Another Pillow

Bobbins have been obtained! Thanks, Chris!

He stopped by the sewing store before he came home from work on Friday. They helped him immediately since he had nothing other than "class 15 plastic bobbin" to go with. I'm sure he looked a bit lost. I kind of wish I could've seen it.

I finished the turquoise pillow rather quickly. It didn't take more than half an hour, if that. 

Things are coming together!

The turquoise fabric is pretty stretchy, and the pillow is slightly wonky on one side if you look for it in the stitching, but I'm satisfied since it's hidden in the back. 

Next up is the lampshade. 

I'm a little worried about how it will come out since the fabric is so stretchy. I'm wondering if I should hot glue the top to anchor it and then use spray adhesive to finish it off. 

It's still missing something....

That picture made me realize how boring that corner still is. I'm sure it will be better after the lampshade is done. 

I'm almost finished with my knitted pillow cover, so that will help immensely, but I think I need something for the wall. 

We'll see!

The Smoke Detector Code

This morning at about 2:30AM, one of our smoke detectors went off at full blast.

I was still awake, but Chris was sawing logs.

When it went off, I freaked out and sprang into action! I turned on all the lights and ran to get our land line phone. (It has smart 911 service that will tell dispatchers our address immediately versus a cell phone needing to be triangulated.)

Do you know what Chris did?

Nothing!

Well, he rolled over.

He slept right through the smoke detector!

Turns out, no fire--the battery was low.

Ugh!

The detector couldn't just chirp its normal annoying battery low sound. It had to go off at full blast!

Apparently that's what they teach all of the little smoke detectors in school before they are sent out into the world.

Talk about adrenaline rush!

We changed the offending smoke detector last night, and I changed the others this morning.

Of course, Chris was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.

I barely slept a wink!

But I'm not bitter! Haha, not at all!

I'm trying to concentrate on my knitting. I'm still working on my throw pillow cover. I'm over halfway through, and now (of all times, after three restarts!) I think the cable part of the pattern could be different.

Mmmm, pillow. Sleepy sleep....

Oh, well! I am NOT frogging this project halfway through! It looks fine, and I'll just change it and give options in the pattern that fix it when I write it down.

That dang section! Now I'd rather the purl sections between the cables and stockinette sections be smaller

Oh, and as for Pete's actions during last night's adventures, he slept through most of it, too, just like he's sleeping through my knitting. 

What a day! :)

Nematodes, Bobbins, and Pillow Shams

It is stinkin' hard to find nematodes in this town!

Beneficial nematodes, that is. 

I found some grubs when we were taking care of the front beds. Nematodes should take care of them and stay in the soil so we shouldn't have to reapply every season like the chemical sprays instruct. They supposedly help with fleas and ticks, too, so we'll see!

No store in town has them, so I have to order them online. I checked all of the stores in town while Pete was "getting his hair did" (thanks, Chris, for that, haha!)

This is the only picture I have of him being still this morning. He turns into a hyper weirdo after he visits Ms. Rachel. 

I made an envelope pillow sham from the orange chevron, too. 

I have to buy more bobbins so I can make my turquoise sham. I need type 15 plastic and the stores in town have only 15J. Boo! 

Front: new envelope sham Back: boring soon-to-be turquoise-covered pillow

You would think that Spring cleaning + DIY projects = sleepy Emily, but nope!

I'm still an insomniac, but I'm reading the Crystal Singer trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, so I'm at least enjoying my lack of sleep.  

My house smells so good. I'm feeling a little smug right now, but I'm sure Pete will roll in something and get things back to normal. 

Farmer's Market

We went to a local farmer's market this weekend. 

Look what I got!

I have local pecan oil, vanilla sugar, and local yarn! 

The yarn is a merino/bamboo/silk blend. I'm going to make a small shawl or maybe a lacework front for a pillow cover. I'm not sure. I love the colors!