...10.1...Thrifty Thursday...

...I stopped by the thrift store for half price day...and guess what they had...you may not know what this is...

...it's a yarn ball winder...I spun the handle at the store and it seemed to be working correctly...

...and it does work perfectly...the little arm moves forward and back as you turn the spindle so the yarn winds up evenly...

...I had fun winding up a few balls of yarn...such a neat (and obscure) find for a knitter...

...I also got (and paid for) the other top two items...a new pack of sidewalk chalk (for the grandbabes - while it may still be warm enough and snowless)...a cute zippered pencil case with a smiley button...and for free I got this large Rugrats t-shirt...not for me...

...it was free because it has a hole under the arm...otherwise in very good condition...Rugrats was a cartoon that Our Airman watched when he was little and in general he likes quirky t-shirts like this...

...what have you thrifted lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.9...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...first up...I shrinkified the navy t-shirt that I'd gotten last week to go with the stripey cut off trousers...

...and then my old iPad cover is starting to shed little bits of black stuff...it's some sort of vegan leather covering...and it's at least 10 years old...I don't really use this iPad very much but when I do I don't want bits of it flaking off on me...so I decided to cover it up...

...I made a pattern of course...

...and the first thing I did was cut out and buttonhole stitch an opening for the camera...

...then I lined up the pattern on some fabric from stash...

...cut it out...

...and checked the fit...

...realized that I could see the fabric with the camera...so I made that opening bigger...

...along the hard plastic clip-in edge I hand stitched the fabric in place...

...but all around the rest of it I used my heavy duty Singer sewing machine to slowly stitch where the current stitches were...

...from the inside...

...popped the iPad back in...

...and checked that it would close up and fasten properly...

...and everything works as intended...the cover still functions as it should...

...what's in your workbasket this week?...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.27...Thrifty Thursday...

...there were actually two quick trips to the thrift store this week...I didn't get what I went for (some craft eyes for a stuffy)...but in the freebies were these boxers with a bleach stain...and the elastic waisted trousers...

...and I say trousers...but I think that these started out as one of those jumpsuits with a shirred top with straps...

...and someone hacked off the top of the shirred section including the straps...which is ok with me because I probably wouldn't have worn it like that...all I did was straighten the jagged edge as the fabric won't fray...and I've got a comfy pair of elastic waisted summer trousers...

...so that prompted a second trip...because the only navy top I had (that isn't striped is the Air Force Mom one that I made for the graduation trip to Texas)...so I picked up a plain navy tee...and I spied these two melamine trays for $1 each and thought they'd be fun for TV lunches/dinners as they're kind of a tray and a plate in one...

...gave those a good scrub and a trip through the dishwasher...and used it for a leftovers lunch...on the tray are some leftover alfredo noodz, leftover fries, the last of the chocolate hummus, a bowl of leftover cream of cauliflower soup...and some not leftover edamame...

...what have you thrifted lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.19...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...as always...I seem to have a few things that need to be 'fixed'...

...these are the first little pair of Footlets...that's the actual name fo the pattern...they're in this FO post from 2020...and they've sprouted an actual HOLE...and a few almost worn through places...so obviously, I did not 'nip it in the bud'...to quote Barney Fife...

...and I couldn't find the exact bamboo yarn...so I mended with a similar mercerized cotton...just a little bit too bulky...but maybe it will wear better too...

...and this is Our Airman's baby blanket...and it's way...way older than he is...and it has acquired a few holes as well...I started this blanket when I was still in high school...I think the actual colour was called 'maize'...but I always called it baby yellow...and over the years I never had any trouble matching the yarn...and then since I didn't 'need' it...it kept getting put away...I'd pull it out occasionally...I can remember working on it sometimes in my dorm room at college...so funny to think about that now...so it's been toted around with us through ALL of our moves...obviously I finished it...and it actually functioned as a baby blanket when I finally did have an actual baby...hahaha...

...so I fixed all of the holes...and I had some 'baby yellow' yarn that matched well enough in my stash...haha...

...and wove in the ends...

...and now it's folded up at the foot of one of the beds in the yellow room...just for a little bit of extra warmth if a guest staying in there needs it...and it matches the room perfectly...

...I'm not sure where I saw this 'idea'...but you can make some pretty neat natural buttons from guess what...right...avocado pits...who knew...while they're fresh you can slice them with a knife...

...I'm going to be making a few to replace the Sculpey Buttons on my old Sawtelle sweater...if you look at the pattern photo on Ravelry you can see that they used some sort of natural (brown) buttons...and here you can see the original Sawtelle Sculpey buttons that were made in 2012...but over the years and many washings the Sculpey buttons have finally split and need to be replaced...

...and while they're still soft...I just used a wooden skewer to make some holes in the center...and when these dry I'll drill them out better so that a needle and yarn can go through them...

...after a few days of drying...I just left them on this sheet of waxed milk carton cutout and turned them daily...and they get really hard...

...then I took them out into the garage and drilled some nice neat holes...

...gave them a spritz of olive oil...which deepens the colour a bit...

...let that sit overnight and did it again...just massaging it in...

...just trying to decide which buttons to use...I'll have a few leftover...

...these are the right size and look nice on the sweater...

...so I stitched them in place...

...what's in your workbasket this week?...

~Have a lovely day!

...4.30...Thrifty Thursday...

...I love it when the thrift store has exactly what I went in looking for...

...the Man wanted one of these pizza pans with holes in it...just for when we have frozen pizza...

...and while I was there in the 'kitchen' section...I spied this little silicone thing-y...not sure exactly what it is...but it will be perfect for freezing little bits of leftovers...like this chipotle/enchilada sauce...and also it will be perfect for the little 'cubes' of cilantro that I'm always putting into the freezer...

...have you had any thrifting finds lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

...4.24...Fix-It Friday...

...I've actually "fixed" this 1/2 cup measure before...way back in 2022...and of course there's a post about it...

...the straight pins that I'd used for that repair finally rusted through...so I got out these teensy-tinsy screws and tools to "fix" it again...

...these screws are from an eyeglass repair kit that the Man had gotten years ago...and they're stainless so they shouldn't rust...

...and since I'd already drilled the holes for the previous fix...this was a super easy job...

...I just found appropriately sized tiny bolts and slipped them through the holes...and added the nut on the back...it's a nice sturdy rust-free fix this time...

...and I'm happy to have the 1/2 cup measure back in the group...

...and I added a 1/8 cup measure from the thrift store too...

...it 'nests' ok with the others...

...and popped them all back in their drawer...

...have you been 'fixing' anything lately?...

~Have a lovely day!