Another Moving Day

We drove to Lake City and enjoyed another moving day with Matthew and Caleb!  (This makes 6 in the 2 1/2 yrs we have been in Florida!!! but who is counting!)  They left Caleb's apartment and moved to a house.

 It is only 15 mins from the apartment so there was time for lots of trips!  (And the house is now 15 mins closer to us-which whittles the trip down to 1hr and 45 mins!)  Bill had fixed an old mower to bring as a house warming gift-good thing because it hadn't been mowed for a month! 

Smiles of triumph because this is what they did to Caleb....

What fun we had and it got even better when Marsel and the kids joined in the fun! 

She always misses the big moving events and wanted to join in on this one!  So glad she did!

Sure was nice to have another woman to share the cleaning jobs with! 

The laundry room was so big and cheery-we had to work asking forgiveness for the coveting it invoked!  (The wood on the washer/dryer was Bill's project-he broke the entertainment table and was trying to make amends!!!)

A time for snuggles and wrestling in the new, large, livingroom!

Abigail wanted to stake out her space in the spare bedroom!

After a pizza treat, Bill and I got home late last night-satisfied but exhausted!

I didn't get much done on my second sock but it is on the needles......

Nyki is glad to have me home and is sticking close this morn-this is how she sits with me in the computer chair!

Short and Sweet

A sock out of handspun Finn wool, number 2 needles and a new pattern from Wendy Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up.  Fast knitting, pleasing knitting.  One down and one to go.......

Conclusions.....

I have finished the Pi shawl for my daughter!  It only took me 6 weeks this time.(My first pi shawl took a year!)  This one is a pattern from MMarioKnitsYahooGroup and my first of his patterns ; this one is called Queen of Heaven.  I used a skein of Skacel Merino Lace in grey, 1375 yds and I used most of it.  It looks good unblocked........

....better even while blocked.....

...and amazing when it is all finished!  (It blocked out to 58"across)

I did get a  little nervous while binding off when the skein was dwindling like this!  But I kept at it--lace knitting makes me courageous!

I bought some new webbing when we went to town yesterday so I could finish 3 more plastic bag totes.  These are a satisfying weave in every color I choose!

And because I needed the flannel backed tablecloth to block out the shawl, I finished up the disappearing 9 patch blocks that were nestled safely in its folds.  I pieced the blocks and added the borders.  Now I just need to clear off the quilt that is still sitting on the frame.  I have a bad case of quilter's block and now that I am on another roll of finishing up projects, will hopefully come up with a game plan and get it executed!  I do not have a deadline on the quilt on the frame (for a friend) so maybe I should set one myself and get it in gear!

Nyki likes the quilt right where it is!  (She does not like it when I get the camera out and usually gives me the flat ear look!)

****(I do not call Nyki to come when I am taking pictures........she just feels it is her responsiblity to appreciate each 'ta-da' I lay out!)

PS to Uninvited Guest

This is one of the stray cats that visit........very sweet, very shy.

This picture is of a racoon!  A large, bold racoon not a cat!

(I could see by the comments that I gave the wrong impression!)

Uninvited Guest

If you look closely, you can see that feeding our cat outside, as he prefers, has its pitfalls.  We noticed several stray cats that have adopted our house because we had a bowl of dry food on the porch for Bling.  We had a bag of dry food that neither of the cats liked so we put it out front for a treat for all of them and to get rid of it.  Our motion detector put the spotlight on this guy!  The picture is a bit primatic because I took it through the front door's fancy window-Bling is just out of view watching this big guy eat away.  So much for a 'good' idea.

I have a new warp on the loom.............ahhhh, plastic bag totes in some new colors.  This one is more greys/silvers but it does have a bit of blue highlights and the camera really picked those up!  Browns and pinks go on next.

Dishtowels, Etc.

