Saturday, June 27, 2015

Wooly Fun

 World Wide Knit in Public was celebrated at my local Sardis library. They served us lemonade and cookies and put up a table in the main entrance. The librarians were very excited when we started yarn bombing.

We are yarn bombing the toy class at the fair this year with sheep. This is my version. Don't tell me he looks like a mouse or a monkey. Already heard it.
 Sheepy tail. The free pattern from Lion Brand was called a sock critter, but was knit flat. No way. I used some of the numbers but just messed around. Hence the monkey/mouse. It's made of my sister's handspun!

 We had the festival of Dan. Hamburgers on Friday night with my mom. Yum!

 Friends over for a big dinner on Saturday. We have never served raspberries at his birthday. They are not usually ripe for several weeks. The weather has been like that one week in late August. Living in the Pacific Coast rainforest usually means walking in the rain and watching the plants grow as God waters them. Not this year. We are featured in the latest Global Warming horror film.
 The basil thinks it is living in the Mediterranean. There are good things about having to water plants every day.

 The black berries promise to be a bumper crop this year. The perfect pink to the perfect fruit.
 They are already selling corn. The earliest to date has been Canada Day, July 1st. I can't eat corn anymore but I love it and I love to watch it magically grow.
 Stated my summer reading. Grabbed me right away. A bit of a brick, but worth it.
 Found some sheep graffiti on a bus bench.
 With the great heat, I hide in the basement and sew. Thank goodness for on line tutorials like Creative Bug.
 Finished Pebble Beach, but she still needs to be properly blocked. It's a very long crescent shawl, not my favourite shape, but I like the sea wool and the colour. It was fun being part of the Knitting Pipeline KAL>
And a wee success. The Golden Pear hat is a free pattern on Ravelry. I am thinking of using it as a colourwork class.
Today I was invited to 88 Stitches with my young friends and Tin Can Knits is having a trunk show!!! So much wooly fun.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Nine Years


 Welcome to my blog. Welcome back if you've been here before. This is the 9th anniversary of its creation. One of my better mistakes, I was just trying to leave a comment on the Math 4 Knitters blog.
Our seasons seem to be moving along more quickly than usual. The baby ducks that join me for breakfast are lucky to find green grass in the back garden because much of the front lawn is already brown.
 I was delighted to be invited to a baby shower for one of the LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurse) I used to work with. The team was there in their exceptional caring and good humour. I really miss that group. We are starting to see each other for coffee and fun. I have been so busy wrapping up volunteer activities and wrapping presents.
 These are flowers the youth group helped make for our Sunday School teachers. Youth Group ended with a wonderful and very silly party. I received gifts from my peeps too.
 With the days so hot, I am hiding in the basement and sewing. I made a thread catcher so I could feel like a real sewer. But the pattern was so bad. I would have made a separate lining and weighted the pin cushion differently. Now I don't feel like such a beginner.
 Piping has been pretty busy. We had D Day ceremonies, a fun BBQ and extra practices. One of the tenor drummers met me at Harrsion Hot Springs Resort where we laid down the plans for a New Years Eve celebration at 4 pm called Hogmany.
 Cultus Lake Days parade from my angle.
 D piped at his partner's retirement and was a wonderful emcee.
 I am now knitting on the edge. Deciding how I want the Fussy Cuts blanket to look is almost as much work as knitting it. Do I make log cabin strips on the outside or mitred? Do I add an icord edge? I have decided to decide as I go.

From the Stash and Burn podcast, I have started a crafting bingo card, and already got one bingo. This is a great motivational tool and a great group on Ravelry. We are trying to motivate our own Chilliwack Common Threads knitting circle and I am so pleased at those who step forward with their skills to help.
Also pleased to join the knitters of the Sardis Library today for World Wide Knit in Public Day (week).
Moving up. Thanks to my physiotherapist, I am taking short hikes and look forward to more in the weeks to come. I am not knitting as much because I'm not sitting as much. But there are other crafts and endeavours to pursue. And I hope that you will come along with me as I explore the new wonders around me.

Friday, June 05, 2015

Almost Finely Finished


 So pleased with the final product. I have loved William Morris since I was introduced to his Arts and Crafts movement in the early 1990's. I saw a special show at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1996. This is based on his Strawberry Thief. I just couldn't afford the over $200 price tag for the kit, so I drew it on the needlepoint mesh. The fabric has the same motif, Liberty lawn from Purl Soho in New York. The last touch was the "piping"- just icord in the same yarn as the background. If you are doing a large area, it is better to buy a skein of yarn than all those little hanks. This cushion certainly smartens up my reading chair.
Started hiking at the direction of my physiotherapist. My hip problems are secondary to an old knee injury from 1981 when I was in the Medical Corps. Boo. On Promontory Hill I can go for a 40 minute hike with elevation changes and never be too far from my car if the trouble flares up.
 Finished and blocked but no buttons yet. This (ETA) Sunny Side sweater by Tanis Fiber Arts in Opal Van Gough turned out just right. It was a replacement for the Antler that I knit too small for a summer baby.


 I made a Twiddle Muff. the blue will be the liner. Next I'll decorate it with flowers, buttons and beads. It is intended for a dimensia patient who is confined to a wheel chair and requires some tactile stimulation. I will probably take it to the extended care facility at the hospital, or maybe to the place I used to work that was attached to Hospice.
 I have to cast off my 11th square and cast on the 12th. Then I can set them up for sashing. I am starting to think a narrower sashing will look better.



These baby pants are done except for embellishments. Almost done. I am torn which project to work on. Just a few hours on each project. 
Another almost done. Just a bit of embroidery in a few random spots. But if I pick this project, the square won't get cast off and the trousers won't be embellished. I just need to pour a G&T and sit in the shade on the deck and get at it.
 In the dugout are the Pebble Beach shawl. It is beautiful and ignored. Thank goodness I had it with me when I had to swing into the Nissan to get my door looked at. They ordered a part and will fix it on Tuesday when I get my oil changed, etc. Until then, I will feel like I'm driving a jalopy because I have to lower the window to open the door, or climb over the console.
 The featherweight is another great travel project. Not getting a lot of love. With my new resurgence in sewing and watching the Great British Sewing Bee season 2, I am stretching myself even further. I may not have a pay cheque, but I have fabric stash!
There will be no break in the planning and dreaming of the making. Perhaps some things will be truly finished by next week.