Anna's Sweater

Well, now that Anna's birthday is over and we have given her her gift, I can post this picture. I used the Ashford Tekapo yarn for the sweater and knitted it from the top down. The basic directions came from a book by Cathy Carron, on knitting sweaters from the top down. The best part is she likes the sweater and it fit!!

The family met at the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday meal. We had a great time. I had their chicken soup, it was delicious and then I had the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake. Oh, it was good.

A New Ashford Kiwi!

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, the sounds that were heard, above the Christmas music playing, were some hammers tapping, some drills lightly drilling and some sandpaper sanding. Not having a basement, cause we live in Texas, home of tornadoes and no basements, I came home from walking and what did I see? I saw an old purple quilt hanging on chairs as Jeff was behind there making these noises. LOL!

Eventually, the blanket came down and a large box stood in its place and hubby decided to take a break. Hmm, said I, "I could go there and peek." But, no, I didn't 'cause I like the surprise. On Christmas morn I rushed down the stairs and we opened the gifts, saving the largest for last. There before me, was a new Ashford wheel. Jeff had conspired with my SIL, Cathy, and they had come up with a new design for another Ashford Kiwi! Look at this wheel, it is absolutely gorgeous. Cathy, who is in New York, by the way, did the painting and Jeff did the building.

For those who know wheels, that is the jumbo bobbin set up on it. So, I can spin fat yarns, to knit with. I had that kit here, to put on another Kiwi, but hadn't finished it. So, on Christmas morning, Jeff finished it(ain't he great?!) and now it is on the new Kiwi. OH, and this Kiwi is christened Cathy. :) In honor of my SIL who put in countless hours doing this for me. The backside of the wheel is painted too. So, if you are ever around the Texas Twisters and we are spinning, you will see gorgeous scenery facing you.

Merry Christmas

Well, I spent the better part of the last few weeks, working at the store. It was fun and I enjoyed it. I loved being able to wish our customers a Merry Christmas and feeding them cookies! When I wasn't there working, I was either baking or knitting gifts. I actually tried my hand at making Baklava this year. I learned a lot and it turned out pretty good for my first try. Well, we think so anyway. The jury is still out on it, as several neighbors received some. I also made the butterscotch cookies that Martha Stewart has on her website. They were wonderful. I will be making them again. Then there are the ginger snaps, that were my Mom's recipe. Yummmmm! Thanks Mom! There were sugar cookies and brownies too. Why did I bake so much? OH, well it has been my thing to make up plates of cookies for neighbors and then Jeff takes them to the neighbors. It is a great way to meet neighbors and get to talk to them. Also, in our new neighborhood, we have been truly blessed with some of the BEST neighbors ever. They are great and they also bring us treats! Last Christmas when we were still in the throws of moving in, several of them helped unload the truck and then brought us treats too!

Well, the knitting is done, the wrapping is done, the baking is done, the laundry is done(well almost done) and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. What to do now. Hmmm. I have several projects to work on now. I need to start weaving on a scarf, that I promised Jeff, years ago. The loom was warped, way back then. Of course, we bought a store and then moved, so it went to the back shelf. I am knitting a sheep, yep, a sheep. The pattern is from Knit.1 magazine. I have a shawl to get started, a pi shawl to finish, AND I have 5 skeins of NORO that I am still trying to figure out what to do with. Hmm. Any suggestions?

Merry Christmas to all! I thank God for the greatest gift of all, His Son.

More Christmas Knitting

Wow! Time is flying by. It has been a while since my last post. But, I have been knitting daily. :) Never fear. I have finished the mittens to go with the hats and have even embellished the hats! I tried to do fairisle knitting for the mittens, so they would be warmer, have two layers of yarn, but it didn't really work. So, I frogged the sample and went down several needle sizes and just knit them tighter. Not too tight, though, cause I wanted them to be able to bend their hands.

A couple of weeks ago, I drove over to Bek's home, to have a hair cut. At lunch, C prayed for Gramma and her Dad to have safe trips home. Wow! When I left their home, I stopped at the store and coming out from the store discovered a nail in my tire. So, I looked at it and thought, well, the tire isn't flat and I don't hear air escaping. I figured I had a good chance of making it to my favorite Discount Tire store. I did! They are so nice in there, let me tell you. They fixed my tire and did it for free. Oh, you are probably thinking, "Sure they did, you bought your tires there." Nope, I didn't. This is the second time, in the last 2 months, they have fixed my tires for free. When I asked, why, they said, please come back and see us, when you need tires for your car. You bet I will. They have a really nice and CLEAN waiting room, where I felt comfortable knitting on my project each time I was there.

