The Pretty Side of Snow

More snow this weekend!  I really hesitate to complain, because we were lucky this time.  Many folks in the east are just completely snowed in.  My aunt in Virginia had 2 feet when I talked to her on Saturday and it was still snowing — hard and steady.  We were much luckier here.  There was just enough to cover the grass and the roads were clear.  The forecast calls for more snow starting tonight.  The thing is … I’m just really finished with the snow, but I guess it’s not finished with me yet.

Instead of grumbling, I decided to go through some of the snow photos I’ve taken and pick a few nice ones to share.  With the new camera, I’ve been taking lots and lots of photos.  It’s a good thing I’m not using film anymore  :-)

So … here’s the pretty side of the snow we’ve had lately.

How cool is this!  One Sunday morning after lots of rain, the temperatures dropped over night.  The frost designs the next morning were so gorgeous.

DH has dug paths to the feeders more than once this winter.  The birds and squirrels have been very grateful.  I have to stay inside the house (so I don’t scare anyone away) and try to snap a good picture through the glass door and frame it through the deck rails.

During desperate times, birds and squirrels shared the same feeders.  Eventually, the rope on the feeder broke — again — and will be fixed — again — soon.

I just love the little guy sticking his head through the cage to get to the seed.  You have no idea how many shots I took to get this one.  And isn’t the little yellow fellow a cutie!

We have seen three different woodpeckers at the feeders this year.  This guy is comes the most often.

There … I feel better now.  Thanks for coming by to visit.  Bundle up and stay warm, friends!

Sydney’s First Sweater – DOT

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!

Sydney’s never had a reason to wear a sweater in the winter until this year.  She’s a tough dog with a thick coat and just wouldn’t stand still for even a t-shirt.  Last Saturday it snowed and snowed — about 4 inches total.  When we got up Sunday morning, the temperature was zero.  So it was time for Sydney to try on the sweater.

Now this sweater has been around for a while.  It first belonged to Muggs (our big terrier mix, independent thinker), then Ginger (the beautiful golden retriever and Sydney’s mentor/best friend) who outgrew it quickly, and now it was Sydney’s turn.

Funny thing, though.  Did you know that in order to move in this sweater, you have to grab the neck and hold it in your mouth while you walk — or run?  We didn’t know that either, until Sydney demonstrated.  No, she’s not staring at the ground, she’s holding the neck of the sweater.  She’d let go and stand and watch DH.  He’d say, “Run, Sydney, run” and she’d grab the neck of the sweater and take off.  But it’s hard to see where you’re going or where you end up when you can’t raise your head.

OK, there’s a little background story to go with this — no pictures, just a quick story.  When Sydney was a pup, she loved her collar.  She’s still very attached and hates to take it off for any reason.  When we put her first shot tags on her collar, she couldn’t figure it out.  They jingled when she walked and felt funny.  So … she reached down and grabbed the tags in her mouth.  First she tugged and chewed and tried to get them off.  Then she finally gave in and pranced around the house, tags clutched in her mouth, ears perked and tail wagging.  It was such a sight!  Watching her in the sweater was like a repeat of the tag obsession.  I don’t know when we’ve laughed so hard.

She’s a funny little girl  :-)

Thanks for coming by and be sure to check out what’s going on with all our Dogs on Thursday friends here.

and

La La’s Simple Shawl – Finished

Here she is — my second shawl finished for 10 Shawls in 2010.

Simple Shawl 2010

La La’s Simple Shawl by Laura Linneman
Paton’s Kroy Socks FX – Clover Colors (2.57 skeins/403 yds)
U.S. size 6 circulars
Size 61.5 x 25 inches
CO 1.19.10, BO 1.28.10, Blocked 1.31.10

Notes:  All in all–very pleased. Easy to memorize and keep up with the pattern. Yarn didn’t stripe the way I anticipated, but I really like the look now that it’s stretched and blocked.  Cut out part of the yarn in the 3rd skein on the last garter rows so more orange/red color would be at the bottom to try to balance the concentrated color at the top.  Elastic cast off.  5 garter/stockinette/lace/ stockinette repeats, 5 garter rows at end, 265 stitches total

Modifications:  Cast on 7 sts instead of 5 so I could have two garter stitches on the edges.

