Completely Catherine

I have a deeply rooted love of desks.

My first desk crush was on my big sister’s desk.

It was a high-gloss white affair — stark, modern, and full of right angle swagger.

To me it was the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

I was certain that she could manipulate the earth’s rotation from her desk.

And my sister knew it.

In fact, she used to sell her used (read: useless) desk supplies to me and my brother.

We would claw each other’s eyes out for a chance to buy the dried up pens and calcified erasers that had been stored in her desk.

My second big desk love was (and continues to be) my father’s desk at work.

The antithesis of my sister’s, my father’s desk has no angles.  The ever-shifting stacks of medical journals, notes, and clay ashtrays (lovingly crafted by me and my siblings for our non-smoking father) have made his desk into an amorphous crucible of productivity.

I remain amazed by the amount of work my father can do with 2 inches of desk space.

In recognition of my desk-love, here are some images of a few more favorites.

Who knows, perhaps one will spark a desk crush of your own . . .

xoxo,

Catherine

I need a new hobby like a hole in my head.

But I just got one.

And guess what?

You did too.

Because homeless dogs like Marcel . . .  

. . . need blankets to help them feel more secure in their foster homes.

The kind people at Battersea Dogs and Cat Home, a refuge for abandoned and abused animals, are asking knitters to create security blankets for their most sensitive dogs.

Whether recovering from abuse or from surgery, the familiarity of the blankets helps the dogs settle into their foster homes.

You can download the free pattern here.

I will keep you posted on my progress and I hope you will too.

This will be my first attempt at knitting.

Thank goodness this first attempt is for a dog.

A kinder audience would be hard to find.

xoxo,

Catherine

Due to a stomach bug, I spent a lot of time in bad last week watching BBC period dramas . . . and naturally this led to a new obsession with Victorian millinery.

Daniel Deronda, in particular, gives great hat and served as the inspiration for these hair clips. 

Since I can’t resist a holiday theme, I whipped up a couple of Easter versions as well.

If you have a little girl in your life, here’s the how-to . . . starting with the flowers:

Supplies:

• Felt
• Hair Clips
• Needle
• Embroidery Floss
• Washable Marker
• Scissors
• Sturdy Paper or Cardboard

1.  Cut Out Leaves

Place the hair clip on your felt and trace a leaf shape around it using your washable marker.  Leave at least 1/4 inch all around the clip.

If you plan to make multiple hair clips, it’s a good idea to create a template.

You will need two leaves for each hair clip.

2. Cut Out Flowers

Draw the desired flower shape on the felt with your washable marker.

For this project, I used three felt flowers for each clip.

I used this shape for my daffodil:

. . . and this shape for my camellia:

3.  Cut Out Flower Center

 Cut a small thin strip of felt for the flower’s center.

 4. Cut Slit In Leaf

Cut a small slit in one of the leaves.

5. Insert Hair Clip

Open the hair clip and place the free arm through the slit. 

6.  Sew Leaves Together

Stack two leaves together with the free arm of the hair clip on the outside.  Using a running stitch or a blanket stitch, sew the leaves together. 

If you don’t sew, you can glue them together.  I don’t judge.

Here’s a look at the finished leaves . . .

7. Assemble Flowers

Stack your petals and sew or glue them together. 

Roll the small strip of felt to make the center and stitch or glue in place.

 8.  Assemble Hair Clip

Sew or glue the completed flower onto the leaf.

9.  Gloat

This step is made even more enjoyable with the addition of wine.

If you’re interested in making the Easter egg or bunny, you can use the same instructions above with some minor adjustments

For the bunny . . .

 Instead of a leaf for the base, draw a bunny shape.

For added dimension, I cut out an extra set of ears and stitched them on– this made no measurable improvement to the look of the bunny — it just made me cranky.

As such, you may wish to skip this step.

 Again, should you choose not to sew . . . feel free to glue.

For the tail, I embroidered french knots on a piece of white felt and sewed it onto the little bunny butt.

More french knots, some satin stitches on the ears, white whiskers, and a little Ric Rac trim finishes him up.

Last but not least, for the Easter egg . . .

. . . the steps are the same but use an egg shape as your base and add Ric Rac for trim.

Happy Easter to all!

xoxo,

Catherine