It is finished!  I finished my Live Oak Shawlette last Friday, blocked it and wore it to church on Sunday.  I love the way it feels and looks.  The pattern called for sock yarn but the sock yarn I had wasn’t something I wanted to use so I went browsing through my stash and came up with the Schulana  Mosco.  I don’t think it’s as stretchy as the sock yarn would be.  It received a lot of compliments.   And, at this size it can also be worn as a scarf around my neck.  I Love It!!

Live Oak Shawlette being blocked.

Wearing the shawlette to church.

At the moment, I am wandering around touching my yarn, browsing through patterns but I have not cast on anything new.  I am not sure what I want to do next.  My daughter wants a hat “that fits.”  She thinks the Habitat Hat is too big.  And she wants something knitted in lavender/purple.  That will probably be what I knit next.  I will let you know what she decides.  I wish I could show you a picture of her wearing it but those pictures are in my “dead” computer.

take care,

Starting over.   It is a good thing.   Thank you for patiently waiting for this post.

Blue Ribbons

The County Fair is long over.  The midway is empty and quiet, and the rides are packed up and  in winter storage.  However…..the excitement remains that I won Best in Show blue ribbon in the Sweater category for the Central Park Hoodie I knitted last winter for my daughter!  I knitted it in Berroco’s Vintage, a worsted weight, wool blend yarn, she choose at the Memory Hagler Knitting Shop in Birmingham.  I used buttons found in a Button Jar at a close friend’s house.  They are perfect for the grey yarn and she had just the right number needed.  It was meant to be!

Central Park Hoodie

In another category, the Charlotte Raglan Tee earned a blue ribbon, too! I called this my Tornado Tee as I started it on April 27^th, a terrible day in Alabama’s weather history when so many lives were lost; and from which people are still recovering.  It’s knitted in Lily Chin’s Chelsea.  On a spur of the moment impulse, I entered a yellow Peaches and Cream soap bag and it won a blue ribbon in its category!  The woolen Habitat Hat and the Angora Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf also won ribbons.  My daughter knitted a slipstitch scarf that won a blue ribbon in the Junior knitting category!  Just as exciting was the Best in Show blue ribbon for her delicious chocolate fudge in the Junior Baking Category!  She also won a blue ribbon for her sugar cookies and a red ribbon for her chocolate chip cookies.

Beemer

My life is far from being dull and routine.  The biggest event in the past month was my miniature schnauzer almost dying from undiagnosed diabetes.  Beemer was lethargic, vomiting and was practically skin and bones. When I left him at the vet’s we were not sure if he would survive the night.  But he did and after a weekend of IV fluids and monitoring blood levels I was able to take Beemer home Monday afternoon.  Right now I’m giving him eight units of insulin twice a day.   He does not have your typical schnauzer cut so we were not able to see that he had lost a lot of weight.  And he’s not your typical house dog.  In fact, the only time he wants to be inside is when it’s too cold or too hot.  So, we were not watching his water intake closely.

Today, Beemer is back to his usual sassy self, barking at passing white cars (my across-the-street-neighbor’s dog taught him to do that) and biting the tires of Bike Man’s motorcycle when he rides.

Beemer, the camera shy dog

Bike Man's restored vintage BMW bike

With all the vet expenses, it’s a good thing I have a great friend who brought wonderful sock yarn when she came to visit for the Colorfest!  I had too much fun….. so much fun that I forgot to take pictures!

And speaking of pictures…..There’s another reason for my neglect in blogging.  My computer has died.  Died as in the screen fading to white then going black.  BLACK!  Nothing.  Zilch.  Zero.  All my pictures, all my partially written blog posts in Word, and  ALL my knitting pdf. files are unobtainable right now.  My Life is in that little, thin, black laptop.  Right now I’m writing to you from the Bike Man’s laptop and it’s just not the same.

But my knitting goes on.

The Toshiba Tecra's Guts

What To Expect

Moonglow Alpaca Farm

Live Oak Shawlette

Smocking

Mentone’s Farmer’s Market

Lookout Mountain Knitters

Gloves to match the Central Park Hoodie

A hat to match my Cable on the Side Mittens

I have continued to knit during this fiasco.  I knitted a hat to match my test knitted mittens and just yesterday finished gloves for my daughter to match her Central Park Hoodie!  And a local knit group I’m “hosting” is beginning to pick up new members!

Oh, yes.  Add to this mix, my miniature schnauzer almost died from undiagnosed diabetes. Beemer is fine now, up to his usual barking.  I’m giving him insulin shots twice a day.  It’s no big deal, I used to do this for my Nicki kitty 14 years ago.

