On Top of Old Smoky

These pics are from my DGD's back packing trip into the Smokies. Their Dad took them on a 5 day back country hiking trip and they all did great. Notice DGD #1 is wearing her Wonderful Wallaby sweater that I made for her last Christmas-yeah Maddy!!

This week was particularly busy at work. So I did not get alot of knitting done. I was able to get the 2nd Scottish Wave sock done down to the start of the heel flap. I got the buttons on the Baby Suprize Jacket and will be gifting it very soon to the next door neighbor's daughter who is having a girl. I also found out that my new next door neighbor at my apartment is pregnant. She is such a sweet girl although fairly young. I told her I knit and she was very interested in re-learning to knit herself. I have already started a BSJ for her in a neutral colorway so it can be for either a boy or girl. They have not found out yet what they are having. Again I am using the Colinette Cadenza and the main color is grey of shades from medium to dark. There are short shots of all kinds of great colors including red, blue, green and a mustard yellow. I am also going to intersperse some strips of a matching red solid since the 2 balls of Cadenza are not quite enough for the sweater. I will be working on different decreases & increases than the original to see if there is any I like better. I am doing a simple knit 3 together right now and I think it is working out to look nice. For the double increases I will do a lifted bar increase by knitting into the front and the back of the bar.. It will leave a very small hole that should line up and be a nice design element. I will be working on improving my single row buttonhole technique that EZ talks about in Knitters Almanac. I also got the Jitterbug sweater to it's recipient's momma and she seemed to be quite impressed and promised to bring the baby by wearing the set.

On the quilting front I worked on packing up my sewing room some more. I got another 3 boxes of fabric boxed up and lots of other fabric found its way into the appropriate boxs. I am also cutting quilt seeds as I put stuff away. Quilt seeds are just 2 1/2" squares for a future undecided quilting project. So far I have over 1000 cut in over 200 different fabrics. I do have several ideas of what I might do with this but will not start anytime soon. But when I do I will not have to cut anything!! Well here are the squares that have been made so far on this round of the Progressive RR that I now have to work on. The fabric is from Marcy and Colleen made these blocks. I am stumped at the moment on what to do with this next. I did buy some fabric this week but still don't have a clue where to go with it. I know I have to get these blocks separated out by some thing less busy but so far my muse is keeping quiet. I sure hope my next round is easier!!

Well I leave for work tomorrow morning and do not get to come home for over a week. I will get 3 days off over the Labor Day weekend but I will be stuck in my apartment and that gets old quick. I will take all my knitting projects with me but that only goes so far. And I have to watch how much I knit before my neck goes into spasms. I probably should take my kid's PJ pattern with me as I have a pair of birthday PJ's to make. DGD #1 suggested I make DGD #2 dinosaur pajama's for her upcoming birthday. Now why did I not think of that? Of course that means a trip to Oklahoma Quiltworks for fabric which is such a hardship!!!! I also need to buy fabric for a charms exchange I am doing with my WW quilting friends. You would think with over 20 boxes of fabric packed that I would not need any more for many years but it seems like I never have exactly what I want when I want it. Sounds like an addiction..one I don't want to find a cure for. Well till next week, probably Tuesday by the looks of it....

In the Eye of the Hurricane!!

This is my nature picture for the week!! All week long the weather forcasters were calling for about a 10-20% chance of rain over the weekend. Driving home Friday night we got a nice 1/4" and I figured that was all we were going to get. Then they started saying we would probably get a little more, maybe an inch on Saturday. Well....it started raining in the evening Saturday and kept getting more and more severe. The winds blew, the rain pounded, the lightening flashed. It went on all night. When we awoke Sunday morning we found some areas in Oklahoma had over 10". We probably had 4-6" locally depending on where you measured. The weathermen said that this storm had an "eye" just like a hurricane and the barometric pressure was lower than it had been when it came in off the coast. But now it is back to hot and humid, just like August in Oklahoma is known to be!!

On to my projects for the week. I got a lot of knitting time in this week and completely finished the 1st of my Scottish Wave socks. And I got the ribbing almost done on the 2nd sock. I managed to knit up a quick hat for the Jitterbug sweater that I am gifting this week to Dr Allen's unborn little boy. I still have the buttons to sew on that one tonight but I will get it done and given this week.