I finished washing, drying and hemming the dishtowels.  I even made two dishcloths to match.  Now that they are washed, the pattern that I didn't see when I wove according to the instructions, is very visible.  I do like the part I free-wove without using the white cotton for tabby; it is more color saturated.( I used one main color and used a contrast color for the tabby and then on the next colorblock I moved the contrast color to the main color and added a different color for tabby.  I worked out well)

 One is in the drawer and the other towel is hanging on my stove waiting to be of service. 

My HalcyonYarns order came with more 8/2 cotton.  (Two colors were on backorder but I have it to look forward to!)

I will attempt to make some more towels after I make some more of my plastic bag totes on the loom. 

My husband surprised me with a 'bouquet' of blue bags he had found on the side of the road when on an errand!  They were clean and unused and he knew it would thrill me (it did) because blue has been a hard color to find!  I will be using the orange with this blue to make some 'Gator (Gainsville University) fan bags!

I am making progress on the lace shawl-on the outher diamonds......I will be repeating these last 10 rows to make the shawl a bit wider for my tall daughter.  I am so glad to have this to savor-it has gone very quickly compared to my first pi shawl-if you remember, that one took me a year to finish because I got bogged down.  I have hit my stride with this one!  (In fact, I am looking forward to my next one!)

Pouting....

I have never liked being a rookie at things. If I can't be good at it, I tend not to give it much more of my time. (I can thank my Dad for this philosophy!) So I am good at some things and I do them often. I can see it in my head and make it happen. When I see it in my head and can't make it happen, I admit it, I pout; and then work harder to try again. It started with an ad from CottonClouds. A beautiful set of towels. I finally sent in the order (I was miserable about the the price I paid for a pair of kitchen towels......)

BUT, these are the colors when the kit came.........nice but not the blues/browns I expected. I goofed while threading, I goofed when winding the colors on the bobbins and to say I goofed while weaving would be an understatement. I did what I usually do when something beats me-I pour my rotten attitude into manual labor! (I can thank my Mom for this philosophy!)

I clean, organize and SCRUB! I have been tackling the stucco smeared windows of the house and making them shine!

Yesterday I finally had a better outlook on the weaving. I pretended I was my own student and gave myself lots of freedom to explore color (even different ones than expected) and how they look on the warp. I changed the order of the treadlings and just had fun. I didn't worry about wasting money, or thread or time. I wove. Boy, did I have a better time in the weaving chair than I have in a week! No instructions, no expectatioins-just a good attitude and a 'what if' kind of curiousity. Who would think you could learn so much from a pile of threads!

I didn't buy a pair of kitchen towels, I bought a lesson, an experience, a thrill! Who knew....

A Visit

Caleb came for a visit.......he is always fun to have around! He and his Dad went to the music store together when our planned boat ride got rained out. His guitar has needed some fine tuning and repair since before we moved and they got it done!

Nyki thought the case was more fun! She wasn't at all sure of the sounds Caleb produced on the guitar but did like watching him.

It was only a bath........

One souveniour from taking our cats up North , was Bling,the outdoor cat, giving Nyki, the indoors cat, an infestation of fleas! All the snuggling together, and riding in the car both on my lap all day produced more than just some bonding time. Nyki has been under the weather all week and so I thought if they both got a bath, it would reduce the flea problem. I usually have to do this to Bling every Fall, which is the worse time for fleas. He doesn't like it but he is so mellow he tolerates it well. I haven't ever given a bath to Nyki and wasn't sure how she would take it. Well, much to my surprise, she did well. Not a sound out of her and she didn't hold a grudge after we were done!

Bling on the other hand, turned into a screaming demon and ripped up both of my hands and forearms! I was shocked! At least the tub was filled with dead fleas and Nyki had an appetite for the first time in days. (Bling holed up in the garage until he was his usual fluffy self and did forgive me later in the day!)

