A Reading Nook

My daughter often reads in this little area at the end of her bed:

It is nice because she has her bookshelf, lamp and the heater all right there. I joined her on Saturday for a little bit just for fun to knit and talk, and I have to tell you, sitting on the carpet wasn't all that comfy. So, I asked her if she'd like a floor pillow. She, of course, thought it was a good idea. She didn't have to spend the money on it! After a few moments of thinking, I realized I didn't have to spend money on it either.

You see, out in the loft in our garage we still have the old baby crib and hence, the old crib mattress. Since we are not having any more children, the mattress is not and will not be used any time soon. Why not just bring it and make a cover for it - I did have plenty of matching fabric from redecorating her room - and use it? Not a bad plan, huh?

Once we were sure that the mattress would fit the space, I set about make a cover, or basically a crib sheet for it. What was really nice was that 45" wide fabric was perfect for the project since it wrapped around the mattress just right.After a little measuring, I marked off squares in each corner of the fabric that was to become the sheet.

These squares will need to be removed and the sides stitched together in order for the flat fabric to fit around the three dimensional mattress. To do so, I folded each corner at a 45 degree angle, right sides together so that the lines from each side of the square met, and then stitched on the lines with the serger.

After each corner was done, all that was left was to attach some elastic for a snug fit. I only used the elastic at the short ends, not all the way around the sheet. I did some quick guessing and eyeballing to get the amount of elastic right for the amount of sheet I had. For my first try I had too much elastic, but the second try with 6 inches less elastic, worked perfectly. I just serged the elastic to the edge of the sheet, stretching it fit and that was it:

Very simple, and now my daughter has a much more comfortable reading nook:

Parting Shot: Not Quite a Sock. I at least got one sock started! It took me a while to find the right gauge of needles. It has been a while since I knitted, but I do know that above all else, you must get the right gauge or your project will end up the wrong size! BTW, the last really big knitting project was the Sulaire sweater by Alice Starmore (see last picture below) about 9 years ago - that design is knit in, at one point I had about 12 balls of different colors attached to the needles. What a mess, but it turned out beautifully. What you don't see is that the neckband also has a knit-in wave design, too. The sweater was for my mother in-law. I've knitted some small baby sweaters and projects since but nothing large.