A Knit and A Prayer????

No, I haven't given up quilting for knitting!  Although, it kind of seems like that lately, doesn't it? :*)

I have been quite the vagabond lately, on the road practically the entire past month, and so no quilting has been done.  However, for my wonderful quilting followers, I thought I would show you one really great quilt picture, just so you don't go into withdrawal and stop following me!  =^..^=

Amish Beauties - border treatment in planning stages

No, I haven't sewn a stitch on this quilt!  But it is the next project I intend to finish.... after.....
1.  Genevieve's baby quilt
2.  Mom's new table topper
3.  My Hexie Queen blog hop project
.............. and a few other things that need to be finished up and put away.

My Ivory Tower is a wreck!!!  Stuff everywhere, pretty much as I left it a month ago when I was preparing for those 4 classes at Spring Seminar (see post HERE if you are interested in that little side story).

I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the prayers and support you all have given me since my last post regarding my daughter!  I traveled back to Savannah last Friday to be with her and help as best I could while she tried to pass this kidney stone.  I certainly won't go into the details of that, except to say that after a week in pain and her body beginning to bloat to twice her normal size, and NO passed stone, we took her to the ER in Jackson on Saturday where they have a urologist on staff, and they admitted her for the night.  He decided that the stone was borderline in size for her to pass it, and put a stent in on Sunday morning to stretch the passage to help it go through.  During the procedure he saw that the stone had completely blocked her left kidney.  It was a good thing we acted when we did!  She is now almost back to normal size, thank the Lord!  I will go back the end of next week to be with her when she goes to have the stent removed and hopefully this monster stone will pass on away!

The one thing I have been able to work on during all these travels is knitting!  It is so transportable!!!  I really have enjoyed adding knitting to my crafty schedule - it is so soothing and relaxing in the evening while I watch my taped shows.  (Have you discovered "Call the Midwife" on PBS? What a great show!!!)  And I honestly don't know what I would have done with a knitting project to keep my fingers and mind busy during this past month.

I showed you in my last post that I had gotten quite a lot done on my Sugar and Cream Cowl while traveling to NC to visit with family.  Well, all the time spent this past week in ER waiting rooms and at the hospital has produced an almost complete cowl!

Love all those delicious cables!!!  All I need to do to finish this up is the 1" ribbing on the upper edge.  Woohoo!  I really love the soft feel of this yarn, and I can't wait to wear it this winter!  I have found that in recent years, my neck is the thing that really needs covering in cold weather, so this warm little cowl will keep me very cozy and be so decorative at the same time - WIN!!!

I had planned for my next project to be Dreambird, but since I can't start that one yet (waiting on the KAL!), I think I will start Cloud Illusions ....

knitted by mshoneybee - picture courtesy of Ravelry

This is a shawl that Joanne and I saw in the Knaughty Knitter in Murfreesboro.  The shawl knitted by Meredith at the shop looked like this....

You know those aquas caught my eye!!!

I originally bought a bright multi-color cotton yarn to work this up - you know me and bright colors!  But Joanne wisely chose a nice blend of variegated neutrals, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided I also wanted something that would read more solid and be more versatile.  This is my final choice...

I just love the mix of purples and aquas in this lovely yarn!!!!  It is an extra fine merino fingering wool made in Italy - oh so soft - and I can't wait to get my knitty little hands on it!!!!  This project will take quite a while to complete I am sure, especially with all that lace work, but I don't mind that.  It will be my "grab and go" project for the foreseeable future :*D

What do you have on your needles?  

Please share it with everyone over at Judy's Patchwork Times!!!
I'm also linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday over at Better Off Thread
and Connie's Linky Party over at Freemotion by the River :*)

I also want to make sure you all know about the Giveaway going on over at Jacquelynne Steves blog !!!  She is giving away this HUGE prize package with lots of wonderful quilty things ....

....... so GO HERE NOW!!!  This Giveaway ends Sunday, so don't hesitate :*)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles ... and on the road again!

What a wonderful visit we had with our family in North Carolina this past week!  I really enjoy the trips where I don't have to drive :*) While hubby drove for 8+ hours there, and then another 8+ back, I knitted... sometimes with Gypsy on my lap!  She loves to look out the window, especially when we are in the mountains - they fascinate her.

I finished up two dishcloths for my DIL who fell in love with the one I gave her during my last visit.

She said she uses it, then washes it really quick so she can use it again! I was happy to know I was giving her something she really likes and can use :*)

I also got quite a lot done on my Sugar and Cream Cowl. (Click on the name to see it or find the pattern on Ravelry) This is a fun project! It has been years since I worked a cable stitch, and there are eight each front and back cables on this cowl, so I had a ball playing with cables! I still have quite a ways to go, and I'm enjoying every stitch :*)  This is the yarn I'm using...

I realized the other day that it is the same yarn I used for the Hisbuscus socks :*)  It has a nice soft feel, as well as a denseness that I like.  I think it will make a lovely soft cowl.

