Hey

I have been away from this for so long that I do not even know if I can remember how to post a message. I know that anyone reading my blog has long ago given up that I might come back to it. I will see if this posts and then go from there.

Disney at Christmas

We went to Disney this year before Christmas with our grandkids. We had just finished a huge Italian dinner at Mama Melrose's in the Hollywood Studios when all the Christmas lights came on. The downtown was decorated with more lights than I have ever seen in my life. It was just beautiful. The music was wonderful. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better ..... it started to SNOW! Really! What a fun night and a wonderful memory.

Yin and Yang Bolero

Another UFO is finished. I started this sweater while I was in Maine a couple of years ago. If you are ever in the area of Ellsworth, you just have to drive a little bit up the coast to Hancock where Shirley's yarn shop is. It is a wonderful place. The pattern, by Knit One Crochet Too, suggests a cotton yarn called Ty-Dy but I fell in love with a yarn called Kathmandu DK from the Queensland Collection. It is 85% Merino Wool, 10% Silk and 5% Cashmere. The pattern starts at the bottom and works up over the shoulder and down the back so you only have side seams to stitch when it is done. I know you can't see the button but it actually is really beautiful and in the same colors as I chose for the sweater. The fit is really cute and I intend to wear it in the fall and winter with a solid color turtle neck. It is really too bad that I didn't get this done earlier in the year because we are now having daily temperatures in the 80s and 90s. So it has been carefully stored away and will come out again in November. I'm looking forward to it!

A Bear is Born...

...And another UFO is finished. I have named this little bear Harmony. She was just a finished shell and had been waiting in my UFO pile for a very long time. Finally, I got her stuffed and the ends tucked in. Then I sewed on the eyes, nose and mouth. I'm not sure where she will end up but I hope that she will be loved. Teddies are so much fun to knit and don't take very much leftover yarn. I have made this pattern several times so I think it is time to try a new pattern. I have several to choose from and lots of leftover yarn to make it with. A nice little project to carry with you in the car.

Bunnies

These are the bunny blocks. After much thought, trial and error, I decided their placement in the quilt. Here they are just waiting to be put together with the sashing. I actually have done that but don't have a new picture yet. I have been machine quilting them and have been having a problem with my outdated walking foot. It must be 30 years old. I think I will have to purchase a walking foot for my newer sewing machine if I'm going to do much more machine quilting. It shouldn't be such a battle. I used a very nice pink fabric for the sashing and it sets off the blocks perfectly. Very "Easter Bunny" looking. When the quilting is done, I will embroider tiny pink noses on all of the bunnies. This has been a fun project and I wish it had not been a UFO for so long. I'll add another picture of the finished quilt before too long.

Birthday Socks

I finally have a picture of the socks I made for my sister. Her birthday was in February and I forgot to take a picture before I gave them to her. It has taken these last couple of months (you know how it is ... camera problems, computer problems) for her to take a picture for me to post. If I remember correctly, these were knitted from Knit Picks wool yarn. It is very soft and oh so nice to work with. I'm sure that they will be keeping her feet warm for a good long time. And again, Happy Birthday sweet sister. You are the best!

No Bunny Quilt Yet .....

Easter was not the weekend for me to get my bunny quilt finished. But I was able to start and finish a toddler size sweater vest. This is a pattern that came in a kit from the NY Fiber Festival in Rhinebeck a few years ago and this is the second one that I have made. It is knitted in one piece and sewn together at the shoulders. I made it with leftover Lion Brand Wool-ease. It doesn't take much. I know I could have done the edges a little better and I may take them out and do them again later. For now, it is done and goes into my "Charity Knitting" box.


I did make a couple of Easter baskets for the first time in years. This basket I filled each year for my son as he was growing up. I decided to fill it one more time and let him take it home with him. I think he liked it.

A finished UFO

Finally, I have finished a santa ornament that I must have started at least three years ago. I really had most of it done. Even so, the part that was "undone" was the most time consuming. The beads are sewn on one at a time and the cross-stitch thread goes through the bead twice. I finished it up by sticking it to some "sticky felt" and then cut around it. I have already put it safely away with Christmas things for next year.

Now, on to the next UFO. I will be sewing bunny eyes and noses and a couple of buttons onto nine finished quilt blocks. I would really love to get this quilt done before Easter. Wish me luck!

Lilacs

Look at my lilacs. I have this little bush in a huge pot on my back porch and I'm happy to see it blooming. My GIANT lilac bush is way out off the end of our property and when it blooms, I can cut blossoms to bring inside for weeks. But it is just starting to produce tiny buds and it will be a while before I get any big blooms. This year, I plan to dig up as many suckers as I can from the giant bush to see if I can get them started. I'd love to have a whole hedge row of lilac bushes.