So, if you have a Discount Tire shop near you, try it. You might like it. :)

Christmas Knitting

Wow! December is here! It has blown into north Texas with a lot of wind and warm temperatures. While some of you reading this may be under severe winter storms, we have sun and a balmy 70+ degrees outside. Not that I am bragging, because I do like snow and miss it. It is hard to believe that it is December and that we need to be thinking Christmas. LOL! Well, some folks on my list will be getting these great hats. I decided I could put the Christmas knitting on here and just not say who it is for. HO! HO! :) It will keep people in suspense, of course, there will be some folks who will know who loves these colors and make a good guess. I made these hats from my handspun and they are really soft and warm. The other little picture is a gift frogged. So, it is in the corner, since it didn't behave. OK, if you are not a knitter and are reading this you are thinking that I have gone mad. Frogged??? Yep, you know, rip-it, rip-it, rip-it. It was knitted and then ripped out, cause the idea didn't work. So, stay tuned to see if the ball of cotton will be able to be tamed or not.

Thanksgiving

Well, here it is, exactly a week after Thanksgiving. I am just downloading my pictures from the camera and wanted to share 2 of them with you. We had some great centerpieces for our table this year. C and N worked really hard with their Mom to make them for us. We were delighted to have them on our table!

Here are the girls holding their paper mache turkeys.



However, Lil' D and JoJo didn't want to miss out on anything, and they were able to take a ride on the turkeys. Lil' D had eaten a little too much turkey and wouldn't sit up on hers, so C had to hold her in place.

I am busy doing Christmas knitting right now. I hope to be able to post some of it up here, but it may have to wait until after Christmas. :) AND you know why. LOL!

A Wonderful Gift

Ok, Lil' D and JoJo have made their first appearance on the blog. They actually demanded that they should have their time on this blog. Who are Lil' D and JoJo? OH, they are my knitted(of course) dolls. My friend, Deb, who now lives in the cold and snowy state of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota, first made Lil' D. She made her for me after she moved from Texas to Minnesota. So, I would have company when I missed her. So, I then made JoJo, to be a little like me, notice she has gray hair. Heehee! Well, everyonce in a while they get to take field trips with me, but lately they have been sitting on the kitchen counter holding on dearly to the Hershey Chocolate can. They like chocolate. So, when they demanded their photo be on the blog, I thought OK, let's get you with the Hershey can. You can see them over in the margin.

In May Deb came to visit me for a couple of days. We had a great time yarn shopping, is there anything else, and driving all over north Texas to do it. When she arrived she gave me a fabulous handknitted, felted purse, that is fully lined. What a wonderful gift! Well, the girls have been telling me to get it onto the blog, so I said OK, and with your picture. They were so excited, they ran over to my restored antique spinning wheel, which hubby Jeff did for me, and they jumped on. They fell off several times too. Then they forgot to look at the camera and JoJo lost her clothes, she is so thin they don't stay up. Imagine that! So, here they are showing you my great purse, that I absolutely love. THANKS DEB!

Wow!

It is hard to believe that a whole week has gone by, since I last posted. We went to a friends wedding reception on Saturday night. We had a fabulous time.

I have had an strange scenario with my bank of late, that is finally solved. I want to share it here, because it might help you, someday. I am going to bullet point the description, because it is actually a VERY long story. It starts in June, 2007.

June, 2007: There is a strange deposit of $300 on my statement and then it is withdrawn. After calling, I discover that a person, who has an account at the same bank, thought she had her account number memorized. Nope, she didn't. When they figured that out, is when the money was withdrawn. The money was deposited, originally, by one of those paycheck advance companies. I was told it was OK. No problem.
July: Statement arrived, I put it on my desk. (Wrong move, open all your statements and look at them.)
Aug: Same as July.
Sept: I finally open the statement, angry at myself for letting several months go by. To my surprise, said statement had a $90 withdrawal, from the paycheck advance comp. Arg. I open July and August's statements. Same withdrawal. I was paying back someone elses loan!
Called my bank, talked to a supervisor, for a while, until she was convinced I didn't need to be paying someone elses loan. Then I had to sign affidavits etc. All monies have been returned. :)She advises I close current checking account, as quick as possible, and open new account. So, we opened a new account that day.
October: I am checking my balance in the old account every day, to make sure the company isn't getting anymore of my money. The withdrawals were on the 6th of each month. On the 10th I thought I was safe. So, I stopped my daily ritual. A mistake. On the 16th, said company withdrew $570 from old checking. Why??? I have no idea. I discovered it when I opened my October statement, the day it arrived. :) I called my bank and talked to the wonderful employee and she did what needed to be done and the $570 is back in my account. Old checking is now closed.

