Back in Georgia

WOW, it was just beautiful in the Smokies over the weekend. I have a couple of pictures to show you. From when we got there till we left to come back it was busy. I think we spent 90% of the time there out running the roads. Gatlinburg was just fantastic as always. I love that place.

While I was there I did find time in the evenings to finished my Alternate Moss Stitch socks. They turned out pretty good. Tomorrow I will give them to my friend Suzan who went nuts over them while they were still on the needles. LOL.

More pictures coming soon. (that is if I can leave Ravelry alone enough to come here and blog :-)

Blessed Be

Pictures for you

Well I thought since I only have a couple of things on the needles right now, I'd get a few pictures of them up on the blog.

These socks are going to be sooooo nice when they are finished. I'm using Lion Brand's new Sock Ease yarn in Toffee. We'll see how the yarn wears pretty soon. LOL. The ribbing is a 4 stitch rib, with the typical 2 knit, and then the Moss stitch, that you have to see pretty much up close to enjoy, but I think it may become my favorite ribbing.

The next pictures are of a project I started out of frustration. For some reason knitting wasn't relaxing me so I got the drop spindle out a few weeks back and started hand spinning.. Then I decided that I wanted some yarn that was thick and thin, for the up and coming cooler weather. So I started spinning whatever I reached in and got. ;-) And this is what it's become. I'm naming it Neapolitan, since it reminds me of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.

OMG, Ravelry! I know I'm a late bloomer and all that, but I have to say that I could seriously waste a lot of time there. LOL. I'm still getting setting things up and looking around but I hope this coming weekend that I can get a lot done on it. Keeping track of projects, needles, etc will be so nice.

I have one more picture for you. Everyone knows that my daughter is a Pastry Chef. (don't we all love her? ) But over the weekend she turned 22 and did her own birthday cake. Now let me explain a little about Sara. Since she was about 2 years old her favorite holiday has been Halloween. When she was 3 or 4 she wanted me to change her birthday to Halloween, so you can see where we are going here. ;-)

Blessed Be

Knitting, Stuff and More Stuff

Finally I have pictures.

Last year I bought some beautiful sport weight hemp and made soap pouches out of it for gifts. Well while I have been on this washcloth kick I remembered that I had some left over so off to the stash I went. And I had just enough for this washcloth. It's my own pattern and I will post it soon. Well actually I'll post it as soon as I figure out a way that I can either add a page or start another blog for just my patterns. (any suggestions or help in this area would be great appreciated). I'm going to name this washcloth pattern after one of my students. LOL. She'll know it when she sees it.

Then in an email from Knitting Daily I seen this book. I had to have it even though I had promised myself I had enough knitting books to last me a life time and I wouldn't really purchase anymore for awhile. I just had to have this book. I have a lot of family members that are very much into Eastern culture, martial arts and Eastern Philosophy. Knitting them kimonos will be the perfect gifts for them. I can't wait to pick one and get started on it.

Back in the Spring I started another Fair Isle Felted bag. Well finally I got off my ass and finished and got it felted this week. It didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, but that's what I get for getting in a hurry.

here it is before felting

Now I have to pack a few OTN projects to take to Tennessee with me. The kids and I are leaving in a few days for mom's. Hopefully I have some quiet days of knitting in the Smoky Mountains ahead of me.

Blessed Be

Knitting, Dog Shows and other stuff

It's true, I haven't fallen off the end of the earth yet. This year has been something else so far, but I can say that finally life is beginning to be much happier. Though I'm twice as busy, I am happy and getting some knitting done, and going to dog shows and taking charge of areas of my life that I had let slack or thought was ok.

Anyway, I've got some projects going on. The yarn below is Kid Merino from Crystal Palace. It's for a shawl that I'm making for my daughter. The shawl is called Milady's Shawl, designed by Dee Jones for Alpine Meadow Yarns.


A little while back I was not really intending on buying any yarn I was just looking and there on Handpainted Yarn's website were these two beautiful lace weight yarns. They just somehow got into my cart and ended up in my mailbox. LOL.

And here is what I'm making. It's a variation of the Feather and Fan shawl. It's hard to see because of the wood background. But when it's finished I'll take a much better picture for you. We've been joking around about how these are the very colors of my new pup, T.

Details and a better idea of the colors.

You know I can't let this one go. LOL. Today is Gunther's 2nd birthday. Him and T have celebrate all day. We've been to PetCo, Starbucks and Petsmart. It's been a big day. I'll have more pictures tomorrow on Gunther's blog. Gunther, GT and I just got back on Saturday from a dog show in Greenville, SC. We have a great time inspite of my mistake. LOL.

