Merry Christmas

Good-bye Chuck

Chuck Taylor, seen in the previous post, continued to be an indoor and outdoor cat. He would meet me at the car when I got back from taking my son to work, and follow me all the way to the house. He would come in and visit awhile and then go back out again. He loved to be held and would purrrrr like nobody else. Last night when I brought my son home from work it was after dark, and Chuck was in the road. I'd never seen him go to the road before, but I guess it only takes once. This morning there was no-one to walk me to the house. I miss him.

Chuck Taylor

This is Chuck Taylor, a yard cat of ours who has decided to come inside and check things out. Every morning when I get back from taking my son to work, he meets me at the car and escorts me to the door. The last week or so he has been coming inside to have a look around. Earl Grey and Shizuku are very welcoming of him, expecially Earl, who wants someone to play and tussle with! My son gave Chuck his name, after his black and white shoes! Chuck was born last spring so he is about 8 months old. He will grow up to be a "sturdy" cat, I'm thinking. He is in the living room at present, and I don't know if he will want to stay or just visit. I haven't heard any cat-fights yet so who knows?  We shall see, eh?

Aran Bear

 

I love to go to the Elkin Goodwill Store, and my favorite thing to hunt for these days is Built-a-Bear-Workshop bears. I like to knit Aran-type sweaters for these bears, and the free pattern from www.aranknits.com fits these bears just perfectly!! I've made quite a few of these and give them to someone who needs a {{{hug}}}.  I do not give these bears to kids, as they don't appreciate the work in the cable sweater! Adults only!!  I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving, and God Bless!

There are a lot of people out there who need a {{{hug}}} this Holiday Season, so give someone you know a "bear" hug...the kindness will be returned to you!

Fire on the Mountain!

Pilot Mountain, pictured above in the header in better days, is on fire. It started out as a "controlled burn", but ended up jumping the fire lines and got out of control. The smoke is awful!! People around here love "our" mountain. Just like the people of Kagoshima, Japan love Sakurajima, the volcano. It is one of the reasons our family moved here. I love to see the mountain every morning, and to see what color it will be today. Surry County fire fighters had hoped to have the fire under control, like yesterday, but so far it is still burning. A cold front is coming, the rain will be good, the high winds predicted not so good. The mountain was pretty with Fall foliage, not so anymore. The photo here is from the Internet (WXII, channel 12 news, to be exact). In the long run, it is said to be good for forests to burn occasionally, we will have to see about that.  Happy Lord's Day and God Bless!

National Hug-A-Sheep Day

                                         A rare moment of peace with Shizuku and Earl sharing
                                         the same spot!!

Today is National Hug-A-Sheep Day. I don't have any live sheep, so I decided to show my Lambchop (a Goodwill find). I drove by the pasture this morning where there were some sheep last year, but have not seen them in a long time. I think the farmer must have sold them. Sheep are not real popular in this county. I hope you have a pleasant weekend, and do not have to worry about Hurricane Sandy.

Feedsack Stars

Today I thought I would show you a quilt that I made back in l998. It is made from old feedsack fabric and "cheap" muslin (so that it would crinkle and look old). My late husband was going thru chemotherapy at the time, and I hand pieced this whole quilt. It is a full sized quilt and is quite large!  It is machine quilted, by me, using the "music" pantograph. You can click on the photo to make it larger, hopefully. I am especially fond of this quilt, and had given it to my daughter. She was using it to cover her couch and it was beginning to show definite wear (thanks to her dog and frequent washing and drying in the dryer!!), so I "borrowed" it back. I just love piecing hexagons by hand, but I do not use the English Piecing method. The white hexagons are 5 inches across. God Bless!!

Weekend Photos, finally!

                                         Lucky Dog, chief of security!

                                         Some of the alpacas we saw.

Alpaca Watching

This weekend, my daughter and I went up on the mountain, to Virginia, to see the new baby alpacas (crias), and to visit the fabric shop where we used to spend so much time. It was a very pleasant day, and it felt like you could almost touch the clouds. One certainly does feel closer to God up on the mountain! We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant at the Hillsville exit of I-77. After returning to my house, we decided I'd spend the rest of the weekend at her house, about an hour's ride from here. It is always a pleasure to spend some time with her "critters", and her dog , Lucky, always does the "twist" when she sees me!! It is so funny to see.  Her illusive cats are impossible to photograph.  In the middle of the night (about 3am) Lucky heard something outside and began her "Hound-Dog"  barking. Next morning, upon examination of the flower bed out front, it appeared that a deer must have come up to the house and Lucky knew about it. I had a nice time, and I always enjoy cooking in her kitchen (we made lamb stew), things always taste better away from home, don't you think? The Fall colors are not very brilliant this year, but nice anyway.  I have tried repeatedly to add two photos to this post, but blogger won't cooperate!!  Very frustrating!!  I'll try again later. Have a great week!  God Bless!!

