Our first day on the deck!

It was 92 degrees on my deck this week but Barbara, Elaine, and Karen all decided it was high time we knitted outside. We were all tired of indoor activities and the weather was certainly cooperating, almost too well. Even with the overhead fan we were "glistening" a bit (Ladies don't sweat, we "glisten"). LOL!

The "Crochet Queen" was busy as a bee. Karen arrived with nine bags filled with her crocheted baby blankets for Parsons.

She included with the blankets, matching onesies and some infant rattles and toys.
Sharing scissors and tape measures is always a good thing!

It was a glorious first day of the season on the deck. We're looking forward to many more.

On another note (no pun intended) my Amanda has started a new blog http://savedbygracemusic.blogspot.com

She and her husband are members of the contemporary worship band at their church and she is blogging about it. BTW, she took the portraits. I'm soooo proud!

Here's the pattern

A few people have asked where I found the pattern for my knitted market bag. I was browsing through the free patterns on Ravelry and came across it. If you are a member, you can search for the "Fantasy Naturale Market Bag". It's a free pattern from Plymouth Yarns, posted on 08/01/2006. If you aren't a part of Ravelry, here is the link to the pattern.

http://www.plymouthyarn.com/index.php?nav=cPatterns.freePatterns&pattern_id=000016

Have fun knitting the bag and I hope, unlike me, you actually remember to use it!

Does anyone have any ginko biloba?

I stopped at Stewart's for a pint of ice cream on the way home last night with my newly knitted grocery bag tucked neatly into my purse, just waiting for it's debut. Unfortunately, I was distracted by seeing a friend with whom I needed to catch up on family news. Fast forward to my kitchen where I reach into the plastic grocery bag to grab the ice cream...AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH! I forgot to use the knitted bag!!!

I have a good memory, really! It's just short!

A VERY Quick Project

I am trying very hard to be a good citizen of Mother Earth and so I keep four reusable grocery bags in the trunk of my car, along with a thermal bag for cold or frozen groceries. But wouldn't you know it! I get my cart and start filling it with produce when I remember that I left the bags in the car! DARN! I hate when that happens. So now I have to look for a pleasant lady giving out free samples of cheesecake or pigs in a blanket and ask if she could please watch my cart while I go get my bag. I've been lucky so far. No one has said no. Then while searching through the stash of yarn I keep for inspiration I came across this "Crystal Palace Breeze", a 100% mercerized cotton yarn. LIGHT BULB! This would be perfect for a grocery bag. And I can roll it up and keep it in my purse so I'll always have it with me. Genius!

I cast on the stitches for this bag at 1:30PM yesterday afternoon and got on a roll. I even missed going to knit night at Trumpet Hill because I didn't want to stop knitting long enough to drive up there. DH was out for the evening so I didn't have to interrupt knitting to make dinner (just long enough to eat some leftovers) and I finished weaving in the ends at 1AM. DONE! Empty it measures 19" long by 13" wide at the widest point.And look how much it holds. There is still room for stretching.

Now, with what can I fill it?

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Wow! I remember the very first Earth Day in 1970. I had the day off from work at the dentist's office and I thought it would be a great day for a ride in the country, but no! I stayed home and didn't use the car. Today I returned from my walk around 10AM and it was so nice out I decided to clean out the dead clematis vines and remove all the dead branches from my Grandpa's climbing roses. They didn't winter well this year. I think I'm just a little too far north. But there are many new shoots growing at the base of the plant, so I'm sure it will grow back better than ever!

Barbara is back from her spring trip and BOY! did we miss her! She's catching up on my knitting library additions since she was gone. I purchased a used copy of "Victorian Lace Today" by Jane Sowerby. It was in very good condition except for a little spill stain at the bottom of some of the pages. When I opened the book to write my name in it I noticed a shadow of backwards writing on the page. I realized that two pages were stuck together and when I separated them there it was! My $12.00 bargain book was signed by the author! What a thrill!

Elaine finished a sweater and bonnet and is working on a pretty sweater set for her granddaughter. She has to knit fast before the baby outgrows it.

I finished a pair of Jaywalker socks for myself and they came out almost identical twins. That's the first time that's ever happened to me.


I'm working on a baby blanket which I will post when it's finished. It started out as a leaf lace blanket but after much aggravation I decided rather than knit it with bad vibes I would frog it and make a mindless coma knit, the good old fashioned diagonal dishcloth style blanket. You'll see it soon. Now back to my knitting.

HAPPY 60TH ANNIVERSARY!

On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1949 Bruna Dragani and William Grandison were married at the Summerfield Methodist Church in Port Chester, New York. Bruna is a fashion designer, specializing in wedding gowns, so she designed her own gown for the occasion.

