Humid, Hot & Lazy

Phew, it's been hot and humid lately. And when it gets real hot like this I get lazy. Too lazy to even write on this blog. I'll show you a few things today. More to come soon.

I finished the pink and black socks I was knitting. I love them! I absolutely love the colors. I didn't want to put them on for the photo but I toughed it out and did it in this heat. They'll go into the drawer until fall. It's just too hot to wear wool socks at the moment.

I've had fun playing around with fat quarters and my sewing machine. I started this pincushion when I was out of town with my sister and daughter, which was a blast by the way! I finished it after I got back home. It's really big for a pincushion. My grandson calls it a needle pillow. I love words kids come up with!

I don't care how big it is, I really like it! I will always call it a needle pillow now.

Then I played around with a pattern I got at a quilt store and made this little bird.

He was fun to make and turned out oh so cute!

I'm still working on the Summer Lovin Socks I showed you in my last post, those will be done soon. I have lots of fabs I bought at the quilt shops out of town. Just gotta get some energy to take more pics.

Is it hot where you are? Hope you're keeping cool.

Dog Days of Summer

It's going to be a hot one here this weekend, up into the lower 90s, which is going to be really hot compared to how the rest of the summer has been. I'm going out of town for the weekend to the lake again. Yay! I just might have to jump in the water . . . and get my feet wet! I can't wait! Craft store, quilt shops, gift shops, a lake, good company, restaurants, campfires. I'm going with my sister and my daughter. A girls' weekend! Should be lots of fun.

I'm taking a sock to work on. I'm doing a Knit-Along in a Ravelry group. The Summer Lovin Sock. Here's what I have done so far.

I hope I can get that one finished and start the second one while I'm gone. I'm using Knit Picks Gloss. It's working up beautifully.

I've also been working on a little shawl, but put it aside for a while to work on the sock. The yarn is so soft and luscious to knit with. I'm loving it!

So far, so good. I'm not a big fan of knitting with large needles, so it has to take a break for a while. That's a wool, silk, cotton blend on size 13 needles.

I made this little purse last week with a pattern I got at a quilt shop on my last trip out of town. Such a handy little thing to take shopping or when you don't feel like lugging around a full sized purse.

That's my prototype. A few mistakes in it. But I know what I did wrong and will know what to do next time. I still love it!

Whenever I get back from shopping trips and put the craft bags down my cat Shadow just HAS to investigate. Maybe she wants to do crafts too.

Gotta keep bags away from that one. She'll eat them.

Well, I'm off to pack. Have a great weekend!

Birthday fun

I know, I've been missing in action. Had a lot going on here. I went out of town for a few days with my daughter and some cousins. Had a decent time. But I was so glad to get back home. There's no place like home. I had a birthday while I was gone, and so did a distant cousin. We had cake!

Mmmmmmm, I love cake!

My daughter got me the coolest plant holder. A big huge coffee cup! I just can't take a picture to do it justice. I have a fake fern in it at the moment until I decide where to place it and what to really put in it.

My son knows I love to do crafts and paint stuff. He got me this painting kit, little planters and a tray to keep them on. For ages 6 and up. I qualify, LOL!

Such cool gifts! But wait, there's more! My sister got me the cutest little bird decoration to keep in my yard. We just love cute yard stuff.

Tweet, tweet! Isn't it cute! I love it. She also got me the cutest bookmarker with kitties on it. We also love kitties.

My other sister got me a bag full of goodies. First off, I did get some fat quarters while out of town, and she got me one too. That one is the one in front. Such a cute old fashioned pattern on that fabric. The others are from my trip.

And look at this . . . I've been wanting a teapot for the longest time. I don't really drink tea, but I wanted a teapot so I can knit tea cozies for it! Now I have one. But it's so cute, I don't want to cover it up with a cozy. But eventually I'll make one for it. And she got me the cutest little rolls of ribbon.

