Coming out of hibernation??

This will be a boring post, I'm afraid.  All I've really worked on this week is my 3 Color Cashmere (& silk) Cowl.  And I finished it!

I used Miss Babs Sojourn in Coos Bay (light blue), Blackwatch (darker blue), and Sable.  I did run low on the Coos Bay, which is why the interesting mix of blues toward the top on the lace section.  It was a fun knit though!  I really enjoyed having an interesting row to knit among the straight stockinette rows as I knitted along.  Plus the color changes.

Here is a pile of my knitted woolies for warmth:

If you work your way from top to bottom, they are the 3 Color Cashmere Cowl, the Moebius cowl from Vogue Knitting, the Walking Tour Scarf, and the Wear With All Stole.

I didn't work on my Fussy Cut Friday star quilt this past Friday.  I was too busy chipping at the thick layer of ice that formed on the driveway from the first part of the multi-day storm Tuesday into Wednesday, plus more snow on top of the ice crust (at least an inch or two thick).  We actually got stuck on the driveway once on Thursday after the second storm, the ice was so bad.   Here is a pic of me with the ice chipper that the father type took to show how high the snow piles are along the driveway.  I'm 5' 2" so that will give you an idea.

Anyway, my hands and finger muscles get so sore from the ice chipping that I can't hold a needle to sew.  So knitting was the answer, thank goodness!  It's nice that knitting doesn't require gripping something.  lol!

I heard somewhere that we've gotten something like 52" of snow this year.  Nothing compared to the almost record (or maybe they've reached the record?) 106" or so of snow in Boston.  But it's still way too much.  And the ice was even worse.  (It started out as slush, and then froze.  Ugh.)

The father type and I braved the end of the snow storm on Thursday to go into NYC for a concert.

I think by this time, you could call me a true Chris Thile/Punch Brothers groupie.  lol!  They were wonderful, of course!  Best band ever!

Here are a few sights we saw along the way.

                                Ice on the Hudson out the train window.

Verdi Square in the snow.

A view of the lobby from the waiting area outside the loge.

A glimpse of the Beacon Theatre from the loge.  A really pretty theatre!

Punch Brothers!  Looks like it's on TV or something.  lol!

Mia has been coming out of hibernation from the end of the storm on Thursday on.  It's like having her back from a long absence.  lol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!  And that we all thaw out where such is needed desperately!  Come on spring!

Um, yeah

Here is my progress on His Eye.  I finished Adam and Eve and the tree!

Now before you all start saying -- oh wow, you're almost done, let me remind you that I'm not almost done.  See all those motifs below the words but to the left and top left of the tree?  I need to stitch them all again on the other side of the tree.  Every single motif.  The berry basket on top of the tree also is a middle line.  So yeah.  Still tons to stitch.  I finished the flowers on the border though, so the border is finished.

But I am pleased with my progress, and glad to have that blasted tree of knowledge stitched.  I dislike stitching trees, especially this kind of tree.  Ironic, huh?  (I love Adam and Eve samplers, as you might have noticed.)

We have reached week 49 of Fussy Cut Fridays as of this past Friday.  So I laid out all my 48 stars once again.

See those white diamonds at the bottom between the stars?  I will be making white and off white diamonds to sew in between the stars just like that.  That is what will hold the stars together.  With this layout, I figured I need 8 more half stars, not full stars.  So from this point on, I'm making half fussy cut stars.

I made the top half star from the Moonlit collection (Cotton and Steel) by Rashida Coleman.  The bottom half star is from the Fancy collection by Lily Ashbury.

I'm wondering if I will be cutting out and sewing the diamonds between the stars all next year.  lol!

Last Sunday evening, something very unpleasant happened.  My laptop crashed yet again.  In exactly the same way.  It's an Apple Macbook Pro from 2011.  If one searches on this year, one finds that a bunch of the Macbook Pros made during 2011 were produced and are faulty.  They break down in exactly the way mine has broken down 3 times.  The first time was in spring of 2013,  when it was still barely under warranty.  The second time was this past October, mid October.  Not that long ago.  And now as of November 30 (a month and half later), it broke down again.  There is a petition that I have signed along with other Macbook Pro owners affected by this flaw, asking Apple to address the issue and give us a new Macbook Pro as a replacement.  I seriously doubt that will happen.

