The Other Side of Irma

Cascading Leaves pattern in a Berrocco DK yarn on #3 needles.

Knitting happens when the winds howl and the power flickers! 

 This morning, we surveyed the property to find lots of trees down 

and branches broken!

 The driveway has lots of branches down but it isn't blocked!

 The pool screen is history!  

Sad to see it hanging there shredded!

 But it is replaceable!  

 While no limbs or trees are down on the house,

 the yard will be a 'project' for a month!  

This is my favorite tunnel to drive through on the golf cart!

 The banana trees took a beating! 

The pond is up the highest it ever has been!

The boys loved throwing sticks in!

And the pond is flowing out the overflow canal and made a cool bubbling brook!

The generator is going so we have essentials.

While it was pretty wild last night, 

we are safe.

That says it all.

Irma's Fall Socks

 I have a pair of socks done for the I 💛Fall KAL!

The yarn is hand spun and dyed Merino , 56 stitches on #3 needles.

 Nancy asked about my 'foot form';  I draw everyone's foot for a record 

to fit socks I knit for them! 

 This way I can make sure the width and length is spot on.

 When  make toe-up socks, I can see how long it takes to increase to the width of the foot, then I measure this distance from the heel

 and take away an additional 1/2" of the foot length 

to allow for negative ease in a sock.  

That's my foot formula!

 As for the storm-the plants are all moved back against the house

 so they will not be knocked about by the storm!

 Everything is put away at the pool patio...it looks sad.

But the house is still inviting!  

I hope everything stays in place after Irma visits!

Soft and Inviting!

 The window seat is finished!  

I have wanted to make this for a long time 

but the foam is almost at the price of gold!

  (I had to wait for a good coupon! lol)

 The sun was too bright for the photos no matter what I tried!

You get the idea! 

 (A fun fact about the white shelves on the right of the hope chest/window seat(which Bill bought me the Christmas before we married!)

-they are real orange crates from my mother's time when they were used to make a vanity table for her as a child! 

 They were also used in the same way for me growing up 

and for my daughter, too! 

 I painted them and used them for shelves 

when I moved her almost 11 years ago!)

 It didn't take long for the sky to do this today! 

 I think we will be getting used to this kind of sky for a while!  

Ominous, isn't it?! 

 I was able to sew two pairs of jammie pants,

 in flannel because the boys like pants to sleep in!

And I have to admit- they are the snuggliest with or without the new pj's!

The Waiting Room

 As we wait to see where this is going to hit....

 I decided to play with a bit of glass in the microwave kiln.

 My tribute to Irma-hurricane glass jewelry.  These will be pendants.

BTW,  the soap separated just fine if a bit crooked at the divide!  Now we each have 7 bars to last us for months!

Re-Harvest Sock!

 Meet the new Harvest sock!  

 I was on the ribbing and nearing the bind off 

when I took a good look at the sock.  

It was stiff

 and the pattern was lost in all the Fall colors

and looked like wrinkles instead of a pattern. 

 To top it off, when I put my foot in, it strangled instead of hugged. 

 I ripped it right out!  

So there!  

 I picked up a size three needle (instead of the #1)

 and I am going to knit a plain sock 

and it is such a better decision!

  Ahhhh.   

(I heard that voice all the way through this sock, 

I'm sorry I didn't listen sooner!)

I actually made a batch of soap!  

 It has been months and months since I got to play with a batch! 

 I needed my scent (lavender) and Bill needed his (patchouli)

 but I only had enough goat's milk for one batch;  so I did an experiment! 

 I divided the batch at the last minute, added scent to each half accordingly 

and then poured each bowl into the big mold 

while Bill held the piece of plastic (I cut from the top of a Cool Whip lid) 

to keep the halves separate! 

 When I slice it tomorrow , I will let you know how it worked!

In Season!

 Millie gave me this panel fabric a year ago.  

 I pulled it out and went right to work at the frame, quilting it! 

 I'm glad to say it is finished and ready to hang on the wall 

in time to enjoy it all Autumn!

 The quilting lines were a lot of fun to 'draw' 

and the work went very quickly.

I pulled out fabric from the stash and even put the binding on!

