Slow Stitching on Sunday, Progress, Watching Charles Dickens and More

It's growing! Jeweled Lines is growing.  This photo was taken a few days (when I thought I would sit down and write a blog post), it was just a hair short of 52 inches at the time, with one row of the turquoise section started.  Got it stretched out as well as I can without having stitches fall off the needles, so it doesn't look very even in the picture, but truly it is.  Mine concern at this point is whether or not I have enough turquoise to finish the current section and complete the last section....It's going to be close I fear.  Once again the problem with quesstimation and no pattern, but when working with yarn you have on hand and or yarn that's been donated...........well.  You play through and hope for the best.  This ghan will be donated through my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond.
Join us for Slow Stitching Sunday

For my blog friends who cross stitch, a project from long ago.  So long ago, this was a photograph, not a digital picture, lol.  Two quilted placemates basically sewn together to make an apron with a cross stitch area.  This was a Christmas Gift for my Mom.  Over the years the picture has faded...tried to brighten it after scanning, but it's still not a good photo.  Wish I had done more of design.  With today's eyes, it's rather plain.  I wonder whether or not my Dad still has this somewhere in the house.  I should ask him.

This was posted on Facebook as a teaser a few weeks ago when my friends across the pond were anxiously awaiting the next session.  We here in the US...are still waiting.  Just thought it was comical, so thought I'd share.

LOVED this yarn.  Sooooooo soft.  When my Darling Daughter was home for a visit, we naturally went yarn shopping.  She purchased 5 different types of yarn, all at 50% off.  I wasn't as lucky.  This is one of two hanks I purchased, mine were only 15% off.  This is 400 yards of hand dyed fingering weight.  It suggest a needle size of 1............what was I thinking!!!  Loved the colors, and softness, but now am in search of something to make with it that maybe I can use a size 3 for.  

This is yet another of my English viewing while knitting and icing my foot.  This was a very short mini series.  Little Dorrit is a Charles Dickens story that takes place between 1855-1857.  The story of being born and raised in Marshalsea Prison, a debtors prison.  As many of Dickens theme, it's full of many emotions;  but shows a good deal of the dark side......the hard times that people endured.  Central figure is the same as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown, Claire Foy...who was also in Upstairs Downstairs, as the very colorful and not very nice sister.  I do recommend this short series.

I don't often post political things on this blog, but felt this was very appropriate given current events.  This Holocaust Memorial by Marie Uchytilova remembers 82 children who were taken from Lidice to Cheimno, an Extermination Camp in July of 1942.  The fact there are large number of people led by extreme groups who say The Holocaust is fake news, never happened.......makes me sick to my stomach.
**Longer than normal post, catching up since it's been a bit since my last post.

Knitting and Watching and trying to eat Light

Jeweled Lines has grown to about double the size from when you last saw it last with the addition of the green and now back to the amethyst.  Thanks for the input on the names between this blog and my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond.  I like the suggested name of Jeweled Lines, better than the flip of it, which is what I had initially.  I'm still not quite sure if this will be enough yarn with adding the green; but as yet.........still can't get to the basement to look further at my stash, so will play through and see what happens.  Though I did do some steps today for the first time at therapy...so might be able to soon.

Watched this show, Tulip Fever on Netflix recently.  I can't say I would recommend it.  It was dark...dark in the way it was filmed (somewhat on purpose I suppose 1634 in Amsterdam), but also a bit dark in it's storyline.  It wasn't at all believeable, though the write ups discussed how this was a long awaited film from Harvey Weinstein.  That in fact, it took 17 years to come to the screen.  First it was released in Germany from what I read in 2017.  The right up portrayed how this was a historic event and was expected to be much bigger than it was...........but, doing a bit more research I see The Smithsonian says the primary story about Tulip Fever is in fact NOT true.  If you watch it, I'll be interested in hearing if you liked it.  Not all reviews were bad.  This wasn't a series, it was a movie.  So, you can watch it without committing much to do so.

Have been trying to eat light (this was lunch) since my level of activity is soooo much less than normal with the broken foot.  Though this past week, I've not done as well as above.  

Calories, Crocheting, Charity and Wine

 I have many friends I know personally who use a Fitbit, plus I have a ton of on line friends who wear a Fitbit.  I love the little device and have met face to face with several of my Fitbit friends after knowing them on line.  I consider that a real plus.  It's really lots of fun meeting up with people you chat with on line.  My steps have been way down though lately.  I don't enjoy walking outside in the cold.  It didn't used to bother me.  Last winter I went to the gym and used the treadmill, but I haven't even gotten back into doing that.  I need to.  A couple of those pounds have found their way to my waste again.

