Knitting projects and flowers

It's hot here again! Today I went down to Kellyville and helped (a little bit--I didn't do much!) with shearing some sheep. Mostly I stood around and watched Danny, the shearer work, but I did open and close a gate and write notes on cards that were slipped into the bags of wool. I was dripping sweat by the time I had to leave to pick up Ryan at school. It was fun though!

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We grew some Morning Glory plants from seed and they're very happy now:





Pretty, huh? Be sure to click to embiggen.

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I've had a rash of finishing things around here, which is both good and bad.

Good, because I'm finishing things. Not always a common occurrence around here, as my DH can attest.

Bad because then I want to cast on for 20 new projects, which is totally justified because hey, I finished one!

Here's Gillian's flower Wallaby sweater, although it still needs a zipper.

She picked the colors and she loves it! Yay!

Here's the start of a top-down raglan for me. I started it a while back, like probably 6 months ago, and didn't pick it up again until last night. The yarn is Bernat Denim Style and so far I like it. It holds up fairly well to frogging, since this is the second time it's been used. It was about 1/2 of a sweater that was a total failure, so I ripped it out. What a cathartic experience that was!

Here's the progress as of last night:

Not much, but I'll get there.

Here's a knitted, beaded ornament cover. Fairly quick to make once I figured out what the pattern meant. Nothing like reading stuff that isn't there!


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Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my shawl! We analyzed it at Panera Wednesday night and if I decide to refine and write up a pattern, there will be a few changes that should improve it.

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Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

Pictures of various things

In my last few posts I'd promised pics, and here they are.

First up, some pics of the shoulder shawl on me:


It's pulled a little too much across the shoulders in the pictures, but it's quite pretty in person.

I'm wearing it over my new Ravelry t-shirt, the "daily dose of fiber" one.

I'd hoped it would end up being a slight bit bigger, but when I unpinned it after blocking it bounced back quite a lot. That happened with the same yarn (KnitPicks fingering-weight Bare) that I used for my Diamond Fantasy.

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Here are two lapel pins I picked up this weekend:

The one on the left is from the Ravelympics, and the one on the right is from the Creating Keepsakes scrapbooking conference I went to Saturday.

Here are the three layouts from the class, Scheming Around, on Saturday:






As always, click to embiggen.

It's a little different style than I normally use, and I'm not sure I really like it. I'll have to look at them a few more times before I decide. It was fun to try something new though!

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I've got a nasty headcold, but at least I'm the last one in the family to get it.

Have a great week!

Finishing Ravelympics projects

Today I spent most of the day at the scrapbook convention and had a GREAT time! I got three pages done, did one make-and-take (for Marci), and purchased materials from S.E.I. to make a fun chipboard coaster mini book. I didn't have time to actually make it there, but Marci's friend Diane made one for her so I can always borrow it to have a look. (Right, Marci?)

Tomorrow I should be able to take pictures of the layouts I got done, and hopefully I'll get them posted here. I'll blog more about what we did all day, too.

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I managed to get my two remaining Ravelympics projects done today!

I made a "My So Called Cowl" for the Cowl Jump:

The yarn is some from my Aunt Louise, and it's just LUSCIOUS. I'd been wanting to find the perfect project for this yarn, and this was it! I think it shows off the variegation to perfection.

My third (and final) project for the Ravelympics is in the Shawl Relay event. I started designing this and swatching on the 7th, and I just finished it this evening. Here it is, blocking:



I put it on right after I finished the bind off, and I'm totally in love with it. Last week I wasn't all that thrilled with it, but I'm really pleased with it now. I'll probably dye it in a month or two, once I decide on a color.

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Earlier this month I finished my spinning for the July Spin-A-Long on the Ravelry group Spinner Central, and I finally got a decent picture:


It's the top yarn, a monochrome superwash merino. It's two plies, sport weight, 3.8 ounces and I got 367 yards.

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I hope that you all have had as wonderful a day as I have!

Scrapbook Convention

This morning Marci and I went to the scrapbooking convention here in Tulsa.

What fun!!

Tomorrow we'll be helping out in the door prize booth, so we got some neat things out of the deal. We had a $30 voucher at the Creating Keepsakes booth, and I used it to get a pair of scissors, two packages of adhesive, a bag, and a lapel pin. We also got a package of 12" x 12" cardstock for registering early online.

We had about an hour and a half to shop and we only managed to see about 1/3 of the booths! I picked up some really cool templates at one booth, and Ryan and I made one quickly:

I got one template to do the big flower he's holding, and two smaller (8.5" x 11" roughly) ones that have five or six designs each. It's fun!

I also got my t-shirt and pin that I ordered from Ravelry. Here's all the loot together:


Click to embiggen! (It's hard to see the templates if you don't.)

The circle template is for our class tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to it!

Totally gobsmacked!

I got word this morning that someone (anonymously) has paid for my workshop fee for the upcoming Sally Melville workshop!!

I'm so thrilled I can hardly stand it. If that person reads my blog, thank you so much!

The workshop is offered through K.N.I.T. Guild, the Tulsa knitting guild, and will be October 18 and 19.

Sally Melville has written some very cool knitting books, and I've got three of them (or I will once my sister gives me her copy of The Knit Stitch that she doesn't want).

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Today I finished rigging my indoor quilt stand so I could take a picture of my latest customer quilt. It's a beautiful quilt, and I love the colors. She said the pattern was originally for jelly rolls, but she just used her stash instead. I think she did a fabulous job!

Click on the pictures to make them bigger. [I might have to start using "embiggen" instead of "make them bigger" just for the heck of it.]




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Ryan wanted to take some pictures of his eyes, so here's what we came up with:


The silly kid loves to make faces for pictures.

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The kids both started school last week and we did the usual picture with backpacks:


So far they both love school which is wonderful. I hope that continues for a long time!

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I got a package in the mail on Friday from my Aunt Louise, with some wonderful necklaces and a pair of earrings inside. She makes really neat beaded jewelry and I have a great time wearing it.

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see each other when she was in Idaho this summer. Next year we'll have to plan a bit better! Too many things happened at once and it seems like the summer just flew by. I have to admit that I'm really enjoying my 2.5 hours to myself each weekday morning though.

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Thank you for all the compliments on my Rose of England shawl. It means a lot that so many of you have left comments.