Knitting Zeal

Hexipuff

See that little hexagon of yarn? That is the first of many hexipuffs that I'll be knitting for the next two years or so. In assessing the quantity of beautiful sock yarns that I've stashed (hoarded) I realized that I'll never have time to use all of them. I also have some sock yarn leftovers that needed a purpose.

I discovered the beekeeper's quilt a few months ago when another knitter from our group started working on it. The idea of using all of that beautiful yarn up kept pestering me to want to try knitting it. Since I already have the yarn it is not an expensive project. So, for my birthday I bought the pattern and went to work.

When I finish it the quilt will be wonderful. I imagine it will be great to use in the winter when I'm really old! It might take me that long to finish!

Crafting a pompom wreath, an easy Valentine's day project

My addiction to Pinterst has led me to be more crafty lately, which is really a good thing.  I have neglected my crafty side for too long.  I saw a variety of different wreaths on Pinterest and came up with an idea to make a pompom wreath.  Eventually I found one very similar, in different colors, on Pinterest too.  I used to make wreaths all the time, and even sold some for a while at local craft shows.  That was at least 18 years ago.  More recently I made Christmas wreaths.  I have not made any Valentine's decorations lately, so this project was overdue!

See, I have a love for the pompom.  There isn't much use for them in daily life, especially when you are an adult.  I'm not sure why I love making them so much, but as far back as I can remember, I always enjoyed wrapping yarn and snipping, snipping, snipping the ends until I had the perfect pompom ball.  

So, after deciding my color theme for my wreath, I dug through my yarn stash and added a skein of very inexpensive yarn from the craft store.  Then I dug out my Clover pompom makers....they are a great little tool for making various sized pompoms.  It took about a week or so on and off in my spare time at night to make all of the pompoms.  Sharp scissors are really important!  I ended up with around 40 pompoms in various sizes and colors.  I also had lots of yarn dust everywhere from all that snipping and shaping.

 

Starting to assemble the wreath

 

Using a styrofoam wreath form, I wrapped it with a single strand of red yarn until the entire wreath was covered.  I tucked the end in, although I suppose it could have been glued too.  At first I thought I would pin the pompoms on the wreath, but then decided to hot glue them instead.  It was quick and easy to do and it turned out great. Before gluing, I decided on placement of the largest pompoms, then added more and more going from largest to smallest, filling in the gaps with the smallest ones.  

 

Once all the pompoms I had made had been attached, mainly to just the front surface of the wreath form, I hung the wreath and decided it needed more pompoms.  Seeing it on the door at a different angle helped me see the gaps where I needed to add more.  It cost under $10 to make and looks great!  My son has requested that I make him one for his room in rainbow colors.  Time to search the yarn stash again!  

Valentine's Day Pompom Wreath!

 

knitted bunny

I thinking about knitting a bunny, or more than one, for spring.  I found the Jess Hutchinson pattern online and may do that one, or I may knit the bunny in Last minute knitted gifts.  I need to dig through my stash of yarn, instead of buying the cashmere or angora I would like to use!  This will be this afternoon's task while my monkey naps!

Baa Baa black sheep, white sheep, brown sheep...

I survived Rhinebeck and all I got was this:

(And a small child's broom and two halloweenie gourds.)

So our Saturday to Rhinebeck started at 5:15 for me, in the am.  Sadly, my Friday night ended at 2:30 am Saturday morning due to the wee one's tummy ache that kept us all up for HOURS.  Somehow I didn't feel hungover during the day.  Yarn excitement, I guess, cures all.  I got picked up by the amazing T at 6:00am and off we went in search of coffee from Wawa and Babypop'shouse to catch a 6:45am bus to Rhinebeck, leaving from Philadelphia.  The bus left late, the driver got lost trying to find the PA turnpike entrance, the driver insisted on stopping for a break at a half way point, and the line to get into the parking lot at the fairgrounds was really really LONG!  So, by noon we actually got off the bus at the festival, after five hours!  (I think it should have only taken about 3.5 hours, live and learn!)

It was a beautiful day and the ride along the Hudson River Valley was lovely.

We had exactly four hours to see everything and managed to see at least half of everything.  We stopped by the Ravelry meetup and got our buttons.  Then I found Julie to chat for a bit and fondle her hat which is the most gorgeous shade of blue.  She gave me some amazing soap and a hand balm that she made--they smell great!  (Thanks again!!)  She also gave us some tips on where to go.  We passed on lunch, since standing in line would waste shopping time and headed off to see some sheep, llamas, and alpacas, along with their byproducts.  We pet a llama named Prince.    The alpacas were really cute!   

