Power Drill, Staple Gun and Dinning Room Chairs... Oh my!

We've moved three times over the last year and a half, so trying to make each new house feel like home has been somewhat of a challenge. Our last house we lived in had white woodwork and pretty gray walls. This new house we just moved into has a lot of dark wood trim and textured walls. It almost has a lake house retreat feeling. If you know what I mean? It has an open floor plan, so I've been trying to create a cohesive space. I don't want to spend a lot of money. One of my solutions was to recover the dinning room chairs. I've always wanted to do this. I've seen it done on the Home and Garden channels many times.



It's just as easy as it looks. I used a hounds tooth fabric in chocolate brown. It bought it from House Fabric. It was only $9.95/yard compared to $75.00 at Joann Fabrics and they shipped it quickly.

I was happy with the end result and I got to use a staple gun and power drill which is always a plus.



I bought the curtains at Target. They are not really curtains. They are 84 inch table cloths. I used drapery clips . Target has some Dwell Studio table cloths that would be beautiful as curtains too.



I have found a place for the framed butterflies at each house. This is a fun project and great way to use Anthropologie catalogs. They still look pretty good after two years.



This cabinet had really ugly wooden handles. The screw holes were not standard so I had a hard time finding replacement handles. Finally I found some that worked. They were $10.00 a piece, but they made the cabinet look so much better.



I have it filled with colorful mid century dishes. They make me happy.



I'm using a small antique cupboard as a bar for the time being. I think it works.



I think the recovered chairs pull the room together.

Sharing with  Miss Mustard Seed, Tatertots and Jello, It's Overflowing, Southern Hospitality and The Southern Product Queen.

Orchid Thief Shawlette

Orchid Thief Shawlette (Ravelry Link)
Pattern by Ysolda Teague
Found in Brave New Knits (Julie Turjoman)
Yarn used Quince and Co. Tern, 2 skeins in the color Wampum
Needle used was a US 6 circular

The good, the bad and the ugly details:
I used a Quince and Co. yarn which is always a good thing. Tern is a wool/silk blend. It has a slightly tweedy look and beautiful drape. The pattern called for 420 yards, but I had read that knitters were running out of yarn. Two skeins of Tern was 442 yards so I thought I might be okay, but I ran out of yarn with 3 rows left including the bind off row. I thought about ordering another skein, but I just wanted to finish the shawl and I couldn't bring myself to buy another whole skein for three rows.

The Last Three Rows:
I found some finger weight leftovers in my stash. I was worried about the shawl looking granny-ish so I tried to find complimentary colors. I knit two rows with some leftover String Theory hand dyed yarn in a blue color and then bound off with Berroco Alpaca Light in a green color.

There is errata for this pattern. Despite having the correct charts I still found the pattern confusing. That is why I love the Ravelry network. I never could have made this shawl without the help of members that took notes to make things easier for the next knitter. Thank You