My plan is to kick off a revamped and, hopefully, improved blog starting December 1.  This is something I have wanted to do so, as the saying goes, “There’s no time like the present.”

Enjoy your holiday this week giving thanks for all things, small and large, known and unknown.  I’m planning to enjoy turkey and my dressing, which my hubby said is better than his mother’s was!  My budding chef, aka known as The Teen-ager, wants to make a pumpkin pie for her daddy.

Until the 1st, be safe, have fun and take care.

And that Now includes getting ready for the county fair which starts next week and I am getting ready my entries for the Knitting Division.  For the fair, I will confiscate the teen-ager’s # 13 Central Park Hoodie, by Heather Lodinsky, with my details of the CPH  here on Ravelry; and

The Teen-Ager's Central Park Hoodie

my Jared Flood Habitat Hat, which she wears more than I do and here are my details on Ravelry.

Her Habitat Cap

I have recently completed the Charlotte Raglan Tee by Rosemary Drysdale, for Tahki Stacy Charles.  Here are my details on Ravelry:

My "Tornado Tee" also known as the Charlotte Raglan Tee

Also ready to go is my version of the Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf by Heather Bagni for the Classic Elite Yarns Web-Letter, Issue 11, from October 3, 2007.

The Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf

I did not submit any entries last year.  After a feather-and-fan scarf won first place, I thought I would submit my FOs this year.  Anything knitted within the past five years is eligible for entry.  I will let you know how I fare.  (No pun intended!)

The Art Show was held this week-end in the Mentone Park among the trees.  That was a very good thing; as it was hot in the afternoon.  I took a few pictures of the vendors.

The Mentone Art Show among the trees.

One of the vendors was Beth Bailey aka The Original Scarf Lady, who takes yarns and strips of fabric and makes necklaces and hair clips.  She was generous and gave the Teen-ager one to wear in her hair.

The scarf and hair-clip designer with the Teen-ager. Sorry you cannot see the hair-clip very well.

I’m sorry you can’t really see it on her.  I took a picture to show you how nice it looks.

Hand made hair-clip using vintage fabric and yarns.

She may be reached at alabeth@aol.com.   Here is another picture of Beth wearing one of her scarves.

Beth Bradley wearing one of her scarves made from vintage fabrics and yarns.

I bought a pair of handmade earrings from Pam Nicholson of Napoleon’s Baubles.  She may be reached at spaigenicholson@gmail.com.  For the last couple of years I have this thing about wanting to wear handmade earrings.  I love them, they are beautiful.  I was going back to another vendor to get a pair of earrings made from melted glass which were gorgeous.  However.

I never made it back to the art show as it was supposed to last two more days but Tropical Storm Lee interfered with a lot of people’s plans.  On  Sunday, the power was out from 2:30 p.m. (with the last sheet of macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies left in the oven) until 12:15 a.m.  We were very fortunate compared to other people in town.  Down the street there are several trees down, two of which fell on the same house.  When high winds are combined with saturated ground, you get trees falling over.   And my thoughts and prayers are for those who are really suffering from the effects of floods and power outages and tornadoes.

One more thing about Saturdays in the fall:  FOOTBALL!!!  Southeastern Conference Football!!!  In my house the Auburn and Alabama games are evenly supported until THE GAME.  Then we watch it from opposite sides of the room.  But preferably in separate rooms.  Now, having said all this with such emphasis I can not tell you who Auburn is playing this week-end.  After all, it is just a game.

My current WIP is the Garterlac Dishcloth.  I’ve frogged it twice and in frustration went back to the Ravelry site and a tutorial was offered.  Due to the power outage I did not get to work on it any yesterday.

Twice frogged Garterlac washcloth

I still have not seamed the raglan sleeved sweater.  After all, there was no power and it is hard to seam dark blue in the semi-darkness.

Cable On The Side Mittens

Cozy Mittens for the winter!

If you want to knit a pair for yourself or a friend, the Cable On the Side Mittens pattern is available at Knit Picks.

In October there is the big Autumn Colorfest.  http://mentoneareapreservationassociation.com/colorfest.asp This brings people from far and wide to check out the vendors, artists and whatever else is going on.  It would be neat to have a vendor’s site next year with all my knitting.  See!  I did it again.  Blogging about something other than my knitting.

