Monday, June 24, 2013

WEEK 13 DISHCLOTH

I seldom discuss the yarn I am using because I often can't remember what it is if I lose the label & I often do. I know this one however. I used it to make Katy's (my niece) prince doll. It is "I Love This Cotton", the house brand for Hobby Lobby in Taupe. I just have to say that after weeks of using other kitchen cotton brands, this yarn feels like silk in your hands. It is beautiful and shiny. It just makes me happy. This is week #13 and I enjoyed it thoroughly. After working the pattern on 2 rows and getting the hang of the pattern, I didn't look at the instructions again. I then got into my rhythm  and it worked up quickly. It is beautiful and in this yarn could be a beautiful scarf someday.
I did not follow the pattern completely I must confess. Now don't be rogue and do as I do. I have my own quirky style. When  I start something on a straight chain, I do not chain. WHAT??? Yes I said it I do not chain. I make a sc start chain. It keeps an item from being shorter on the beginning side than it is on the ending side. I call this afghan hell. Until I learned this trick, I live in afghan hell. Ripple afghans showed it off worse than most. No more Hell for me!!! I started this cloth that way. My other venture from the pattern has to go with starting side chains or chain ups. I never count them. I make the pattern stitch right beside the chain up. That is why it has a scalloped edge (slight but I see it). I prefer that to working in a chain up. I just hate that. OK that is all I did differently. I can tell you are surprised...LOL
Please try this pattern. It is so pretty!!! You will love how it looks in person. This yarn is so soft I may make a scarf from it in this yarn. (Now what color???)
You can find this pattern HERE. Go get your hooks!!! You won't regret it!!!!
Many Blessings!!!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

WEEK 12...I FORGOT!

I finished this cloth several days ago, photographed it and then forgot to post about it. WHAT???  I know right?? This was fun to work on and after I got a good rhythm, it went very fast. This would make a pretty pattern for a kids afghan in a nice soft yarn. Quick and easy. I must say my least favorite stitch is k2tog. Once I got rolling, it wasn't as bad as I thought.  The pattern can be found HERE. Go give it a try. I think it would be great for a beginner to try. Don't let the pattern scare you!!

So what is going on at the ranch? (I wish I had a place that big) Truth is I can barely keep up with my tiny Hobbit House. After church today, I took a nap! HA....I needed it!!! After about an hour, I got up got dressed and pulled up the birdseed plants that were growing in my pretty flower bed. Yep I did something that dumb!!! I thought the cats would enjoy seeing the birds out front. Little did I calculate that they would scatter seeds in my flower bed! GRRRRRR

Ok get out your needles and knit. I have to get busy on the next one!!! See you next post!!!
Many Blessings!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

BASEBALL CLOTH!!

I attended a Texas Rangers game recently. It was during Knit In Public Week. So what does someone who aspires to be a good knitter do? You got it!!! I took my knitting! I decided to use the Idiot's cloth pattern so it would be mindless. The Rangers lost but I had a great time sweating in extremely close quarters. Secret professional strength worked for me but no one else had it on. I digress. I finished the cloth and then to make it remind me of the ball game, I crocheted the line around the "bases". The colors are like a baseball, it looks like a field diamond and I loved it!!!
June has been a rough month for me. My pain has been worse than in many years past. I think it has something to do with barometric pressure, humidity and yo-yo temperatures. It doesn't help that certain doctors don't get on the ball refilling my scripts. Exercise hurts and not in a good way. It hurts to do it and the next day I am in bed almost every day. So glad I have things to occupy my time and mind. Otherwise I would go crazy. Thinking about creativity lets me not focus on how bad I feel. Invisible pain and disability is a heavy burden to carry. No one can see your pain. Someone asked me recently when my leg would be all healed. I said, "Never". and she said, "Oh no how bad did you break it?" I mentally rolled my eyes and said, "It's not broken, it is paralyzed." She still didn't get it. *sigh*
OK....anyone ever cleaned their glass casserole dishes with aluminum foil? Does it work?  OR....is Pinterest a scary place to get ideas?
LOL OK back to my dishcloth of the week to be posted soon!!!!
Many Blessings to you all!!!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

