Some Accomplishments

Last week both daughters and I went on the local Quilt Shop Hop.

There were four shops in this hop

(or hop-ette)

all located to the north of us.

We visited all four

plus one other quilt shop

for a total of five quilt shops in a day.

Each of us had our own shopping list

and we pretty much stuck to them.

I'll have pics up later this week.

***********

HOWEVER,

there was another shop along the way

that I could not resist. 

It was a new-to-me shop.

Just happened to be a yarn shop

The girls and I were drawn to some pretty niffty sox and yarn.

As it turn out 

we each picked a fav color combo

for some handknit sox.

Just so the daughters won't think one of them is favorite,

mom decided to knit both girls sox at the same time

So here a pic of their sox

Deb's pick on the left

Gloria's on the right

Cast these on Friday evening and plan to have these two finished tomorrow.

If there an opportunity for me to knit during our Quilt Guild Meeting this evening, that is.

The second two will be cast on immediately after that/

*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*

For my finished project

Here are the most current Cookie A sock pattern: TIBERIUS

and club yarn in the BLOOD ORANGE colorway

Yep, you guessed right!

This pair is for ME ! ! ! ! 

These are as bright as our mid-Missouri Summer Sun

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

hugs

♥♥

Hell Fire, I don't txt while driving!

But I do knit while in the car!

Hubby's sox

Hell Fire!

knit with

Vesper Self-Striping Yarn

in the colorway 

by the same name:

Hell Fire 

This is my current car knitting

ALWAYS with me

while in any car.

Most times an easy knit

that can be worked on

by adding

A row here,

a row there.

Little by little

they get knitted.

Idle hands are the .  .  .

0h, you know the rest.

= + = + =

I'm waiting for the 1st of July

to begin Camp Loopy Project #2

The challenge being:

 knit a pattern that has been popular with other knitters, that you haven’t knit before. 

The project needs to have at least 1000 projects listed (or 1000 queued up) on Ravelry, 

and it needs to use at least 500 yards, single stranded.

I'm up to the Challenge ! ! !

Needle and yarn at the ready. 

***********

Lunch at Chipotle's

a Burrito Bowl

Rice with Cilantro

Black Beans

Pinto Beans

Fajitas [green bell pepper, onion, etc.]

Barbacoa [pulled steak ]

Tomato Relish

Corn Relish

.  .  .  .  .  .  . 

DEEEEE-LISH ! ! ! ! ! 

I could eat it every day

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ 

Weather:

Cloudy w/t-storms a couple counties away

93 degrees

38% humidity  [lowest we've had in number of days]

Take care,

enjoy the Summer

hugs

♥  ♥  ♥

I love this Shawl ! ! ! !

Cheviot Hills

designed by 

Anne Hanson

of Knitspot

Anne's designs are some of my favorite.

Not only to knit, but to wear.

They're are just plain gorgeous !

 They, at times,  look complex 

yet, simple to knit.

-  -  -  -

This was my first experience knitting with wool of the Cheviot sheep

 I found it to be a krinkley, crimpy sort of character

with a bit of a stiff, rustic feel.

Following Anne Hanson's lead,

I give my finished shawl a good soak 

and blocking [just laying out flat]

She had it right!

It happened. 

This yarn transforms. 

Soaking/blocking brought wonderful stitch definition to the fabric. 

Each section of stitching is accentuated

to become a very lovely shawl with wonderful drape

 that hugs my bod.

Anne's shop carries some wonderful yarns.

This Cheviot is typical of what I find there.

a quick tale of this cheviot that became my shawl:

Once the independent mill owner in New York 

acquired the fleece,

cleaned it to eliminate lanolin 

and veggie matter [sometimes spelled - poo] 

her mill spins the wool as it come directly from the sheep

no dye - just bare naked wool.

Once spun and wound into skeins  

it's off to Anne Hanson in Ohio.

Anne designed a couple of patterns specifically for this yarn

and in this case you can see the shawl and yarn were

truly

 made for each other.

