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?