Nature's Beauty Times 2

Just when I thought I would not have a great picture to start my blog for the week, nautre gives me a perfect subject. About 7p.m. tonight it was just barely misting and I was complaining we needed more rain. All at once my DH tells me that there is a beautiful double rainbow out and I grab my camera and the tripod and head outdoors. I did not have time to really get the settings on the camera right for the situation but I still think these are pretty impressive. The rainbows were both complete arcs but that would have taken a fish eye lens to capture in total. These were the best rainbows I can ever remember seeing and I have seen many in my day. It lasted for almost 20 minutes and had all the neighbors out oohing and aahing. Now if we could just get that rain I think we need!!

I managed to finish several knitting projects this week. The first would be my Scottish Wave socks. Unfortunately the end result was dissappointing. All during knitting of the 2nd leg I kept checking to see if the stripes were lining up the same and they seemed to be just perfect. But then the foot of the 2nd sock was not looking at all like the 1st. When I was finally done I took the socks outside to photograph and I realized the socks really didn't match at all. The greens were quite different and the amount of purple in each was vastly different. I took the socks into the shop I bought the yarn at and they said they got alot of complaints about the dyelots not being true. The owner gave me a 25% discount on my purchase that day and I managed to bring home some nice Claudia's Handpaint Fingering weight for a new pair of socks. I plan on making the Tofutsies "Tidal Wave" socks after seeing my GF's. They are very pretty socks and I think they will look good in the colorway I picked. Hopefully by next week I will have pic to show of the new socks. I am not sure I will ever post a pic of my finished Scottish Wave socks but beleive me I will still wear them even if it is only around the house and to bed.

The 2nd project I finished up over the week was the 2nd Baby Suprise Jacket. I did this one in the same Colinette Cadenza in a grey colorway with reds, blues and greens mixed in. I made the stripes out of some Jaeger "Matchmaker" which has been discontinued to my dismay. I am quite happy with the final product although I still have some room for improvement in my next attemp. I made some notes on my copy of the pattern of things I liked and things I want to rethink next time out. This BSJ is for my new neighbor in my apartment. I need to get some more yarn and get started on a 3rd BSJ soon but first I really need to get some of my stash knitted up into something maybe for me me me....

I really didn't get any sewing done this week since I was up in the city for work for the entire week and weekend. I got to the quilt store early in the week since I felt the weekend might be a washout due to being called in and I was right. I got called in twice on Saturday so I didn't get much of any shopping done over the weekend. I found some more fabric to go with the Progressive Round Robin and a few more random FQ's for quilt seeds. I did get every thing washed, ironed, folded and put away but that is about all. I was searching for some decent dinosaur fabric for birthday PJ's for DGD#2 but I guess dinosaurs are out right now and I could not find anything to suite me. Oh well-I always have that kind of luck being way behind the fashion trend!!

I am so ready for a easy week. Work has been a bear all September but now that all my co-workers will be at work it should ease up. Maybe next week I can get some more projects posted and actually post to the Zimmermaniac blog that I found. I can not beleive I did not know about the blog specifically made for Elizabeth Zimmerman's fans and their projects. I spent many a moment checking that out this week and I hope to be a contributor soon.....

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......