Lynn Carson Harris

Vacation Knitting

Our spring break trip has been fun and relaxing. We have been staying at my Mother-in-law's and taking in a few sights. Yesterday we had a wet tour of the cherry blossoms in DC.

A relaxing vacation means I have had a bit of knitting time.  I finished D's socks in the car.

 

I brought yarn for some projects I have been wanting to try but didn't want to start them until the smocking on P's Olympic knitting dress was finished. I have to admit that the smocking part of this project was not my favorite. In a fit of frustration I said "M, I'll give you ten dollars if you finish smocking this dress." I was teasing but he actually took me up on it!  I gave him a little tutorial and off he went!

 

That allowed me to start a pair of pink socks for myself. I am trying Judy Gibson's You're Putting Me On socks. I really like this pattern.

The first sock is almost finished now! Larger needles and yarn make for quick sock knitting.

I have also started one of these super cute Estonian Sheep puppets that have been on my knit list since I got summer 2006 issue of Spin Off.

 

It's time to get back to the knitting. I hear the needles and a bowl of ice cream calling me!

Thoughtful Sunday

"'Nature need not be improved upon,' she used to say..."

Hitty Her First Hundred Years, Rachel Field, 1929

Through the Eyes of a Child

P was thrilled to be allowed to use my point and shoot camera yesterday.

She took 250 photos! Many of them were out of focus because she was moving on to take the next picture as she pressed the button. It was really fun to watch her walk around the house and yard taking pictures.

I really enjoyed seeing what she chose to photograph. 

Everyday objects through a child's eyes.

 

I am looking forward to more of her photos!

Beach Glass and Seaweed Socks

My Beach Glass and Seaweed Sock pattern is now available on Ravelry. (If you knit and don't belong to Ravelry - you should. It is an excellent resource.)

This is the first time I have written out a pattern in an official way for others to purchase. Coming up with the design was the easy part.

I had fun with the design  and was pleased to get the ribbing to transition into the easy-to-memorize four row pattern repeat. 

 

Putting the pattern into words so that other knitters can repeat the design came next. The biggest challenge, however, seemed to be getting the pattern into PDF format for easy download.
Thanks to Adele, who test knit the pattern and helped with the technical writing and D for making the PDF conversion after I spent hours on it and couldn't get the formatting the way I wanted. Thanks to M for taking the great photos for the pattern and Barb for the name.

Thanks to my sisters for their support along the way.

Thanks also to P and B who helped with the first photo shoot that really didn't work out very well.

And while I'm at it I should thank my mother and grandmother for teaching me the love of needlework.

Photo shoots can be fun!

Actually, I enjoyed the process so much that another design is already under way. I am sure the next pattern will be a lot easier. I'll just send my document to D for the PDF conversion first thing and save myself HOURS of frustration.

Thoughtful Sunday

"'Spring, Spring, Spring!' sang the frog.
'Spring!' said the groundhog.
'Spring, Spring, Spring!' sang the robin.
It was Spring."

Home for a Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown, 1961.

Savoring the Sun

The warmer, sunny weather has been a welcome change.

We are off to soak up some more sun. I hear it is supposed to snow again this weekend.

Brighter Days

We have been busy around here lately. Last night P's preschool performed the 3 Piggy Opera. Oh, my what a sweet performance that was!

M was up in the wee hours of the morning to head out to Detroit. He and a few others from the House Orchestra were live on the radio (WJR) from 6 to 7 this morning. I, however, slept right through it. I am hoping WJR will have it available on their website. Tonight he and a few friends will be performing at the local pizza place.   

This morning I went went bowling with P's preschool class. I love how preschoolers are not worried about form. They are happy just to get the ball to go the length of the lane!

We have enjoyed two beautiful days of sunshine and blue skies. How wonderful it is to be outside without the full winter armor.

I hope you are enjoying some brighter days too.

Ah, spring is in the air.

Thoughtful Sunday

"There was nothing but pie. But there were all nine kinds of pie that Harold liked best.  When Harold finished his picnic there was quite a lot left.  He hated to see so much delicious pie go to waste. So Harold left a very hungry moose and a deserving porcupine to finish it up."

Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson, 1955.

And The Winner Is . . .

The winner of the quilt book is Gina E. Congratulations Gina!

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book you can get one here.

Book Giveaway

The nice people at Lark Books have donated a copy of Pretty Little Mini Quilts for me to give away here on the blog!

To enter, just answer the following question in the comments of this post.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

The contest will be open until noon (eastern time) on Saturday. I'll post the winner later on Saturday.