Happy Fourth of July!!

My husband and I have been very busy working on our home and rental properties. I have been crocheting a little and have a stack of patterns I want to knit but just can't seem to find the time!!! Of course summer is here and I am out walking and started a weight lifting program trying to get into better shape. The winter months and bad weather allowed me to gain about 10lbs which doesn't make me happy, ;( so I guess that's where I am putting all my efforts at the moment!! Yes, we still plan on leaving the area and heading south to either Virginia or Florida, just the thought of packing and selling everything is mind boggling, but it's our ultimate goal.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!!

Look at my Knit Picks Sampler!

Look at the beautiful gift I rec'd!!
You can read all about the sampler here
I can't wait to try these yarns, the colors are so pretty and yarn so very soft! You also receive the free patterns in the pack and the yarn will make all of the projects!! Lace Cap, Lace Mat, Morning Glory Purse and Ruffled Wristwarmers

A Wish for all Moms out there!

Crochet potholders are the thing!

I have been obsessed with my stash of cotton yarns- Sugar N Cream and Peaches n Cream making oodles of potholders, hot pads and a few dishcloths. meanwhile my UFO pile of baby sweaters and other goodies are piling up!

Here's just a sample of what I have been up to:

Seed Stitch Baby Sweater

I finished this little goodie last week, pattern from Lion Brand, click here. I used Bernat Satin solid in color lagoon. I added in the buttonholes to avoid using the ties that are in the directions. Great top down design. I have some yarn left and hoping I could find a nice bootie or hat pattern with seed stitch to match....



While knitting I also started this crochet baby sweater using some Red Heart TLC Lustre ( disc. yarn) from the stash, it's cute pattern with stars on the front, more details to follow.




So while I was in the crochet mood, I rec'd from a friend an order to crochet up a dozen of these Dolly Potholders, now the ones I am making for her have 2 potholders hanging below and are secured with a large button BUT they are taking FOREVER to get done! I am having fun mixing and matching colors, she isn't fussy about which colors I make, she will take whatever I work up, so I am using up the stash of Red Heart worsted weight. Today tho my wrists are aching and slowing me down not to mention I am tired of making them argh............................ but I will keep smiling :) and crochet on!

Sailboat Baby Blanket update & pattern

pattern is from the book The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber Page 20 “Boats for Cameron”, I re-designed the pattern to be worked all in one piece adding in my own cables and seed stitch borders and using only the boat design from the book. There are 3 boat sections and 4 cables. You will need size 8 circular knitting needle either 24" or 29" in length and worsted weight yarn at least 1500 yds. This also depends on how long you would like the blanket, it may take less. I have 6 skeins of TLC Essentials by Red Heart ( coats & clark) color is light lake blue. (I am 12 rows into the my 2nd skein at this point. You will also need stitch markers and a cable needle.

Begin by making a copy of page 22 from the book because you will have to re-number the pattern rows to make it easier to follow. :)
Boat panel begins with 6 rows of stockinette stitch ( K 1 row, Purl 1 row). These are rows 2-7 from the book ignoring row 1. Now re-number the rows as follows: Row 8 becomes 7 , row 9 becomes row 8 and so on ending with row 27 changing to row 26 and rows 28-37, those become rows 27-30 which are 4 rows of stockinette. In between each sailboat panel I stuck in 4 rows of seed stitch but you could eliminate this part if you choose. Ignore the rest of pattern from the book.

The cable pattern I used is the following:
Row1: k2, p2, k6, ps, k2
Row2: k1, p1, k2, p6, k2, p1, k1
Row3: k2, p2, k6, p2, k2
Row4: k1, p1, k2, p6, k2, p1, k1
Row5: (Cable twist row)k2, p2, slip next 3 stitches to a cable needle and hold in back of work, knit next 3 stitches, knit 3 stitches from cable needle, p2, k2
Row6: k1, p1, k2, p6, k2, p1, k1

I cast on 148 sts ( 2 side borders of seed stitch 10 sts each) (3 boat panels of 24 sts each) (4 cable sections each 14 sts) start by knitting 10 rows of seed st for the bottom border. Grab 8 stitch markers ( PM=place marker)and begin knitting 10 sts seed stitch, PM, Row 1 of cable pattern (14 stitches), PM, work row 1 of boat panel ( this is your first row of stockinette, all knit), PM, row 1 of cable pattern, PM, row 1 of boat panel, PM, row 1 of cable pattern, PM, row 1 of boat panel, PM, row 1 of cable pattern, PM, 10 sts in seed stitch. Continue working with row 2 of boat panel
( all purl) and row 2 of cable.
Note that each boat panel starts and ends with 6 rows of stockinette, followed by 4 rows of seed stitch.
I use post-it notes to keep track of my rows,being sure to cable twist every 6th row.
Click on the picture to get a close up view
If you need help please leave a comment with your email address.

2nd Tulips Cardigan

We have arrived home after our extended vacation to Florida, all rested and relaxed. Average daily temperature was 75 and sunny all the time!! I love that type of weather and hubby and I are now planning to move to Florida, yay!! I love the fresh produce we could buy just down the street, especially the strawberries and tomatoes, delicious! We did a lot of walking too, hit the beach and found lots of nice shells and went boating/fishing in the Gulf. The picture above was taken at Sanibel Island.

While gone I cast on my second baby cardigan called TULIPS by Dream In Color Designs. link here.




The yarn I used was Baby Bee- Little Britches , a Hobby Lobby yarn. The print/color is "carousel" and only took 1 skein using size 6 needles. The yarn label states that its a bulky yarn but I would say it's more a worsted weight.

Okay, back to reality now and perhaps start another little sweater or maybe knit on the sail boat baby blanket, that is if I can remember where I tucked it ..............