Some say the Groundhog saw his shadow yesterday.  I’m just not going to worry about that now.  I have lovely shawls to keep me warm and if it stays cold a little longer, I have a little longer to wear them.  How’s that for positive thinking      :-)

Have a great day everyone!  Thank you so much for coming by to visit.

Made with ♥ Love

Yesterday I headed over to YoYo’s (Dragon My Needle) for the February meet-up of the Christmas Design SAL.  We’ll be working on our projects all week and YoYo will be showing our January progress on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Go on over and take a look.  Want to join us?  Check the link in her sidebar.

While I’m working on my Christmas Patchwork for the SAL, I thought I’d share some finished projects that haven’t made it to the blog yet.

This is the little snowman freebie from Wichelt.  I think I’ll call him Chubby Cheeks.

January 2009 Free Pattern from Wichelt Imports
Stitched on 14 count mystery fabric
DMC color substitutions to fit what I had on hand
No beads in the hat (may add later, not sure)
Added a “Made with ♥ Love” heart charm

When I taught myself to do counted cross-stitch many years ago, I made the  X  backwards.  I didn’t discover the fact for a couple of years and then just decided not to change.  With this project, I decided it was time to start learning to make stitches according to the “instructions”.  Old habits are hard to change sometimes.  There was a little frogging here and there and there’s one mistake that I left to remind me of what I’ve learned.

I haven’t decided yet just what to do with little “Chubby Cheeks”.  But I’m going to mark him finished for now.

Happy Groundhog Day!  Winter’s on it’s way out, I hope!

January’s Finishes

January has been a busy month.  Lots going on.  Thanks to several snow days there was some extra time to spend on projects.

January 2010 Finishes

• Happy 2010 Cloth (Monthly Dishcloth KAL)
• Winter Snowflake Cloth (KnitDishcloths KAL)
• Mr. Snow Ornament (Christmas Monthly Make Ahead group)
• Heartland Lace Shawl (10 Shawls in 2010 group and LotsofFO’s group)
• Frame My Heart with Lace Cloth (Monthly Dishcloth KAL)
• Simple Shawl is blocking now (10 Shawls in 2010 group and LotsofFO’s group)
• Needle Tin for me!  
• January’s portion of Christmas Patchwork (Christmas Design SAL)
• Snowman cross-stitch (Stitching is finished but I haven’t decided what to do with him just yet.)

Last finish — January’s assignment for Through the Eye of the Lens group (on Ravelry).  Each month will have a specific theme/assignment.  I haven’t gotten around to joining the group blog so I’m posting my photo here.  January’s theme was favorite trees.  We’ll revisit this assignment in 6 months to see the changes.  This is my favorite Golden Raintree in our backyard.  The squirrels and birds love this tree (see the dove in the background and the feeder hanging in the front ? ).  I love the double trunk and criss-crossed branches.  It’s a favorite backdrop for knitting projects, especially shawls.

Whew!!  January was a fun month.

How did your January go?

Snow’s Coming

They’ve been telling us for days that a big snow storm is on the way.  Depending on which forecast you’re listening to, we’re in for 1 to 2 to 5 inches.  Yesterday morning’s sky seemed to confirm that a change in weather was on its way.

All the birds and squirrels in the neighborhood seemed to hang out at the feeders in our yard during the last big snow.

So DH stopped by Southern States to stock up.  He’s adding a new seed mix that should appeal to everyone.

With all the talk of snow, I thought it appropriate to pull out the little snowman and try to get him finished.  He’s coming right along, don’t you think?Just a bit more “tummy” and a little puddle at the bottom and he’ll be ready to finish.  Any suggestions on how to finish him up?  I’m just getting back into stitching and need some finishing ideas.

