I'VE MOVED MY BLOG

I'm trying out a new place for my blog.  I hope you will continue to follow me over there:

http://knittingandbeading.wordpress.com

COUNTING DOWN!!

Well, I'm still way behind in my Christmas prep!  I still have candy-making and some baking to do.  Had to go out to the grocery store today for some ingredients and boy was that a mistake.  Terribly crowded - maybe it won't be so bad tomorrow as I still have a couple items they didn't have at the first store I went to and I wasn't about to try another one.

I did make 40 or so pieces of Slow Cooker Chocolate Candy this afternoon.  Talk about easy - you just layer dry roasted nuts, white chocolate, sweet chocolate and almond bark and let it melt on low for 3 hours, stir and spoon into paper muffin liners.  Remove paper when completely cool.   Here's the recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/slow-cooker-chocolate-candy-recipe.html?soc=sharingpinterest

 

I had an unexpected guest yesterday - my brother from Oregon, which was nice to spend some time with him.  But now I have to work extra hard to get everything done before our daughter and her family will arrive on Wednesday to spend 4 wonderful days with us.

So, don't expect any more posts from me until after Christmas.  Here's wishing my followers a beautiful and memorable Christmas.

THE PRESSURE IS ON!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sure behind in getting ready for the Season!   We do have our tree up and the outside lights lit, so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

But, between both hubby and I having quite a few doctor appointments, getting last minute knitting done and sent off, I'm way behind.   I swear off "gift" knitting next year.   I'll just send knitted items to family members throughout the year - so no pressure!

Tomorrow I intend to go grocery shopping first thing in the morning, to get necessary ingredients for candy, cookies, cake, etc. and spend the rest of the day baking.  I'm actually kinda looking forward to that. 

I finally finished my Buttoned Cowl and I'm keeping this one for myself.  Love the Juniper Moon Farm yarn (40% Alpaca, 40% Wool, 20% Silk).  Oh so soft.

So with that, I want to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas, and I'll probably not blog again until after Christmas.  Our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandkids will be here for a few days, so will be busy with family activities!

GETTING IN THE SPIRIT

Christmas, she is a'coming.   We're kinda slow getting any decorations up.  Maybe some later today or tomorrow.  Hubby wanted to get a new tree - but so far we haven't found the "right" one.

We did go to a Christmas concert in our community clubhouse last night.  It's hard to believe how much talent we have here.  We live in a 55+ community and there are 30-40 singers in the group.  Considering we're all "older" it's amazing the quality of the singing.

The palm trees are all lit up on the driveway into the clubhouse area.  I took this just as we were going in the front door.

This picture below was a photo professionally taken last year, showing the main

front entrance to the clubhouse.

I'm frantically trying to finish up a couple of gifts knitting, so I can get to other needed things.  Such as Christmas cards(maybe).   Do you still send out cards?  I'm thinking about no longer sending them.   I either see my friends and family, telephone them or talk to them on Facebook.  Besides, I'm lazy and postage gets expensive.  A lot of our friends and family just e-mail us a card or letter (which I don't have a problem with at all).  Let me hear what you do.

PRE-THANKSGIVING DAY

Today has been a busy day at our house, and I'm sure at yours also.

However, I did manage to get a lot knit on my Buttoned Cowl and hope to finish it up in the next day or so.   I'll have to wait until next Tuesday to go to a craft store for 2 buttons before I can call it "done".  It's been a very fun and challenging knit.  I learned several new-to-me stitches, such as "Crossed Braid Stitch" and "Slow and Easy Cable Stitch".  I'll take another photo of the finished product - outside in the sunshine so you can see the "true" color!  

Speaking of outside - we're expecting 82 degrees tomorrow, and then staying right around 80 for another week or so.   Can't beat Arizona weather!!!

Here's a photo of the 24-hour fruit salad I spent 2 hours cutting up fruit for this afternoon.  Now, one aching back later, I'm relaxing here on the computer.  Our street gets together for holidays and all the orphans (those with no family coming) have a potluck - so we're looking forward to that.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blogging and knitting friends out there.  I know I have so much to be thankful for and it will be a great day!

A WINNER!

It seems I never win anything, but I am participating in the Ravelry Gift-A-Long until the end of this year and my name was selected this evening to receive a free pattern from designer Margaret Kendall.   I hurriedly went to her designer page and picked the "Third Rail Cowl" as my choice.  It looks beautiful and I'll look forward to casting on probably not until after the Holidays.  Photo by Margaret Kendall and posted with her approval.  Her designer page is:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/margaret-kendalls-ravelry-downloads/patterns
I might even use this same yarn - I'm busy "shopping" right now, because, of course, I don't have anything in my stash!!

SOCK YARN!!!!

