Times Flies When You Are Having Fun

It is impossible to stop the days from flying by so quickly.  I absolutely thought it was just a few weeks ago when I last posted, but the calendar says otherwise. Where does the time go?  I guess it's true .... the older we get, the faster the days go by!

During the interim I have kept busy and out of trouble, at least most of the time.

The QOV group I belong to (QOV Eastern Missouri) has ended the year with more beautiful quilts given to our veterans.  We take a break in November and December. Here are a few pics of the last presentations for 2018.  Our total quilts presented to veterans since our group started 13 1/2 years ago is over 2,850 and most are hand quilted by our group. Of course, we do accept and present many machine quilted quilts too, but those are done outside of our monthly meetings. With over 100 ladies and 12-15 quilt frames set up most months, we get approximately 300-325 hand quilted each year.

The mother of a female veteran with her granddaughter
on her lap.  Her daughter had a conflict at the last minute.

Our WWII veteran in his original uniform 

This veteran was wonderful. Although he looks serious in this pose, he was the most humble and interesting man to talk to.  He was so proud of his service that he wore his uniform from the days when he served. Can you imagine being able to fit into your same clothes from that long ago!

The group admiring their quilts and showing them off to their guests.

 Some of my time in Oct/Nov was spent quilting a special quilt that was designed and pieced by my good friend, Kevin, The Quilter. He said he made it for me and named it Goodnight Darlene, and asked if I would quilt it.  I was honored to be asked to quilt one of his original designs AND that he made it for me! No one has ever made me a quilt! I guess most people think if you are a quilter, you would not love to receive one from another quilter, but I was thrilled!  I was a bit nervous to quilt it because I felt it needed custom work, and I am not very skilled at custom quilting.  After much worrying, planning and sleepless nights designing possibilities in my head, I started work on it.  I love the way it turned out, especially on the pieced backing.  Thank you Kevin for having the faith in me to get your wonderful creation quilted and bound.   I am pleased with the results and hope Kevin is too.

Goodnight Darlene
Original design by Kevin, The Quilter

Back of Goodnight Darlene

The first weekend in November was our Loose Threads Quilt Show.  It was a success and there were lots of beautiful quilts on display, over 300.   We have over 200 members, and we try to get everyone to participate by entering at least one quilt.  I had to hustle to get a couple done in time to qualify. Nothing stellar, but I made the deadline!  Oops. sorry the picture is on it's side.

How Much is that Doggy in the Window
38" x 48"

Fun Flower 9-Patches 58" x 58"

This brings me to a finish on the knitting scene.  I started a pair of socks back in May from a squishy package I received from Cheryl at Cheryl's Teapots 2  Quilting.  She said she had yarn she'd probably never use for making socks, so sent it to me.  I love the way they are looking and am finished with the 2nd sock, just in time for the cold weather.  Can't wait to wear them. THANK YOU SO MUCH CHERYL. Picture later.

This has been a long post and if you made it this far, I thank you for tagging along,    I've been working on other UFO's, one is over 20 years old!  I only have a month to finish before 2019 gets here.  I think that is long enough for it to have marinated, don't you? 

Until next time, have a good week as we countdown to the Christmas season and the end of the year!

On The Needles - May 29, 2015

The needles have been a little quiet lately, but I'm making progress on my Hermione's socks.  Hope to start the toe decreases soon and then it's all downhill from there.  

I did finish up another facecloth over the last week or two.  It really isn't as lopsided as it appears in the picture.:)

Stop by Judy's to see what other knitting projects are being worked on this week. 

Third Time is a Charm - OTN

It only took me 3 times (or maybe 4 I lost count) to get this sock started with the right size needles and number of stitches, but I'm finally on my way.

Since I had so much trouble in the beginning, I've changed the pattern a bit and am just doing a plain stockinette stitch in the foot instead of carrying the leg pattern  throughout the foot.  I'm ready for this sock to be finished and onto the 2nd one before I forget what changes I made along the way.

When things start to frustrate me like taxes or knitting or even quilting -- I turn to the kitchen to bake or try out a new recipe. It always takes my mind off my troubles or aggravations of the day.  I guess that means food plays a consoling role in my life.  I started with my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe and then made several batches of blueberry muffins.  I had two new recipes that I wanted to try and see which we liked best.

These were the first ones. They used less sugar and substituted sour cream instead of vegetable oil or butter; and were very good, but not real sweet. Great for those watching their sugar intake or anyone who is diabetic. The recipe is on the 'Recipe Tab" under my blog header if you want to give them a try. This is not my recipe, but was in my recipe drawer written on a piece of notebook paper from years ago. I really don't remember where it came from. 

