YoP week 37

I am starting this post on Friday the 11th as there is so much to tell, I knew I would never remember it if I tried and do it all on Sunday afternoon.

Let's start with the tops I have been making the past couple of weeks.

This is the first one I did.  The material is Tutti Fruiti and it is a pretty stiff material until washed.  I know it will be wonderful this summer since it breaths and the pattern is not a close fitting one.  This reminds me of the 'sailor' pattern that Lucy Bowen made last year.  I think I will try and do some more with contrasting yoke and sleeves.

This one is from the same pattern and out of the same material.  I have not even washed it yet and you can see how stiff the fabric is. This one has a square neck and I think I like it better than the rounded.  I will know more once I wear them a couple of times each.

This is the last one I have made this week..............so far.  It is just from some cotton blend that I found in my sewing cabinet.  The material is very soft but needs to be ironed after washing.

Do you notice anything about the tops?  Yup, they are all out of some shade of purple.  Trust me, it was not planned.  The other material I have left does not have any purple in it at all.  I have red, orange, blue and a muted brown/red/blue paisley print.  The blue is enough to do a dress and I am going to do one with the square neck style.  The red will be a sleeveless square neck, the orange is a different pattern all together and the muted will be another square neck with sleeves.  I am hoping to get the dress done before I leave this coming Wednesday.  I would like to have it for Easter.  We will see.

On the knitting front..................I have only added about 3 pattern rows on the sweater.  I have been busy with another project.  Fingerless mitts for my mom.  She asked if I had ever heard of them before.  (I promise, I did not laugh).  She has a hand that is always cold and slightly numb and would like a pair to help keep it warm.  So I started on those Wednesday and have half of one done so far.  I am hoping to complete them before I leave so I can give them to her.  I have no idea how I am going to complete everything I have to do by Tuesday night.  We have a very busy schedule.

 Here is the mitt I am working on.  It is out of a corn fiber that is now discontinued.  I love it as it has a real smooshy feel to it and I think it will be nice protection for her hand when she wheels her wheelchair around too.

This is the sweater.....See, you really can not tell I have added that much more to it.  It will be traveling with me as will the mitts, since I doubt either will be completed.


Tonight (Friday) we are heading to our friends house for the evening.  We just found out my girlfriend has been diagnosed with lung cancer.  It is not the fast spreading kind but still.....receiving news like that is still un-nerving.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I have the morning to do what I want and then we have Mass and dinner with some other friends afterwards.  My girlfriend, in this group, and I teach on Sunday morning for the folks coming into the church on Easter.  So we want to decide how we are going to do our session.

Today (Sunday) I have a meeting at 8am to go over holy week (which I am not going to be home for) and then I teach after that and won't be home until around noon.  Hopefully I will have the rest of the day to do what I want as well as all day Monday.  Tuesday will be packing and making sure I have everything I need for my trip.  I will check on the weather there as I may not even get to take my new tops with me if it is too cool.  Anything under 75 and I will be in long sleeves.  I am a wussy.

I actually did some gardening this past week too.  See this little spot?  This is the entire amount of room I have for a garden in my yard.  See those little green things there?  Those are Hens and Chicks that were brought to me from Seattle by my Daughter in Law's family. I had asked for them when I was there last June, but because I wasn't going straight home when I left there, I did not take any with me.  They were brought down Christmas time.  I planted them in a small pot to make sure they would root.  This past week, I went out to my 'garden' and dug it up, got all the rocks out of it, put organic soil on it and planted my babies.I have decided that 'organic' means stinky manure.  It's pretty nasty.  Excuse me, I digress.................the plants have rooted already in the new area..............well all but 2 have rooted but I have confidence that those 2 will root also.  Our biggest fear is the heat we have here in the summer and if these little dears will fry.  If they do..............then I am going to plant rose bushes there.  That is what was there when we bought this house.  Might just end up doing that again.

Ok, It is Sunday afternoon and there really isn't much more to add to the post this week.  I am about to go and start going through items that will be traveling with me in the way of clothing.  I have laundry to do, a bit of housework to complete, and of course I need to do my nails.  If there is time, I will try and sew some more, but I am more interested in getting the mitts done for mom.  Even if I can get one done so her cold hand can be covered and then I will do the other one on my trip.