Look what came in my mailbox from Dizzy Sheep today.  A skein of Opal Ladies & Gentlemen in markant (striking) color, which is actually a forest green variegated - not a blue.   I tried taking the picture inside and outside and it still came out blue!  I'm going to knit socks out of this, probably after the first of the year since I have way too many WIP's to finish before Christmas.   The Meyer lemons will be ripe in a week or two, but I did sneek one off the tree today and it tastes pretty good!!

SUNDAY PROJECT

Today I've started my Buttoned Cowl, which was designed by Galzanne Knits and called the Dorothy Jean Neckwarmer.  I'm using (from stash, believe it or not!) Juniper Moon Farms Moonshine which is a Worsted 40% alpaca, 40% alpaca and 20% silk.   Talk about a yummy, soft but good definition yarn - I'm loving it.   This may just have to be mine, although it would get little wear, if any, here in Arizona.

VETERANS DAY 2014

I'm posting this same picture, again, of the many flags lining the roadway entrance into our senior community.  A local Boy Scout troop places these flags every Veterans Day, as well as other holidays, such as the 4th of July.  It is so impressive and brings a tear/choke every time I pass through.  Thank you hubby, and all the other veterans and active duty service men and women!

SUNDAY'S PROGRESS

I've been knitting away on this scarf, and am still not sure I like it.  For those of you who haven't seen my earlier post(Nov. 3rd) you can see all the mini skeins I will be using.  I love the pattern of the scarf and the constant changing colors, but not sure about the overall color yet.  (I apologize for the quality of the picture - will have to take one out in the sunlight tomorrow).

"UNATTRACTIVE COLOR SCARF"

I've been excitedly working on this scarf using the 20+ mini skeins of yarn shown in the previous post.

I'm thinking this might be a scarf to wear out in the backyard in the wintertime.  So far, it's a fun knit, but the colors just aren't doing it for me.    What do you think?  Be honest.   

Maybe as I get farther along, it'll start to make some sense or whimsy or whatever.

WHAT I'M UP TO?

I've been working along on the knit hat for the girl in our community just diagnosed with leukemia.  It seems like it's taking forever, but I really like the way it's turning out.   The "swirls" show up in the variegated yarn better than I thought they would.  I'm only a row or two short of where I'll start decreasing, so it'll go fast then.

However, I started another project!!!!  I certainly have a bad case of "startitis".  I think I can be forgiven a little bit though, because I'm using up some 5g mini skeins I purchased in 2007 as part of a KAL, which I never started.   At meetup yesterday, I asked for suggestions as to what I could do with these 20 skeins (about 18.5 yards each).  One of the ideas I liked was a chevron stripe scarf.  One skein knit about 2.5 inches, so a 50" scarf - which isn't long enough.   I started going through bins this afternoon and found lots of fingering yarn leftovers from socks, etc.  I'll mingle these into the scarf, also, to make it somewhere between 60" and 70" I've been working on it since last night, but haven't decided if I want the color changes to be wherever I run out of a color, or if at the end of a row to make it look "neater", rather than "wilder".   I'm more of a "neater" look to the rows, where if I gift it to a one of my 3 granddaughters (all teenagers), they would probably like the "wilder" look.  Such a dilemma.

ROAD TRIP TO MEXICO

Today we made a quick trip to Mexico for some dental work on the hubby.   Temperatures today were in the low 90's - so very pleasant.  Along the way I took this picture of some Arizona mountains (yes, southern Arizona does have mountains).   Sorry for the picture of the antennae!

I knit some on the hat for a cute little girl here in town who has been diagnosed with leukemia.

 

ON TO A HAT NOW

I'm knitting this Swirl hat (pattern here).   This is for a local 8yr old girl who has just been diagnosed with leukemia.  Each member of our knitting group is knitting a hat for her. 

Tomorrow we are driving down to Mexico to go to a dentist just across the border, so I should get lots of knitting time while hubby drives (about 6 hrs round trip).

DISHCLOTH/WASHCLOTH NUMBER 2

Finished the 2nd dishcloth/washcloth with this set.  I don't exactly like the way the orange color pooled/flashed.  Sometimes that happens with yarn - it had a very short color repeat.The two of them make a nice set for gift giving.

FIERY SUNSET

Grabbed this pic of the sunset last night.    Arizona does have beautiful sunsets - I can never get enough of them.

I 

I've finished knitting on this today, and thought this pretty orange dishcloth goes with Fall, sunsets, etc.  The pattern is Bridgette Dishcloth by Deb Buckingham.

PATTERN, OH PATTERN, WHERE ARE YOU?

Have you ever seen a messier desk than this one?   I should have cleaned it up before we went on our little 4-day trip to visit family, but of course, I didn't get 'er done!

I have knitting meet-up tonight and am working on this pair of fingerless mitts and the pattern is buried under all this mess:  receipts, mail, magazines, etc.  I know I can get the pattern elsewhere, but this one has my notes on it, indicates where I left off, etc.

