Adding more fiber to my life....

not oatmeal..... wool!! LOL Last week quite a bit of new fiber came into my life.

Isn't is colorful? First there was this ball of Kauni deep pink, purple and green on the outside, aqua deep inside. And from my friend Lois is Nebraska, a gorgeous skein of Klose Knit Boutique Fiber Fetish. I love the colors in this skein! Thanks Lois!

...and then two more balls of Opal. I LOVE Opal sock yarn. I picked up these two at a local yarn shop. I want to play with them next month in Socktoberfest. Judy L. has a post here about using Opal yarn since opal is the birthstone of October. While this logic may seem a bit fuzzy to some, it makes perfect sense to me so I was on the hunt for some new Opal yarn. (Never mind that this hunt could have been staged in my storage room, as there are about 8 or 10 or 12 more balls of Opal in there somewhere.)

... and then there are these 3 skeins of Opal Antonia Hand-dyes. You can see them here in the sale section of Simply Socks -look on pages 3 and 4.

I've never knit this type of Opal before but I'm hoping that the colors will pool. While other knitters complain when that happens with hand-dyed yarns, I love that effect! These were a steal at $10 a skein (that the story I'm telling myself - more fuzzy logic - LOL!)

So with all the gorgeous colorful fiber sitting in my house what is on my needles?? Well this....

another pair of plain black socks for my son. The first pair took way longer to finish than I anticipated as every time I needed to try them on his foot he wasn't available. He's worn that first pair several times and loves them - so I am now a victim of my own success. I knit the first pair with some inexpensive yarn from Joanns. I'm not sure how it will hold up to repeated washings and wearings. So this pair I'm using Cascade Heritage. I have to set goals for myself to knit these. I gave myself a couple of days to do the 2 X 2 ribbed leg, and then I committed to doing the heel flap one evening while watching baseball (go Cincinnati Reds!) and then last night I did the heel turn, the gusset and I'm working on the foot. Yippee!! I want to finish this sock before the end of the week and then I'll reward myself with knitting something colorful. (Yes even more fuzzy logic.)

Happy stitching!
carol fun

Something for you.....

Source: avantipress.com via Carol on Pinterest

Awww.... isn't he the cutest little guy? But why is he here? Because I have absolutely nothing crafty to show you that's why, and a post without a picture just doesn't seem complete.

Anyway, while I don't have any crafty content I do have a little something else for you my sweet readers. I have a gift to give and here is how it works.

I just went back and added up all the lovely comments that have been left on my blog for the last month. There were 155. I put this number into a random number generator and it came up with the number 143 which would make it this comment from Barb of the blog Bejeweled Quilts.

Happy Birthday to you!!!!! What a fabulous gift... on Queen for a Day

I have contacted Barb and I will send her a $25 gift certificate to the crafty store of her choosing - my way of thanking all of you for leaving such wonderful comments on my blog. I did this last year for my birthday and I think I'll do it again from time to time. Hopefully you too will enjoy getting a little gift out of the blue.

Now here's hoping that the next couple of days will have some time in them for needle, thread, yarn, and fabric. I haven't had a chance to turn on my sewing machine for days and I truly miss it. I did do a little shopping and I'll show you some of my goodies tomorrow. It is late and I am tired - too much laundry and non-fun errands today.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Queen for a Day

Today is my special day, my birthday! And while I have absolutely no idea how I got to be this old (greater than 58, less than 60) I am very happy that I'm still ticking! I'm having a very low key day, which I enjoy and we'll celebrate with dinner and cupcakes on Sunday.

I want to thank all my dear friends who've sent cards and email greetings today - you make me feel very special! And my boys got me a very thoughtful gift -- a new stitching throne I mean chair - LOL!

Okay the color is a bit off here - but trust me it is a lovely deep blue velour-y fabric. The chair is Ektorp from IKEA and I have been admiring it for quite a while. The blue fabric is a slipcover and I'll be able to change it seasonally. I already know I want the beige linen one for summer and if it goes on sale I'm getting the green one for Christmas.

I am particularly fond of having the ottoman. My old stitching chair has been broken for quite a while and you couldn't use the footrest. This is sooooo much more comfortable. And an additional bonus is that the ottoman has a storage feature.

The top cushion lifts up easily with the handles on the sides. I've stashed some cross stitching projects in there for the moment but there is a ton more room.

So I plan to plant my butt firmly in my new chair and stitch and knit and relax. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Fallout Stars on Design Wall Monday

Oh I had a lovely weekend that included the trifecta of crafty pursuits - I did a little cross stitch, a lot of knitting and I got my mojo back for my Fallout Hexagons!

My original plan languished on my design wall for several weeks, and while I love the fabrics and the hexagons (even though they remind me of the Fallout Shelter logo)- it just wasn't right. I realized that the only way to assemble it hexagon to hexagon was going to require some fussy sewing, and anymore I just don't want to do that kind of work. So I got out some quilt books and looked through them and it hit me.....stars! I LOVE star blocks and this setting will be waaaaay easier to sew together.

