MOSTLY UPS

I gathered all of the hats 

(they were part of the fallout in the shelf disaster) 

and separated the newborn from the adult ones to ready them for donation.  When I counted the adult hats, there were only 29 so I had to knit another one for an round number! lol  

I also ordered another paint-by-number kit but this one came as a canvas without the frame.  I stapled it onto one of my already framed canvases so that I could more easily paint it!  

It is a bit saggy but the good news is that I can tighten it after painting using those wedges that no one knows what to do with when they buy a ready-to-paint canvas!

I did the quilting first thing yesterday morning and thinking it only needed a row and a half, I would be done in no time at all!  

Unfortunately, at the END of the row I discovered this!  Ten minutes to work across the row and 45 minutes to rip it all out! 

 I did find the problem with the bobbin , of course, and finished the quilt and have it off the frame and when Mary is working on her quilt today, I will bind this one!!!  

 

A GOOD DAY!

I sleyed the rest of the reed and got to the best part of all of the work---weaving!!!  Doesn't this color combo work nicely together!?!

I did a bit of piecing on the top on the left and then decided they will both get attention today!  I also need to load another quilt onto the frame and get to work!

Bill and I went to lunch at Corky Bell's but it was storming out so we sat indoors but could still see the river!  It was so nice to stop and enjoy the feast together!

And yes, I am still cranking out hats!  I have a few skeins left to make before the box is full for the donation trip!

 

A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

I finished the mug rugs;  6 of them in fact!  They are 5 x 5".  I am not a coffee or tea drinker but I do like hot chocolate~

I made another kid's hat with the yarn I bought during last week's shop Hop when we made a side trip to JoAnn Fabric's.

I needed a raddle for the WAL I have joined starting April 1st. 

 This helps keep all of the warp threads lined up so I can thread them in the heddles and reed before I can begin weaving!  It is a good thing I have a bin of wood scraps so that I could make it myself--not bad for an hour's work of cutting, sanding, staining, drilling and nailing to save $70!

I am drawing to a close on the quilt on the frame--another 1/2 hour and I will be done!  I just didn't have anymore standing time left in me yesterday! lol

And today is another Shop Hop excursion!  We are not travelling so far afield today but still have 4-5 stops to keep us busy!

 

HATS OFF TO YOU!

I was able to knit two hats from the new yarn;  it worked beautifully in the Addi knitting machine! The third hat (on the right) has different grey yarn for the inside to finish it.  Not bad to get almost three hats from the skein.

The color ways at JoAnns' were all limited to grey/grey or grey/blue and grey/red.  I will definitely try another skein of this for more donation hats.

This is what it looks like right off the knitting machine!  

100 rounds for a beanie to fit most!

 

JUST GIVE ME A HOME DAY!

I've been experimenting with my different knitting machines making ear warmers--I made one on the larger Addi that turned out 7" wide. (I gave it to a friend already!)  This one is on the 40 needle Sentro and it is 5" wide.  I was also trying out a new yarn which is JoAnns' brand called Big Twist.  It works great on the machines, I'm glad to say.

My friend is a Georgia Bulldogs fan, hence the red and black combinations.  This one is for her son;  it is only 3" wide.    It's good to have a reference for future projects!

Yes, the quilt will look better with the borders.  Now that they are cut to size, I will be sewing them on today.  I enjoyed flitting from project to project today!

I did finish Clue #1 on Stars like Spaghetti quilt-a-long. 

 The new clue comes out today so I am ready!

I almost finished quilting the rainbow batiks but I ran out of thread and was ready to get off my feet!  Another job for today.

And I put the last stitches on the shawl that is like wearing a narrow afghan!  It is so warm and soft.  I am going to block it to open up the stitches a bit.

There are many ways to wear it and it will double as a lap blanket as needed.  This was made with an I hook and DK weight yarn, Mandala cakes (2 1/2) in Echo Caves.  It won't be worn again for a week because we are in for some very mild weather!  I took a nap out on the patio lounge today;  it was wonderful to just sit and enjoy the sound of birds and the breeze in the trees!

 

PLEASURE IN FINISHES

The skein of Merino/silk DK yarn is spun;  there are 200 yards which will be knit into another Dropped Stitch Scarf.

I made an adult double-layered hat on the Addi and it even has a label and pom!  (The pom is removable with a button on the inside to ease in washing care)

The only finish in the studio was the table runner! 

( Everything else went sideways-I left. )

But the runner adds warmth to the dining room

 and that makes me happy!

