Not over this yet

Okay, three weeks ago I found this combination of yarn and pattern, Lion Brand Amazing Yarn and the Urban Lace Infinity Scarf, I am not over it yet. I still LOVE every colorway I've knit! As of today these are the 5 cowls I've completed.

From left to right- Pink Sands, Mauna Loa, Wildflowers, Mesa and Arcadia.

I finished Mesa up last night. This one is part of a barter with my friend Kathy. I knit the cowl and she's going to quilt a small quilt of mine. Win -win for both of us. Here is one side...

and here is the other side. This has a lovely progression of browns, caramel, rust and gold.

This one is for me. It is the Arcadia colorway. One side...

and the other side. Very pretty shades of greens and rust and a splash of teal.

This obsession continues as I have the Aurora colorway on the needles...

and I have 3 more colorways in my stash that I think I need to knit up too. Like I said when I started with this - it is a good thing my vices are legal cause when I love something I really really LOVE it!

Happy knitting -
carol fun

Playing Catch Up on Wednesday

I know there are lots of people out there who are stitching Lori Holt's Quilty Fun Sew Along on Jolly Jabber blog at Fat Quarter Shop. And, I started this project full of enthusiasm, which I still have, but I haven't had a lot of time to play with the blocks till yesterday. Right now  the QAL is up to Week 11 and I was back on Week 3 - playing catch up!

I'm using my stash of American Jane fabrics and having so much fun picking just the right fabric for each block.

I got Week 4, Week 5 and Week 7 done and they are looking good with Weeks 1, 2 and 3.

Oh  how I wish there were more sewing hours in a day!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Curse you Winter... on Design Wall Monday

It is gray. It is cold. It is snowy. Curse you winter!!!!

Can you tell I'm getting fed up with with this polar weather? So to brighten my mood I made some more dotty tulips. I have 2 dozen so far and another dozen cut out and waiting by my sewing machine.

Each tulip will be unique. A dotty flower and a tone on tone green for the leaves and stem.

And what is this mutant block?

This is God's way of telling you it is time to turn off the sewing machine and go to bed...and I did.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Insert image of large polka dot chicken wildly flapping about and shouting "I'm late, I"m late"

Well does the title of this post give you a nice visual picture? Good, and welcome to my crazy blog. I do appreciate that Vicki of Two Bags Full has put together this blog hop to let me get acquainted with new blogs and new readers. If you hang in there through my ramblings there is a giveaway at the bottom! Or you can scroll down now - your choice!

Let me introduce myself -Hi, I'm carol - aka The Polka Dot Chicken and I'm a bit cracked! I love quilting and knitting and cross stitch and card making and jewelry making and other crafty pursuits that catch my attention. I am afflicted with crafter's ADHD - shiny stuff can send me off in a direction I didn't even know existed and it makes me happy. I'm a bit of a contradiction in some areas - I like my quilts bright and bold, I like samplers slight primitive and try to sneak in a chicken somewhere in the piece, I like my knitting to be fun and fairly mindless - striped sock yarn makes me giddy!

Here are some examples of the stuff I do -
quilts I've made...

cross stitch samplers I've completed...

knitting projects...

As you can tell I stay pretty busy and try diligently to avoid cooking and cleaning and housework (even though those tasks are pretty unavoidable - LOL!)

So in honor of you stopping by and checking out my blog I'd like to host a giveaway. Here's the deal - leave me a comment on this post about what your favorite hobby is before February 15 at midnight EST. I will use one of those random number thingys and pick a winner and post it on February 15. Oh what will you win? I will send you a $25 gift certificate to the crafty shop of your choice, just be sure I can order the gift certificate online. Now I have lots of friends who tell me that when you don't have a blog it can be hard to leave a comment and therefore they don't win the giveaways. So if you are in that category and can't leave a comment on the blog I want you to send me an email at CFUN53@gmail.com and I will add you to the drawing. The easy way to send the email is to scroll down the right side of the blog to the little picture of me when I was a darling child and underneath it click on the link that says "View My Complete Profile". That opens the page and again underneath that photo of the adorable child I was you can see where it says Email - click on that.

I hope you will  look at posts I've done and come back and visit me often. You don't have to be a follower to win the giveaway but I would appreciate it. You can follow my on Bloglovin' or click on my Followers button or whatever works best for you.