I finished Shawl #3 last night and will get it blocked this weekend.  The colors are really pretty, the pooling a little odd, and the lighting is just not cooperating.  I’ll try to post a before and after blocking picture soon.  Shawl #2 is sitting quietly on the table staring at me so I guess after the little snowman is finished I’ll need to give it a little more attention.

Well, off to work.  Have a great day and thanks for visiting me!

Caught in the Act – DOT

Hi, guys!  How’s it going?  Hope you’re having a great Dogs on Thursday.

Me?  I’m just sitting here on Mom and Dad’s bed.

Resting on another one of the my quilts.  They put quilts and blankets in all my favorite napping spots.

I was NOT rolling on the bed.    

Shawl #3

So . . . why, you might ask, am I talking about Shawl #3 when I haven’t finished Shawl #2?  Maybe you’re not wondering that at all.  But I have to admit that I’ve been wonderin.

Well, Shawl #2 (here) is all garter stitch all the time, except for the increases, and it gets a little tiring.  The pretty blue color can carry the project for just so long.  And I have been working on it, just not all the time.

I found this really pretty sock yarn the other day but wasn’t in the mood for socks.  So after a little research on Ravelry, I came away with a shawl pattern.  Here’s La La’s Simple Shawl (Rav link).

I actually started on the 19th and this picture is from last week.  I’m using Kroy Sock FX in clover colors.  It reminds me of autumn and the arboretum colors.  The true colors are just a bit darker and deeper than the photos.  The pattern alternates garter rows and stockinette rows with a lace row thrown in the mix — simple with just enough variety to keep it interesting.  One more hard push and I should have this finished by the weekend.

Don’t forget to stop by for Dogs on Thursday tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy your day!

Heartland Lace Shawl

Heartland Lace Shawl — Shawl #1 for the 10 Shawls in 2010 Group on Ravelry — finished and finally blocked.  I had a little back trouble and had to wait until I could bend over the bed to do the blocking.  And here it is.

Heartland Lace Shawl
by Evelyn Clark
Malabrigo Sock – Persia (377 yards)
US size 6 circular
Started 1.1.10
Finished 1.10.10
Blocked 1.23.10
Finished Size:  65 x 25.5 inches

I’m very pleased with how this turned out.  When I started winding the yarn there was much more black and charcoal than I had anticipated and the turquoise was very bright.  After the magic of blocking, the pattern just pops and the coloring is dark but more subtle.

More pictures . . . rain and more rain this past week, so this is the best lighting I could get.  I’ll do some outdoor shots when the weather improves.

Thanks for visiting and have a great Monday!

Needle Tin

I love doing cross-stitch again.  I’m trying hard to keep things in check and not buy every chart and kit that catches my eye.  I especially enjoy looking at all the pretty projects on stitchers’ blogs.  Stitchers share tons of great tips and tricks.

I’ve had the worst time keeping up with needles the last couple of weeks.  I keep knocking them off the table, losing them in the chair.  Besides being a hassle, I just worry about Sydney finding them on the floor.  So far I’ve not really lost any, but it’s still a hassle.  A while back on someone’s blog (I’m sorry, I didn’t bookmark it so I can’t give credit) I saw a magnetic needle tin that they had covered with fabric.  It was lovely.  So . . .

My little needle tin sits on the table and keeps everything nice an neat.  There are usually more needles inside but I cleaned it up for the photo shoot.  The tin was originally a gift card holder — I loved the flower motif and the little charm.  I was in such a hurry to put it together than I didn’t line the bottom, which would have been nice.  The red disk is a jewelry pendant with a round magnet attached to the back.  It sits beside the Ott Lite when I’m stitching, keeps the needle from falling to the floor, and pops back into the tin when I’m finished.  Yea!!

I learn so much from other crafters.  Thank you, thank you!!!