The sheep were fun to listen to and I love all the different breeds on display. 

Baa Baa sheep sheep from Diane S on Vimeo.

There was this one sheep that sounded fake with his baa-ing.  It was funny.

I ran into Cara and got to see her beautiful daughter at the end of the day. 

We had to catch the bus at four and didn't get home until nine.  Ugh--what a long day. Overall we had a great time, despite the annoying bus ride.  I think I still like the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival better, as the fairgrounds are laid out in an easier to navigate fashion.  Seeing that part of NY in the fall was wonderful, though.  Next time we go, it is by our own vehicle and for more than one day!!  We didn't get to sample the wine this time! 

I'll post more photos on Flickr.

the heat of the summer

Summer has hit with a blast.  It is really hot out during the day and the nights aren't much better.  It's supposed to be that way in July, though, right?  I recall many past summers with hot days of temps in the mid to high 90s.  Suddenly, though, this is a novelty for the weather forecasters and the news people and people in Philadelphia in general.  Seriously--it's hot and humid in July.  Deal with it!  My office was in a panic today--the IT guy was freaking out and considering shutting down the agency servers because the server room was hot.  That room has it's own air conditioning system that runs year round.  My office is one floor down.  The temperature in my office...64 degrees F.  I wore a winter sweater all day---allllll day!  It was like an ice box in there.  Needless to say, mr. IT guy was able to keep the server running and not shut down the communication system agency wide!  Drama--he lives for it.

In knitting, I finished baby boy's first sweater--the kimono style sweater knit from Tess' yarn.  I do have to figure out how to fasten it.  The pattern calls for ribbon ties, which I bought, but I think it is too girly looking with ribbon.  I am currently knitting some i-cord in place of the ribbon.  If that doesn't look right, I have a button in mind and will just add a button loop.  Now I am going to work on the next sweater and his baby blanket. 

My creative bug is back in full force.  Maybe it is nesting, who knows.  My friend Sherry and I went fabric shopping last Saturday.  She is a fantastic seamstress and quilter and has decided to make unnamed baby boy a quilt.  She let me pick out the fabric--I can't wait to see what she makes.  While we were shopping I found some fabric that closely resembles Vera Bradley's Java Blue pattern (which is my baby bag fabric.)  I bought some fabric, of course, and made this small pillow for the glider to give me lower back support.  I have enough left to make one more, but I was too tired to finish the second pillow. I seamed the stripes on the ends of a small panel of fabric, and then used the striped fabric as the backing. 

The flowers in the garden are in full bloom and probably loving this weather.  The hydrangea bush out front has exploded in bloom with rich blue flowers.  It is definitely my favorite in the garden.      My sister gave me a gerbera daisy for my birthday.  It just bloomed again. 

Tonight I had a pre-natal massage--it was a combination of a relaxation massage with reiki energy work.  The baby and I enjoyed it tremendously.  He was moving all over during certain points.  She balanced both of our energies and I feel great.  My aches all over are gone for now.  She used a special table that allowed me to lay belly-down--a position I haven't been able to sleep in for many months--it was so relaxing.  I am scheduled to go back again in a few weeks.  Hopefully with regular massages, I won't develop worse pain in my hips and legs.  I never thought I would pay for a massage, but it really was worth it!

Unnamed baby boy was weighing in at 2lbs 1oz at his last ultra sound on Friday.  He wiggled the entire time.  Chris came with me this time and got to see all of the baby's various parts, including some interesting shots of his brain.  Science is amazing!  We got to see his little diaphram, which I assume is the cause for his hiccups.  Very amusing!

Time for bed.  Happy Monday night!

MSWF

Last Saturday I got on the bus tour from Rosie's with some of my favorite knitter friends and we headed to Maryland for the Sheep and Wool Festival.  The weather was nice in general--a bit chilly, but that is better than hot.  We hit the Tess' booth first.  I controlled myself and only bought yarn for baby--which took great restraint.  I bought some pink/gray baby/sock yarn in case I have a girl; some bright blue baby/sock yarn in case I have a boy; some multicolored baby/sock yarn for a fun colored sweater; and some cozy soft superwash merino in a bright multi color/rainbow for a blanket or toddler sweater (if it's a girl--there is a lot of pink in it.)  I also bought the baby kimono pattern for the baby/sock yarn.  On Friday I am having my next ultra sound and I am hoping to find out what color yarn I need!

