Knitted pattern hand towels

These can be used to wash or dry dishes, wipe counters, mirrors and or windows... or wash cloths.

If you are a beginners knitter, I highly recommend starting with the simple wash cloths and use one color only.

Cast on 36 stitched (preferably long tail) and do a garter stitch for 60 rows or until your piece measures 9 inches x 9 inches.

For a more advanced knitter, and if you prefer a diagonal pattern, cast on 3 stitches and increase your work until you have 36 stitches on your needle. Than you can decrease until you have 3 stitches left and cast off.

For the beginner knitter who would like to experiment with color, this wash cloth is a great way to get started. These two wash cloths are my first attempt to using different colors in knitting.

The pattern is from Purl Soho (again!) I just love, love, love their patterns. So inspiring, so many projects. Take a look

Here are Purl Soho's towels

Here are mine

Have fun summer knitting!

Purl Soho Mountain Capelet

I just loved the simplicity of this capelet pattern so I gave it a try.

It only took me about 4 hours from start to finish and it really was a no brainer project! You can watch TV or do this with your eyes closed, I promise. I loved making this so much that I made two!

I absolutely adore all of Purl Soho's projects, from kitting, sewing to crocheting.... take a look
They are my to go to website for patterns.

Here is Purl Soho's capelet

Here is mine

I used 2 and a little more (maybe 1/4) skeins from Loops and Threads "cozy wool" in the granite color for this pattern and again in the mushroom color for the one pictured above.

Because my yarn has a different gauge (thinner) than the one described on their website, I increased the total number of stitches to 90 instead of 70.
When starting the decrease, I followed their instructions but instead of k29 as per their instructions I had to K39 since I have 20 extra stitches.
I also knitted two extra rows for the shoulder decrease so it feels tighter around the neck (I repeated the instructions for that section 8 times instead of 6) and I knitted the neck/cowl area until I almost ran out of yarn. This area (from the last decrease to the top) measures 4 inches only rather than 6 inches. If you have more yarn, go right ahead and continue knitting per their instructions. I just ran out and did not want to purchase another ball.

This piece is gorgeous! It falls right above my elbows, which gives my arms the room needed to move around without the capelet getting in the way. It covers a good portion of my upper body including the neck area which is where I usually tend to feel the coldest.

It is so comfy and cozy and really warms me enough without the bulkiness of a sweater. You should probably make it longer if you are tall and use all 3 skeins of the "cozy wool" or more and make the cowl longer if you want to cover your neck more. I have a small frame (5'2") and the measurements given on the website are perfect for me.

Note: If you plan on using Loops and threads "cozy wool" which is made of 50% wool and 50% acrylic, you can still use the spit splice method for joining your yarn pieces together rather than have to weave the ends into the project. I tried it even though felting requires working with 100% wool and it worked but know, that I did not use the wet method. Instead, I used my felting needles and a piece of foam to join my yarn.
If you want to learn more about the wet splice method, click  here for Purl Bee's tutorial.

The edges will curl a bit, so you should block this piece to give it a neater look. I did.

So what do you think?

Faux Shiplap Wall How To

This project has been on my to do list for quite some time now and I don't know why it took me so long to get it done as this was an easy project.

The area to cover is a small garage entry way in the back of the house. The plank wall idea was to give this space a more beachy brighter feel since it is very small and dark.

After researching "faux plank walls/faux shiplap" etc... on the web, it seemed that everyone had their utility plywood sheets cut into 6 inches wide pieces so I did the same. The bottom plank closest to the baseboard would need to be ripped to fit the space but it seemed easier to do than have to figure out exact measurements.

Materials:

- Measuring tape and pencil
- 4'x8'x5mm utility plywood panels
- Corner trim
- Nail Gun (we used our cordless ryobi 18 gauge brad nailer) and nails
- Miter saw
- Other ripping saw (we used a band saw with a ripping arm but you could use a bladerunner saw, a jig saw or a circular saw)
- Putty
- Latex fast dry paintable caulk
- Primer (or not)
- Paint of choice (we used Sherwin Williams white gloss trim paint)

Instructions:

For this small space, we had to purchase 4 utility plywood panels measuring 4' x 8' x 5mm. Ours were primed a pink/orange color on one side.
The employee at lowes cut all four sheets at once every 6 inches length wise and so were left with 32 plank pieces to transport home.