 Aren't these cute?  Colorful too.  When my daughter was home for Thanksgiving she and I made these.  Well actually, I made a couple and she made about 10.  I took the picture early in the process.  These are water filter covers.  She's part of a group that sends water filters to Uganda.  Trouble is they are rather fragile and break easily, so they came up with the idea of making a filter cozy out of cotton.  These crocheted cotton cozy help protect the much needed water filters.  I've got a good mound of cotton in my stash and we'll no doubt make more when she comes home for Christmas.  My problem is you need to crochet quite tightly which is hard on my arthritis, so I can't make as many as she can.  I had to switch projects, to something that would bother my arthritis less; and I was trying hard to finish a couple of afghans for my charity, Bridge and Beyond.

This is a wine rack.  Can you tell?  LOL.  It was a kit.  Hubby and I've been looking off and on for one that would fit our space, so we could save space in the kitchen cabinets where the wine and wine glasses have been.

AND.....here it is all put together in corner in the dining room.  It holds 2 cases of wine, though you can see we have some empty spaces.  It holds a dozen wine glasses.  We're pretty happy with it....and it was on sale!

Are you getting ready for Christmas at your house?  I've barely begun.

Colors Speak to Me

This is the first time I've participated in the special week long blog event dedicated to knitters and crocheters. Though it's the 3rd year the activity has been going strong here on internet. There are prompts, one for each day, a tag which you'll see below. The tag gives us a special method to find each other doing a google search. Pretty cool. Since this is a first for me, thought I'd give the prompt below:

Color Lovers
Color is one of our greatest expressions of ourselves when we choose to knit or crochet, so how do you choose what colors you buy and crochet or knit with. Have a look through your stash and see if there is a predominance of one color. Do the same with your finished projects - do they match? Do you love a rainbow of bright hues, or more subdued tones. How much attention do you pay to the original color that a garment is knit in when you see a pattern? Tell readers about your love or confusion over color.

3KCBWDAY1 (tag)

Colors speak to me, loudly I might add. I don't own a white blouse or a beige dress. Doesn't that statement speak volumes about how I like color! I have always been drawn to bright, bold, cheery colors and find white, and beige without personality at all, and very very boring. As a child my Mother told me I dreamed about colors, apparently out loud. I would talk in my sleep saying I wanted the red one, or the yellow one and things along that line.

The first item I crocheted was a bright mint green Dollie. It was crocheted using a bright red plastic crochet hook. My childhood best friend's Aunt taught me to crochet, no doubt because I was driving her nuts. She was as round as she was tall. In retrospect, I don't think she had good mobility, as I almost always saw her in a rocking chair. I was mesmerized watching her crochet. I'm sure that first project was lov-er-ly. That lov-er-ly Dollie that had no purpose was a gift to my Mother. Wonder whatever happened to it?

The first item I knit was with multi-colored crayon/Mexican looking yarn and became a little scarf. My Mother taught me to knit. See, even back then I was drawn to bold, bright and cheery colors.

And let's not forget the bright Pink (not pastel) Octopus I made with a Styrofoam ball and braided legs to decorate my bed.

I knit and crochet and carry my love of color to almost every thing I craft, even baby items are rarely made from light pastels, or worse yet personality lacking white and beige. If you look through these blog of items made, both for myself and those for charity you'll see a rainbow of colors.

When purchasing yarn, generally I see a color I like then decide what I might want to make. My stash is full of bright, colorful goodies waiting to be something bold and pretty.

This skein of yarn reminds me of that first scarf, though I believe my yarn back then was a bit brighter in color. That memory made me smile as I opened the box this donated yarn was in. It was donated through my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond that focuses on helping homeless.

Color......even when dictated by others (ie the squares which are donated)are turned into bright, cherry........bold. These are some of the afghans I've assembled from the donated squares through my above charity blog, Bridge and Beyond. Did someone say Color?












**most afghans pictured above can be clicked on, should you want more details it will take you to the blog post**

Bouncing my Beach Ball

Beach Ball is finished! Right now it's bouncing around in the washer and will soon be laid out and blocked. Here it measures about 49 inches, but will grow probably 1-2 inches during blocking.

I used the Winter White and the pink in multiple rows around the edge and was thrilled to find the right color of turquoise in my stash to add several rows of it to the border...finishing with a fluffy ruffle.

My check my designed stash to see what afghan to work on next. As always, this afghan will be donated to Homeless Families Foundation through Bridge and Beyond.

I've continued to work on my blue lacy (feather and fan) scarf also. Making wonderful headway with it, though may put it aside and switch to something else for awhile.

Hubby and I had a lovely Easter Brunch with my 2 brothers and their wives, and my Dad today. Hope you all had/have a wonderful Easter Sunday. Sun's out bright, and I would like to take a bike ride, but believe it's too windy for my legs to push against it.

