Needle Magic

The magic is that I have gotten just past the sleeves: can you see them?  Now I will be just doing SS down the body until  I get to the band. 










I did finish my socks today.  I love how the fit and feel.  I am going to start another pair as soon as I find my other worsted weight yarn. 

















Can you see the bind off?  It is Judy’s Magic Bind Off which makes for a very stretchy bind off.  For some reason I had difficulty getting my fingers to follow the directions.  But after a little while of working it I could see what the yarn was doing and it was easy.










And I am moving along with my scarf.  I started over with a thinner scarf, one that will fit around my neck better.  I am about a third of the way done and really liking it.  I didn’t realize that there would be bands of color change until I took this picture.

I didn’t unravel the wider piece I showed last week, I bound if off and am using it as a lap piece under my laptop.  It is about the size of a placemat and fits the foot of my Surface which has been making grooves in my legs. 

Oh, and I completed another dish cloth. 





This is a picture of a bobcat moving dirt in our back yard.  We had 5 trees taken down and the stumps ground and then they filled all the holes with that mound of dirt which is now a flat piece of ground. 


However that was not the best part of the day.  The son of the owner of the company asked me how much I would charge to make some children’s charity quilts.  He said his son has leukemia and has been given some quilts when he is in the hospital.  He said he would like to “pay it back” with quilts for the other children there.  I offered to make them for free but he insisted he wanted to pay for them so we will be negotiating sometime later.  I can’t tell you how good it made me feel to be able to assist him.

Well, it is time to link up with Patchwork Times and begin our weekend.  Hope everyone has great plans and they all work out.  Gari

Owl Blocks Progress

Progress: one sixth of my owl quilt is sewn together.  I want the blocks to not all look alike so I am trying to sash some, not sash some and vary the sashing some. 

















I worked on this block today but is not complete: I still need to applique down the branches at the corners.



























I am beginning to see this beautiful quilt come together and it really gets me excited. 













Well, I’m excited until I look up on the wall and see how much there is left to do.  I will probably get the two little ones on the top right done this week.  Then I will sew those three together and the whole top will be done.  Check back next week and see how I do. 



















Now I am taking the opportunity to share some creativity of my sisters.  She has been painting: benches, cabinets, and clothes pins.  And she gifted me with these 4.  They are painted green and then she decoupaged scrapbook paper on the front of them.  Aren’t they pretty?  My plan for them is to use them to hold notes on my ongoing projects.  I just need to figure out how and where I want them to hang.
















It was nice to see one of my receiving blankets being used.  I’m sure the he is really enjoying it and has already told his parents how much he loves it. 




























And because of the new arrival, our cover/header girl has gotten a “big girl” bed.  Of course I am happy to see that she, too, will be sleeping under a quilt made by ME.  I do love to see my work being loved and used.







Well, that’s all from here.  Hope everyone has a great week.  I will, as usual, be linking to Patchwork Times.  GARI

I Sit and Knit

This has been a week of minor accomplishments at home and major accomplishments by the family.  Here I have completed the yoke of my sweater and the sleeve (a short sleeved sweater).  I need to bind off the sleeve but will be looking up a stretchy bind off before I get that done.

















And look at the progress I have made on my socks.  I know they will only have a short leg but I haven’t decided how short it will be so I am still knitting.  And, of course, I will need that stretchy bind off for them, too.











And just so I don’t get bored, I have started a scarf.  I think I have made it a little too wide but I really hate the idea of ripping it out.  Maybe I'll make a fuzzy pillow with what I have and then start the scarf again.  …….?



















And always in my knitting life is and will be the easy, no thinking dishcloth and/or washcloth. 














Wow, this suggests that I am still loving knitting, doesn’t it.  For two days this week I went to the studio and just knit.  It is such a great way to keep busy but not have to move. 


Meanwhile the family has been busy.  Our daughter’s husband’s father has been in the hospital (90 miles away) since last Sunday.  Our plans were to be shopping on Monday so we went to the town where the hospital was.  While she visited I knitted in the car (I told you I am really enjoying my knitting).  Then she shopped for nurses scrubs: she started a new job the next day.  While she shopped I, again, knitted in the car.  I guess that’s why I got so much done on those socks.

And while we were shopping here in AL our younger son (and twin to the daughter I was with) and his wife, in MD, were giving birth to their second child.

Meet August who is expressing his displeasure while reclining on one of the receiving blankets I made for him.
























I had just sent him these “shower” gifts but he decided to come two weeks early so they weren’t there until after he came home.  Anyway I’m sure you recognize the quilt and then there are two receiving blankets (pattern at the Missouri Star Quilting Co.), a John Deere onesie, and the sock monkey overalls and shirt (I did not make the last two). 





And here is the treat you get because you read to the end.  Here is my header granddaughter meeting her baby brother for the first time.  The lady holding the baby is the mother’s mother who gets to live close to these beautiful children.  I do envy her.



























I will be linking up with Patchwork Times so come on over and see what everyone else is working on.  Some of them even get their knitting projects done. 

Branches and other Projects

After completing several projects with deadlines I was ready to begin working on my owl quilt which is still on the design wall.  One problem came up: I couldn’t find my tree fabric.  I remembered folding it up and putting it away but I couldn’t remember where that away was.  It only took me two days of looking before I found it staring at me, right on the shelf across from my studio knitting chair.  So I now can present my incomplete sashing strips for the second block.

