Knitting Weather

I'm not much of a knitter anymore. But not a winter goes by when I don't get the urge to take up the needles at some point.

It takes me too much time and commitment for a major project, so I will do something simple just to keep my hand in. While I was in the thrift store the other day I found a few bits of yarn in my favorite colors.

Would you believe me if I told you that I haven't been able to find pot holders that I like? Is there any more mundane subject on the planet than that? My favorites used to be the smallish terry cloth ones. Haven't seen 'em anywhere, and for a long time! 

Lots of mitts, and big stiff quilted numbers, and all the wrong colors everywhere. So I made a pair that I like from scraps of this rayon rug weight yarn. Nice and thick. Is that so fourth grade or what? It did take me a long way back. In a good way. . . .

I was lucky to find all these snippets in a little mixed bag with three balls of mohair included. All for about three bucks! I think a new scarf is next! Nothing fancy.

I can just get lost for awhile in a soft puff of yarn and the rythm of needles. . . .

That's about all that's on my agenda lately. Sigh . . .

How about you?

Finding January . . .

Jacqueline

 

Join me at

The Dedicated House~Make It Pretty Monday

Savvy Southern Style~Wow Us Wednesday

The Charm of Home~Home Sweet Home

Calico & Petticoats

 

 

 

There's a part of the country not far from here where four states meet called the Four Corners. There's a marker there and not much else at the Colorado, New Mexico, Utah , and Arizona borders. I sometimes feel like there's a territory inside of me with similar boundaries. As though all the decorating styles that I like line up next to each other like closely aligned states. Mine read "farmhouse", "cottage", "french country", and just plain "country." And like the real four states in the union that meet, they each have certain similarities within them.

 

 

 

 

I'm sure there are other voices in there speaking to me at various times in my Schizophrenic aesthetic  "states" as well. But today they came out of the closet in ruffles and calico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see, I get these urges at times to juxtapose the rustic with the refined. And the lights and darks war within me like some cosmic battle competing for table space. (Do you sometimes feel a little crazy this time of year? I think I'm just having cabin fever!) But I do like both the all white and airy spaces and the dark and gleaming woods of old Scotch and Irish castles.

   

 

 

 

 

I think this style was born wherever on the planet there was a new frontier, and women carried their beloved possessions with them to tame the starkness of a life of pure necessity in some wilderness. Can't you just hear old wagon wheels creaking? Or is it just me?

 

 

 

 

 

The turn of a new year can have that same untamed wildness. And it can carry the challenge of a fresh start brought right alongside our old refinements. At least that's the romance I have layered upon it like so many dishes on a tablecloth. . . .

 

 

 

 

 

I only really know this much. . . . . That I wanted to see this old calico quilt on my table again. And that these various elements found their way on top of it. . . .

 

 

 

 

Ruffled linen napkins.

 

 

 

 

An old bed skirt for a petticoat.

 

 

 

 

 

Limoges.

 

 

 

An English stoneware jug.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tea leaf ironstone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of homespun.

 

 

 

And delicate china. . . . .  Here are the marks below:

 

 

 

Dinner plates.

 

 

Boullion cups.

 

 

 

 

And talk about schizophrenia! Here's France, Boston, and McFarlins China Parlor all in the same place, with a horseshoe to boot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'll find me off taming the New Year!

Yee-haw!!

 

(I hope it all comes together for you too!)

 

Jacqueline

 

 

 

 

Join me at

Between Naps on the Porch~Tablescape Thursday

Common Ground~Be Inspired

French Country Cottage~Feathered Nest

My Romantic Home~Show & Tell

Classic White

 

 

If the new year turned over a leaf on the calendar, and there was no white, would it still be January? I'm sure not everyone thinks of white this time of year, but for some of us, our thoughts are never very away from it any time. . . .

 

 

 

 

Maybe if we see enough pictures of white linen, we won't have to spend money on the sales. But that usually works exactly the other way around, doesn't it?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a little pile fresh from laundering and ironing after the holidays. I knew you would probably want to see it. Happily the wine stains came out once more after an Oxyclean soak.

 

 

 

 

If anything makes you feel as much like a fresh start as the new year this is it!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little ironing always sets me right again! I was feeling a little pressed and flat myself after nursing a cold the last few days of the holidays. Today I'm helping a young friend put together some table ideas for her upcoming wedding. What better way to start the new year?

 

Hope you're feeling like fresh and new too!

 

Jacqueline

 

 

Join me at

 Savvy Southern Style~WOW Us Wednesday!

The Charm of Home~Home Sweet Home