I'm craving chocolate

What I wouldn't do for a big fat donut right now. Or a huge piece of chocolate. Or a handful of cookies. Sigh. I miss junk food. Lots. But I'm adapting. I should not complain. The stent is working, and I'm losing weight. And I'm still here!

I finished the shawl I was making with Farmhouse yarns. It's so soft!

It's still very hot out so I haven't been able to use it yet.

It will come in handy once the cold weather sets in.

I also finished the quilt top for the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. It has a brown border, hard to see it as I took the picture on the grass.

Today I'm going to go buy the backing, binding and batting. The 3 B's! It's going to be twin size. I'll be glad when this one is done. I also have the making for a Christmas quilt that I can't wait to get started on. I just don't have a lot of ambition when it's hot and muggy, even with the AC turned on.

We hit a couple of antique shops on vacation last weekend. Bought the cutest jar of buttons! Also hit a quilt shop . . . of course! And got some fats.

I also bought a couple more things from the antique/gift shop. Still need to take pics and get them on here. Wish I was still there. Vacations and long weekends always go so fast.

Vacation

Why do vacations fly by so fast? I went away with my daughter for a long weekend. It was awesome! We had a lot of fun. Tried new things. Went one from extreme to another in the temperature department, from almost 90 degrees to the lower 50s.

We attended a tastefest of food from local restaurants at the locale we went to. OMG such good food and wine and desserts! And so fun! There were also animal rescue units in attendance, getting the word out that they need donations, etc. One place rescued wild birds. We got to see some owls up close and personal! What gorgeous anmimals!

That little beauty was the barred owl. Such sweet cute eyes!

I can't remember what kind the second owl was. But she was scared and just stayed in the cage opening and closing her mouth and flicking that tongue in an out. Fascinating creatures!

There were ducks at the beach. My daughter wanted to stick her feet in the water and attracted ducks.

They were probably hoping she had a piece of bread for them.

Love the sound of waves washing onto the shore.

And at the end of the day . . . a beautiful sunset.

A wonderful time was had. Good mother-daughter bonding. Can't wait to go back!

Keeping cool

A couple of cool nights and low humidity days and I'm hooked. But it won't last. The hot humid stuff is coming back. I did manage to get a shawl done made with wool yarn in the cooler weather. It's blocking.

Do you like my blocking mat? A kid's toy from Walmart, lol! I need to get some more so my blocking space is bigger next time.

I finished the last block of the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. Of course I screwed it up. Terrible instructions on some of these blocks. Maybe I shouldn't complain as the pattern was free, but the designer knew they were writing free patterns so maybe their heart wasn't in it and they didn't care. Anyway, it's done. I'll probably never do another "along" again, sometimes they just aren't fun.

Next up is getting the sashing done, then the border. Then the quilt top will be done! I'm just going to tie this one. Nothing fancy. I still need to get the backing, binding and batting for it.

And on a totally different note. Went shopping with my cousin and aunt and sister last weekend. These cranes hang out in my cousin's front yard. What a view!

Imagine looking out your window and seeing that!

Lots of knitting, but nothing finished

Been knitting and knitting and knitting. And getting nowhere fast. I have three shawls on the needles. One is almost done. Until then, all I have is this quilt block to show. It's for the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. It's the second to last block! I can't believe it's almost done.

After the next block the instructions come out on how to finish it then after that I'll have a finished quilt top. Must buy batting. And backing.

From me to me

Humid. Humidity makes me crabby. Humidity makes me lazy. Humidity makes me very lethargic. It's very humid today. Just hanging in the air. Very tropical. All I want to do is sit. Or hang out in the frozen food section at the grocery store.

I finally got the red, white and blue table runner done. I really like it!

I will leave it in the living room all summer. I just love the red white and blue stuff.

It will stay on the entertainment center, but of course I had to get an outdoor shot.

Lately I've been doing a lot of knitting. Just too hot to do anything else. I'm very surprised that I can stand to touch wool yarn, but I've been managing. I treated myself to this.

It's my birthday and that's what I bought myself. The Knit Picks ball winder. I love it! Some of my knitting group friends are making the Knit Picks Spring/Summer Shawl. I jumped on the bandwagon too. I used the ball winder to wind all the lace yarn for the shawl. Otherwise I'd still be winding it by hand. What a timesaver! Here's what I have knit so far.

I haven't gotten very far. Just started last night. I took the day off and I plan on sitting and knitting a lot. It's my birthday, I can do whatever I want! I may be dodging severe thunderstorms later, but I'll worry about that later. I'll hide in the basement with my shawl and ball winder so they don't get destroyed.

Have a great weekend!

Sit and Knit and Read

Look! They are almost ready. My first cherry tomatoes of the season. I can't wait to eat one.

I'm keeping a close eye on these. They taste like summer! They are like candy all warm from the sun and fresh. YUM!

It's been hot. Every day it's hot. It's hot at night. Not a lot of energy when it's hot, so I've been sitting and knitting. I got some socks done. Just a plain old vanilla sock pattern using Hobby Lobby yarn.

I'm impressed with how well I matched the stripes. They were knitted separately. First time using that brand of yarn. Not sure if I'll ever use it again.

I started a prayer shawl. I just fell in love with this pattern when I saw it and had to buy the booklet and enough yarn for it. It will take me a while to get this done. Good TV knitting. Good knit night knitting too.

I also started this little shawl. The yarn was being used for another lace shawl. I kept screwing it up, it frustrated me, so I frogged it and I'm making this little shawl. I did make this pattern last year with a different yarn and my daughter ended up getting it. This one is MINE. This one is Farmhouse Yarns. Real nice yarn.

I also added to my stack of summer reading. Used book sales are fun. I could browse them for hours.

Good beach reading here. Just a few more weeks and I'll be on the beach with my daughter for a mommy-daughter weekend. I'm sooooooooooo looking forward to that. Current read is Catcher in the Rye. Next up is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That's what is going on here. Time to go turn on the AC and knit.

Summer Projects

Still healing, resting, getting stronger every day! I have lots of projects to keep me busy. First off I completed Block 10 of the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. I can't believe there are only two more blocks to go!

I'm also still working on the red, white and blue table runner. I got the quilting done. By machine of course! The binding is now on. All I have left to do is hand sew the binding to the back then it will be done.

It's bigger than I thought it would be. If I was really skinny I could use it as a quilt, lol!

After what I've been through heart-wise, I've become brave and decided to learn a new knitting technique. Two at a time socks! It can't be any scarier than heart surgery.

It will be so awesome to have both socks done at the same time! That yarn I'm using is red, the camera just kept capturing it as orange, so I gave up. I'll be fooling around with this in the near future. I have a pair of socks on the needles now that I want to finish before I start this project. So many projects, so little time.

And last but not least, what would summer be without some good books to read! I had fun in the clearance area of Barnes & Noble the other day. Bought a bunch of books AND a heart health cookbook and didn't break the bank. Bring on the iced tea and my deck and I'll be happy sitting and reading for hours.

That's what's going on here. Hope you're keeping cool where you are. The awful humid heat wave has passed. I'm sure another one will come in the future. For now, I'm going to enjoy the warmth and low humidity.