Recovered Rocking Chair

I bought this rocking chair on Craigslist back in August. I love this chair so much! It is the perfect size for me - not too deep, just the right height. I also love the craftsman style. It is my favorite place to sit and work on knitting and sewing projects.

My plan has always to recover the seat of the chair which easily separates from the frame. I searched and searched for the right fabric. Originally I bought the chair to go in the baby's room but it has now become a permanent fixture in the living room (where I predict that I'll also spent lots of time rocking a baby). So when choosing a fabric I wanted something that would work in both rooms, just in case I changed my mind.

I found this print on Purl Soho's online shop (thanks for introducing me to this shop Lauren Robinson, I'm addicted!). The colors were a bit brighter than what was pictured on the website... But I think it does a good job of straddling the line between grown-up and baby appropriate.

The cover required a little planning to get the fit right. I drew up a pattern, made sure the graphic was lining up appropriately on the side seams. I also added a few layers of quilted padding to the seat. I fit the new cover over the existing seat at stapled the fabric in place with a staple gun. I like how low risk this project is... It only required the cost of the fabric and it's really easy try a different look for the chair with a new fabric later down the line.



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More Stuffed Animals

Because I gave away a few of my animals as gifts I knitted a few more to complete my set. I knitted another Lion and Elephant during my trip to Louisiana.  These are also worked in the Debbie Bliss Cotton I mentioned in previous posts.  I'm so in loving this community of animals I'm creating!  I think I'm going to try to create a monkey next.  There isn't a lion in the series so I'll have to create a new pattern, working with the body of the lion as a base.

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'Blessings' Print

Did I mention I know about 15 ladies that are pregnant right now?  All good friends with whom I'd like to share a little something special.  So I put together this print for their nurseries, a reminder to forever thank our Creator for the miracle of new life.  They read 'Praise God from whom all Blessings Flow', a familiar tune in protestant churches.  I designed a few different color options for the art work depending on what I know from my friend's nurseries.  I also had them printed in a few different sizes based on Ikea 'Ribba' frame sizes.  I altered the matte size with my matte cutter in some of these frames.  

My dilemma is how to get these gifts to all of my friends on the east coast.  I experimented with shipping the framed version to a few friends and had mixed results, as some of the packages arrived with a broken frame.  As much as I want to provide the value of giving a piece of artwork framed and matted and ready to hang on the wall I think I'll send just the print in a tube in the future.  Thats preferable to receiving a broken frame in the mail.  Now that the hard work of designing the print is done and easily replicated I think I may list this item on Etsy and see if I can sell a few. 

Stuffed Animal Series: Zebra and Fox

A group photo of the stuffed animals knitted to date.  New members to the group:  introducing the zebra and the fox.  I'm having so much fun with these animals that I can't keep them to myself... so I've been giving them away to friends who are expecting as well.  

Mr. Fox was made for Parker Fox Robinson, the son of our good friends in South Carolina.  I altered a pattern I had for a mouse figure to achieve the fox.  I just added pointed ears, a white patch on the chest, a big bushy tail, and I gathered the snout a bit to get a that authentic fox look.  I'm super excited with the way the fox came out... I was worried without a true pattern that it would fail.  This was knitted on size 7 double pointed needles in Blue Sky Organic Cotton in colors 'Pumpkin' and 'Bone' (found here).  This yarn is so great, and the larger needle size makes a slightly larger animal (see group photo).  I think I'll use this yarn exclusively for future animals.

The Zebra was also made from the Blue Sky Cotton in colors 'Bone' and 'Ink'.  All the cute details of the mane and tail make the zebra fun.  It took a bit longer to knit because I was changing colors every 3 rows (just a bit annoying and a little more work).  But it came together to make a cute animal in the series.  Now I've knitted all 4 jungle characters in the pattern series.