casapinka

Cynthia Rowley Chairs

Hurricane Sandy is on the way. In case our house blows to Kansas and my living room disappears, I thought I would post the latest picture of it.  The chairs were a present from my Mother-in-law and are made by Cynthia Rowley. Pretty amazing gift, no? I really love them, unlike Husband, although it could have something to do with the wallpaper I put on the real wood tv console thing. That didn't win me any friends in the Husband department, although if he were to read this he'd learn that it's only adhered with double stick tape. HA!

Husband is working until Monday night  (it's now Sunday) but he has told me a number of times (in response to "Could you help me: put outdoor furniture away, change the cat litter, get D batteries, flashlights and candles, do laundry, cook up the chicken, tie down the garbage and recycling bins, stock up on canned food and water, get some Bailey's and wine, bathe the children, fill the bathtubs in case we lose water, and remove the air conditioners from the windows.) "Honey, the storm isn't coming until Tuesday. You worry too much. Don't do any of those things - it's just hype!"

"Don't worry, I'll get a flashlight tomorrow", Husband reassured me from the safety of the hospital.  There are, however,  no flashlights for sale in Rhode Island. We have a flashlight and Husband got batteries for it and they were the wrong size. And sadly, there are no D batteries left for sale here, either, so it looks like we will get acquainted with the way of the candle should our power go out.

We're lucky that the ground floor of our house is stone, which will hopefully weather high winds. Lots of tall trees, too, which are hopefully used to big storms. I wish all of you a safe week if you are also being hit by Sandy and think of me when you use your D batteries - stuck using candlelight to stop the kiddos from pantsing each other.

Pink Pumpkins

I've always been a scrooge around Halloween. I hate the color palette of orange and black. This year I decided to do something about it rather than just be a grump. 

Last night, the kiddos and I made brownies and then Husband and I took the them to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins. There was a brief episode of stomping when I painted instead of carved my pumpkins. "You always have to make everything girly!" Junior actually yelled at me. He was still upset at my saying I wanted to put polka dots on our mailbox. Husband rapidly reminded him that he was wearing a pink shirt with a tie today (thanks, Husband!) Then we ate pizza on the kitchen floor followed by brownies and then Irish tea.

We even have a pseudo black cat in the form of KitKat who does amazing things to get onto the mantel. I got the little heart card at MOMA which is simple but I love it alone on that small bit of white wall. I guess we'll have to remove the pink pumpkins from the porch during the Frankenstorm but at least they'll look pretty in the living room.

Fun Lights

Casapinka, slow going as the transformation is (thanks for that new bite, tick butthead) needs more lights for evening and night. Luckily,  we get a fair amount of natural light during the day. Surprising as this might be, Husband grouches when I suggest getting more lights. He reads by twilight. "I hate exposed bulbs." "It's too bright in here." That kind of thing is often muttered in contrast to  my"It's dark and I'm freezing!" What is the saying about opposites? Green wall lamp from House and Home.

 

Husband adores Waterford Crystal. I have to fight not to let it be displayed all over the house, yet my bid for a Waterford goldfish bowl resulted in defeat. I love this irreverent use of cut crystal, to me a nod to Waterford but to Husband another "exposed bulb." Crystal lightbulbs from E. Broom.

Husband doesn't like our current living room chandelier. "It hangs too low." Man, you can see how I choose my battles around here. If I were to replace it with a high chandelier he might be pleased or might give me the look he did with my cateye glasses. "I can see why you like them but I wouldn't have chosen them." My response after all these years is usually a "Yeah, yeah, yeah" under my breath and knowing what will and will not be eventually enjoyed by him. Painting his library sunflower yellow - bad. Painting our mailbox red with polka dots - probably be ok. Check back soon for that one. Pink pendant light displayed on Desire to Inspire.

Underdog Flowers

I've always had a soft spot for the underdog. These flowers had the world against them when they were adopted by me: 1. Carnations, 2. Fake, 3. Purchased at Wal-Mart. They are managing to thrive here at Casapinka, however, and they are quite photogenic. 

