painted furniture

this nightstand was part of a blond set from the early 1950's purchased new by my parents.  many
family members have used this piece (and painted it!)

when we were setting up the guest room in barby and sean's apartment (which i use four or five days per week), barby thought it would be great to paint it a prominent color of a beautiful quilt displayed on the bed, which had been made by a dear friend of sean's mother for little katie kelly.

i sanded the piece down and then used behr premium plus ultra.  i sprayed a clear finish to give it an "enamel" look.  then i had a piece of glass cut to measure.  i purchased the antique doily at antique marketplace in lemoyne.  (the white corners are safety corners for the baby!)

tina painted dining room chairs a gorgeous silver.  barby had purchased the black italian chairs at a tag
sale in spring lake ~ she is now getting material for the seats and i can't wait to see the finished product!

we are getting the apartment ready for me to move into and i am scouting around for furniture we don't use any more and thinking up colors and finishes so i can revive them.

there is an old dresser that i am thinking of painting silver....tina did such a great job on the chairs, i think
the dresser would look really nifty silver also!

this will be my next project, after thanksgiving!

baby sister's blanket

i just finished baby sister's blanket and i love, love, love this pattern!  it was so easy (so easy i made
quite a few mistakes and had to rip out and re-do!

i got this pattern off the internet under Rare Purls Original Pattern, Blake's Baby Blanket, Copyright 2008 - Kay Mather:

materials:  (3) 100 grams (3.5 oz.) balls Cascade 220 superwash
needle: #8 US
finished blocked measurement: 27" x 30"
gauge - 4- 1/2 stitches = 1 inch, 6 rows = 1 inch


double moss pattern stitch
loosely cast on 120 stitches
row 1 - (K2, P2) repeat these 2 stitches across
row 2 - repeat row 1
row 3 - (P2, K2) repeat these 2 stitches across
row 4 - repeat row 3

work in double moss stitch pattern for approximately 3 inches, ending on row 4
begin broken rib pattern stitch with double moss stitch border

body of blanket (broken rib pattern stitch with double moss stitch border)
set up row - (K2, P2) across 14 stitches, place marker, knit next 92 stitches, place marker,  (P2, K2)
across 14 stitches, ending with P2
the set up row will be your first row 1 of broken rib pattern stitch with double moss stitch border

broken rib pattern stitch with double moss pattern stitch border
row 1 - K2, *(P2, K2) work from *across to marker, slip marker, K  across to marker, slip marker
*(P2, K2) work from *across, ending with P2
row 2 - repeat row 1
row 3 - (P2, K2) across, slipping markers
row 4 - repeat row 3

work broken rib pattern stitch with border for 27 inches, ending on row 4.

for final border, again begin with row 1 of double moss pattern stitch and work in border pattern for approximately 3 inches, ending on row 4.

bind off loosely, continuing P2, K2 stitch pattern across during bind off process.

(i made the blanket a bit larger than the pattern called for; i also used #10 needles and ambiente linea pura
by lana grossa of italy, 85% recycled cotton and 15% recycled cashmere)

Carlyle Hotel ~ it doesn't get any better!

today we had tea at the carlyle hotel in new york city.....madeline's tea, actually.....the walls are
hand painted by ludwig bemelmans, creator of the madeline books.  attending were katie kelly, her
mother and both grandmothers!.....what a divine time!.....the foods, presentation and service were
5 stars,  hands down!....and tina deVaron at the piano was truly amazing.....she played, sang, chatted,
and engaged the children beautifully!
When barby and sean married in 2009 at st. ignatius on park avenue, we all stayed at the carlyle ~
and had a magical experience then as well.  it just doesn't get any better than at the Carlyle!