Slow and Steady

I sat and worked on ripping out all the X blocks so I could add the brown row.  It was a job but I am so glad I knuckled under and did it! 

This top now needs borders and I have a plan all ready to put in place as soon as I go to the fabric store to secure my yardages! 

I cut out the borders for the tutti-frutti quilt.  It will go on the frame this week. 

I needed to replace curtains in one of the little rooms at church;  I had to dig to find enough yardage but found this homespun check which is more beige and green than it shows here-perfect! 

Crafty Gemini had this free download to make your own neck pillow.  Since I have a hard time holding my head up by the end of the day (or while traveling in a car!)  I thought it would be a great idea.  It was!  It is so comfortable and it doesn't dislodge every time I lean forward to grab an item from my purse or a dropped knitting needle!  I made one for Bill for in the car just because  I had enough fabric.  (These were from a pair of repurposed suedecloth pants-I hated the pants but loved the fabric....I knew they could be something useful someday!)

Comfort Knitting...

I am knitting away on the Meadow Silk Vest I am making for myself for THIS winter.

It is an easy knit, perfect for my present mental state!

I am battling another UTI;  which is really just the same one I have been battling since June of this year.  Is there such a thing as a chronic UTI?!  I am living proof.  

I am now beginning a 30 day course of antibiotics to hopefully eradicate this infection once and for all!   

I have been working on the blanket for my new-to-come grandson.  I am not going to have it done by the baby shower in a few weeks but it will be done by his birth in December!

I finished his brother's in the hospital the night he was born!

A good example of extreme knitting! 

I have also puttered a little in the studio.  I finally committed to adding the brown row to the rainbow scrap quilt and had to rip off the top row and then separate the blocks and THEN rip out the X blocks so I could incorporate the brown squares in there.  I had thought to end the quilt with this row so now I have to undo and re-do to change my mind;  hence all the hemming and hawing to weigh the work this mind change would entail!

(The X block on the left is done-the two on the right haven't been)

Hats Off to Cables

The Droste effect cabled hat from the latest Knitty.com

I used some Jacob hand spun yarn, worsted weight.

Needles were size 7.

I did not enjoy this knit-it was not intuitive for me at all and I repeatedly lost my place.

I saw it through to its completion and now on to something else.

It will be a warm and handsome hat for someone!

Studio Time

I won a pack of hand dyed fabrics from a fellow blogger's site.  This is the blog that has the RainbowScrapChallenge each year-I won't use this fabric in my rainbow quilt but I see a browns quilt in my near future. 

This month's work is the brown row.  I got right to work on the cutting and organizing.  A design wall sure helps! 

Then when this little center panel of tumbler blocks got in the way, I finished sewing them together! 

By then I was ready for a bit of down time-Stormie 'lives' in our bedroom so I enjoy play time with her.  Feathers, yarn balls and bottle caps litter the floor!  She likes to 'hide' in the corner.

She is so cute! 

After a good romp, she took a long nap with me! 

When I got back up, I made a batch of soap, peppermint smell fills the house!

Fibers Feel Good

There was a beautiful courtyard at the hospital that we spent a lovely hour exploring.

We didn't recognize this flower but it was so pretty.  Anyone recognize it?

I did finish the hat from the One Skein Wonders book.  It was simple but fun with the lace edging. 

This morning I decided to spend some quiet time spinning up this Wensleydale top for the joy of it. 

It is a lustrous long wool that was a good spin in every way.  Being in top form (combed) made it a bit slick at first but I caught on . 

I have 250 yards of this fingering weight yarn.  I do not have anything in particular that I will be doing with it.  I wanted to try it and now I have! 

The skein is much creamier colored than it looked in the roving but there is still luster to the fiber even after washing!  I would call this a good spin. 

Tonight as I enjoyed recliner time, I did something very out of character for me;  I knit on three different projects!  The more I think about it, the more I am learning;  pain makes you a stranger even to yourself!

Oh, Boy....

In between tests to find out what is wrong with Bill's foot  on Monday, we spent an hour on the beach.  The wind was strong, the waves magnificent and a very therapeutic place to sit. 

I was able to offer support and company in between times and when I sat in the waiting rooms I knitted. 

I tied off the few remaining stitches this morning and wove in my ends.

The hat is washed and blocked and waiting for its fit on the model head.

This is worsted weight yarn which I dyed in Indigo last year. 

And so I don't have empty needles, I worked on swatching my new yarn for a new vest project!

