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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Knitting and Stitching ~ Off and On the Needles

Our frosty weather is gone, and the rain has returned, allowing time to finish some projects and revisit others. The April Showers sock is growing! I caught up and am ready to start Clue 3 which includes the gussets and some rain drops, as if we need any more. LOL


This week I finished two scarves, another ruffly one and a long-standing UFO. This is the second black sparkly scarf, but this time I was very disappointed in the yarn. It had a 30" piece right in the middle of the ball that was defective, all raveled and without sparkle. The end result was a shorter scarf. :-(   I was upset enough to email the company, and they nicely offered to send me a replacement ball.*


The other scarf is from a very fun Ann Norling pattern and made with Tonalita, a Trendsetter yarn. When I finished I realized that I'd added 2 stitches and that one end is a bit bigger than the other. It hasn't bugged me enough to rip....yet. But it's a good lesson to remember to check the stitch count frequently, even on a scarf!


Lastly, I'm happy to report that all of the blue embroidery lines washed out of my Sunbonnet Sew blocks, and I have half of them sashed. Yay!  Now back to work.......


*UPDATE:  My goodness!  They sent me a package with 3 balls of yarn, a tape measure, a wonderful knitting bag and several patterns for projects using that yarn.  What amazing service!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

It's chilly and foggy again today.  We just got back from our walk where we saw lots of evidence of freezing fog, so Dick went back out with his camera.


Tree branches high and low were lightly frosted.


Can you see the car in this picture?


In the summer these hardy rose bushes have flowers and leaves; today they are dusted with ice.


Spider webs were iced, too.  Any brave flies could see them easily!


This spider web reminds me of an icy trampoline.


At least today the frost was confined to the vegetation, and the black ice was temporarily  gone from the roads and sidewalks.  Last Thursday we heard a car take the curve too fast and jump the curb a ways behind us. Walks can be very interesting!

Friday, January 18, 2013

On the Needles ~ and Off

Bad, bad, bad! Instead of finishing my other socks, I joined a KAL Mystery at the Knitters Brewing Company for a sock called April Showers. So far, I can see the flowers, and the second clue seems to contain an umbrella. I am behind already, but we shall see how this progresses. The yarn is a pretty color, that's for sure.


And just this morning, I finished another ruffled scarf, this time in off-white.  They are SO addictive, and would you believe, another one has somehow jumped right back onto my needles?


Those other socks are just going to have to wait, along with Sunbonnet Sue......

Monday, January 14, 2013

The Week that Was~

Last week was an interesting one! We found a January rose in our garden, and soon after the temperature dropped to the upper twenties, the coldest yet this winter.


I finally finished the Monster sweater just in time for Max's first birthday celebration. How can he be one already?



And it fits with room to grow!


A couple other projects were completed, too, this dishcloth


and these Pocket Book Slippers:


They work well, too. Thanks, Kathy for the pattern link! It's a great way to use up leftover yarn.



Sunbonnet Sue even got a bit of attention. I cut apart the blocks and arranged them. Now they are almost ready to sash, but first I have to rinse out the embroidery "blue lines". Wish me luck!


Stay tuned!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

First post of 2013, finally!

Happy New Year!  Our computer has been acting strange all day but seems to have decided to cooperate in the last few minutes, so I can finally show my remaining Christmas projects.  It took forever to finish this sweater which was from a Mary Maxim kit purchased when Sophia still wore a size 4.  I gambled and cast on the size six and was delighted to discover the kit contained enough yarn.  (Nevermind that I now have a brand new back up skein and am totally sick of this "super pink" yarn..)


It fits! And with room to grow. Yay!


I took a few liberties with the pattern, did ribbing on the sleeves and at the bottom instead of a roll like on the neck.and added a white stripe on the cuffs. I used tiny black buttons instead of french knots for the eyes and buttons.  The scarf was supposed to be striped but by the time I got to that part I couldn't imagine more ends to sew in and made it plain blue.


The back, I think, was supposed to be a repeat of the motif on the front, but I decided to make the back view of the snowman.  The pattern was unclear about what to do exactly and this seemed like more fun. 


With this crazy project, I  gained new respect for shoemakers! Remind me not to go there ever again!


This doll bed has a history.  My sister and I played with it as did our girls.  It took a bit of polishing and a bit of sewing to make it usable, and we sent it on its way.  Poor thing nearly was demolished during the trip, but Michael repaired it so that Sophia and Red Bear can put it to use. Hopefully, it'll survive a little longer!


And now I have to get back to my project for this little guy who just turned ONE! Can you believe it? And can you believe I find a project with even more ends to sew in than the last one? Go figure.