We have had a few good weather days in between our snow storms, and I grabbed one to head out to a local antique store. Seymour Antiques is a huge building with three stories of antique heaven! Two Saturdays ago, I dropped our daughter off at work and headed out for a few hours of shopping therapy....it's a great cure for cabin fever!
I wish I had thought of taking pictures of the little vignettes throughout the shop, but as soon as I saw a beautiful spinning wheel, I was done. Usually when I see something I just HAVE TO HAVE, I will walk around looking at everything else, and if I am still thinking about it before I leave, then it's meant to be mine. Of course, the spinning wheel had to be mine! I'm not sure if it actually works, but my spinning teacher has offered to take a look at it when the snows stop and everybody's driveways are safe to drive again...lol
Here she is, residing in our guest room until I can clean her up a bit. I also spied a cute little straw hat that has a G. Fox label. G. Fox was a department store that was bought out by May Department stores, of Filene's fame. I remember the "modern" G. Fox store at our local mall, but from a little research, G. Fox was "the" place to shop in Hartford, CT and opened in 1847. I can only imagine shopping there for parasols, gloves, and gorgeous little straw hats like this one.
It's such a sweet little hat. I can see it on a little girl wearing a flower-sprigged pinafore, white tights, and little ankle boots that had to be buttoned up with a button hook. Once all our new floors are in and the painting is done, I'm going to hang it up in our downstairs bathroom where it will reside alongside a child's white apron (ankle length), a child's nightgown, and a pair of women's bloomers.
On the rug hooking front, I finally got the small circle mat bound! Binding is my least favorite part of rug hooking, but I make myself bind each rug as it's finished so I don't end up with a bunch of unfinished rugs!
The up close photo shows a more realistic color to the background. This is a green/black/gray check pattern that's right off the bolt. I found it at Joanne's Fabrics, and it hooks up great!
I also finished a knitted afghan that is to be a graduation gift for one of my daughter's friends.
My plan is to do one for each of her absolute bestest friends...these are girls she has known since elementary school, and are still fast friends. There are five more to do, so I'll have a bunch of knitting in my immediate future! Of course, I'm itching to do another small rug, and I'm thinking of doing a series of round and square chair pad size mats that will be modeled after blocks from Baltimore Album quilts. I need some flowers in my life with all this wintery weather!
Stay warm and safe!!
