BABY SWEATER

After knitting the baby sweater for my niece  in the winter,

 I misplaced the pattern!   Well, I placed it where I looked for it 10 times but it was in a knitter's chart minder which I never thought to open when pawing through my knitting shelf! lol 

 When I found it, I began right away--I only have 10 days to make it before I need it for a shower gift! lol

 

DONE BUT NOT FINISHED...

Yes, this has been the consistent temperature each day; 

 we did get 1/2" of rain last night 

but it doesn't exactly 'cool' down afterwards this time of year!  

So it is a good thing I have plenty of things to keep me busy indoors!  The doily on the left is two rows short of finished but I have run out of thread!  I do hope to make it to Hobby Lobby for some more and a few balls of another color to make the dolphin doily I wanted to make back in the winter!  

The neat thing about doilies is that they can be finished at several points in their making but often the last few rows make the truly finishing touches.  I wanted these to match so I am definitely going to work those last two rows!

 

STROLL SOCKS

The colorway is called Yeti; 

 I'm not too sure about that

 but I do think they are pretty!

 I used #2.5mm needles over 64 stitches with the extended gusset heel .  The leg is my favorite k3, p1 rib. 

 The next pair of socks will be put on hold for a little bit 

because I need to knit a baby sweater

 for a friend's shower in a few weeks! 

STUDIO ATTENTIONS

My friend, Mary, popped over to load up a baby quilt; she has more than half done and will pop back over soon to finish it!  Trip Around the World is always a pretty quilt!  

She even pieced the back in an interesting pattern to use up the pretty fabrics she bought for this one!

I think I have decided on the blue for a border to contain the colors.  There is also a blue and red and orange diagonal

 but the lime green steals the show! 

 Working with color is always educational!

Here is a close up and a very good photo of true colors;  it sure is cheerful.  I'm calling it the Skittles Quilt! lol

Lastly, I cut out four more  blocks worth of pieces for the Indigo and Linen quilt.  I will look forward to piecing them when  Mary comes Monday to finish her quilting!

 

ANOTHER KINDA BOWL!

 When I was looking for the piping for the pillows the other day, I came across this hank of cotton rope.

 I knew immediately I wanted to make a basket!

  I circled around and around-it is very meditative

 and then when there were only a few yards left,

 I added the handles and finished off with the little flourishes

 on the side to secure the end of the rope. 

 Very satisfying, if I do say so myself!

Today, I will be finish piecing the gingham quilt top and then work on some more indigo and linen star blocks!  What are you up to today?

PILLOW TALK!

Two new pillows to brighten up the family room! 

 I've been in a mood to finish projects that are cut out and waiting for me!  (This is our old cat who is blind, who recognized a new smell and had to check it out!)

I quilted the fronts of the pillows and then made some thin piping.

Next came the zipper and sewing it all together!  

I used a 20" pillow form to stuff it.

The invisitible zipper allows it to be laundered easily 

and it is also, well, invisible so it is a comfy pillow!

 

FABRIC

I managed to sew the remaining pieces for  the gingham rail fence quilt.  I will be sewing the blocks together today!

I plan to cut out some more pieces for the Indigo and linen stars;  we'll see if it will be a table runner or a lap quilt! lol

And another apron just popped right from under the needle-I have two more cut out and ready to sew, too.  I have several friends that I will gift these to!

 

NO WOOD ON WEDNESDAY!

The garage is just too hot to work in my corner where the lathe resides!  We are still smack dab in the dog days of Summer hitting heat indexes of 119^F-I don't last long at those numbers!  I'm doing pretty good if I can fill the bird feeders and water a plant or two!  I'm missing working at the lathe-I look at the wood and imagine what it can become;  I will store the ideas up for the first 'normal' temperature day that comes our way!   Instead, I did play in the studio doing piecing and cutting up the gingham that arrived!  I also made this pillowcase for the young lady I taught to sew this year.  It matches her pajama bottoms.    I did have to take a few seams out until I could remember how to make it without any exposed seams inside--I figured it out eventually! lol  It was good for me!  The rest of the day, I took turns at each of the projects I showed the other day--the doily seemed cursed but then I figured out what I was doing wrong and added several inches to it successfully!

JUST A BIT OF STITCHING

I made the linen pants! 

 Pants can be tricky because there are so many points that are critical for fit!  I am of an age where elastic pants are perfection and there was a lot of tweaking to do but I nailed it!

I wore the pants today (hence the wrinkles) but they are so comfortable and just what I envisioned to go with this knit top!

I ended up piecing the border strips with the other small pieces and today I will be stitching it together

 so it will go to the quilting frame pile!

After just 10 minutes outside, it is time to get back and cool off inside!  It has been brutal outside!  I have a nice array of projects to entertain me when I come inside!  (from left to right;  another crochet hat, the doily and the second sock)

 Lena likes me to make a 'fort' for her under the pillows-I am glad to accomodate her!

#1 and #2

The first re-sock is completed! I am much happier with this one!

I took notes which is a good thing because it is the best fitting sock I have ever made!  It is a toe-up sock and I make a gusset which I increased from a count of 32 to 56 and who knew an additional 4 increased stitches (for 4 more rows) could make such a difference!  Who says you can't improve on an old plan?!