The second recipe was more traditional, more sugar, vegetable oil and a sugar/cinnamon topping. These were yummy too, but they did not taste much sweeter than the first ones, in spite of using more sugar.   Either recipe would be good if you like blueberry muffins!  They disappeared quickly at our house. 

Take a look at Judy's OTN to see more knitting progress this week.  Hope you have a great Spring weekend.  It is greening up so nicely around our area.  

Here's What's On and Off My Needles

Here's what I've been working on this week in the knitting area.  First, I finished my 4th pair of socks. These were made with Diversity yarn, which has an elasticity and but feels like cotton.  They are fun to make because of the self striping and feel so good on.

Then I did a little more on my faux infinity cowl from months ago.  This yarn is awful to work with so I'm not too excited about knitting with it.  I love the color and look of the yarn after it's knitted though.

Maybe part of the problem is I'm using an interchangeable circular needle, and because of the fibers in this acryllic yarn, it seems I have to constantly re-tighten the tips almost after every round.  Not fun.  I do it because the alternative would be awful -- having it coming apart midstream.  You cannot see your stitches with the yarn even though it's all knitted.  I would never be able to find my stitches to get them back on the needle correctly.  It will be the last time I buy any of this yarn. 

Since I was so frustrated with the handling of this project, I decided to cast on a simple facecloth for some easy, peasy knitting.  I give these as gifts, so it's always good to keep a supply on hand for those occasions.  I add a good smelling facial soap with each cloth as a little Thank You gift, or "just because" gift.

That's about it for this week's knitting.  I am waiting until after the busy Christmas season to concentrate on learning toe up socks on circulars.  If you have been following me, you know, I've been saying that for a long time, but I WILL get there. lol

I'm linking up with OTN over at Patchwork Times.  Check out what others are up to.

On The Needles - Friday, July 18

This week I have another pair of socks started.  They are from a yarn called Serenity by Deborah Norville Collection.  The content is 50% superwash Merino wool, 25% bamboo and 25% nylon.  I bought this yarn about 7 years ago to learn how to knit socks, but after 5 tries and lots of unknitting, I gave up and put it away.  Actually I forgot I had it and just found it in my yarn area. Since I'm starting my 3rd pair, maybe this time it will become a complete pair of socks.  I still love the color and they are so soft and cushy feeling.  Can't wait to get them finished to see how they feel on my feet.

The pattern is called Slip-Stitch Ridges Socks from the book "Teach Yourself Visually" Sock Knitting. The easy leg design and that cool heel is what caught my eye.,  It's new for me and is called the "eye of Partridge heel flap. It's been very easy so far and I really like the way it looks with this yarn.

To see more inspiration on the knitting front, visit Judy's Patchwork Times.

On The Needles - Feb 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone out in Blogland.  Hope your day includes chocolate, flowers and spending time with the ones you love.  We are getting more snow to go with our chocolates and roses. My sweetie and I had our Valentine's dinner last night to avoid the rush and since he doesn't like to make reservations it worked out perfectly.  A day early means no crowds or reservations needed.

This week I've made a little more progress on my 1st sock.  The leg now measures almost 5 inches which means I'm getting closer to the heel section which scares me. The good thing is that I'm starting to feel more comfortable handling all those 5 little needles.  Aren't they pretty and colorful?.  They are the 6" Harmony Wood Double Pointed Needle Set from Knit Picks.  They are so light weight and the yarn slides easily but not too much that I'm worried about losing stitches off the tips as I do with metal ones.

I'm really enjoying learning something new and very happy with my progress so far and I love the way this yarn feels--so soft and spongy.  Can't wait to get it far enough to try on.  Sure hope they fit.

What are you working on today?  If you have some time, go on over to Patchwork Times and see what others are working on.

On and Off The Needles

I can't believe it is already the end of the first week of October and my last post was almost 2 weeks ago!  The knitting bug has started taking over my extra time these days.  I guess because Fall is in the air and cooler weather is due to arrive this weekend, I found myself visiting my local knit shop, Knit and Caboodle Yarn Shop in downtown St. Charles, MO.  They have so many beautiful yarns that it is very hard to get out of there without buying something--yarn, needles or patterns.  I'm still practicing my knitting and trying to get the rhythm and technique to be more fluid before attempting a bigger project; so I bought more dish cloth yarn and some wool blend yarn for one of the popular shawls.

I've finished 2 green dish cloths like the one shown and am starting another one with a new variegated Sugar 'n Cream yarn called Psychedelique. After I finish 2 more dishcloths, I may be ready to start the 3S Shawl that everyone was showing earlier this year.

