Tag Archives: knitting

Are You Staying Warm?

I am . . . as long as I am staying inside. It’s still very cold here in northern Illinois, but it has warmed up a bitty bit from the negative minus twenty-something wind chills. I still haven’t been able to get outside for a walk though—same old story as last time. Oh well… maybe soon, I hope.

I forgot to wish you all a very happy 2018, so Happy New Year!!! I hope it’s a great year for everyone; we all need one of those.

Have you noticed the moon lately? One night we watched the full moon rise in the east and the next morning saw it setting in the west at daybreak. For some reason it seemed quite wonderful to me; I’ve never noticed it before like that.

winter full moon morning 3738

The sunset that evening was pretty ~~noteworthy~~ pictureworthy too!

winter sunset 441

I am still knitting socks. This is my third sock… and it’s not a mere test sock; it will have a mate. This one got finished yesterday—it fits my daughter, and the second sock was started today. Yay. This was made from Susan B. Anderson’s Crafty class, “My First Toe-Up Socks”. I used Knit Picks Stroll Tweed Sock yarn in Garnet Heather. I am still perfecting the fit for the next pair. I think the size large would fit my daughter even better with the foot about a 1/4″ longer. These fit me perfectly though, so this will be my pattern when I get to knitting a pair for me. 🙂

My Little Darlings have been calling to me. I think they want new sweater coats with cute li’l pockets for their tiny snow people to snuggle in. Here are Gina and Lucy wearing sweater coats from last winter. They really do look toasty warm, don’t they? I need to get my needles busy.

surprise it's a snowgirl! 536

my little snow baby 807

Stay warm everyone! If you are already in a warm climate, sending a few positive degrees my way would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! ❤

Have a great weekend, my friends!

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!

kitty 425

lion kitty 426

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.

❤

A New Knitting Pattern for the Little Darlings

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Happy Saturday to you all! The snowfall from this past week is almost all melted around here, and spring is feeling just a bit more of a reality than it did a week ago. Yay! I know a lot of you already have lots of blossoms and blooms happening in the garden. That sounds wonderful!

My latest cardigan from the “Rosies and Lavender” ensemble has been published. It uses fingering weight yarn and can be worn as a cardigan or reversed to look like a pullover. I reworked the neckline to dip in a little bit, so it does not cut across the neck. The lace panels are on the back, sleeves, and along the front edges. The sewn bind off keeps the hemlines stretchy so that the lace can remain open and beautiful.

LD lace cardigan pattern p1 only

ld lace cardigan 784

The lace stitch panels are only 9 stitches wide with lace rows worked on two right side rows every 6 rows. You are not constantly knitting lace stitches. I also have the lace stitches written in a vertical format that I find easy to follow. They are also graphed. To alleviate mistakes, I added instructions for using ring markers to mark off your lace panels so that you can count your stitches immediately after knitting those stitches. The rows that each of the two different lace rows are worked on are also noted on the charts and graph. I try to make knitting these lace panels as foolproof as possible as I tended to forget yarn overs or decreases. This method works for me every time.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

I wish you all a fantastic weekend (even if you still have snow on the ground)! Thanks for stopping by, friends!