CORNERED?!

Progress is  happening at the loom 

and I have now passed the halfway mark for the threading.

 even if I am not yet having a lot of joy in the doing!

I did lose at the race with the yarn BUT I did have a back-up plan--I have two more Bonus Bundles of a different colorway but I did notice the dyes for the beiges in this skein was totally doable to finish  my corner!  This skein began with a lighter beige and then changed to this darker one so I wound the middle of the skein into a big ball so I could continue my corner to change to lighter at the very end.  And there will be plenty left to make another blanket even a bit bigger, if I chose!

 Lena loves to curl up on the other end of the blanket so I have to turn my corner back and forth as I knit so we each get our share!  She matches the new blanket perfectly!

I'm off now for my busy day-here's hoping all goes well.

FINDING EXCITEMENT

 I'm on the last corner of the blanket BUT who says that knitting isn't exciting?  I am playing a good game of yarn chicken 

and it will be very interesting to see how far this last bit goes!

 I am on the last two colors and it has been fun to see the colors change and encourage me to keep going!  

Today is a nice quiet day of laundry, a bit of loom dressing 

and I'm hoping to fit in some piecing--

I need to sew those blocks together on the latest QOV!  

OH, SO PRETTY!

My hibiscus are finally blooming again after the freezes of last winter which knocked the bush back to a stubby few sticks!  I am so glad they came back!

The second baby sweater is finished but buttonless right now.  I am heading to town on Tuesday to the dermatologist AND to pick up my sewing machine which has been fixed finally! (My Cadillac machine has been waiting for a part and is now repaired so I don't have to use my portable class machine that I have been using since June!)   While I am out and about, I will be getting buttons for it!  My friend, Mary, is going with me so we will make a day of it-doctor's, pick-up the sewing machine,  lunch, Michaels and then Hobby Lobby!  

And look how pretty my orchid is!  Bill did a good job of caring for it while I was in NY!  There are 11 flowers on this stalk!  It's stunning!

 

I AM HAVING FUN, REALLY!

I started this warp just before  I went into the hospital in 2024....not much has happened since .It takes a lot of patience and thought while sitting hunched over the loom trying to feed those threads ONE AT A TIME  into all of the appropriate slots and eyes.!  I do not enjoy doing all of this on the best of days but I do love to weave and there is only one way to get there!

I have all of the warp threads separated and spaced out and wound on the back beam.

I have the front ends under tension so they will not do their own thing--I am trying to stay in control of all 264 threads!  I have dressed the loom front to back and back to front and found they are both equally miserable so I do it this way just because it is the way I have the most light.

Here are 36 threads that have been fed through the appropriate eyes of the heddles so they will make the pattern I have chosen (1-2-3-4-1-2-3-2-1-4-3-2) for each of the 12 threads to the inch for this kitchen towel.  I took me almost an hour to do this much because, of course, I made a mistake but with this method, I only have to check, recheck and check again the twelve threads until I move on to the next twelve! At this rate, I only have 6 more hours of threading until I get to weave!!!!  It reminds me of the little boy who told me at a spinning demonstration, 

"Hey, lady. Walmart sells yarn, you know!"

I am determined to embrace the process!

 

SETTLING IN AGAIN

I rearranged the blocks on the design wall so they are now ready to assemble.  I did manage to stitch 5 rows on the patriotic quilt and hope to continue the push for both now.

On my down time, I am knitting sleeves!  I'm almost to the rib on this one and it looks like I am just going to have enough yarn to make the second sleeve but not enough for a hat!

HELLO TO MY HOME

I enjoyed some weeding and plant watering out front and then was forced inside because of the hot temperatures out there!!!  I made three more DNP blocks and looking at this pic, I only see one that is pointed the wrong way!  I was disappointed with the last two quilts I made because of shrinkage reducing the width to only 60" when I prefer the quilts to be quite a bit wider.  I added another vertical row and made the borders wider so that I will have a 65-66" quilt width this time after washing/drying, I hope!  None of these blocks are sewn together but I played with organizing them and now I can begin making it into a top!

We also had a very powerful T-Storm after dinner last night--not only a LOT of lightening and a bunch of thunder and wind but we also had rain!  Four inches of rain!  Wonderful rain!

 

I'M HOME AGAIN!

Mom and I finished  our rendition of the Beans the Cat pattern!  What fun!  These stand about 4" tall.

A last minute selfie--hard to part company but I'm missing Bill and home, too.  Emotions are running high.

My late evening flight was rather chaotic and loud and bright...I did get a lot of knitting done on the baby sweater!  Bill and I had a bit of difficulty finding each other at the airport because not only was I late but I came in a different gate/lobby than he remembered from last time but we met at the end! 

 It was very good to finally see him!

And .Lena was very glad to see me again--

 

DEPARTURE DAY

I'm all packed because the last day of my NY visit is here.  Bittersweet.

All the big projects are packed away so we are making a little one--this is called Beans the Cat which is a little stuffie.  I don't leave until late tonight so it will be interesting how I do 

and for Bill, too, who has to pick me up at an hour

 when we are usually sound asleep!  

 

SUNDAY

 A fancy Rose of Sharon bloom;  from my sister's front yard.

Knitting, visiting and savoring going on for my last days here.

Church online today.

STILL WARM INSIDE AND OUT

This one is Mom's Cozy Days Lapghan in all different bright colors.  Her blanket will reflect all of the colorful flowers in her yard

 and mine is the dirt! Ha!

There are lots of flowers to enjoy while we have outdoor chores--black-eyed Susans,

my Dad's roses, which smell delicious with their old time aromas!

