also need to free up this bed as Skip and I use it for our open suitcases when we pack.

A Little Bit More

Last night I had this much done.

 Today I finished a bit more.

Sometimes I make a mistake of a stitch or two. If it's hard to pick out, I just stitch over with the correct colour.

 Fixed!

I still need to pack...

Almost There

I spent a good part of the afternoon procrastinating. I'm supposed to be packing for an upcoming trip. Instead, I did more beading on the Goldfinch piece.

I have a few spots still to fill in and the long stitches on the tail and the petals. I won't finish this before I leave and won't be bringing this project with me. What I do need to do is figure out what stitching projects I am going to bring with me. Oh yeah, and pack some clothes.

Trees are Done

I have finished the trees on the main part of the pincushion and about half the houses. I'm working on the rest of houses and the Smyrna stars along the checker board border.

The top of the square pincushion will have the tops of the trees and the diamond for the piece of checked wool fabric for the cushion part. The square on the bottom is unpatterned except for my name and date. I will use a DMC thread matching the fabric as the backstitching so the seam barely shows when I stitch the square top to the sides.

On Thursday I was Barb and Jeanette's guest at Toronto Guild of Stitchery meeting. It is a robust guild that meets in two shifts - a morning shift from 10am to mid-afternoon and an evening shift. We only stayed for the earlier meeting. I enjoyed the 'Show and Share' and the 'make and take' project  featuring small stitched pieces inserted in padded greeting cards for the 'Sunshine and Shadows' committee who send cards to members who are ill or experiencing some type of life challenge.

The guild meets twice a month on the first and third Thursdays. The first meeting is a business meeting usually with a program. The other meeting is a stitching day they call FIFI - "Find It, Finish It" where members bring projects in progress to work on.

It looked like a very nice group of talented, friendly women, however, I am away so much, I don't think I'm up to making another commitment to a group that I'll miss attending so much. Thank you, Jeanette and Barb, for inviting me.

Before and After

The countertop for the bathroom vanity finally came in! The guys installed it and the towel rods yesterday marking the end of the renovation.

The green tub, tile and aluminum-framed shower doors are gone. In their place is a new, white tub, tile and shower doors. We repurposed the plumbing fixtures as they were in excellent shape. Now there's an LED pot light in the enclosure as well as a whisper-quiet vent fan with a timer in the ceiling.

Same toilet. Gone is the step up to the tub which left room for a toilet tissue stand rather than having to reach behind for t.p. The water supply was also moved to the other side of the floor joist to be closer to the wall.

The green sink was replaced a couple of years ago but we are now rid of the unattractive countertop. In their place is a 7-drawer vanity with a sparkly cultured marble countertop and recessed sink. The faucet was also repurposed as it was new when we got rid of the green sink. The lights above the vanity are LED and supposedly will not need to be replaced. The mirror was purchased as a package with the vanity. Because we only had a 59 1/4" space for the cabinet, the countertop had to be a special order as most are 60-ish inches wide.

The new cabinet is at least 4" higher than the old one as can be seen when comparing the towel rod heights in both photos. This allowed for a 7th drawer below the under-sink cabinet. Only the right 2/3 of the cabinet is visible. The towel rod was moved to the right a bit so the drawers could open completely without impediment.

The porcelain floor tiles and ceramic shower tiles are the same colour and the same as in our previous bathroom reno in our ensuite bathroom.

Any guests we have will now enjoy a spiffy new bathroom. We are very pleased with the new look.