1. Start by marking the studs on the walls so you know where to nail the planks. I have read of people adding glue to the back of the planks as well but I chose to opt out, in case I decide on another maker over for this space.

2. As every instructions on the internet says, start by nailing your planks from ceiling down as some ceilings aren't straight after the settling of the house.

3. To give the wall a shiplap look, place as many nickels as you need between the top/above plank and the one you will be nailing below. We used 4 nickels for the long planks and 1 or 2 for the short ones, in case you wonder.

We've had to cut a lot of planks to size for this space since we have 4 doors in that hallway. What a time consuming job! Thanks to the hubby and the miter saw.  I can't imagine cutting these by hand.

4. Putty the nail holes and caulk the edges and inner corners that need to be caulked and try to do a better job then me! 

5. Sand everything that needs to be sanded. Vacuum the gaps and wipe the wood clean of dust.

6. add the outer corner trims (I forgot to take a photo before painting)

7. Prime your wall(s)

8. Paint

9. Paint some more and voila! All done

10. We updated our builder grade light! We replaced it with a beautiful handmade light from the LampGoods on Etsy. This one was made by using a repurposed vintage fan cage. For more lights like this one check out the LampGoods shop here

We are very pleased with the way this hallway turned out.

Artwork Reproduction Made Easy

All you need is:
Tissue paper
scissors
Printer
Mod podge
Brush (I used a foam one)
Cheap canvas

I followed simple directions on how to print on tissue paper here, then chose my art and voila!

Step 1.
Cut the tissue paper to the size of your carrier sheet (sheet of paper you will be using to help get the tissue paper through the printer).

Step 2.
Spray one side of your carrier sheet with some light weight spray adhesive. After I spray, I usually dab the paper a little with my fingers so it is not so sticky and become a pain to peel! Trust me, on this one, I have had to redo step 1 through 3 a few times before I could peel it off in one piece but may also depend on the quality of your tissue paper.

Step 3.
Stick the shiny side of the tissue paper down onto the carrier sheet and press lightly. If you press hard, you may have a hard time peeling it off after printing. Try and get rid of as many wrinkles as possible though.  Or not! Sometimes, I like the wrinkles for my vintage reproductions projects.

Step 4.
Print your artwork

Step 5.
Peel the tissue paper off the carrier sheet carefully.
After doing so as indicated on the video, I noticed that it rolled quiet a bit on the edges (maybe because of its large size) so I laid it down on the table and set heavy objects on the corners and edges just to keep the paper from rolling and sticking together while getting the glue on the canvas.

Step 6.
Apply mod podge with a foam brush in sections. I started on the narrower side of the canvas in a up and down motion for about 2 or 3 inches in width and started gluing the tissue paper picture there.

Than I brushed more mod podge for another 2 or 3 inches using the same painting motion and I unrolled some more of the tissue paper to stick it to the canvas making sure to press down really well every time with my fingers to avoid any air bubbles. I continued doing so until the entire picture was glued and I brushed some more mod podge on the edges around the canvas just to be certain that any unglued bits and pieces of tissue paper were well glued.

Step 7.
Now for the finishing touch and to give my artwork a more professional and finished look, I just applied some mod podge all over the canvas in an up and down motion to protect it.

Voila! You are all done.

you can be creative and print a family photo, a nature scene or a kid's artwork image on tissue paper. Your imagination is the limit. This is the easiest way I found to transfer photos onto canvas. I am lucky enough to own a large size printer that can print sizes up to 13x19 inches. It is a Cannon Pixma ix6850. It is wireless and only cost me $140 on amazon with free shipping.

Let me know how this project works out for you.