Wish me luck in getting this mess organized, receipts posted to Quicken, probably a bill or two which requires payment online, and oh, yes - FIND THE PATTERN!

WEEKEND VISIT TO LAS VEGAS

This is how and where we spent a long weekend.  Grandkids, our kids and us had a great time.   Great meals, lots of good visiting and had a wonderful time.   They have recently moved back in the US (Las Vegas) from Qatar and we were so happy to see them.    Took my knitting along but had so many other things to do I didn't even want to knit.

OUTDOOR PICTURE

Rain's gone - sunshine here. so, here's the outdoor picture of my beaded scarf.  The grape color is pretty much correct, however the beads don't show up very well.  If you click on the picture, the larger version shows the beads.  Also, too bad my oleander bush isn't strong enough to hold up the scarf better, but you get the idea.

FINISHED!!!

Finally finished my Shallows Beaded Scarf!   Didn't get it done in time for the KAL deadline of Sept 30th, but that's okay.  It's done.   This one is a "grape" color, but hard to get the color correct on an indoor photo.  It's actually a prettier color in person.   I'll take a better picture outside as soon as it quits raining.
I knit a green one prior and I like it better, but these will be Christmas gifts and hope the parties like them.

I KNOW BETTER!!!!

I Know Better than to take this Shallows Beaded Scarf to knitting meetup, but I'm getting so close to being finished I can hardly wait.   It's a beautiful, knitted piece, but the lace section is just complicated enough to lose proper count when you're visiting with other knitters! 

Last night I was worried I was going to run out of yarn, so I figured out how I wanted to end it so that it looked okay, when I found the last skein of yarn for this project.   Just by luck, I looked in a sack and there it was.  The supplier ran out of 100gr skeins, so instead of 2 - 100's she sent me 4 - 50's.   In the back of mind I thought I only remembered using up close to 3 skeins, but you know how you doubt your memory (or at least I do).    So I was pretty happy I didn't have to worry about running out of yarn, and then I had to come home this afternoon and rip back everything I knit up at meetup.  The beads didn't line up and the error was quite a few rows back.

So now I've ripped back and am ready to proceed again.

Our monsoon season here in Arizona is over and now we're having the kind of weather we moved here for.  Highs are in the 90 to 100 range and the lows in the mid-60's.  aaaahh.  Can't beat getting up every morning with sunshine and no clouds now for months!!

COMIN' ALONG

I'm still working feverishly on my Shallows scarf.   I have a deadline of September 30th, but not sure I'll make it.  The KAL ends that day and there are some wonderful prizes.   I don't really care if I don't make it by then, because it's such a great pattern, the beads are going on quite well and I'm enjoying it.

CONFUSED KNITTER??

Do you think this looks like a confusing mess?? Well, it is, except to me.   I have 3 projects I'm knitting on at a time:

1. The cream Cafe au Lait mitts
2. The purple Shallows scarf (for the Neckwear KAL going on right now)
3. The camel Buttoned Up Pillow which is very boring and with "cheap" acrylic yarn which is like knitting with rug yarn!

I knit on one for a little bit, then move on to another one when I get bored, read a few posts on Ravelry or my email, then back to a little more knitting.  I've never done this before, but maybe it'll work.   Glad I don't have animals in the house or they would be dragging my yarn all over the place.  The yarn for each project is in it's own project bag.  And, oh yes, I received a skein of yarn from CanteringCrowColorworks in Washington state - 100% BFL fingering weight - color Mermaid, which I'm pondering what to knit with it (for myself).

WEDNESDAY WIP's

This is where I'm at on the fingerless mitts - blocked one and a ways up on the 2nd one.  This is like knitting a pair or socks - you have to start the 2nd one right away (or you have SMS "second mitt syndrome"). 

Today hubby and I did a quick trip south to Casa Grande.  I shopped at Michaels for some inexpensive yarn to make a pillow cover for a pillow on my bed.  I finally came up with these two-color combinations: main color will be taupe with a cream colored band across the top with buttons.  This is the pattern picture: 

These are the two colors I'll be using: 

This will be a fun knit to take to "knit meet-up" where I can knit and not pay a lot of attention to what I'm doing.  Sometimes lace knitting is difficult to work on when everyone is sitting around talking!!  I'm sure you've all had this happen to you - go home afterwards and have to rip back everything you did at meet-up because it's hard to keep count!

KNITTING PROGRESS

This mitt is coming along nicely.  Just have to finish the thumb of the first one and start the second.

We here in Arizona had a 100-year storm this morning.  Heavy rain came as a result of Hurrican Norbert off the Baja, California coast.   Rainfall was anywhere from 3 inches to 5-1/2 inches in a 6-hour period.  Our normal annual rainfall so far this year, was 2.5 inches and we don't get much over that for a whole year.  Lots of closed freeways, etc.  This was the I-10 freeway.

