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Thursday, February 27, 2020

Busy Hands are Happy Hands!

OMG!  Spotted this the other day on Facebook and just had to share it with you all.  It's been YEARS since I've gone camping...pup tent, sleeping bag etc.  My card is fully punched on that with no desire to do it again; but this.....what can I say!


 Finished my potato chip scarf yesterday.  Love the colors and the way the yarn drapes, but not the way it looks on me...even if the picture weren't blurry and I knew how to take a decent selfie, which I don't.  The color is more accurate in the first picture, not the one with me wearing it.
Believe this is going to be donated to Bridge and Beyond, think a teen might enjoy it.


Finished another afghan.  This one is called Pippy Longstocking.  It too will be donated through my charity, Bridge and BeyondIt was assembled from strips that were donated.  Had to do a fair amount of over stitching...as the person who donated it did the dreaded cut the yarn right after the knot and left no tail.  I shored the edges up as best as I could, but you can see in some places it's not super straight...due to the over stitching and extra stitches to fortify it.  But...I put it in the wash with fingers crossed.  Here it is being blocked....it made it fine through the wash, so I think all is well.  I named it Pippy Longstocking because it's so mixed, wild, un-tamed...a mish mosh.  When I designed it, looking through lots of different colored strips, thought it would be fun and funky.


LOL!  Anyone relate?  I've been doing a 5 minute plank routine, a 6 minute full body stretch, and a 7 minute work out daily here at home, so haven't actually made it to the gym....but what can I say.  Actually I had tried out several different apps, but din't find one that fit my need as a senior.  Did you know you can exercise with Alexa?  If you have an Echo Dot, or other Alexa model check it out.  In the menu area find skills.  I really like it and am finding it motivating.  


Continuing to work on this jewel toned scarf, it's grown a couple of inches, but is slow going with this very thin yarn.  My needles were a 4 wooden knit pics, but they kept coming apart, so I switched to my turbo's which are a 5, doesn't seem much different to me size wise.  But, it's easier to see without the green cord and dark needles.  The silver needles is an improvement.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Valentines Day, Finished Project, AND Amazon Prime and Netflix

 Happy Belated Happy Valentines to all.  I don't tend to do lots of decorating for the various holidays, but do like to have the dining room table festive.  I've had the placemats and napkins for a good number of years, but thought this year I needed something in the middle of the table and found these cute little hearts at CVS.
Do you decorate for the holidays?  Did you celebrate the holiday?  We went to dinner Sat night (not Friday the 14th), using a gift card our darling daughter got us for Christmas.  Meal was excellent.


Coffee Latte Afghan is now done!  Yippee, another project completed.  This ghan has 206 stitches per row.  I considered counting the rows to determine how stitches there were but didn't.  Let's just say ALOT!  Coffee Latte is here drying after being laundered.  Smoothed it out, no real blocking was necessary.  It's being donated to Bridge and Beyond (my charity that benefits the homeless).

Still working on jewel tone scarf (scroll to previous post), and potato chip scarf, (2 posts ago), but not enough difference to take another photo to share with you.


Not that I think there's anything funny about our current hot mess in White House; but this did at least make me smile.  I do love my glasses!

I've tried to watch Monarch of the Glen, but haven't found it on Amazon Prime or Netflix, even though a google search says it's available.
I watched Season One of My Mother and Other Strangers, which I LOVED!
 But, it ends with a real cliff hanger, and it's not clear if there will ever be a season 2.  OMG!
Hated where it ended in season 1.  I stayed up late to watch, as I couldn't force myself to go to bed. 

I watched Season 1 of Virgin River, which also ended up in a bad spot cliff hanger.  Geesh, when will season 2 be out?  I hate getting involved in one of these series and then having to wait for the next season.

AND I watched Aristocrats
I would recommend all these though Aristocrats would be at the bottom of the list.  This list is over the last month or so.  Have you seen them?  What did you think?