This was a nightmare for me and a hassle, as you can imagine. Please keep an eye on your bank accounts and if you get any weird deposits, keep even a closer eye on it or close it and open a new account. These paycheck advance companies seem to be ruthless and greedy.



Well, to keep busy and my sanity I did finish two pair of socks. They were a lot of fun to make and I really love how they turned out. I knitted 2 socks at the same time on 2 circular needles. If you knit socks and haven't tried this you should. When you are done you are done! No second sock to knit. :) My next pair of socks will be with the yarn I dyed in Louisiana.

Front Hallway

When we moved into the House in the Woods last year, we knew we would have to do a lot of painting and remodeling. We do these projects ourselves, well mainly hubby does them and I help, so it takes a while. But, when we are done we have a quality job.

Yes, what you are seeing is brown paint on the walls AND yes, the paneling does clash with it. This is or was the view you see when you enter the house.

We have been working on the entryway. Part of it, behind the mirror is painted off white and we left the

paneling. While I was away in Louisiana, hubby removed the paneling that was on the wall you are facing and put up wallboard. The next picture is the middle picture. So, I have the before picture and the not quite done picture. He has put a great texture on the wall and it is being painted and then will be rag painted. I will take a picture of it when done and the pictures etc are back in place. Actually, this is a close up, so you can see the texture.

Do you like my yarn? It is my handspun and I thought it would look great in front of the new wall. I don't know what I will knit with it yet, but someday the finished project will be on here. Keep watching. :)

A New Felted Project

I absolutely love knitting with the Ashford Tekapo yarn. It felts greats everytime I use it and want it to felt. Well, I guess it would felt great, if I didn't want it to felt and threw it into the washer with hot water. LOL! But, as of yet, I have not done that. Anyway, it does felt wonderfully. It is a soft yarn, made from the Corriedale sheep, so I can knit sweaters etc with it too. Down here in TX we get into carrying our water everywhere we go. Sometimes, I wonder why as a Mom I took the time to train my children to get off the bottle, when now we carry them around 24/7. Haha! A friend of mine, asked me to make a felted bottle cover for her son's lunch box, for work. You see, if you don't have an insulated bottle for your water here, you can make a "cup o' tea" with your bottled water during the summer. Well, of course, the pattern I had wouldn't fit his bottle, so I created a pattern and made the cover and it worked pretty well. I liked it. Because he loves the Dallas Cowboys, I made it blue.

I had to take a picture of my sheep, Summer, too. Hubby knows that I love sheep and, one time when he was in Family Christian Stores, he found a display of sheep. He bought me Summer and Sandy. Sandy is a little camera shy, so I did't force her to take her picture.

We are having wonderful weather now. Fall temps have arrived! Actually one morning last week, our low was 35F. But, it warmed up to the mid-70's. We usually do have a big fluctuation of temperatures here.

Waiting For Fall!

Well, you all are probably getting tired of hearing this, but I am still waiting for fall. The weather men are trying to tell us, that it will be here tonight. But, I am waiting for the proof. Well, I know, actually fall is here, it is the cooler weather that I am waiting for. :) We have had a very windy day today and those winds are supposed to shift tonight and come from the north. Ok, I know I am grumbling. Sorry.

Having moved into the house in the woods last year, I am working ever so slowly on window treatments. I am on a war against mini blinds or any kind of blinds. So, I am making curtains. They are coming along nicely, though. I got an idea working on the last set, that I could knit tie backs. Yep, you heard me right. I decided to knit tie backs. They came out nice and really look nice on the curtains, adding a touch of lace. Here is the picture of them.

Yet more hats!

