They're Out There!

Oh my, Mother Nature has been so busy lately, with our early February more like April weather.  Came home from work to find a newly hatched Monarch butterfly, right out of the chrysalis.  There are a few more in various spots throughout the front garden, all about ready to hatch, and at least half a dozen fat & happy Monarch caterpillars meandering about the milkweed plants.  I saw at least 30 Cedar Waxwings in the tippy top of a nearby tree; they are so handsome & we don't often see them. We're wondering if the Goldfinches will stop by on their way home; usually we are overrun with them about now. Our white azalea bush is already blooming, along with several of the African Iris and some Cosmos in orange & yellow.  I just hope we don't get a surprise frost.  This early spring reminds me of 1998 when DH & I got married on Valentine's Day!

Sorry, no pictures just now but will post some really soon! Hope you are enjoying your February, whatever the weather!

Ann Dale Progress Report

Just a quick post to show progress on Ann Dale, the wonderful sampler charted by Theresa Venette.  The fabric is 40 count Vintage Pear and the over-1 verse really slowed me down, but I love every stitch. My goal is to finish the sampler this year.

I joined Romi's 2012 Pins & Lace Club and received the first skein of yarn this week, along with an intriguing shawl pattern.

It's a lovely shade of tropical Hawaiian blue and I'm excited about casting on.




Have a great week!

Thank you Marshall Tucker.

For some dear readers this will be close to a repeat of Tues night's post...which I managed to delete after posting while fixing a typo in the title. So Margaret...you can skip this one :)

I was thanking Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynryd, Blackfoot, 38 Special, Allman Brothers for their awesome Southern blues. Because I recently rediscovered just how much I love their music...and because it's helping me hit some new goals at the gym this year.  After fighting to put in even 20 minutes on the elliptical a couple of nights I week, I can now go over an hour and close to 7 miles thanks to these guys. Love those double lead guitars, the awesome bass, the whole Southern sound. Takes me back...

I promise to post a snap of progress on Ann Dale next post.  I've been putting in a couple of hours almost daily ever since the first of the year. It's a gorgeous sampler with my favorite colors.

We had another early spring day here in North Florida - 80 degrees during the day - perfect for riding with the top down! But the pollen is dusting everything, almost a month or two early!

Hope you are finding lots of time to enjoy your favorite needle arts.

Almost Forgot!

The Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread was a finish in late summer 2011.  I neglected to post it as a 2011 finish because it was languishing at my favorite framer's shop waiting for me to pick it up for about 2 months! My only day to go when The Frame Shop is open in St. Augustine is Saturday, and seems I was booked solid every Sat. for ages!  I purchased the frame from Brenda's shop since it is the one she used for her original and I was quite pleased with it.  The olive green and barn red colors complement the piece and the room I have in mind for placing it.

Along with many other members of the Azalea Sampler Guild I hopped on the Ann Dale train.  It's already proving to be a very compelling project with a fairly easy border (although the elements are not equal in count when comparing horizontal vs. vertical so that requires focus) and a goodly number of motifs to keep one's interest!  The colors happen to match much of my house - shades of green, scarlet and cream - and are simply dazzling in the NPI, Belle Soie and Gloriana silk fibers.  This is my progress after 2 days:

This photo doesn't show the colors but the long stem is a dark green, the squiggle-y borders are garnet, and the wandering vine border is a yellow-green.  The small red bands are the start to the strawberry motif border (there are 72 strawberries....I had to count them...OCD!).


It's back to the office tomorrow, to the land of budgets and projects and financial statements....so you know what we say! "I'd rather be stitching!"  Happy 2012!

Last Finish of 2011

It's been enjoyable and inspiring to read other blogs that show the author's 2011 finishes, and in some cases, how they stack up against goals set for the year.  No such organization on this blog I'm afraid. It's a real feat just to upload a photo or two on occasion.  I had an unanticipated request from a coworker to knit a baby sweater for her new grand-niece, smack in the middle of last minute gift knitting (there was a deadline)! But I had a skein of Rio de la Plata just calling to be knitted, and had a supply of cute pink buttons on hand, so decided to go for it.  The photos don't really show the yarn's beautiful shades of spring green, pink, white and a bit of turquoise. I had a newly published version of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket that really helped speed things along, including the use of short rows toward the end.  The 2nd photo shows the jacket as it appears after bind-off.  It looks somewhat like an amoeba! Just two small seams across the shoulders and 5 buttons sewn on et voila! A tiny little jacket!

To welcome the new stitching year I will be joining with a number of good friends to set off on a journey to stitch the most amazing Ann Dale 1827 sampler by Theresa Venette, owner of Shakespeare's Peddler and designer extraordinaire!  Theresa mentioned that there are approximately 65,000 stitches in this lovely sampler.  I had to do the math: 65,000 stitches/50 weeks/5 days per week = 260 stitches required daily to finish within a year.  OK - game on!!  Is anybody else in? Here are the fabulous silks that will be used, and a half-yard cut of Vintage Pear 40-count that looks the size of a bed sheet!!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year filled with peace and light and lots of time to enjoy your needle work pursuits. 

2 Scarves

Oh, so many missed opportunities to blog which I now regret.  Must resolve to do better.  Just posting some snaps of finished objects - gift scarves for people who help keep me going during the work week.  One never knows when gifting knitware how it will be received but if I get compliments for any hand knits I happen to be wearing, that person becomes fair game.  More knitterly details on Ravelry.

1st Scarf
Pattern: Molly by Classic Elite.  Yarn: Liberty Wool by Classic Elite. Blue Twilight colorway.

2nd Scarf
Pattern: Drop Stitch Scarf. Yarn: Boomerang by Fiesta in Misty Morning Colorway.

Lots more photos...will post more later.  Must go knit now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Frosty Florida?

The TV weathermen were all forecasting 39 degrees for our Saturday a.m. but we lucked out with mid-40s.  Many of us enjoy the cooler temps because we can bring out the hand knits and actually wear them all day!

Here's a self-portrait shot taken with the iPad in my office at work, stylin my recently completed Tanta, design by Emily Ross (knit using Malabrigo Sock in Abril; see Ravelry for details).  Gosh I wish my photo editor software had something to erase neck wrinkles - like that red eye erase feature only it would work on wrinkles!  Loved this design so much I am making another using Cascade Heritage Paints sock yarn.  Like the colorway but the yarn isn't as crisp as the Malabrigo so the points on the border aren't as defined.  Perhaps they will block out.  Here's the almost half-way point:

FYI that is one of our giant pine cones, approx 5-6" long.

As I staged this WIP scarf I noticed a serious mistake about 3" from the bottom.  Will definitely wind back & start over since this will be a gift.

Yarn: Classic Elite Liberty Wool in Reflecting Pool. Grays, lavender, turquoise, lime green combo.  Pattern: Molly by Classic Elite.

And this poor scarf has been neglected since Tanta rode into town; it's the Swiss Cheese Scarf design by Winnie Shih knit in Kauni wool 8/2 Effektgarn.  Not sure I like the sides of the "holes" but perhaps they will tighten up a bit with soaking.  Or perhaps I will unravel and start over! OCD!

Enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon with cross-stitchers but cannot post a snap of my progress on Villages of Hawk Run Hollow because it's been stitch 10 rip 20 recently.  But I think block 7 is stabilized now and will come along nicely.

Curtis Willis (big boy cat) is now officially addicted to his red laser mouse.  That's a tale for another time.

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the weekend!