Sunday, August 26, 2018

More doilies...

Still on a doily kick, I had to make another one in an autumn color - this one for me to keep.  I made another Summer Splendor (or I suppose I could call this one Autumn Awesomeness):
It's a fairly simple pattern (which is why I've made two now), but it has a nice Wow! factor.  This one is made with Artiste Cotton thread in the color Papaya.


Being smitten by doilies this month (especially smallish doilies) I did something a bit uncharacteristic for me.  I bought myself this overpriced, out-of-print book from a seller on Amazon:

I was searching high and low for patterns for small doilies (anything under 10 inches), and finally, somehow stumbled upon this book.  And I just had to have it!  And just like that, I was putting it in my "cart" and purchasing it!  What's wrong with me?!?  Normally, I'd wring my hands, put it in time out and decide the next day I didn't need it.  But for some reason, I decided right then and there that I needed this book.  And I didn't even put up an argument.

Fortunately, I was not disappointed when it arrived.  While I'd prefer the book had more 8 - 10 inch doilies (and I knew there were few that large when I ordered it), there's not a bad one in the whole bunch.

It was hard to decide which one to start with, but I finally settled on this one with the very inauspicious name of #74:

I'm going to have to get me a slightly larger steel hook for making these since this one (that was supposed to be 6 inches across) measured only 4.5 inches when I was finished.  It will make a pretty coaster, or maybe votive holder, but I'm not sure I'm interested in making doilies this small.   So back to Hobby Lobby I must go to get a larger hook.  Wish me luck!  


~~~~~

Yuko loved the doilies I gave her.  Upon the good advice I received last week, I suggested that she give one to her mother when she returns to Japan, but the fact is her family lives about 12 hours away from where they will be living when they return, so I don't even know how often they see each other.  I'm also not sure that Yuko completely understood what I was saying.  Yuko and I have become pretty comfortable working through a conversation until we understand what the other is saying, but with our two boys (her two-year-old and my 64 year-old) making noise in the background, our conversation was more challenging than normal.

Regardless of what she does with them, she appeared to be very pleased with the gift.  And she wrote me a very sweet thank you the next day.

Meanwhile, I got to enjoy these beautiful flowers all week that Yuko brought with her when she and her family visited:

~~~~~

Overall, it was a busy, but relatively quiet week.   After so much rain recently, I finally had a good day to power-wash the area next to where we put so many rocks a few weeks ago.  Pictures don't do the job justice, but I promised pictures, so here you go...  


The vast majority of rocks aren't actually visible.  
Most of the rocks are 8 - 12 inches below ground level. 
I forget how deep the hole was.  
Just know that there are a lot of rocks under the top layer

~~~~~

Several days after posting this, I found some pictures of the hole dug, and a couple of the piles of rocks (before shoveling):

Here's the hole (that is shown filled in above):


And here are the first two piles of rock we had delivered (one pile was jumbo-sized river rock, and one pile was simply large river rock):


~~~~~


Seriously wishing I had saved back more of 
the larger (Jumbo sized) river rock to create a 
more attractive sloping area above.  
I need to work on this (and maybe go buy some more rock).  


And the above was a bit of an afterthought.  
We had more rock than we needed, so we decided to fill in 
this area outside our dining room.  
Every spring I plant it with annuals, 
and every summer it becomes a weed-infested mess.  
I think I need to look for some perennials to pretty up this space.  
But for right now, it's just nice to look out the dining room doors and not see a jumble of guilt-inducing weeds.


And then there's a section in the front of our house under a hose reel where we laid some rock and stepping stones.  It's an improvement for various reasons, but at the moment a dirty hose reel box is sitting atop it, so I'm not bothering to take a picture.    Next spring/summer this will all hopefully look nicer with grass filling in the edges, and maybe some plantings in the rocks.  I haven't figured those details out yet, but for now I'm just glad the hard physical labor is finished.  

And now it's on to other projects!

To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.



2018 Yarn Stash-Down:  35.66/100 Skeins






19 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous bouquet!

