On the Needles or Done and Undone

About six weeks ago I joined the Trapeze Mystery KAL.  Today was the last clue, and I am only just about done with Clue 3.  What happened?  Life, I guess.  We will soon be visiting our grandkids, and what started out as one hat ended  up as four.  You can't make a hat for one and not the other right?  And then there's the new baby we will see and the grandson who lives here.  So four hats and a pair of booties later is why I'm lagging behind on my shawl.  It's pretty though, and I'll finish it sooner or... later.  And yes, you're right, the holidays are coming up.  How do I know?  Well, grandson #3 has a new Halloween costume, and our quilt group just got the Christmas Stocking Assignment......

Hat number three.  Do you recognize the yarns?

Hat number 4. Can you believe it's really purple?

I still want to add some pink ribbons to these Booties.

And in the midst of all this knitting, I realized that this month's Sunbonnet Sue block was supposed to be done by tomorrow.  This week's TAST stitch was the knotted buttonhole which I used on the edge of her hat.  Yep, that shawl will get done.....someday!

On and Under the Needles

This Anemone hat pattern by Cat Bhordi is really fun!  I think it will be very popular with a little miss we'll soon be visiting.

My other project this week was to figure out where to use the drizzle stitch on thins month's Sunbonnet Sue block.  The grass won!  The stitch is rather like casting on a knitting needle....

The rest of my week involved lots and lots of peaches, 2 batches of freezer jam and 2 jars of peaches and orange juice, as well as a fun afternoon with Becca of Patina Moon. Check out her blog for some great photos of Seattle's houseboats.

Doin' the Puyallup!

When  we went to the fair last weekend in Puyallup, we had fun looking at the various exhibits and animals as well as watching the spinners, especially the one who was using a drop spindle made from an old CD and a piece of dowling.  But for me, the highlight was this crazy quilt from the 1890's!  The woman told us it was purchased at a garage sale for only $3.00 and is appraised now at least $8,000!  Personally, I think it's priceless.  What beautiful stitching!

Here's another shot of the other end.  Sorry about the reflection off the glass; it was kept securely under lock and key.

The other thing that caught my eye were these elaborately decorated cakes.....done by kids! Don't those dollies look happy?

Have you ever seen a sweeter garden?

This was the prize winner in the adult competition. Isn't it realistic?  I've been wondering what was used for the ice.

It would have been hard for me to know how cut this one up to serve!  (It won a green ribbon.)  Speaking of cakes, it's our older daughter's birthday today.  I sure hope someone in Chicago baked her a cake.  Happy Birthday, Jill!

Off the Needles Update

One hat done and two to go!  I added a yellow stripe because the green was running short, and now I have enough yellow and green left to make another hat with the colors in reverse. Hurrah!  The third hat is going to be a purple multi in a very interesting pattern.  Stay tuned and don't ask about my other projects, OK?

Look who's one month old!  Doesn't her mommy look happy?  Sophia was happy to visit Madeline along with the rest of her family, happy to see the baby and happy to be out of the car.  It's a long way from Chicago to Minneapolis! Wonder whether I can finish a pair of booties before we make the trip?

Now I need to get to work, stringing some beads and knitting like crazy.  See ya!

On the Needles ~ Way Too Much!

Doesn't everyone have some fall back projects? I seem to have them everywhere, ones to turn to when some other project is driving me crazy. At the moment I am working on two shawls and getting lots of experience with ripping and reknitting. Whenever I want to throw up my hands, that's when I turn to something "plain." (I never ever say simple or easy because then if I run into trouble I feel really silly.) So here they are, my two sanity savers of the week:

This is my second Brown Sugar sock, a plain vanilla one. The yarn color is called brown sugar, but don't ask me why.

GS David loves the color green, and when I saw this yarn at Spin A Yarn last weekend, it just had his name on it. The pattern's a row of 1/1 ribbing followed by a row of plain knitting, but now I'm wondering whether there will be enough yarn. Time will tell. And the shawls? They are in Time Out for the moment.......

Once in a Blue* Moon....

.....do we have current photos of all four grandkids at the same time! (Did you see the moon? It has been beautiful the past few nights.)

Here's David on the first day of school.  He's a big second grader now! (It's finally been cool enough in Chicago for Sophia to wear the poncho I knit.)

Sophia  loves her new doll carrier.  Although we have heard, that Red Bear has taken it over.

Daniel and Sophia seem quite happy that Daniel's at last old enough to go to preschool. (This is the first time I've seen a photo of Sophia wearing the dress I knit.  Looks like it'll fit a while! ) Thanks for these photos, Jill and Michael.

Photos of Opa are rare indeed, as he is the usual photographer-in-chief. Max was having fun looking in Opa's pocket.

* When there are 2 full moons in one month, it's called a blue moon.  It didn't look blue though, at least to us.