Happy Stitching all, Year of Projects Posts in the tab across the top of the blog. The Badge and link available in the right sidebar. Please join us.

Thinking Sunny on Sunday

A Day at the Beach, finished. Just needs to be laundered and blocked. Currently measures about 45 inches square and should grow a little once it's blocked. I ratted through my stash, was about 99% certain I had some of that variegated yarn, sorta remembered making something with it some time back. Bingo...I had one ball, partial skein and was able to edge it with 2 rows of sc. The aqua in my stash is close in shade, just not exact; though I believe it works given the winter white in between the squares and the aqua stripe. This should make a suitable size and color afghan for a little girl and or a teen/adult female a as lapghan. Homeless Families Foundation will put this in someone's Welcome Home package. If you're new to my blog, you might not know about that. When a homeless family moves from the shelter into permanent housing, they're given a Welcome Home Package. The afghans are to welcome them home, give them hope for the future, and to congratulate them on moving ahead to the next and important phase of their lives.
A bit of a close up so you can see the variegated yarn. I edge each square wsith 2 rows of double crochets, crocheted the squares together in a continuous row, then edge the whole afghan with another row of double crochet, switched then to the aqua for 2 rows of single crochet, followed by 2 more rows of double crochet with the white, and ended with 2 rows of single crochet with the variegated. So, was able to add quite a bit of size to the 7 ish inch squares. When doing the single crochet edge I wasn't sure I had enough to do 2 rows, switched to a smaller hook for the last row, which I believe made all the difference...ended up with less then 2 feet of yarn. Whew, close call.

Still thinking beach, summer, fun, and sun.........this afghan is titled Beach Ball. I've begun edging. The hot pink squares are larger then the others so am adding 1 row of sc in white; adding one row of dc in pink to all other squares followed by a row of sc white. When they're edged, I'll remeasure to determine whether or not to join at that point or add some more for size.

Since last week's YOP post, the only changes are what you see...the completion of another ghan, and the start of another. Both to be donated through Bridge and Beyond's Project, "Welcome Home".

Badge and link in right sidebar. Join us.

Jewels is finished

You may have seen this previously when it was posted on Bridge and Beyond; but ...not everyone that visits here visits there; so thought I'd post it. The squares were donated, I edge and joined and did a scalloped border. This ghan, named Jewels was donated to The Homeless Families Foundation through Project Welcome Home on my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond.

Brief post today, and only 1 item to show you....hope to see you come Sunday on YOP with hopefully more to chat about.

I've not been very active lately with WIPW, FOF or YOP Sunday's.......working to catch up with you all and look forward to visiting your blogs to see all your projects.

Finished Object Friday link in sidebar....join us, it's fun!

TA DAH, Pink Poodle Progressed to DONE

Storing Yarn Stash and Donations

Work in progress, Wednesday
Right to left, you see large metal shelves with wheels. The shelves are awesome. They are sturdy and can be put together in a variety of ways. With the wheels they can easily be moved around. You see the first shelf unit with a variety of tote bags, large zip lock bags, and rubbermaid plastic boxes. They're filled with yarn/ and projects. Some for my personal use, but most of it related to my charity, Bridge and Beyond. The tote bags tend to have projects in them. Needed more storage, hubby bought and put together the 2nd unit where you see more of the same. The smaller white bags are squares separated for already designed ghans for our folks at Faith Mission/and other places in need.

Drum roll please. See the table beside the empty shelves? That has boxes and bags of yarn, mostly donated yarn, squares, and recent donations next up for delivery. AND on a work table not in the picture are several trash bags of other donated yarn. Hubby wants his work space back, and he needs the white table....thus he purchased and put together the 3rd shelf unit.
Look! Almost 4 full shelves already in use. He now has his white table and work table back.

Bridge and Beyond provides hats, scarves, mittens, and slippers for men, women and children who are homeless, spend a night or two in a shelter, or who live in a variety of temporary housing. Donations are delivered to multiple locations with need. Additionally personal care items, knit/crocheted washcloths, and squares are collected. Each month a different item needed is highlighted. If you'd like to read more about what we do, and the fabulous crafters who make it all happen....Please check out the blog Bridge and Beyond. We'd love to have you join us.

A bit of a different post for WIPW, as this work is always in progress. Additionally, work continues on The Wedding Ghan and The Poddle Ghan.

Working Ahead for The Red Scarf Project

A beginning, not the best picture, but you can sorta see the pattern. Actually guess it's more of a texture. This is a nice reversible stitch called checks and ridges. Using Plymouth Encore knitted worsted weight yarn which I love. It's 25% wool and 75% acrylic. It washes and wears very well and has a nice soft feel to it. It will be nice and warm because of the wool, and because this is a nice solid stitch. Using size 9 knitting needles. The red looks a bit more orange here in the picture than it really is. Had this yarn at finger tips and decided I needed a knitting project to give some relief after so much crocheting which is more bothersome on the arthritis etc.

