Norwegiean Stockings - a progress report

I have slowly been progressing on this stocking. I knit the heel flap twice and turned the heel three times before I was satisfied. I was well into knitting the foot of this stocking when decided that I didn't like the way the pick up stitches for the gussets worked with the heel flap. The pick up stitches pulled the stranded threads on the back of the heel flap and made a bulge on the side of the flap and very loose stitches at the start of the gusset. I wish I had taken a photo at this point so that you could see what the problem was.

This is a photo taken after I reknit the heel flap and the heel turn. I love the way the stranding looks on the inside. I think this will make a very squishy, warm, and comfortable sock.

Below is the sock as it is now. I followed the basic checkerboard heel flap design but knit the first and last stitches of each row alternating yarns with each stitch. This worked a little better than the original design but I am still not thrilled with the pick up row.

I am going ahead with it anyway and am in the home stretch now.

This is a fun pattern to knit. I am trying to decide if I want to do the other sock with the variegated yarn as the back ground. I may have to weigh the yarns and see if I have enough of the gold to knit the second one this way.

The Big Spool Photo Shoot

Back in February I told you about the 100 Possibilities photography project I am participating in.

I've been going kinda slow with the project so I took the spool on our trip last week.

Having the spool already IN the camera bag was very handy.

Thanks to both of my sisters for their photo styling help.

I think I'll keep the spool in the camera bag for a while. Look here to see the entire collection of photographs. 

College Tours

Since M will be a senior in High School this year we have been doing a little college campus touring. We visited Rose Hulman, Illinois University, and Purdue last week.

Rose Hulman was very small but had a lot of sculptures around the campus.

I really like college campuses. All of the touring kind of makes me wish I could go to college again.

I guess I'll have to stick to things like quilting and knitting retreats and experience college vicariously through my children.

Friday Finds

One of our vacation walks took us past the local thrift store where I scored a stack of great old patterns. I can't pass up an old apron pattern.

Here are two more from the stack. The pattern on the left reminds me of my mother's sister. She has always been very stylish. I don't think I'll use these but I love the pictures.

It's too bad I don't have a thrift store on my regular walk route at home.

Gratitude

I am grateful for cold water on a hot day and the opportunity to spend time with my family.

The Color Purple

I did a little secret sewing earlier in the summer which I can now share with you.

This is a twin quilt my sister and I made for our niece for her high school graduation gift.

Between the two of us we had a lot of purple fabric scraps. We each made half of the blocks.

We hope she enjoys using the quilt in her dorm. She says it has ALL of her favorite colors.

The design is the same as this quilt I made for my nephew a few years ago. 

Thoughtful Sunday - Tickled Pink

"The table was decorated with pink tulips, a pink tablecloth, pink candles, pink napkins, and pink nut dishes.  The main course was a maraschino cherry, walnut, marshmallow, pineapple, strawberry, cream cheese and cabbage molded salad, accompanied by pink biscuits. There were also pink mints and pink gumdrops. And luckiest of all, Mrs Harroway just happened to be dressed entirely in pink with even pink gloves and pink roses in her hat."

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm, Betty MacDonald, 1954.

Attracting Fairies

This spring P and I started a flower garden over by her playhouse. She has been hoping that the fairies would like it well enough to move in. She has been working to attract them.

She has put interesting rocks in the garden.

Most recently she added a shell.

The plants have started to fill in a little.

She is thrilled that some of the plants are getting more "fairyly".

Just look at these Jack-in-the-Pulpits. How could a fairy NOT like that?

And don't these hosta flowers look like little dancing fairy skirts?

The other day we found THREE mushrooms and the following flowers that we didn't even plant!

Johny Jump Ups must be very fairyly. Just the name sounds like it.

Little Miss Petunia is VERY encouraged.

I'll let you know if we have any fairy sightings.

Daily Walks

I'm trying to take a walk every day. 

I love this tree house just up the road from us. 

I will feel a little less guilt tonight when I dig into the freshly cooked blackberry cobbler.

Grandmother's Garden Trellis

Here it is. The finished star strippy quilt. I am really happy with the quilting in the floral strips.

I think the echo quilting was just right to fill in around the feathered vine.

I love the contrast of the straight grid quilting with the curves of the vines. It reminds me of a vine growing up a trellis in a garden.

I like the repeating patterns of the stripes, similar but not exactly the same.

The quilt fits a queen size bed but would also make a nice coverlet for a king size.

It measures 90 x 90 inches.

The back has a pretty floral fabric with a stripe of the fabrics used in the stars. The quilting really shows up in the pieced area.

Thoughtful Sunday

"We often speak of a family circle, but there are none too many of them. Parallel lines never meeting, squares, triangles... these and other geometrical figures abound, but circles are comparatively few."

Mother Carey's Chickens, Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1911.