Thanks again for stopping by - now I'm off to visit new blogs too.
Happy stitching-
carol fun

A finish and a start on Slow Stitching Sunday

There was a day last week where it was cold and snowy and I stayed home... oh wait, that pretty much describes every day last week. Anyway on that day I spent some quality time with my BBD Maria Selby Humphrey 1831 sampler and today it is complete.

I love this sampler, the yellow house that ric rac-y border with the dotty accents and the chicken in the corner.

Umm, you don't remember a chicken in the corner? Well that might be because it is actually a watering can on the chart, but I knew it would be the perfect way to personalize this piece for me.

And a finished sampler requires that you start a new sampler, correct? (I can see you nodding your head.) So I pulled this one out from my stash as it was already kitted and ready to go. Excuse the wrinkles, I'm short on time.

This is one of the 2013 offerings of Ladies Prim Society from Dyeing to Stitch in Virginia, entitled Bittersweet September from BBD.

It will finish about 6" square on 32 ct linen. I like how many motifs are packed into this little piece, a substantial  house, an alphabet, birds and a cute border. I'm a sucker for a cute border. I'm hoping to get a few more stitches in this one today, but right now I'm off to the grocery store to get the fixings to make lasagna. Should be a tasty dinner.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Another week, another cowl or two

I am still in the clutches of that Lion Brand Amazing yarn and the Urban Lace Infinity Cowl. Here is the cowl I showed being blocked last Friday. This yarn  colorway is called Wildflowers.

One side...

and the other side.

I love how there is always a rogue swath of color in each of these skeins. And I wish you could see these yarns yourself. My pictures do not do them justice. They are so pretty.

So I had started a fourth cowl last Friday and this is the Arcadia colorway.

It needs to be blocked and kitchner. Its on my list of things to do this weekend.

And since I "finished" this skein of this yarn I cast on another. This one is called Aurora and has pink, purple,copper and blue. I think it will be gorgeous. Check back next week.

Also I was able to rescue a pair of socks from my basket of onesies.

This yarn came from Joanns eons ago. I think it was the Serenity line. It is very soft.

All in all it was a pretty productive week in the knitting area. I do enjoy this mindless kind of knitting where the yarn does all the heavy lifting. Those Amazing yarns are truly Amazing. I become mesmerized watching the colors unroll off the skein - yes I am easily entertained - LOL!

Hope things in your little world are warm and cozy no matter what it is outside. We've got more snow on the way and I don't think we are going to break the freezing mark in the next 10 days. I know it is even worse in the Plains and the Northeast, and the West is in drought conditions. I'm sure that all of us who are manning snow shovels would love to be able to send this precipitation to you. Lets hope thing improve all over the US very very soon.

Happy knitting-
carol fun

Working on Wednesday

Okay, where has the week gone?  Wednesday, how did it get to be Wednesday? Between the holidays and the snow days I haven't had a routine week in over a month and it is getting to me. When my youngest son was little having a routine made his life and behavior better, as a way of dealing with his Aspergers. I thought it was just for his benefit to have the routine, but I found that I like it too....a lot!

I am so ready to get back into a routine so I can plan on time to sew, like I did today.

I'm enjoying making these pretty little tulips. Mine are going to be red, orange, pink and yellow dotty beauties...with a preponderance of yellow ones.

I started with Lori Holt's pattern in her Quilty Fun book - and I'm making the Tulip Patch quilt - you can see it here. Now I've modified my tulips a bit, less connector corners so they are a bit more boxy..kinda like me..LOL! I want this to fit on my double bed so I am making it bigger than the pattern and right now I'm not sure how many tulips I'm going to need or how many rectangles for the sashing, so I'll just wing it for a bit.

Well I'm sure that the majority of you reading this are in the deep freeze again like me. We got more snow over the last couple of days and the temperature has gone down into the single digits and below and I am sooooooo ready for Spring. I heard a weather guy say today that if we get 6 more inches of snow before the end of March, it will be the snowiest winter on record here. If I was betting man I'd take that wager. They are predicting more snow this weekend - up to 3 inches and it isn't even February. Gotta go make more tulips and think Spring thoughts!

happy stitching-
carol fun

Good thing I don't drink,smoke or gamble

It is a good thing that I don't drink, smoke or gamble, because if I did I would  be in BIG BIG trouble. Instead my vices are yarn and thread and fabric, and right now I am soooo into this Lion Brand Amazing yarn. You can check it out here.

