Chat – Page 10 – Thimbleanna

Dear Burglars,

30 Comments / September 13, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Chat

If you’ve been searching the net for people who’ve mentioned that they’re going on vacation, my last post may have directed your search engines here. But I’m not worried about you because I’m leaving the house in good hands.

We have Watch Cats. They know everything that goes on around here. Trust me, you don’t want to disturb these two. That one on the left, in particular, will nail you if you whizz him off. He sleeps a lot, which is the problem — if you enter the house uninvited, you’ll wake him up, and that makes him very grumpy.

And don’t worry — if the Watch Cats aren’t a deterrent, you should know that TheManoftheHouse will still be here. He going to stay home and hold down the fort — and take care of the Kitties. So, don’t get any big ideas. Besides, there’s nothing of any real value here – unless you’re into fabric, but the little shop will be locked up tight and you won’t be able to find anything.

Oh, and not that it’s any of your burgling business, but you might be wondering where I’m going. I’m Off to See the Wizard. This One:

And her trusty assistant there with the camera. And I’m beside myself with excitement.

So. Nothing worthwhile for you here. Move along to the next vacationing blogger and maybe you’ll have more luck.

G’day Mate.
Anna

Faux Taxidermy Knits (& a Giveaway)

56 Comments / September 4, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Books, Chat

I’m very excited today because the super nice people at Stitch Craft Create have invited me to review Louise Walker’s new book Faux Taxidermy Knits. (Thank You super nice Stitch Craft Create people!)

Now, I’ll admit, the initial invitation was a surprise to me, as my first thought was “Hmmm, I’m not really the type to hang animal heads on the wall.” (You might recognize Louise Walker as the creator of some really fun faux animal heads for Boden ). But, my apprehension dissipated as soon as I took a look at the patterns in this cute, upcoming book. Taxidermy isn’t just for hanging animal heads on your wall anymore LOL!

Faux Taxidermy Knits contains 15 patterns divided into two sections – fun stuff to wear and fun stuff for your home. I thought I’d give you a little peek for yourself – here are a few of my favorites:

A Tiger Rug – wouldn’t this be cute in baby’s room with a wild animal theme?

Baby Bear Coasters (or mug rugs, if you prefer).

Hedgehog Slippers – you know how I love me some slippers and these look super cozy!

An Owl Tea Cozy.

I’ve tested out one of the patterns for you, just so I could check out the instructions. Unfortunately, I was limited on time, so I had to choose the quickest project in the book. Do you remember those little rabbit’s foot keychains we used to carry around as kids? (Ewwww. Really? Were those real rabbit’s feet? What were we thinking?) This little rabbit’s foot is the kind I can handle.

The instructions were clear and easy and it probably took me a whopping 45 minutes to make this little foot – an hour if you count the hardware. The picture doesn’t come close to doing this little rabbit’s foot justice – it’s really cute and it feels so soft in my hands. I’m thinking I’d like to make another one and hide one of those GPS things in it, so that I can find my keys when I lose them (which is all the time thankyouverymuch).

If you’re a knitter (or even if you’re not), this is a really fun little book to add to your library. But, don’t just take my word for it – check out these other reviews on the September blog hop:

Mon 1st – Louise Walker

Tue 2nd – iMake

Wed 3rd – Knit Happens

Thu 4th – SCC

Fri 5th – Thimbleanna

Mon 8th – Yarn Demon

Tue 9th – Greedy for Colour

Wed 10th – Knits and Crosses

Thu 11th – The Yarniad

Fri 12th – Crafts from the Cwtch

Mon 15th – The Creations of Crazy Dazy

Tue 16th – Knitted Bliss

Fri 19th – Lapdog Creations

Mon 22nd – Slugs On the Refrigerator

Here’s a little bonus for you – those super nice people at Stitch Craft Create are offering a hard copy of this book to one of you. Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll draw a winner sometime around October 1st.

And if you don’t win, don’t despair – the book is available HERE (oooh, and while you’re there, check out this PAGE for some other fun knitting books!)

But WAIT, there’s more (haha)! I forgot to show you one of my very favorite projects in the whole book.

Behold.

Mr Wolf.

How fantastic would Mr. Wolf be for the costume in a Little Red Riding Hood play? Three Little Pigs anyone??? Or, how fun would it be to have the big bad wolf accompany your cute Little Red Riding Hood while Trick-or-Treating??? Bring On Halloween!!!

Ok — remember to leave a comment if you want to enter to win a free copy of Faux Taxidermy Knits.

Good Luck!
XOXO,
Anna

A Weekend Plan

28 Comments / August 28, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Chat, Store

Hidy Ho! How’s it going out there? We’re having a good week, so far, here in ThimbleannaLand.

For starters, when I was answering comments from my last post, it occurred to me that there was one last place I hadn’t looked for the missing towels in the kids bathroom. The clothes hamper! Could it be that obvious? Well, Yes! I was thinking that the kids either threw their towels on the floor or brought them down to the laundry room when they left. But nooooo, they actually use the clothes hamper! Someone has them trained — it’s probably SweetiePie LOL. Mystery solved.