And lastly, she got me the cutest snowman pattern. She knows I love snowmen! I can't wait to make this.

So, it has been fun getting gifts, it's been like Christmas in July! And I love eating cake. I'm always in the mood for cake.

Quilt shop fun

Have you ever gone wandering around in a quilt shop? Lots of fun! My sister and I hit a couple of quilt shops yesterday. It made for a fun wonderful afternoon! I don't know how to quilt. That's the next craft on my list I want to learn. So fun to browse all the beautiful fabrics in the quilt shop. Any kind of print you can think of, it's there. Oh so fun!

I bought these little fat quarters to add to my stash. I love to look at them all spread out. They just look happy!

Whenever there is a cupcake fabric I MUST buy it. It's the rule. We both got cuts of those cupcake fabs. She gave me this cutest little Kewpie doll she found at a garage sale. We love those little dolls, so adoreable! So I just HAD to make her a dress.

All dressed up and ready to sit in my living room on the shelf and make me smile!

We also went into an old fashioned candy store and bought some candy. We're not sharing it with anyone ;)

I've gotten a little bit of knitting done. I made a dear distant relative some mittens for her upcoming birthday. I will see her in a few days when I go on a little trip out of town. I'm so looking forward to it!

That's a Vanna yarn with a glittery thread running through it. Dressy mittens!

Summer has returned

Beautiful weather the past few days. Summer is really here now I think. It was a nice 4th of July weekend. I took a few days off and the time just flew. I did get a lot of knitting done. After the disaster of the light green socks, I made a pair that I just love! I present . . . the pink and black socks:

I'm totally in love with this yarn. I love how the socks turned out. Just plain socks. My favorite kind to make.

I will wear them with pride!

The growing season is underway. I have some little tomatoes on my plants! And some beautiful yarn. It sure would be nice if yarn grew in the back yard.

That yarn will be a future shawl. A small one. It's so pretty. And those tomatoes! I can't wait until they get bigger and turn red. I wait all year for them. So much better than the ones in the grocery store. They taste like summer. A few more weeks and I'll be able to pick them.

I also grew some flowers from seeds that I started indoors. And look . . . it bloomed!

Bachelor Buttons. I love the color! And yes, I did paint those little birdhouses to give to my parents. They'll look cute in their yard somewhere.

And lastly, I finally finished the apron I was sewing. First I embroidered the cherries on the pocket then I sewed the apron. I wanted it to look vintage-y, and I think it does. I love it! I need to put a hook on the wall in my kitchen so I can display it.

That's about it for now. Hope you had a nice 4th of July if you celebrate it!

Summer has departed

One minute it's summer, the next it's fall. Summer is vacationing somewhere else this year. Really strange weather. Chilly today. A good evening to stay inside and knit.

I finished the socks I was making with the green yarn. I just don't like them. So many mistakes, so much struggling with the pattern. I'm surprised I didn't rip them out. They have the longest darn heel flap I ever did.

See how long that heel flap is? Very strange looking. But they do stretch and fit my foot.

I don't think I'll be making these socks ever again. The yarn was doomed from the start. Long story there, I won't even get into it.

So what have you made that you don't like?

Summer has arrived

We went from one extreme to the other. Nice cool nights, warm comfortable days . . . to muggy and 90 plus degrees. Yuck. I can't even stand touching wool yarn when it's like this. Socks are good knitting for this weather even if it is wool yarn.

I was working on a house sock. It was turning out so pretty too. Lovely Malabrigo. The best heel I ever turned. I went to try it on and it was a struggle to get it on. Hmmmmm, what to do . . . frog or continue.

Isn't it pretty?

I frogged it. I didn't want to take a chance that it would shrink when washed, or felt. It will become something else in the future.

That's always such a hard decision. Rip it out or keep going. Deep inside you know what to do, but you don't want to. Finally you do it. Rip it, rip it.

So I started another sock with different yarn. Pictures to come.