Well, I know it is fall, I even put a fall picture on my blog to remind us. But, we have had such a warm fall, that it still feels like summer! Of course, I live in north Texas and anything is possible here, on the weather front anyway. For several days now, I have been pulling acorns and oak leaves out of the pool. If I don't get the acorns out fast enough they leave black circle stains on the bottom of the pool, so then I have a pool that looks like a dalmation! The only way to get the stains out is to shock the pool. I did that today.
I keep trying to tell myself that I need to concentrate on Christmas and get started on my knitting. But, I keep finding other projects to work on. Do you realize that Christmas is only about 9 weeks away?? Geesh! I did, however, get two more hats made and here they are. My try at remembering that Christmas is just around the corner. :)

Pumpkins and Pilgrims

I love fall colors and fall weather. I don't get to see many fall colors here in Texas, so one year I decided to design and knit some colorful pumpkins to decorate my home. I had so much fun making these little pumpkins that I kept going until I had enough to fill a basket. That is the picture that you see to the right, decorating my blog for fall.

Hats are popping up all over

Last week, when I drove to my daughter's home, I went to take pictures of the new hats that I have designed and knitted and to visit with her. This hat is a vintage lace style and has a carnation style flower on it. I loved making it. I knitted it in the round on one circular needle. Then I created the flower. C looks absolutely lovely in it, but I am a predjudiced Gramma. :)

The other hats that I made were of a pie theme.

Here N, is wearing my Blueberry Pie with whipped cream. Doesn't she look great too, sporting her favorite color, blue? The flower is the same as the Vintage Hat, but double the size, giving it the look of a pile of whipped cream. I also did a Cherry Pie and Pumpkin pie.

I think the girls did a great job modeling for me. As you can tell by N's shirt, it was hot outside and they humored Gramma by modeling WINTER hats in 90+ degree weather.

At the moment the hats are listed for sale on ebay.

Texas Motor Speedway

One of the great things about living in the Dallas, Texas. area is being able to either attend races at the Texas Motor Speedway or take the class and actually race a NASCAR. Many years ago, I was able to do that and it was a very exciting experience. I have an internet friend, who has a son and he absolutely loves NASCAR and racing.

When I go to my daughter's home, I get to pass this wonderful racetrack. So, I took these pictures for him and for anyone else that might like to see the Texas Motor Speedway empty and getting ready for the Dickies NASCAR race that will be here in November. This is the sign at the main entrance, out by I-35.

This is what you see as you come into the racetrack under the sign, that is above. It is the small track.

This is the condo area. People can own them and rent them. You can actually watch a race from them.

Next you see the race track. I had to back up a bit to try to get the whole thing in the photo. And I didn't get the far end on the right into the photo.

I hope you enjoyed my little tour of the Texas Motor Speedway, below is what you see when you leave.

The Finished Entrelac Bag

Well, here it is! The finished bag. I am so happy with how it turned out. The handles are great, they are gray and I sewed them into the inside of the bag and lined the bag with a light blue fabric. As any gal will tell you, light colors lining a bag are a BIG plus! Maybe I will be able to find an item, like my keys, if they fall to the bottom. The black worked out great, because where I ran out of the colored yarn, was very close to where the bag started decreasing for the bottom. After I fulled it, you can still sort of see the stitches, I blocked it out over a plastic bucket. The bucket is about the size of one of those metal popcorn tins, you see for sale, with popcorn of course, at Christmas time.

Anyway, my plastic bucket came from a Shipley donut shop. It is what their flour would come in and they sold me the bucket. I have had if for years in the pantry storing bags of sugar, flour, noodles etc. You know, in Texas we have to be careful about those pesky bugs liking to invade everywhere.

Well, now onto other projects!

On September 7th, at the Cajun Lagniappe, in Louisiana, I took a yarn dying workshop. Here are the two skeins that I dyed. The ball of yarn is space dyed and the loose skein was dunked into a canning jar full of blue dye and then the other end was space dyed/painted. I am disappointed in the skein, because I had interspersed the orange color with the brown color, by handpainting the yarn. The brown ran and you can hardly tell that there is any orange at all. But, that is what happens when dying, so I am told, and the skein is very pretty anyway. These two skeins will one day be 2 pair of socks. Watch for them to start appearing here in a few weeks, I have other items on the needles right now. Some of the items I am knitting, I cannot talk about, because they are Christmas presents and my family reads, well at least I think they do, :) my blog.