New Hexie Books!

Lately I have been obsessed with hexagons!! I have loved the hexagon shape since I began making hexagon quilts in the late 1990's. I've made SEVERAL, believe me. There is something about the shape itself, about the way they fit together, just trying to get along. There are several ways to put them together, and there seems to be no end to the new ideas these days (the Hexagon Star Rose in the last post being the latest). I highly recommend both the books shown above, both arrived this week from Amazon.com .The Outside the Box book refers back to the Kansas City Star patterns from the 1930's to 40's. These old patterns never really grow old, eh? The Pieced Hexie book has lots of new and unique ideas for pieced hexagons.  Anyone else out there Hexie-crazy?  God Bless!

Penny's Kite

AKA, Hexagon Rose or Star. It is my current fascination! I ordered the pattern from ComeQuiltWithMe.com and really didn't know what to expect. I found a tutorial of this block on the internet, but preferred a plastic template. I still prefer cutting fabric with scissors, and miss the old quilting magazines that gave templates, rather than rotary cutter instructions. The pattern that came in is a one-piece kite shape. The block turned out 22 inches across. I sure won't need many of those if I decide to make a quilt! I pieced this block by machine, and it really didn't take any time at all.  I have a LONG HISTORY of making hexagon quilts by hand. This one is just the latest, only I'm doing this one by machine! Now to decide whether to make all the blocks alike, or use different fabrics and colors for a "scrappy" look. I'll sit on that one for awhile. God Bless!

Earl in the wool!

I try to spin some every Sunday evening. Just a long-time habit, I guess. Well, recently I opened a new bag of some wool and mohair mixed roving to spin. It is tricky stuff....full of veg. matter and sand spurs!! Those of you who have spent any time in South Florida know what those cussed sand spurs are....OUCH! Well, Earl Grey discovered the open bag and "slithered" inside. At first, only his tail was showing, so cute! When I finished, an hour or so later, he was still in the bag (even though I checked to see if he had enough air quite often), and I had to lift him out. He protested! I use "Irish Spring" soap bars to fool bugs. Who knows, maybe he likes the smell of the soap, maybe he's just a Spinner's Cat.  It's nice to have a cat that shares my hobby. My son took the photo...Earl is "his cat".  God Bless!

Dr. Watson's Aran

Every year about this time, I start an Aran type sweater for someone's Birthday. This year I had a lot of searching to do for a new and interesting pattern. While on Ravelry, researching teapot cosy patterns, I found reference to the "Dr. Watson Cabled Crew Neck" sweater, and I think it is perfect!! Not too hard, but interesting to work on. I pick it up every time I sit down in my rocker. The yarn is "vintage" Germantown wool, by Brunswick Yarns, long since out of business. The pattern is chevrons (barely visable in this photo) in between cables. You may click on the photo to see better detail.  The original sweater, inspired by a PBS program called "Sherlock", which I'm not familiar with, is done with off-white wool. I'm using what I had. Oh yes, I should not forget to say that the pattern was written by Trudi Brown & Ashley Harp. It was a freebie on Ravelry.com.  We have had gobs and gobs of rain from hurricane Isaac and I have had a lot of knitting time because of the rain! It has been fun to watch DVD's of "Rosemary and Thyme" while knitting. It has been hot out again, and humid enough to make it miserable & hard to breathe (yuck). Hoping Fall will be here soon, I am so looking forward to it this year!!  God Bless! 

September First

Yesterday, my daughter and my son and I went to the big city (Winston-Salem). My daughter thought it was high time for an early Fall outing! We were downtown, in the Arts District, and were planning to eat at a restaurant called Sweet Potatoes, when we happened to see a small store that specialized in handmade African items. The lady had some beautiful imported goods and some clothing she had made herself. (All in support of African women and children on Kenya.) My daughter bought a skirt, and also bought me this piece of fabric. It is supposed to be cut and sewed into a shirt, but it is BIG. My son said that it looks big enough to be a quilt. Hmmmmmm......   Sounds 'bout right to me! Shizuku-Chan is checking it out, as is normal for her when there is something new in the household. You can see parts of Earl Grey on the entertainment center (top right, top photo). Cats rule, don't cha know?

