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. 
Here is my design wall today. The only owls up there are the last ones that need to be appliqued: they are there to remind me to get them done this month. The BOM of the week is the Alphabet BOM.
They are being nicer this month and there are only two blocks this month. Here is a picture of the pieced part of the blocks, which I have not yet started.
I did get the letters drawn and fused to the fabric, ready to applique when the pieces parts are completed.
My plan is to get these blocks done this week and then do some more sewing on Celtic Solstice. I realized, Sunday, that I can’t remember what I was doing so I also get to spend some time rereading the pattern parts.
I have been doing some knitting and got the foot and heels done on both. I am always amazed at how easy these heels are to do, and quick. So now all I have left is the ribbing which I do rather short. Now I do have to tell on myself, when I started the heels on these socks, for some reason I did the heels on different sides. It was a little confusing but worked out in the end. 
I think this week I am going to spend some time reading through the sweater pattern I got and then maybe even cast on the beginning stitches. I have been procrastinating starting this because I am not sure I am ready for something so big. But I can’t just knit socks forever.
The last thing I worked on was to begin quilting my mug rugs. I started with the background but still have the figure to do. Everything is set up so I can do a little quilting whenever I get tired of what ever else I am doing.
Our weekend ended very nicely. Our granddaughter, her husband and son came from NC for a very short business trip and we were able to visit with them over breakfast Sunday morning. She only recently moved to NC (husband is in the Marines) where she has encountered winter like she never had in AL. It was fun to see how well they all were doing and to help send them on their way back to their new home.
And now lets get on with all the projects we have planned for this week. I am also including some Spring Cleaning and am planning to put together several bags of clothes and other stuff for Goodwill/Salvation Army. I love stuff but find I am living in a world of clutter, both in the house and the studio. So I am going to work, little by little, on clearing out some of it.
Have a great week, folks, I know I will. Gari
I have finished my 6th pair of socks. These are significant because they are the first pair of toe up socks AND they are the first pair done at the same time AND they are the first pair where the stripes match! And I had a great time doing them. The only problem I had was that I got the bind off a little tight and need to spend some time learning a better bind off that will give me some more stretch.
I still have my gray socks on the needles and have just begun the heel. The only reason there is no picture is that it would look just like the last one. I will take a picture again when the heel has more definition. Meanwhile, I am hoping to begin casting on a sweater. This will be the first sweater I have tried so who knows how that will go. I figure I might have it ready for next Fall, if I am lucky and really work on it.
I have begun some Spring Cleaning (around here that means furniture moving) and cleaning dust catchers. It has been a while since I showed any of my collection of glass owls but recently I had to remove a small selection from a baker’s rack so I could move it. This group found it’s way into the dishwasher this week and I was so pleased with how they sparkled after they came out. There are a lot more but these looked so pretty sitting on the kitchen counter I just had to share them. Now they are off to the bedroom where they reside.
And now, as promised, I must share my goodies from Stephanie at Loft Creations. I won a giveaway of fabric scraps, leftovers from the patterns done for her new book. AND she included a signed copy of her book, also. Well, this was quite a wonderful gift.
There are strips of all colors and prints. Bunches of strips. I love all the bright colors along with the neutrals that I never think to buy.
Then there are bigger strips. And look at that wonderful owl fabric. I think I may have that in quilter’s cotton also.
And even some large pieces of fabric. Doesn’t you mind just get whirling with ideas? Mine has.
But the first thing I found when I opened the box was this completed to, just like on the cover of the book but without the dresden plate. Nothing like having a jump-start on a quilt, huh?
I haven’t had time to start even planning what I am going to do with these but believe you me I will be at it next month.
I have spent most of Feb trying to either get caught up or keep up with my BOMs. Usually I do 3-4 a year and do pretty well keeping up which gives me 3-4 half completed tops as the new year begins. But with people doing BOMs with 2 and 3 blocks per month, I was falling dreadfully behind. I eliminated one BOM from my plan for the year and another from last year is coming to a close and for that I will be grateful. As of now I am up to date with the owls, Alphabet, Knitter’s Gifts, and only 2 months behind on the fish. Maybe I can do better next month and even get back to making quilts.
I looked over at DH last evening and this is what I saw. I call this picture “Happy Pappy” because there is a really big smile behind all that pile of dogs. There really is nothing like a room full of unconditional love.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. We will be driving to Prattville, AL Sunday to see a quilt show. I am very lucky that DH enjoys these shows and asks enough questions to make me sound knowledgeable as I answer. 
Stay warm!! Gari
I am currently knitting two sets of toe up socks but these are the only ones I am showing. I am currently two rows into the heel increases and they are going well. Everyday I am amazed at how much I am enjoying knitting and learning new things.