    I’m glad you bought the doily book without hemming and hawing, i’m Looking forward to a parade of interesting doily designs from all the new cotton colours you picked up!

    Could that hexagon be joined up with other hexagons to make a table runner or something?

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    1. That's an interesting idea! Maybe not just hexagons, but perhaps various shapes could be joined to make a table runner. Or something. The wheels are turning...

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  2. How sweet those flowers she brought you and how fun to have visitors from Japan. Your doilies are very fun to look at and I like how you aren't afraid of color.
    I'm thinking of rejoining the YOP group itself and this year's YOP. I was thinking of using it for my sewing because I really want to learn how to make certain pieces and maybe have a suitcase of handmade clothes for Oahu next summer.

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    1. Stafanie, we'd all love to have you rejoin us! Several YOPpers are incorporating sewing into the YOP plans. I find it ALL inspiring!

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  3. Hi Becki wow love both your new doilies and you will have so much fun with your new book.
    How wonderful that Yuko loved her gifts and i love the flowers that she bought for you.
    Your areas of the garden are looking fantastic with the white stones i love it,hope you have a wonderful week my friend xx

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  4. Sometimes we just have to treat ourselves and I'm sure you will get a lot of pleasure creating things from that book. From what you said I'm not sure that the majority of the patterns are larger - or smaller - than what you want. If they're too large you can always leave off when they're the size you want and just add a simple little picot edging to finish them. I've done that different times.

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    1. Most of the patterns are smaller than 8 inches. 8-10 inches across would be ideal to me. What I hope is, that in time, I will be able to figure out how to enlarge some of the smaller patterns.

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  5. Your doilies are beautiful, as usual. I am happy to hear Yuko liked her gift. The flowers she gave you are so pretty. How thoughtful you both are.

    That doily book looks very interesting. Those out of print books are usually the best. A real treasure.

    That is a lot of river rock. I now see why you were a bit sore after moving it. It looks very nice though.

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    1. Thanks, Marsha! So far I haven't found a mistake in any of the patterns I've worked from this book. The designer has a funny I(to me) way of starting each round, but if I just trust and do what she says, it turns out every time. When I try and do it my way, I make a mess of things. Go figure!

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  6. Oh I love the doillies Becki, they are gorgeous and that looks like a great book! I'm not surprised that Yuko enjoyed her gifts, they were so pretty and the bouquet is gorgeous and makes for a very pretty view!

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  7. Your doilies are so lovely and have insprired me to make some! What a lovely garden landscape you have created. I love the look of the rocks.

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    1. Thanks, Pat! I hope next spring the grass is all filled in and I've figured out a way to make the rocks look even nicer. Their purpose (in the larger area) is to help with the drainage off the cement slab just off of our family room. Hopefully, we can make this "functional" landscaping look attractive, too.

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  8. That is truly Autumn Awesomeness! You did right to treat yourself to that book -- you deserve it after all that hard physical labor with the stones. I love the river rocks look against the fence.

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    1. Thank you, Maria. I'm loving making more doilies, and love most of the designs in the book.

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  9. It looks like a wonderful book and your doilies are lovely! They don't look like they're made with thread...they look more substansial and they lie so beautifully. What size thread do you use? Love the fall colors too.
    Love your landscaping work....it's hard work for sure! Your yard looks so nice. Your flowers from your Japanese friends are lovely too. Have a great week, Becki and I can't wait to see more doilies!

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    1. Hi Sam! The thread I'm using is size 10 thread. I think it's really difficult to discern thread/yarn size from a photo. I pinned them out and blocked them - after soaking and spraying with just little bit of spray starch.

      Speaking of landscaping... (it was actually more about drainage resolution), I found some pictures my husband took of the hole dug and the first two piles of rock we had delivered. I wish I'd known he took those pictures as I would have included them in the post. Seeing the pictures reminds me what a mess we had before the hard job of hauling all those rocks. And I'm reminded it was definitely worth it.

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  10. Lol - I have sore muscles from just thinking about the effort required to move all those rocks. It looks lovely.

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