If anyone is interested in this matter of the faulty Macbook Pros, here is an article about it.  I have to say that in general, I love Apple products.  This is the one time I've found Apple to be at fault with something I've purchased.

Anyway, my sweet Father type took matters in charge instantaneously.  He ordered me a Macbook Air Sunday night.  It arrived Tuesday.

It's smaller and much lighter than my old laptop.  I'm still in the process of checking to see what files I'm missing.  I did keep a backup, but it was from October.  But I'm very happy with my early Christmas present!  Thank you, my Father type!  I'm so lucky Santa was able to give me such a present!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

New starts, and finishes - sort of

I have a finish that I started this week.  I am waiting for the beautiful robin's egg blue box and the ric rac trim to come so that I can have a real finish.  But the stitching is done.

This is Autumn Posy by Plum Street Samplers.  I absolutely love this design and had to get it.

I had another new start once I finished Autumn Posy.  It's His Eye is on the Sparrow by Heartstring Samplery.

I love the colors on this one.  It's a biggie!  I'm using 40ct Doubloon linen by Picture this Plus and the called for GAST and WDW threads.

I also finished all the hexies on my hexagon purse.  Pictured is the two sides rolled up plus the bottom of the purse.  Now I just have to psyche myself up to finish it into a purse!

(You can also see a bit of Mia and her button in the upper left corner.)

And here is my fussy cut star for the week.  I think it's number 38!  It's another fabric from the Blue and White collection by Michael Miller.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  Hope you don't mind 2 posts in one day!  Have a great week!

empty nest again

Here is my Hornbook Bestiary progress.

I love the sheep so much -- I'm glad he's there to represent wooly goodness.  The turkey is a bit early, but he's ready when he's needed!

I'm making slow progress on the second side of the hexie purse now that I'm home.  But I do love it!

Can you see it?  It's sitting on the father type's laptop.  lol!

And here's my fussy cut Friday star -- still using the octopus fabric from Tula Pink's Salt Water collection.

The boy child was home for most of the week.  He and Mia got a lot of cuddles in.

But then on Friday, it was time for this once again.  (See the train in the distance?  Sigh....)

Back to Boston to get ready for the new school year.  The boy child's classes start on September 8.  I can't believe it's that time again!

I'm enjoying the US Open tennis so far.  The last slam of the year is going great so far!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

It's Mia's fault

Yup.  It's Mia's fault.  I started a new project.  It's the Hornbook Bestiary by Scarlet Letter.  I'm using the materials from the kit, AVAS.

This is done in tent over one on 35ct.  The angel has so many stitches!  I so want to get to the ABCs, but I'm determined to finish the angel first.

Here's my fussy cut star for the week, using a fabric from Wiscasset by Minick and Simpson.

And here's my progress on the Cobblestone sweater for the boy child.  It's been too warm to work for long stretches on a wool sweater.  (My hands get sweaty.  Do others have this problem?)

So why is it Mia's fault that I started a new project, you ask?  Very simple.

Monday, I was cutting her claws, and I noticed at least 3 of the claws on her right paw looked injured.  I looked up what to do online, and of course freaked out.  lol!  Mia was due for her yearly exam in another month or so anyway, so I took her in for that as well.  She got her vaccines after the vet confirmed that her paw was ok, that I just should watch it.

I went to a dentist appointment in the afternoon, got home and found poor Mia crouching miserably on the ground.  She had thrown up in a few places and looked very unhappy and unwell.  I called the vet's, and yes, they said it was probably a reaction to the vaccines.  So back in we went (Mia struggled mightily both times, she is so afraid of the vets) and poor Mia got a benadryl shot to combat her allergic reaction to the vaccines.  Yikes.  From now on, when she gets her vaccines, she will have to have a benadryl shot first.  It took Mia another day before she got back to her normal self.  And I think one more day before her temp was back to normal.

