Hats Off to You!

 Because I am not using any of my handspun sock yarn in my sock yarn scrap blanket, I had several balls of the handspun in my stash.

The first hat used the browns in the gradiated ball.

 Then the second was all in the greens.

This one I used a rolled edge instead of ribbing.

I think it looks like a little Spring Sprout!

And I threw the Chroma yarn hat in the washer and dryer and it shrunk a bit in the length mostly but only slightly because it still fits the doll model!

Now that's good news because I have a lot of this yarn to use up!

Desert Places

Not too far out back, is a very arid area of our yard that has precious little tree cover.  As a result, the area is very different from the rest of our property.

This is the section that attracts the Gopher Tortoise.

We have several active holes. 

 The size of the hole reflects the size of the tortoise-it is oval shaped like them, too!

Bill plants all kinds of things around their homes to make the area more attractive since he doesn't mow over these spots!

This is the first Rain Lily of the season!

 They are not only pretty-they smell pretty, too, and that is a rare treat here!

 Another plant that is happy out in the 'desert' is a multitude of cactus!

The fruit is growing on this one-

 And a new bloom is getting ready to open!

 There are Spanish Sword and sago palms,

 And this unknown scrub bush is blooming.

 When you are driving and see one of these pasture bushes in bloom-it looks like it is covered in bubbles!

See what I mean?!  I should look up what these are so we can all know!

A Shadow Hat

I found this while looking in my patterns for something else, as so often happens to me now.

It is a newborn hat.

I thought I needed to get my annual hats for the hospital going, especially having been encouraged (shamed) to begin some charity knitting! lol

This pattern is written for worsted weight, I used fingering weight.

The stitch pattern worked just fine;  

all I had to do was change the needle size (to a #3)

and up the stitch count to 90 from 60.

It went off without a hitch and was a very enjoyable knit.

The only problem is that I used some leftover Chroma yarn
from KnitPicks and it is hand wash/dry only
....not a great idea for a baby hat.

I think this one will be a doll hat for me and now I will use some 

superwash sock yarn for the ones to donate!

(It is a free pattern on Ravelry by Debbie Caldwell)

Bibbed

When you have some guest towels you never use....

but you need a couple more towel bibs, what do you do?!

(This antique was given to me at a baby shower for my youngest (30yo) and it remains in use for all the grands have used it!)

Get creative!

I cut the neck holes....

Added the ribbing.

Removed the lace!

And now have two very helpful towel bibs for youngest chower!

I do like a successful mission!

(And even though I missed all the sickness going around this winter,

I now have a doozy of a head cold!

Life is moving fast all around me.

And I am moving like molasses on snow.....

Angel's Trumpet

 This bloom is about 15" long;  I know it is hard to imagine

 but this plant becomes a very large vine and needs room to grow.  

This is a small plant but already it has the large bloom of  an adult plant. 

 When viewed from the bottom, the plant takes on the appearance of an snow angel!

See what I mean!

And no, in case you are wondering-there is no powerful floral aroma.

The attraction is beyond our nasal abilities but sure sets off our visual delights!

Progress Stitch by Stitch

When you keep stitching, it is easy to miss the fact you are making progress on a large quilt.

But when I walked back into the room later and saw this,

I was very excited to see I am nearing the end of my medallion quilt finally!

 During this afternoon's swim time, I sat sideline and finished the cuff on my second Solar sock.

 They turned out pretty and fun.

Comfortable in KnitPicks Stroll, over 64 sts on 2.55 needles.
I have enough yarn left to make some super shorty socks and will even have
enough to use in my sock yarn scraps blanket!

Memory Lanes

 I dug this out of the hope chest just to see how it was holding up.

My maternal grandmother sewed this for my Mom when she became pregnant with me.

This qualifies as an antique now that means!

 My Mom gave these to me when I was pregnant with my firstborn, my daughter.

This was when women tastefully draped their clothes over their burgeoning forms.

(I am not fond of the present absence of maternity clothing, can you tell?! lol)

These blouses are treasures to me!

When my parents go back north , they bring left over food to us.

Anyone ever eat canned frosting on graham crackers?

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

(And so did the boys!)

Perspective Lessons

 This is where we went Saturday for Art Class, Sprague House, an historic building in town that is a restaurant/inn now.

We sat on this side and looked the house over and chose where and what we wanted to highlight.

 We looked at an overview-you know, the BIG picture

 and then particular details to bring out in our painting.

The cell ph pics were to help us back in our studio

 to find things we might have missed in the first sketching.

For example, we all missed the fact that there were flags on the railing!

 This is the beginning of my point of view for the class.

And then when I looked at my last photo, I knew I would do this sketch and painting again with the VERTICAL view-I loved the balance of this one the best!

Just like a good shawl pattern, there is that what if moment-what would happen if I knit this in a different yarn or skipped that part or added a border.......

you get the idea.

DILEMMA!

In early March, I place the hummingbird feeder on my front porch.

It is always exciting to see the early scouts show up.

And then I have a regular detail of birds feeding here.

I enjoy it so much.

BUT

this year someone else

or I should say a whole bunch of someones is showing up 

and deterring the hummingbirds from feeding here.

At first I didn't mind sharing-FL has a real problem

with the decline of the honeybee like so many other states.

But they are swarming the feeder

and filling the air around the feeder with their presence.

This is hanging right on the veranda that runs the full length of the house 

and where the boys do all of their early morning playing.

While the bees don't seem to be aggressive,

I am afraid as their numbers increase, there will be a sting in the future.

What to do?

For now, I have pulled the feeder off the porch and given up on the whole idea.

I am not happy about it!

Art Class News

My latest painting that put to use the lessons on architecture and I had to include a bird, of course!

Today is a new lesson on drawing and painting a local landmark on site!

How very painterly!

I can't wait!

The Evening Knitter

 One sock in the Solar pattern is finished.

 A great pattern and an interesting yarn makes this a great knit.

 I bound off and immediately cast on the second sock.

I don't have a lot of time to knit during the day but with an hour a night, progress is certainly measurable!
I also get to knit on the way to and from church-that is a very relaxing time while Bill drives and we talk easy and relevant stuff.....

These are the poinsettias on either side of my front sidewalk.  Isn't their coloring interesting?

It reminds me of the socks!

Bucket List

 Chasing little boys

 to find the pine tree forest

and harvest its needles.