...the BIG remodel...of the littlest room in the house...

...we needed to have one fully functional bathroom in the house...right...so with all three bathrooms in different states of remodeling...we decided to focus on the 'littlest room in the house'...we have a friend from Britain who calls the bathroom that...we think it's so cute...

...this bathroom was pretty hideous when we moved in...burgundy carpet...and what can only be described as bar code wallpaper...it kinda makes you dizzy to stay in this room very long...

...makes you wonder what they were thinking when they chose this wallpaper and carpet?...

...and as often happens in older houses like this one...(our house will be 50 years old next year - I think we'll have a birthday party for her...if she's feeling up to it...HA!)...the wallpaper was put up directly on the bare sheetrock...

...so when we pulled the wallpaper off the walls...of course...we pulled off some of the sheetock paper as well...ARGHHH!!!...I really don't think I like wallpaper very much...

...so we broke open a new bucket of spackling...or mud...or joint compound...whatever you want to call it...

...and got to work putting a skim coat over the entire wall...being thankfull all the time that this is a small room...but thinking ahead to the other two bathrooms which will undoubtably need this treatment as well...

...first skim coat finished...

...followed by a lot of sanding...

...I'll have more bathroom updates over the next few days...

...wishing you a lovely start to your week!...

...Blog Spotlight...Eager Hands...

...one of the very best things about blogging is all the nice people that you 'meet'...

...one of these is Lora...She blogs at Eager Hands...and she has an etsy shop by the same name...

...I wanted to show y'all the little charm that Scout got for his girlfriend for Valentine's Day...

...and the pretty package that it came in...

...Lora is so sweet and she will work with you to get exactly what you want...she even included an extra large jump ring in case Scout's sweetie wants to wear the charm on her Pandora bracelet instead of the necklace...

...so if you ever need a special charm/bracelet/necklace you'll know where to go...

~Have a lovely day!

...Happy Valentine's Day...

...we had such a nice Valentine's Day...
Scout only made one Valentine this year...
... Previous Valentines here (2012)...
here (2010)...
here (2009)...
here (2008)...
and here (2007)...

~Have a lovely Valentine's Day!

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

...knitting a little something...looks kinda funny now...it's on big needles so should be done soon...

...also writing up the pattern as I go along...which may be the best way to do that...as I've had a little trouble doing it after the fact...HA!...

...I'm further along than in the photo...but I've completely frogged already 4 times...and may have to again...

...rainy snowy weather here now...perfect for knitting and reading (Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker)...and Ash Wednesday service tonight...and so Lent begins...Scout says he's giving up pop for Lent...I'm thinking that instead of giving any 'thing' up...I'm just going to try and 'give' something everyday...

~Have a lovely day!

...Single Serving Vegan Blueberry Muffin...

...I wanted a blueberry muffin for breakfast...

...and in the pre-dawn before school rush...with little pre-planning...that's not likely to happen...

...or is it?...

...I quickly gathered some ingredients...almond milk...applesauce...vanilla...flour...oil...sugar...you know the regular muffin ingredients...

...mixed the dry ingredients...

...added some applesauce and a good long spritz of oil...

...a little bit of almond milk...

...give it a quick stir...

...toss in a small handful of blueberries...mine were frozen...but I don't think it matters...

...pour it all into a little pyrex cup...or a muffin pan if you prefer...this was just a little too much batter for this small cup...but I have these same cups in a slightly larger size...for next time...

...pop it into the toaster oven while you hop in the shower...see it was a little bit too much batter and it overflowed...luckily I had a pan underneath...

...then dig in...

...oh so good...and just what I wanted...

Single Serving Vegan Blueberry Muffin

3 Tbsp self rising flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp applesauce
1/2 tsp oil
a few drops of vanilla...probably about 1/16 tsp.
1 Tbsp almond milk
2 Tbsp frozen blueberries

Mix flour and sugar. Add applesauce, oil, almond milk and stir to combine. Then gently stir in the berries. Pour batter into a greased muffin cup and bake at 350° F for about 15 minutes.

~Have a lovely day!

...kitchen floor...

...in the ongoing remodeling saga chez affectioknit we have some very good news...

there is no asbestos in our kitchen floor...so YAY!...

...we finally pulled back the awful carpet in the kitchen...we'd been afraid to do that as we thought there might be asbestos tile underneath that would have to be 'dealt with'...so we were thrilled to discover just regular old vinyl sheet flooring...so we're going to move forward with our plan for the kitchen...now...we'll be able to match up the new hardwood floor and just continue that into the kitchen...

...we had hardwood floors in the house we built in the mountains of NC and quite liked it...so we're going to go with that again...

...there is a little structural problem that will need to be dealt with first...and I'll keep you posted on that...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...a little blue baby blanket...

...I needed to make a baby blanket for a sweet little boy...

...and I thought that I would just make a receiving blanket sized piece of fleece and add a sheer binding about 4 inches wide...

...so I bought a square of fleece...so I actually have enough to make two little blankies as it was folded when it was measured...