Mia at the vet's

It was very stressful for both of us, Mia and me.  She hates the vet, I hate when she's sick.  And what happens when I get stressed?  I decide to start a new project.  lol!  So yeah.

I'm psyched.  Wimbledon starts tomorrow!!!!!!  (Can you tell Wimbledon is my favorite slam?)

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week. ( Did anyone else watch the US  at the FIFA World Cup last night?  Wow!  It was so exciting!)

Two classes! (loooong post)

I will show my progress on the current known projects first.  Here is my latest Fussy Cut Star, number 15.  I used another Judie Rothermel fabric for this one and love it.

And here are the City Sampler quilt blocks I made this week.

(The top two are butt ugly IMO.  lol!)

Sadly, A Parrot has been put aside for now.   But I have good reason.

On Tuesday, I ventured back into NYC to go to this shop, String.

I went there to take a class in Fair Isle!  I've wanted to learn how to knit fair isle and intarsia forever.  After all, I've been a huge Kaffe Fassett fan ever since he first came out with those magnificent huge intarsia sweaters years and years ago.  Our class project was this piece, the Mobius cowl from Vogue Knitting Magazine.

It was a great class, and I came away having learned a great deal.  Afterwards, I wandered around a bit.  Here are a few sites I saw.

This is a cupcake ATM!  lol!  The screen on the left is where you make your choices and purchase, the door on the right opens to reveal your cupcakes all boxed and ready to go.  No, I didn't try them, just watched.

This is the food market in Grand Central.  An amazing place!  Full of everything you could want -- fresh produce, baked goods, fresh meats and seafood, prepared foods to take home, cheeses, nuts and legumes, -- everything!  I loved strolling through to see what was available.

I met the father type in Grand Central, and we went to the food concourse and ate at Junior's for dinner.

Junior's is most famous for their cheesecakes, so of course, we had to have dessert.

In the course of our telling each other about our days, I discovered that the father type went to a talk and book signing for an author at Google.  (Google is constantly getting famous people to talk and/or play music at their site.)  I plotzed when I found out who the author was -- Emma Donoghue!!!!

Unbeknownst to the father type, I am a huge fan of hers, having read many of her books.  And of course, I just started her latest book, "Frog Music."  But of course, her talk was around the same time as my class anyway.  Ah well.  The father type has a signed copy of "Frog Music" somewhere in his office space now.  Lucky guy.

Now here are the results of my fair isle knitting once I was home.  First up, a start on the Lidya scarf from Rowan magazine number 48.  (I got the yarn for this one when that magazine first came out years ago, in the hope of being able to knit it one day.)

Then it was back to the class project.  My progress so far.

Still working on tension.  I think I'm mostly good, except perhaps for the longer floats in a few places.  And the Koigu yarn is a pleasure to work with, much more forgiving than the Rowan yarn for the Lidya scarf.

As if that weren't enough, on Saturday, my friend Kathy (no blog) and I headed down to NJ, almost to the Pennsylvania border, to attend a class with Catherine Theron!  So exciting!

There she is, standing in the blue sweater, which I've been told was hand knitted by Catherine herself!

In the foreground of the picture, you can see my friend Kathy's sewing box (which Kathy is digging into), which she stitched (it's a design by Cathy Campbell of Primitive Traditions).  I've always admired it.  Here's a pic of the top.

Anyway, back to the class -- here's the class kit!

We also could buy two smalls kits, one for a needlebook, one for a scissor holder and fob, complete with tiny Bohin scissors.  I, of course, bought them.

It was a great class, and the best part is the finishing looks easy.  I like easy.  lol!  I don't have much progress to show, just some nun stitch on the border of one piece.

This is what happened when I got home from class.

Mia jumped into my stitching bag as I was unpacking it.  Of course.  It was also a beautiful day, so Mia was enjoying the open windows and doors.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!