Happy Memorial Day

 

It's Race Day

 

What Are Your Plans for the Holiday Weekend?

 I finished up Sandpiper last night and it is awaiting to be blocked downstairs. It will fit nicely into an ensemble that I am putting together.  Thee yarn itself, Baby Bunny is some longtime stash yarn that I am glad to have out of my stash and into a Summer sweater/poncho. ( I am still undecided as to whether I will sew the side seams up or leave it open for a capelet of sorts.)

Today, I am looking at a basket of Summer yarns and deciding what should be my next Summer sweater cast on. 

 I had two in mind, and cast on one, knit a bit on it and then decided as much as I liked the look of the Summer Sorrel, I just wasn't super keen on the knitting of it.  So, I ripped it out.  The second one that I also cast on, the Perfect Summer T,  is from a deep dive of stash as well.  It is definitely a contender as soon as I get the gauge down.  It will be one that once I get it together in the round will be a great knit for down on the riverfront. 

It has been a bit chilly here recently and rainy yesterday, but today, still chilly, but at least the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue. I have been enjoying the blooms on my two rose bushes.

Tomorrow is  the Indy 500, a race that I used to attend with my Dad and one that I always watch on t.v. the Sunday before Memorial Day is back to its regularly scheduled time and day with fans in the seats.  That's where you will find me tomorrow!

Along with my knitting!

Getting Back to Some Normal

 Finally, after all these months, we are getting back to the Hospice Prayer Shawl Group.  It feels so good to be able to get together, and for me, being able to stay the whole time, instead of running off early to get back to work.

Yesterday, the Knitters and Crocheters brought 27 blankets.  There were all types, colors and sizes.  One of our new members contributed a dozen!  

I wish I could show each, but that isn't possible, so here are the many stacks.

What a fantastic morning!

A Crafter In The Making

 I was so excited to see my oldest granddaughter was going to crochet club at her school.

She and I crocheted and knit together!

And then I turned her onto a new craft, one that started all this crafty stuff for me, 45 years ago, latch hooking.

She is loving it and I am already looking for her next kit.  (Notice the hat her Uncle bought her years ago, and the lamb scarf I knit for her for Christmas last year.

And then she iced me an Alpaca cookie, because she knows I love them and their yarn.

She is so knit worthy!!

A Wonderful Weekend

  Finally after all this time taking Covid precautions, we were able to spend four days with our grandchildren.  Hugs and "Grandma, come play with me, Grandma, I need you, Grandma, I missed you so much, Grandma, I love you so much". Just the best.

My heart is full!

Scrappy Sunday

 Just a little bit of scrappy today.

Finally Finished Friday

 Shadow Shawl by Antonia Shanklund is finally finished and I love it.

The yarn was a birthday gift from my friend Becky back in 2016.  Both of the yarns were sparkly, Another Crafty Girl - Twinkle Sock in the Spiked Tail colorway (the varigate) and Neon Unicorn Studios - Diamond Dust in the Ephemeral Waves color way ( the solid).

The pattern was easy to do in public and I didn't need to weave only the starting and ending ends in, a plus for me. 

It was a long term WIP back from 2019, and finally finished!  I'm super happy!!

Episode 58 KAL Central

 is up on You Tube and you can find it here

Here are some of the things I talked about.

Yes, there is a bit of a color theme there!

Rainy Days and Mondays

 They don't get me down.

I just haul out my knitting, tune into a You Tube Podcast, grab a cuppa and knit.  

This weekend I finished a shawl and I will show it to you on Friday.  As soon as it was done, I pulled out my Half and Half Triangle Wrap to knit on.  I got the ideas for the colors from the lining of my bag that I am carrying it in.

I show and tell a bit about the thought process on tomorrow's podcast on You Tube.  I'll post the details tomorrow.  In the meantime, I hope your weather is sunny or if not, enjoy the calmness of the rain and the knitting like I am.

Friday Finds

I cannot believe I haven't shared this new book, I picked up at my local yarn shop a couple of weeks back.

 The very next day after I picked it up, I started with a cuppa and had a look through.

And the day after that, I went to my stash and started looking at what I might have that I could use to make some shawls from it.

Here are some contenders.

If I knit all five of these, that should be good for the first 52 weeks.