...then I got some sheer fabric...and cut a wide strip...

...and ironed under a 1/2 inch seam...on each side...

...and then I folded that in half and ironed it again...

...so that a had a nice long strip like blanket binding...

...with the seam allowance pressed in place...

...then I pinned it to the fleece...so that the seam allowance just met the outer edge of the fleece...

...and sewed around it...and then guess what...

...I didn't like it as much as I had thought I would...the sheer border was just TOO BIG for the sweet little blanket...and I thought it looked kinda weird...

...but I didn't want to undo it all and start again...

...so I just folded the 4 inch border back over onto itself...

...and stitched around the blanket again...

...when I got to the corners...I just sort of gathered them up...since this is now sort of a poofy sheer border...

...and I'm ever so much happier with it now...

...the 2 inch border is much more the right scale for this little blue blankie...

...I guess that's all part of the creative process...and I may still make another one with the leftover fleece with just a 2 inch sheer border and see how I like that...I can always change my mind and add another layer...or maybe I'll choose a cute boyish print for the next fleece...or maybe add some pink/blue floral for a little girl blankie...or maybe add the print and then top it with the sheer...that would be pretty wouldn't it?...

...do you go through all the different possibilities before you decide...or do you always just 'know' what you want to make?...

~Have a lovely day!

...Super Simple NeckWarmer...

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

...I had a little bit of yarn left over from the Infinity Scarf project...just a little bit...but I didn't want to let it go to waste...it's such a pretty colour...and it matches my brown coat...

...so I just cast on a few stitches and knit in stockinette stitch for a few rows...

...and added a little set of crocheted loops for buttonholes at one end...

...now I need some buttons...I'll shop around a bit...but I may end up making them if I can't find what I want...

...and I'll post a pattern soon...

...also reading...

...this book...

...which I found by it's subtitle here...while doing some research on our current book club book - Mrs. Linsoln's Dressmaker...

...I'm thinking so far that Elizabeth Keckley's own words are much more interesting than the fictionalized ones...

...so what are you reading and knitting?...

~Have a lovely day!

...snow on snow...

In the bleak mid-winter / Frosty wind made moan, / Earth stood hard as iron, / Water like a stone;/ Snow had fallen, snow on snow,/ Snow on snow, / In the bleak mid-winter / Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him / Nor earth sustain; / Heaven and earth shall flee away / When He comes to reign: / In the bleak mid-winter / A stable-place sufficed / The Lord God Almighty, / Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim / Worship night and day, / A breastful of milk / And a mangerful of hay; / Enough for Him, whom angels / Fall down before, / The ox and ass and camel / Which adore.

Angels and archangels / May have gathered there, / Cherubim and seraphim / Thronged the air, / But only His mother / In her maiden bliss, / Worshipped the Beloved / With a kiss.

What can I give Him, / Poor as I am? / If I were a shepherd / I would bring a lamb, / If I were a wise man / I would do my part, / Yet what I can I give Him, / Give my heart.

...a little history of the hymn...

"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti written before 1872 in response to a request from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem. It was published posthumously in Rossetti's Poetic Works in 1904.

The poem became a Christmas carol after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst.

...we've been having 'snow on snow' quite literally...with storms just a few days apart and temps in the low teens...seems sorta like North Dakota weather...only sorta...

...the snow is not keeping the little birds from singing though...

...and this last bit of snow was really sticky...so it coated everything with white that didn't blow away...

~Stay warm and have a lovely day...

...Scout Sunday...

...yesterday was Scout Sunday at Church...so I sewed on another Merit Badge...only three more requireds until Eagle...

...and I had to hem up Scout's trousers again...these are the same ones from North Dakota...he doesn't get any bigger around...he just keeps getting taller...

...and Scout did a wonderful job with the readings...he read the Psalm and the Second Reading...which is near and dear to my heart:

...from Corinthians 13...
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

...we had that reading at our wedding...I think almost everyone does...did you?

~Have a lovely day!

...’Twas in the moon of wintertime'...

...coming home from the LOFT meeting last night...the half moon was just hanging there in the sky...

...made me think of this hymn...

The "Huron Carol" (or "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime") is a Canadian Christmas hymn (Canada's oldest Christmas song), written probably in 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people; the song's original Huron title is "Jesous Ahatonhia" ("Jesus, he is born").

’Twas in the moon of wintertime,
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wondering hunters heard the hymn:

Refrain

Jesus your King is born,
Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapped His beauty round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high:

Refrain

The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory on
The helpless Infant there.
The chiefs from far before Him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt.

Refrain

O children of the forest free,
O seed of Manitou,
The holy Child of earth and Heav’n
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy,
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.

Refrain

...I hope you saw the moon last night too...

~Have a lovely day!

Fairy Dress Box Giveaway

It's time for another...

GIVEAWAY!

Click here for Freebie 1

Click here for Freebie 2

Click here for Freebie 3

Click here for the Tutorial

These are really cute and the papers come in a separate folder and can be used for lots of different crafts...go get some today...

~Have a lovely day!