Table for Two

We have a lot of things in our house that came from my husband's parents. For example, our kitchen table. When Tim was a kid, his Mom would sit him on the corner of it and cut his hair, literally with a bowl on his head. We also have a child size chair and table set that was around when Tim was a kid. The chairs had been recovered several times, the latest with leftover wallpaper from their kitchen. My kids must have something against wallpaper, because shortly after we moved in they started peeling the wallpaper in the downstairs bathroom, hallway, and then the chairs. We had the walls repainted last summer, and I finally got around to taking care of the chairs.
I unscrewed the seat bases, took off the old coverings and padding and used some cotton batt that I just happened to have as well as some fabric that I've had for probably six years. I used our staple gun to secure it to the bottom of the seat bases, cut off the extra, and screwed the seats back onto the frames. It took me less than an hour total and made such a difference.

Since there are two chairs, I took pictures of what one finished looks like next to the one I hadn't done yet. My daughters wanted to sit in the chairs for the pictures, but neither wanted to sit in the unfinished chair, as you can see below. They're both happy now that they each have a nicely re-upholstered chair to sit in.

My Lovely

My lovely little girl, my second daughter, has been out of sorts lately. I think she's feeling a bit left out, with her big sister graduating from preschool, big brother bringing big trophies home from Kung-Fu tournaments, and little brother just being so darn cute. So when I started a new project, I made sure that it would be one just for her.

I used the pattern Lacy Baby Frock by Lisa Gentry from the July 2008 issue of Crochet Today, but the pattern only goes to 24 months. I did a really simple upsize by just using a bigger hook and heavier yarn. This particular pattern worked really well for that and still looks absolutely adorable. I plan to make one for my older daughter at some point, but I'll have to do a little more modification to make it fit. It should be easy, though, since the pattern is so well written and simple to modify.

She didn't really want me to take her picture because she was too busy playing in the back yard, so I had to catch her on the fly. She is without a doubt an outside girl...she loves to put on her rain boots and head out to the garden to find worms after it rains!

Spider, Spider

I'll be the first person to admit that I am afraid of spiders. And when I say afraid, I mean terrified. If it's bigger around than a penny, I don't want anything to do with it. My eleven year old son kills spiders for me, and I think my five year old daughter isn't far behind. They both understand that asking Mom to kill a spider is almost as dangerous as trying to ask me a question before I've had coffee in the morning.

So, I don't know why I wanted to crochet a spider. It really doesn't make any sense to me at all, but I did it anyway. And, every time I look at it I get creeped out.

It's kind of cute in a 'I'm going to stomp on you as soon as I find boots big enough' way, dontcha think?

Speaking of food...

I love the springtime - it's exciting to get seeds started for the
garden and work outside getting the garden ready. The only problem is
that the rain gets in the way! Tim has managed to till a little bit
here and there, and the addition of 6 cubic yards of new topsoil made
the job a little bit easier. He's planted the corn and the crookneck
zucchini plants already. I'm waiting for a semi-nice day to get our
cold-resistant tomatoes out there and off of the buffet in the dining
room.

This year the plan is to grow swiss chard (which may or may not work, we're late planting it) roma tomatoes, cold set tomatoes, zucchini, corn, yellow and green beans, strawberries, basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint, parsley...and something else, but I forgot what (oh the joy of mommy brain!) I have a notoriously non-green thumb, so I think I'm going to have Tim do the planting and I'll just try to take care of the maintenance.

Watermelon!

Spring is here, and we've been really busy getting the garden in shape for planting. Before we know it, summer will be on us and we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor. One of the best treats of summer is watermelon, in my opinion. Naturally sweet, healthy, and fun - it's part of almost every back yard barbecue and picnic. We've still got a while to wait before we can enjoy the real thing, but here is a pattern for a little watermelon wedge that you can enjoy while you wait!

Watermelon Wedge

Worsted weight yarns in red, white, green, and black.
G hook
polyester fiberfill or other fill
yarn needle
　
FRONT AND BACK
Make 2
With red, ch 2
1. Work 2 sc in second ch from hook. Ch 1, turn.
2. Sc in each sc. Ch 1, turn. (2 sc)
3. Inc in each sc. Ch 1, turn. (4 sc)
4. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (6 sc)
5. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (6 sc)
6. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (8 sc)
7. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (10 sc)
8. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (10 sc)
9. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (12 sc)
10. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (14 sc)
11. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (14 sc)
12. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (16 sc)
13. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (18 sc)
14. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (18 sc)
15. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (20 sc)
16. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (22 sc)
17. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (22 sc)
18. Sc in first 9 sc, inc in each of the next 4 sc, sc in last 9 sc. Sw to white. Ch 1, turn. (26 sc)
19. Sc in each sc across. Sw to green. Ch 1, turn. (26 sc)
20. Sc in each sc across. Break off yarn. (this is the right side)
Using black yarn, make seeds on the right sides of the front and back by backstitching several times in the same spot. Make as many or as few seeds as you like.
　
SIDES
With red, ch 6
1. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (5 sc)
2 - 18. Sc in each sc across. Sw to white yarn. Ch 1, turn.
19. Sc in each sc across. Sw to green yarn. Ch 1, turn.
20. sc in each sc across. ch 1, turn.
21 - 47. Sc in each sc across. Sw to white yarn. Ch 1, turn.
48. Sc in each sc across. Sw to red yarn. Ch 1, turn.
49. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn.
50 - 68. Sc in each sc across. Break off yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sew the side piece to one of the front/back pieces starting at the tip and working your way around. I whipstitched, but use whatever joining method you like. Sew the other front/back piece to the other side, stuffing before it is fully closed. Break off yarn and weave in ends.

Have fun!