This, however, is not me learning but it is going to be “me” teaching. I have been asked to substitute teach the third of three lessons on “How to Knit Socks.” This is the class that I took in July-August that got me into this sock marathon. So what you see here is a little bit of the foot and most of the toe of a sock. I am supposed to show how to decrease the toe and then do the Kitchener closing. I sat in on some of the first two lessons, just to see how the two students have been doing, and I don’t think they will be far enough along to actually begin knitting the toe so I thought I would come with a visual aid along with a handout of my own making. The class is tomorrow morning and I am both excited and really nervous. It isn’t easy to teach something you have so recently learned but I am going to give it a go.
I will be starting a new hat this week. I have to make a new one for DH because the one I gave him for Christmas seems to have gotten to Sherlock, our sweet but destructive doxie, and that was that. I wouldn’t hustle to get a new one made but it has been really cold and he is bald so he needs a hat. And it has pleased me to see it on his head, I have to admit.
And now I will get off this computer, pick up my needles and knit a while. Gari
I am pretending to be Judy today and stating that nothing has changed on my design wall since my last post. I have all the first three blocks for the Alphabet BOM completed and am ready to sew the sashing on. This will be done before the next blocks come out on Feb 1.
And just to show that I have started on to catch up on the old BOMs, here is a new fish. I was kind of surprised that the face fabric makes her look like she is smiling. Since I am getting to the end of this FatCatPatterns BOM, I am beginning to think of how I want to set them and even a little about the quilting.
I wanted to show a close-up of the orange fabric. It is embroidered batik and I think it adds a lot to the texture of the fins. I am going to put fray-check on the cut-off areas of the embroidery because I think it will ravel with washing. I used a similar fabric on a quilted jacket and it has worn well so I was pleased to find a use for at least a little part of this fabric, too.
This is how far I had gotten on my first toe-up socks when I decided that I had been so busy trying to learn the M1L and M1R increase that I didn’t pay attention to the pattern about how many stitches I needed on each needle. I love this yarn but the socks are going to be too small. So I took the advice of several knitters and unraveled them. I will be restarting them later this week.
Meanwhile I had sent for a selection of new needles and wanted to try them so I decided to start a new pair of toe-up socks. This time I paid close attention to not only the increase technique, which was much easier now, but how many stitches I had.
I also worked very hard to have the yarn coming out of each yarn ball with the same colors. Look, so far the stripes match. I don’t really care if they are perfectly matched but I would like them to be close. The toes are finished so now it is on to the instep and then I get to learn a new heel. The fun never stops here.
Speaking of fun, our granddaughter and her son moved from AL to NC this weekend. The family here is struggling to begin the adjustment of having the 5 year old, who has been the center of attention his whole life, living 700 miles away. But we are also hoping that this is a beginning to a wonderful new life for them.
And now it is time for me to get ready to hunker down for the snow and ice that is about to descend on us tomorrow. I am doing laundry today as well as getting a little sewing room setup in the house so I don’t have to go outside for anything except to provide relief for the dogs.
Hope everyone has a great, and warm, week. See ya later: Gari
This has been a great week. Both Sadie and I are feeling great and I completed the quilting on this Carol Doak BOM quilt.
It is 78 x 78 and will make a great throw.
I had a couple of people ask me how to mark for the ending of a panto.
Here are my markings. Can you see the arrow where I am skipping an area because it is off the quilt top. I drew all the way across so I could have a continuous line of stitching and still keep in the pattern.
I have to say, I am very happy with how this quilt has turned out.
I got it all trimmed and the binding made so it should be completely completed this weekend.
While I was cleaning off the cutting table I found this pattern that Rhonda sent me some time ago. She made a mug rug and gave it away, not to me ( 
) but shared the pattern so I am going to make a couple to give away. I have three drawn out and will begin searching for the fabrics next week.
I also drew out the letters for the three components of Block #1 of the Quilt Show’s BOM for this year. For each of the letters there are also patchwork blocks. I have not chosen the fabrics for that part yet and even need to find the right fabric for the letters. I guess I still have a lot of prep work to do here. 
Last but certainly not least, look at how I am doing with my toe up, two at a time socks. I have to say that so far this has really been easy. I am almost ready to begin the gusset and heel and I figure that I will have to pay special attention since I will be doing these backward to how I have been knitting them. I know that once I completely understand the pattern it will be OK but, oh how I hate that learning curve.
However, there will be no learning, knitting, sewing or quilting on Friday. DH and I will be quietly celebrating our 53rd anniversary. We had planned to see The Hobbit but the 3D version is not showing around here anymore and since we will soon be able to rent the 3D version to see at home we have decided to see Frozen. Besides, who needs all that “war” stuff while we are celebrating the longevity of our love ?
So while we are having fun, you have a great weekend …… Gari
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. 
(and twin to the daughter I was with) and his wife, in MD, were giving birth to their second child.
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.
