HOME ONCE AGAIN

I made all of these hexagons on the grueling drive home yesterday!  (2 skeins of HomeSpun yarn)I will add them to the 7 I had previously made and today I will be digging into my stash to find a few skeins I have squirreled away, too!

The colors were just beginning in NE Georgia but it won't be long and they will be enjoying even more.  We did enjoy the cool mornings and the drop in humidity while there!  I had a very pleasant surprise when we got home, to have our own humidity finally out of the suffocating range!

I wanted to show you the afghan my daughter is making--she only needs two more squares (top right-ish).  The blocks are 5" square so this is a good sized blanket--and very soft because it is made with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn brand. 

She now has the joy of seaming it all together!!!! 

 Well, the joy comes when it is all done! lol 

 

MORE CATS AND HATS

Ollie, the orange cat, is only 2 and very curious unlike Felix, 

the 13 year old Manx.  He is much harder to for us to enjoy because he hides when 'strangers' are in the house but he always get brave on the last day of our visit 

and it was that way this time, too.

We did finally get the cats out of the way to photograph

 our haul of hats all lined up!  We had a blast all week with the knitting machine and cranked out many hats

 and tamed the old yarn bin as a bonus!

We are heading home today....enough said about that.

 

OFF TO UNIVERSITY

I went to my oldest grand daughter's university yesterday; 

 she commutes so  my daughter and I went along so I could see where she attends. The architecture was beautiful!

The structure that looks like a ladder has a large bell in each of the 'rungs' that plays on the hour.

The campus is sprawling so there is space to walk, 

to relax and contemplate!

I crocheted a skein of Homespun yarn from LionBrand--one of the skeins we discovered in the big bin binge-we wanted to know if it was feasible to work with and I think it will make a pretty mosaic hexagon blanket!

PUMPKINS AND DOE

I crocheted two Plushie yarn pumpkins;  

one for my daughter and one for me. 

 I like having a connection!

I managed to catch a shot of the skittish doe 

and her two older fawns.  

 

SIGNS OF AUTUMN

Another pair of Barcelona Memories II socks are finished--the colors are very Autumnal!  I used Luca-s Woolen Walk yarn.

In case you are looking for an 'electric' ball winder--here's the one we've been using.  (it is rechargeable with a USB cord so I am not limited by where to plug it in!)

I saw three doe this morning but didn't get a picture but I did get this shot of the young buck who is very interested in following them!  

 

TANGLED THREADS!

So daughter decided to empty some old yarn bins 

for us to detangle and sort for usability.

We matched up colors and got to work.

We put her electric ball winder to work--what a power horse!!!

We caked up all of the yarn;

 separating some to the hat-to-be pile, 

 some to the scrap afghan pile and some to the trash!

Someone looked so sweet one minute and then the next he was attacking the yarn and causing problems!

We made 7 new hats and tamed that dreadful pile into a little bin of perfectly ready yarn!  What a good job done!

 

A PUMPKIN PATCH

Our patch begins with the first pumpkin!  

Knit on the Caydo knitting machine with a crocheted stem; 

it is filled with polyfil and a small bag of beans to give it good weight so it will stay put!  More to come!

We are off to church together this morning, it is always wonderful to see daughter's church family.

 

CAT AND A HAT

Ollie was very curious about the hat making, the yarn (which is a no-no because he eats it like spaghetti) and the new machine!

In between hat making, he gave it all a good inspection!

Isn't he a beauty?  

We got 4 hats made-

tomorrow will be some male appropriate hat colors.

And then we enjoyed an incredible gourmet meal

 called Salad Nicoise for dinner!!  I tried to be a good  sous chef but you know the kitchen isn't my forte'

 but it sure is my daughter's superpower!

It was an incredible eating experience!  

(She substituted the tuna with grilled flank steak!)

 

A TIMELY GIFT

Autumn has arrived in northern Georgia; the nights are cool, the leaves are changing colors and the new mugs are just in time for hot chocolate in the evenings!