We caught the sheep dog herding exibition--the border collies were adorable.  We saw lots of angora bunnies--I resisted buying one.  We tried spinning drop spindles and saw lots of beautiful wooden and designer ones.  We saw some sheep shearing and sheep competitions.  There were lots of great vendors, but I resisted buying anything else.  The socks that rock display at the one vendor was absolutely comical.  The yarn was flying off the wall--the line to pay was a mile long--and knitters were buying the yarn like it was the best deal in the world.  It was the actual web price, so I don't get the fervor.  The colors were beautful, but I wasn't about to spend an hour in line. 

Crochet?

So this week a skein of homespun yarn was given to me, along with a crochet hook.  It was from a co-worker who wanted to learn to knit once, bought a crochet hook instead of knitting needles and promptly gave up, blaming patience.  So what to do with one skein of dark red yarn?  Learn to crochet a scarf.  It is not even because I haven't figured out how to keep count of the stitches, nor was I using a pattern.  If I can even the scarf out, I will donate it to the red scarf project.  I really love the color--a deep red with a strand of blue in it.  In the photos it looks purple, but that is because of the bad lighting. 

I still prefer knitting over crochet, despite how quickly it goes. 

Lolly is hosting the next round of Socktoberfest.  This is a fun fall project related to knitting socks.  Since I have enough yarn to knit socks for everyone in Pennsylvania, I have to participate.  I have a sock project that I just began but am going to save for October.  I have enough to keep me going in September.  I am also going to Florida for a bit in October, and socks are the perfect travel project. 

My latest television fix is Nip/Tuck.  Friends have told me about the show but I had only seen it once.  I caught the first two episodes of the new season and was hooked.  Turns out there are lots of fans of the show at work.  A definite distraction from the stress!  I found the previous seasons of the show on DVD on sale at Best Buy and have started a mini marathon this afternoon, a cold and rainy day.  Good to knit by, despite the gory surgery scenes. 

Happy weekend!

Snarky stitching

After having spied this collection of surly cross stitch kits, cards and related items I was excited to see that Julie Jackson published a book of her Subversive Cross Stitch patterns.  Certainly not your grandmom's book of patterns!  Amazon mailed the book at exactly the perfect time for me, after the hell at work when I was feeling particularly snarky.  My first design is a word one of my coworkers frequently uses, making me laugh every time.  The little bees are a nice touch.   This has been a nice break from knitting. 

Tonight Chris and I are going to a football game:  Eagles vs. The Steelers.  There is a 40% chance of rain and umbrellas are banned from the stadium.  I am hoping that if it does rain, it is just a shower.  I am bringing my knitting because I really hate football and will need something to keep me busy.  The game is a preseason one, but apparently the "big time" players will be in at least half the game.  That means nothing to me, but to football fans, it's a big thing.  We've never been to Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles new home since last year, I think, so it will be fun to see the new stadium.

I am officially on vacation today through Labor Day.  I have done a dance of joy.  This break comes at the end of a very stressful summer and week from hell (ok, two days in the office of hell, since Monday and Tuesday were in Lancaster and lots of fun.)  Thankfully my knitting girls kept me sane Wednesday night--I've never laughed so hard. Knitting group has become a type of support group/group therapy. 

The jaywalker sock is still incomplete.  Ugh.  I think it will go to the game with me. 

TGIF

Another week of my life has blurred on by and I hardly remember much, except that it has been unseasonably hot and humid.  It feels like July and August, not May into June.  Last night we had some ferocious rain storms complete with wind, lighting, and thunder.  Luckily no flooding around here, unless you count the potholes!

I ordered a sewing/craft table last Sunday--it was my birthday gift from Chris.  It is on order and may not be here for up to 6 weeks.  I will finally have a place to store my sewing machine and other fabric related items and a good place to sew.  I am looking forward to learning to quilt, but will wait to start until the table is in place.  Chris has to also build this gift, since it is from Sauder.  He has become good at building these things and may even soon lift the ban on Ikea furniture.  (He hates that they have no written directions.)