New Bag is finished

Well, I decided to do 2 bags of the New Bag. I really like this pattern and it knitted up quickly, considering how much time the entrelac bag is taking. (See below) I didn't get a photo of the finished one, that I did for my wonderful friend, but I took a picture of the finished one that I knitted for me. I was able to take it to the Cajun Lagniappe fiber retreat, in Louisiana, on Sept 6. It was a great little purse to have. With the long strap, I could put it across from my shoulder to my hip, so it wouldn't fall off. I put a flower on both purses and a little charm on each too. My friend's had her initial and mine has a coffee pot. Now, if you see me with it sometime, you will notice that the rose and charm are not on it anymore. :( On my way home from Louisiana, it was pulled off, somehow. Both the red rose and charm are on the road at one of our stops. SO, if you happen to live along the road between Louisiana and Texas and see a felted red rose with a coffee pot charm attached, it is mine. You can post me here and let me know. OK?

The Saga of the Entrelac Bag

I have run out of yarn again! I do have the bag finished now, except the handles. I have only 1.5 yards of the yarn left to do the handles. They are going to be pretty small handles. Ha! Ha! :) The question is, what do I do now? Hmm. I have no more black roving to spin. I have no more of the colored roving to spin or knit. I could order more, but that would take time and I want to finish this bag and use it.

So, I did what any handspinner or knitter would do at this point. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought handles that are pre-made. :)

This picture is the finished bag before felting. You will have to come back to see the finished product. Any bets on when I will finally finish this?

My bag took over 200 yds more than the one in the Knitter's magazine. I don't know if anyone else experienced this or not. I have talked to other knitters about entrelac. So far, we have a love-hate relationship with this stitch. If non-knitters are reading this, entrelac is the stitch that makes this bag look kind of like it is woven. It is a great stitch, but it is a lot of knitting. Not usually a problem, since I like to knit. However, I also like to get projects done and get new ones started. It does take time to do this stitch. But, I can tell you the time is well worth it, because I am liking how the bag looks. Now to get it all finished.

New Bag

I have a great friend here, in Texas, who does LOTS of charity knitting. She has been knitting for our troops since the war began. She knits hats for them and before that she crocheted slippers for the navy soldiers. She wanted to knit more hats and faster, so she bought a knitting machine. Several years ago, when I asked her how many she had made, the total was about 475! She has continued to make these hats, at about 30 a month since. The yarn is supplied by her, on her fixed income. Not only that, but she knits for CIC and for an indian reservation in Montana, I believe. My friend just had a birthday and I wanted to do something for her, since she does for others all the time. Here is the beginning of a bag for her, that will be felted.
I am using my handspun yarns and it is my take of a pattern that was in Knitter's magazine. Stay tuned for the finish project!

The Entrelac Bag

Well, I am still knitting on the entrelac bag, that I
wrote about nearly a month ago. I have hit a snag though. What snag?? OH, well I have run out of yarn! I wasn't sure in the beginning if I had enough, but thought I would try and see. I was only about 5o yards short according to the directions. The pattern used many different colored skeins and I was using single skeins with many colors in them, so I guess I was hoping there was yarn left over from the original pattern. Guess not. Thankfully, the bag was started at the top, which I had taken into consideration when I started it. I figured that I could add another yarn to it, if needed. I also waited to make the handles. So, the question is, what handspun did I have that would work and would it felt pretty much the same as the colored yarn. None. I hadn't really thought that far ahead. Hahaha! So, I dug through my fiber stash. Oh, by the way, my family would agree that I DUG through my fiber stash. There is a lot of it, and the only way to get through it is to dig. :) Well, I came up with 4 oz of black wool. Don't you just love black? It can come to the rescue so easily.
Hmm. I liked that idea, so I went for it. Here it is. I actually love vivid colors with black. It reminds me of the church I grew up in. It has absolutely gorgeous stained glass windows.

The next time you see this bag, it should have black on it. The question is: Will I have enough yarn now?? We shall see.

Sunrise

Have you ever seen a sunrise, or sunset, that you think is so absolutely gorgeous you want to either knit it, paint it on a canvas, quilt it, or somehow make it a permanent impression somewhere? Last week a terrible hurricane, named Dean, crossed over the Gulf Of Mexico, leaving much destruction in its wake. However, in Texas it caused some absolutely spectacular sunrises. Here are two of the pictures I took through our trees in the front yard. The colors were spectacular, the blues, purples, yellows, and pinks, and then to have them against the black of the shaded trees. The second picture is a little blurry, but the colors are better. I was, unfortunately, in a hurry when taking the pictures, because sunrises don't last
forever.

