An old clock's cozy time

  Today I want to share with you my most recent decor project. It's something I wanted to do for at least a year and never really put my needles to it. For a couple of years, we had a basic Ikea clock on our kitchen wall. I say basic because it was really plain looking, white background, blue plastic frame... but it was functional so I kept it where it was. With time, the plastic-paperish white background started to fall apart. I guess it was the result of long term sun exposure... Anyway, I took it down, thinking I would do a little makeover sometime.

More than a year later, I stumble across this pattern for a Clockwork Cozy on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/colorful-clockwork-cozy   A really simple yet colorful and funny pattern, perfect for my old clock.


My clock wasn't in good shape and needed a bit of preparation before receiving it's cozy. I started by peeling off the remaining pieces of background. I painted the frame white so it wouldn't show to much through the knitted fabric. I printed a damask pattern on a thick white paper and cut it to fit perfectly in the clock (usually you can easily take out the hands by pulling). I drew numbers on the circle and filled them using a black marker. Then, I simply inserted the disk in the clock and put back the hands. The paper disk fitted so perfectly that it didn't need any glue.

As for the knitted part, I used some Palette fingering yarn that I already had on hand (Clarity, Sky, Clover, Green Tea Heather, Sweet Potato and semolina). The pattern called for worsted weight yarn but I wanted a different look, a little less texture. I cast on 20 stitches on 2,75 mm needles and it was large enough to cover the frame. I knitted in garter stitch, changing colors irregularly until it was long enough to cover the whole thing. If you want to make one yourself,  you can find details on how to finish it and different examples of finished projects on the pattern page. It really is a nice way to give a second life to an old clock.

Wooden chair makeover

What a beautiful week-end we've had! Really sunny but not too hot, the perfect weather to be outside. It gave me the chance to work in the garden for a while, which was much needed. All that sun and rain we've had in the past 2 weeks made the veggies happy, but weeds also took advantage of the situation! The savoy cabbages, the winter squash and the tomatoes are growing fast, and I even picked a couple radishes yesterday morning. Zucchinis and parsley are doing better, some animals were fond of them I think, but they seem to have found something else to eat now.  Beets and carrots haven't really show up yet, I think I might have to sow some more.

As I mention in my previous post, I've been busy lately with various project. Not that I'm putting away knitting (no no!!) but I've had some little projects in mind for a while and I'm finally putting time in them. Today I want to share my first spray paint project (yay!). It might seem simple, but I've had a lot of fun spray painting for the first time!

Maybe I told you before but I'm kind of addicted to the thrift store haha. I have a list of things I'd like to find (small furniture, vintage dishes, clothes and fabrics etc), so I look for them every time I pass by the store. Lately I've been looking for a chair to replace an old plastic patio chair that broke (I didn't really liked it anyway). I though a wooden chair would be perfect, prettier in my opinion and long lasting. Here is what I found:

It was only 4 dollars, so I bought it, thinking it would be perfect to sit on the balcony. At first, I wanted to clean and re-varnish it. There were small splashes of paint on the legs and seat. Some came off easily when I scrubbed them, but it was difficult to get rid of others, especially between the bars. So I changed my mind and went to the hardware store. I found a bottle of spray paint (the indoor/outdoor kind) of a color I liked for 6 dollars or so, and here is how it looks now:

I'm happy with the result, it really makes my balcony more joyful! I'd like to find a little table I could also paint in a funky color to go with it. I will eventually make a little cushion that matches the chair but it's not a priority on my crafts list for the moment.