The garden enjoyed the rain last night, especially since it  has been so hot and I forget to water daily!  I noticed some new growth today.  My neighbors must seriously wonder why I am constantly taking close up photos of the flowers and plants.  I bought this clematis last year from a nursery mail order catalog.  I planted it next to a nice white trellis Chris bought for me and waited.  It grew about 6 inches, bloomed once, and died. I figured it was gone for good, but it surprised me this spring when it reappeared out of the ground.  This year it grew into two long branches, about two feet long each, and I was able to weave it into the trellis to give it some support.  I noticed a bud on the one branch last week.  Today I discovered that it bloomed!  I really hope it continues to grow throughout the summer and blooms some more. 

My herb garden continues to grow strong.  The lemon balm that returns every year is huge and I have to continually cut it back so it stops shadowing the other smaller plants.  The bee balm, which is the one plant that the previous home owner left in the back garden, is growing strong.  I divided it up a year or two ago because it had taken over half the garden and looks dead by the end of July.  It is a more manageable size now.  My basil plants look good, but are still on the small end.  I have a feeling the trees are blocking the sun they need.  I planted some extra herbs in pots on the other side of the patio and they are doing great! The lavender is starting to bloom with deep purple flowers. The chamomile looks good too! 

On the knitting front, I finished the baby sweater I have been working on for a few weeks.  It really turned out nice and looks like a doll sweater to me.  I just have a hat and some booties to do to complete the set.  This is for a baby set that a co-worker commissioned me to knit for her new grandbaby-to-be.  She doesn't know the sex of the baby, so I used some little orange rimmed white buttons I had with matching orange thread.   

At work the group of kids in the program I run are working on a mural.  The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program provides an art education program for our after school program.  A professional muralist is teaching the kids about how to design and paint a mural.  This will be Ana Uribe's 20th mural for the Mural Arts program.  This mural is being installed in Philadelphia's Chinatown section and will be visible from the expressway.  It is an Asian theme, although I forget what the main part of the mural will be.  Our group is in charge of creating the border for the mural.  Our kids were asked to create "stamps" that cold be used to create images around the border of the main painting.  They used pieces of styrofoam--the kind like the trays of meat from the supermarket--and carved images into them.  Then using a roller and special paint, they inked the stamps and printed them on the borders.  They don't actually have to paint on the wall at the mural site.  Instead they use something artists call parachute cloth (which I learned is actually interfacing) and the cloth is adhered to the wall with a special fixative that melts the cloth away and adheres the paint to the surface. 

I was asked to make one of the stamps too, which is the one pictured here.  I used a picture of the tree of life as a guide and created this bird in a tree.  I had a hard time working with the styrofoam, as I could not be as detailed as I wanted.  I encrypted the monogram of my soon to-be-adopted from China niece into the background of the stamp.  The artist wanted stamps with texture in the background--this was my interpretation of it.  Maybe someday when my niece is here and old enough I'll take her to Chinatown to see her monogram.  I think it is turning out to be a great project for the kids.  When they are adults, they will be able to go to Chinatown on their own and see the work they did when they were younger. 

Have a great weekend!

Post #205

Today I received my much anticipated Socksapaloooza socks!  They are from Schecki of Monkey Girl Knits.  She did a beautiful job on my socks!  I love them!  She also included some Lush sparkly bath stuff and a postcard of Chicago.  Thanks sock pal!

I also received my Project Spectrum May Postcard Swap card today.  This month the color is Green and Claudia sent me the coolest interpretation of the theme! (all the way from Germany!)  This photo does not do it justice whatsoever, but I tried.

It is a knitted green grass patch with a beaded alligator resting in the grass.  SO Creative!  Thank you Claudia!  I hope I can create something just as clever for you, which is one of my tasks for this weekend!

In knitting news, I finished a sock this week.  I was test knitting a pattern for someone and I don't think I can post a photo of it.  I need to complete it's match, along with the second Jaywalker sock.  I found a pattern for flip flop socks on Alison's blog.  I love how cute they are and am thinking of trying this pattern.  My office at work is usually freezing, so wearing sandals has been painful.  Maybe these little socks will help a bit!  I had to frog half of a baby sweater when I realized my gauge was waaaay off.  So I re-started that project this week. 

This is a busy weekend for me.  Tomorrow I am hitting the local garden club's herb sale early in the morning to pick up a few more herbs for my kitchen garden.  Then in the afternoon Chris is taking me to see the DaVinci Code and then to a Moroccan restaurant for dinner to have an early birthday dinner.  Sunday we go to my parents house for another birthday dinner and I'll get to play with the kids again.  I took my actual birthday day off  on Monday to stay home and relax.  I feel old.

Chris sent me flowers to work yesterday to start the celebration!

Have a fun weekend!