And the moonflower is a long ago gift flower still going strong after many, well, moons! lol

Here is my Cozy Days--it is 38" wide and will be 50" long when I begin the decrease to square it off.  That's Dad's cane poking nearby--he said he thought it was pretty which was nice of him to say since his macular degeneration has robbed him 

of most of his sight but he could see the contrast 

of the blanket on the floor when it was right in front of him! 

 

JUST BEING

I do not see Queen Anne's Lace in FL so it is fun to spot them here!  Unfortunately, the ragweed is right in the same clump of weeds way out back--that Fall weed does not like me!  We also found a patch of blackberries but it is the tail-end of them and since it is also a drought status here, the few I found were small.  Still, it was fun to eat a few!

                                            

I thought I would mention that I am using a #10 needle to make the blanket pattern I shared yesterday, and not the #5 they recommend. I am starting to decrease on one side (the left bottom of the pic) to begin the rectangle shape!

 Mom is knitting using #9's.  I will share a pic of her's tomorrow!

DIFFERENT PACES

The blanket is coming along nicely--this is folded in half; 

the side on the bottom would be the width,

 so I have at least another 4-6 inches before I begin to square off the one side to make a rectangle.  

And I keep a ball of cotton yarn in my purse to whip up a dishcloth anytime I need to do some waiting!  I like to hand them out to friends and family.

Yardwork and weeding is still happening in between doing Dotz or looking through pictures or doing mending.  It is wonderful to be here with my parents....  

 

THE BEST LAID PLANS

Many years ago, Mom and I had plans to make a handkerchief quilt from the collection she has from her Mom and her Aunt. 

 We never made such a quilt 

but now I have received the box of hanky history!

So I will have to make some plans to get these from the realm of idea to reality!  So many of the lace edgings and embroidery is handmade from my Gram!  I have a book at home with plenty of inspiration which will help me make concrete plans.

 

TEAM WORK

 I have always loved yard work and when we had a few hours of breathable air, we did just that!   It didn't take long to trim and pick up and take the debris to the compost pile because even my Dad (93) and Mom (90) participated!  I thought I was going to get some cooler weather with fresh air and temps in the 60's 

but not this visit!  

I always joke, I don't come here for the weather, but to be with them!  And it's a good thing!

YARN LOVING!

The buttons have been sewn on the little sweater;  I used buttons from my Mom's and her Mom's button box so I added the love of the past generations into this.  This pattern has no buttonholes knitted in because you use buttons that will fit between the stitches-this way, you can make a sweater and not worry about which way to button it up;  I like that kind of freedom!

I have also cast on the feminine version of the sweater--I started it but will save the rest to make on the air plane home next week-I have to plan ahead!

The knit blanket is taking longer but progress is occurring--see the colors changing finally!!!  Right now the blanket is 22" wide so about the halfway mark.  It is very relaxing to work on it, I am glad to admit!

 

KNITTING A BUNDLE BLANKET

I don't usually knit a blanket but Mom and I are playing 

with a new Mandal Bonus Bundle cake (10.5 oz) 

and knitting a blanket in garter from corner to corner

 just to change things up! 

 It will be interesting to change this pattern for a square blanket

into a rectangle, too.

Watching church from FL here in NY this morning.  We finally enjoyed some rain last evening and a cooling of temperatures which was much appreciated!

 

SWEETNESS!

Finished---One cute 6 month sized sweater and hat 

for my to-be-determined future great-grandchild!  

The yarn is Babe from Knit Fever; I used a skein and just a bit of the second one which would be about 220 yards for this set and I probably have enough for a pair of little socks! 

 I have a cotton/acrylic skein to start the next sweater today!

 

SALVAGING

The pear tree in the back yard went down 

Sunday evening during a wind/rain storm!  

What makes this extra sad is that it would've been a bumper crop  come September!  The tree was loaded with fruit!

Unfortunately, the fruit is too immature to ripen even, if we picked it now to try and save some.  We will leave the tree down for a while for the deer and other critters to eat on !

But all is not lost, though! I already have a few choice spots on the trunk picked out so my brother can bring some chunks home for me on his next drive up and back! lol

 

A SPECIAL BABY SWEATER

I thought I would take a page from my Mother's book and knit a few baby sets for my first great-grandchild which isn't a reality but I hope it will happen in the next five years!  This yarn is from two skeins from my daughter so I thought it would be a fitting use for this yarn--to be used for her first someday grandchild!    Sharing the joy already...

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY----FULL CIRCLE!

My niece had given me several pieces of Birch from her yard when I was in NY back in April but since they were a bit too heavy and numerous to put in my suitcase for my flight home, my brother brought them to me after his visit to NY since he drives!  So anyway, I finally got the wood and put it right on the lathe to make something for my niece to say thank you for the wood!  

I made a vase that is emerging from the log;  I was able to save the bark and put on a finish to preserve it.  This vase stands about 11" tall.

The other side stands a bit off-center which is just what I tried to make happen and this time, I was successful!  I can't wait to give it to my niece!  She is a DIY kinda gal like me

 and loves all things wood, too.

It's fun to think the wood has traveled the whole east coast and it is now back to its 'birth' place!

It was so nice to spot a butterfly that I see 1100 miles south of here, too!  The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail spent many long minutes among the lovely smelling phlox!

These are the 8' tall Heliopsis my Dad planted so many years ago and the patch that I took my root from to plant in my yard!  

The rain storm over the weekend knocked down some of the outer stalks so I snapped of

 the ends to bring inside for a bouquet to enjoy!  

While it was nice to be able to walk outside and sit on the patio for a while, it was also nice to come back inside to A/C and crochet/knit in comfort!