If Words...

 ..could be seen, they would look like smiles and hugs and stories that fill rooms and hearts!  Instead I will show you some of the projects are hand are busy with while we share words!  I showed Mom how to make the Sunburst Granny Square.  I used a bigger hook than she but we made the blocks and now she has one for a blanket and the other for a pattern!

 We have also been learning how to do Mosaic knitting-I finally got the gist of it and Mom had to rip hers out for a redo but she is well on her way now!  This is the hashtag pattern from an old issue of Creative Knitting Magazine.

 We had a visit from the newest family member-little Hannah was wearing the new outfit from me and her pearls while girl talking with great grandma!

Both of our Scrubby Cotton dishcloths (washcloths) are finished!  

And to round out the day, we experimented with a new crochet idea for using up scraps-the single crochet, chain one is simple but gives a nice woven look.

It's great to have two heads to bounce designs back and forth!

Socks and Such

 Socks off the needles and on the feet-for my sister! 

 The yarn gifted to me without labels;  

I know I've knitted with it before but still can't remember the specifics!

I knit this over 64 stitches on 2.50mm needles with varying cable needles! lol

I knit this basic dishcloth with the RedHeartScrubby yarn in Cotton this time.

It has a ....well, cottony feel over the polyester version.

Makes it good for either the kitchen or bath!

The Power of Water

 Lake Ontario was showing its stuff today!  Wind and waves were pretty wild!

 I was glad some rocks were still dry for me to chose from.....the painting rock craze is in my town, too!  I can take a few home with me in my suitcase but these things weigh a lot for the space they don't take up!

I collected 11 pounds worth on this collection!

 It looked calm and pretty for a few seconds and then......

 boom!  The waves would explode and 15-20 ft spray would shoot up! 

 We drove a bit down the shoreline for a photo of the Oswego Lighthouse and I will have you know that immediately after I took this, my Mom yelled, 'Look out!' and a rogue wave got me-soaked right down to the skin!

 I did take this one on the way back to the car.....someone was getting a cloudburst!

 Under the foam in this photo resides 20' of flat rocks that you can usually walk on-not today!  Beautiful coastline pic for my watercolor class, though!

And the best reason for gathering at the Lake, family-

my annual meeting with cousins who live in Oswego. 

 And we eat at Rudy's where they make the best Haddock sandwiches in the USA!

Color and Lushness

 I embroidered this little onesie for my newest  great-niece!  It was a tight squeeze to get it into the hoop and under the needle but it finally worked out! 

It was nice to be able to deliver it in person-

                              I will share a picture of her in it in a few days!                          

 Here is a great view of my parent's home from the point of view of this Heliopsis.

 This clump of them are 7' tall!  Just beautiful!

 This year the chipmunks didn't destroy the clematis!

 And all the rain has produced a bumper crop of hydrangea!

There is such a variation of blues within the bush....

I'm going to be sketching this scene and doing some watercolor soon!

(Just between the garage and thee house is a building-it's my sister's house so that will be a neat view to include!)

My sister-in-law brought me this little music box with an upright spinning wheel (also called a castle wheel) with a distaff holding the linen!

It is going up on my treasures shelf when I get home!

Back to the Nest

 

 So nice to come back with my family.  I arrived home in time for my baby sister's birthday and we had a family cookout!

We are the three fledglings...

I had a knitting emergency on the plane when I decided to change the pattern for the sock I was knitting; I chose the Zigzagular socks which then required a cable needle.   I tried it without said needle and couldn't keep the stitch pinched in place.  I ended up looking in my purse for something and came up with this!  It worked great!  Since we had 6 more hours of travel time than planned due to mechanical difficulties, I was not going to just sit there with nothing to do!

It worked fine and I had a completed sock when I hit the ground in NY!

A Shift in My Universe

 My Georgia peaches arrived late Monday to visit so I can.....

 leave from here........

 pit-stop here.........

and arrive here to be greeted by my parents!

I have a vacation planned.  

Small Accomplishments

 I quilted the little orts quilt-I am going to sew the backing to it like a pillow and then put a foam core poster board in it for a  wall hanging/wall art.

 Since the socks are off the needles, I have been working on this summer sweater-I am almost ready to separate for front and back.  It is Merino/angora so it feels like a wonderful silky cat in my lap!

The first beach scene is on the 'gallery' wall!   I am pretty happy with this one!

(The littlest guy is sick and he has been very needy!  Fever let go today so hoping for well soon!)

Leaving Paw Prints!

 Another pair of Tuxie Love socks are off the needles!

 Coming or 

Going.....these socks are leaving prints wherever they go!

Tuxie Love pattern

Size 2.5mm needles

KnitPicks Stroll Fingering yarn in Rabbit Heather and White

(Modified to add a knit in paw print on the bottom of the foot and in the short row heel in this pair of TOE-UP Socks)

Suiting Quilts and Fruit

 This is why the frame was empty for Millie's quilt the other day....

I finished all the men's suit samples quilts.  

Here are all four lap blankets for the donation pile!

 The banana grove has fully recovered from the Hurricane Matthew.

 In fact, there are three healthy bunches of bananas growing!
Bananas take about 4 months of growth before you can pick them.

 Aren't they interesting?!  It helps waiting when they are so pretty!

From the bananas to the tip of the flower is 3-4'.

 Other signs of the hurricane are still in sight.......

This is one of my favorite Live Oak trees

 and it had the center twisted right out of it! 

 It is unusual for these to lose branches 

but it met its match in the hurricane this time!

We need a day to just cut branches 

and burn up the piles while it is the rainy season!

Charms and Jungles

 A new charm pack of has so much potential....

This one has four pieces of each fabric 

so I could use them to make something special.

 I quartered each 5" square of fabric, 

added a half square triangle to two of the squares,

 and sewed them back together! 

 Randomly, they are pretty all mixed up.

 But the fun thing about these shapes 

is you can also make recognizable blocks out of them, too! 

 I generally like order instead of random (chaos) 

so I will see how this little quilt turns out!

 My neighbor, Millie, also brought over a baby quilt she had pieced. 

 I loaded it right up on the frame!

 And give me a few hours and I had it finished with an allover pantograph!

 Didn't she pick the cutest fabrics?  The banana border is a great touch!

And the backing is just right, too!   

It is nice to have a quick project for the frame!