Day 76, 77 & 78

I have done a lot of starting and finishing, just not writing about it.   I spent the afternoon with my friend Teri on Monday making applesauce, apple pie filling and some zucchini relish.....!  Two batches of applesauce.  The apples were all from Teri's parents back yard!  YUM!  I have never ha applesauce that good :-)
so that is counting for my starting and finishing that day.

I also started on my Heart Swap project - I will add the link for that later in this post - but the gist of it is there is a GREAT blogger, Linda, at Natural Suburbia who has wonderful knitting patterns among many otber things, and she does a Heart Swap once in awhile.  Any one who wants to sings up and we swap handmade things made with love.  Does not have to be heart shaped!  I lucked out - although I am nervous - with my swap partner.  It is Linda - the blog author and handworker extrordinaire!  Making stuff like her is a bit like bringing 'colas to Newcastle!  I tried my best..........
Here is her awesome blog - http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/

I crocheted some nesting bowls, made a vintage button bracelet, with elastic and I am gathering some California made stuff!  She lives in South Africa!  I am finding this fun and exciting....!

I also started on an Owl for a friend of my niece.  She wants it 'girlie' so it is going to be yellow, and purple.  I had to go out and get some more stuffing but I think I will be able to finish it tonight.

Jennifer also wanted something Waldorf Inspired for a 2 year old so I am knitting a striped ball!  It has been a fun project so far.

Hoot!  An owl in the making.

Nesting bowls!

RED vintage bracelet

The striped ball - just the half.

Here are the apples from the backyard trees.

Chop Chop Chop!

Cooking the apples for the applesauce

After being put through the strainer.

Applesauce and zucchini relish

Applesauce for the freezer

Day 75

I really like knitting fingerless mitts1  I started on a pair today.  It helps that the yarn I am using is Alpaca!  Soooo super soft!  I may teach a project class making them, so I need to make a sample pair.  I have made LOTS of gloves, with and without fingers, but I need to make a pair from a pattern that is simple.

I finished the Palamino horse - she has LONG legs :-)  I decided to name her Lucy because she has red and gold hair.... 
I also gathered some yarn to make another horse -the same cashmere blend brown striped yarn I made Ocean from and some variegated blue/purple yarn that I may use for a horse or for a small  Christmas stocking. 

I like the rhythm of knitting ribs with continental style knitting.  knit, purl, just use the left hand and move the yarn from front to back rhythmically. 

I also lined the crocheted lace purse I made for my friend Heidi. 


Here are the pictures.

Soft alpaca yarn, fingerless mitts.

Lucy!

Lucy the long legged horse

Lined.....

Day 72, 73 & 74!

Cheating bit but I have been knitting, just not taking pictures and writing about it.  I finished the 2 cup tea cozy, finished a cute little baby hat with a tassle.  I made that one with Cestari yarn, from Virginia, cotton and wool blend.  I also finished except for weaving the ends in, a blue bulky baby hat with ear flaps.  I also started knitting the magic scarf.  Phew! 

The knitting class is going well, too.  They both have not learned the Moss (or seed) stitch.  Yeah!  I am so proud of them :-)

Here are some pictures.

Cute bulky baby hat

Little cotton baby hat

Magic scarf - mostly red!

Finished small pumpkin tea cozy

Day 71

I had the LUCKIEST Day yesterday!  Sold my first item on my etsy website! Sold three horses - say goodbye to Zinnia, Ocean and Truffle.... got an order for a 2 cup tea cozy and sold a bunch of stuff on ebay and sold my 1948 Singer Featherweight! 
AND got stopped for speeding (not the lucky part) on my way home from knitting night at Craftology and did NOT get a ticket!!  They always give out tickets, right?  Well, I did not even get a lecture.....:-)

LUCKY day!
By the time I got home, I was feeling so light and happy I did not get any of my items finished, or photographed.  I hope to post again later today and get some pictures up.  I started on two small pumpkin tea cozies - 2 cup size - and I worked on the Palamino horse!

More later,
Love,
Lanie XXXOOO  good luck to everyone - pass it on!

