It's a good week (or two)

I didn't get to post last week and I really missed it.  But hubby and I were on vacation in Texas.  (I really like how the people across the pond say it "holiday")  We were so busy getting our grandsons ready for school and helping our son and daughter in law around the house, that we hardly had time to breath.  The 10 days went by way too fast and I miss them so much already.  But I do have a lot of pictures to show you and some FO's as well.  So lets start.  Sit back, relax and just enjoy the show.

While in Texas my Daughter in Law told me she really wanted to make some sofa pillows to brighten up the new couch they had.  So we were able to find some wonderful fabric and we commenced to make these pillows.  I designed and she sewed!  I loved it.

Then she wanted to tie the kitchen in with the family room so we had plenty of material left over so we made a new curtain for her kitchen window.  Again I designed and she sewed.  It was so much fun and a wonderful bonding time for the two of us.

These were our assistants.  From the left is Kiowa Princess and next to her is Chief Finn.  They are quite a pair to have around.  ( I miss them too)

Here is the family I had to leave.  They are so wonderful and really fill my heart with love and joy.  The boy on the far right is the one who received the spider man blanket.  He looked at it and said "cool".  So I think that means he likes it.  The boy/man next to him is our oldest grandchild.  He just graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia and was home for a little R&R.  It was great to see him as it had been 4 years since last we had.  The one on the far left is graduating from high school this year.  He is an avid track/cross country runner and medals quite often in his heats.  The boy next to him is starting middle school this year.  He is special because I got to be in the room when he was born. 

Here is a hat I finished while on holiday.  It matches the scarf I have been working on.  I found the flower at Hobby Lobby and in fact could not decide between this one and.........

this one.  So I got them both.  That way my god daughter can change them out as she wishes.  And as for the scarf.........

It is done also.  It is so soft and cuddly.  I know she is going to love it.  Now I have to wait until the end of November to give it to her for her birthday.  I so want to wrap it up and give it to her now.  Not that she will need it until her birthday, with it being over 100 degrees still.

I also took my socks with me to work on while I was away.  And I did work on them.  I knitted and frogged and knitted and frogged and knitted and am ready to frog again.  For some reason I am not getting the toe right.  I do toe up magic loop socks.  I have made almost 10 pair this way and for some reason I can not manage to get it right this time.  So they are put on the back burner again.

I also have discovered that I need to add to my YOP list.  And here is the reason why.

This is Jadin...................he is 11 and the one going into middle school this year.  Last year when I visited the family I gave him a really nice beanie that I had made.  He loves it.  I just talked to his mom yesterday and asked her if he would like a scarf to match it since I have 4.5 skeins of the yarn left from the hat.  She said he would love it.  This is where I need help!

I have not made a scarf for a young boy/man before.  I was thinking of using cables in it but don't know if that would be considered girly or not.  I could just do a ribbed pattern all the way up with seed stitches on each end.  I know that a lace pattern is out of the question.  I have looked on ravelry but there are so many and I just can't decide. 

So if any of you have any great pattern ideas for me please let me know.  I have cast on for the scarf and have about one inch of ribbing done on it so far so am ready to start on a pattern now.

Last and not least..................while we were gone I really missed this person...............

This is Josie on her 6th birthday, that was just a week before we left.  I sure do wish there was a way that we all could live closer but that is not to be.  The family in Texas is in the Navy so they go where they are told to.  So until my son retires from the Navy (6 more years) my hubby and I will be happy to go where they are to see them.

Happy crafting.

YoP Update

I do not have pictures for you this week.  I am out of town and in the process of packing I forgot my cord to my camera that will allow me to download pictures to this computer.  So that being said I will tell you that I have made progress on the scarf that I have been working on.  I am about 6 inches away from it being finished.  I did not bring it with me on holiday as it is getting a bit bulky to work on during travel.

I did cast on the Hat that is to match the scarf.  I did that while sitting at the airport waiting to board the plane.  Then I knitted on it for the two hour flight that I had.  I would assume I have about 3 inches done on it at this point.  I have not measured it as my "new" puppy chewed up my ruler that I always use with my knitting/crocheting and I have not replaced it.  So I will be heading off to a store to pick one up during the vacation time.

I also brought my socks with me and have found a pattern that I want to do them in.  Of course the pattern is cuff down and I started the socks toe up so will need to take the minute bit off the needles and start off on them.  But that is ok as I have been wanting to do a magic loop pattern from the top down.

I will update you all again next week but still will not have pictures as I still will not be home.

Happy Crafting!

Update week?

Since I started this YoP a week or two late I have no idea what week I am on.  I think everyone else is on week 4 or is it 5.  Anyway I wanted to let you know how I did for the week.

I didn't think I was going to get much done this week.  It was not a wonderful week for our family.  I you don't follow my blog on a regular basis then you don't know that we had to put our Greyhound down this week.  He was very sick and it was so hard to see him go but we know he is no longer in pain.  That being said it was hard for me to concentrate on knitting when there is something like that going on.  I wanted to spend as much time as I could with the big fella so the knitting got put to the side for about 4 days.

