Knitting Dragonflies

This guy lives by that motto, and is he rocking that outfit????? As Tim Gunn would say, that is a lotta look!! Maybe a little too matchy matchy?? Keep knitting….

So I work well under pressure, with a deadline. I decided, last minute, to sew my DH a shirt on our anniversary. So I got started in the morning, not early. I bought a heavy golden flannel, with a tea stained like pattern on it. He is a real outdoor type of guy. The shirt would be good for hiking etc. Getting things cut out. It’s been a LONG time since I sewed anything from a pattern. (that was clothing), how wide is that material? Yes, a LONG time. All cut out and ready to go, you can’t see it very well, but it is sitting on my new sewing basket. The one I was using was the one I had to buy in 6th grade for home ec. So after finishing the quilt I was working on I decided I deserved a new one. By the time my DH came home I had most of it done. Had to alter the shoulders a bit and the collar/neck. I still have the buttons to sew on and the buttonholes. (and the hem). But I’m pretty pleased with it. I especially like the button flaps for the pockets. The back yoke echos the patter

Yes, I love to game, I have a problem stopping, and it can be 1 in the morning before I know it. I have stopped before and used that energy to, well sleep maybe, LOL. Or knit and spin. This started innocently enough, Farmville, it is a slow game, relaxed, right? I think the big draw of this is it’s utopian like world I can create. Yes, my neighbors are all nice and help out to raise my barn or send me bees or parts. My crops might wither, but that is about the worst thing that happens. My farmer is always smiling and ready to plow and plant more seeds. The animals are adorable, no disease or death, the worst is my puppy will run away if I don’t feed him. The weather is always pleasant, sunny skies and I can fix up my farm with as many little doo dads as I can buy. Meanwhile in real life, I’ve gotten into my summer de-cluttering purging event. I’ve even purged my walk in closet! *gasp*. So I feel good on that count. Of course today is our anniversary and I have fabric to make my DH

In the hot, humid summer days we have been catching up on yard work, house work, and discovered Roku! A great cheap way to get our TV. So I’ve had some TV knitting! We have had just an antenna for about 4 years now, so there are all kinds of shows out there I’ve never seen. I’m starting another quilt. More on that later. And thinking of letting my hair go grey. The coloring is becoming rather tiring. Every two weeks is too expensive to go professional. I have been using henna for almost two years. Love the feel of my hair with it. But e-gods it is messy, and with the increasing greys, comes more of an orange color vs.: auburn. I found Anne Kreamer’s book Going Gray , and have been inspired to give it a go, after all I can color it again if I don’t like it. I also found this web site, Going Gray and Looking Great , if my hair actually looks like any of these ladies does, I’ll be happy. Anyone out there letting their color grow out? I’ve been coloring since I was in my mid-late 20’s,

This summer has been busy! My brother got married to a wonderful gal who has a cool edgy daughter. I am super excited to have a sister-in-law and be an aunt all at once! Lots of yard work! We are enjoying beautiful flowers, and even have some tomatoes! Of course I’ve had help from Syd, who loves to oversee (and help with) any digging in the yard. In the way of knitting, I finally took stock of my UFO’s and decided that the toe up sock had sat long enough, I frogged it and started a plain sock in self patterning yarn in the two circular needle method! Paula who blogs as The Quilter , urged me to try this method. I have tried various methods and always returned to the dpn’s. But this one is a keeper, easy, fast and great for travel knitting! No dpn’s to slide out of my stitches and get lost! Take a look at this You Tube video on using two circular needles to knit socks, it is easy and fun! The Video is by Cat Bordhi and is the same method as her book. (which I recommend, it has a

No vacation for us this year. I've got my surgery scheduled, so there goes my PTO time. So I'll have to enjoy everyone's vacation photos, and do some knitting while I'm at it. May your knitting needles fly as fast as Dragonflies.....

Back to my same theme, who doesn’t love Elizabeth Zimmermann?? Her baby Surprise jacket ( rav link )  is the evolution of several patterns. From what I can piece together, that pattern is the result of her playing around with the basic idea for a bit. I see that she made the Baby Garter-stitch Jacket: The Prequel, which is published in Wool Gathering #61, sept 99. A very nice simple baby jacket. I also found the Surplice Jacket, ( rav link ) published in Woolgathering #50 . I also found the Tomtem jacket ( rav link ), which has a hood, and I love this addition to the pattern. Although this pattern was written for a child, I decided to give it a go, and try to make it for a baby present! Yarn:I settled on some Organic Cotton, I had knitted a small project with this and fell in love with it. It just keeps getting softer and nicer. I also wanted a color that wasn’t a baby color, and finally decided on this one called “spice”. I fearlessly cast on, knit about 6 rows and realize