Snow, Ice, Rain, Coats and Sweaters

Granted this was back on March 28th but if you will notice there is green grass, budding leaves and the promise that soon we could put away the coats and sweaters. But, oh no. Instead the weather people spent a week telling us we would have anywhere from 6-12" of snow, maybe some ice, sleet, freezing rain but no sunshine. Of course it depended on which weather person you listened to and they changed their predictions at least daily. So we prepared to be snowed in with a pot of chili, movies, the generator tested, extra candles set out and the lamp chimneys cleaned.

Oh yes, and plenty of knitting. I decided if Old Man Winter was going to give us one more blast I was going to knit accordingly. Side note, he wasn't done that weekend either but I digress. I love this little scarf. It is stash busting at it's best. Three complementary yarns held together in a fun little twisted drop stitch. I found my hands hurting after a few rows so I was alternating between this and my first pair of socks. Pictures later.

The rain started on Friday. A lovely mixture of rain, wind, sleet but no snow. By 11:00 p.m. it was freezing rain and the trees were starting to get heavy. Saturday morning the wind really kicks up and it starts to snow. That's the first picture. Lots of little flakes and at times these huge clumps of snow. That's when the branches started to break. This is the one that hit the deck after it drug itself along the edge of the roof and invited several friends to do the same. Fortunately the bulk of it hit the ground and there was no damage to the deck or the roof. Click on the picture and you will be able to see the beautiful Cardinal sitting on a branch. There were two pair that played in those downed branches all day. What a delight to watch.

A co-worker has a new grandson. Charles Thomas, Charlie to those who know him well. But not Chuck. He isn't a Chuck. This is one of his burp cloths. Both patterns are from Mason Dixon Knitting. I love that book. Great little projects that you don't mind giving away because you didn't invest your heart and soul in them.

This is another burp cloth and a bib. I just love the little bee button.





There are ipods, and iPhones and other various electronic gear that I have yet to personally embrace but they give me more reasons to knit. So, more stash busting and what do I get? An iPhone cozy. It fits a naked phone perfectly but my daughter prefers to keep the hot pink protective sleeve on her phone. She practices safe iPhone ownership. I guess that means I will have to knit another one slightly larger. I could do something with that sentence as well but I will leave it alone. This is a pretty neat little pattern in that it includes a pocket for your ID or driver's license. I also found that between this and the socks I am learning to really like DPN's. In my last Knit Picks order I got the 4" wooden ones. The next sock gets to break, I hope not literally, those babies in.


Due to the weather mentioned above my daughter has gotten quite a bit of wear out of her arm warmers. I took this picture while visiting her over spring break. We had great fun shopping, eating and believe it or not reorganizing her closet. While shopping we picked up some shelves and storage tubs. We then gutted the closet and started over. I brought home quite a lot of items to donate to our church garage sale and she is able to find all her stuff. She even found a few things she forgot she had. It was a nice break from studying. This is a tough semester for her but it is close to over. She is looking forward to some less intensive studying classes next semester.
And last but not least this little item. I love my insert name brand here mops for quick cleaning but refuse to buy disposable cloths. More stash busting but from the "too small to start a full size project" bag I am knitting reusable cloths. This one has more mistakes than I care to count but considering it is a mop cloth, who cares? I refuse to use precious knitting time ripping out mistakes on a mop cloth. I do plan to make more of these. They work great.

Well, it is time to get ready for church. I had hoped to wear something springy and cute based on yesterdays weather. But noooooooo, mother nature wants me to wear my drab old winter stuff at least one more time. I think I will wear black, all black, because I am so tired of winter that I am in mourning.
Enjoy your day and if it is spring where you are go walk barefoot in the grass for me. Thanks ever so much.

February? Are You Sure?

I really love this little car seat blanket. It has already found a home with my great nephew Wyatt. His middle name is Cooper. I like the sound of that, Wyatt Cooper. I predict great things for this little cowboy. He is my parents first great grandson and has two girl cousins. Seems like just a little while ago his daddy was a small boy.

These three vests were knit primarily at the hospital. My mom had a total knee replacement the end of October and I spent a lot of time with her. About a month later my dad broke his ankle and spent one night in the hospital. I spent the evening trying to convince him that yes he needed to spend the night in the hospital for a couple of reasons he wouldn't want me to mention here. He left by noon the next day right after my mom's physical therapy appointment.
Scattered around in there were a few emergency room visits for my father-in-law and those offer a lot of opportunity to knit, talk about knitting, teach a little knitting and in general pass time waiting for test results. Do you like the buttons I used on the vests? I know, I can't see the buttons either. I can't see them anywhere. I have, somewhere in my house, the cutest flower buttons in the perfect colors for these vests but they are hiding from me. So, I did a tiny little braid and tied the front of each vest closed and the girls slip them on over their heads. I actually kind of like the look but I really want to find those buttons.

