A Day Off

We took a day off to go out to lunch and then to a Flea Market in Daytona Beach. We laughed and people-watched and had a great time. (This is the water covered fresco where we ate lunch in the Fall and said we would have to do it again..........we have now.)

Earlier in the week, Mom and I made these beaded and knitted necklaces. I made 2 red ones tho only one is in the pic-Mom hasn't made more than me...........! The knitting is fast but stringing the beads on gave us a bit of work! Pattern is from the 101 Designer One Skein Wonders book.
I have another quilt on the frame-this one really is the last one out of that pile of flannel I hauled out of storage-I just kept having a few scraps to put together again and again....!
I bought some fabric to make a Spring time tablerunner. I think we are cutting out the fabric today while the guys work. (They are just about finished with the wiring work and are going to start on something big and bloggable on Monday!)

Got my tax return surprise-a new Ashford Knitter's Loom. It even folds up and has its own carrying case! I am so excited to have the equipment to weave. I have dabbled with it in the past but have not had the right tools to do so easily. I can now put my abundance of handspun yarns to another use! Hoping to have a finished project to share soon!

A Team Sock

Just a little advice for anyone planning a move: do a little bit of reasearch and choose a city that has the same sports team colors............!

We moved from Syracuse Orangemen country (blue and orange) to Northern Florida where the Gainesville Gators (blue and orange) rule! It is easy to keep the team spirit when you like the colors!

Nyki helped me wind the 'hank' of yarn into a usable ball!

Fiber Connections

One of the neat things about fiber is the way it connects you to people you wouldn't normally know. I belong to a fiber group on Yahoo which has been a wonderful source of information and encouragement to me. A member asked for volunteers to spin up some fiber she is selling on her Etsy site. I jumped right in-since I already card, dye and spin and am an opinionated person-I thought I could help give her the feedback she wanted!

My packaged batt arrived from Norway on Friday. Isn't the color delicious? It is called Plum Blush.
I opened it up and had to decide how to use the fibers for spinning. Since I couldn't make up my mind, I pulled the batt in half and did it both ways!


I then spun up my little piles of rovings............each half batt on their own bobbin.
When plied, I had a lovely little skein of yarn.

I have sent in my evaluation and now I have the beads picked out and the pattern to make a beaded necklace-another project for Mom and I to tackle this week!

A Few New Threads

Mom and I made this; a dalmation dog backpack! For those of you familiar with the Equitable Grandmother Syndrome, this is to balance the 'ballet skirt' I made for Abigail. One of the many projects in my stash that is no longer an idea but a finished object!

I now have two skeins of beautiful merino for a pair of socks!

Another one of these ............... becomes one of these! It does turn out better with the bamboo than the wool I used for mine. This is the leftover skein from Mom's scarf.

Now on the needles......the Bling yarn to make a beaded pouch. It moves right along.

Mom needed an idea for another block for a group quilt and so I thought I would teach her fusible applique. We searched the internet for a coloring book page of a child's top- then proceeded to enlarge it, trace it and then pick out fabric from my stash to bring it to life. I immediately made a large goof-I fused the pieces to the right side of the fabric and didn't take long to realize the teacher needed a refresher course in fusible applique! After a good laugh, we tried again. Our lesson on satin stitching will have to wait until tomorrow because this afternoon we are going to the sewing group to make sleeping bags for the homeless again.

A Wool Day

This morning we had a visit from a couple (the Morans) who used to live next door to us in NY-I used to babysit for their kids (who are all grown and with college bound kids of their own!). They are here to see my parents but they wanted to see where we live and the building project, too!

After they left, I did some spinning in the backyard-the wind was chilly but in the nook by the back door it was very nice. I caught up on my knitting podcasts and spun a bobbin full of the new fiber.

I got a bit sunkissed so went in to do some carding. I have had this idea to make the superwash sock fiber even more durable by adding some nylon fiber. So, I carded up my superwash wool roving with some of the nylon roving after a little bit of math and some weighing-I wanted an 80/20 mix found in most sock yarns. It carded up well and I have some beautiful batts to show for my work-just one batt to go!