Perking the Nest

The weaving goof was an easy fix this morning! Fresh eyes do make the difference! (The threads had just been pulled from their proper heddles-I didn't have to unthread anything.) In fact, I was able to weave the first towel today! (This is a summer & winter weave pattern; a kit from Cotton Clouds.) It is a bit much for a beginner like me but I am stretching myself and making my own way. It is interesting to see how the colors change according to the colors they cross. If it teaches me nothing more than expanding my color choices, it will be a success.
Bill and I planted some new bushes out front. It needed some color. Matching Croten bushes make just the right amount of color and size.

The bushes help to frame the front entrance. Things are shaping up out front.

We also planted some Mums..........I had so many of these on our farm in NY-it is nice to put some in here, too.

While Bill was getting some groceries this evening, I got the 'what if' bug! If I moved (and organized) my growing weaving mess, there would be room to set out the furniture and not have a mountain stacked in the middle of the room. Because it is a sectional, I could move all the pieces myself! (I first had to move all the heating/cooling duct supplies out of the way. They are now stacked in the spare room-to-be.)

I slid the loom over to the sliding glass door where I will have more light, and then that opened up the rest of the room for the sectional and recliner. It is very promising....a bit of the preview of the room to come.

Since I was on a roll, I changed the shelves in the family room; they didn't need to be scrunched together anymore. I moved the crockery to compliment them and am pleased with the new balance it gives the room.

I did need to wait for Bill's help for one item-the filing cabinet. After he got over the shock of all I did in his absence, he moved it for me and I could finish up the rearranging. Ah, it is good to have a bit of a perker-upper!

Nyki was a bit anxious with all my nonsense. She is surveying her new domain.

Hunting and Homemaking

We had to run to Daytona yesterday ,so of course we went to the beach. The waves are big and there are warnings not to go out into the surf but it doesn't stop very many people!

The birds were unimpressed by the weather! Danny is kicking up the waves and making for some overcast weather but the temps are still in the 90's.
I finished the pair of socks I started last week (Diagonal Lace by Wendy Johnson). They are a blend of wool/bamboo/nylon and they are so light and soft! The break from the shawl knitting is over and I worked about a 1/2" last night.

This morning we went to pick up some CraigsList furniture Bill found. I had pretty strict guidelines and he found one that fit all the criteria! (chocolate brown, distressed leather-look microfiber, 4 recliners, looks like new) He is a good hunter/gatherer!!
The new/old furniture will go in the existing family room while the old/new sectional will be going into the new room. (I hope you followed that!) For now, it is stacked out of the way in the spare room until we get the addition sheetrocked! Nyki knew what to do with the furniture mountain! I worked to thread the new warp on the loom. It is a lot of work to warp! There are 206 ends that have to be threaded in the reed and then each into their own heddles according to the pattern........see the small stripe of navy blue? They do not have their own heddles-as I got ready to wind it on the beam I saw that I had left 4 threads out of the pattern. I had to walk away and will face the remedial warping tomorrow.........when I have a better attitude.

Arches of Triumph!

The arches are finished and they are perfect! It is indeed the triumph of the front of the house.

It is with great pleasure we now look down the veranda and savor the view!

The weaving had a few setbacks based on the rookiness of this weaver. I ordered a kit to weave cotton towels.......it calls for 2 strands of weft; I wound all the colors into double stranded balls and then read that it calls for 2 strands of different colors -my hour of work required several hours to undo. I even enlisted Bill's assistance to unwind the doublestrand balls.....it was raining out so he was inside and though he was unsure of the task, he gave it a try. His help sure saved me a ton of work and gave us quite a few laughs! I am ready to try weaving again tomorrow.

The warp is still on the warping board! (This looks way more colorful than the finished towel pictures so we will be learning about colorplay in weaving as well with this project!)

While I am busy, Nyki entertains herself, too. She digs in the rubber band supply when she is bored. She also hits the buttons on the phone so that it talks. And very often will empty this container of all of the pens......checking out the theory of gravity just to be sure.