My daughter purchased a new coat and of course needed some knitted accessories. We were in a wonderful little shop in Manhattan, Kansas called Wildflower Yarns and Knitwear. She picked out this lovely purple in Lamb's Pride Worsted as her school colors are purple and white. We bought several skeins thank goodness. I have really enjoyed this yarn. I have had difficulty getting the purple to photograph well but the colors in the neck warmer are close. It is a little darker and richer than in the photos. Anyway, I have completed a scarf, a neck warmer that I test knit from a pattern on Ravelry called Dear by Holly Peacock, Calorimetry and am test knitting a pattern for arm warmers. There are also supposed to be mittens in this yarn but I haven't gotten there yet.
I have knit a second Dear for a man and he is currently wearing it to determine where exactly he wants the button and if it is too long or not long enough. I adjusted Holly's pattern in length only and used completely different yarn than shown here and it is sooooooo yummy. Pictures to come when he returns it for any adjustments.


This was such a fun little cloth to knit. I have a Ravelry friend who lives on a lovely farm, has a beautiful country home and is just as helpful and giving as the day is long. She lost a son last year and when I saw this little scene on a cloth I knew it was ment for her.

Hopefully this launches me back into blogging mode. I had better get the camera outside and photograph some works in progress. There are always a few of those.

My Weekend Adventures

8/2/08

I read brooklyntweed's blog so I already knew I liked these mittens. Stopped by the book store to see if Vogue had hit the newsstands yet. I didn't even see the title until after I have picked it up because of the cover. I love the cover. It has it all, color, texture, expression, balance. I rarely buy a magazine but I brought this one home in part because of the cover. Thankfully I like some of the projects and articles inside as well.






My husband is in Sturgis for the big motorcycle rally. The original plan was for wives to go along but I couldn't go because of work and other wives had other issues. We wanted to take a support vehicle so the guys wouldn't have to carry so much on the bikes, we could take turns riding with our guys and we could actually lock up things like cameras. My husband almost never travels without a camera. This week he will have been in at least four states other than Kansas with no camera.
So with a week to myself, other than work, the fair, and who knows what else crops up I hope to get a good amount of knitting done. That much knitting requires a few movies. I went to the section marked 2/$1 and picked up some that I wanted to see and some I had never heard of. I actually got home with one I didn't intend to get. It may turn out to be the best of the bunch.

Saturday morning I took four projects to the county fair. Two received red ribbons, one didn't receive a ribbon at all and I didn't expect it to. It was one of the scribble lace shawls and other than the yarn they are nothing special. My Everlasting Bagstopper, I don't remember if it got a ribbon or not. Our display space is adequate at best. To see the bag I had to get down on my knees to look at the bottom shelf. Next to my bag was a lovely garment of some sort but I couldn't see the tag to see whose it was or what it was. There were several other items in the same predicament. I believe when we meet at the fair for knit night this week we will be discussing the display situation.


On my way home I stopped at a couple of garage sales. I found this lamp. It works. I don't usually go for things like this but it kind of spoke to me. Once I find a shade that works with it will decide its fate. At this point I am thinking of sanding it down and spraying it with one of the paints that looks like stone. I might also do some sort of mosaic or decoupage treatment. Time will tell.















My other garage sale purchase was this box of beads. A nice little assortment to add to my collections.








My last stop was at the craft store in town. They have everything BUT yarn. We are trying to talk them into it because they have employees that know yarn. One of the employees raises sheep, spins, dyes, knits and weaves. We will keep trying.
Anyway, they have a pretty decent bead section. I picked up a few things to work on an idea for some stitch markers.








Here I added some beads from the garage sale box.











Now I have added in some of my own beads. I want to keep the grey/silver tones but add a sharp contrast and I think it will be red. I have lots of red beads.


A lamp project and a beading project. I only thought I was going to get a lot of knitting done.





I am test knitting a pattern for a breast cancer fundraising calendar. I don't have a yarn source close by so when I went to "the city" I picked up every pink yarn I could find that would work for a dishcloth.
I am using the mercerized cotton second from the right and it is working up beautifully. Pictures and info. on the calendar at a later date.





Love this car seat blanket pattern but do not like the yarn. I was on my way out the door and needed something quick. It is sooooo yucky but knitting anything on a long car ride is better than knitting nothing. It will make an OK gift for someone or for the grandgirls and their baby dolls. I will knit this pattern again in something much nicer.





















8/3/08
I love ripe fresh from the garden tomatoes. This one has been ripening on the counter for a couple of days and it was perfect on Sunday. I

Pizza or Turkey?

7/27/08

I made homemade pizza with all the fresh veggies from the garden. There is onion, green pepper, garlic and tomatoes. It was the best pizza I have made in quite sometime.

I love my baking stones. The handles on this make it much easier to get in and out of the oven. My old one had a rack to set it on but I was always forgetting the rack. It was passed on to my son so I could justify this one.

