Fall Sock Progress

 The sock flew along with  much more pleasure when I used plain knitting.

 I tried the gusset heel-no wrap and turns either for the heel. 

 I liked the results and the fit but will have to tweak the heel placement line on my cardboard form!

I did have to rip out and try again once.  This yarn is a bit heavier than the pattern I was trying so the row gauge was off and the first try made the sock too long.  

(It might've gone to my daughter! lol) 

 I hope to nail it with no repeats on the second one.

  I am working on the k2p2 rib for the leg now-I'm not sure how high I will make it yet.

 On the way to the beach with friends today, 

we passed the newly cut hay field and they had it all baled! 

 It looked very Fall even if the temperatures didn't reflect that at all!

We went to Corky Bell's on the St Johns River.

It was a wonderful time to catch up.

 We had a great meal at our fav restaurant and they headed to St Augustine Pier.

The tide was just going out so there were tons of shells to sort through

 and we walked up and down the beach. 

 So nice to share a day!

 When I got back home, a nice KnitPicks pkg was waiting for me!  

 This is a treat for me-one of their wooden bowls for knitters! 

 It is superb!  Don't hesitate to treat yourself to one!

I haven't shown this in a while;  I finished the top row last night. 

 It is so relaxing to knit on it one block at a time....

Fall Sock Scenery

 I was working along on the newest sock for the I 💗 FALL KAL 

when I realized, I wasn't enjoying it. 

 I wanted to whiz around and around with stockinette stitch 

and just watch the autumnal colors grow under my needles!

 I ripped back the lace and took the sock with me back to the doctor's (again) and managed to knit quite a few inches!

 "Oh, my!  How do you manage to keep your bp so low?" 

 Knit, darling, knit!

I might be knitting some beautiful *Fall socks but it still looks like summer outside;  this field on the way home was all cut for hay-they will still get one more cutting if the weather stays cooperative!

*The sock yarn will look familiar to Nancy of Wyoming Breezes because

I ordered some after seeing the yarn on her blog.

It is Berrocco Sock yarn;  

since I liked their DK, I wanted to give the sock weight yarn a try, too!

Quilting Frame FO

 Millie's cancer awareness quilt is off the frame! 

As always, it went very quickly once I decided on the stitching repertoire!

 She sewed the strips into a catchy design made from 

a jelly roll in cancer ribbons.

 Here's a look at the stitching patterns I decided upon!

And as soon as I pulled her quilt off, 

I loaded on the Sawtooth Star block quilt!

Winding Ways Wonder

 I finally got around to cutting out a pile of pieces from the Accuquilt Die, Winding Ways. 

Can you get lost in the designing of this quilt or what?!

I laid out a bunch of the black pieces 

and then filled in with the colors to make as complete

 or incomplete circles as  I wanted!

 Some of the blocks will be many colors....

 ...you can see how it will be easy to get lost!  

The blocks will have to go from the design wall right to the machine 

and right back to the design wall!

 Some of the blocks are simpler and

Some are the simplest with only two colors!

I pieced one to see how to do it!  

The curves are pretty gentle so there wasn't a lot of pinning required!

  I think this will keep me (and the design wall!) busy for a long time!  

Paw Socks and Pow Flowers

 The I Love Fall knitting interrupted the progress on these socks for my oldest grandchild!  I got to work and concentrated on getting them done after I had to rip them out the other day!

 I love the little paw prints for his kitty love!

 After being excited about my ONE bloom on the Cereus....it was pointed out that there were several more-10 altogether in the front yard!!!!!

I went out late again to see these 5 in their full aromatic glory!  My, oh, my!

Quilting Re-visited

 This project has been languishing for quite a few months but I gave in and bought different fabrics than the line I thought I could make the whole thing from.  I sewed most of the blue row 

 and then cut out all the rest of the yellow ones I have to piece-there are eight blocks in these piles!  I also went through what fabric I do have from the Robert Kauffman line so the next time I go to JoAnn's I will know what I need!  I am using 4 values of each of the colors from darkest to lightest.  It feels good to have a working plan again!