Day 70! August 22

Well I finished another horse... and started on another one... crazed- obsessed!

I also did some work on the vintage baby blanket.  I worked out today, and I am tired.  Made dinner and some chocolate, raisin, walnut oat bars with whole wheat and spelt flour.  Pretty yummy!!!

I even vacumned the house today.  I hate housework.  *sigh*  and it takes time away from knitting!
Here are the pictures.
Love,
Lanie - see you tomorrow

I wanted to give her a ballerina name - so she is Isadora!

Tiny dancer

horse -maybe a Palamino?

Day 69, Sunday August 21

I had a wonderful, peaceful afternoon knitting with my friend Ellen!  She finished the most beautiful peach cabled sweater and baby booties!!  Gorgeous cables and cute hood!  She used that wonderful Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino.  yum!  And, she was also finishing a gorgeous sweater for her granddaughter made from a yarn I have yet to try and am dying to, by Jojoland.  It is a heathered yarn that changes color.  Can't remember its fiber content, but is is soft and feels great! 

More inspiration for me....  I know I need to buy no more yarn but....  i love it! 

I started, and finished a wee little horse.  I finished the horse named Ocean and I started on another horse with some chunky varigated blue/brown yarn.  Phew!  I don't know much about horses in real life, but knitting them and giving them colorful manes and tails and  names is fun for me!
Here are the pictures.

I also know I have about 10 balls of Debbie Bliss cashmerino so I am doing to look through my patterns tonight and see if I can find something to make with it. :-)

The horse herd!

Ocean!  I think I am going to leave him as a sitting horse!

Ocean from the front

Little tiny Penelope!

Penelope - an ode to Garcia, from Criminal Minds

the beginning of another horse

Day 68, August 20, 2011

Horses!  I am back making Horses with a vengeance!  Obsessed.  That.s me!  I was working on a magic scarf on Friday and I found this pink novelty yarn that was given to me by my friend Morna and it called out to me - Make me into a Horse's mane!  I went into my stash and I found some chocolate colored wool and llama yarn and I made a horse with PINK feet and I used the pink yarn mixed with some mohair and some rainbow colored yarn, for the mane.  I think she came out cute!

Not sure what to name her.  usually the animals I make start to develop a personality and a name as I make them.  This one has personality, but I have not come up with a good name for her.  Maybe I will just call her Pink..... hmmm.  boring.  She's not dull, so I don't think that will work.  I just took another good look at her and I think I will name her Truffle!  She looks like a chocolate/raspberry truffle!! :-)

Then, I had to start ANOTHER horse!  I had some bulkier yarn and I wanted to make one with that.  It is super, super soft - maybe some cashmere in it - and it is a self striping shades of brown.  It is almost done as I have worked a bit more on it since taking the pictures, but I will finish tomorrow and take another picture.  I made a smaller - pony - version.  This one looks like a surfer dude, so I may name him Ocean, or Kai.  Let me know what you think!

Ocean in progress

Truffle' profile

 

She is staring right at you with her lilac eyes!

Day 67

I finished another pear.  I like it, but i want to try it in a bulkier yarn.  I like knitting fruits and veggies!  It's fun.

The project I started today is another magic scarf.  This is how I do it.  I gather up my stash, or some of it, and i pull out yarns i like, that I think go together, and I wind different lengths of them, tie them together and i get a ball of magic yarn!  Yarn that magically changes as you work with it!  I try to keep the weight of the yarn some what consistent, but it does vary.

This ball I just wound is mostly reds.  I am also going to start on another horse tonight.  I got out my friends ball winder and I am winding some skeins of yarn I have.  I am also going to wind the mohair I want to use for my friend's afghan.  I ordered some ribbon to use with it to make a Colinette pattern I have.  Its a pretty throw and I think it will make a nice wedding present.

Here are some pictures:

my little pear sitting on some just wound yarn I will use for the horse!

