rose hip

a footstool...

 

...in the bathroom and not by an armchair in the basement (as I talked about in my last post) is what I'm showing you today since it was much to dark to take any pictures in our basement this week. (I'll have to wait for the days to get a bit longer and brighter for basement photos... )There usually is some kind of a footstool in this same spot because the mirror above the sink on this little vanity cabinet is still a bit high for some of us in this house!

 

I used an old painted plank of wood which I found in a used building supply yard to make the legs; my husband actually whipped up the wooden part of the stool (thank you, dear husband!) on which I stuck a 1.5 inch foam so that all those tired feet which will be resting on it will be nice and comfy. Once the structure of the stool was made, all that was left to do was slip on the crocheted cover; I made sure the cover was long enough to cover the stool all the way to the top of the legs and and then secured it to the stool by tying it with some yarn around each leg. And, voilà... we have a rose footstool! What do you think?

 

I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out and, given that I really enjoyed making it, I think I will be making more of these stools... Perhaps, I will change the colour of the rose with each new one I make (wouldn't it be fun to have three of them lined up against a wall with different coloured roses?!) or simply x-stitch a different design altogether... Hmmm, the possibilities are endless!

 

Before I move on to something else, I have to tell you that the bathroom where I took these photos has to be one of my favourite spots in our house; it's not very big but it has the sweetest little bateau bathtub right by a nicely sized window (not like the small windows one usually sees in bathrooms) which overlooks the top of a locust tree as the bathroom's on the top floor of the house. It is such a treat to lie in the bathtub in late spring/early summer with the window wide open when the locust tree is in full bloom with all its lovely fragrant pink flowers...

 

Now, onto something quite different that I would like to share with you: I am rather excited at the moment because I'm leaving on a sweet little trip to Ireland with my husband early next week! This little holiday is part wedding anniversary gift (we celebrated our 20th anniversary two years ago but weren't able to do anything really special at the time) and part Christmas gift from my husband as I've always longed to go to Ireland (thank you again, dearest husband!!). We are going for just under two weeks with a quick jaunt in London, then Dublin for a few days and onto the Irish countryside in a rented car; if you have any thoughts as to where we should go when in London (I'm definitely going to Liberty!!), Dublin or anywhere in Ireland, please, please leave me a comment! (I should be able to check my emails on and off once in London and Ireland.)

 

I initially thought that I would have time to write another post before leaving but I'm not so sure anymore; our departure date is coming up fast and I still have a lot of loose ends to tie... I will definitely be back blogging the week of Feb. 10th, hopefully with a bunch of yummy photos from my travels to show you; in case you're wondering about the patterns I've been working on (here). I will be back at it upon my return with hopefully something to show for in February (January turned out to be very unproductive month on that front so I hope February will be better!). As far as my Etsy shop goes, I will shut it down as of this Sunday to be re-opened on Feb. 10th. So, if I don't have time for a quick hello before leaving, I do hope you have a nice two weeks coming up and thank you so much for popping by!

 

 

slow start...

 

 

...to my January this year as I've spent a good part of it in bed with a nasty, nasty cold; the stuffy nose that I had since Christmas morphed into something much uglier by New Year's day, which came in the form of headaches, throat and joint pain, fever and coughing and more coughing... It seems though that a lot of people around us were hit by the same cold/flu in the last little while. Anyhow, I am slowly getting back on my feet, but I must say it seems to be taking me a while to get my day going and I'm sure the gloomy weather (rain, rain and rain!) we've had lately isn't helping with my overall level of energy. I do hope this bummer of a bug has bypassed your household and will run its course ASAP!

 

 

Needless to say, I haven't been up to much so far in 2014 and all my lofty plans for January have all been put on the back burner... (I've also stayed away from my computer so I'm just starting to catch up with all my emails and all the blog updates I've missed...) While I've spent most of my time sleeping (or trying to sleep!) and reading, I did figure out something to make with all that yummy vintage bulky grey heather yarn I mentioned in my last post; in our newly finished basement which I have yet to show you some photos of, I placed an armchair which is in serious need of a low footstool...

 

 

So, yes, a footstool with a crocheted top on which I x-stitched a rose with two buds and a few leaves is what I came up with... As far as the x-stitch rose pattern, I drew my inspiration from a pattern I found online, although I did change it quite a lot so that the design would fit nicely on the crocheted rectangle and not be too distorted-looking as each stitch in the grey yarn with the hook size I used is wider than it is longer. I ended up using odds and ends of yarn, all wool I think, for the design and felt quite proud of myself for not running out to the yarn shop for this project (not that I really could have anyways with the way I was feeling!). I have to say that I like x-stitching because of how it reminds me of impressionist paintings: you know, when you're close to it, it just looks like a bunch of coloured dots, strokes or x's in this case, but as you move away, an image takes shape. What do you think?

 

 

I will be back in the next few days (hopefully!) to show you the finished footstool but, in the meantime, take a look at this lovely post that Heather from my little red suitcase put together with the pillowcase she won when I had my giveaway back in November; doesn't her bed look so very inviting?! At the moment, I am so behind in answering all my emails and if you feel that yours has been unanswered for a while, please don't hesitate to send it to me again as it just might have fallen "through the cracks". Thank you so much for popping by and I do hope you've had a better start to 2014 than I have had so far!...