Christmas Stocking for My Godson

Back in November, my cousin asked me to knit a Christmas stocking for her son [my godson].

I started knitting the day before Thanksgiving and was done by the following Wednesday. It knit up far faster than I thought it would (thank goodness!). I ended up designing it myself, including the tree motif (Ravelry link) from Handknit Holidays Evergreen Gift Bag. I knitted it top down with a short row heel. I think I included too many short rows though because the heel just seems too big. I have been considering sewing it up to be a bit smaller… Maybe that’s overkill.

All that’s left to do is sew the hanging loop to the top of the sock and a bell to the toe. I’m planning to send it off to Iowa on Monday!

[I'll post pictures soon!]

Old Desk is Now New

When MJ and I moved to Chicago, we needed to find me a desk. We scouted some garage sales and found an old wooden desk for $25. It’s by no means perfect – it’s leg area is pretty small, the drawers stick, and it was really, really dark. Since my office at the time was in the basement, it didn’t make it particularly inviting. It served me well my first year, second year I loaned it to my friend, and this year I have it back. It needed a make over really bad and MJ agreed to help me.

I bought a gallon (= way too much) paint at our local Ace Hardware. The girl kind of screwed up the color, but I decided not to complain. It was good enough.

I had to tap off the ugly block drawer pulls that had been veneered to the drawers. Fortunately, it was easier than I thought it would be!

It took 3-4 coats of paint for it to look right. There are so many little imperfections in the wood that the semigloss paint (chosen for it’s cleanability) showed every tiny problem. I like that it looked a little rough, but in some spots it looked bad. Finally, I just got over it (much to MJ’s liking).

MJ helped me pick out some drawer pulls from Home Depot. I picked six for the side drawers and one different one for the central pen drawer.

Laundry Update

The homemade laundry detergent I made last week is working out great. Our clothes smell great and are decidedly clean!

Here’s a picture of all the ingredients for your viewing pleasure.