How the Garden Grows

We didn't get off to a great start with our gardens this year. The mosquitoes and then heat wave meant that I didn't spend much time fighting the weeds. We only got a handful of peas earlier but now we are having a little better garden success. We have onions ready for harvest

and have already pulled all of the garlic.

We have some green tomatoes

and the promise of more to come.

Our chard is doing well but the carrots and beets are still small. Patience. We just need patience.

In the mean time the local u-pick farm has some really great blueberries!

Butterfly Migration

Look! The butterfly quilts had a chance to meet!

JEK's quilt, on the left, was the inspiration for my butterfly quilt on the right. I knew I had to make it as soon as I saw a picture of her quilt.

Isn't that a clothesline of happiness?

I am glad JEK had it with her on her trip.

Thoughtful Sunday

"And when I put on longer skirts I shall feel that I have to live up to them and be very dignified.  It won't even do to believe in fairies then, I'm afraid; so I'm going to believe in them with all my whole heart this summer."

Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery, 1908.

goin' with the a-go-gos

We had loads of fun with the a-go-gos!

We toured the Jiffy Mix factory.

They really gave the big selling push for their mixes. Yes, you can buy it by the case.Hairnets are required to go on the factory tour. Don't we look cute?I wish we could have taken pictures on the factory floor. I love the old machinery and all the conveyors going from one place to another.

The box building and filling stations are really fun to watch.

I enjoy being a tourist in my own town.

We went to the famous Manchester Chicken Broil. 14,000 chicken dinners in four hours. What more can we say?

We got some fantastic coleslaw with our meal. Apparently the recipe is heavily guarded.

We saw the fairy doors in Ann Arbor.

I always enjoy peeking into the fairy shop to see what's for sale. There are always a few baby teeth in the display case.

We picked blueberries

and hung out around the house.

I am so glad to have gotten the chance to meet the a-go-gos in person!

I hope they have a marvelous time on the rest of their journey.

I Knew They Were Coming So I Baked a Cake

The a-go-gos are on their BIG trip and have stopped here for a visit. We have had our cake and are ready to see the sights.

First up - the Jiffy Tour.

Have a great day!

On Aging

Why do people fight the aging process when it can be very beautiful? We try to hide the effects of the passage of time with make up (first to look older and then later to look younger), dye their hair, and have cosmetic surgery. We try to hide wrinkles and keep everything looking the same.

Why don't we embrace the aging process? It is inevitable.

I have noticed that things usually develop a beautiful patina when allowed to age naturally.

With aging, light is allowed to shine in and light up parts not exposed in youth. Aging adds interest, depth, and character.

The bumps, bruises, and scars life left on my grandparents made them very interesting people. I hope I can age as gracefully and naturally as them.

On a related note, we recently watched the documentary. "Young @ Heart You're Never too Old to Rock". I highly recommend it.

Thoughtful Sunday

"Youth has nothing to to with birthdays, only with alivedness of spirit, so even if your hair is grey, Daddy, you can still be a boy."

Daddy-Long-Legs, Jean Webster, 1912.

Quilted Strips

I've been quilting on the strippy quilt and it is almost finished.

I am really pleased with the grid quilting on the star strips. And I must say that the dual feed on the new machine makes straight line quilting a dream.

All I have left to do is the background quilting around the feathers and maybe some curlicues in the narrow blue strips. I tried a little meandering next to the feathers but I am not thrilled with the results.

Maybe some lines echoing the basic curve of the vine would be better.

I think I let it rest tonight and look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow.

Knee Socks!

I started a new pair of socks yesterday! These will be my first pair of hand knit knee socks.

These are the Norwegian Stockings in Nancy Bush's Folk Socks: The History & Techniques of Handknitted Footwear. You can see some fabulous finished stockings here  and here.  I'm using some fun yarn from Socks that Rock that I got at the Michigan Fiber Festival five years ago. I love the way they are turning out but I think I'll start over and do the ribbing on smaller needles. I tried them on and the ribbing is looser than the colorwork on the leg. Also, It was hard to keep the floats loose enough on the first two rows of the star pattern. The ribbing pattern tends to pull the stitches closer together and make the floats tighter. The long floats at the bottom of the stars are just right. When I reknit I'll pay attention on those rows and try to get it looser.

I know I said I wouldn't start any new projects until the UFO piles were gone but let's just say that I meant I wouldn't start new SEWING projects. A girls gotta have some handwork handy. I mean, really, I can't sew at the sewing machine while watching a movie with the family. Well, I could but it wouldn't go over well with the rest of the family. I also can't do machine work in the car. So, since I finished my latest socks  (pictures coming later) and also finished the applique on this UFO, which has now moved into the sewing UFO pile, I thought it would be OK to start these which have been on my to do list for years. Also, it is using up stash yarn. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.