MAGIC

day 66, August 18

Okay - it was a good day!  Even though almost everything I was planing to do got changed.  I ended up having a bunch of time to knit this morning, so I took the flowers I had finished and I attached them to hair bands.  I will take them to the craft fair and my niece is taking some to her doula gathering to have in her booth.

I finished three carrots and I tried making a pear.  I am not completely happy with the pear, so i started on another one.  The pictures are below. 

By the way, my knitting class is going well, i think.  They have learned to knit and purl - continental style!  I wish I had learned continental style first.  But I taught myself this technique a few years ago.  But what is great about knowing both is it makes Fair Isle knitting easier because I can hold the  yarns in each hand.  I like purling sooooo much better with continental.

Finished pear and one in progress

Cute carrots!

A whole bunch of head bands with flowers

Day 65, August 17th

One of the reasons I started this 365 project was to be more disciplined.  I realize now that I do not always have the time and energy to do both - knit and write about it.  I very often start and finish a project but the idea of taking the pictures, downloading them and then writing about it puts me over the top! 

I do wonder what I am learning about my creativity.  I am not sure yet.



Here is the update.  I finished three scarves!  Three nesting bowls!  and today I started on another carrot.  I want to make a bunch of carrots this time. 
I will be at a craft fair September 17th at the Methodist Hospital in Sacramento.  I am trying to get some scarves ready for it and some other stuff.  People seem to like the 'magic' scarves I make so I made two of them so far and I have several already.  I also made a nice varigated blue one with some interesting yarn.  I wanted to make a scarf for my cousin Marie, but she is very allergic to wool, alpaca, anything from an animal so I was challenged to find a really nice, soft, man made yarn.  I bought some at i think Rumplestilskin, and it is all acrylic, soft and really cushy!  Can't believe it is acrylic...  anyway, she loved it!  It was mostly pinks, grays and white.  The one I made that will be pictured here is blues/purples.  Very soft and pretty!

I plan on make some more hairbands for my niece Jennifer to take to her Doula gathering and I want to make some more veggies and fruits!

Carrot in process

Two scarves - one Magic, one made with acrylic blue

Another magic scarf - i am seeing a purple/blue theme!

crocheted nesting bowls, the ends need weaving in.

Here is another set of completely finished nesting bowls

The finished pillows for the wonderful Sarah!

I have also finished the first panel of five of the beautiful vintage inspired baby blanket!  I love it!  I will try to keep to my 365 commitment.....!!

Day 64

I have missed so many days!  I still need to take and post pictures, but i have finished a tote bag, a scarf and started on the vintage inspired blanket (on panel 2) and I inventoried my yarn....

I have had more time to knit, but not much time to blog.  Seems like I sit down to blog and I can't find the camera, or the power cord to attach the camera to the computer, or I get interrupted and then days go by without doing this.

I will get some pictures on soon.

Day 63

I finished the turquoise cabled pillow for my wonderful sister in law and even have it packaged up to mail.  I took pictures, but I will have to post them tomorrow.  So much to do, i just am not having much time to knit.  I want to start on some crocheted nesting bowls, some more scarves and gloves and some mittens.  Ack!  I want to make everything!  I also need to work on the vintage baby blanket...... 

Today is out 20 year wedding anniversary!  We had a nice meal at home tonight, and will go out to dinner on Saturday.    I can hardly believe it has been twenty years!  We have had our ups and downs, but we have stuck together and it has all worked out.  We have two healthy kids, and a pretty happy marriage.  sometimes i think peter is a 'saint' for putting up with me.:-)

Day 62

I missed another day.! 

We had a great day on Sunday at Folsom Lake.  We have lived here almost 9 years, but we have not spend much time exploring or taking advantage of the Lake here or the river.  I don't know why.  But we did go to the Lake on Sunday and had a great time!  The water felt great!  and the kids had fun swimming and jumping off a tree that was growing out of the water.  I got to sit in the shade and knit some of the time too!  *Sigh* wonderful summer days......

I finished the front of the cabled turquoise pillow and started on the back.

I have so many projects to work on, i will have to make time to do what I set out to do - start and finish a project a day. 
Love ya!

the back

cabled front - it will stretch out!