I will try and post while I am away, but there are not promises.  I do know that I will be reading all the blogs that I normally do.  I get so much inspiration from them.  Until next time.

Happy Crafting.

YoP week 36

Hello everyone.  Another week has passed and we only have 16 more weeks in Year of Projects Year 5.  I can not believe I have participated in all 5 years.  I have truly been blessed in these past 5 years.  I have learned so much about knitting, crocheting, sewing and books.  I have 'met' some of the most interesting people around the world.  If I were to travel to some place where some of my fellow bloggers lived, I would want to meet them in person over lunch, dinner or even breakfast.  Heck, I would even be willing to lift a 'pint' with them.  But.....................alas.......................I don't normally go too far out of my normal travel routine.  There are only about 3 places I travel to: Las Vegas, Dallas/Fort Worth and Seattle. Now if any of my fellow bloggers live in any of those areas, please let me know.  Especially, if you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area as I am traveling there in the next couple of weeks.  I will be there for almost 3 weeks.  I would love to greet and meet you if possible.

The reason I will be traveling is:  My Daughter In Law will be coming home after a one year deployment to Afghanistan.  We have all missed her so much and have prayed for her safety daily.  My son (her hubby) is going to drive to the east coast to pick her up and drive her home.  I get the pleasure and blessing of staying with my grandchildren and taking care of them.  Now here is the best part..............my son and this wonderful young lady were married when she came home on leave in November!  I now have a new grand daughter that is 10 years old that I have never met.  This will be the first time I will get to meet her and I am sooooo looking forward to it.  Can you tell I am excited about this?  I love the way my grand children count keeps expanding.  This will make grandchild #7!  I think this is it though.  But that is fine with me.  I love each and everyone of them with my whole heart.

Enough about family (for the moment).  Let's talk about crafting.

I worked on my sweater a bit this week.  Still not making huge progress................well, maybe a bit more than I realized.  The first panel is over half way done.  I am hoping to have it finished before I leave on a jet plane.  Then I will only have the other panel to do and with three weeks of fun and games with the grands, I am hoping to get a good start on that.

I did sew this week and was just getting ready to go and take a photo of the finished top when I realized it was in the washing machine.  It was a bit stiff from the sizing in the material.  I needed it to relax a bit. I am going to be starting on blouse #2 today and should have it done in a few hours.  These are not complicated blouses to do.  Well, that is if you don't attach the facing upside down and have to rip it out and start over again.  That did take a bit of time on the first one.  But I have learned from my mistake there.  Also, it calls for interfacing on the yoke and I did it on #1 but..............I don't like it.  It is way too stiff and uncomfortable so I am not going to put it in the others.  I like softness against my skin.  I am hoping to have about 4-5 tops done before I take off in 11 days.

I am only working on one pattern right now.  The other pattern takes a bit more time and I will concentrate on that one when I get home from my travels.  Here is a little funny thing.....I was looking for my interfacing after buying all my material and BOOM..................I found 3 cuts of fabric for tops and one cut of fabric for a dress!  Another blessing as the pattern I am working on now also has a dress pattern with it.  So I am going to make me a dress to take to Texas for Easter Mass.  I will have plenty of tops for this summer now.  I am very excited. I was getting tired of wearing tee shirts all the time.  I wanted to look like a woman again.  I thought after retirement I wouldn't care about my appearance as much.............wrong.  I still care and have more time to care.  

Now for a little family update.......................Last week I told you my son and his daughter were down with the flu.  (this is the son that lives in Arizona).  They have finally gotten back to the land of the living.  They were at church last night with us.  Unfortunately, mommy is now pretty sick.  It's not the flu but she has a horrible case of bronchitis.  Needless to say, their home is still quarantined for me.  But is was so good to see the other two yesterday.  I really missed them.  I know several of you had the flu last week, I am hoping you all are on the road to recovery too.

That is about all for right now.  I need to go flip the laundry into the dryer and go and get sewing.

Happy Crafting!