Friday, February 07, 2020

Starts and Finishes on the Road

 This scarf shawl........finally finished.  You might remember seeing it when I started it, then again after I ripped it out and started over........and finally it's finished.  It's unbelievable soft, probably more soft than anything I've made to date.  The yarn comes from 3 different yarn shops.  First purchased the lightest variegated (here in Columbus), then the darker version (Park City, Utah), then the yellow here in town, but a 2nd yarn shop, lol.  It's wide enough to be a shawl and covers shoulders nicely, but here I'm wearing it sorta more like a scarf.  I think in spring it will be worn more as a shawl/wrap/stoll and will be light, airy but helpful against air conditioning.  I used drop stitches with 2 yarn overs/wraps.  It's fingering weight yarn, size 5 needle.
 A few posts ago, I told you I had start-itis and really wanted to do something with some new yarn I had purchased.  After finishing the above yellow, I started this scarf.  It too is fingering weight yarn, but with this I'm using only a size 4 needle.  Simple 2 row repeat pattern which will produce a asymmetrical scarf.  LOVE LOVE these jewel tones.  The pattern was written for ww yarn and has you cast on 5, so I thought casting on doubling that (10) would make it wide enough to compensate for the difference is yarn weight.  I started this on the same trip but, believe it will take a while to finish.  Thinking if I were to do this again with this weight yarn I would cast on 15...so we'll see how it turns out.  I think the 10 would be perfect for maybe sport weight yarn.  But, I have enough yarn to make it long enough to wrap around at least twice so hoping it will be ok.
 This Afghan, Coffee Latte was started about a year ago and put away in the summer when I didn't want a heavy ghan on my lap.  Decided I needed to bring it along to see if I could get it finished.  I'm close.  The section at the bottom, closest to you is what's on the needles.  Need to finish that solid brown section, and then just have one more section of the variegated and it will be done.  Once finished it will donated through my charity, Bridge and Beyond.
 Worked on this scarf in the car on the way to Hilton Head and finished it the first week, so was able to wear it while there.  Love the bold color sections.  This is the same pattern that I'm using on the above jewel toned scarf.  This was very nice yarn to work with and went pretty fast since it's WW weight.  25% wool and 75% acrylic but didn't have the harsh feel that some acrylics do on your hands.  It's Plymouth Yarn Hot Cakes 404 yards and one skein made a nice size scarf.
Here you get a little better feel for the shape and size.  This is a king size bed.
**you see the yarn for jewel tone scarf and burgundy/black/gray scarf in the start-itis post.

What are you working on?  Do you like to knit or crochet when you travel?

Monday, December 23, 2019

Startitis, Un-knitting And Cocktail Hour

LOVE this color, teal and brown.  Forgot I had this yarn, but came across it the other day when cleaning out my office area (or at least partially).  Decided the startitis I've had lately that I've been trying ignore just kicked in when I spotted this yarn.  I wanted to use the multi-directional scarf pattern.  You start with a triangle (what you see at the top where you see more brownish.........then when it's the size you need you start doing short rows  (what you see on the  bottom) and up to the ridge.......which is the join of the 2 triangles.  You go back and forth.  This pattern recommends using shaded, self striping yarn, or variegated yarn; but.......I found this yarn just didn't seem to change color frequently enough to see the changes in direction?  Soooooooooo, after knitting several hours, I did the un-knitting.  Will put this yarn aside and use for something else, as I really wanted to do this pattern.


Potato Chip Scarf has grown quite a bit since the last picture.  It's now 38 inches.  So am chipping away, snarky pun.


Have mentioned I don't decorate a lot and I don't start early; but I do love cocktail hour, cocktail napkins........and well this seemed a good place to start.
The snow-flake napkin holder is on top of the wine rack in the dining room..so decorating did begin about 10 days ago.
 Before the cocktail napkins were switched out, a Manhattan and fancy nuts cocktail evening.
Then another night it was an Old Fashion and chips and guacamole night.  We do enjoy our cocktail hours.  We sit and talk without the tv on, tell each other about our days.  Then we move onto dinner.
On the Old Fashion, Chips and Guacamole night, we had chicken enchilada's.  First time I've made it, turned out yummy and will be repeated.  Found black beans with jalepeno's  and lime, very tasty.  Definitely a repeat.


