Connected!

 We were more than 24 hours without internet or ph service-when we tried to connect, a message comes on the screen to contact your service provider! 

 Sure, do you read smoke signals?!

There is construction going on a few miles from here where they are making a new bridge-

we figured someone had to move the wires. 

 Inconvenient but not the end of the world, right?!

I tried to make a hat without the gathers at the top;  

I did it but it was not an enjoyable experience!

 It looks cute enough but I still put a pom pom on top 

and so it didn't make enough difference to 

go through the extra work!

 I made two new grey hats...pom poms to follow!

 I've also been sewing the quilt blocks together for the Starry Splendor quilt!

 And I started spinning my way through the colorful Merino batts.

 Bill and Ethan did a bit of mowing yesterday;

Ethan didn't want to stop! 

 Like most little boys, grandpa's machinery is a lot more interesting than the sandbox!

Bill has another surgery on his foot today;  I think this is the 8 or 9th.

He worked to finish up quite a few projects since he will be down for a bit.  

This is my long awaited flower bed outside the pool area!

He has seeded the bank outside the flower bed with grass seed 

and with the rain we are still getting, it should be filled in very soon!

I can't wait to fill this in!

Borders, Boys, Bees

 I managed to piece the top border so far-it is all easy stitching.

   I haven't pieced each of the blocks yet so I am doing this backwards-

doing the border first and working in!  

I am trusting my math for all the cut pieces!

 I whipped off two boy hats.  Do you pom-pom the boy ones, too? 

 I am going to look into a different type of decrease for the hat so it is not so gathered at the top. 

 I will have a learning curve which will slow me down

 but I want to give it a try to have a more streamlined style cap.

 The big Queen Palm bloom is drooping but it is still busy with bees.  

At first light and all the way until dark, you will see the bees gathering pollen.

This is what people who have this kind of tree complain about-

it drops all those little nodes on the ground. 

 If it fell on a sidewalk, I can see how it would be a pain

 but these fall on the bromeliads on the ground and they probably like it!

Got Your Back

The Malaga Tank has a back now!

The knitting is slow going but straight forward;

the gauge is fine so it takes forever to see any inches

accumulating under the needles!

I hope to have it done by this weekend!

The only good part about waking up an hour before your alarm....

Oh, Yeah!

 The birdbath is finally in its place of honor in the front garden!

Now for the birds to get used to it!

There has been so much rain this summer,

they are not in need of a 'puddle' to bath in but I am happy to see it out front!

And another hat is off the assembly line! 

 This yarn is now gone but another colorway of the Mary Maxim Prism

 is on the machine for newborn boy hats next. 

I just tweaked out the extra 17 'piano keys' I needed to complete the 

Starry Splendor quilt top.

Let the piecing proceed!

Here's to a good week.

Treasures and Pirates!

 Saturday morning I did some work on the Starry Splendor

...and found out that I did not cut enough

of the border rectangles, called piano keys.  

I will face the correction another day!

 I did successfully finish  another baby hat on the Superba knitting machine.  

I think it takes longer to seam it up than it does to knit it! 

 (Well, almost!)

 

 No, this is not a selfie...it is an oopsie!  But it does show the new I-cord edging on the cotton tank!

 I was trying to take a picture of the pirate ship! 

 It's hard to see in the bright sunshine while wearing sunglasses!

I have long wanted to take the Pirate ship tour so eagerly accepted Matthew's

invitation when he made plans for the adventure. 

The boys were a bit overwhelmed but totally enthralled with the whole event!

Here they have just accepted their portion of the treasure chest.

We enjoyed cannon fire, pistol and sword fighting and even a stolen treasure!  

Since we have been on a Peter Pan roll, it was all very exciting to watch!

St Augustine was a busy place to visit but it was a great memory maker!

So Much To Learn!

I am nearing the end of the Scallops lap blanket.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the knitting.

My Mom finished hers-looks great doesn't it?! 

 She did every scallop of each row the same color.

This is for her twelfth great-grandchild due this December!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f45K9c2BqHw 

Which is what I found done on the MACHINE on YouTube!!!  

Not exactly what I have been doing but it works more of an entrelac blanket in just two colors.

It is genius!

And I am going to give it a try!

Sweet Attractions!

 This is a busy spot in my front yard!

It is the blossom of a Queen palm!

 It is covered with honeybees!  Not something we take for granted in our region.

 The 'blossom' is 24" long so is quite a stunning display!

 Today is picture day at school;   Will woke up with a cold-Ethan did share his afterall!

I made another hat-I have enough yarn to make two more I think!

 And I not only finished the Lily dishcloth, I started the second one to use up that skein of yarn.

Not practical but it is pretty!

 And something I have wanted to correct for some time now-I didn't like the rib I put on the cotton sweater so I ripped it out -both armholes and the neckline.

 And then I  knit the I-cord edging instead!  I don't know why I didn't do this in the first place!

Small Projects Delight

One little newborn hat whipped off on the standard knitting machine-

I was quite amazed that I didn't make a single mistake this time!

I can finally make a pile of the newborn hats without stress! 

And while waiting for school to be out,

I worked on this pretty little dishcloth. 

