WORLD TRAVELED CARDIGAN

A beautiful finish on this cardigan!  I began it in February after a mountain of yarn was gifted to me by ChrisKnits (who lives in Indiana) at a quick meeting in Daytona Beach for the AQS quilt show.  I began the cardigan on the Caribbean Cruise with my daughter, took it with me to NY to continue knitting on it, and now it is done and it fits perfectly!  I am thrilled!  

The pattern is Flower Child by Wool & Pine ; the yarn is Filatura Crosa 501, a superwash wool.  I used size 7 needles .  The textured yoke was very fun to work but it was challenging, too.

Even the back is so pretty!  I will probably wear it first when we take a trip to Georgia because it won't cool off enough to wear it here until Dec/Jan!  

Thanks for the yarn, Chris-it was a dream to work with this yarn AND I have enough yarn left to make a t-shirt sweater which I have already begun!

 

A GENEROUS GIFT

When I met a blog friend, Chris, at the AQS yesterday, she handed me this large paper bag!  She had emailed me that if I wanted some yarn, she would bring it to our meeting.  Throughout the years, she has mailed me leftover sock yarn balls to add to my  mitered sock yarn blanket.  

Well, she didn't mention how many balls of yarn she was bringing!

 I think I counted 17!  I had my walker for the all of the walking I needed to do at the show, so  I filled up the space under the seat with the yarn haul!

I thought I was going  to use the Elmgrove pattern from Berroco but it was written for worsted weight yarn not DK like I thought!  So, I had to go searching but I found another pattern that was similar --I do like top down construction.

I found this pattern on Ravelry and soon knit my swatch.  I upped the needle size to get gauge and I really liked the drape of the knitting better, too.  

Lena and I couldn't wait to cast on for the new sweater--all of the markers are to help keep the pattern repeats distinct for working the lace on the yoke!  Thanks a ton, Chris!

 

A Gardening First!

I've been watching these red 'berries' on the ends of these three Christmas Cactus lobes.

Today, I looked up what they were--gotta love Google!

And indeed, they are berries--seeds from pollinated blooms! 

I don't know if it was the hummingbirds or the bees that pollinated the blooms

but I am thrilled to think that this happened!

I will try germinating these seeds--I've got a bit more research to do first!

How cool is that?  Have you seen this before?

My daily drawing and painting from that calendar.

More pinks...

I'm ready for some blues or purples...! lol

And a wonderful package arrived today!

 I couldn't wait to unwrap and sniff!

What a sweet way to say thank you for those masks I mailed to Araignee' !

Who says blog friends aren't 'real' friends?!

Back Home AGAIN!

I said goodbye to the grands....so wonderful to be with them for the week. 

So much love and fun to be with them (and their parents)!   

I will miss Kai, too!  He is a master jewel thief!

Thursday afternoon I drove home;  coming into my and yard and home...it is a good consolation and reunion!

Friday and Saturday mornings my friend , Loree, came to finish piecing her art quilt and then to load it up on the frame and quilt it!  It was so interesting to see her 'build' her quilt and make the vision she had for it come to fruition!  Yay to see it ready for the next stage of hand embellishment! 

I am working on my Undine socks........nearing the place to start the ribbing! 

I am making good progress on the Hippocampus mitts!  I love these two colors together!

Complementary colors are always a success! 

I had a bit of a learning curve with the thumb-when you knit down to the place for the thumb which you know because you get to try it on, you stop on the mitten and use the other end of the skein to knit the thumb tip down and then attach it to the mitten.  I tried to use the three needle bind off which was suggested but it left a ridge and it bugged me.  I ripped it out-ouch!  But loaded all the stitches back where they belonged and then used Kitchener stitch to connect the one side of the thumb to the mitten and then you 'knit' the other half of the thumb stitches as part of the body of the mitten.  It worked beautifully!   

Today, after sharing Loree's ta-da moment, Bill and I drove south to Lake Mary for our friend's youngest son's wedding.  It was good to see them and share the joyous occasion.

(For a homebody, I sure have been away from home a lot this year. Not complaining, just noticing... )

Creative Exchanges

I had a friend come over and play today!  Loree lives in southern FL but gets to come up to visit her other home here nearby every so often.  She usually lets me know when she will be in town and wonder of wonders, this time our schedules clicked!  She brought over her fabric dyes from Jacquard and she showed me some basic techniques-what fun!

 We painted two panels each and then it was time for lunch.  (greek pizzas)

 After lunch, I showed Loree how to piece the Ohio Star block.   She is an art quilter and wanted to add the traditional block skills to her repertoire!

We had so much fun and she nailed it!  

 After she had to go home, she had left me with instructions on how to permanently set the colors on my fabric.   It had dried so I ironed it on high-now it is ready to be a part of my next wall hanging!

The other panel I did was just a blend of colors that make me happy.  I blended, splashed and sprayed-it is a great way to spend a day!  I look forward to our next visit!

Backward Steps Are Necessary Sometimes

Who says the internet is impersonal and sterile;  removed from reality?!   Not me.   I have made several very good friends because of blogging and I had another great visit from one of these friends this weekend.  Loree wanted to learn how to knit socks, she is already a knitter so the lesson was easy for my part!  On our second lesson, she brought me this little sewing room teapot!   It is perfect on my sewing curios shelf!  The lesson time was a wonderful time of friendship and laughter, sharing our lives where we are now and letting the knitting be a good excuse to get together!

I was moving along very quickly on the second green sock and when I put the last stitch on, I bound off and slipped the socks on my feet!

 I had about an hour until I went to bed so I picked up this Geology shawl that got put on the back burner and began knitting.  

 But I could see my feet and something was wrong with the socks.   The pattern was off.   So what!  I tried to listen to that voice but the difference was driving me crazy.   What was wrong with the pattern I used?

  I hung up the socks and began to investigate....I had done the pattern right in the second sock but I liked the proportions of the design in the first sock.  *Lightbulb*  I had used one line of through the back loop ribbing too few on the first sock so while the second sock was accurate according to the pattern, I didn't knit it to match the first sock.   Dilemma.   I waited to sleep on the decision.

Yes, I ripped out the second sock and worked most of the day to catch up the knitting!   It goes a LOT faster the second (third) time around and it is the correct mirrored image to the first, the way I wanted it to be.   I am knitter;  I make mistakes but I know what to do about it!!!  Are you listening, Loree?!

Knitting Under the Radar

 When a blog friend asks you to knit something for her because she has this idea...I was thrilled to be in on the adventure!  Benita is writing a series of patterns based on the inspiration of geography or travel.

  This is the inside of the sock when I was finished with knitting.  The 'weaving in the ends' thing is a very relaxing part of the process;  the wool holds on to itself and makes a very neat looking inside.

 I put them in to soak, and then laid them out to block!

 The little ends go outside for the birds!

 I placed these on my sock blockers and let them dry. She has the pattern available on her website and on Ravelry as pattern or a kit.  Ramp up your sock skills with this Trip up the Nile sock!!

This is the view from the front.

 Thank you , Benita, for letting me be a part of this adventure!  Where do we go next?!