It's a finish!

I first showed the beginnings of this oval rug last May. (Yikes, it's been a year ago!!) I put it away over the summer and kind of forgot about it, but a couple of blogs that I follow have mentioned Toothbrush Rugs lately, and I found it & began working on it again. It turned out 18" by 30" and I am pleased with the way it looks. I have made several rugs over the past 10 or so years, but this time I used "clothesline" as the filler. It is cotton and I would never use it as a clothesline, but it did okay as the filler, instead of another strand of the 2" strips I used. That way, I could make the rug bigger!  I must say that it did make the rug stiffer and heavier, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Time will tell as to whether it wears better, and one drawback is that you can see the clothesline thru the rug, if you really look for it!

It is cooler here now, and nights are quite comfortable also. Fall is on it's way, and I am very happy about that. When this North Carolina heat and humidity would get too much for me, I would let my mind take me to a place on Lake Huron, watching the 1000 footer's (cargo ships). They are so beautiful as they silently go by, trying to reach their destinations. Keeping busy...looking forward to the leaf change. God Bless!

New books

When my late husband and I got married in 1967, we lived in South Florida. Our wedding trip was to Wilmington, NC to see his family.  After we went through Charleston, SC (on Highway 17), I noticed roadside stands with women selling baskets. Several stands, actually. With our many trips going back and forth from NC to Fla, I always wanted to stop and look and buy one. We never did, and I regret that a lot. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about those beautiful baskets (and I still want one!!). I found a couple of books at Amazon.com and guess they will have to do for now. I became really interested in the Charleston area again after reading the Tea Shop mysteries by Laura Childs. (I really love these books!!!). Hope everyone is rested up from their Memorial Day weekend. Let us always remember those Veterans who have and continue to fight for our freedom.  Freedom isn't free!

Cloud 9

This is a picture of myself (on left) and my good friend, Tammy. This morning we met at the Cloud 9 (Christian) coffee shop in Mount Airy to work on prayer shawls for awhile. We hadn't had a visit since before the Holidays and it was good to get together and catch up on  current events. I asked the young man working there to take our picture, and he was nice enough to do so. It was an hour well spent....thanks Tammy!

Road Work

They have been working on the road in front of our home. It has been a mess for a couple of weeks now, but yesterday they started to put down new pavement. There were large trucks parked in our driveway/parking lot and they had a lead-car escorting traffic up and down the road. This morning, this "what-ever-it-is" was making such a noise that it shook our whole MH and scared Earl half to death. ( Being a Russian Blue he is "nervous" at best.)  I do have to admit that yesterday, when they were working on the other side of the road, a very nice semi-tractor-trailer truck driver (hauling large equipment) helped me to get out of the driveway & up the road. I'm not complaining (well, maybe a little), but I will be very glad when they are DONE! Progress, I guess.....or maybe just because there is a very rich man up the road who owns a winery.....just sayin'

Mother's Day

First of all, I want to say happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere. Yesterday, my daughter took my son and I to Shiloh General Store, which is the Amish store in the next county over. It isn't that far away, but I rarely drive over 10 miles away from home any more. We ate lunch outside (sandwiches) and enjoyed Whoopie Pies! Their homemade breads are always good and we brought some home for later (also a jar of seedless blackberry jam). They had a lot of Amish goods for sale, and even some quilts hanging up near the ceiling so no one could touch them (wise idea). I was surprised that many of the quilts used printed fabric instead of all solids.  I have been a little under the weather lately, and was too tired to do much of anything else, and my son wanted to mow grass before it got too late, so we didn't stay out too long. It was a very nice day, and the sun was shining. We met a lot of nice shoppers who gave us good advice at the store. I know we will go back again soon. (Photo from the internet, as always, I forgot my camera.)

