Category Archives: Summer

First Week in August

Happy Sunday to you from sunny, hot, and very humid northern Illinois.

I’ve kept busy this week, but not sure where it all went to, which is probably the norm for me–the weeks rush by. I had to look at my planner to see what it is that I happened to accomplish, or not accomplish this week. (I guess I did enough.) 🙂

I finished my blue ensemble for the Little Darlings. I am calling it “Summery Blue in the Garden”. Here are some photos I took of Gina modeling it. Thanks to all who helped me with my fabric choice. I think you all picked a winner!

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Another finished project this week–the second sock to complete a pair. I also started another second sock that will complete another pair. At one point I had four single socks completely knit (not much use to us). I have two complete pairs and two singles left to work on. My ‘four pairs of socks’ project is getting there. This yarn is so bright; there’s going to be some colorful feet walking around here soon.

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I also knit a shrug and beret for my next Little Darlings ensemble. The beret is knit from my beret pattern. The shrug (sorry, no pattern) is knit in a simple lace stitch pattern with a crocheted shell edging added once the underarm seams have been sewn up. I’ve made lots of these in the past for the Little Darlings and the MSD sized Kaye Wiggs girls. They seem to love them!

If you’d like to see more ensembles that feature shrugs here is the link that connects you to all my blog posts that were saved with the ‘shrug’ tag. FYI, there is a group of words in the right sidebar (scroll down past my pattern covers and social media icons) where you can click on a word and see all of the blog posts that were saved with that tag such as shrugs. The larger the word the more posts there are saved with that tag.

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We had a wedding in the family yesterday. My nephew married his college sweetheart. She is a sweet and beautiful girl whom we welcome into our family with open arms. We are so happy for them both!

I hope you’ve had a fantastic week and wishing you a great week ahead. Thank you so much for visiting with me today! How was your week? Any plans for the one coming up? ❤ ❤ ❤

Happy July Everyone!

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Wow, wow, wow it’s July! How did that happen? ~~Sometimes~~ All the time I wish the summer months would go by at half speed, however they seem to pick up speed with each passing year.

June, here in northern Illinois, has been lovely. For once, no weather complaints from me. I’ve been going for walks almost daily and my body and soul like it a lot. That hour or so spent outside moving from one place to another is a meditation of sorts. It stops me from “doing” and opens my mind to creative thinking and praying. If my mind goes to a place of worry I immediately call it back to a positive and peaceful place.

Our feral kitties have been enjoying the beautiful weather and stick around all day long. The tabby, whom has been around since we moved into our house 9 years ago, has recently been joined by Morris, Orange-y, or Lion Kitty; he goes by all three names. He is very sweet, and unlike Miss Kitty, will not bat our hands (with claws outstretched). She can be quite impatient when we are giving her a snack. Naughty girl!

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This past week most of my creative time has been spent knitting. Right now, I have three sweaters off the needles, and only one dress sewn. Last night, before heading off to bed, I stopped in my sewing room and planned three more sweaters! I am in the knitting zone, I guess. Hopefully, when I have finished knitting all these sweaters I can move into the sewing zone and make the dresses to be worn with all these little cardigans.

I hope you all are enjoying the start of July. Maybe yours will go a little bit slower than mine mostly likely will. If you have any secrets to slow it down, please let me know.

Bye for now, my friends. Thanks for stopping by today.

❤

Rainy Sunday Morning

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Oh, it’s been months since we’ve had a good thunderstorm! When I woke this morning the sky was gray and I could see the approaching dark grey clouds moving in from the west. I checked the radar on Intellicast and saw the band of rain approaching. Yay! We need rain so badly! When you haven’t had rain for sooo long it is a novelty, so I grabbed my camera and went outside. My favorite time is right before the storm starts.

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Look at how dry our yard is! We really need a good soaking.

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It looks cozy and warm in our kitchen . . . and in my studio. Do you see Gina all dressed up in “Calico Cutie”? My dolls usually get a day or so to wear the things that I make. Then they are naked again, and waiting for the next one.

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As I’m writing this post I’m listening to the cozy sounds of rumbling in the sky and watching raindrops hitting the pool. (My studio overlooks the pool and deck.)

Here are some other things that are going on around here. My husband is in the process of power washing the deck. On the recommendation of our tree trimmer we got a heavy duty power washer to clean our VERY dirty deck. Look at the difference!

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Our pool is extremely old, so we don’t want to put a lot of work into the deck, but the power washing helped make the deck feel like new, well almost. My husband got quite a lot cleaned yesterday. I love it! My view from my studio is greatly improved.

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Yesterday morning I spotted this chipmunk right outside my studio window. In the 8 years we have lived here this is the first chipmunk that I have ever seen on our property. I assumed that they stayed away because of all of feral cats roaming around. Isn’t he/she cute!

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Sorry, for the poor photo quality. I took these through the window and cropped them. The chipmunk was pretty close to the house though; I had the wrong lens on my camera. Can you tell I love the little critters?!

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On Friday I was working on a crocheted beret for the Little Darlings. It looks cute on Alice, but I think it is a little small. I will use it for either Millie or Ann Estelle/Patsy. Another day I will crochet another one for the Little Darlings, but make it a little larger.

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