Prayer Shawl

Well, here it is. My most recent design and pattern. I wanted to send a prayer shawl to a friend and needed it to be extra cuddly, which this one is. I just love the feel of it draping around my shoulders. Hopefully, she will feel the love and prayers that went into making it for her.

Here is the back of the shawl. There are a total of 5 crocheted flowers appliqued onto the shawl.

Magic Loop Knitting

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to test knit a sock pattern for her. She had written her pattern for knitting with a magic loop. So, I searched the internet and found several great explanations on how to do this technique. I knitted her sock pattern using the magic loop and I am now "in love" with the process! So, I dug out my Denise needles, which I sell on my website, and found the 40 inch long cord and went to work. First I made a cap out of my bulky handspun, while I test knitted the pattern I wrote. Then, I decided to start my Christmas projects. This pattern is from an old Family Circle Knits magazine and it was written to knit it flat. Not wanting to sew a seam and wanting to try my new technique again, I cast on and went to work. It is working up very nicely too.

In north central Texas, we didn't get much rain from Erin. Some folks not too far away did, though. But, I had to run the hose to the pool this morning, which means no rain here. We had about a week of 100+F temperatures, but we now have a cloud cover keeping the temps in the 90's. Still hot, yes, but cooler than 104!

The Finished Shawl

Well, here are the pictures of the finished Rainbow Shawl! I am really happy with how it turned out. It is so light and airy, perfect for air conditioning in cold places. I took it to the Denton, TX spinners meeting yesterday and several ladies there really liked it too.

I am now moving onto other knitting projects and have cast on for another shawl. I am making a prayer shawl for some friends in NY. They are having a really tough time right now, so I want to send them a hug and some prayers.

Our weather is the typical TX August. HOT, no wind. But, the good news is, I can go swimming in the pool. The water is 88 F and that is still cooler than body temp, so it still cools you off.

Handspun, Hand knit shawl

The knitting is done on my Rainbow shawl! I am so excited, because I even have yarn left over. I only had 495 yards to work with. When I started knitting this shawl, I had wondered if it would even get to be big enough to wear. I figured, it might have to decorate the back of a chair and hear me sigh('cause I couldn't wear it), when I looked at it. But, no, it is large enough to wear!

I had spun this yarn into a fine single ply and then plied it with sewing thread, so I could keep the colors separate. Because I was so limited on yardage, I decided to keep my design fairly simple. That is why there isn't a fancy edging on it. The final size is 56 inches x 36 inches and weighs 2.4 oz. I chose a simple lace pattern out of one of Barbara Walker's Treasury books and used size 7 knitting needles.

Our high temperature today is supposed to be at least 100F. I cannot complain, after all. After all the rain, we had earlier in our summer, our weather has been cooler than normal. Of course, even our cooler is still hot! We have had 90's. I am ready for the air conditioning in public places now, with my new shawl.

Dragon Fly and knitting progress report

One of the things that Texas is know for is bugs. I don't particularly care for most bugs, no matter where I live. However, in Texas we have lots of unwanted bugs and I really don't like those. Sometimes I wonder why God created some of these bugs. Maybe I will get to ask Him someday. This story is about a bug I saw the other day, it is a peaceful bug.

I was outside cleaning the pool and looked and there was a BLUE dragon fly. There was a yellow one just like him, only when the camera came out, he disappeared. Guess he wasn't as vain as the blue one. :) We actually have all kinds of dragon flies around and if I studied bugs, I could tell you all about this one. But, I don't. However, I was enamored because this is a blue one!

When I first started taking its picture, it kept flying away. Eventually, though, it let me get its picture. Then the little guy, decided it liked its picture being taken and kept following me around the pool! I would move about 3 feet, look down and there it was. I would move another 3 feet and there is was. I ended up taking many pictures, but saved only this one. You can even see the eyes on this one.

I have been knitting on the Rainbow shawl that I posted about and it is finished. I am blocking it right now and will post the picture of it, tomorrow. I am excited to get it done and get back to knitting the entrelac bag. I want to knit a summer top, I know, I better get going on it. However, summer doesn't really end in August, in Texas. We keep having hot weather until the end of September or October or even November.