I can't wait to show Millie the end result!

 I'm still using up the last little balls of the dishcloth yarn!  

This one is done in a style my Grandma did with so many 

but she did hers in #10 crochet cotton thread! 

 Hers was a decorative pot holder;  mine a completely functional dish cloth!

 Here is a newly hatched gopher tortoise discovered early this morning!

 To give you a better visual scale-Millie is holding him because Will wouldn't!         

He is about the diameter of a 50 cent piece!

After admiring him, we put him in the shady grass so he could rest!

BeeHived

 The crazy patch quilt is done!  I pulled it from the frame and right to the sewing machine to attach the binding.

 The center of each block has bees in it so I put quilted beehives into the center of the white block and bees along the outside triangles.  

A Fall panel quilt went right on the frame so I can add a pop of color to my wall!

 Bill acquired this little garden wagon and put cushions in it for the boys to have rides!

It had rained just minutes before and they ran right out to play and were covered in sandy, dirty glory in seconds! 

 Happiness is......

Just a blink of a lifetime ago, their father was riding in the wagon behind our mower.  The hours we pulled them there came rushing back as we looked at these smiling faces!

Scraps

I put to use the new stitch pattern Mom and I tried out on my visit last month (already a month ago!) using up my scraps of dishcloth cotton.

It is good but a bit wonky.  

I will make one more to use up the yarn but then that will be that. 

 I think the stitch would be more comfortable with a soft yarn 

and not the cotton that is so stiff.  

The crochet was not so relaxing on my hands.

I tied knots at the end of each row so I wouldn't have any ends to weave in since it was for a dishcloth.   I crocheted across a row, ripped it out to see how much yarn it required and then tied a knot to the new color.

I kept adding sections of yarn this way so I could just keep working without stopping for color changes!

I only got off a bit at the end so I was pleased with the experiment!

Fairy Visit

 

 I needed some solace knitting yesterday

-all the energy and drive I expected totally bottomed out. 

  I sat for as much as I could and worked on this.  

 I put the final stitches on it this morning on the way to church! 

  The pattern has ears on it but I think I will leave it just the way it is.  

(this is for Hannah Grace) 

 As soon as I wove all then ends in on the baby hat, 

I worked on sock two for grandson's Tuxie Love socks.  

 I do like this way to start a pair of toe up socks and it will be fun to 'hide' other little patterns on the toe in the future! 

 On the way home, I had just about finished the other side of the toe 

and will pick up the stitches on the cast on edge and head on up the foot!

Our yard is full of butterflies!

It is like a yard full of fairies!

I hold still and they just dart all around me-very beautiful!

Round two of the cana lilies-aren't they amazing?

They are eye level to me!

I 💗 Fall

 I couldn't wait to cast on for the new KAL and did great from the starting line...

 but stumbled on the first turn!   I remember from a year ago when I tried to knit the pattern Nutkin, I just don't like it!  Then the sock had too many stitches and it didn't fit right so I ripped again.

 Then I dug through my extensive pattern collection and found a good fit!

Ah, yes, I have found a good fit and a pattern to make me smile;  an old one called Red Dwarf Sock.  A few minor tweaks to make it fit my stitch count and  we're off!

Clear the Slates...!

 The Jural top with remedial armpit knitting, is completed and blocking!  

This yarn is a cotton/angora blend which is a funny combination, I think, but the fabric is soft to the touch 

and removes the harshness you can sometimes have in a cotton yarn, I guess!

 The lace at the top is textured without being revealing and I can't wait to wear this!  While we are all gearing up for Autumn, it will be months until we really reflect it in a temperature drop!

 Sock one is off the needles for grandson-

this is a shortie sock version of Tuxie Love, using the same yarn I used for his sister's sock.   Interesting thing about using striping yarn like this is that a simple change in the stitch count (from 56 to 72 stitches) can cause the biggest change in the look!  (Grandson has a larger foot as in a size 12 shoe already!)

See this is the 56 stitch count pattern!  Same yarn--just different stitch count!

There-now I am ready to start the I Heart Fall Knit-a-Long!

I will be posting my progress later today!