Humming in the Sewing Room

 First thing in the morning, I put the borders on this little butterfly and flower quilt.

 Then I figured out how to use up every last bit of fabric to piece this strip so the backing was long enough to work!

 and then I loaded it up on the frame!

 I did a cute butterfly/fairy wings/ angel wing pantograph in a pastel thread.

 It took a few hours and several good resting time but I got it finished!

 The binding was put on completely by machine and now I can give it away to a newly born little girl!

 And just because the design wall was empty, I pulled this pile of blocks back out to put them together.   I had to trim each block to square them up, then sew them together!

 I need to buy just the right combination of rainbow fabric for the borders!

 Here is a neat trick for storing blocks and newly cut fabric-line a pizza box with parchment paper!

 It will keep your blocks in order and together until you get to them again!

 I have enough squares to make another kid quilt out of these using the disappearing pinwheel again.   It was that fun to make and since I have the fabric, I will make another!

The quilting frame was empty so I loaded another quilt from Millie.   She is still using up the pile of vintage blocks she has and so I will begin work on this one!

Seeing Red

 So many of my red flowers are in bloom!   I rarely wear red myself, but I do love it best in the garden!

 Turk's Cap Hibiscus

 Bromeliads

Fancy Hibiscus

 Tricolor Ginger is mostly white and green on top but......

 the underside of every leaf is scarlet!  Stunning!

Red Ginger

Do you have anything red in your garden right now?

Oh, Yes!

After leaving the shawl overnight, I remembered I had to rinse the shawl to remove the excess dye, then I had to heat set it-just a few minutes in the microwave and then block it all out to dry again but it was so worth it!  It dried very quickly in our warm sunshine.

 I will try this again without any hesitation!   It was very easy to get the watercolor look to the different regions and it will be fun to try it on different knitting projects as long as they are flat...

 I can't wait to wear it!  (This was knit from KnitPicks limited run Bare angora yarn so it is so soft and has a slight halo-delicious!)

 I am working on the Nob Hill Hawthorne yarn for a pair of socks for Marsel.

I worked out that neat lace insert for the top of the socks and it totally bombed in the busy color variations-it just overwhelmed the lace pattern so I ripped it out and just moved the Zigzagular sock pattern over a bit so I could accommodate the extra stitches on the side for the execution of the

Sweet Tomato Heel by Cat Bordhi.  While it was easy to do, it can't beat my use of the regular short row heels.  Maybe it's just because this was new but unless this pair fits SO much better than the regular one, I won't be visiting this kind of heel again.  Of course,  I will use it on the next sock first!

I have the skeins purchased for the next two Geology Shawls-the Northwest Region and the Georgia Clay Region!  I will be winding the balls and casting on the GA one today!

FO Friday

                         
 I took the Geology Shawl off the needles!   I have the shawl soaking now while I whip up some dyes to paint on the different regions (texture areas) to represent Florida soil!

I am researching differing layers on Google for our soil because all we see is light sand, darker beige and light brown;  I want to know if there are different colors down deep!

Then I remembered we have our very own soil peek when we dug our pool!   So I dug through the old blog pictures and found this but it already had the backing fibers in place and you couldn't see the layers!

Then Bill thought of going back and finding a picture from when we dug our water line to the house.
                        
That was a good idea and it was fun to look back through old pictures!

This one is a great example of our soil and it included my much loved TommyCat who is no longer with us .  (2008)

So finding this on the web and using the memories of the different digging projects, I now have an idea of what colors to mix up for the dyes!

 I hope to have a finished shawl to show tomorrow!

Antique Shopping

I got out the graph paper for working out another pattern on a pair of socks for Marsel.   The yarn is Hawthorne Fingering from KnitPicks in Nob Hill.  I wanted to stick with the strip plan but I am moving it toward the center so I can try Cat Bordhi's sweet tomato heel on this pair!  It is a good brain exercise for the morning.  Then Bill and I decided to go to an Antique Mall near here which Loree told me about.

 She said they have an old skein winder that you would probably want.  Oh, she was so right!
It stands about 42" tall and is in perfect working order!  I'm very excited.

Especially since it is the same color and age as the antique Walking Wheel I already own!

 Another find from there was this Melmac wood grain-look bowl of a completely different century!

When I saw it, I knew it was going to be a yarn bowl for me! Oh, yes, it works perfectly!

 Isn't that just the thing to keep a kitty or two from swiping your ball of yarn!

 I bought this non-antique but just right teal colored vase for my table.

 A carnival glass hen for the buffet in my golden dining room.

A bamboo screen / room divider for when my sewing room has to double for a bedroom with everyone here!  Bill set it up around the water system for me so he says he doesn't have to put up the closet as promised..........ha, it won't work but thanks for the idea!  Bill is amazing to get all this in the car for the ride home!  (our car is a Yaris sedan-think small car!)

 After all the shopping, we went to lunch just down the road at The Three Bananas on Crescent Lake.  The weather was perfect;  we ate on their deck and just soaked up the view.

This is the public boat ramp next to the restaurant where we launch our boat.  The day was just too perfect.  I enjoyed this day-date very much!

Right is Better

 Aha!   I have a pair of socks that mirror image each other!  It was so worth the extra work.

 I put the last row of quilting stitches on Millie's quilt today.  I pushed to get it done and now I am so glad I did.

 These blocks were given to her-in a pile and she had to figure out what the vision was and finish it!  It works now to be a real quilt and not a pile of fabric in a box.  She is on a roll and has given me two more tops to quilt for her!

 I put together the pattern pieces for the peasant dress for Abigail.  She hasn't been feeling well this week so I hope this helps to know it will be coming to her soon!

 On my ride yesterday, I found this guy out by the swamp.  Yes, another Yellow Weaver Spider.

 We used to have these up north, poplars-they will be exploding their 'cotton' soon.

 I hope I don't miss it like I did the Cereus.   I totally forgot her and missed the double bloom.
Boo hoo.

 This pine is proof of perseverance.  A large tree fell on him and broke his center right off.  The tree has grown back;  not straight and tall like the others but he is more like a sprawling maple in shape.   He is healthy and unique.   I like looking at him for the lessons he is showing me.

 I am always amazed at the clumps of lichen I find around here.   In general, my yard is not lichen friendly but here is proof that you can flourish where you are.

 This toadstool was very handsome, standing right in the middle of the path-I made sure I went around him and will give him a chance to do his full cycle.

The loofah just keep blooming and making fruit.  There are ones ready to harvest, some getting close and new ones yet to form.  

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?!