I have used the random number generator and it has chosen number 6 who happens to be Heatherly. Thanks to all of you for responding to my give away. It is nice to know that this project will NOT end up in my closet and might quite possible get finished.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 91. l miss her.

Very Disappointed

I have decided NOT to spend any more time working on this pair of socks. After finishing the first one, I know for certain that I don't like this yarn. It is the new "stretchy" yarn and there are many reasons why I don't like it. Yes, it is stretchy but that also made it difficult (for me) to knit. I followed the free tube sock pattern that came with the yarn and that wasn't so great either. Because there is no defined heel, the yarn must stretch around your foot and that makes the stitches pull more open at the heel and it feels awful when I step down on it.

Maybe these would make great bed socks but then they are only 39% wool so I can't even vouch for any warmth that they might bring.
So ..... if anyone would like to have a sock, pattern and an extra skein of yarn, I'll be glad to send it to you. The yarn is a mix of 41% cotton, 39% wool, 13 % nylon and 7% elastic. The color is a variegation of green and lavender/purple. Sorry, but you may find a cat hair or two in the sock or the extra skein of yarn. I know there must be someone out there in blogland that has tried this yarn and likes it. Or maybe someone who can't ever seem to knit the second sock. Voila! The first one is done for you. So please leave a comment on this post if you are interested and I will use the random number generator to pick a winner on Friday after 12:00 noon. I really do hope one of you will want this sock and yarn. I'd hate to see my UFO pile get bigger.

Hurricanes beat the Devils!!!

Wednesday night, my FC and I were able to get some tickets to a hockey game in Raleigh. We met my son and DIL there and had a great time. Our seats were super ..... right behind the goal ..... and it was exciting to be so close to the action. But the RBC Center has gotten a new and powerful sound system and it can just about blow you out of your seat. We were forewarned to stop by the first aid station and get some ear plugs before the game started and believe me, I could not have sat through even the first period if I hadn't had those ear plugs. All in all, it was a good night and of course winning the game was just frosting on the cake!

Finished the Poncho

This was a "hurry-up" project that I zipped right through using Red Heart Tweed yarn. You can't tell by the picture but it is a child's size 6 and made from the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern. I made this for my sweet granddaughter. I started it a week before she came and finished putting the fringe on the night before she left. I'm glad to have put all my energies toward getting it done and I feel good about not adding it to my UFO list. Now I have picked out yarn to make a small Amigurumi giraffe as a gift for her for her upcoming birthday.

The day after my granddaughter left, I made a quick trip to see my sister and took along a pair of very nice socks that I had made from a Nancy Bush pattern. I used two skeins of KnitPicks Sock Garden in the Pansy colors. Although they seemed a little big when I finished them, I'm not too worried because I think they will shrink a little with washing. I forgot to take a picture of them but I'm hoping that I will get one later so that I can show them to you. I also gave her a gift of two skeins of the new "stretchy" sock yarn and we both started a pair of socks with that. Neither one of us like it very much. I am making the tube sock pattern that comes with the yarn and although it might be easy knitting, I still don't know how it is going to feel in a pair of shoes. It does stretch nicely, which for a tube sock is necessary, but so far, I really don't like the feel of it. I'll let you know if I change my mind when I've gotten them done and worn them.

Now I must put knitting, quilting and sewing aside and take up the electric sander and paint brush. My FC and I will be spending the next week or so sanding and painting the kitchen cabinets and having a new countertop and stove installed. In a house that is over 40 years old, I'd say that this job is long overdue.


This little picture was hanging in an antique shop not far from here. I'm hoping to one day make one of these to hang beside my bed. In all the years we have been married, my FC has never failed to kiss me goodnight but I just love this message and would love to have it hanging on my wall.

OKAY, this is a really bad picture!

Here is the 11 foot scarf I knitted for my son for Christmas. Yes, ELEVEN feet! But that wasn't the hardest part. As you can see, this is an illusion scarf and I designed it to show the official hurricane flag .. a black square within a red square. Since my son is a Hurricane's hockey fan, he just had to have one. I went to all of the sites that explained how the illusion patterns are supposed to work and I even got the only book I could find in the library about "shadow knitting" but until I sat down and tried it, I didn't know how confusing it was going to be. Needless to say, there is truth to "old dog, new trick". After several failed attempts I finally came up with the pattern. Then the knitting was just pure determination to make it as long as he wanted. So will I ever try to make my own illusion design again? Well .... I was kind of thinking how nice it would be to have a hat with golden retrievers in the ribbing. Yes! I think I will try to design that one for next winter.