Go to this link to see this shawl made by Bienenfresser
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/isiss/dreambird-kal

Next week is the Dreambird KAL at the Knaughty Knitter in Murfreesboro, and I'm really looking forward to going with a couple of my friends! You can find this pattern on Ravelry by clicking HERE if you are interested in making one yourself, perhaps in the KAL that will be going on in August with Judy and Denise. They both have information on the KAL in the sidbars of their blogs - you can go there by clicking on their names.

There is one possible cloud on the horizon, though, that might keep me from getting to take part in this KAL. My daughter in Savannah TN has been pretty sick the last few days, and they are telling her she needs to see a specialist for a kidney stone - the size of a lima bean!  YIKES!!!  I am traveling back to her house tomorrow (Friday) to see how she is doing with my own eyes and to help her make some decisions. Hopefully I will be able to come home early in the week but we will have to see how things go with her.

Are you working on a fun yarn project? 

If so, please share it at Judy's Patchwork Times! 

Hugs & Blessings 

Teresa 

=^..^=

On the Needles - 7/5/13

I hope everyone had a safe and joyous 4th of July!!!  We are enjoying spending lots of quality time with our children and grandchildren this week.  And in the spirit of the season, I finished up my bright RED socks!!!  With a white t-shirt and blue jeans, I was well prepared for celebrating the 4th!  Well, at least I would have been if it had been cold enough to wear socks LOL!!!

These are  my second finished pair of socks.  They were done with Hibiscus Serenity Sock yarn, and I used the Toe-up, Two at a Time, Magic Loop method.  My only complaint is that they are a tad large on me.  I'm hoping they draw up a little when I wash them.  But they are really soft and comfortable - I'm going to enjoy wearing them this winter :*D
More pictures of my new socks ... (you can see how they are a little baggy around the heel on this picture)

Isn't it funny how they look like three different colors in each of these pictures?   The true colors are closer to the bottom picture.  I learned quite a few new techniques doing this project - stitch wrapping and the special magic cast on, for instance.
Now that this pair of socks is done, I'm thinking I'll take a little break from socks and work on a couple of other yarn projects.  I'm really excited about doing Dreambird, and today I went with a friend to visit the Knaughty Knitter in Murfreesboro - my very first visit to a knit shop ever!  It was amazing!  So many wonderful yarns and in every possible color!  Reminded me very much of my first trip to a quilt shop LOL!!!
Here is a picture of a Dreambird shawl - not mine of course!!! But you can get the idea of what it looks like...




And here are the yarns I chose for my Dreambird....

The yarn on the left is solid black Heritage fingering yarn and there is a lot of it there, perhaps about twice as much as the fancy Noro skein on the right.  The Noro is a rougher texture yarn, also a fingering weight.  It has the nice long color changes that are needed for this pattern.  As you can see from the picture below, there are lots of these color variations - I'm hoping to get some lovely feather colors for my Dreambird with this!

The Knaughty Knitter is hosting a Knit Along (KAL) on the 16th for anyone working on Dreambird, so I plan to go with some friends and take part in that.  I had planned to make this shawl during the KAL with Justquiltin and Patchwork Times, but I've decided it will be a good idea for me to go ahead and start it with this local knit shop and have the opportunity to get assistance face-to-face if needed.  Perhaps I'll get good enough that I could start a second one with Judy & Denise!
In the meantime, while I'm waiting for the KAL, I'm going to start my Cream and Sugar Cowl.  Mine will be all black, which will mean I can wear it with anything...

Picture taken from Ravelry website - Cowl made by nevernotknitting

If you have something taking shape on your needles, be sure to share it with us at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

On My Needles - 3/1/2103

I have really enjoying picking up a yarn project here and there to work on at night while I watch tv!  My latest project is my Shore Thing scarf, which is now finished!

It turned out just gorgeous!!!  I love these colors, very bright and happy, which was just what I needed to help get through these gray days we've been having this winter.  It's really soft and drapes beautifully too!  I'm planning to make a pair of hand warmers as well with the leftover yarn.  Hopefully we won't have enough cold weather left this year, so they will be something new and pretty to wear next year :*)

I really wanted another project to work on after this, and I liked the Sugar and Cream Cowl that Judy recently finished up (see hers HERE), so I meandered over to Ravelry and purchased the pattern.

Isn't this color gorgeous???  This cowl is not mine - it was made by knittedblissjc

This is a design by Alana Dakos, and you can find it HERE :*)  Then I meandered over to Joann's and bought this black fingering weight wool blend to make one for me!

This is more black than it shows here, but not a deep black, more of a deep charcoal black.  I always go for color, but in coats and things I often wear black, so I thought black would be a good color that would go with everything.  I also wanted something solid so it would show up the nice cabling.  Of course, I hope my knitting skills are up to it!!!

I purchased my first-ever pair of circular needles - new skills here folks!!!!

Then while I was there and several of the yarns were on sale, I went ahead and picked up a couple skeins of this scrumptious fuchsia pink with a twinkly little sparkle in it.....

so I can make one of these....

Photo courtesy of MemeRose Blog

This is called the Swishy Scarf.  It can be found in the book, Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench.  Here are more options for wearing this lovely crocheted scarf....

Photo courtesy of MemeRose Blog

Photo courtesy of MemeRose Blog

I'm so excited, I don't know which one to start first :*D

Want to see more fun needle projects?

Come share in the fun at Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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