I did make progress though, much to my surprise.  Here is a shot of the scarf on the tiles again so you can see how much longer it is.

Over 4 feet long now!  I only have to go to 6 feet and it will be done.  Oh, and the little thing in the picture is our newest addition to the family, Enrique.  Our other little dog was grieving something fierce so we had to do something for you.  He is still looking for his foster mom and whining alot but that is ok, he has only been here for 2 hours.

Several of you suggested I take a picture of the scarf outside in natural light.  So I did.

I hope you like it.  It is really really hot and humid out there!  But as you can see it is a lot brighter than the shots from in the nice cool low humidity house.

Thank you all for your comments.  It feels good just knowing someone is FINALLY reading my blog!

Happy Crafting!

A Sad Good Bye

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to our best friend.  He has been living with us for almost 9 years.  He was great a keeping secrets.  Never did he tell me he didn't like my cooking.  He never complained about his bed being lumpy.  He never had any wild parties.  He was kind to everyone he met and never had a cross word to say to anyone.  Here is a picture of our best friend.

His official name was Live Wire.  But we just called him Wire.  We rescued him when he was just 15 months old.  That is quite young for a pup to come off the track.  But it seems that this gentleman did not have any desire to go chasing a rabbit that he knew he would never catch.  So he would go out of the gate and then tell the rest of the crew that he would meet them back at the club house and turn around and go back to the kennel.  (smart dog)

This was our second greyhound to own and they are the best pet ever.  They are so wonderful with children and other animals.  (well most of them are)  But they are prone to a lot of health issues and we were well aware of this when we adopted him.  And health issues he had.  He had Hypothyroidism, Valley Fever, Pannus, Arthritis and finally ended up with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer).  He had just turned 10.

He was a proud boy.  Never complaining about anything what so ever.

He was smaller than our first grey but still a big guy, weighing in at 80 pounds in his prime.  The last month he had started to loose weight so we knew he was going downhill quickly.  Because he did not stop eating.

Last year we noticed that he was starting to slow down and knowing that greys do not have a longevity of more than 10-12 years we decided to get another dog so it would not be so hard when he left us.  So we got this:

A total opposite of him but a complete complement for his personality.  She did wonders for him.  He perked up and started to play again and act like he did when he was first at our house.  It was wonderful. 

But sadly we could not stop the things in life that are meant to be.  So last night we took him into our vet's office and spent the last hour of his life loving on him and giving him more loves that he could have even imagined.  My best friend was there as well as her hubby and their 16 yr old son.  I was very nervous about being there during the final moments of his life............but decided that I could not leave him alone.  After all he had been by my side for the past 9 years through all my ups and downs.  So my hubby and I stroked him and kept talking to him as he passed from this world to the rainbow bridge.  There was a real peace about being there with him for the end.  It was not horrible.  It was not traumatic in any way.  It was not scary.  I know a large part of that is due to the staff of the animal hospital where he has been going for the past 3 years.  They are wonderful.  Even the Vet had a hard time keeping her eyes from tearing up.  He had touched many lives.

So it is with a heavy heart that I bid my friend goodbye.  But he can go and chase Rascal and Dopey with our other grey, Zeke.  They will like that.

And if you are wondering how the other little dog is doing.................she is grieving.  She has not eaten all day today and is not her perky little self.  But we expected that.  If this continues for too long we will look into getting her another buddy to play with.  But no more greys for us.  They just break your heart too much when they leave you.

Progress!

After my last post on Friday, I really didn't know how much progress I would make on the Reversible Cable Scarf.  But I am happy to report I managed to frog the 30 rows and get them back in as well as about 20 more rows.  Here is a picture of where I stand now on the scarf.

The tiles that this is laying on are 12 inch squares.  Last week it was only 2 tiles long and this week it is 3 tiles long!  Now if I hadn't frogged 30 rows it would be closer to 4 tiles but that is OK.  At least I will know that this is done to the best of my abilities when it is gifted to a very special young lady.

I do need to let you know, my daughter saw the pictures last week and informed me that the camera did not do the color any justice at all.  She is right.  This is a very vibrant lime green that I am using and it is quite muted in the photos.  In fact my daughter calls it "burn your retinas out" green.  She is a character.

Hopefully by next week there will be more progress on this.  I have looked at my schedule for next week and I have something going on each and every night of the week!  Three of those nights will allow me to bring knitting and work on it. 

Today is family day at our house.  There should be plenty of knitting time during that (I hope).  We are having a new recipe today that I found from http://www.skinnytaste.com/  She has some amazing recipes and we have tried several and have not found one yet that we will not repeat!  Todays feature is Sweet Barbocoa Pork with Cilantro Lime Rice.  Yummy.  It is all made in the crockpot and rice cooker so there will not be any heating of the kitchen up today.  And very little mess to clean up too.

That is all for now.  Have a great week and.......................................................................................

Happy Crafting!

Sad Face

  This is not my going to replace my Sunday update but I just had to get this off my chest.