So last week I showed the Urban Lace Infinity Cowl I was blocking. The pattern is here on Ravelry and it is free.  This colorway is called Mauna Loa.

I love that swath of coral on this side...

and the purples and blues on this side are pretty too.

And as soon as I had this one off the needles I cast on another one in the Wildflowers colorway. I blocked it last night.

This is one skein, 147 yards and there is no color repeat. It started with a coppery rust color, then went into green and grayish green and then into purple...

And the purple turned into a taupe and then it changed to gold and into a blue gray...

And then a mallard blue appeared and finally ended in a lovely shade of olive.

I can't wait for this to dry so I can kitchener it and wear it.

So I've made 3 of these cowls in the last 2 weeks, so what's on my needles now?

You guessed it, another Urban Lace Infinity Cowl this time using the Arcadia colorway. Its a good thing this stuff is legal - LOL!

And on a happy note today is my oldest son's birthday. He is 29 today and has been whining a bit about "how did I get to be this old?" Now as his mother, who was 32 when I gave birth to him I don't have much sympathy. Poor guy. I was making him a birthday card last night and looking about online for a nice sentiment to write inside. I thought about this one, "Every year you get older, I start feeling older. Maybe that’s because I am getting older too. Either way, I’m blaming you for making me feel old. Happy Birthday!" But instead I went with a nicer little message telling him how I hope the next year and his entire life is filled with good things. Such a good mom (I know I should be careful that I don't strain my arm patting myself on my back - LOL!) Okay, off to make birthday cupcakes!

Happy knitting-
carol fun

66 Days till Spring on Design Wall Monday

While the weather this weekend was a big improvement over last week, the memory of the sub-freezing temperatures and wind chill have me longing for Spring. And that got me thinking about having a new Spring-y quilt for my bed when it officially rolls around on March 20 - 66 days from now.

I spent a lot of time yesterday cruising Pinterest and came across this quilt from Lori Holt's book, Quilty Fun.

I really like the look of this one. Tulips are my favorite flower. And the wheels in my head got spinning around and I sewed up these beauties... polka dot tulips!

Now these are exactly like the ones in Lori's book. Mine are a bit more squat and I'm okay with that. They will be Carol's Hybridized Dotty Tulips. I know that my stash has more than enough dotty fabrics for these flowers. I do have to do some math to make this large enough for my bed, but it shouldn't be too hard. (Knowing my math deficiencies, it better not be too hard, LOL!)

I had hoped to stitch up more than 3 of these little darlings yesterday but I got sidelined by a wicked muscle spasm/neck ache. I was all hunched over - a cross between Quasimodo and the Incredible Hulk - but with a pastier complexion. My son brought me a great new heating pad. It is a little shawl with a minky cover that fastens in front with a magnet. Very soothing. He picked it up at Walgreens. I'm still a little achy. I think I'll spend a bit more time with it today.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Accidents and framing on Slow stitching Sunday

The sun is shining and the temperatures are seasonal for Ohio in January - it is a good day. A better day than yesterday when I discovered that I had accidentally dyed/distressed the BBD cross stitch piece I am working on.

Since last week I've worked a bit on the house as the yellow threads arrived in the mail. Look at the top of the piece and to the right side of the piece...see those dark wavy splotchy lines... that is diet pepsi. Who knew it would give the linen such a vintage vibe?  Now earlier in the week I spilled a diet pepsi off the table next to my stitching chair. I saw it run down the bag that held my Quaker Diamond piece and congratulated myself on having protected this project. What I didn't see was the bag containing this  BBD My Home from the Maria Selby Humphrey booklet was not completely sealed. When I got back to this project yesterday I saw the stain (insert bad bad 4 letter words here). I immediately tried to rinse it out but it is set in. Whenever I try to dye things with coffee or tea I never get it to set. However, I'm ok with it. I like the vintage vibe and I'm not going to restitch what I've done. I know that diet pepsi is probably not best thing for linen. And years from now when I am dead and gone it will probably rot in that space, but I will be gone and it isn't a masterpiece project. Now if this had happened to my BBD Anniversaries of the Heart I'd be headed for a padded room somewhere with restraints. But for this piece, it is okay. I still love this little piece and with any luck it will be complete in a couple of weeks. Oh the booklet didn't fare well either. Still legible but with a definite lumpy bumpy appearance.