It really feels good to be in a place in my life where I am feeling centered again. Where most of the people who made my life a living hell the first part of the year are long gone and dealt with. It's been an interesting spiritual ride, many lessons reviewed and new ones learned. But I'm just grateful for today. Grateful is such an overlooked feeling. It can be the entrance to such peace.

P I C T U R E S

I promised pictures and here they are. Of course I have to start out with my furry son's ribbons. LOL. The one on the left is the place ribbon and the other one is the qualifying ribbon. Now for knitting. (grin)

Here is the finished ribbon scarf. I LOVE IT. But, you know the next one I make will have changes in it. First off it's too wide. For us Southern ladies, we don't want to do or wear anything that might make us "glisten" a little too much.
This ribbon yarn is heavy and will make you sweat like a pig. LOL. It's definitely not a scarf meant for warmth, but as an accessory, so when I get it all written out, it will be half the width and not quiet as long. It's a quick pattern and will make a great gift.

By the way, it's made on size 10's or 10 1/2's and I got the ribbon yarn at JoAnn's a long time ago. But I was in there the other day and seen that they have some really pretty ribbon yarns.

Now for more pretty stuff. I have always loved looking at the Recycled Himalaya Yarns. They are just so full of color and personality. So when Patternworks had their Recycled Rayon on sale I ordered 2 hanks. I have no idea what I'm going to make with them. But I have them now and just enjoy the colors.

And finally. I have a distant cousin that just had her first baby. A little boy. Some of you may recognize this yarn from a previous blanket, but I have enough left over to make this Fan and Feather baby blanket. Since the picture was taken I have gotten quiet a bit done on it and have about another quarter of work to do.

So there we are. We're caught up on knitting and we are caught up on Gunther. LOL. Oh one more thing. If you are a dog owner let me suggest to you a lady who makes Tugz for all size dogs. Rescue Me Tugz. She makes no money on her dog toys, all of it is donated to different dog rescues. For the month of June she is donating all her money to the Great Dane Club of the Mid South's Rescue. Our rescue needs the help, so if you can order a $3 or $5 tugz it would be greatly appreciated.

Coming Soon (LOL)

I am working on writing up the patterns for the lap afghan and for the scarf. So those will be posted pretty soon. I also got some beautiful yarn in them mail yesterday that I have to get pictures of to share. So I haven't forgotten the knitting world.

Things are getting better in around here. I've been doing some dog training on the side which is a hell of a lot of fun. I may pursue it full time because I am having a great time with it. I've also been working with Gunther and he has been in a few obedience competitions and won so that has been crazy. His next one is in July and we'll be traveling to Greenville, SC. While at the shows I've had time to do some knitting and I was amazed at the ladies at the dog shows that knit. Of course she it's a competitive atmosphere, you know after a while the conversation turns into a pissing contest of who knitted what and how difficult the pattern was and on and on. LOL. It takes all kinds. But, they are knitters, and for the most part fun to talk to.

So that's all I've got for now. Hold on and come back for pictures! By the way, just because I've not been posting doesn't mean that I haven't been keeping up with everyones blogs. OMG I've turned into a lerker!

Pictures

They were slow in coming, but here are some pictures finally. LOL. The only thing that I didn't get a picture of is a triangular shawl that I made and gave away as soon as it was finished.

This pictures is of the fair isle bag that I started back in the Spring. Since this picture was taken I've finished the purple flowers on it and started another color section. I really need to get this done because I'm in serious need of a new tote.


In my Thursday morning knitting class I have several woman making prayer shawls and lap blankets, well you know how I am. I got inspired and started one too. ;-) This is a pattern that I made up and will be a lap blanket for the grandfather of a friend of mine who is in an assisted living home. He's 90 years old.

Another inspiration from a student. I have to thank Bev for sharing with us one of her new knitting books she bought. In it, is this cute scarf pattern made from ribbon yarn. Well guess what I just happened to have in my stash for a few years. Yes, I said a few years. And I wondered what will I do with this stuff, well it's perfect for the scarf. By the way, you all know how I love patterns that look complicated but really are simple. This one is perfect. I am getting so many compliments on this project all ready. The only thing that I will change on the next one is the width. I think it's too wide. 27 stitches on size 10.5US to give you and idea of the width.

So there you have it. Oh and I do have some new sock yarn and plans on getting some summer socks going pretty soon.

It's nice to post some real knitting stuff instead of personal stuff. (smile)