I got some good organizing time in my sewing room and packed up a bunch more boxes. But most of all I got alot of quilt "seeds" cut. What does that mean you say? Well it means that I just started cutting 2 1/2" squares out of scraps in my scrap basket. I also cut some out of larger peices of fabric as I was organizing them and putting them in the boxes. But mostly this was intended to cut down on the scraps that have sit there for years. I cut over 700 squares and so far I can not tell there is even a dent in the quantity sitting in the basket. I knew they were in there reproducing and as soon as I tried to cut down their numbers they would reproduce even faster!! It was fun to try to remember when and where I bought the fabric and how it was used in the past. Sometimes my memory failed me completely tho or perhaps I never used the fabric? That could not possibly be, could it? Anyway I was feeling pretty smug until I figured out that what I cut was just the equivelent of about 15 fat quarters. But I do kind of have a plan for a cute quilt made with just the squares and muslin background but for now it is just cutting for me.

I also received the 2nd round of my progressive round robin. The owner of this round is Marcy Cale and Coleen Adair is the only person so far to work on her blocks. I have them hanging up to get some feel for where I want to go with it. It tried to get pics but it just did not work out so maybe next weekend I can get some. Meanwhile I have some fabric pinned up around it to audition them and I have at least one idea to work on with it. I am jealous because those ladies who could make it to scrappy's Thursday nights got to see everybodies work so far including the work on their own blocks. I on the other hand will have to wait until the end of the project unless I am lucky and have a Thursday night off for once.

I had planned on getting some new PJ's cut for the DGD's but it probably won't happen any more this weekend. This coming work week I hope to get alot done on the 2nd Scottish Wave sock. Then next weekend I would like to get those jammies cut out and partially sewn together. I will need to be starting another knitting project but that won't be a problem as there is plenty of yarn just sitting around waiting for me to grab and go......

Elizabeth Zimmerman-I love YOU!

These are the feet of my beloved daughter, SIL & granddaughters!! I wanted them to take pictures of sandy feet and this is the result. Trouble is it makes me yearn for them and the awesome beach this was taken at. Oh well-next year after we move!!

You may wonder why I am extoling the virtues of Elizabeth Zimmerman. I was already knitting her Baby Suprise Jacket and was only waiting for more yarn to arrive to finish. It is such a wonder of geometry, almost poetry in motion. When I was ordering the extra yarn I decided to have them throw in her "Knitter's Almanac" thinking it had the pattern for the Baby Suprise Jacket also. But it did not have it among the 12 patterns included. What it did have was the directions for a single row buttonhole. Her telling of how she came up with the process is pretty funny as are all the other tidbit stories she includes in the book. This buttonhole is awesome although I am going to change one very small thing next time I make it. When you have to add the backward loop stitches back on the needle I plan on adding one less than necessary. When I knit them in the next row there should be enough slack to make one more backwards loop in between the ones I added in the row before. Because there is a lot of slack in the backward stitch cast on sometimes it looks loose in the garment and this also happened with these buttonholes. I hope I remember this fix to try next time. And I already have more yarn to try again that is how much I love this pattern.

The next thing I worked on this week was my new pair of socks. Last week I was well along on the SS KAL for this session called "I Love Gansey" Well I did not!! Well at least in my yarn and gauge. So I frogged it and started a sock with a pattern out of an old pattern dictionary. There is not a name for the stitch pattern but particular yarn it looks Scottish to me so hence the name "Scottish Waves" It is a incredibly easy stitch pattern to memorize and knit and is going fast since I had to knit them on size 2's to get over my heel. The foot may be done back on 1's tho to make them more fitted. I still will knit the SSKAL sock someday but I will alter the hearts to look like hearts or change them altogether.

I gifted my Victorian Lace socks to my current Radiology resident, Dr Anne Munson. I could not have given them to a more grateful person and it did my heart good to see she would love them well. I made her model them on her feet tho and I took the picture in the dark reading room that she had been stuck in all day. The other gift that was well received was the "Sweet Pea" baby sweater I made for my on-line friend, Amina and her soon to be little one. She promised me a photo of the recipient wearing the set as soon as was possible( we still have a couple of month' wait!!)