I like having the full hexagons interspersed with the pieced ones and I LOVE that gold fabric in the star points. I had this in my stash. It is a Nancy Halvorsen Christmas fabric from the collection called "Tidings". It has circles that are composed of dots and it reminds me of looking at candlelight through a window with raindrops on it.

Most of the dark fabrics in this quilt are from a jelly roll from Sentimental Studios called Shades of Fall. It was also in my stash. I've added some tone-on-tone greens and some beige fabrics - again all stash fabrics! Aren't I being the virtuous quilter? LOL!

My plan at the moment is to slice the hexagons on the ends in half and finish this up without a border. I just want a pretty Fall throw to toss over my stitching chair. Well there are lots of things to do this week - my youngest son has classes MWF - I have a mammogram on Wednesday - I want to get the primer on some furniture at my oldest son's house - and I have tickets to see Three Dog Night this weekend! Hopefully I can squeeze in some sewing time too!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

On the Needles - 9/7/2012

I have been totally enthralled with a skein of Noro Taiyo sock yarn this week! I'm knitting another Shaelyn shawl and I LOVE the way the colors flow with this yarn.

This is the 3rd time I've knitted this pattern - it is a great beginner lace project. You have bands of stockinette alternating with the lace and the lace is a simple repeat. I really only have to pay attention to 3 rows out of 10 and I use markers to define the repeats - easy to keep track of.

Here is a close-up. I have lucked out in that several times the colors changed just as I started a new section. I have been feverishly knitting away because I wanted to get to the point where the colors repeated and I just got there this afternoon.

I've already knitted it further than the pattern calls for but I'm going to continue and see how big I can get it. In the past the Shaelyns I've knitted have been on the small side - more like little kerchiefs and this time I want it to be a full-grown shawl. I got this yarn from Simply Socks - you can see it here. I'm using color 27 and I purchased another skein in color 23. Can't wait to see what it looks like knit up!

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. I'm hoping for time with my sewing machine, my cross stitch and my knitting - my idea of heaven!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

WIP for Wednesday

In my continuing saga to play with all crafts of the Autumn persuasion,and to totally ignore the fact that it is still in the upper 80's here with 90% humidity, I started this sampler by Lizzie*Kate - appropriately titled "Autumn Alphabet".

I've been making good progress and I'm enjoying stitching this one just like I did the Winter version. The fabric is out of my stash and barely big enough for this sampler but I loved the mottled golden color. When Bev goes to frame this she will probably say bad words - I apologize now. Mea culpa!

I love that they included little charms like the squirrel and the moon and the teeny tiny buttons for the owls eyes - too cute! Now a heads up to anyone else who stitches this sampler - the symbol for the frame around the letter F is incorrect. According to the chart, it should be stitched in lavender - which is the color of the frame right above it for the letter B. If you look at the picture of the sampler....

you can see that the frame should be the dark brown. I'm glad I checked the picture. And my little pea brain has another issue with this chart, in that they use a very similar symbol for two different flosses -- the forward backslash "/" is 3041(lavender), and the other backslash "\" is 898 (brown). There are only 12 colors of floss in this piece and it seems you could have replaced one of those backslashes with a dot or a circle as neither of those two symbols appear. I keep threading up with the wrong colors with these two as I forget which is the forward facing one and which isn't as I flip back and forth between the graph on the inside and the floss key on the outside of the chart. I know, I know I'm being a cranky. Also if you stitch these samplers pay attention to the frames. Several of the appear to be symmetrical and they aren't- ask me how I know? I after messing up a couple of times I'm getting better at remembering this. And even with all that said, I do love this sampler!

Well I'm off to wait for the delivery guys to bring my son's new furniture this afternoon. And I may do a little touch up on the paint.... or I may just sit and stitch.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

A Speck of Fall on Design Wall Monday

Now where was I.... oh yeah I had a change of plans for what quilt to make my son and then I had another change of plans when I just vegged out most of Friday and Saturday because I didn't feel well. So. when Sunday dawned (at least I assume it did but I don't think I've ever willingly witnessed the event) I had new plans. I wanted to make a small quilt - just the top - for a Sunday project. Again, life stepped in and changed that plan. I did decide on a pattern, one of Carrie's newest Little Bites, Speck. Go check it out here. Isn't it adorable?

I rummaged through all my charm packs, and decided that I just couldn't cut into any of them, since they were all pairs and someday I might want both to make a Schnibble. However, a pile of Fall fabrics was still sitting on my cutting table from my Butterscotch Scrap Jar Stars, and I am still longing for Fall to begin, so I cut some 2 1/4" squares from the selection on hand.

Ta dah!!!

I got 4 cute cute cute little blocks made. They each measure 4" and they are all sitting on one of my little design mats that measures 10" square. Now I do have plans for bunch more of these but life intruded again yesterday, and changed my plans to the point that I only had a tiny bit of time to sew. But even 4 little blocks is better than nothing.

I do have plans today for more sewing but considering how poorly my recent plans have worked out I probably should plan not to sew at all - reverse psychology - do you think it works on life?? Yeah I didn't think so either.

Hope you having a lovely Labor Day that only involves labor you want to do!
Happy stitching-
carol fun