I'm in Heaven with this shawl!

#   #   #   #   #   #   #   #   #

Here in mid-Missouri there is no doubt,

SUMMER IS HERE

Temps in the 90s with humidity doing it's best to match the temp.

But it's not all that bad if one does not have their 

work-a-day outside 

 : ^ )

Our walk from the car to have lunch 

and 

back to the car

is just darn pleasant. 

I'm loving it!

Just don't attempt to spend a few minutes 

doing a bit a yard cleanup

wearing all black

it could become unpleasant  :-(

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

hugs

Lunch on the Back Porch

One of the great things about having lunch at

The Old Brick House Deli here in Jeff City, 

in addition to the yummy food we enjoy each week,

is that we can eat on the covered back porch.

That's exactly what we did this afternoon 

even with the temp in the 80s 

with humidity that almost matched.  

So happy Summer is almost upon us.

Something like a day and a half til it arrives ! ! 

Ahhh, a Muffaletta Sandwich with 

a side of House Salad.  

As you can see

I couldn't wait to dig in

and did so before I thought of taking a pic to show you.

After we got home,

my just finished 

Wrapped in Leaves  Shawl 

designed by Alana Dakos 

was ready for photographing.

Took it out front and draped over an, oh, so

evergreen bush

and snapped away.

Botanical Knits - Alana Dakos

 I used a wonderful, wonderful yarn for this beauty.

The yarn is a blend of 75% Merino Wool, 15% Cashmere, 10% Silk

It is sooooo snuggly.  

Can't wait for the three months plus a day and a half for Autumn to arrive so I can wrap my self in style.

These lovely shaped leaves are what caught my eye

and my heart.

Just had to have it for myself.  :^)

~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~

In the meantime

I'll be working on another pair of sox!!!!

hugs

♥♥♥

Spring Time !!!!

The calendar may say Spring,

Tonight's overnight temp forecast is 28 degrees

Hugs

Ernie Sox

How do ya like my knitting basket?

Bought him the other day while we were at the grocery store.

You know I'll do anything to postpone serious grocery shopping.

Anyhoo, I've made

Concentrated Progress 

Cookie A's Sock Club Ernie Sox

For Hubby, of course.

Oh! Thought I'd show you the inside of the heels

that are worked with a slip stitch

that seems to

reinforce the heel somewhat

*  *  *  *

In the couple of hours since I took these pics

the heel turns are completed

and, I'm just beginning the gusset section before reaching the foot.

-  -  -

I'm hoping to finish this pair before too many days pass.

It's a fairly easy eight row repeat with 

every other heel row decreases.

K1, ssk, K to within last three sts, K2tog, K1

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Temp reached LOVERLY ! ! ! ! 68 degrees today.

hugs

♥

Is it Spring, yet

Came across this Springtime Gal while 'organizing' my Stuff

It's a little bag I entered into the Hoffman Fabric Challenge, something like four years ago.

She's such a cutie.  

She's out where I can see her now

she put's a smile on my face.

hugs

I re-worked my sweater from last year

You may remember this sweater last May

Gemini

May 2012

I was not happy with it 

So Hubby and I frogged it, re-skeined the yarn and set it back in my Yarn Stash

The first of January this year

we wound the yarn into cakes

and

I cast on the Gemini once again

I would work on it, and then put it aside while I thought about my next step

During the last couple months this Gemini

was close at hand and foremost in my

knitting queue

This past week I worked on the sleeves, modifying the pattern to obtain a smaller arm circumference

Working with the pattern as I had co and knit it

I'm pleased with the sleeves 

I am happy with this version

I wore it today before giving it a 'soak' and blocking it out to dry

and found that 

this lovely Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton yarn sweater keeps me warm !

This version is definitely sticking around

It's a comfy style that I'll be wearing with or without a top under it.

Next time I knit Gemini,

and there will be a next time.

