Smoke Signals

Bill cut the roof out for the fireplace chimney!  A perfect cut!

 Of course, it will all have to be framed in, but it is installed and almost ready for inspection.

 I knit these fingerless mitts from some mohair I had spun several years ago.  Very heavy, soft and warm!

 I also used the alpaca I spun last year to knit these mitts-a free pattern from Ravelry called Diamond and Feather Mitts.  I did have to make quite a few changes but that is typical of this knitter.  They are very, very soft.  I am sure I will get to use them when in NY next month!

 The cats like the incomplete rug already-and they lie right on the warmest spot, too!

Even though the temperatures are still very warm, the first signs of fall are all around us.  There are thousands of acorns on the laurel oak tree.  (No, I am not feeling tons better yet, the medicine is helping but I feel like I am only a shadow of my real self.........)

Third Time's the Charm

 It has been a hard week again, I finished the sock knitting which aren't needed until next week for a birthday surprise.  The variegations gave two very distinct patterns for the socks-so much fun to knit!

While digging in the sewing room for a 'lost' project, I rediscovered this hooked rug in progress.  I enjoyed working on this yesterday, enjoying the rain and not moving much!  My present mode of existence!  The strips are cut 1/8" narrow so it is slow work but it is relaxing and not too taxing-just right for my mental status!

I gave in and went to the doctor's again today, some steroids, a shot of antibiotic and a bottle of the same, I hope to be gaining on this drama.  I also went in for x-rays of my head-keep the jokes to yourself, I am not in a frame of mind to laugh yet, to determine if there are polyps which is the cause of the sinus pressure.  Will get the results on Monday.  I am being grateful for the medicine to help me make this sinus adventure a thing of the past!

Birthday Boy! (man?)

 Drove up the Matthew and Caleb's house so we could spend the day with Matthew for his birthday!
Bill and Matthew took off to try a new golf club nearby and I plopped on the couch-my new station in life!

I worked on this pair of socks.  And when the guys got home, they grilled some steak and shrimp (which the boys had caught them selves last week!) and it was ready just as Caleb got home from work!

 After stuffing ourselves on our feast, we took a short drive to the beach.

 I am grateful for so much......

 A passerby took this for us!

 We ended the day with a rousing game of cards in which Matthew lost the most-lot's of laughs.  I do love my family!

World Wide Spin in Public Day!

And I am home in my pajamas.......not feeling well enough to venture outside.  So , I did some spinning in the living room watching Bill work on the fireplace!  I spun the silk mawata that was this month's Fiber Binder Club.

Once I got the speed up on the wheel so there was enough twist to hold the silk together, I did alright spinning the silk.  Just a slight learning curve because it isn't wool!  Unfortunately, when  I was finished with the small amount of fiber, I had a blister on my thumb!  I guess I was spinning fast enough to give myself a friction blister!  I ended up with 76 yards of two ply yarn-very pretty!

 Bill loaded the fireplace on the forks on the tractor so he could move it from the garage to the other end of the house to set it by the hole in our wall!  It weighs a couple hundred pounds and I was no help!

 Ta da!   Almost log ready!  Well, not really but it is nice to imagine it ready for a fire!  Most of the work will now take place outside to put the pipe up through the roof.  (We have to have the surround and mantel made for finishing the inside-I think some tile around the firebox, too.)

Pretty slim clearance on the porch, too, we are glad it still leaves lots of room to walk around!  Bill will be boxing it in and doing the stucco finish to match the house, in the future....

The fingerless mitts are a set!  These are fraternal, too!  It is a good test for me to wear them when they don't match exactly-I struggle with symmetry issues, you know!

Steps Ahead and Backwards........

 I have a pair of bfl hand spun socks!  Soft and silky!

 On Wednesday, I was feeling good and began doing some work in the hall-building out the two by fours so they will be flush with the existing wall (used to be garage space) so it can be sheetrocked.

 Bill got the inside work done and placed the plywood over the hole so he could work outside.

 He has a cement saw to cut through the stucco.

 The reciprocating saw did the fine tuning for the cut.

 Bill got the base built on the outside, too!  The sunset is shining on the fireplace hole so that it looks like there is a blaze going already!

 I woke up with another terrific headcold!  I feel miserable again!  This is getting to be a vicious cycle!  I didn't feel up to hammering on the sheet rock project so I peeled these sand pears.  They are not a variety that you can eat fresh off the tree-they have to be cooked to be edible-they are hard as a rock and stay that way until cooked!

