Summer Ends . . . and the living's easy

Here we are again, making a fast approach to Labor Day. The old garden chair has been given a fresh new color.

The garden is flourishing, and there are plenty of zucchinis and cucumbers for everyone.

My granddaughter has been learning to sew, and finished this skirt jusst in time for school to start.

There were only a few seams to unpick, but then that is part of the process of learning. She did a great job, and we had a really fun day together. She has just started Jr. High. Oh my, where has the time gone?

She was the model for this sweater, knit some 11+ years ago.  She has grown up so nicely!

This Summer has been a great one. We received a new little baby girl in our family. She is starting to smile, and is such a cute little thing. We are so happy to have her. We took a little trip to Yellowstone, which was really fun. I hadn't been there for a long time, and although not much has changed, it was really fun to see how the land has recovered from the 1989 fire. Our Nephew was deployed to Afganistan, and we couldn't be prouder. We discovered our granddaughter had cerebral palsy, and we have watched her make advancements at a rate we didn't think possible. Although some things were challenging, it was a Summer to remember.

It was also our grandson's turn to make his 3-year-old trip to "Build a Bear". He was so cute, all shy about talking to the store workers, yet so excited to give his new dog "Sparky" a bath and brushing, and to put on his new clothes. Sparky even had his own chair in the Mall Food Court, when we were eating our Hot Dogs on a Stick. Such a fun time! His cousin is next, so we'll be making the trip again in a few weeks. Princess Bear with sparkles . . . here we come!

The "Hayden Sweater" was nearing completion, as you saw in my last post.  But, it had some serious fit issues, so it was "frogged".  I started again, and with a few modifications, I think this version is much better.

Here she is, checking the sweater out herself. She likes the new version better too, as the sleeves will fit her chubby arms a little better. I wonder where she inherited those chubby arms? Hmmmm, it could be me.

The sleeves will be moving back onto the needles today, and the bonnet will come next.  I hope to have the pattern ready for publishing before my next post.

My "Junonia" skirt still looks the same as my last post. I'm hoping to get some time with it soon. Visions of Christmas gift projects have been swimming in my head, so I hope "Junonia" comes to completion before 6 new projects jump on my needles.

September brings the beginning of "Knit Nights". I've missed seeing everyone during the Summer, and I can't wait to get started again. I am always so inspired by everyone's projects.

Check out the darling little turtle shell blanket and hat, crocheted by Tiffany, from our group. See . . . inspiration everywhere you turn. Tiffany's Nephew was the lucky recipient of this gift and the model in this casserole dish. What a lucky little fellow! I'll bet even his foot won't fit in that dish in 15 years, or so.

Well we are entering the autumn season, with falling leaves, cool breezes, pumpkins, apples, and all of the fun things Fall brings. Happy knitting . . . . . .

On & Off the Needles

Summer is the best possible time for knitting, even if you are lugging around a heavy, wool sweater. Vacations make is possible to spend lots of time knitting on planes, in cars, and relaxing in campgrounds. I've got several projects "on the needles" right now, and it is nice to switch between them, when I'm tired of looking at the color or the knitting has become monotonous.

I've just cast on The "Junonia" Skirt.  A beautiful design by Kerin Demeler-Laurence.  It is knit of KnitPicks CotLin.  A beautiful combination for summer weather.  You'll note from the pattern that the bottom of the skirt has a beautiful, lacy ruffle.

However, it is knit from the top-down, so I am currently knitting on the monotonous part. I decided to use a drawstring in the waist, rather than elastic, so I'll be knitting some yardage of I-Chord. Boredom has pushed me to start on a new design of my own.

This is the beginnings of "Hayden".  It will be a soft, little cardigan with matching bonnet.  This is the yoke of the cardigan, which will ultimately be worn and modelled by my new little grand-daughter.  She is growing so fast, and will need something warm when Fall comes.

