Thursday, January 3, 2008

A quickie

My parents are on their way from the airport now, so this is just a quick update, as I probably won't be able to post over the weekend. Pictures of the Endless Blue Blob were demanded (I am nothing if not obliging), and it is true that malabrigo in and of itself is worthy of a picture, so here it is:
It's huge. And the knitting is endless. As is the purling, now that I'm no longer working in rounds. However, I am close to finishing this second point, and then it's a strap, and that's all she wrote! Maybe by the end of the weekend I can felt it? One can only hope. As a reminder, this is the Calla Lily bag from The Knitter's Book of Yarn, and the pattern is by Cat Bordhi.

I have also embarked upon another, much-needed crafty fabric-oriented project. Here's why it's much-needed:
Do you see that seat cover? These were Grandmom's chairs (some of you may remember Grandmom from our trip to the Bay Area this summer), and when she finally gave up her home, she gave them to us. We love having them, as they are a wonderful connection to many happy meals shared at her home. But they haven't been re-covered in ages, and the need is dire. See the batting in there?
Under that (get this) is straw. I kid you not, straw. I have no idea how long it's been since these were redone, but it's time.

So yesterday I hit the local fabric store and managed to find (on the remainder table, go me!) seat fabric, fabric for the backing, and batting, all for a grand total of $25. I love sales. I got through two chairs last night, which was a pretty painful job, as Grandmom had done a lovely job of stapling the living heck out of the seats when she re-covered them, lo these many years ago. So I pried out all of the staples with a screwdriver, threw away the old batting and the straw (still in shock about that one), and recovered them. The results?
Here's the seat.
If I were a more anal person, I would have unstapled the webbing under the seat and tightened it to, but I'm not.

So, my folks are here, and I am going to enjoy my weekend and keep trying to fight this cold. I'll take lots of pictures and try to post on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

7 comments:

Rachael said...

Nice job on the chair! We have some with lovely mustard yellow velvet coverings that we inherited, it's on the list...

Have fun with your parents!

Anne said...

Great job on the chairs! I'm impressed -- start to finish in one blog post. That kind of thing might take me three or four postings and waffling about fabric and ... but maybe I'm just in shock from going back to school today.

I hope you do fight off your cold successfully. Have a great family weekend!

Bea said...

I think the chairs look great. You did a fabulous job getting and keeping the lines on the fabric straight.

Courtney said...

Wow. What beautiful woodwork on those chairs. It's lovely to have such a pleasant reminder of good times around all the time... though I can't imagine that the straw that's been sitting in a chair for who knows how long could possibly have smelled good.

You did a great job on the re-upholstering, and I agree with you about the wonder of sales! Gotta love pretty fabric at such a good price.

Have fun with the family!

Anonymous said...

Lovely! And what a nice feeling to get that done. In my house, that's the type of job that sits around for a very long time, and probably gets passed on to the next generation. Why, yes, I am speaking from experience!

Happy New Year!

Gwen

Alisha said...

Great job on the chairs!! They look awesome!

Have a great weekend with your mom and dad!!!

FUZZARELLY said...

The old upholstery could easily have been 80 to 100 years old.

As for the straw, it was used most likely because that was what was available at the time. Maybe batting was in short supply? The seat needed a little something extra? Old straw doesn't necessarily smell bad.

Very nice job on a very nice chair.

I once found one similar in a neighbor's trash (in Atlanta.) It was a little beat up but I repaired it, painted it red, and recovered the seat. Folk's throw out the darnedest things.