I am sure that whoever receives it won't use it;

it is so pretty, it will make a good table top decoration!

I did have to rip out the beginning twice,

I had a struggle with the row with the 'holes' but I finally figured out what they wanted!

I will do the crochet bind off during today's wait!

Nurses Cap

Not much going on with a feverish two year old curled up on the couch next to me.

Tissues, Vicks and lollipops

and Little Bear are the tools of my day.

I did play with this for half an hour;  one a success but not the first!  

The problem was because I can't remember a simple four row repeat!

I wrote it down for the second one!

Knitter, know yourself!

I am done with the Scrubby yarn-

I look forward to trying this with some nice smooth wool!

About Time to Clean it Up!

 Mondays are again an abrupt shock to our systems.

They were a nice way to start the week for a few years but now that a school year has begun, 

I remember how they do not fit with the rhythm of a human body in any way!

Last week I said I was going to finish the birdbath once and for all! 

What a good way to make something good come out of the day.

 I am ashamed at how long I have let this take up the  front porch! 

 But I worked the grout in and around and sponged it throughout the afternoon!

  Now to let it dry, seal it and touch up some paint and get it out front in the garden!!!!

 I have just three more little stars to make for the border!

I could've started piecing the center of the quilt but this required less thought!

Today, I went with the easier route!

I used up two little balls of the Scrubby yarn to try and reduce the size of the dishcloth on the knitting machine-this one is 9" x 9" which is much better than the 11" one but I still like them 8" square!

  A little more tweaking and I will have it! 

 Today, I hope to find an hour to try a new kind of stitch 

which will result in color work on the front! 

 It seems like an ambitious idea for this kind of yarn but it is only a 4 row repeat

 and not really that difficult!

  I am hoping for success right out of the gate!!!

What did we do without YouTube?!?!

Scrub a Dub Dub

I played for an hour this afternoon, using up the partial skein of Cotton Scrubby.

It is a stocking knit dishcloth with a bit of single crochet around the edge to stop the curl.

It worked fine on the knitting machine but it is too large-I like 7-8" for a dishcloth.

I already have another one on the machine!

I am going to make a dent in all the skein scraps around here!

Here's to a new week!

A Harvest is In!

 I now have a collection of pumpkings!  Tfhe skein of  Red Heart yarn yielded three-nice!

 I even branched out on the machine and tried a different kind of shaping

 for the bottom of one of the pumpkins-just because.

 And the last little bit of the yarn was used to make a little baby's pumpkin topper!

I also used up the last of the Caron yarn for a rolled brim hat and an extra pom-pom.

All the yarn I bought is used up and now for some more yarn

 for some ribbed brim hats to continue to add to the donation pile!

 The day was also spent with somo piecing going on!

All of the components are made but now I have to move them around to see which goes where.

This is where I love to use the camera to really SEE how it looks.  

Then I will do some more piecing to sew this unit together!

And the fun isn't over-I still have the borders to do! 

 I'm glad;  this has been a very interesting and enjoyable project!

And She Hand Knits 2

I cast on the Malaga Tank and enjoyed knitting an inch before falling asleep a few nights ago.

And

the next night when I was ready to knit another inch...

I was having trouble smoothing out the 2" under the needle.

And

then I realized I had made a very rookie mistake

of twisting my join for the tank and I had to rip it all out.

And

then I knit the same inch over and tried to catch up the second inch!

So

I have had a half an hour each afternoon this week to knit

while I sit in the car in line waiting for school to get out

to pick up BoyWonder.
S0

I have 10" now under the needle and am ready to start to increase the shaping

stitches back to the full amount again.

So

I wasn't happy with my SSK stitches in the very smooth yarn

and now that I have worked my last decreases,

I have found 

(probably the right way to do it and I have done it wrong all these years)

but it looks good and I feel good about that.

NO

I am not going to rip back to correct the other decreases!
BUT

I keep thinking how much quicker this would knit on the machine

but I am enjoying just knitting round and round

since this first week of school has used up a lot of brain cells.

And

this is a good knit project for me for now!

It Takes Time

My bottle brush tree languished for a few years.  

It didn't like where we planted it after it outgrew its pot in the pool area.

Half of the branches had to be trimmed off and it didn't look good-

we wondered  if we should even try to replant.

Last year we moved it to the hedge just to the south end of our porch;

it has been sheltered from the frosts of our winter 

and hidden from the intense afternoon sun

as it grows and recovers under the podocarpus  trees.

The amazing amount of rainfall we have had in the last year

 certainly played a big part in the tree regaining its bloom.

The butterflies pay homage to this magnificent blossom;

I will try to photo one when landed on this 6" beauty!

I hope we all find our perfect spot where we will bloom to our fullest!

And the Knit Goes On.......

 Two more hats-these are children's sizes with a shorter crown

 so you don't have to turn up the hem  on these!

 And then I cast on another kind of project;  a pumpkin!

 It was supposed to be this side out but the ribs I worked so hard to make 

didn't show up on the tight fabric!

 So I turned it inside out and now it has ribs!

 I knit a stem on the Embellish-Knit ;  how fitting for use on a completely machine knit pumpkin!

And here we have the completed pumpkin-the first of a family of gourds!