(See the 'block' under the yellow block?  It is Will's block he designed!  I love that he likes to work with me in the studio!)

The Perfume of Fairies!

 Night blooming Cereus is worth staying up way too late to sit and admire and 

breathe in the amazing savor of this bloom! 

 I am losing my sense of smell but am so grateful this still can cause an aromatic thrill!

 Look at this center!

 The bloom looks delicate but it is a very large and substantial flower!  

The center is 2" across!

The common name for this flower is Dutchman's Pipe because of the stem supporting the bloom-

This is what it looked like this morning--see the 'pipe'?

I knew tonight was THE night because of the exploding bloom.

This was the bloom last weekend so you can see how it has, well, blossomed in just a week!

Friday Felines- Our Lena Love

 Lena has been very interested in the cat doors we have.  

This one leads to the pool patio.  

 She recently got her paw stuck trying to push the door open.

When she withdrew her paw, it got stuck in the swinging door 

and she screamed to crazily, I wasn't sure what I was hearing! 

 This happened a few days ago.

Here she is looking out the door......she didn't know I was snooping;

 ...after staring at the door for a minute, 

she picked up her mousie and played instead.

Yes, it is much safer to love a mousie than to experience a pinched paw!

For those of you who have read the blog for some time, this is the cat Bill found hiding in our garage just before my birthday, last December.

She had broken her hind leg from an animal attack and survived.

After months of vet visits and bills, 

she is a most loving member of our family!

(The leg was not amputated but instead was set so it is permanently straight.

She runs and jumps with abandon so we feel we made the right choice!)

Trip Ups!

 When we went to the beach on Tuesday, I realized when we arrived home that I had left one of my flip flops on the pavement next to my car door-you know, sit down, wipe the foot, swing it in, repeat with other foot, shut the door and drive away!  I could cry-I live in these things!!!!  Needless to say, a new pair are on their way but still!  I was so mad at myself!

 Last night as I was knitting on the second sock and measured it to the first one to see how far to the heel-I knew I was close-I noted that the second sock seemed narrower.....I stretched and then I counted.   Yes, 4 stitches narrower which adds up to 1/2" narrower.  One stitch I would fudge but not 4.  I hurried and ripped out before I could fall apart!  (I am now almost back to this point thanks to a nice wait at the doctor's this afternoon but at least they were fitting me in so I shouldn't complain! )

And I could see I was running short of yarn on the messy bun hat so I thought I was close enough and did the ribbing to be done.   Well, there is a difference between quitting and finishing.   It was not finished.  I had to send for another skein.  It's a good thing I am not a novice knitter or I might just go fishing instead!

A Birthday Outing!

 

 Yesterday we celebrated Matthew's birthday with a family outing to the beach!

I knitted along on the messy bun hat 

and am nearing the end of this hat-another 2" is all!

 The waves were quite impressive for our shores-the rip tide warnings were still in effect so no one headed in to enjoy them from our group 

though there were plenty who disregarded the warnings-

I figure that it is the weeding out of stupid from our population....

There were plenty of bird life activity and we were very happy to watch them.

Will goes into his beach mode 

and tossed his ball and chased it for hours! 

 Ethan was not interested in the water at all at any cost!!! 

  He like hanging out with Grandpa 

and stealing sips of Grandma's lemon water!

 The beach was littered with shell detritus but I didn't find any shark's teeth!

 We did find some Coquina rocks and that is always a treasure!

This guy didn't fare so well with the waves so large.

 I enjoyed sitting and watching the waves come . 

 Very restive. 

Every once in a while a bit of foam would whip up

 and the texture is so interesting! 

 The whole day was perfection!

We came back home to cheesecake and a game of cards.

Sunkissed, rested and sated.