I call this stitch a "peco cable", because it isn't actually a cable and because each stitch has a little hole peeking through the middle.  This pictures isn't a very good representation of the stitch, but when it is blocked out, the eyelets show up better.  This design is coming along quickly, and should be ready to publish by my next post.

You may remember this "practical baby bib", one of the free patterns I have published on ravelry.com.  Lots of babies have been born around me this summer, so I thought I had best get busy and knit up a few new bibs as gifts.

This was the first of 14 bibs I made for gifts. I usually always make the bibs in white, because the cotton yarn has such a tendancy to fade in the wash, and because bibs are always stained. White has always just seemed the practical solution. But, my daughter said her white ones never needed to be bleached and that all food always washed out easily.

So I decided to try some bright colors this time.  I also decided to knit them all in "garter stitch".  They turned out so cute!  I know they wll still fade, but if the stains wash out easily, who cares?  Five colors were used:  pink, yellow, orange, aqua and lavender.  Each gift contained 3 bibs of various colors.  Everyone seemed to just love them.

Hayden is really rockin' her's. Because she is my very own, she received 5, one in each color.

I hope your summer is going as great as mine. Happy Knitting . . . .

The "Angela" Top

We just returned from a little trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was a great time. We camped at a fun KOA, where we enjoyed swimming in the large pool, eating their homemade fudge and riding around on a 4-seater bicycle. We spent the first day at "Quake Lake".

It is an eerie place, even after 54 years. It is the location where in August of 1959, an earthquake happened in the middle of the night, in the Madison River Valley in Montana. 19 campers were camping in the the canyon that night, and all lives were lost. A lake formed as a result of the earthquake, which still holds many standing dead trees. It is strangely quiet there.

The next few days were spent travelling through the Park, where we saw buffalo, elk, antelope and geese. Old Faithful is a usual favorite, and we really enjoyed the Tetons. We took some pictures from the most photographed spot in the United States.

During the trip, I was able to finally finish the test knit of my latest pattern. The "Angela" Top.  Inspired by a top worn by my co-worker, "Angela".  Here she is while still in the knitting process, complete with bobbins to hold the excess cast-on yarn, to be used for sewing up the neck casings.

I finally decided on a scarf, which was neither of the choices I previously posted. This one is light and airy, and the floral design adds a lighter feel than the two I had considered before. Let me know what you think?

The travelling rib design adds a shapely feel to the garment.  It is extremely stretchy, so only two sizes will be offered with the pattern (Small/Medium and Large/XL) I'm hoping to have the pattern finalized and published on Ravelry, you can find it here on Ravelry.com .

Knit of Fyberspates, Scrumptious in DK Sport (grass green) on size 6 needles, it worked up quickly, and was really fun to knit.  I plan to wear my "Angela" with a long-sleeved turtleneck or tee, but I'm sure it would look great without it.  The armholes could be adjusted to hide any undergarments.

Remember the two chairs I recently purchased?  Well the fabric on the chairs is very light in color, and I am always afraid of stains on furniture, so I crocheted 2 of these pineapple headrest covers for the chairs.  I used a double strand of size 20 cotton crochet thread and a size G Hook to create them, and I used the pattern for a placemat (free download on ravelry) to create them. 

I'm always reminded just how much I HATE to crochet.  You can't read a book or even watch TV very effectively, because you always have to be looking at it.  No wonder I LOVE to knit so much, you don't have to be continually looking at it!

However, now that I've whined a bit, I must say . . . I really LOVE the outcome.  The pineapple headrest covers look beautiful in the room, and will protect the chairs from dirt and stains for years to come.

I started some new knitting projects.  I'm knitting away on a stack of Practical Baby Bibs for all of the new babies being born around me (pictures coming), and I've cast-on the The Junonia Skirt, a pattern designed by Kerin Dimeler Laurence.  I am knitting the skirt in KnitPicks CotLin and it is coming along nicely. 

Well, until next time . . . . . . . Happy Knitting!