I am linking up with On the Needles at Patchwork Times.  Check there to see what others have on their needles this week.

On The Needles 9/13/13

As Teresa says, "it's all about Dreambird" these days; but I am starting my first ever dish cloth! I'm learning on something very simple and hope to work my way up to some of the beautiful projects that I see on Judy's linky each week.  My edges are a bit rough, but hopefully that will smooth out with more practice. The color is not very true in this picture-it's more of a sea foam green.

Since I'm not as skilled as most of my friends are when it comes to knitting, it will probably never happen that I will make a Dreambird.  But my friend Linda is a very good knitter and she doesn't have a blog.  I'm sure you will agree that her Dreambird is just too beautiful not to be seen.  She's given me permission to show it to you on my blog. If I could knit one of these, this would be the perfect colors for my wardrobe.  I love it!!

I can't wait to see how this is going to look finished.  I can just visualize it worn over a black or fushia turtleneck sweater and a pair of black pants or long fitted skirt.  I think it will look stunning.

What are you kniting on this Friday the 13th?   Check out all the other projects OTN over at Judy's.

On the Needles and QOV

I've been slow in getting anything new on the knitting needles, but I still have a couple balls of yarn that I wanted to use up.  Since my knitting expertise is very limited, I am still having fun with scarves. This one is a pretty variegated teal blue and will be a gift to a friend.

This week has also found me working on more QOV quilts.  I recently received quilted ones that need bindings attached.  This one is now ready for hand stitching the binding to the back.

And not to forget about the kids pillowcases, here's one more to add to the growing stack.  This is #20 so far.

There is a quilt show this weekend that I plan to check out and the warmer weather is calling me to play in the dirt. There are just too many temptations to distract me, which is not hard to do -- but I need to focus on getting some quilting finished.  It's a good thing I'm a night owl, cause when I play all day, I have to "catch up" at night while others sleep.  So what have you been up to this week?  

To see what others have been doing on the knitting front, go to Judy's here.

Off and On the Needles

The last time I posted about knitting these scarves here, I was having trouble with the straight needles.  Then I change to the circular ones and they have been wonderful.  It is going so much faster -- if only I had more time.

       <-----Before and  After ----->






This yarn has orange, rusty brown and a bit of grey and these are favorite colors for the friend that is receiving it.
The next one on the needles is teal green, burgandy and soft pink.  I hope to finish it tonight then get back to work on Easy Street mystery quilt.

These are so much fun to do and the colors they have to choose from are limitless.  If you haven't tried one, you should treat yourself.  I'll warn you it's addictive.  

Check out other knitting projects over at Judy's.

On and Off The Needles

Happy day after Thanksgiving Day.  I hope all my blogger friends had a good day with family and friends.  I know I did, but as usual, ate way too much.  Now I feel like the overstuffed 'turkey'.

On the knitting front, not too much was accomplished.  Here is my first "On/Off the Needles" post.  It has taken me way too long to finish this scarf because I dropped a few stitches and had to have a friend fix it, which meant unraveling it back to almost 4 inches to finally get it fixed.

It was made for a friend who was moving away and she also loves purple.  Now I'm getting ready to start another one for a Christmas present and I'm trying a circular needle for this one.  I understand that it is way easier than on long, straight, slippery needles.  I sure hope so, because there is not much time left to get a few more done for gifts.

Better get going.  Lots to do before the day is over.  I'm linking up with Judy, so drop by and see other knitting projects.  

Friday's - On the Needles

When it comes to knitting, I'm a real beginner.  I've made long skinny wool scarves for winter coats and a few very simple stocking caps.  Oh yes, I did an afghan using 2 yarns together, big deal, right?  I thought that was pretty neat at the time, and the needles were only the size of a small tree limb!

Well, last year I saw this cute ruffled scarf that uses a soft fish net type yarn called Rozetti and as you knit, it does the twisting and ruffling on it's own. You can cast on 6 to 10 stitches depending on the width you want and then just knit these same stitches until you run out of yarn or you reach the length you want.  This sounded easy enough for me, so off I went to buy some skeins and try it.   Here's my first one about half done.  It's turning out fine even the colors are not my favorite.  It was all they had at the time.

The picture is not very clear, but as it gets longer, maybe it will show the ruffles better.  It's really very easy, but you have to stay focused or you will end up with more stitches than you started with.  I've had that happen several times, but I caught it quickly and fixed it before too many rows were wrong.

I'm connecting up with Judy's On the Needles for the first time.  Check out what more experienced knitters are doing.