 I have found my favorite way to eat them is to cook them down into a sauce-like applesauce-delicious!

I have a new project on the needles, the second fingerless mitt of this pattern found on KnitPicks called Belladonna.  The cuff is worked around, seamed and then you pick up stitches for the hand.  I made some changes (don't I always?!) but it is a nice pattern.  The yarn is the last of the hand spun BFL.

A Stitch and Day Two Fireplace

 Bill got the insulation pretty much removed, cut out the 2 x 6's and ran into a little glitch with wiring.
Where there is a will, there will be a way!  He thinks he has a plan!

I am working a pair of plain socks in the blue faced leicester wool I spun in July.  I am well on the way of the second sock, too; I have turned the heel and begun the ribbing-the yarn is so soft and silky-a real delight to knit!  The color is working up nicely also-very pretty but the two socks will not match exactly-a good exercise for me!

Getting Back My Full Stride

 PlanetPatchwork had a mystery  quilt on Saturday, so I dug out some scraps and got to work .  They release a clue an hour so you have time to finish each one before the next-fun!  I did not get to finish this because I need some orange/blue batik for the border and I didn't have any scraps that would do it justice.  The JoAnns list has one new item on it! (Each block is 11 1/2"  and it is dimensional-the blue strips and the blue squares  are folded and sewn in so that they stand out even when pressed-fun to learn a new technique!)

 This is some fabric I had bought for a Fall table runner-one yard is enough for the center section and the 60 degree triangles on the ends.  Quilting will get done this week.

 Today, Bill started the fireplace!  This is the week to see the fireplace installed!  Yippee!

This was delivered today also-a wood splitter!  More pics to follow when we get it put together!

 I finished knitting the headband and got it blocked today-the sun was so warm it was dried in no time!

 So here is the set, ready to go into the mail to my daughter-pattern for the mitts on Ravelry as Anna's Mittens.

Empty needles?  Of course not!  Socks are ready to be cast on and knitted toe up!

Just Baby Steps

 Well, I crowed my victory over this sickness way too soon -let me suffice it to say, I was down for the count!  On the way to town yesterday, they were cutting hay in this pasture-isn't it beautiful?!

 When we got home, Bill went to play on the tractor and did this instead.........the wife and his truck remedied the situation!

When I'm not sleeping, I work on the headband to match those mittens!

The knotweed has filled out and is in bloom-the butterflies love this plant, too.

Look at how deeply this ginger cone has become!  

 The magnolia cones are blushing very nicely;

when they fall to the ground, they are eaten up-the squirrels are burying the seeds for winter and hoarding, too.

We brought a cone in and by morning, it had exploded with these red seeds!  Kind of cool and creepy!

 Today I psyched my energy up to go into the sewing room to make these-I haven't been thrilled with the old ones and wanted the curtains to match the quilt in the guest room-

It worked!  Glad to get back to the couch, but it was nice to accomplish something today!

Feeling Blue!

I have been under the thumb of a dumb virus....my creative output is severely restricted!  I finally gave in and went to the doctors Friday so have begun my counter attack!

 I have been moving slowly and when awake, have been working on these fingerless mitts.  The white is handspun superwash and the variegated yarn is from the yarn shop I visited a few weeks ago!

 This is a neat little addition to my knitting accessories; it is a magnetic pattern holder that also folds up and goes in the knitting bag more easily than the solid magnetic board I  previously used.

 It holds the pattern neatly and then folds up for easy travel-I had to rework the pattern for these mitts (a free pattern on Ravelry called Wintergreen) because the first attempt was way too big!  After a bit of reworking, I worked pretty steadily on these all week and thoroughly enjoyed the two color knitting.........still.

 Bill's project this week, besides mowing, was to empty our refrigerator to try and defrost it so that it would encourage a sensor to reset...........that didn't work but two good things resulted from the adventure any way; One was we now have a very clean and reorganized fridge,  

 And since he dug this out of storage to plug in and use to hold all the things from the freezer, he discovered a pile of treasures inside this from our move almost 5 years ago!  Of all things, my scroll saw was in here along with a myriad of sheets and comforters that I had chalked up to the Bermuda Triangle of moving!!!  After a good launder, they are perfectly good and usable still!

But this was another find-a pound of raw fleece that was in a crock (which is also cleaned and added to the decor in my family room!) inside the freezer-I rewashed the wool and am in the process of carding it!  I do not remember what kind of wool it is, but it is soft and will give it a spin next week to see how it works up!