Lynn Carson Harris

Bee FF

I have enjoyed participating in internet crafty swaps over the years but last year cut back to only one, The Potholder Swap. I missed the great gals from the 8two8 swap from the year before so I begged them to let me back in joined again this year. There are ten of us now for a swap we call Bee FF. We will be exchanging two 12 inch blocks each month.

Laura J had the month of January and requested her blocks to be from florals in muted tones like an old faded quilt. She wanted one of the blocks to be comprised of four six inch blocks.

As a little bit of fun we are also enclosing a handmade Christmas ornament in each package. 

I hope I can get this to the post office before our big snow hits. It is harder now that they have cut back their hours.

We are hoping for a snow day on Wednesday! I heard a prediction for about a foot of snow to fall tomorrow!! Keep your fingers crossed.

Thoughtful Sunday

"'Music does put heart in a body,' said Papa."

Little House on Rocky Ridge, Roger Lea MacBride, 1993.

The Spool Queen

A cold has been making its rounds through the house this week.

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a fog.

I did manage to get a tiny bit of sewing done though.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Periodic Orbits

I have to tell you that our super cold weather over the weekend did not make me want to sit at my sewing machine which happens to be in the chilliest corner of the house. Instead I wanted to snuggle under a blanket and knit. After finishing several colorwork projects in fingering weight yarn I wanted to knit something quick. So, here you have Karin wristwarmers, knit from a free pattern on ravelry.

The yarn is Q.E.D. from Sanguine Gryphon in the color Periodic Orbits. I had been eyeing the Sanguine Gryphon site for a while. I loved the look of bugga! yarns and that they are named for bugs. Go look at the bugga! page on their website. If you click to see a particular color you will also see a photograph of the bug that inspired the colorway - very fun.

After seeing many beautiful projects knit with Sanguine Gryphon's hand painted yarns on Ravelry I caved and placed an order for some "mutant" yarns back in the fall. It was a grab bag of four different yarn bases that have some sort of flaw. (the flaw in this skein must have been the knot because I found nothing else wrong with it.) The Q.E.D. is super squishy and soft!

My grab bag of yarn also had skeins of bugga!, skinny bugga!, and edios which are all now jumping up and down wanting to be knit. I'll knit up a little more of my "aged" yarn before using another of this new yarn. Remember, if I stick to my stashpact it will be 2012 before I get any NEW yarn. That is unless I knit ALL that I have.

I don't think that will happen.

I also made myself a pair of slippers that are ready to felt. Man, knitting with size 13 needles goes really fast. I sort of had the feeling I was knitting with handles of a couple of garden rakes.

The slipper yarn is Cascade 220 Quatro.

Next up is the second mitten of this mustard and cream pair. Then I'll have made THREE pair of mittens for National Knit Mittens Month!

After that will be another pair of slippers for B. I plan to use up leftover bits of worsted wool on those as part of the stash busting plan. I hope it works out without too many yarn ends to work in.

I hope you are all staying warm (or cool if it's hot where you are) and busy doing things that make you happy.

 

 

A Musical Adventure

Someone started a journey today - a musical journey.

She practiced all afternoon.

M even had fun drilling her on the five notes she has learned.

I wonder how unusual it is to get one's finger stuck in the "f" whole.

Don't ask.

Squirrel Appreciation Day

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day!

I finished my squirrel mittens!
How are you celebrating the day?

Wordless Wednesday

(custom quilting)

The Edith Hat

Yay! I am thrilled that I finished the hat for M's girlfriend.

With single digit temperatures predicted for this week I wanted her to be able to wear it.
Knitting the lining out of Misti Alpaca Lace took a little longer than I expected. It is like knitting with a cloud and is so super soft. The extra layer should make for a warmer hat.

M laughed last night when I mentioned that I was knitting with my turbo needles. He has no idea of the technology available to knitters and quilters.

I love the star pattern at the top of the hat!
The picot hem edge is pretty nice too.

Yep. I pretty much love this pattern, the Edith Hat. My notes can be found here on Ravelry.

I had mentioned earlier that M was going to design the hat but we tried a few things and the original yarn was too thick for a colorwork pattern that had very much detail. The two of them spent a few hours looking at patterns and projects on Ravelry and decided on this one. The yarns, Knit Picks stroll (lavender), Zitron Trekking (cream), and Misti Alpaca lace (lining) were in my stash.

 

 

Thoughtful Sunday

(M after completing a long and successful day at regional solo and ensemble competition yesterday)

"His heart will get heavy when his songs are all gone."

"How They Broke Away to Go to the Rootabaga Country," Rootabaga Stories, Carl Sandburg, 1922.