(I made the mugs with my Cricut Maker and mug press

for Abigail and Marsel!) 

Lena scans the backyard before we settle in for the night!

ARRIVED

Through beautiful country , 

beautiful fields,

 and concrete jungles,

we pushed on!  

And all three of us are very grateful for a bed to lay down on

 and peace and quiet reigns!

ANTICIPATION

I am using the planter from my daughter and planted strawberries!  There are three different kinds of strawberry plants; Ruby June, Chandler and Camarosa.  

It is placed out front where the sprinkler will water it every day! 

Lena isn't impressed with waking up early 

and heading somewhere in the car! lol  

JUST A 'WHAT IF' MOMENT

 I made the hat  on the left in the 'normal' way on the circular knitting machine and the one on the right I knit the inner layer and then took it off the machine, picked up the stitches and made the top side with slipped stitches to make it look a bit more intricate!  This can be done on the machine--that will happen next!  But first, I am all packed up to drive to my daughter's to stay for a week or so!  We will experiment with yarn while I am there!

SOCKS ON SUNDAY

The second pair of Barcelona Memories 2 socks are completed! 

 I didn't have to rip out and reknit any parts of this pair so it is becoming more familiar!  

These are made with KnitPicks Stroll solid navy yarn on size 1 needles; this is a toe-up pattern

 with a very different gusset and heel construction!

I am knitting another pair in very different yarn and slightly larger needles, which is more comfortable to knit with, 

and we will see how that goes!

 

CRACKLED VARIATION

I was gifted this kit to make a table runner and so I jumped right in!  I did take some creative license and made it my own design.

I have it loaded on my frame already and it will get quilted today!  Thanks, Deb!

 

FRIDAY

All the blocks are completed for this variation of Winding Ways and I will be adding two narrow borders after I get these sewn into a top.  I enjoyed this scrappy quilt!

 

Four more hats are added to the pile; several bins of yarn are being used up instead of taking up space!

Hurricane Isaias has pushed a rain system ahead of itself right toward us yielding about 8" of rain so far;

 a much needed rainfall without the damaging winds

that the hurricane itself can inflict!

PIVOT OVERLOAD!

I did manage to applique all of the blocks yesterday--

I use a small (2.0mm) zig zag with invisible thread

 to secure all of the raw edges. 

It takes a  L O N G  time to stitch all of the edges and a lot of pivoting to accomplish this!  I am very grateful for the needle down position setting and the auto-foot to raise feature each time,

 so there isn't a ton of manual lifting of the presser foot

 for every pivot required!!!!

The 'wrought iron gate' and the 'vine' were stitched with a satin stitch.  The large plant on the right is a bonus block and I don't know where it is to be placed so it is on hold!  

Since this is a sew-along, I have completed section 1 and will wait for the next blocks to be released!

 

HAT ENHANCEMENT!!!

I bought a newly released knitting machine that is electric--it cranks on its own and even makes however number of rows I program and stops when that number is reached--incredible!  The machine also is not as fussy about what yarns are used which is nice to reduce the stash of older yarns, too!

In no time, and I do mean minutes, 

I had a double layered adult beanie!

When it is first off the machine, it is a bit wonky looking ....

but a good stretch lengthwise and widthwise lines up those stitches beautifully!

For the next hat, I added some additional rows

 to have a fully reversible had with a fold-up brim.

I like the reversible beanie style for the donation hats I make for the homeless shelters here in Florida because the normal winter only produces chilly not freezing temperatures 

so this style is warm enough.

I like mixing a variegated with a solid yarn for hats.

But solid with stripes on one side is fun, too.

 I need to concentrate on some guy hats since out county has more  homeless men than women in the shelters. 

There is also a need hats for our local boys' home

 so I will start a production line 

to be sure there will be plenty to hand in by Thanksgiving!