I also began the second doily.  I had to do a great examination of the first one to see where I 'goofed' to end up with only 11 points instead of 12 so that the two doilies will match! lol  I found the row and I did comteplate ripping back the first one but gave that up!  I will make this one to match and have a pair of unique doilies instead!

And a month late, the red curcumin is in bloom!  With many more buds in sight, I will be enjoying these flowers until and if, we have a frost!  (which is hard to imagine with the recent high temps!)

 

A BUCKET HAT

I finally managed to crochet a bucket hat with the linen

which I had spun a few years ago.  

My first attempt on knitting without a pattern resulted

 in a floppy brim hat which I didn't want!

The next attempt ws almost better but it wasn't classy enough and still had ripples instead of a flat brim.

I gave up on the self-designing and hunted through a ton of free hat patterns to find one with just the right yarn, too. 

 The pattern stitches  for ventilation are just the touch that set this pattern above the others;  and now it's mine!

MOVING THINGS ALONG IN THE STUDIO!

I finished the quilt on the frame even though the binding

 needs to be applied before it is really done!

So one quilt top needed to come off the design wall

 to load onto the now emptied frame!

And a new scrap quilt is on the wall to fill the sempty spot on the design wall!  This one is from 5 colors of gingham; of course, 

I ran out of orange and red so will continue work on this one

 in a few days after I get more fabric! 

 So much for using up the stash up! lol

 

ANNOTHER SPRING!

 Alexander Springs was incredible.  Easy swimming, occasional rocks and shells on the sandy bottom and even some fossils!  We packed another picnic lunch and plenty of drinks because it was sunny hot but the cold water kept us from feeling like we were cooking! lol  In the far back right there is a 40' deep spring which cast the brilliant turqoise color to the water!  There was a group of scuba divers who explored the 'well' and were underwater for about an hour!  We did see wildlife, too;  an ospry which dove in the water for fish and swooped just over our heads while doing so!  There were also a pair of otters and an alligator which cleared out a whole section of the water when he swam along the far side!  I also had an encounter with a snake as I was stepping onto the stairs--Bill yelled, "Watch out; snake!" I fell back out of the way but had  a surge of adrenaline which robbed me of a year, I'm sure!  It was the stuff of nightmares!  Would I go again? 

 In a heartbeat!  It was a wonderful time!  

The only sobering point about the visit was the fact that it cost $12 a person-even for the kids!  The other parks were $5 a car!  I will say that this price did produce a park

 that was NOT CROWDED!  

OLD PROJECTS--NEW FINISHES!

My oldest son bought two oil paintings almost 30 years ago and they needed some repair and cleaning.  I glued the canvas onto its board again (it had curled off;  dried out)  and replaced the board to the back of the frame again.  I cleaned and polished the frames and had to admit, it perked them up nicely!

On the back was written the artist, Howard Brandt, and the date they were painted, 1970, and the price originally asked, $480.  I will admit, my son did not pay that much for the pair at a garage sale in 1994! I will be packing these up and mailing them to Washington State to him--they are out of my storage finally!

Do you see the glass bottle bottoms that I rethreaded into a windchime?!  They were threaded with cotton string which had rotted long ago but I knew I could fix it and enjoy it when I saw it at the thrift store but I let it stay in the box for way too long!  No longer.  It is now hung up in the newly created corner of the lanai and it catches the breeze and lightly tinkles beautifully!  

The sock that I ripped out is knit again and I like it tons more!  I will be beginning the leg in another inch, I will be knitting it in the k3, p1, which I enjoy knitting and wearing.  I also made a change to the gusset numbers and will do it like this from now on-the heel fits much better with a bit more room.  I'm feeling pretty good about the sucesses, I must admit!

 

ALL ABOUT THE HOUSE

I ripped out the latest sock--the yarn just destroyed the zig zag pattern so I ripped it back out to the toe and am beginning again.  There is a lot to be said for the vanilla sock!

There was a call for blocks from Cynthia of the Quilting is more fun than Housework blog so I dug through the stash and whipped off six blocks to send.

In between T-storms, I dashed out to get a picture of the Passion Fruit flower!  It is about 4" across and just full of alien beauty!  You can see another bud behind this one and there are several more buds and blooms on the vine!  Exciting stuff!

Another thrill is the Curcumin finally blooming!  These flowers are 5-6" tall.  It is not unusual to find a little tree frog in the 'pockets'!

Tumeric is in the Curcumin family and often the names are interchangeable but these are flowers and not to be dug up for a spice;  instead they spice up my garden!

(I'm late with this post because I fell asleep last night instead of blogging! lol)

 

DOILY SUCCESS

Doilies like lace shawls must be blocked!

  I soak it, wring it out and pin it out on a board.

I spray it with starch and let it dry thoroughly. 

 When I was blocking it out, I realized I made a slight mistake-this has only 11 points and not 12.  When it was a wad in my lap,

 I never noticed.  I am not going to rip it out--

it is going to be unique!

 In fact, I am going to make another just like it 

for my other end table!