Easter 2012

This year we spent Easter Sunday at my daughter's home. The sun was shining and the Spring flowers were in full bloom. The temperatures were just right, too. Her dog Lucky was all excited to have us over and helped from under the kitchen table. It was a good day! The new photo in the header is of Pilot Mountain, which is seen from most locations throughout the Piedmont Triad area. I never get tired of seeing it, and the Native American legends say that "little people" live beneath the knob. ??? I've only been to the top of the mountain a couple of times. Mountain climbing is not my thing anymore! I hope that everyone has had a blessed Easter, and that we are all mindful of the reason for the Holiday; that is, Jesus Christ's death on the cruel cross to save us from our sins and allowing us the hope of a Heavenly future with Him.

I see something green!

Our old lawn mower was purchased from Lowe's in the mid-1980's. It lasted (with a lot of TLC and patience) until the end of last mowing season. Poor Donald (my son) had to keep picking up pieces and parts and reinstalling them every time he'd mow the grass. Over the weekend, after much deliberation (with himself) and internet searches, he decided to buy a John Deere mower (also from Lowes). Even though he doesn't like to have his picture made, he stopped long enough for me to take this photo of him and his new mower. (I think he likes it!)

I spent Saturday with my daughter and we went to Winston-Salem to search for a new mattress for her bed. I decided to spend the night at her house and had a good time playing with the Grand-dog. Wish I had photos of that!! Lucky dog is a delight to be around (but somewhat hyperactive), and her favorite thing to play is "fetch & fling". She sure got me over my fear of dogs!!

On the projects list....I finished up this weeks Barrister's Blocks and am coming down the home stretch with the Vintage afghan. I want to finish up that afghan before hot weather sets in (it is predicted to be near 80 later this week!)  Until later....God Bless.

Here I am, I think....

So guess it is time to check in. Photoless, but you know me...I hate taking pictures and usually get my son to do it for me. (He's been terribly busy at work.)  I've been working on my usual Prayer Shawls, the Vintage Afghan blanket, and the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks "Sow-a-Long", now called Barrister's Blocks (see sidebar).  I think I have about 30 of them made, but have not taken the time to count them. Other than that, the weather has been warmer this winter, my son bought me a new dishwasher and it was installed last week.  I Love It!! Thanks again, Donald.  And finally, Shizuku-chan and I will be celebrating our Birthdays later this month!

The photo above is from "icanhascheezeburger.com". I just love to look through their cat photos.

Sunday Snow!

It is beautiful to look at, but cold to get out in. We got about four inches yesterday and schools and the college is closed today. It is supposed to get up to near 50 this afternoon. All the snow will be melted soon. The first photo (all of them taken by my son, by the way) is of 'possum tracks on the front steps.

Mittens

I am having trouble getting a photo to upload today. Guess I'm still trying to figure out this new way to do things on Blogger. I have been busy working on Prayer Shawls, mittens, etc. The mittens on the right are from aranknits.com (uh, the pattern is anyway), the ones on the left are called Irish Hiking Mittens and are from Ravelry.com. I hope you can still click on the photo to make bigger.

Burrr...cold

Slower than molasses in January kind of refers to me these days. I have startitis, and good intentions, but that's about it. One day is warmer here, then the next is in the deep freeze again. My chair is surrounded by stuff I've started, even a pair of what I call "pepto & purple" SOCKS! Lovely soft yarn, but not much energy to work on them. A kid quilt is started, and two blocks made of twelve. You guessed it...that is sitting and waiting, too. Also a Vintage Afghan...no where near done. (I'm starting a pattern here?) Okay, I should take a picture of something for the blog...maybe I'll do that later, too. I enjoy reading everyone else's blogs, so sorry I can't be more interesting on my own. See ya....later.

Looming

With the Holidays over, I have decided to work on some hat and scarf sets with my looms. The photo seems to have come out quite dark, but maybe you can get the idea what they look like. Click on the photo again, and it will be larger! For the hat, I used a Knifty Knitter adult purple hat loom. For the scarf I am using the decoraccentsinc.com six inch scarf loom. The yarn is Lion Brand "tweed stripes", one strand for the scarf, and one strand of LB and one strand plain brown for the hat (two total). I have several balls of yarn that I want to make up like this...until the notion strikes me to work on something else. It has been terribly cold here this week, and I don't do well in the cold anymore. Sarah at myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com is hosting a mitten knitalong on Ravelry. I was very tempted to join in, but just knitted some Aran mittens recently (pattern is free from www.aranknits.com) and didn't feel like starting another pair right now. Until later... Happy New Year!!