Starting September 1^st, I’m hosting a knitting group that will meet in the community center  behind the library.  Currently, plans are to meet every Thursday at 10:00.   There is a local newspaper and the editor is running a notice for me.  The purpose is to get together and share WIPs and FOs and hopefully to learn new tricks and new techniques.  I, for one, want to learn how to knit Fair Isle and double stitching.  I feel sure I can do it but this summer have wanted to knit projects that worked up fairly quick and finish two that were started in the spring. Also, I would like to learn how to crochet beyond an edge around the neck or bottom of a sleeve.

I have been working to finish two sweaters and test-knit mittens.

The finally finished sweater.

I am so glad this sweater is finished before summer's end!

One sweater is finished and I wore it to church last Sunday.  I was not going to  brag  tell anyone  that I had made it but Bike Man was the one who told everyone.  Have I ever mentioned his hobby of restoring vintage BMW motorbikes?  He has more bike parts lying around than I have skeins of yarn. Right now there are two bike springs in a magazine rack on top of my knitting magazines.  That is why he does not complain about my stash – he better not.

One sleeve is already sewn to the sweater back.

Ready to sew the raglan sleeve to the sweater front.

One Cable Mitten in Wool-Ease

I will post pictures and comments on these mittens very soon.  I had to frog and redo the one that is pictured.  If you will notice, the cable is backwards. Silly me!

Speaking of wanting to knit quick projects, the county fair is coming up and I want to submit a few FOs.  Last year’s winner knitted a scarf using a feather and fan pattern.  I could submit this raglan sleeved sweater in the sweater category and my Habitat cap in the “other” category.  Yes, it is really called “other.”

For a treat! This is Monkee who is three years old and absolutely loves living here!

In the future, look for posts about the four alpacas who live down the street from me with their owners; my finished sweaters; a review of the One Cable Mittens; and the progress of my county fair projects.  Until then, take care.

The World's Longest Yard Sale

The weather was not conducive to good sales as there was a downpour of rain every afternoon. The ground was soggy, stuff was wet and when the sun came out the humidity made it like walking around in a sauna!  However, that’s typical August weather in Alabama.

The teen-ager and I walked around Saturday afternoon but did not see anything we could not live without.  A lot of it was either junk or over-priced or we liked it but did not have room for it.

A yard sale vendor in the shade of huge oak trees.

Vendors lined up down the street.

A segment of The World's Longest Yard Sale on Lookout Mountain.

Seeking relief from the heat under the shade of a wide cedar tree.

We did walk over to the farmer’s market where everything is organic, which is not that important to me.  The offerings included homemade jellies and jams, heirloom tomatoes, fuzzy peaches, butternut squash, and green beans.  Oh, and blueberries that were huge and sweet.

Rattlesnake Green Beans

Perhaps next year I will put up my own tent?

Also in even more bins and boxes are fabrics and patterns and magazines related to my sewing hobby.  I have already made the decision to concentrate on the knitting as it’s more mobile, more creative in some ways, and I’m more sane when I knit than when I sew.  With sewing I am stuck by myself in the bedroom with the machine.  With knitting I can be all over the house, yard, town, even the county!  I discarded a lot of stuff during the move as I have reached the age where I know I am not “going to get to it, one day.”  Especially if I keep up this knitting.  Even with what I discarded, there is wwaaayyy too much left.  So, let’s get real.  I am not going to do anything with all that fabric. So what do I do with it all?  It definitely is not going to the garbage can to be picked up by the mean green machine on Tuesdays.  A good friend is active in the Homemakers club where I previously lived and I will cull out what I do not plan on using which will be about 75 percent of it.  I plan on keeping about two bins for myself.  She can have the rest.  What is really bothering me about all this excess is that I cannot get a grip on what I do have so I can create all these wonderful and beautiful things which are in my imagination.  And who wants to spend all morning searching for that particular yarn or piece of fabric?  And when it is found, you are mentally tired and want to move on to something else.

When all this material is sorted out, the first thing I will to do is to make a quilt from my mother’s house-dresses and remnants from the dresses I made my daughter when she was a baby and toddler.  Plus, there is fabric from dresses I cut out and never made for her.  Long before I was born, Mama made a quilt top using the Grandmother’s Fan pattern and that is what I will use as my pattern.  As you can see she used a yellow cotton broadcloth for the background but I think I will use a blue as that is the color I most associate with her.  Also, most of her dresses were predominately blue.  Perhaps I was unconsciously influenced by her when I picked the blue yarns for the two sweaters I just finished.

Mama's quilt top

Close up of Mama's quilt top