I have to go back to work a day early as so this will be shorter than usual. OK, OK maybe not!! No one ever accused me of not having enough to say. My knitting goals for the week will be to make progress on my socks, get buttons for the BSJ & get them sewn on. Once I am home next weekend I need to make the hat for the Jitterbug baby sweater that needs to be gifted soon. By then I will have passed on my current Progressive Quilt Challenge blocks and have new ones to look at and plan for so that will be on the sewing list. I will end with pictures of the cutest kittens in the world. They are not mine, per se, but they visit me almost every time I am outside at my apartment. The owner does not care for them well so I feed them and this week I will treat them for the horrible fleas they have. Two out of the 3 were willing to pose for the camera but Cali was being standoffish. She is usually right up there with her brothers but not with the camera in her face......

What a Difference a Day Makes

Now usually I have a 3 day weekend from work. Since I work out of town this is how I manage my life. 4 days at work and 3 days at home with hubby. But once a month I am on call and I get to be home about a day and a half with 2 nights next to hubby. But this week because of co-workers vacations I only get about 22 hours at home. And I have to do it again next weekend. But I figured out you can still get a lot done in 22 hrs. I managed to grocery shop on the way back into town, 4 loads of laundry, watered the yard, finished sewing a top for DGD#1 and cooked dinner. And of course there is what comes later tonight when I get to share the bed with DH for just the one night!!!

Last weekend I started my very first Baby Suprise Jacket. I am working off the pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman's book "The Opinionated Knitter" I am using a Colinette superwash DK weight yarn called "Cadenza" I forget what the colorway is because the ball band is in the city at the moment. It called for 3oz of baby wool that can be knitted at 6 stitches per inch but I ran out just shy of being done and I had a little more than 3 oz so I had to order a whole new skein and I have to wait for it to arrive to finish. I started it on size 7 straights but I will never do that again. I kept having trouble with my long size 7's hitting the wicker on my knitting chair and pulling the needle out of the stitches!! SO this weekend I went and bought a new size 7 Addi Turbo circular to make any further BSJ's I may want to make.. And I am sure I will be making many more. I love this design. I still want to mess around with the double decreases & increases and to figure out where to put contrasting stripes in. But otherwise it is an interesting sweater to knit despite the fact that every stitch is knit, no purling ever. To me this sweater is proof that EZ was a genius pure and simple. Read the book and discover how she came up with this pattern. It basically evolved from a mistake making a hat...yes a hat!! All my mistakes ever get me is frogging!!!

This is the new top I made for my eldest granddaughter. I am very happy with the end result. I only wish the picture could portray how cute it turned out. I always hope her mommy will take pictures of her wearing it but it rarely happens but I know she loves getting stuff I have made her. My youngest granddaughter is not girly enough to care for this pattern so I plan on going to Old Navy and finding her some T-shirts to send. She also loves what grandma makes her but I am realistic and don't want to waste the time making something she just doesn't care for. I still have some more fabric to make them PJ's and maybe I can get them started soon-after everybody gets back from vacation.

I did get some new socks started this weekend. They are the new pattern from my KAL called "I love Gansey" I am making them in a new yarn from a company called "JoJoLand" They yarn is called Melody and it is a superwash Merino that seems quite soft. It is very delicately self striping in a heathery green, fading to purple, fading to blue.. I am not completely happy with the stitch definition on these but they will be soft and warm and I can always reknit this pattern in a crisper yarn down the road. Again they did not photograph well but I will put the pic up anyway just so you can see how the colors blend into each other. I am past 1/2 way on the first leg in just one day although I sure got sick of knitting yesterday evening!!

I am sure I will get alot of knitting in this week and it is possible I can get the sock I am working on completely done and start the 2nd one. It is supposed to be horribly hot this week so I won't be doing any marathon walking and I am only working 8 hr days so I will have extra time each evening. I sure wish my rush order of yarn had come to finish the BSJ but oh-well. That can be next weekend for sure. I have no quilting or sewing on tap until we do our first progressive RR switch which is coming up fairly soon. Other than that it is just work, work, work and knit, knit,knit.......till next time