On the Needles

 I have a new pair of socks on the needles-

I know, the yellow yarn is supposed to be the marker between repeats

 but I thought a happy yellow toe would be just right

 for my son-in-law's new pair of socks!

The hat for great-niece was finished 

and sent a while ago 

but I have continued to work on the mitts 

and now leg warmers for her so she will have a winter set ready for use! 

 I finished one repeat for the legwarmer 

and now will reverse it for the other end. 

 It goes quickly when I sit and stick with it!

Cabled Mitts

 The SilverSpun Cabled Mitts are finished.

 I did a good job of knitting them to the right yardage because I only had a few yards leftover!
 I wanted the cuff as long as possible without running out of yarn!
 I used number 3 needles for the body of this sport weight yarn.
 It is v e r y  stretchy so it is a bit strange knitting with this yarn but the fit is like a wonderful massage-just right!
 I did rewrite the whole pattern-it was written out of order which is so difficult to follow and even so had so many errors it was a bit of a exercise to knit.
  It will be ready to knit next time now that I tossed the original pattern!  

 I am working along on the  Elevations Shawl-it is growing nicely but it is growing longer than wider-it is looking more like  scarf than a shawl.
  Has anyone knit this?
 Do you have any advice for me?!
  I have read and re-read the instructions and I do not see where I am doing anything wrong!
 Oh, well, I don't mind a shawl that wraps around several times!

Giving you all an Autumn welcome to my front door!

Rising Above

 The old shawl attempt was ripped out and I am knitting the Elevations shawl.

I am carrying the color up the side for the color changes 

because I couldn't bear to have all the ends to weave in!  

I am making sure I am carrying the strands Goldilocks right-

you know, not too tight or too loose but just right! lol

It is working out well!  

I almost have the pattern clear in my head as I work along-

I do forget what side I am on every once in a while

 so I am grateful for the stitch marker on the front 

so I can glance for the assurance of which side is which!  

I also managed to make some binding and sew it in place. 

I must have imagined I already cut and sewed and pressed some for this quilt!

I couldn't find it anywhere, if I did indeed make some.

It's so much fun to age....

And here is the quilt after a good wash and dry to finish it.  I do love the look  cotton batting gives to my quilts!

The wavering lines or mistakes are all subtle now and it looks great!

And a new quilt is on the frame already!  This one is for my neighbor, Millie.

She finished the Shop Hop blocks we did last summer!

Sawtooth Baby Quilt

 

 I have to bind it yet, but the Sawtooth blocks for baby quilt is off the frame.

 I did some more ruler work to hone my skills-they still need honing!

This photo is for Araignee' to see that before washing, the quilts look a bit primitive but in a few days, I will show you how they improve!

The pool is getting better!  All the leaves are out-well compared to the before picture!  Until we get up in the waiting list, it will continue to collect leaves and bugs!  But it isn't as sad as before!

Autumn Leaves Shawl

I have a new project on the needles for the knit-a-long, 

I 💗 FALL.

 I am doing some major changes

but using the basic layout for the shawl.

We shall see! 

 I am alternating the handspun with some commercial yarn to stretch the yardage but I am having major doubts at this point!

I am going to rip this out 

and make this shawl from one tip to the other

 and not from the middle first and then to be worked out from each side of the central panel.

I have some major figuring to do before I will cast on again!

In the meantime, I also have this on the needles!

A new pair of therapeutic fingerless mitts.

From the decadent Silver Spun Cotton of Feel Good Yarn Company.

This time in their sport weight yarn.

A one skein pattern comes with the purchase of yarn. 

I have not checked for Errata but I am finding quite a few!

It's a good thing I have been knitting a long time

so I can 'see' a mistake before I make it in the knitting!

 This isn't a Fall color, 

but the cooler weather's bite to joints will be just what this mitt will  alleviate!

Soap for a Soaper

Even though I make my own goat's milk soap, mine is a brown soap.

It is usually peppermint or lavender or Patchouli for my DH.

It is not colored or fancy. 

So this is why I adore the generosity of Araignee 

for the occasional soap giveaways!  

Bars I do not make

....aromas I would not be so bold in choosing

...colors that thrill the eye!

And a fizzing soak for your feet followed by a moisture bar when you are done!

Thank you , Blog Friend, for your amazing work 

and sharing it with your adoring fans!

So remember when you worry you shouldn't give yarn to a knitter

 or fabric to a sewer- 

that just because they can buy supplies for themselves-

they would still love what they love for a gift! 

I 💗 Fall KAL

Foliage Feet are complete!

The camera won't show the color right but you get the idea.

This is a true rendition of the sock yarn colors!

I used the gusset and heel turn from the Cranberry Harvest Socks

even if I didn't use the stitch patterning.  

I will try the gusset and heel 

for future pairs of toe-up socks.

I really like the way these fit!

Beauty and Beastly

 The yellows are finished and now onto orange!  I am missing some of the spectrum for orange but I have enough to keep me busy for a bit.

 The sawtooth block quilt has finally had some quilting started-now I have to decide on what to do with the borders and sashings....