Lapland

Fifteen years ago  Husband explained to me that one of his dreams was to take his future children to Lapland to meet the real Father Christmas. I kind of chuckled. Yeah, right. As Christmas draws near, I'm getting a bit nervous, though. Brochures have arrived in the mail from Ireland (we'd leave from there, as that is where we're spending Christmas.) He recently made mention of staying in an ICE HOTEL (press panic button.) I am not ice hotel material. I  don't think I would survive dinner, never mind sleeping on blocks of ice. How do you pee in the middle of the night? The thought of that makes me want to cry. 

 There is no heat in an ice hotel...what kind of stupid concept is that?!  I would shrivel up and have to be buried in Lapland (if the ground wasn't frozen), food for the reindeer. As Juniorette's age of questioning Santa's existence grows near, Husband's dream becomes more pressing. I've promised to travel far into Canada without complaining (Quebec is lovely in winter, right?), participate in Christmas snowball fights without running inside every five minutes, and even agreed to outdoor ice skating every week this winter...all the while showing the kids lots and lots of photographs of Lapand and the real Father Christmas. I don't think it's working, though. Husband looks kind of excited these days. Do I have any readers from Lapland? Can you help me out here, talk me down, maybe?

I get to color

One of the best parts of designing is getting to color, often with my kids. We like to watch Felix the Cat on my bed while each of us has a journal out, be it a design journal (me) or a coloring journal (them.) A lady named Ingrid recently contacted me because she wanted to make this blanket that I made but hadn't written up into a pattern. The yarn had been discontinued and she wanted to know how she could make it.

I sent a letter to the yarn company to see if they'd send me all the yarn I needed to make the blanket and turn it into a pattern but I didn't hear back from them. I could have tried harder, I suppose but I got busy coloring.

 These are the colors I came up with for her. I still have to put the finishing touches on it, probably while we're watching the old Dennis the Menace tonight. Junior is a spitting image of Dennis in thought, word and deed but a foot shorter. I actually often sound like his mom...."Oh DEN - nis!" I know it was the 1950s so there were no Power Rangers but had there been, one cold, rainy night Dennis would have gotten his penis stuck in the Power Ranger swordfish disc just like Junior did. 

Toenail Fairy

The Toenail Fairy arrived Saturday night after Junior lost half of his toenail. I was thinking that it looked strange last week when his sister and I painted it green, but there was no noticeable injury. It just fell right off on its own as a jubilant phonecall on Saturday informed me.  Juniorette slammed her hand in the car door a couple of year's ago (correction: JUNIOR slammed her hand in it) and the Fingernail Fairy came, apparently bringing a Thumbelina doll. This weekend, Junior got a set of Pokemon cards and a full set of Angry Birds underwear from the Toenail Fairy. Photo not of mine, nor Junior's, nails, unfortunately.

 

Casapinka Cowl

I posted here about Colorshift Yarns and the wonderful gradations that artist and scientist Erica Heftmann does. I used what's called a Colorbridge to make this cowl  - Botanical Green to Orchid , which Erica termed the Casapinka Cowl. You can buy it on Ravelry here or Etsy (see my sidebar at left.) You will need 660 yards of a Colorbridge or gradated yarn set from her website. Colorbridges are here and gradated sets are here.

A colorbridge takes you from one color on the color wheel to another color and uses a bit of each color from the previous one to get you there. 

It goes well with my Stepaside sweater which I haven't published yet. I am, however, looking for test knitters. 

But more on that later. I'd like to try one of the aquas or pink gradated sets next. The cowl is a unique and gorgeous holiday gift, the yarn drapes beautifully and is soft next to the skin. There are mochas, blues  and other "masculine" colors if you'd like to make something for the male persuasion (should he, sadly, not care for pink.) Erica will personally dye your set if it's not available and her customer service is outstanding.