Pretties!

FLOWERS BLOOMING

My kids are very sweet and give me flowers at different times of the year. You can't see the white orchid.   The Amaryllis was a gift from my wonderful sister-in-law, Eileen, who passed away awhile back. As I live in an area where plants can't be outside during the winter, it isn't conducive to a tidy house when you have pots all over your dining room table. The window is too cold, and I can't tote them outside to put in the Yarn Barn.

Although I love their thoughtfulness, every year I asked for NO candy and NO plants. Every year guess what I get!!!! LOL!

KNITTING

I am having a difficult time understanding the nuances of knitting. I find that there is skipping of what I would need to know what to do next…at least for this hat. It's as cute as can be, and designed by someone who appears to have a handle on knitting. I readily admit that I cannot write a pattern well at all, so I have no high horse to sit on. I just don't get some of it and have to ask. I also realize that some may think that I am stupid…which I am not.  I may ask too many questions, more than most, but it is mainly to help me figure things out. I'm one of those who needs to know "why" not just how to do something. It irked my mom and I think it irks others.

Just the way it is with me!!!

I am lucky that I have some friends who knit and who were able to help me. This is where I got stuck right off!  You can see the finished product in the last post.

This photo above is the right side of the band. Looks a little off to me.

This is the inside, or wrong side, or the band. I like it a lot better!

NEXT HAT

As previously mentioned  I am doing a crochet hat…and my counts are a bit off. Can't figure out why. I have gone over the whole of my crocheting so far and still can't figure it out. I will keep checking and keep going.

APRIL
In April it is a toss up what the knitting group will choose to make. One of the three patterns is a sock pattern. I downloaded it and am thinking about it, but just don't quite feel that it will be easy enough to finish in a month. I guess since I don't knit all day, just here and there. We shall see.

Hermione's Everyday Socks

EASTER
Easter comes in April this year on April 22nd.  I am going to start decorating my tree…the
St. Paddy's Day tree is starting to be stripped! Last years Easter Tree was pretty sparse, so I think I'll get another set of hanging eggs or something similar.

KIDS SWEATER
I have the pattern All-in-One Cardigan which is crochet.

I am wondering if there is one similar that is in knit. I'd like to try that…or something easy…to make it for my new niece born the end of January. I checked Ravelry but didn't find one.

BIRTHDAYS
I have several nieces who have April birthdays, several friends, and a sister-in-law. It's going to be a busy month! My granddaughter's birthday is today but they are vacationing so I plan to send her money when they get back and a token present. She will be 13 and will want to purchase some things for herself. Hard to pick out presents for a teen these days!

TAXES
Taxes will need to be filed in about two+ weeks. I have sent mine it…reluctantly! I owe more this year. So much for a tax cut for me. I am finding that most of my friends and relatives owe more money which should not be since we middle class folks were told we got a tax cut. Just the big whigs I guess. GRRRRR.

DOGS

Both dogs have allergies. I have Brodie on a high powered anti-itch med that isn't really good for him. Too many kidney problems have followed, so want to get him off. I bought leather furniture so it would not keep the allergens in the fabric, bought hardwood floors, have him on the anti-itch med, antihistamines, salmon oil (pure) and pro-biotics. NOTHING works.

I have used a product that is for yeast and bacterial infections, and that seems to help the most, but since I can't bathe them, they just have too much of it on them. I bought wipes to use, and that helps. The big problem is there seems to be no cure and so far, no silver bullet.

I'm stumped. Hopefully when I can have them bathed they will get better. For now we stay out of the yard (mostly) during the heavy polled hours.

Cabled Hat

Falls Creek Hat

This was not as hard as I thought cables would be…even knitting in the round. I'm happy to be able to have something as nice as this to gift to a loved one.

I'm presently working on a test crochet hat and hopefully will be able to post about it in a month or so. I might make two…one for each young niece…if I can get the size and colors right.

SCARF

I'm also working on this scarf. Just a garter pattern, so nothing special in that regard.  If you look closely at the top you will see two stitches, one on top of the other, that are knit on this side. Unfortunately I did it a third time and did not realize it until I saw this photo I was getting ready to post.  I wanted to ignore it, but it got the best of me. I'm new to knitting so thought it through and this is what I did:

First I secured the last stitch in the row up and down, that was wrong, then pulled out the stitches above to that point.

Then I used a crochet hook in the same size as the knitting needles, and pulled the yarn through each way making sure that I "knitted" and "purled" with it and didn't twist the yarn as I was doing so.  When I got to the last bit of yarn I put it on the needle and knit across. 

Now, it is all correct and I went ahead and knitted another six inches! I'm pretty proud that I fixed it in less than four minutes instead of having to either start over or figure out a way to rip it back to the error and then go forward again.  

The top photo is closer to the true color of the scarf…sort of a grey color with peach.

And here is a little eye candy again…Riley giving me those sad eyes wanting something to eat.

He is looking more brown in the photo than he does in person, but he is starting to take after his father who is a brown Lab. His mom is a beige English Mastiff. He looks like he will have the Mastiff wrinkles, though. Hopefully not as much and not the big drools! Drool he does, as does Brodie…you can just see him sleeping in the background.

Have a great day! 

Snow is gone, knitting is finished, dog is growing!

I may have posted both of these, but here they are again! The one above with the cables has an error or two on the side, but you really can't see it well (especially since it isn't blocked!)

This one looks crooked but isn't. It is sitting on the bulky bag and drooping. The error is at the top portion where I started doing the pattern backward for a couple of rows and caught it. It's a learning process!

Now this one you can't see well enough to make a judgment but it is going well! I decided to use Waverly because it is a little thicker and less fiddly than the Red Heart above.  I have finished a little more than an inch on the brim of the hat and it looks good! Love being able to say that!

A little doggie love and eye candy. Brodie, the big boy, seems to be getting attached to Riley. We had to take Riley to the vet for his shots and while trying to get out of the house Brodie cried so much and so loudly that we had to include him in the ride. It broke my heart to hear that loud loud wail!

Now Riley knows if he sits at the door Brodie is hesitant to come in.  It is the same trick that Brodie  used to play on his sister, my dear Maggie - the Border Collie.  

My various flowers are blooming. You can't quite make out the white one peeking up in the big green one (forgot its name but is a Hawaiian plant). The front one is an Easter Cactus and the one behind is one of the two orchids I received when in rehab after my spine operation….in October last year, and it hasn't lost it's flowers! The other one is purple (you can only see the leaves), but lost all its flowers when I watered it too much. Darn.

Nothing much of interest, but to me it is a godsend! I had Three Crowns build a gate for the front porch. They did such an awesome job! It matches perfectly, and I can close it up at night as a small added security….can put on a lock if I like.  Once the wood is dry they will paint it to match the and you will never be able to tell that it was added years after the build. 

I did, however, find that Riley - as big as he is - can get through the slats! Just barely, but barely is too much. He is on restriction from the porch until he is a few pounds heavier! That will most likely be only a few more days as fast as he is growing.

Hopefully this finds you all well and happy!!