Unexpected Beauty

 Dave and I were away over the weekend.  We drove Kloe down to Houston to spend the summer with her mother.  While there, we shared a lovely dinner, and a nice long visit with Dave's daugher, Robin, and her husband, Roc.  Later, at the hotel, I couldn't sleep (surprise), so I googled yarn stores in the Houston area.  We found one called, Knitting In The Loop, which wasn't far from the hotel.  Dave took me by the next day, and Oh My, what a beautiful store!  I saw yarns there I'd never seen before.  Dave was in full vacation mode, and in a very good mood, enabling me to purchase some gorgeous yarns.  After we left the yarn store, we drove down to Galveston, where we shared a wonderful seafood lunch, and went for a nice walk along the beach.  When we got back to Houston, we spent the early part of the evening in the hotel swimming pool.  Since it was Sunday, we had the whole pool to ourselves!
Monday was check out day.  I was a little sad leaving the hotel, but after we got on the road, I began to feel excited about getting home to my cats (we've discovered that if we leave two trays of food, three water dispensers, and three large litter boxes, the cats will do fine for two to three days).  Our last stop was the Costco in Rockwall, then it was all homeward bound from there.  I didn't know then, but our trip held one last pleasant surprise.  We were just south of Cooper when we saw them.  Sunflowers!  Several fields of bright, cheerful sunflowers planted along HWY 19-24!  Dave pulled over to the side of the road to allow me some photo time, and I picked out the best pictures to share with my readers.  I hope they brighten someone's day. I know they brightened mine.

This picture was taken from the car window. 

For this picture, I walked around to the side to get a closer shot of the sunflowers' faces.

Hoya Pubicalyx Pink Silver

This plant looks amazing this year!  I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

 I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Woven Scarf

 I went to Ewe-nique Creations today to check out the new yarns, and there, on display, was the scarf I'd finished weaving for Marianna!  I had just about talked myself out of buying a loom, but seeing this made me want one again :(

So the question still remains, "To weave or not to weave?"

Knitting Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn

Three years ago, I became interested in dying yarn with Kool-aid.  I had several natural colored hanks of Cascade 220 wool in my stash, so I decided to give it a try.  I bought non-sugared Kool-aid packets in a vast array of colors and flavors, and spent several weeks transforming these off-white wools into colorful delights. Sadly, this yarn dying frenzy only lasted a short while.  It was during this time we reluctantly decided to rehome Max, only to have him escape and go missing for two and a half weeks.  This sent me spiraling into a severe depression, causing me to lose interest in yarn dying, and everything else.  I thank God every day that we found Max and later was able to bring him home! He's not going anywhere ever again!

Ok, enough of that!

To continue my story, I had stashed all these newly colored hanks of yarn.  Because I never wrote anything down, and I dyed each hank individually, there is no way I could ever duplicate any of the colors.  I had to limit myself to patterns that require 220 or less yards of yarn.  This task has become much easier with my recent scarf obsession, and I'm happy to share pictures of my first project made with yarn dyed by me. If memory serves me, and it may not, I'm afraid, this yarn was dyed using 4 packets of blue rasberry lemonade.

A close up of the lace.  Beautiful!

In this picture, I tried to shape the scarf as it would be worn around the neck.

My blooming hydrangea bush makes a perfect background.

The pattern is called 198 Yards Of Heaven, a free Ravelry download, designed by Christy Verity. Offering both charted and written instructions, this project is perfect for beginner lace knitters, and anybody who needs a quick, last minute gift.  The pattern is written as a kerchief style scarf, but you can easily adjust it bigger with more pattern repeats.  I chose to knit the pattern as written because of my small amount of yarn, I love the results!

From The Garden

Not much to write, but I wanted to share some pictures from my side garden.

This is the pink hydrangea that came with the house.  I've grown to love it.

The hydrangea Dave and I bought from the side of the house has grown so much.  Hydrangeas seem to do very well in my yard.

My pot of red salvia has its first blooms.  

This is the ground cover we planted three years ago.  There are a few thin spots where the rain spills off the roof and drowns most plants, but overall I'm very pleased.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

To Weave Or Not To Weave...

