Monday, July 27, 2009

‘ Been knitting….

but not on the socks shown previously.  I have put them aside for now. For some reason, I wanted to try something new. I think I’m going to try to do some lace.  To get an idea of what lace is all about (and at the recommendation of helpful lace-knitting Ravelers) I tried a few small projects.  The first was out of some Peaches n Creme cotton that I had on hand.  I took the Old Shale scarf pattern and did several rows.  I figured that since it was cotton, no matter how wrong I went, we could always use it for a dishcloth. The basic pattern for Old Shale is simple, easily memorized so you don’t have to read every stitch. That’s good, especially for someone that is new to chart reading. I fund that I really enjoyed doing it, although it required a bit of attention. The wavy ridges with shades of pink running through it is the Old Shale. 

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Then, just to do something quick and easy, something to do while watching TV I did a dishcloth in Sugar and Cream, the pattern is a easily found on the internet, “Grandmothers Favorite Dishcloth” or something like that.

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From there, I went back to another lace project. This one in wool (which is so much nicer on my hands, it gives!) that was leftover from my grandson’s hat. I made the Twig Lace Cap that is a free pattern on the Knit Picks site. I really enjoyed doing the first half of the project. As I reached the decreases I had to switch to dpns, and when juggling 4 dpns and cable needles…..well, that wasn’t as much fun. I’m very awkward with cable needles.  I’m sure I distorted the last few rows with my too long dpns, too. This needs to be blocked, which I haven’t done yet. I’m told that washing a bit and blocking will make the stitching more even. I can see a few mistakes, but in general, I’m pleased. It was a learning project, after all, not an heirloom. I did my first lifeline, but need to study up on a better method for inserting one. My granddaughter posed so I could get a picture of the cap.

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

We have just returned from

A long weekend camping with our friend “Pantless”. (Don’t ask-hilarious story,but not mine to tell) This time none of the other gals were available to camp. MOTH and I  wanted to get away and  also, to do a little setting up and customizing of The Lady Anne. Pantless had promised her grandkids that she would take them camping, so we booked adjacent sites at one of the local Corps of Engineer parks, on a large lake.

The woman is amazing! Each day she would hop in her car, drive to her daughter’s and exchange  children. A different grandchild each night. On Friday, she also made an extra stop to pick up her mother.  Amazing must be genetic, because her mom is 93 and usually camps with our group if the weather is warm. This time it she gave it a pass so the great-grandchildren could have a special time, but she does love my MOTH! She came along and we went out to dinner at the Lodge of a  state park on the same lake. They have a seafood buffet on Friday nights and we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

Pantless was our official fire maker. I probably wouldn’t have bothered with a fire given our summer temperatures, but when you have grandchildren in attendance, you must have a fire and marshmallows! I am pleased to report that Pantless made some excellent fires. The one the first night was particularly creative. It started out all ablaze,

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then morphed into a volcano!

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We had pretty good weather. It did rain a bit Friday afternoon, but that was a good opportunity to do some reading. Other than that, we had a very private site. We could only see the neighbors across the road. Pantless was to our left, but we couldn’t see her for the trees, and no one was behind or on the right of us.

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNITED STATES of AMERICA !!!

 

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And our continuing love and gratitude to those who have served, those who still serve, and those who wait for their return

 

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