Day 61, Saturday August 6

I missed another day...  But i do have some pictures!  I finished the tote bag i was having so much trouble with!  It turned out cute, and looks useful :-) 

I also got the yarn in the mail i ordered to make a baby blanket for our friend Mike's baby, who is due in October.  I have wanted to make this blanket ever since I got this book!  a pretty vintage blanket pattern. 

The first day of the knitting class went well!  Both women had knit before, but it had been years so they picked up the cast on and the knitting pretty fast.  I hope they get their squares done and we can bind off next Saturday!

here are some pictures.

The vintage afghan is from the book "Comfort knitting & Crochet afghans" from Berrocco.

The finished tote bag!   Cotton.

Have i showed this before?  I found this pattern recently.

Soooo much kitting to do.  I will finish the turquoise pillow so i can send the two pillows to my sister in law.  The coral one is done, and i think i posted some pictures already.  I got a different pillow form today from Diana at Craftology and it fits better. 

More tomorrow, although I plan to take my son and his friend to the Lake.  Who knows how much time i will have to knit.!
Love,
Lanie

Day 60

What a busy day!  Picked up Harrison's friend Vera in Fairfield and we stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory which I have driven by hundreds and hundreds of times and never been to.  It was really hilarious!  Of course, going with two teens who find everything funny helps.!  We took the tour, got our hats, our free jelly beans and of course, bought more.  I bought some 'Belly Flops' (irregular beans) just cuz I love the name:-)

I also worked out, listed a whole bunch of stuff on ebay, went to the shop, the bank, Safeway and the Thursday night Farmer's market, made dinner and - phew! - have a little time to knit!  i finished the baby blanket, completely, and i need to wrap it up and get it to the family.  I also have to work on getting myself ready for the knitting class I am teaching on Saturday.  I promise, i will get some pictures on tomorrow.

day 57, i think

Well i did finish and start some knitted and crocheted items today, but i have not taken pictures - you will have to trust me till tomorrow!

The baby blanket for the new baby Harrison is finished!  and i made a little orange and yellow flower.  I worked some more on the vest.  I am tired today, so will sign off.  We had a nice knitting night at Peet's!  Always great to hang out with the ladies and knit and chat.

Good night all!

Day 58

I did get some kniting done today but I did not finish anything.  I started on the cute vest for my niece and I FINALLY figured out the lace pattern for the tote bag.  It said to Knit 2 and I kept reading K2Tog.  So of course, the bag kept getting smaller, and smaller....  I sometimes just can't read the pattern at all.  I have knit it over and over and then read it and suddenly it all makes sense. 

I need to think about making some more scarves and gloves to sell at some craft fairs that I am scheduled to do in September and October.  I just want to make everything.  Everything!  All that great yarn, all those wonderful patterns....  just not enough time in the day.  I would love to have days and days to just knit.  A selfish vacation......!

The lace pattern - finally!!

Just two rounds of the vest.

day 57

So now all i am doing is starting things!  Buying new yarn always rejuvenates my interest in knitting, plus I bought the new Interweave Weekends knits magazine.....  now i want to make  many of the things in that magazine.!  I am going to make the cutest coat for my pal GG (she is almost 5!) with some bulky yarn and great buttons.  The pattern calls for Cascade Eco+ which I have used before and I love!  It gets softer and softer as it is worked with.  Very nice yarn!

I started a bag called 'hold everything tote' with some cotton yarn by Bernat that I bought (cheap) at Eco Thrift!  I am, of course, having a bit of trouble with the pattern as it is a 'lace' pattern, but i think i've got it now. 

I also ordered yarn to make a baby blanket for our friend Mike who is having his first son in october.  It is a pattern from a Berrocco book of afghans all made with Berrocco comfort yarn.  It's a vintage inspired pattern and I cannot wait to get started on that too.
I also want to start on a cute vest/pullover for my niece with a little penguin in it.
I did finish a flower, from a new pattern I got from Interweave.....
More projects to follow!  Happy Monday!