Step Into My Thimble

Hi, happy Tuesday! I have a few new things to show you, and otherwise there is nothing profound to say around here.

Hallway curtains

These are made with inexpensive unbleached cotton muslin, plus a border and ties out of an Aunt Grace print. Although you can’t see it, the print is actually of little appliqued shapes. I think they’re simple enough to go with our 1925 house’s aesthetic, which is “Too cheap to really be a bungalow, but with the right color woodwork.”

Bib

This bib is sort of based on one from one of those tiny Vogue Knitting books. I didn’t feel like buying a 40″ circ just to do an edging, so I crocheted it instead. It’s a gift for the same friend in Japan who will be receiving the Kate doll!

Tiny mittens

These little thumbless mittens are for my own kid, to match the hat from the previous post. They are made with Koigu. To make them, do this:

CO 28 sts on size 3 or 4 dpns and join in the round.

Work K2, P2 ribbing for about two inches.

Switch to stockinette for another two inches.

Decrease as follows: K2tog all the way around, then knit one row, then K2tog around again. Run yarn end through remaining stitches and close up top. Make second mitten.

I have read in many places that the cords people often used to use to connect little pairs of mittens aren’t recommended any more, for choking hazard reasons. For these, you could crochet little loops onto them and then sew buttons on a coat sleeve or something. They probably don’t even require 1/4 skein of Koigu KPPPM to make the pair. So cute!

I finally finished my Kate doll, after fighting Stanley for the loose arms and legs. He thought they were catnip toys and kept running off with them! Kate’s made with Lamb’s Pride Cotton fleece, a yarn I like more and more. She is a gift for my friend Rumi in Japan who just had a little girl in December.

I also made a super-fast ribbed newborn hat with some stash Koigu. It looks a little rumply because that yarn has been knit into several other things and I never liked how they turned out. I’ll probably wash it before I put it on my own kid. The intended model for this one (a grapefruit) was eaten before I got a chance to take the picture. It is too big for my Pink Lady apple! Eventually, there will be some of those adorable thumbless baby mittens to go with it.

Tonight I get to go knit with Chris from Briar Rose Fibers (site still in development) and some of her friends. I can’t wait!

Instead of writing one giant post about the different thrift stores around Kalamazoo, I decided to do them individually. I have set up a new category called “Thrifting” so you can review them all later if you want. I’ll write a post every time I visit one, using the same criteria as below.

Location: Kalamazoo’s St. Vincent de Paul thrift store is located downtown at 513 Eleanor Street.

Size of Store: Compared to many others, this thrift shop is small.

Typical Offerings: It does not have much of a furniture selection, but primarily offers clothing and some housewares. The book selection in back is pretty good, if you are looking for children’s books. You can also buy assorted Catholic paraphernalia like crucifixes, books, and rosaries.

Staff: Helpful, but not annoying.

Prices: By far the best thing about this store is the prices. I am afraid to say it out loud, because we all know what happens when thrift stores realize they are cool: the prices go up. I spent a total of $2.35 in there yesterday but I came home with a bag of nice baby things (a new liner for under the crib mattress, a cotton newborn sleepsack with little hand covers, and a popup book).

Other: No offensive or allergy-inducing odors, no disgusting junk that really shouldn’t be for sale, generally a pleasant atmosphere even though the selection is not huge. They take cash and checks.

Addendum: Something to consider, if it matters, is that the money spent here goes to support Catholic social service initiatives. While a part of that is service to the (unfortunately growing) Kalamazoo homeless population, we’re all familiar with the Catholic church’s approach to birth control, same-sex marriage, and abortion among other controversial issues.

Some random thoughts, and a couple of FOs for you today.
1. Some may say Kalamazoo doesn’t have a lot going for it, but as an almost-lifer in this town (minus ages 0-5 and 24-33) I tell you this: there are pockets of good stuff. One pocket in particular is the Heritage Company, which does not have a web site as far as I know. It’s an architectural salvage place full of treasures, everything from iron bath tubs to stained glass windows to bins of 100-year-old nails. I was there last week, and the staffer let me take some pictures.

The rest, with notes, are here on my Flickr page if you want to take a peek. I especially thought of Heidi and the other house-bloggers when I was in there. I got a couple metal towel racks to match the ones already in my 1925 bathroom.

2. I go to the YMCA now. It’s just across the street from my house, so why shouldn’t I? The pregnant-lady swim class is wonderful. I also like walking on the indoor track every day. This is my first time being a member of a gym, and I have one observation, regarding the many senior citizens who seem to have joined up as part of a new year’s resolution. I know many of the seniors are living on a fixed income, but… it would not cost that much to invest in one or two outfits that are suitable for gym wear. Today I was walking behind a woman who was wearing corduroy culottes and rainbow-striped, heavy wool socks. And there is a man there every day who wears some ancient white shorts pinned to his t-shirt (because the elastic in the waist is long-gone) and just a jock strap underneath. I only know this because he does floor exercises and it’s too hard to avoid the occasional glimpse. And also there are many, many elderly men who come in wearing khaki dress pants with a leather belt, a t-shirt, and their Easy Strider shoes each day. Aren’t they uncomfortable?

3. My midwife showed me how to locate the butt of my baby last Friday. I knew it would make me want to prod myself endlessly. It is very weird to know when a certain lump is an actual body part inside you. I guess as she gets bigger I won’t even have to prod, the butt will just stick out of me a little bit. WEIRD!!! This is now Week 28, the point at which I switch from midwife visits every four weeks to every two weeks. There are still about 12 weeks to go (yeah three long months, it seems!) but we have put a crib and changing table on layaway, the little pile of baby stuff is getting bigger and bigger, and it all is kind of getting more real. I have some days when I wish the kid was here already.

And now the FOs.

The first is my first finished quilt. I am a renegade and just made this up. It’s four different fabrics for the blocks, in an arrangement that would have none of them touching themselves if you know what I mean. The batting is cotton, and the backing is unbleached cotton flannel. I tied this quilt with a variegated cotton crochet floss, and I made the binding myself out of one of the calico fabrics. I decided to do mitred corners, which ended up being very easy. The two most time-consuming elements of the project were the hand-tying and the hand-stitching of the binding onto the flannel side.

Second, we have the Feather and Fan bonnet, which is from the pattern at the bottom of this page, updated by Larissa here. I used Lamb’s Pride Cotton Fleece in Plum Patina, and a piece of hand-dyed silk ribbon. Not as cool as Larissa’s double-sided, striped grosgrain, but it will do.