 The cats are all shedding like mad for the change in season-Lena was a bit leery of the brush at first but now gets excited as soon as she sees me coming with it!

 The latest watercolor is framed and in the new showing-my art teacher will display our latest watercolors in the town hall 

and off them for sale if you are willing.  

 I sold another bird painting which made me pretty excited! 

 I can't believe what a difference several months make in my development.

  My latest ones are all my favorites!  

The Hurricane disrupted the planned launch for September's show

 but I'm glad it did so I could display this one.

 We still have so many areas of the property that look like this-

so much work still to do to clear it all!

 Fall also means sand burrs..........these things are lethal! 

 They collect on your shoe souls and when you try to remove them, their fish hook spines stick and prick on every finger!  Ow! 

 They are also a bane to the cats;  

not only that they hurt feet 

but can be painful to the mouth as they try to remove them from their paws!

Speaking of painful-this is our pool .   One month without the pool pump does not produce beautiful, crystal clear water.   It looks like a stagnant pond .

The first pump that was sent once Bill arrive home, was defective! 

 So he had to uninstall it and ship it back, 

order a new one and we are still waiting for it to arrive!!!! 

 I am hoping by this weekend, this will begin to be an asset

 and not a health hazard!

A Fall Mitten Pattern

I ran across this pattern for mittens and thought of the I 💗 Fall KAL!

I'm thinking of translating it into a fingerless mitt pattern instead!

Here is the link for this free pattern if anyone is interested in downloading it, too.

It is knit in sock weight yarn on #2 needles.

Foliage Foot!

One plain stockinette sock off the needles

 and its mate has a beginning.

I am not going to make these match...

...they will look more like fallen foliage this way!

Messy Bun!

 I finally had a chance to finish up the Messy Bun hat

 now that the new skein of yarn arrived in the mail!

 It looks like a normal cabled hat from the side....

...with just the right 'hole' for a woman with long hair to release her messy bun!

This will head to the post today 

so my niece can wear it in time for her chilly weather up north!

Fall Sock Progress

 The sock flew along with  much more pleasure when I used plain knitting.

 I tried the gusset heel-no wrap and turns either for the heel. 

 I liked the results and the fit but will have to tweak the heel placement line on my cardboard form!

I did have to rip out and try again once.  This yarn is a bit heavier than the pattern I was trying so the row gauge was off and the first try made the sock too long.  

(It might've gone to my daughter! lol) 

 I hope to nail it with no repeats on the second one.

  I am working on the k2p2 rib for the leg now-I'm not sure how high I will make it yet.

 On the way to the beach with friends today, 

we passed the newly cut hay field and they had it all baled! 

 It looked very Fall even if the temperatures didn't reflect that at all!

We went to Corky Bell's on the St Johns River.

It was a wonderful time to catch up.

 We had a great meal at our fav restaurant and they headed to St Augustine Pier.

The tide was just going out so there were tons of shells to sort through

 and we walked up and down the beach. 

 So nice to share a day!

 When I got back home, a nice KnitPicks pkg was waiting for me!  

 This is a treat for me-one of their wooden bowls for knitters! 

 It is superb!  Don't hesitate to treat yourself to one!

I haven't shown this in a while;  I finished the top row last night. 

 It is so relaxing to knit on it one block at a time....

Fall Sock Scenery

 I was working along on the newest sock for the I 💗 FALL KAL 

when I realized, I wasn't enjoying it. 

 I wanted to whiz around and around with stockinette stitch 

and just watch the autumnal colors grow under my needles!

 I ripped back the lace and took the sock with me back to the doctor's (again) and managed to knit quite a few inches!

 "Oh, my!  How do you manage to keep your bp so low?" 

 Knit, darling, knit!

I might be knitting some beautiful *Fall socks but it still looks like summer outside;  this field on the way home was all cut for hay-they will still get one more cutting if the weather stays cooperative!

*The sock yarn will look familiar to Nancy of Wyoming Breezes because

I ordered some after seeing the yarn on her blog.

It is Berrocco Sock yarn;  

since I liked their DK, I wanted to give the sock weight yarn a try, too!

Quilting Frame FO

 Millie's cancer awareness quilt is off the frame! 

As always, it went very quickly once I decided on the stitching repertoire!

 She sewed the strips into a catchy design made from 

a jelly roll in cancer ribbons.

 Here's a look at the stitching patterns I decided upon!

And as soon as I pulled her quilt off, 

I loaded on the Sawtooth Star block quilt!

Winding Ways Wonder

 I finally got around to cutting out a pile of pieces from the Accuquilt Die, Winding Ways. 

Can you get lost in the designing of this quilt or what?!

I laid out a bunch of the black pieces 

and then filled in with the colors to make as complete

 or incomplete circles as  I wanted!

 Some of the blocks will be many colors....

 ...you can see how it will be easy to get lost!  

The blocks will have to go from the design wall right to the machine 

and right back to the design wall!

 Some of the blocks are simpler and

Some are the simplest with only two colors!

I pieced one to see how to do it!  

The curves are pretty gentle so there wasn't a lot of pinning required!

  I think this will keep me (and the design wall!) busy for a long time!