Bruna and Bill are my parents and we helped them celebrate 60 years by taking them out to a delicious brunch today in a little restaurant called Serevan in Millerton, New York. Here they are in the garden at the restaurant. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

My sister joined us (on the far left) and the chef offered to take our photo. It took him five tries to get everyone in the picture.

He better not quit his day job!

The Poncho is finished!

Here it is! All done and no more allergy attacks. I sure hope it doesn't bother the person who wears it. Although, I tried it on and it didn't seem to bother me at all once it was knitted. I guess the process of running it through your fingers as you knit makes it go into your nose and eyes.

I used 6 skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton to complete this project. It's not too heavy but very cozy. And the turtleneck collar is so soft. I might have to make myself one of these. JUST NOT IN THIS YARN!LOL!

Ah...Ah...CHOOO!

I've been working on this poncho for the donation to St. Margaret's in Albany. The yarn is a soft 100% cotton that sends tufts of fluff into the air when I knit. After a few minutes my eyes and nose itch so badly that I have to stop knitting. Then I had this bright idea! I remembered where I stored my cross country skiing equipment and found the mask to protect my eyes. And the other mask is for when I'm dusting. So it all works! Of course I'm left with the deepest creases on my face when I remove all this stuff, but someone will be warm and happy when it's finished, so it's worth it. My Moose and his mom came for a visit last week and we had lots of fun, once he was over his teething agony. That lasted two days and he felt miserable. Thanks goodness we had two more days to play and visit. Moose couldn't wait to bring some toys out to the driveway to "drive" around. He found a driveway reflector and decided it made a good microphone. Here he was singing "Jesus Loves Me" in perfect tune. When we walked to the end of the driveway Moose decided he would help by bringing in the recycling bin. Halfway back to the garage he needed a little help from Mommy. Our afternoon activity was spent watching one of his favorite DVD's "Monsters, Inc.". He knows he's not supposed to touch any of DeeDee's knitting supplies. I guess that's why he crossed his arms. Keep temptation away! There were actually a couple of times during Moose's visit when he sat still. I think it was just an opportunity for him to refuel and plan his next stategy of attack! LOL!

A few pretty things

Karen is working on a project for Catholic Charities that celebrates the birthdays of the women residents of a local homeless shelter. We gathered up these scarves, hats, and shawls to start her inventory of gifts and I'm sure we'll be contributing on an ongoing basis.

I finished a hat from a free pattern that I found while surfing the Berroco yarn site. I tried to find it for you, but I can't seem to locate it any longer on their website. But there are plenty of others from which to choose at www.berroco.com

This hat calls for two skeins of Berroco Mettalic sock yarn of complimentary colors but I had this unlabeled sock yarn in my stash and it looked like it would be a good candidate for this hat. It is started by knitting blocks to form the bottom band into a circle. Then the stitches are picked up along one edge and the cap portion is knitted to the top. Ear flaps are added lastly and then a single crochet edge finishes it off.

The self patterning yarns give it a very complicated looking pattern, but in reality it was only time consuming, not very difficult with some knitting experience under your belt.

This hat will be added to our upcoming donation to St. Margaret's in Albany. We still have April and May to finish our Parson's donations which are coming along swimmingly!

Knit Night at our local Panera

Every first Thursday of the month a bunch of knit nuts get together at the Glenmont Panera for some knitting fun. When we arrive the first order of business is to check out what's new since we last met. Dina made this lovely leaf lace scarf and the yarn feels heavenly.

Pat is checking out Beth's sweater so she was busy, but Gretchen and Iryth took a second to look up from their knitting to smile for the camera. Gretchen is working on a block for an afghan and Iryth is making the adult February Lady Sweater based on a child's pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Beth is showing her beautiful Aran cardigan to Karin and Pat and Kathy is discussing the techniques of her February Lady sweater.

This closeup shows the beautiful stitches in Beth's cardigan. It almost makes me want to make one for myself.

Kathy's February Lady Sweater reminds me of delicious, warm, pumpkin soup on a cold November day.

I decided to take a short break from donation knitting to make a pair of socks just for me. They are the "Jaywalker" pattern from Grumperina and the pattern can be found at www.ravelry.com.

I used Trekking XXL sock yarn which is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon.

I love the bright colors and they are super cozy.

Can't wait to see what everybody brings to Knit Night next month!

Nice work, Ladies!

Kathleen has added another Baby Surprise Jacket to her collection for donations and we all just loved the colorwork she used in this one. Good job, Kathleen!

Elaine finished the cute little eyelet cardigan and is working on the matching hat. So sweet, Elaine!

Judy is modeling the beautiful poncho she made which is named after Loretta Lynn so she's including the Loretta Lynn CD with the poncho. Nice donation, Judy!

And Joyce is keeping us in stitches, literally, with her lacework baby hat. Beautiful work and NO BOWS! (inside joke)

Thank you ladies! Parson's and St. Margaret's will be thrilled with your contributions.