For the last two days, I've ventured outside my fiber craft comfort zone, and dipped my toes into the world of weaving.  Ewe-nique Creations, our local yarn store, now sells Cricket Looms from Schacht Spindle Company.  Unlike the intimidating floor looms most people, myself included, associate with weaving, these looms are small and portable.  I was introduced to one of these looms during one of my visits to Ewe-nique. One of the owners had hers set up with the beginning of a summer scarf in progress, and I got a chance to weave a few rows into it.  I must say I was intrigued, but at the time, I didn't give owning a loom of my own much thought.

Last week, during my panic trip to buy more yarn for my Haruni, I was again drawn to the loom sitting on the table.  I began to ask more questions about weaving, and was invited back to spend some time learning how to use this loom.  I went back Wednesday, and spent several hours weaving, and getting to know the shop owners.  I found out the owner of the loom is like me, in that she loves to start projects but has trouble staying focused enough to finish them.  I can definitely relate to that feeling!  I finished up the scarf for her on Thursday.  How fun!  These are a few photos I took with my phone while I was at the store:

I took this picture to show the compact size of the loom.

I zoomed in so you could see the work in progress, and get a general idea of how the loom works.

This is simply a closeup of the woven fabric.

I had a great time learning about a new craft, but I barely scratched the surface of what weaving is about.  I must confess I've begun to like the idea of owning one of these looms and weaving scarves of my own. Then I think of the expense.  I've talked myself out of it, and back into it several times.  So will I soon add weaving to my list of hobbies?  I just don't know yet.

The Magic Of Blocking

During the latter part of last year, I discovered the most amazing thread on Ravelry.  It's called Blocking: Before and After, and it has changed my whole way of thinking.  I used to think it didn't really matter if an item was blocked if it was knit or crocheted with even tension. I also didn't knit lace.  Oh, I had tried many a lacy pattern, but I was never happy with the way they turned out.  Believing I just didn't have the talent for lace knitting, I gave up and focused on other knitting that felt I was good at.  After browsing through Ravelry's blocking thread, and ogling all the before and after pictures posted by fellow Ravelers, I became a believer (a blocking convert, if you will). This thread also renewed my interest in lace patterns, and helped me to realize that I CAN knit lace.  There was nothing wrong with the way I was knitting it, I had just left off the most important step, which is blocking.  Now, I don't even consider a lace project to be complete until it's blocked.  

I've picked out some before and after pictures of my own to illustrate just how important blocking is.  I hope you enjoy:

Big Lace Scarf:  Fresh off the needles, no matter how much I tried to smooth it down, the sides intended to roll.

Blocking helped display the simple open design of this pattern.

Windowpane Scarf fresh off the hook.  Before blocking it was all rumpled and squishy.

After blocking, my Windowpane scarf is smooth and crisp.

Haruni fresh off the needles.  Needless to say, I was underwhelmed.

Haruni open and amazing. Blocking made all the difference in the world for this shawl.

Georgiana before:  This was my first project after getting back on the lace band wagon.  I guess I still had my doubts, because, in a desperate attempt to see the lace pattern, I kept pausing my knitting to pull the points down.

Georgiana after:  I needn't have worried, because it blocked into a beautiful airy shawl.  In hindsight, I could have really  emphasized the points by pulling more aggressively during the pinning, but it was my first lace block.  Still, it's not bad for a blocking beginner.

This is one of the motifs for my Noro Puzzle Scarf.  Before blocking, it drew backward forming a U, instead of an open box shape.

The same piece after blocking:  The corners are more pronounced and the piece lays flat.

All these pieces, sewn together, became one of my most treasured hand knit scarves.

I hope this visual post helps other knitters who have yet to dive into the world of blocking.  If you've stopped knitting lace because of this, I urge you to give it another try. With blocking, you can definitely do it.  If you're a Ravelry member, don't hesitate to check out that thread.  It's in the Yarn & Fiber forum on the main board.  You'll be amazed and inspired, I promise.
For those of my readers who do not knit or crochet, I hope the photo comparisons were interesting enough to keep you tuned in.