And where there is knitting, there are cats. My littlest girl Annabelle is very comfortable at the end of the table. All my cats guarantee that any gift from me will contain much of their precious fur. They like to share. Sweet, right?

REALLY late gift.

I haven't had a chance to meet up with a friend of mine and I still have her Christmas present to deliver. I will be seeing her next weekend and I hope that we will have enough cold weather left for her to use these. The hat is a pattern that is called the Rhinebeck Hat and I wish I could remember what book I got it from. I had to change the weight of the yarn because I couldn't find any nice variegated yarn in a sport weight in my LYS. So I used a worsted weight and not without problems. But problems of my own making. I'm not a person that swatches small stuff. And I should have. Guessing the number of stitches to cast on and what size needle to use was just that. A guess. And I guessed wrong ... not once but twice. Eegads! you might say .. what is wrong with this girl. Well, to my defense, I really didn't care a whole lot. I had lots of the yarn and all my "wrong sizes" go to charity. So really, how can you go wrong (except for the time spent.) It also gave me lots of experience at knitting with a strand of yarn in each hand. Anyway, the hat you see is a third time around and two design changes. It was fun to make. (All three times.) The mitts are really a version of the "Gossip Gloves" and you can find the pattern for free if you google it. I just set in the fairisle pattern.

I do think though, that after this experience, I will make a New Year's resolution (a month late) to start swatching. It might save me lots of time.

What happened to January?

One minute it just got here and the next minute it is almost gone. For me, the weeks just flew by. Christmas and New Year's Day came and went in a blink. Now that all the Christmas decorations have been put away and the hoopla of the inauguration is over, I feel more relaxed and ready to make plans for 2009.

Last week we had a snow storm that was certainly mild compared to what the northern states got but for North Carolina is was a lot of snow. It was Jessie's first snow. We love snow a lot but we didn't know how Jessie would react to it. Well, she loves it even more than we do. She played in it for hours and didn't want to come in the house. Even before we defrosted our toes, she begged to go back outside again. This dog was made for snow! We spent the day having fun with Jessie and refilling the bird feeders every few hours. You can see a woodpecker on the suet feeder and a cardinal waiting his turn. The other feeders were filled with goldfinches, chickadees, sparrows and purple finches. It really was a nice snow but only stayed a couple of days.

Today we are getting together our snacks so we can sit and watch the Super Bowl tomorrow. I didn't follow most of the games this year so I have no idea how these two teams ended up in this big game. Since I am originally an Ohio girl, I guess I should cheer for the Steelers. But really, I'm okay with either team winning. I hope it is an exciting game and may the best team win!

Winter Beach

The beach in the winter is really very beautiful. You can really have it all to yourself. That is because it is COLD! We attended a wedding in Pine Knoll Shores and decided that we would enjoy a walk on the beach the next morning before going home. We took Jessie Rose with us to see how she would like the ocean. She didn't. I had my crocs on and the water was pretty cold but she didn't even want to get her feet wet at all. She ran from the waves as they ran up on the beach and after the first one hit her feet, I could barely get her close to the water again. The wind was icy cold that day and we didn't stay long. Just long enough to know that Jessie is going to have to spend a little more time at the lake before we take her to the beach again.

Giving Thanks

Yes, I have much to be thankful for.  Four of my most precious blessings are as follows:  Rowen, Jude, Zane and Quinn.  Be safe sweet ones, we will be together again soon.

Birthday gift all ready to go

I have just finished putting together a birthday gift for my BFF.  Since she is from Denmark, I decided to make five little Nisse (Christmas Elves).  She loves anything to do with Nisse.  I also made Pepita Brittle for the first time following the recipe exactly as very well written at smittenkitchen.com.  I had enough to fill a tin, give a small gift bag to a neighbor and have a leftover dish for my FC.  The scarf is knit with Plymouth Baby Alpaca.  It is as light as a feather and the pattern was easy.  It took just one skein.  Now all is ready to package up and get into the mail.  And it will be on time I might add.  Sigh.... a feeling of accomplishment.

Bad dog couch potato

Well ... dear sweet Jessie Rose has learned from the beginning that she is NOT to get onto the furniture.  She has been such a good girl about it ....... until yesterday when I was busy for quite a while in the kitchen.  Deciding that it was too quiet in the house, I started a search to count heads (4 cats and a dog) to see what everyone was up to.  Lo and behold!  Jessie was just as comfortable as she could be on the couch.  She could barely be bothered to open her eyes and see that I was angry.  I snapped this picture first and then (poor) Jessie was ushered to the floor where her own very nice LLBean bed was waiting for her.  Her big brown eyes asked the question, "well the CATS can sleep on the couch so why can't I"?