 

MORE HAT EXPERIMENTS

I worked on these hats while we were out and about yesterday.

I am trying to adjust the tension to make hats that are bigger to also fit men.  I have the right numbers on the red hat for the length and width but I do not like the *stripe!  I will have to work on the numbers to make the stripe narrower and closer to the brim!  There's always math when it comes to designing! 

 The cream hat is for a woman; 

 I have added a faux cable to echo the classic cabled beanie.

  It works for me! 

 I need to get my faux leather labels out

 and start adding them to the hats again for the finishing touch! 

I will be home today so I am going to be gathering quilt projects and UFO's to complete in the studio !

(*Yes, I will be ripping back the red hat so that it is arranged the way I think it should be!)

 

YARN PLAY

I am enjoying the hat experiments;  this one has a single layer rib for the brim.  I increased a stitch in each of the stitches from the knitting machine (46 stitches) so the brim has 92 stitches. 

 I made several hats today.  

I also wanted to try the 'drop stitch' scarf on the knitting machine.  You knit 100 rows and when you remove the stitches from the machine, you only pick up every other loop from the needles.  Then you gather the rest and secure as usual.  Then you begin to pull the tube to make the unsecured stitches 'run'. 

This lengthened the tube from 24 to 50" long!

   

I did a light steam blocking and it is a soft and airy scarf

but still warm around my neck! 

 (I used some hand spun wool/silk blend yarn from the stash)

 

MORE YARN WORKS

Hat haul, relaxation in every stitch!

I decided to separate each color repeat to satisfy my curiosity.  Another 15 blocks will be made in this skein.

  Now they are more portable and I don't have to worry about remembering a pair of scissors!

 

A CALM DAY

I had an idea when making some new hats on the knitting machine;  we don't need double layered hats here, (though we do need hats on occasion) so I just added some ribbing by hand after cranking 36-40 rounds which takes only minutes. 

 It worked beautifully and in no time, I had several hats made!

I had a very relaxing morning and afternoon and then it was time to head to friends for Christmas dinner.  

Yes, it is a new circular knitting machine. 

 I tend to make so many, I use up the cheaper ones!

  The bright yellow at the top of this hat is waste yarn which is  what I use to end the main yarn portion so the stitches are distinct for picking up onto my hand knitting stitches.

  It was a very pleasant day.

I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the calm of the day!

  The yard was filled with a flock of 20 turkeys! 

 They were in the field out back where Bill has cracked corn for the Sand Hill Cranes and he also provides the deer with corn here--the turkeys have discovered them both!

Oh, and they even made fast work of the cracked corn under the bird feeder!  We enjoyed their clucking and chipping in spite of their voracious appetites!  It's been quite a while since we saw this many turkeys here!

 

A PUMPKIN HAT!

I have a friend whose baby is due today-

I thought a pumpkin hat would be welcomed!

I made it on the Sentro knitting machine with DK weight yarn.

 I also cast on for a top-down round yoke sweater. 

 So far, so good!

ROCK TUMBLING TUESDAY

These are shaping up nicely!  Pretty exciting to wash them off and see what changes have taken place since last week!  It is hard not to peek too soon, either!

After washes off the dirt and grit from the last week's tubling, I add the next weeks' grit and mark each barrel.  The one on the left is getting polish--the last weekk for this one!  The one on the right is getting week 3 grit-it has two more weeks to tumble.

Both get loaded back on and will tumble until next week's bathing ritual again.  I have been taking a course on minerals on YouTube and am really getting a handle on this finally!  It is very interesting!!!

Oh, yeah, and just to prove I still work with yarn, too, here is a hat for my son-in-law who loves both the Buffalo Bills....

and SU (Syracuse, NY)!!!

 

HARVESTING

I didn't pick these gourds, but I did make them! 

 I made these on the knitting machine using dropped stitches to make the chain cables.  The smaller one is about 4 1/2" and from the 40 needle machine and the larger one from the 48 Sentro is 6" tall. 

 I want to make a bunch more in grey now!

Aren't these guys sweet? 

 The are 2 1/2" tall--little octupi, in case you wondered!

The loufa is ready for picking, skinning and using! 

 I didn't have to wade into the wet area to pick it 

but I did step in an ant's nest and did a bit of a frantic

 jig to get rid of the millions (well, maybe 100) ants!

  Gratefully, I had sneakers on 

and wasn't in flip flops for a change!!!!

Bill did have to wade out a bit to pick this bunch of bananas! 

It is a very large bunch 

which he will take to church today to share with others!