 I'll be using a wool blend yarn

Thanks for taking time to see what I'm crafting

I'll reply to each of your comments In the Comments

hugs

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Cookie A Ernie Sox

I love Cookie A sock designs! ! 

As a member of her sock club I receive two

patterns every other month.

Oh, yes, and a very lovely, lovely skein of yarn.

However, I decided her pattern Ernie would be handsome in this 'oatmeal' color

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi

80/20 wool/nylon

and that Hubby would be the recipient.

My gosh, he hasn't had a new pair of hand-knit sox added to his sock drawer in, what?, months?

It really a nice pattern to knit, 

just a short repeat for this 

vertical leaf and rib design.

Going cuff down this time 'round

and will do a heel something other than

my most recent method of afterthought heels.

Love me a change up.

hugs

Look What Debbie's Quilting

Lucky me, she has ask me to join in the fun

This is the queen-sized quilt that she designed and 

is creating for a special, newly wed, co-worker.

Completely made with scraps from both our Fabric Stashes.

The blocks were from the "Two-Bucks-A-Block" deal from Miss Millie's Quilt Shop several years ago.

We still have a ways to go.  

However, this center of the quilt is already quilted.  

Next comes the two side panels.

We have a great time when we have these sew days.

More laughing than sewing.  

Only made one mis-cut this time, 

okay, okay, maybe it was two mis-cut strips.

Today's Sew Day 

Cancelled Due to Snow 

! ! ! ! ! 

hugs

♥♥♥♥♥

Six inches of wet snow on the ground

what else can a gal do !!!!

Why, she can whip up a batch of Cheesy Biscuits, right?

Served with home-made soup, yum.

Love these Snow Days ! ! ! 

Daughter Debbie sent me this recipe, 

so all the credit goes to her. 

 Especially since she brought over the cheddar chunks, cayenne pepper and sour cream yesterday when she came over for our Quilting Day.

Red Lobster's Cheese Biscuit recipe 

done in a loaf pan.

 3 cups flour

 1 Tablespoon baking powder

 1 teaspoon salt

 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 1/4 cups milk

3/4 cup sour cream

3 Tablespoons of butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with oil.

In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.

Carefully stir in cheese cubes until covered in flour mixture, this will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread.

In a different bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture, stir until just combined, do not over stir.

Spread the mixture into the loaf pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.

hugs

Flower Pots

Just putting the finishing touches on this tumblerblock practice piece.

Think it'll turn out to be a wallhanging for a Friend.

The flowers and the tumbler blocks 

are cut from Accquilt GO! dies.

The flowers 'n stems are appliquéd using

an iron-on fusible.

Accents are watercolor pencils

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, the design wall will have to be put up again so I can get some decent shots.

Oh, well

hugs

Quilted

This topper came from my stack of

'sandwiched' projects.

Picked it out and stitched away

in a few minutes 

a tabletopper was finished!

Ohhhhhhh, there are lots of projects remaining.

hugs

we're still waiting for snow this weekend

♥

Wow! I knit a pair of sox ! ! !

These were knit with yarn I've had in my Stash for ages.

It's Malabrigo Fingering Weight in the Azules colorway.

This pattern:  Business Casual designed by

TanisFiberArts

works beautifully with this tonal blue.

The pattern is mesmerizing,

my gaze follows the crisscrossing lines of this design.

I modified the pattern by beginning the toe decrease way before my usual 2.25" before end of foot.

This pair is finished off with a standing ribbed pattern, just for the fun of it.

The question for the day is

whether or not we'll get snow before sundown.

hugs

and, thanks, we did have a great lunch yesterday.  Ate at Lutz's BBQ, had their white meat only Chicken Sandwich

and, don't forget the bbq sauce.

yum

♥

A finish ! !

There have been a couple of comments regarding my blog posting.

Or, should I say, Lack of Posting.

Here's something I've been working on 

and now is finished!!

Reversible Staghorn Cable Scarf

Dream in Color 

Merino wool and Cashmere

Basalt colorway

hugs

out the door to lunch out with Hubby

♥