7/28/08

This turkey has several siblings that "hatched" last fall. I knit up three or four of these guys for gifts in a short amount of time. I chose this pattern to knit for the household items category at the fair because it was an easy but visually interesting knit. I knit the first 1/4 of this cloth several times and finally cut the yarn off and threw it away. It was beginning to resemble a well worn piece of string rather than yarn. Once I got past the half way point I didn't have any further problems thank goodness. There is one very obvious error but of course I didn't see it until I was blocking. I'm sure the judge will see it as well but I enter more for fun than for the ribbons. Too bad I didn't remind myself of that when I was having so much trouble knitting this thing. After the fair he goes into the mail to an Internet friend who has mentioned she would like to have a turkey.

In addition to this dishcloth I took a scribble lace shawl, my misknitted Everlasting Bagstopper shopping bag and a preemie hat. There were other projects I had planned to take but it is best if they are completed before entering them in the fair.

Today I cast on a pink dishcloth that I am test knitting for a breast cancer calendar fundraiser. More on the topic in the weeks to come. I have tested some patterns for quilt designers before but this is the first time testing for a knit designer. I hope I am up to her standards. She does beautiful work.

Flower Dishcloth

6/9/08

As my Mystic Light lies about basking in solitude I have only managed mindless knitting. Just before I lost the light tonight I managed to get a shot of the dishcloth I am knitting. There is a flower in the middle but it is difficult to make out in the variegated yarn. I love the colors in this yarn.

I finished another Scribble Lace shawl this weekend too but I didn't like how it looked in the late evening light.

Of course the cats were trying to help. I'm surprised that the rubbing on my legs didn't jar the camera.

Oh yes. Insurance picked up part of the tab on the air conditioner and also paid to fix the wash machine. So far no more lightening damage but my daughter's cell phone died the day the wash machine was repaired. The wash machine had died the day the air conditioner was repaired. PLEASE let this be the end.

I Have Been Gifted With More Yarn

A friend who has had a little trouble lately staying on her feet was unable to knit for a while. Since she couldn't complete the dishcloth she owed me in an exchange she offered to send me yarn instead. Though I miss having something that she knitted I had absolutely no problem accepting her yarn. It is a lovely hand painted cotton. It has not decided what it will be yet but it has joined the stash to think about its future.

2/25/08

Top O The Mornin' To Ya

 2/26/08

Yes, another dishcloth. A green shamrock for the recipient to wash away the winter blues and bring in spring and a little Irish spirit.

This was another fun one to knit. I especially liked the background. A bit of a cable look but no actual cable.

I'm really quite disgusted with the weather. Saturday was a warm, 70+ but very windy. For the first time in months I didn't wear a coat and the car felt warm when I get into it. Sunday was again windy but things were starting to dry out. My Man even took a short ride on the Harley. By late afternoon it was a dark and stormy day that ended in a cold, driving rain. What happened to spring?

A day in the city

I am no city girl and I don't particularly like to shop. I do love to eat at different restaurants and since we were shopping for furniture I could endure that. There was not a yarn shop within a reasonable distance and our legs hurt and we still wanted to stop by a book store. There should be more yarn shops so I had to settle for one of the big chains to satisfy my yarn fix.

The furniture pictures will come later as the furniture hasn't been delivered yet.

1/20/08

Cotton yarn for dishcloths or other items requiring cotton. Have to keep the stash up you know.

The brown in the back is needed to finish a grandson's afghan. The color isn't exactly the same of course but I am double stranding with black so hopefully it won't be too obvious. There were skeins in the bin that were almost purple. A lesson learned. Always buy way too much yarn. The stash is always hungry.

1/21/08

I like cottontots for baby hats, kimonos, etc. I don't like using acrylic yarns for baby things. What cotton yarns do you prefer for baby items?

1/22/08

Lion Brand Wool-Ease for a pair of mittens for my daughter. They must be washable because she doesn't need anything that requires special care. Freshmen in college who work and carry an A average (had to brag a little) don't need anymore to think about. I have not knit mittens before and plan to use this pattern. I can't seem to photograph reds well. The yarn is actually has more brown in it but this is pretty too.

Another Exchange

1/19/08

Yes another exchange. A dishcloth one. Didn't I say I don't do many exchanges. Well, I do two, make that three. Two on a monthly basis and the third is a one time thing, maybe.

Monthly I do the theme exchange and a dishcloth exchange. The one time only maybe one is a Hot Cocoa exchange. More about it later.

This is a pattern I cruised the Internet for.  It is Valentine Dishcloth by Rachel vanSchie. I love the pattern Rachel.

It is knit in Sugar 'n Cream in Hot Pink. There is a second one almost exactly like it except for the last 15 or so stitches when binding off. I ran out of yarn!! So I finished in something not even close and will use it myself. I haven't made myself a new dishcloth in ages. A third in a variegated yarn is in the works for my partner in the Hot Cocoa exchange so no pictures until after she receives her package.