 

Here you can get kind of an idea how this block will look.  I don’t want the sashings to all look alike so this set is using single branches.
Tomorrow I am going shopping with my daughter so these strips will not get sewn until Tuesday.  I am planning on working one block a day but we will see how that goes. 



















The reason I can’t count on getting one block a day done is that I tend to get sidetracked.  Case in point, this fleece throw I threw together yesterday. 


















It is two pieces of fleece and looks great as a recliner cover in our living room.  I just needed something more to identify my little corner of DH’s B Western Cowboy museum room.  And, already the puppies have claimed it as their sleeping place.










I did complete this quilt and it has already been gifted.




















I love the binding, I think it really pulls the quilt together. 






















And I made two more receiving blankets.  I was really on a roll, wasn’t I?     





















So I guess that’s about all from here.  I will be linking up with Patchwork Times and What a Hoot so drop by and check out the creativity.    Gari

Flying Needles

I am making great progress on these socks.  I have a little over half done on the heal and will soon be headed up the leg.

I like how the heel looks.  And these are really sturdy socks.  I bet my feet will be nice and warm this winter.  And, I may just have to make another pair.



















I am a little behind in my sweater knitting.  My first reason is that I have been doing more sewing (see the next post) and I also have started a couple of new knitting projects.  I usually have a washcloth/dishcloth started and today I started a bulky scarf.  I forgot to take pictures so they will show up next week.  Anyway, I am about 6” along with the sweater.  I need to do another 1.5” and then I can knit off the sleeves.  This will reduce the stitches by 120 which will make the rest of the stitching go a little faster.  But I am in no hurry, I am enjoying the process.









I love sharing puppy pictures and this one is just funny.  It is blurry because I took it at 2 am.  Abby likes to sleep under the covers but since I was sleeping on top of them she had to settle for crawling under a pillow.  You know, it is hard to  keep from laughing as you struggle to get your phone (camera) and not wake the sleeping dog. 

And now I am going to close this post and get back to my knitting.  I will be sharing this on Patchwork Times tomorrow.   Gari

Quilts in Process

This has been a pretty productive week.  This Owl D9P has been quilted.  I would quilt a row and then go knit.  However, by the time I got to the end I was up to two rows at a time.

I finished embroidering the label and have sewn the binding to the front. 

Isn’t that owl cute?

I also got the owl 9 patch put together and ready for quilting.  I will be using the same Minkie and, in fact, I already have it on the frame.  I put the whole 3 yards on the frame before I started quilting the D9P so I just have to reattach the top of the leftover part and off I will be going, again.  Yea!!










And I even decided on my next baby quilt.  I have this bin of 30s  scraps that I have been trying to figure out how to use up (not my favorite type of fabric).  So I have a plan and will begin working on it this week.





I did not do any work on the big owl quilt but will be working on it side by side with these other three.

I get a lot of comments on how much I get done.  I do want to say that it takes me a lot longer these days to complete anything because I have to take rest brakes quite frequently.  I do try to knit while resting but sometimes even that is too much.  I have found that at least twice a week I now get/have to take naps (the puppies love that).  All that being said, I need to say that I am so grateful that I am able to work/play in my studio and knit everywhere.  God has been very good to me.

I am linking up with Patchwork Times so I can share the creativity of many other quilters.  Have a GREAT week.
Gari

Back to Normal

 
 Sharing this picture of DH shows a little of our long July 4th weekend with friends.  I had only three days at home to rest up from my trip to Mother’s before we were off for 4 days of fun and frivolity.  We got home Sunday night and although I got up and dressed on Monday I quickly returned to bed where the puppies and I napped on and off all day. 

On Tuesday I again was up and dressed but still tired so I used my time knitting.  Here are two dishcloths and one washcloth.  I have a couple more that worked on while at Mother’s but I still need to weave in the yarn ends.






I spent Wednesday doing laundry and winding bobbins for the quilt on the frame.











And today I started quilting.  I forgot to take a picture until I had rolled for the second pass.  I would have done the second row but a storm blew up with thunder so I decided to return to knitting for the rest of the afternoon. 










I can show how the back is turning out.  I love how the stitching shows on the Minkie.  I am doing just the loops on the border and some individual designs on the blocks.  If the weather behaves I should have better shots for Monday’s post.

 I have worked for a few hours on this sweater.  It is pretty show going but I now have about 5” of the yoke done.  I need about 2 1/2” more before I can start on the sleeves: keep knitting!







We did have a little drama today as our 15 year old Shi-Tzu became ill: unresponsive, good eye closed (she is blind in the other eye) but she didn’t appear to be suffering.  I took her to the vet who said that she was breathing all right and had only a mild fever.  He gave her a shot, a Rx for an antibiotic, and meds for her eyes.  She seems some better but I anticipate that this is only temporary. 

While at the vet’s he told us about a doxie that is looking for a new home.  I had to resist my normal “I’ll take her” because I have already realized how difficult it is to handle the 3 I now have when I take them out on their leashes.  And DH reminded me that it has been especially difficult when I was having to use my cane. 

So we are planning for a quiet weekend which I hope will include plenty of quilting, knitting, appliqueing, and maybe even some regular sewing.  How about you?    Gari