WEEK 11 DISHCLOTH

Well here is my Week 11 of the 52 week dishcloths. This is very pretty and feminine. You will have fun with this one. I made it in just about 90 mins. Not sure what I will do with this. I just loved it HERE is the pattern. Please try to make it. You will not regret the fun.
On the Garden front, my flower beds look beautiful!!! My Vitex is blooming and I wish it smelled as great as it looked. The potato garden now has all of the concrete blocks. I am hoping next year to have a gorgeous garden. We just started too late. It needs earthworms and new soil. I need to get it fertile before I plant. The potatoes were just a fluke. I didnt think they would grow. Now if they produce!!!
I will keep you posted!
Have a blessed day!!!!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

HAPHAZARD GARDENER

I admit that gardening is not my best thing in the world. I do enjoy trying to make things look beautiful. Seems to me that just getting your hands dirty and helping mother earth by making oxygen and fertile soil would be enough for some people. For me not that easy. It seems to me it's a challenge.Can I make something beautiful grow? Something small fragile and interesting in my hands. My mother claims that she did not get the genetic code for being a beautiful gardener like my grandmother. It seems that my skills are better put to use on plants that are in clearance or by just throwing seeds down randomly and just burying what look like dead sticks. I have done all of these things and manage to get beautiful plants out of them. If I've tried to buy expensive beautiful plants put them in my yard and then nurture them 9 out of 10 times, they die. So you say why do you keep torturing yourself but putting that much effort into yard work of all things. Why indeed. I manage somehow to get joy out of this activity.
Last night I put out some begonias that I bought on clearance for 75 cents a six pack. Oh yes they looked pitiful and I just knew they needed my help to grow and be beautiful. I put out cow manure, topsoil and mulch and I really treated these babies well. Last night we had storms come in. I am too scared to go outside and look at what may have happened to my beautiful flowers. Yes this is a coward speaking. I will probably go out later and take a peek but not now my heart couldn't take it. The mosquitoes here in Texas are already bad. I was I suppose supper time for several of them last night as I have bites on me today. Last night my neighbors let me know that my efforts were not in vain because my yard looked very pretty. That made my heart so happy that I was just jumping up and down and Snoopy dancing in my heart. Now a little bit of hard work is not a bad thing. Trust me when I tell you though that stinky sweaty garden body does not feel good in the shower when all of the hot water is gone. We have a tankless heater so I would never have thought we would not have hot water for my after work shower. God has a sense of humor because the flame went out and I had to take a freezing cold shower. Well I was no longer stinky but man I was freezing big time. As a lot of you may know in your own personal life a job well done and a shower to prove how hard you worked are too beautiful things. Too bad our young generations today in this world don't have good examples of that in their lives. None of them here today are getting out there and working hard for anything. Kids don't have to earn privileges they don't have to clean up their rooms and they have plenty of attitude to back that up. I think children today need to get out there with their moms their dads and their grandparents and just get their hands dirty in the soil. They need a good hard days work to see their beautiful efforts come to fruition and then they can see that the Pride they have in that job is worth all the hassle.

Blessings to you all.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

WEEK 10

Ok color does not always photograph well. This is more like taffy pink, minty green etc. This is week 10!!!! I enjoyed this one a lot once I got it cast on and 2 rows done. I thought it was laying a bit flatter when I snapped it. This is pretty. It is dainty and I really like it. 
You can find the pattern HERE. Please give it a try. You can do it and it would be a great little gift with a pretty soap. O:)
Nothing really going on here. I have been sick off and on and tried to get out for my walk again last night. I made it 1/4 of a mile and was done. I took some benedryl before bed and didn't have leg tremors but alas I still didn't sleep. From 3:30 am to 6 something, I don't remember but before and after that I saw every hour. *sigh* One day sleep will come.
Til next time!!! Blessed be!!