I did finish Abigail's vest-even sewed the zipper in! I lengthened the vest by an inch and therefore didn't have enough yarn left to sew it together but I know the extra length was needed and now it will fit again next year, too! (One nice part of having a yarn stash is that I only had to paw through 2 bins to find a 'close enough' match to finish sewing it up!)

Hawk-eye

We hear this guy every day. We can spot it on the fly but today as we were heading out our driveway he was perched on the fence across the road! He let me take several pics-I had to be sure and get one good one! He has hung around since we started work on the house (last summer) and we heard him tease for food from his parents all the time-he is very vocal and it was nice to finally catch him up close for a good glimpse so we could look him up in the bird book!

Can you guess what kind of hawk he is?

A red-shouldered hawk!

See his red patch on his shoulder and not his tail-we had red tails in NY so it is nice to meet the southern cousin!

Nyki Fetches!

I have had cats all my life and never had one that plays fetch. I do mean the "throw it, chase it, retrieve it and bring it back , drop it at your feet and ready to do it again" kind of fetch! I mean, have you ever heard of such a thing?!

How long does she play? Until I quit-45 minutes is my longest endurance time and she was still going strong! It is what she plays last thing before bed and first thing in the morning.........

I bought another package of 'mousies' today and she greatly approved the purchase!

I finished knitting the hood to Abigail's vest.......will have it done and pictured on Monday.

Mom and I have been knitting these bookmarks-will also decorate with a tassel and beads...coming soon. (#5 pearl cotton and a pattern from 101 shop One Skein Wonders book)

We also finished 3 flannel baby quilts today! Only one left to piece, quilt and bind! It has been a great stashbuster project!

Nyki gets a bath from Bling..........

And they play with a rubber snake. They are great friends now-Bling even brings in chameleons to share with Nyki-no, I don't have a picture of that yet-I run to catch it and toss it outside because Bling practices a catch and release technique !

It was balmy, and so delicious out today-85* and it felt so good. Bring it on!

Another Nice Visit

We had a nice visit from a couple of snow birds........Bill's sister , Barbara, and her friend, Esther.

Barbara is Bill's oldest sister-we toured our home which she hadn't seen yet, and had a nice walk around the pond area, too. Took them to Corky Bells restaurant and then to visit my parents-they all live near each other in NY.

After they headed back to Vero Beach where they are staying, I sat and knitted and Bill went and knocked a tree down. We each unwind in our own way!

All the azaleas are blooming behind Mom and Dad's place-it is literally a riot of color.

I am spinning some new merino wool. It is similar to the flowers and a joy to spin! I don't know what this yarn will be yet........socks probably.

Getting up to Speed Again

I have been battling another UTI so to say I have been slower than usual would be an understatement! Thank you , Lord, for medicine and a good doctor. I am making good progress on Abigail's vest-on the hood now. I love how the pattern gives it a quilted look!

I finally made Abigail's 'ballet princess' skirt. We bought the fabric when Marsel was here and Abigail wanted to know the very next morning if I had it done yet! She was so cute picking out the fabric at the store................
I pulled another flannel baby quilt off the frame........I have a stack of them that need binding and will tackle that task today.

For anyone who might be color starved...........the azaleas are starting to color up our yard. As I was taking these pics I saw that I had inadvertantly caught a bumble bee, too!

Some Knitting

I finished my headband from the KnitPicks free pattern-I wore it but my hair is still too short for it to look good yet-it will work this summer! ( I will make another narrower one for me and see if that works for now!)

I dug my loom out of storage and will load it with some handspun yarns for use today-the cats immediately had to investigate the new smells-Bling knows not to get on the table (at least when I am looking) but Nyki was overcome with curiousity and had to be shooed! (After the picture!)

Marsel kindly gifted me an UFO kit she had bought to make for Abigail so I started it to fill the empty feeling I get when they have to go back home!

All company have departed for respective homes.

Monday will bring back the usual routine again; today, laundry and lumping.................

Fishing

Bill took Chuck, Dad and the kids fishing across the road to our neighbors lakeside property to fish. They all caught and released most of their bounty but these two ended up on the table!

A bullhead and a brim. My dad hadn't been fishing in 20 years and had a good time, too-