And leaving you with a bit of humor.  I'm not a fan of winter so this had me nodding in agreement.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Mish Mosh my Week or So

Sharing these beautiful flowers my daughter gave me for Mother's Day a few years ago.  Why now?  Pretty sure I did way back as well, but why now?  Cause it's ugly, cold, dark, and dreary out and I wanted to see something pretty.  I may add a count down to Spring on my blog.


No, I haven't done any Christmas Decorating yet, but I did manage to change place mats, and napkins prior to Thanksgiving with a nice colorful fall look.  Even leaf glass holders that go with the leaf napkin rings.  Now...I need to dig around and see where my Christmas ones are.  I might have discarded them last year....after having the same ones and not sure they held up after being laundered......hum, not sure.


Not me, but I started 2 new apps for doing a 30 day plank challenge.  Had no clue there were so many different types of planks.  I don't find these easy to do at all!


AND these really hurt my shoulders, plus I can't get straight like this, so not going to be doing these anymore.  Made my low back hurt as well.


There's a heater inside.  2nd to last home football game for The Ohio State Buckeyes, and it was COLD.  Having the tarps up on 2 sides really helped block the wind while we tailgated.  And the game after this one rained so I didn't go.  Sat through one really bad rain a few weeks prior and just wasn't up for it again.


Thought some of my knitting and crochet friends would enjoy this.  A few on there I've never heard of...PIG...oh how I should show you pictures of that system I have, except I have up-scaled it and they're not in grocery bags, but canvass totes.  

I'm still working on Potato Chip Scarf, just haven't taken any new pictures.  It's coming along.  AND I've managed to fight the start-itis problem, but did spend lots of time today and found the next pattern I want to make....so, I predict something will get started probably before Potato Chip is finished.  Just saying.

How's your week coming along?

I'm Participating in a new to me Linky Party

Sunday, December 01, 2019

Yarn Purchases, Potato Chip Scarf and.............Dieting?

I've got a case of start-itis.  I've been fighting it for awhile. 

  •  The red and gray are very basic sock yarn but, it's Berroco's Comfort Sock and is beyond super soft.  AND these are Buckeye Colors, and each skein has 447 yards soooooo plenty to make something.  I'm sorta seeing a striped shawl, or scarf...perhaps a Diagonal scarf, or something along that line where the stripes really make the project.
  • The larger cake upper right Plymouth Yarn Hot Cakes is 404 yards of WW yarn, also kinda Buckeye Colors, which I bought before the solid sock yarn. Since this is self striping and due to being heavier weight yarn would work up quickier, perhaps this is the one that should be a diagonal scarf.  Or might this make a fun potato chip scarf?
  • Then there's the 2 yummy Queensland collection, Perth....like the fun purple and gray I'm currently using to make the potato chip scarf.  But, oh look at those yummy jewel tones
No, I'm not done with any of my current projects (2 afghans, plus the yellow shawl, and the purple potato chip scarf.
But, it is now just over 33 inches, so lots of headway since my previous picture showing you how well the 2nd lucky skein matched.


 Then there's also this Cooper Corgi YUMMY YUMMY yarn from Savannah, Georgia I bought while in Hilton Head a few weeks ago.  Two pictures so you could see the front and back of the hank to see the colors.
It's hand dyed and twisted thus the $45.00 price tag for 460 yards of 100% superwash Merino.  Softer than butter...
This is the sample of a shawl on display at the yarn shop using the above hand dyed.  I really wanted to be able to lay this sample out so it could be seen but was limited with space.  I did purchase this pattern.


We've all just eaten a bunch no doubt at Thanksgiving, so perhaps we're thinking how to drop a few pounds before Christmas and New Years.  I am not vegan or vegetarian and have NO desire to be, but this tickled my funny bone.

Do you get start-itis?  Which one would you start with?  Is there a pattern that calls out to you using above fibers?

Are you dieting after Thanksgiving?  Let me know in your comments.