And then, today, I received a little surprise in the mail. I won a giveaway a few weeks ago from Amy. Amy had a very exciting summer and was able to spend a month in the UK with her family. She brought back some goodies and I was the lucky winner. I’m hoping I’ll be able to use some of that cute fabric in one of my Union Jack blocks. Thank You Amy — I share your love of the UK!!!

If you’re in the U.S., are you ready for a long weekend? I AM! I’m hoping to get some sewing time in. I need to make a little birthday present, so I went shopping in my own store (haha) and picked some fabrics. Here’s a picture with a big hint as to what I’ll be making. (From left to right that’s Surprise Birthday in Pink (because it’s for a birthday!), Essex Linen in Flax, and Up Parasol Stella Sky.)

I’m also hoping to keep plugging away on my Trip Around the World. Our assignment for this month is rows 25 – 30. I’m currently in the middle of row 26 and I’ve been auditioning fabrics for the next group of rows. I had the fabrics hanging over the edge of my temporary design wall, and I realized that I could use these little numbered pins that I recently found to help me keep the fabrics straight. I’m really excited about these pins — when I’m machine sewing quilt tops, I’m a chain-piecer when it works, and I’ve always ripped up scraps of paper and pinned them to my fabric to keep the rows straight. These numbered pins will be SO much easier.

One last thing before I go — after my last post I had some questions about The Aunt’s Quilt. Remember the Aunt’s Quilt?

After I saw it at quilt market I mentioned that it would be fun to have an Aunt’s Quilt quilt-along this fall. Happily, there were a few of you who said you’d like to play along. The pattern isn’t available yet, but if all goes well, I should have some toward the end of September. I’m taking my summer vacation at the end of September, so the plan will be to start in October, after I get back. (When I spoke with Jen at market, she said they had a quilt along in Melbourne for this quilt and they did one pieced block and one applique block each month, so that’s what we’ll plan on doing (with a holiday break or two!)) I’m planning on using mostly stash fabrics, but there were some fabrics that I really loved in the quilt so I’ve tried to pick up a few of them that I could find, and put them in my little shop. ;-D

Also, I have no idea how many patterns to get, so if you really want one, let me know.

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Five on Friday

17 Comments / August 22, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Chat

1. Happy Birthday to TheFirstChild! I’m so excited because the boys and SweetiePie will all be home this weekend — the first time since Christmas. It’s fun that TheFirstChild is coming home on his actual birthday — it means the inagural run of the Happy Birthday pillowcases!

2. I was cleaning the bathroom that the kids use and discovered a severe shortage of bath towels. They even had bathtowels with their names on them and not a one was to be found. How do towels with names on them just disappear? Does the dryer eat them along with socks??? So, now we have new towels — and we’ll try names on them again in hopes that they’ll stay where they belong. ;-8

3. I’ve been noticing a few recipes on food blogs for overnight oatmeal. After receiving high praise from The Brigitte, I decided to give this recipe a try. It was wonderful! I think it would be perfect with a little sprinkling of walnuts or almonds too.

4. I ordered some stained glass stars from Piggy and Dirt for gifts. I can’t show you what’s in the center of the stars because they’re for gifts, but I Love them. I even ordered one of them with a picture in the middle of it and I’m really happy with it.

5. I’ve been busy stocking up my little shop with some of the fabrics that were used in the Aunt’s Quilt which I’m planning on starting this fall. In the process, I’ve restocked the famous Red Pepper Quilt binding stripe, the Better Buddy Case, and those perfect Little House pins.

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Friday Five

25 Comments / July 25, 2014 July 25, 2014 / Chat

Jeepers. I don’t seem to be finding the time to blog! It’s not that I’m super busy or anything — must be the lazy days of summer. Anyway, here’s my Five for Friday (with a few gratuitous flower shots because you always have to have a picture and we have pretty blooming flowers now!):

1. My exchange fabric for the Trip Around the World arrived this week and it’s perfect! I love the sweet little print that came all the way from Australia and I’m excited to use it in my piecing. She even included a handmade card with a little log cabin block. So Cute!

2. If you’re a knitter, you might enjoy these funny stock photos of knitters, found via Bekah.

3. The Yarn Harlot had a really funny post this week about a lost sock. I almost spit out my diet pepsi when I read the line “Are you *&^!ing kidding me?” Go have a good read to put it into context. And in solidarity for lost handknit socks everywhere, here’s my sock on the kitchen floor.

4. I’ve been having a terrible time commenting on blogs that have that #$@%^$ word verification stuff on them. Donna writes about this quite a bit and she has some good suggestions for fixing the problem. If you have word verification and I usually comment on your blog but I haven’t been lately, it’s because I tried two or three times and then gave up. Those things drive me crazy!

5. I was driving through Indianapolis the other day and snuck in a visit to one of my favorite yarn shops. They’re having a 30% off everything in the store for the month of July (a fun surprise!) so I had to partake. I thought these yarns would make these cute baby booties when I need fun little gifts.

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna