Antique Brass Light Fixture

As a home owner on a budget, I am always looking for ways to create a unique and comfortable setting at my home without paying breaking my bank.  I like the mood that antique pieces bring to a home, but I also like the price tags of Ikea furnitures; therefore, I hunt for statement antique pieces to mix with "mass market" furniture pieces to create a "modern vintage" look.  While waiting to move into my current home, I found an antique brass light fixture with roses dangling on it at the Cloverdale Antique Mall.  I felt in love with the fixture instantly, and I decided to design my future breakfast area around this piece.  After endless trip to the antique mall and some more trips to other furniture places, I finally got all the pieces I needed to decorate the breakfast area at a reasonable price.  It got tricky, however, to purchase other light fixtures to go with the surrounding areas as brass fixtures with roses wasn't really the thing to do in the 21st century.  When I found another antique brass light fixture with the rose motif from the same antique dealer, I called my husband and said, "This is meant to be!  We are bringing it home!"

Crystals and roses from the fixture.

Like most antique pieces, the were some flaws with my light fixture.  The crystals were not shiny anymore, and the roses were not in perfect shape.  That said, I was delighted about imperfections on the roses as they reinforced my believe that they were hand made and therefore should not be perfect.  I was a little concerned with the not-so-shiny crystals thought as the fixture was fairly small and I wanted the crystals to reflect as much light off the bulb as possible.  Another dealer in the same antique mall happened to sell crystals for light fixtures, so I picked up some to replace the ones on my fixture.

Replacement crystals.

The new crystal has a lot more shine.

The "prettying up" the light fixture process took a lot less time than I anticipated.  The crystals and roses were removed from the fixture by the cashier to avoid damage during transportation.  I started by cleaning the fixture with a damp cloth and then wipe it dry with another piece of cloth.  I then removed the old wires on the roses and crystals and replaced them with new one.   Hanging the crystals and roses onto the fixture was not particularly difficult; thanks to the petite size tools that I collected from my beading days.

I left the electrical work to my husband.  30 minutes later, we had ourselves a "new" light fixture in the hallway!

Lap Blanket

Ever since I saw the Pixie Dust Lap Blanket on Purlbee.com, I've wanted to make one for myself.  Unfortunately, I could not find any yarn store in Vancouver that stock Knit Collage's Pixie Dust yarn; I also could not justify spending the money on this very luxurious yarn.  I started hunting for a substitute yarn a while ago, and I finally found the Malabrigo Gruesa in Art of Yarn when I was in Kelowna.  I could not believe how difficult it was to find a think and thin yarn, but there it was the Gruesa sitting in a basket right next to me as I walked into the yarn store.  I did not know how many skeins I would need for the project, so I went for seven skeins which was the number of skeins of Pixie Dust required in the original project.

I casted on 75 stitches and knitted the 1x1 rib pattern with a 9 mm needle, but I thought the blanket felt a little too dense, so I took the blanket apart and knitted it again with a 10 mm needle.  This time around I casted on 79 stitches instead because I wanted the blanket to be slightly wider.  This was very fast to knit up and it was perfect for those hours that I spent in front of the TV catching up on The West Wing.

I finished knitting the blanket in about a week.  The finished blanket measures 25" wide and 36" long when not stretched.  The stitches are not crazy tight but I can see going for a larger size needle if I were to make this again.  I am very pleased with my yarn choice; it was very ideal for this project; the blanket is warn and heavy, and it is very plush.  The Pixie Dust would probably be as nice, but the shimmer in Pixie Dust would not match my home decor as nicely as the Gruesa.  My cats absolutely love the blanket.  There were a few times that my cats gave me the stare when I had the blanket on my lap, and they looked so happy when I gave up the blanket and let them sit on it instead.