Monthly Archives: June 2019

Summer is Here!

Happy Summertime my friends!  It doesn’t quite feel like summer yet, but our calendar says it is.  We still continue to have lots of sunless and rainy days.  Now that summer has begun I hope the weather improves.  Today looks promising, finger crossed…

Tuesday was a perfect day to be outside–no wind, no rain, some sun (not too bright), and warm temps.  Since posting pictures of color inspiration for my yellow Little Darling sweater dress I have been struggling to find genuine desire to actually do the work.  The weather on Tuesday was exactly what I needed; it was a pleasure to work outside.  I didn’t finish the dress, but it’s almost there.

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An organic farm near us sets up their stand on Friday afternoons.  Last Friday they had put together these peony bouquets mixed with lupines and a white allium.  The peonies smelled wonderful!  The entire bouquet lasted a week, and is still giving us a bit of magic–the smaller peony buds have started to open.

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Yesterday my husband and I visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens… yes, again.  I wanted to see the roses in their first bloom… and they were blooming like crazy.  There were roses, roses everywhere–all varieties and all colors.

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The English Walled Garden was as peaceful and beautiful as always.

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The fountains, which had not been going the last time we visited, were now serenading us and adding to the sights and sounds here.

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This hydrangea was growing around the tree you can see in the photo above.  I thought it was interesting.

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After walking through a few of the gardens we had lunch in the cafe.  I ordered an Ancient Grains Bowl; garbanzo beans, quinoa, cranberries, broccoli,  farro (I think), fresh spinach, and poppyseed dressing made up this yummy bowl.

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Well, the day still looks promising here in northern Illinois.  That’ll mean two days in a row of relatively sunny weather–must be a new record for 2019!

I hope the sun is shining where you are.  Enjoy your day!  Thank you for stopping by.

Happiness is Yellow–Choosing Embroidery Colors

Hello! ❤

In my last post I showed you my newly knitted and blocked yellow sweater dress for the Little Darling dolls.  Usually, I have a print fabric that guides my embroidery thread colors.  This dress, having no print fabric to go along with the ensemble, is open to whatever embroidery colors I choose.

I looked through past knitwear made with this same yellow thread (Aunt Lydia’s Bamboo Crochet Thread) and found some palettes that looked inspiring to me.  I was surprised to see the dresses are all tiny ones.  Hmm…  I guess I had it in my head to ‘save’ this sunshiny yellow bamboo thread because it is now discontinued.  Well, that’s no fun!  I hereby vow to ‘use it up’ and make sweaters or sweater dresses for each of my girls (dolls) who wants one.

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“Little Sunshine”, 2013

Tiny Bit of Sunshine 357 wm

“Tiny Bit of Sunshine”, 2013

a sunny day 609

“A Sunny Day”, 2015

golden sunshine 631

“Golden Sunshine”, 2014

fall sunshine 087 wm

“Fall Sunshine”, 2013

Pretty Autumn 434

“Pretty Autumn”, 2013

sunshine and rosebuds 801

“Sunshine and Rosebuds”, 2016

And here’s one made for Patience–no embroidery, but love the fabric’s color palette, very summery.

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“Sunshine & Posies”, 2015

So, which palette(s) is/are your favorite(s)?  I’d love to know…

 

June is… Here!

Yay it’s June!!!

Hello to you all!

These past weeks I’ve been enjoying spring time here in northern Illinois.  That is, weather permitting.  We had a most dreary and rainy May, but that didn’t stop me from finding those rare days and to enjoy the blossoms growing around me and at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

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English Walled Garden, Chicago Botanic Gardens

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Hutch of grape hyacinths, English Walled Garden

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Lily-of-the-valley, Chicago Botanic Gardens

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Lily-of-the-valley, Chicago Botanic Gardens

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Apple blossoms, my yard

2019 lilacs 532

Lilac blossoms, my yard

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Phlox in full bloom, my yard

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Forget-me-nots, my yard

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My planters and Kitty

I’ve also been doing a little knitting, and I mean a little, sorry nothing more to show.  I am finding it hard getting my knitting and ‘making’ mojo back after my hiatus.  My mind wants to create, create, create, but my body is still slow.  By the way, I thank you all for being patient with me.  There is so much I want to do…  I have faith things will improve albeit rather slowly.

Here is something I managed to accomplish.  I won’t mention how long this took to knit…

Off my knitting needles and currently blocking is a sweater dress for the Little Darlings.  When picking out a color for this project, sunny yellow seemed the perfect color to knit with during our dreary spring weather.

The sweater dress is knit with Aunt Lydia’s bamboo thread.  It’s comparable to #10 cotton crochet thread, but has lots more drape.  I love this thread, and was very disappointed when it was discontinued by Red Heart.  I’ve also used this bamboo thread interchangeably with fingering weight yarn.  The stitch gauge is pretty much the same (maybe a tad smaller, but needs no adjustment).  However, garments knit up shorter, which can easily be adjusted by adding some additional rows.

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I’ve previously made three sweater dresses for the Little Darlings out of this thread (see photos below).  I think embroidery really looks delicate and beautiful on these dresses.  I look forward to picking out colors and getting started!

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“So Pretty in Pink”, May 2015

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“My Favorite Roses”, April 2016

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“Summer Blooms”, July 2015

Wishing you all a beautiful day and evening, and sending you a dolly hug from my Little Darlings to you!

Thank you for stopping by, my friends.