This is working ahead for me as it will go to The Red Scarf Project which isn't due to be mailed until this coming fall. This is a charity I used to do a lot for, but in recent years my list became too large, so it's nice to have worked my way back to this part of my list. The pattern is a 4 row repeat and shows up best on a solid color in my opinion. I also like it because there's 2 rows of good old garter stitch.

I should also add this will be traveling with me to Aruba (be sure and check out my travel blog, will have lots of pictures and info there in the future).

What are you working on?



This was last weeks WIP, but I never got things officially posted, so am using it this week, now that I'm back in town and trying to play catch up. In my effort to play catch up this am before heading to work, I did manage to drop 209 for my EC friends (think I got all of you who dropped in my absence), and a few more. I also managed to visit and comment on 21 of you in the WIP--all that had signed in before my time was up. And now, to work. Keep stitching.

Troubled Blanket on it's way, FINALLY

Gees, what started out as an easy project really took a turn to taking too much time and I had to solve a problem. The pink yarn was given to me and and I thought it was such a soft pink would make a nice small blanket. I started was to be a plain pink blanket, and when I was at what I thought was the 1/4 th point by counting the stitches on the needle I weighted the yarn I had left and thought I was good to go. No clue how I was sooooooo off. I don't know if I didn't weigh the yarn correctly, forgot what I came up with, or changed the count I was going for on the blanket. But, clearly I was way off. The pink yarn was old, wasn't a brand I'd ever heard of before and so I knew it wasn't possible to try and match. Two choice, rip out back to the half way point and do a 2 tone blanket or keep going until I ran out and then switch. I hate, hate, hate to rip out and had so many projects going and deadline looming that I choice to keep going and add a new color when the time came. My thought was then to make a hoody type blanket so whatever color I added for the 2nd color on one corner would be matched with a hood of the same color on the opposite corner.
The 2nd color ended up being about 1/3rd of the blanket which measures 32 x 32 inches. Susie snuggled up in the traditional wrap method showing the hood which has a small ruffle. I didn't want it to lay totally flat against the blanket feeling it might be too tight.

This is on it's way to Angela for her Blankets for All Babies request on Crochetville. She's been busy making baby items for her local pregnancy center where your mothers with low income are much in need. Give a baby a head-start and make something warm. I have a couple of hats and green pair of booties going with this donation as well, but forgot to take pictures.

The blanket is knitted in straight garter stitch on size 6 needles (yarn was lighter weight so smaller needles were necessary which made the process slower than I like, even without the added problem of running out of pink), using the traditionally dishcloth pattern. The hood is made the same. I just knitted what looked like a new start until the corner seemed large enough, edge it, as I had the blanket; and crocheted the two together.

Angela's charity is in NE, Ohio.

Troublesome Knitting, are you trying to tell me something?

Nothing fancy here, your very basic corner to corner ghan with a little detail on the edge created by doing the yo (yarn overs). I'm not sure what happened, or why. Did I count wrong, did I measure wrong, did I weigh the yarn wrong? Did I just forget? Arghhhhhhh

The pink yarn was donated to me HERE, 3 ply knitted worsted. As I debated about whether or not to strip the blanket I weighed the yarn on my scale and figured I had more then enough when I was at what I thought was the 1/4th point.

Well...
buzzing along with the yarn in my project bag I wasn't paying any attention to how much yarn I had left, when....at about 2/3rd's done had a snag and pulled the yarn out of my bag to untangle. Yikes...no way did I have enough to finish the blanket. I could frog (which I detest) back to the half way point and make the blanket 2 tone; provided I had the right weight of something on hand. I really didn't want to frog so came up with plan B.

Plan B, switch color, enter pretty minty green and finish blanket. Ok 2/3 and 1/3...little weird, so how about then starting a 2nd piece using the minty green and making just a corner to attach to the opposite corner of the 1/3 minty green. Like a hood? So, for now that's my plan.

I get one row done when my needles come apart and a huge number of stitches are no longer on my needles. You've got to be kidding me. I'm terrible at putting the stitches back on the needle, plus I wasn't at this point real awake. Let it be til I had my coffee. Hooked my needles back together. I've only had that happen once in several years and it was right after I got my Denise Set when I probably didn't put them together well enough to begin with. I really can't believe it. Knit half the next row AND it happens again. Seriously, not as many stitches this time. What's going on. Was that a hint I was suppose to frog? I sure hope not, cause I didn't. I've knit one row since, so far so good.

Got my toes and fingers crossed I can finish this before I have another issue. I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

**pink in first picture seems more on target, not sure why the 2 pictures look so different
****
This is slated for a charity right here in Ohio, Blankets for all Babies