I am wearing a very sad face.  I was so excited with the progress I was making on the green reversible scarf.  I had it almost to the half way point.  I was admiring my work and then.......I saw it.  I looked twice.  I tried turning it around to make sure it was really there.  I pulled on it........I squinted hoping it was my contacts needing being replaced.  I held it up and shook it.  Nope.....nothing helped.  It seems that when I took the stitches off the cable needle I took them off the wrong end of the cable needle!  What the heck?  Am I an amateur knitter.  (well actually I am)

OK, so I think............well it's not really that noticeable.  No one will know but me............unless the wearer puts the scarf on with that side showing.  UGH!!!!  I don't want anyone to think I don't know how to do a cable!  How embarrassing when they would ask the wearer where she got and and she would say my name! 

I thought about it for 2 days and continued to knit on it.  (like that would make the mistake go away)  Finally, last night I decided that I could not live with that glaring BOO-BOO so I frogged it.  Thirty rows were frogged out before I went to bed so I could sleep.  I also put 3 rows back in just to make sure I didn't do it again in the same spot.  (like it might be a cursed row or something)

So hopefully by my update on Sunday I will be back to my half way point.  We will see.

Happy Crafting!

Week in process

Ok, this will be a long post since it is full of pictures.  But I need for you to see exactly what it is I will be working on for the next year.

Here is the scarf that I am currently working on.  It is made out of Caron Simply Soft yarn and the pattern is called Reversible Scarf (published by Caron!).  I found the free pattern at Hobby Lobby but when I started to make it I found out the flyer was printed wrong.  Lucky for me I found the correctly printed pattern on Ravelry.  This needs to be 72" long and right now is only 24 inches.  Scarves do seem to take a long time to do.  This is my first cable pattern in many years and I am really enjoying it.

This is a picture of a finished Spiderman Blanket.  This one is going to my Grandson in Texas.  This will cover a single bed nicely.  My friend, Bev, made one and hers is much smaller but she is a VERY tight crocheter where I find crochet very relaxing so mine is much looser.  This was a free pattern off the web.  It is made with Red Heart yarn.  It seemed so scratchy until I wash it and then it is nice and soft.

This pattern is called Hey Teach and I got if off of Ravelry.  This is the back of the cardigan and I really love the pattern.  I am doing it in Caron Simply Soft and really had to watch my gauge as this yarn has a tendency to knit up a bit bigger than the cotton that was called for.

Please stop laughing................but these are my socks in progress.  I barely had the toes started when I got the wild idea that I needed to do a couple of blankets for grand children so they go put on hold.  I have not decided on a pattern for them yet but I am sure by the time I have the toes finished I will come up with something.  They are made with Bernat sock yarn.

This is the shawl I am making out of the Alpaca/Silk yarn.  And I use the word yarn loosely here.  It is very fine but listed as a worsted weight because of the furryness of it.  The pattern is Eva's Shawl and I have made several of these.  They are gorgeous and hang so nicely when finished.  This is the first time I have worked with Alpaca and really like the feel of it but it is REALLY warm to work with.

My homespun shawl titled Arrow Lake.  I got the pattern from Lion's Brand website.  It looks easy but you really have to keep track of your rows or you will be frogging a lot.

Here is the Cancer Survivor Ribbon Shawl.  It was published by a church group and it has two different ways to make the pattern.  One of them is just the ribbons all the way across and the other one has small crosses in it too.  It is a fast crochet because of the fillet and really is not too hot to work on year round.  I made one in pink for my fellow employee's mother who survived breast cancer.  This is done in Caron Simply Soft because most cancer patients can not handle anything that would have the least amount of wool in it.

This is La La's shawl.  It was a knit-a-long on Ravelry last year.  Needless to say I never finished it.  I am doing it in Dark Horse yarn.  It is super soft and really a nice pattern.  But once again you really need to keep track of what row you are on.  I have frogged this more times than I would like to admit.  I think I need to put this on longer circulars as it is really starting to bunch up badly.

Here is part of the yarn for the scarf and mittens I need to do to go with the hat that has already been made and given to the owner.  It is Impeccable from Lions Brand.  It's a  very nice acrylic that works up wonderfully.

And here is the yarn for the Log Cabin lapghan.  It is "I love this yarn" from Hobby Lobby.  A great yarn that is really reasonably priced. 

Here is a photo of all my sock yarn and also the yarn I have picked out for the other prayer shawls.  I have to admit that this is only a fraction of the yarn I use to have.  I cleaned out all my yarn about 5 months ago and took 9 kitchen trash bags of yarn to a local church for them to make prayer shawls out of.  But I knew I would never in my lifetime be able to use all of that yarn and these ladies are so wonderful and supply shawls to our Cancer ministry at our parish.

Now one thing you all might have noticed is that I rarely use anything other than acrylic type yarn.  Well, I am allergic to wool as are many members of my family.  I do have some sock yarn with wool in it that I use for my mom.  I also did a lovely hat, scarf and mittens in some Lorna Laces DK weight yarn and it was wonderful.  But that went to Wisconsin.  You don't have much of a call for woolen items in the desert of Arizona.  I know lots of people here that do use it but it seems like a bit of over kill to me. 

Anyway, this is how it looks now.  Hopefully the scarf will be much longer by Sunday of next week.  I will keep you all informed.

Happy Crafting!