Onto prettier things... this is Song of Spring by BBD. I got it through the Ladies Prim club from Dyeing to Stitch. Check it out here.

I ended up making this house more yellow and replaced the bunny in the original piece with a polka dot chicken. LOVE IT!

And I'm very happy with this frame. It is black on the outside edge but fades into a lovely soft gold up next to the stitching. This is going to hang on the wall as you go down to my sewing room. I have a collection of samplers with yellow houses on that wall and it will be a great addition.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Watching the snow fall and thinking of Hawaii

As it has been in most of the US, it was very very cold here in Ohio this week. The coldest temperatures we've had in 20 years... brrrrr!!! So while I was watching the snow fall and cuddled up with my space heater, I knit a cowl that made me think if Hawaii. Hang in there... I'll make this all connect in a minute.

Here is the cowl. I used the Urban Lace Infinity Scarf pattern from Ravelry. It is free and you can see it here. This is one side...

and here is the other side.

I used Lion Brand Amazing yarn. That's what the yarn is called Amazing. You can check it out here. It is a lovely ombre kinda yarn. A bit fuzzier than I wanted but it seemed to settle down after I blocked it. The name of this color way is Pink Sands, which made me remember a beach I had been to in Hawaii that was purported to be pink sand... which was actually just pinky beige but hey, it was warm there.

The pattern calls for using lots more yardage and making a longer scarf, but I like this cowl length and it took only one skein, about 147 yards. This is a blurry selfie of me wearing it. (How do people do this? I must have taken 20 shots to get this one and mostly just blinded myself as I forgot to turn off the flash on several occasions.... quit laughing... I am so not cool.)

I liked this cowl so much that I immediately cast on another one, this time using the Mauna Loa colorway. See another Hawaii connection.

I like the purples and blues an that swath of coral pink reminds me of hibiscus or papaya - tropical stuff that grows where it is warm... not in Ohio.

Anyway today we are suppose to have a veritable heatwave with temperatures in the 40's. Wonderful weather. Wish it would stay that way until about March and then warm up.

Happy knitting -
carol fun

PS In the spirit of Judy L's resolve to work from the stash, this yarn did come from my stash of last year. It was purchased on December 31 - just squeaked by - LOL!

Can you make them stop looking at me?

So I got out my snowman collection and I found space to display 60 of the frosty little guys. Every year when I put them out my sarcastic oldest son whines, "Can you make them stop looking at me? Their beady little eyes follow me. Make them stop!" But they never do - LOL! I am so happy that my old stuff has found space in my new home.

This is the little thrift shop table I rescued and painted yellow. I figure there are about 35 snowmen on this table alone.

All of these guys are old Hallmark ornaments from the Mitford Series. Do you remember the books by Jan Karon? I loved them and read every one, several times.

And this shelf has assorted Hallmark ornaments and other cute guys I've gotten over the years. I particularly like the ones with thimbles on their heads.

The bookcase worked up nicely. I was able to use several large snowmen I didn't think I'd have space for.

This shelf is my favorite. It has my Lizzie Kate Winter Alphabet and I was able to use this turquoise cake stand to display my Jim Shore snowmen. I love when things come together. I bought the cake stand months ago and was attracted by the color and that the top is a stylized square instead of round. At the time I told myself I didn't need another cake stand (and I don't) but I couldn't resist, and now I'm glad I didn't.

Now the snowman with the measuring cups on his head, who has wooden spoons for arms is my youngest son's favorite. He (the snowman, not my son) was another purchase from Hallmark back when they had so many cute seasonal decorations.

These guys are on the shelves of my TV cabinet. My collection of disembodied snowman, I didn't realize how many I had like this till I grouped them together.

I'm very happy with this seasonal display. Right now it is about 4 degrees outside, wind chills about 20 below - perfect for snowmen but I can't wait for it to warm up. The forecast says 28 degrees tomorrow... break out the shorts - LOL! Actually I'm sure I will see folks in shorts by the weekend. It suppose to be 50 degrees -- ahhh... my kinda winter weather.

Oh, this last picture gives you some idea of where I hung my Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart. It is the perfect spot as I can see it from my stitching chair and it makes me smile.

Hope you are staying warm... I'm turning my space heater up to the broil setting!
Happy stitching-
carol fun