Off the Needles and Just in Time!

Now that Christmas is past, I can show a couple more finishes.  For the two joggers in the family I made  hats with Schachenmyr's Lumio yarn.  Iit reflects the light, thanks to a thread that's wound in with the yarn.  The yarn itself is really bulky, so it knits up fast, and the hats should be warm. Surprisingly, I had yarn left over from each skein.  If you double click on the blue hat, you can see how it picked up the flash. The other day I saw some similar yarn at Jo-Ann's, but I got these two online.

This prayer shawl was delivered today to a quilting friend who is undergoing cancer treatment for a very aggressive kind of cancer.  Sure hope it lifts her spirits a little.

I was happy to receive this photo the other day of all three of the Chicago gang wearing their knits.  They are a happy bunch, aren't they?

There are still a couple more finishes to show but not till the upcoming birthdays are over.  Happy New Year Everyone!  How can it be 2015? Check out what others are knitting at Patchwork Times.

Another Kind of Art ~ Gingerbread!

Every year between Thanksgiving and New Year's, the Sheraton Hotel sponsors a Gingerbread Village to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes research, and each year the "houses" are a little more amazing.  At the beginning of the month we went to see this year's exhibit; the theme was "Jingle All the Way". 

You've never seen so much gingerbread!  I would love to watch the construction process. The hotel cooks team with local architects. 

Can you see the Space Needle and the ferry boat?  

Here's the other side of the downtown Seattle scene. On one side there was a crane (lots of building going on in our town) which had a gingerbread Seahawks player on it.

This tropical island was on the back of a giant sea turtle!

 A manger scene complete with lots of sheep and a gigantic star.  Can you see the inn?

And here we have Hollywood with a gingerbread palm tree and roller coaster. I can't begin to imagine how much sugar and flour went into this project, not to mention candies of all types.  If you live in the area, these will all be on display until January 5th.

And the good news is, all my Christmas projects are done, done, done.  Some even have been delivered and in one case, put into use.  When I saw my BIL in November, it became clear that he really needed a Santa hat, and here he is wearing it.  Looks good, eh?

Have a wonderful holiday Everyone!

Off the Needles and Still Knitting Like Crazy!

It's that time of year when I wish I could knit a whole lot faster!  If I were smart, I would start sooner, but who feels like knitting Christmas stockings in July, or April?  I have managed a few finishes that I can show, and then there are others that are still secret.

Here's the Mrs. Weatherby Dishcloth which looks nice (and different) on both sides. It alternates the yarn every 2 rows which is kind of fun to watch. This is side two:

It's one of 52 free dishcloth patterns on the Knit Picks site and good practice on the linen stitch..

Not too long ago, I accidentally ordered Kidsilk Creation  yarn instead of Kidsilk Haze, but it made an interesting ruffled scarf without too much work, and I still have another hank of it!    A happy accident, I'd say.

I really like this pattern for fingerless mitts and plan to make it again. It's on Ravelry here.

If you're looking for a quick project, try this headband, again at Ravelry.

This is a long-time UFO that is finally finished!  It is also on Ravely, and I love the stitch and have used it on lots of scarves.

If you've never knit with Pixie Dust, it's quite interesting and quick.  Another scarf off the needles. Hurrah!

Two of the three Christmas stockings have been delivered, and the third one (for their dad) was finished yesterday. Hurrah!  I'm sure glad DD only has 2 kids, and their names are short! 

There are a few things yet to finish, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Maybe next year I'll be ahead of the game? To see what others are knitting go to Patchwork Times for inspiration.

Small Quilts but Terrific! (More from last month's show)

Life has been a little crazy these past few weeks, and it's taken until now to finally post the rest of the quilt show photos.  The smaller quilts were hung upstairs at the show, and I think they were the best!

This one fits the season, doesn't it?  It was part of a group challenge to make a quilt with penguins.  Wouldn't Elvis love it?

Guess which month is featured in this one?

Another group challenge included this 3 dimensional piece, a technique I'd never seen before.

Here is the same piece from another angle.

Here's another one from the same challenge, inspired by Mount Rainier, I think.

This one has lots of fun details as does the one below.

~~~

It's so interesting to see the different interpretations of the same theme, especially this one which included some really fascinating 3-D!

As did this one.

All things Swiss were highlighted in this one.

I thought the applique on this one was very pretty.

And these two featured really interesting stitching.

The show included a number of quilts by young quilters, and this one received a ribbon. That about wraps up my quilt photos except for the ones by a friend in my quilt group, and I'm saving those for one last post.  Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did. 

Off the Needles at Last!

It's been an interestingly crazy week which included singing at our former pastor's memorial service, a visit with the GK, volunteering at the hospital, choir practice on Tuesday night instead of the usual Thursday, helping a friend whose husband is ill, and of course, Thanksgiving.  Needless to say, not a whole lot of stitching got accomplished, but I do have several finishes, one of which I can't show yet.  Here are the others, however.

I finished another Seahawks hat and still have yarn leftover! They won yesterday, hurrah!

Mere's Almost Lost Dishcloth is a fun and quick knit and looks great in all different colorways.  If you've not tried it, you should.  I also discovered another fun pattern called the Mrs. Merryweather Dishcloth which is a good way to learn/practice the linen stitch.  You can find this pattern free along with 51 other dishcloths at KnitPicks!  So long for now, I'm off to the grocery story in between rain storms. Remember to check out the projects at Patchwork Times.

A Very Special Weekend!

If you ever find yourself in Seattle, one of the places you might want to visit is the Space Needle, which has been here since 1962, and is a Seattle landmark. A rather new attraction is the relatively new Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit. This past weekend we went to both places with Dick's brother and our sister-in-law, who were visiting from Palo Alto, and both places are wonderful. On a clear day we can see the Space Needle in the distance from a hill near our house, but there's nothing quite like looking down on the city and the surrounding area from on top of it! This past weekend the weather was clear and very crisp (COLD), and the view was spectacular.  If you double click on the photo, you can see Mount Baker way off in the distance.

After a very tasty lunch a some time at the observation platform above the restaurant, we went across the way to the Chihuly exhibit. It is wonderful!

I loved this ceiling and the way the colors reflect off the walls.

This is one of two glass-filled boats floating in water.

A beautiful arrangement of glass flowers fills the upper part of the conservatory which Chihuly designed.  As you can see, the flowers also frame the Space Needle.

This glass tree is located in the conservatory for the upcoming holidays and is filled with golden cherubs.

The gardens outside are lovely also. The pieces of glass are skillfully situated among the plants and are very interesting.

The glass just glows in the sunlight, and I loved the way the log is placed among the pieces.

Every so often there's a piece that reflects the Needle in all its glory.

Of course our weekend also included a visit with two of our favorite little people.

Stella just woke up from her nap

and  Max enjoyed looking at pictures of the Chihuly exhibit with Uncle Bob. It was a very nice weekend!