giant rug doily and not all rockers are made equal

i've been seeing this on pinterest for ages and thought...i could make that.

ladiesandgentlemen from etsy makes the one below

isn't it lovely? 

i've been saving this project for just the right reason and time.

ANNNDDD i think a baby nursery is just the place for it, under a lovely old-new rocking chair.

so we begin.  

i found a pattern and instruction here

but i found myself changing the pattern completely. i made it up as i went along.  i considered looking up some doily patterns to follow, but you know me, free spirit right?

(i do have a problem with following any instructions)   

all you need is the following:

3 boxes of Cotton Piping Size 5 (16/32" Diam) x 100 Yds. 

(which i found from Joann.com and used a 50% coupon which apparently is now $10 cheaper than i paid...grrrr)

ended up being $73.82 with tax and shipping. 

(i went to the actual store and they didn't have any in stock, which i have this slight suspicion that they really do, but the lady i talked to was none to helpful)

size "s" hook

here, the kona is showing off about 1.5 hours worth of work.

i'll admit, i will have some serious arm muscles in the end.

in the end, it took about 8 hours to complete.

and it was totally worth it.  

super fun right!??

the rocking chair came from a cute store that does custom work for you.  

four sisters custom furniture and frames

you can choose the color/stain of almost any item they have in store, which is a ton of different furniture.  i considered staining it myself...but staining rocking chairs seemed too complicated and since i ordered it two weeks before the due date (that has gone and past), i figured it would be easier to have someone else do it.

(i know, this goes against everything i'm about.  but i will have you know, i valiantly search for a rocking chair at all the thrift shops for last year, but as my dad says "not all rockers are made equal."  which i've found true, most of the thrift shop chairs had seen some good hard days of work.  i wanted a solid wood one, but all the ones we tried were much too crickety. . . .)

so, my parents bought us one instead.

thanks mom and dad!

funny thing is, this chair is almost the exact replica of the one my mother in law has, which i've always loved and the husband loves.

  so.it.was.a.triple.bonus

random note:  doesn't the refinished floors look loverly?  

the kona seems to think so. 

crochet pattern for blanket