Do you swatch?  I do when I am using a yarn that is different than the one the pattern is written for or when I use a yarn for the first time and are unfamiliar with the results I will get working with it.

This vest meets all three criteria~

All my energy and excitement of the other day has dried up.

I feel like a raisin left on the vine too long..........

In a Bind Over the Weekend!

I woke up ready to take on the world Saturday morning!  I headed right to the studio before the energy flagged!  First on the list was to complete the You are My Sunshine quilt! 

I quilted it with a sunshine-y pantograph. 

And machine stitched a bumblebee binding in place!

It is a very happy quilt destined to go to the hospital pile.

Which will be delivered tomorrow when we spend the day at Flagler Hospital running tests on Bill's foot.  Deja vu on foot tests.  They are examining him for the return of the bone infection he received from his surgery two years ago! 

Mom gave the go-ahead when I finished quilting her pinwheel quilt to finish the binding, too. 

I machine stitch all my bindings now since I no longer have the coordination for hand sewing! 

But I have worked out a great system and the quilt has a nice finish to it!

No more 'going blind' from blurry vision or stumbling fingers! Yippee. 

I put a label on this one-I don't always do this, unfortunately.

I wanted to note the love that went into this quilt! 

As soon as I finish the binding and take the full photo, (thanks Bill!) I place it in the washer and dryer to give it the instant 'vintage ' look!  I love the way it feels and looks now.  All ready for Mom and Dad to come for the winter!

I put the little tumbler blocks up on the design wall.  I have 5 little charm packs so I split it into 2 equal piles so I would have two quilts. 

I sewed the top two rows together so I could see the size of the central panel once I lost all the 1/4"

seam allowances. 

As soon as I sew this one together and put on the borders, I have this one all ready to go! 

On the knitting needles, another hat with a lace trim border!  

Knitting is Good Therapy

 I love to be greeted by these guys every morning!  They peck (knock) on my studio sliding glass door to let me know they are ready to eat their corn!

I cast off this hat (Jazerant pattern) with dk yarn, #5 needles, very little yardage from the skein and lots of interesting cables that are very easy to do!  I will try it again with worsted weight yarn to see how much it changes! 

I used it  up the last of the FeelsGoodYarn to knit these two wristers and then I had enough to make another pair so I can wear them even when the other needs washing!

(The pattern is from Sivia Harding)

Baby Steps

I finished the basic watchman's cap of Paton's Classic Wool on #7 needles while I warm up for the day.  I am having a bit more up time but it is too little according to my desires!  lol 

I have a new smaller (4 1/2") tumbler block accuquilt die and it works great on the 5" charm packs!

You will be seeing more of this in the future! 

This Staghorn Fern is our latest acquisition!  It will be placed in a special planter and hung in the pool area as it will have to be babied this winter! 

And this stunner is a pond plant gifted to us from our gardening friend, Sandy.

I don't know what it is but it is large and beautiful! 

Our golden furry cat, Bling, finds a place around the house and stays there for 6-8 weeks and then moves to a new spot.  It's weird but we've come to understand it is normal for him.

We lost him a few weeks ago and had quite a hunt to find him but here he is! 

It is the very large Camphor tree just behind the garage.  He doesn't have front nails from his house cat days but he still manages to run up this tree to his 8' high perch.  He comes down and visits if he hears me on the front porch and also comes in to eat several times a day!

It's funny because we drive the golf cart to his tree, he jumps down onto the roof of the cart and then joins us on the front seat for a drive.  We return him to his perch on the return trip.

We love our cats! 

We know its Fall because the Cassie tree is in bloom!

(this is the Candlestick Cassia)

A Prone Life

Finished from bed today,  the Slouch Potato Hat ! 

I like it arranged like this best.

It is KnitPicks Capretta fingering weight yarn in Pesto.

I used number 4 and 6 needles.

It used most of the skein in the small adult size. 

I tried to cast on and knit a Brioche ribbed watch cap from Paton's Classic Wool 

and hated it every stitch of the way!  

I ripped it out and cast on again. 

This time in a K2, P2 rib sans Brioche and it moved right along.  

Just what the day needed!

I had to pay the Fiddler today.  When you go and go and you know that the little voice that says, "Slow down would be better!"  but you ignore it until you crash....yup, I'm there.

So today was spent in bed, reading, knitting and generally letting the world go by without joining in.

The best/worst part-I'm glad I didn't!