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.