Have a great weekend, Knitters!

Decision Paralysis

 Do you ever have decision paralysis after you finish a project?

After I finished Sugar Maple, I couldn't decide what to concentrate on next.

So, I brought some options.

All three have specific venues that I have been knitting on them.

The limey green project is a scarf to go with a sweater that I have.  It goes with me right when I get my hair done and it is processing. And maybe on a short trip that I will take next week.

The cream project is a christening shawl that has some pretty easy rows to do from a chart, and I knit on it, when I am watching t.v. and don't have to concentrate on what is going on in the program. (I've been watching the old Bewitch series on Prime.  If you want some laughs, I recommend it)

And the last project, the stripey one, is my zoom meeting shawl.  I'm wanting to finish that one in the next few days, as I am eager to play around with another WIP shawl before the Summer of Shawls starts next month.

While I'm knitting on these three, I am noodling with possibilities of what the next sweater cast on should be.

Catch you on the purl side.

Happy Mom's Day Everyone

 

Early Mom's Day Presents

From Baby Boy B and Daughter-in-law

We moved this right outside my Knitting Room window so I could watch for birds.  So far, no takers, but that is probably because there are plenty of worms out in the yard lately.

This  just about says it all, now doesn't it?

And there was coffee, yum sweet coffee!

Finally Finished Friday

 Sugar Maple, first cast on in 2019 is finally finished.

Do I love it?  Kind of.  What I don't like so much is where the high hem hits.  A little blocking may help and then I will make the final decision.

The intent was to wear it with this pink jacket, but that may deter from the whole sweater.

What I really like about the pattern?  The back.

I will get some proper pics of it on me later this weekend and share with you next week, then we can all weigh in.

Happy Friday!!

Prairie Pipeline KAL

I wanted to share this KAL that my LYS, the Fiber Universe is partly sponsoring.

Paula was a knitting friend and a fantastic designer. For many years, in February, a group of locals attended her Washington IL Knitting Pipeline Retreats. It was something we looked forward to in the dead of Winter, and I met new friends because of her.

She had a podcast that I would listen to while commuting to and from work. She also shared a love of Elizabeth Zimmermann that I have, even telling us of meeting her, attending knitting camp and conversing with her via letters.

Paula will be greatly missed, and I think this is a fantastic way of honoring her.

We are excited to announce the Prairie Pipeline three shop Knit-a-long beginning May 19th! Klose Knit, Le Mouton Rouge Knittery, and The Fiber Universe developed the Prairie Pipeline yarn crawl in 2016 after being sponsors of Paula Emons-Fuessle’s Knitting Pipeline Retreat. Last year we weren’t able to have the yarn crawl due to Covid restrictions, and while we aren’t having the crawl this year, we still wanted to host a fun event for the knitting community.

Paula, the creator of the Knitting Pipeline podcast and yarn retreats passed away earlier this spring from cancer. We have chosen Paula's Wild Goose Shawlette pattern for this knit-a-long to honor her memory. Let’s celebrate the joy that she brought to each of us while sharing her love of knitting!

Purchase one skein of sock yarn at any of the three shops to be entered to win a $50 gift card at that shop (you can enter at one or all of the shops if you make a purchase at each shop). Anyone who completes their shawl by Saturday, June 19th will be entered to win a gift basket with items from all three shops! You'll be able to show your completed project in person or by tagging the shop where you purchased your yarn on social media.

We will have a Zoom Cast On Party from 6-7pm on Wednesday May 19th. You'll be able to follow your friends progress in our KAL facebook group or by using hashtag #prairiepipelinekal on social media! We look forward to knitting with you!!

Brigitte Pieke - Klose Knit Urbana

Erin Strehlo - The Fiber Universe

Kelly Norby - Le Mouton Rouge Knittery

The Fifth of May

I have it on a pretty good authority that there was a hummingbird sighting today.
 

I still haven't seen it, but I was on the look out for it.

I even added a colorful flower pot under the feeder to entice the bird.

And the new rosebush right next to it, has some decent blooms on it, so you would think there would be plenty of flowers to attract it.

No luck.  So maybe, I will let my Sugar Maple sit out on the porch tomorrow and see if the bright pink in it will attract something.