MONSOON and KNITTING

We had a monsoon storm this evening - blowing dust, high winds, thunder, lightning, but we didn't get a drop of rain (which we could use).

Sooo, I stayed inside and did some Christmas knitting.  A pair of fingerless mitts coming right along.  These are Cafe au Lait Mitts by Paula McKeever.

FROGGING GOING ON HERE

After another try on the Bluet Cowl for the KAL, I gave up very frustrated.  Sometimes there are just things that don't work and this was one of them.  The yarn will be nice to knit any number of other items.  Knitting is supposed to fun and relaxing and this cowl was anything but that.

So..........I looked through my projects for something easier to work on and selected a pair of fingerless mitts:  Cafe au Lait Mitts by Paula McKeever.   

I've already knit the first 5 rows of ribbing and it's going along so smoothly and rapidly, making my frustrations go away.   If the rest of the pattern goes just as well, I'll probably knit more than one pair of these - with Christmas coming up, mitts work well for grandchildren who live up north!!

Do you ever feel there are certain patterns you just can't seem to connect with and get frustrated trying?

HOW I'VE SPENT MY WEEKEND

I don't seem to have accomplished a whole lot this weekend.    I did get caught up on some bookkeeping chores and cleaned off my desk so that I could see the wood again (except for where it was covered up with my current knitting project!

But, the knitting project is not going so well.  I joined up with the Neckwear KAL with designs by Bonnie Sennett.  Cast-on date was September 1st, and lasts until September 30th.   First off, I had trouble getting all 190 cast-on stitches going the same direction so that I could join in the round.  After accomplishing this, I started the very first row, which is 5 sets of a 38-stitch repeat!   There are so many different stitches-techniques in these 38 stitches it's making my head hurt.    The very first set/repeat I ended up with 39 stitches and couldn't find my error, so had to rip back, and my join came undone.  So now I have to count the 190 all over again - get them lined up and join again.   Grrrr!!!!   It's sat in the same place for 2 days now without any work being done on it.  Maybe yet this evening I'll start over.

The pattern I'm knitting is the Bluet Cowl and the picture is beautiful - so here goes nothing.   Wish me luck.

WHAT'S GOING ON

Not a lot going on around here.  We've got a few hot days ahead of us now before it goes back to high humidity and a little rain.   We were supposed to get to 112 today (don't know if it did or not), but low humidity makes it not so bad.   Our monsoon season will continue (typically) through to the end of September and I'm so tired of it.

Earlier this week, we took a quick trip down to San Luis, Mexico to see hubby's dentist.  It's about a 3 hr drive from our home and we go through some beautiful desert areas.   We spent a night in Yuma, AZ. 

Knitting wise - I finished the Creamsicle washcloth/dishcloth or hot pad.  I love the bright colors and the design of this one.   It reminds me of my childhood when we had creamsicles (made with orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream).  However, I've knitted 3 of this design and I think that is enough.

The baby sweater is still "in progress".  Just have to sew up the sleeve seam, insert it into the sweater, and sew on one more button.  Don't know why I can't seem to get that little bit done.

Starting September 1st, I'm participating in a NECKWEAR KAL  (Neckwear knit-a-long) which ends on September 30th.  I'll be knitting a "bluet cowl" designed by Bonnie Sennott.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bluet.  I'll be using this yummy yarn:  Louet Gems a sportweight yarn in grape color:

Knit on, everyone.  Hope I show some "finishing up" projects next time, as well as the cowl I'll be working on.

MONSOON SEASON

Here in Arizona, we are in our annual monsoon season, which means we should be getting rain.  This season typically lasts from July 15 to September 15, but this year is the first time since we've lived here, that we've really "felt" the season.   Our high temperatures are normally in the 100+ degrees with 10-20% humidity, but when a storm is coming through it cools down into the 90's and the humidity rises to 50-60%.    So far this year, we've only had a couple of times it's rained - sometimes the raindrops just mostly dry up before hitting the ground.  But around 4am - we had thunder loud enough over our head to rattle stuff inside the house (including me and the hubs), and then a heavy downpour for a short period of time.   Later on this morning, we drove up to the Chandler and Gilbert, AZ for doctor appointment and shopping and saw a lot of unusual cloud formations, as well as the desert looked like a lake in places.

This picture was taken around 4pm this afternoon on our way home, and by the looks of the other thunderclouds we saw around, we'll probably be in for another storm tonight.  We can really use some rain to help out the plants around the yard.

Since this is a "knitting blog", I can show you what I'm finishing up (out of the WIP pile), is knitting a 2nd sleeve for this adorable baby sweater, and then sew on the cute duckie buttons.