I also have plans for a vest and ...... my mind thinks of more projects than my hands can keep up with. :)

Knitting an Entrelac Bag

I have always been intrigued by the entrelac stitch. When you are done with it, it will give the illusion that you have woven your knitting. So, when in 2001, I saw a pattern for a felted Entrelac Bag, in KNITTER'S magazine, I decided that one day I would make that bag. I have saved that magazine, with a marker on that page. At one point, I had purchased some yarn to make that bag, then decided not to use what I had purchased. Mainly, because I didn't get enough.
Well, this summer I found the yarn I wanted to use. I had purchased some roving from a local dyer and decided to use that roving.

Here you can see my bag with some of my yarn. I spun this yarn as singles, so I could keep the colors separate. I am really enjoying seeing how the colors are working up and am anxious to finish it so I can felt/full it.

I have learned to knit backwards. When working this pattern, if you knit one row and then purl the next, you are turning your work so much that you either make you dizzy, or give yourself whiplash.

The alternative is to knit backwards.

Driveway repairs

Well, that is a picture of some of the new gravel being put down in our driveway. Actually, I didn't dare get much closer to take a picture of the rest of the gravel, because there are big trucks out there and the men are not wanting a woman out there taking pictures. LOL! AND I certainly didn't want to end up under one of those piles! So, I stood on the front porch to take the picture.

We had sustained some damage to our driveway during the flooding rains that we had in north Texas.

The rain waters decided to cut an 18 inch deep by about 8 inches wide and about 20 feet long, little river bed for themselves to flow in. This, now dry little river bed, however, is not appreciated by our cars and their tires, so we are having it repaired.

It is funny to watch these grown up boys playing with their life size TONKA trucks and having fun. I for one am glad they enjoy it. I wasn't enjoying the idea of getting out there with a shovel to fix it, that is for sure.

A Rainbow Shawl

I had a very soft, hand painted, spinning roving and wanted to try some different things with it. I split it in half and used some of it to spin a very bulky yarn and some to spin finely for a shawl.The colors were the colors of a rainbow and painted on the roving in about 5 inch sections. I didn't split the color sections lengthwise, I tried to leave them whole and spin each color in a long yarn, thus having very long color repeats. When I was done spinning, knowing that I didn't have nearly enough for a wonderfully large lace shawl, and not wanting to ply the yarn on itself, because I liked the single color look, I thought I would ply the yarn with sewing thread, which I did. I used a blue thread and plied it in such a manner that the yarn has a lot of texture in it. Then came the swatching for the shawl. The stitch that I had wanted to use didn't lookvery nice, it was too busy for the texture in the yarn. So, I finally settled on the one you see here. I am really excited with how this shawl looks. I will post more when I get more knitted. Oh, and if you look at the ball of yarn, you can see the long color repeats in it.

Boat Ramp

The other day, I posted some photos of the boat ramp near our home. Jeff obtained a picture of the ramp and parking lot, from several years ago. This give you a perspective of the size of the lot and the walking bridge to the fishing dock.
Thought you might like to see this perspective too.

We are having a mostly sunny day today. The storm clouds are hovering around, just waiting to join together, to flood us with their precious gift of rain again. :) At least that is the forecast, and when you look up, you see blue sky and plenty of puffy clouds.

Happy 4th of July to all! Think back to our wonderful forefathers and mothers, who put their lives on the line for the freedoms we hold so dear to ourselves today. Thank you to all our veterans, especially my grandpa(deceased WWI), my dad(deceased WWII), my husband, and my son-in-law, for putting their lives "on hold" to serve for our freedom!

Flooding Pictures of Lake Lewisville

In north central Texas, we have been having a lot of rain. Last I heard, it was the second wettest June on record with 11.10 inches recorded at DFW Airport. Different areas around the metroplex have had more or less rain. So far, we have had 32.08 inches of rain for the year. Would someone look at the map and see if the Dallas, Ft Worth, Denton area of Texas was moved to Seattle, Washington area, in the middle of the month?? I have some great pictures that I took at the boat dock near our home. The boat dock is on Lake Lewisville. All the public ramps are closed, because the water is too high. So, Jeff and I went to see. Enjoy the pictures. This is the parking lot entrance.

Here is our car at the gate to the parking lot for the fishing dock and boat ramp. Can you see the water by the front tire?

We also encountered a curious egret. She was so curious, about our car and the funny lady taking pictures, that she kept moving closer. Then she flew away.

This light pole is in the middle of the parking lot. Can you see the light is on?

This is a fishing dock, that has a walking bridge to it. Notice the trees and light pole are in the water.

The bridge to the dock is submerged under water.

Did you want to know where the egret flew off to? I found her at the other end of the parking lot, with her baby.