the farthest I have ever gotten

 

 

 

Okay.  So I am enamoured with all things lace. 

 

 

 

After knitting my cherry tomato scarf and LOVING how delicate & intricate it turned out, I wondered if I could do this for a garment.

 

 

 

Now if you know me -- trying to crochet or make any type of garment never happens for me.

 

Never. 

 

Whether it is sewing a garment, crocheting a garment or making anything that I might wear ----> it.does.not.happen!

 

Oh, believe me! I always start out with good intentions, but sheesh! after a few rows or a few stitches it ends ups in that dark corner of my closet, all balled up, never to be seen again.

 

 

But lace....the lace!  It just intrigues me.  Calls me.  Speaks to me.

(Yup.  This is where my husband/kids reeeeeeeeally begins to question my sanity...or lack thereof.)

Regardless, I'm on a mission & pattern hunting begins.

 

And I found one!  The pattern:  Four Season Vine Lace Vest from Classic Elite Yarns. 

 

So far? 

 



 

 

Knitting the lace is working. 

Nicely.

And the added bonus?! -- which I can not believe -- is that it actually resembles something that I can might be able to wear...

a cherry tomato scarf

Our tomato plants are sagging under the weight of plump cherry tomatoes.  It is such a joy to walk out to the garden and see so many of them just waiting to be picked and eaten right there on the spot.

And when I am not in the garden, I have a hook, shuttle or knitting needles in my hands.  

As of late, it has been the needles that are occupying my time --- and trying to find something that is not too difficult, but something that grabs my attention.

And I found a pattern & just loved the way the stitch looked in the book.

The booklet is Variety is the Spice of Knitting & found while scrounging at the thrift store. It is missing some pages --- along with the cover --- but filled with over 100 patterns of super delightful knitted patterns.




And now that I actually finished this experiment of

"Wow!  I wonder if I can even knit that?!" 

it reminded me of the cherry tomatoes that seem to be taking over the garden.

 

I just love the intricacy of knitted lace and am completely floored that with just a few ssk & yo --- voila! you have knitted lace!  And then by repeating that same pattern over and over again, you have just made a scarf.

A cherry tomato scarf. 

Perfect for the approaching autumn season.

just a moment

I have to step away....

for just a moment.

Back soon.

ruffles

 

I love scarves & have a whole collection of them that I have collected over the years from my stylish aunts & grandmas & even thrift stores.

 

 

I have especially had my eye on these ruffle scarves that seem to be everywhere! 

 

For example --->I was at the hair salon the other day, & walked in only to see an entire table of these hand-made lovelies (and btw -- priced at $24.95 each.)

 

So recently while at the fabric store --- with nary a thought of purchasing yarn --- ahem...I stumbled upon the display for this yarn: 

Boutique Sashay from Red Heart

Now, I have seen copious patterns for this ruffle scarf, but didn't know if it would be better to crochet or knit it.  I must have been thinking this out loud when I checked out (yes, kids, it's true --- mom does talk to herself out in public) because the clerk went scampering to get her knitting needles and proceeded to show me how to cast-on and go about knitting the ruffles.  Glancing nervously about --- because I did not want anyone in line behind me to be groaning and tapping their foot at the lady getting a free knitting lesson --- I was surprised because they seemed to be just as amazed as me as to how easily this can be done! 

(This shows the almost identical way in which she showed me how to do this.)

Don't you just love the way this comes off of the skein.  I mean!  Who came up with such a delightful yarn?

 

And this knit up in about 30 seconds.  Okay. 

 

Maybe a little bit longer...

 

 

...but what a gorgeous, flow-y, lovely scarf that I  k.N.i.T.!

And thanks to any store employee that goes the extra mile and enthusiastically helps/shares their passion!

Especially when it has to do with yarn.

summer rosette

The color of summer = vibrant shades of watermelon ...in thread!

This yummy thread is Lizbeth from Handy Hands.  Size 10  #628 Salmon Med & #679 Lime Green.

And the gorgeous, tatted rosette pattern is from Jon at Tat-a-Renda.

So while the kids are in the pool & the dogs and I are lazily lounging in the shade...

...there is tatting to be done.

I'm not sure if I have developed a full-blown problem, but I find myself needing to keep my hands busy with some sort of thread work.  And I mean ---> constantly! there must be some sort of yarn or thread passing through my fingers or I start to get physically fidgety in my chair.

This drives.my.husband.nuts. 

But seriously!  Since his John Deere tractor quells an/all sorts of jitters for him...

...well, honey?!...

Thread does it for me.

well, hello dolly

There is no age limit to dolls, is there?

My girls may be in their teens, but I know they share in the same love I do for a doll.

So with my g hook & oodles of leftovers from my stash of yarn...

...I got busy with crocheting a doll.

The pattern is from an old magazine that my great-aunt Bertha was tossing.  I don't even remember the name of the magazine, but knew without a doubt I had to add this pattern to my crochet library.

And how cute can a pattern be when it comes with accessories?  Cape, beret and hatbox.  Oh, my!...just the description of them warrants a need/desire to make them!

Once I saw how adorable this whole ensemble worked out (and because I was flitting thru the house practically dancing with her) my older daughter just wanted me to stop dancing also wanted a doll.

In her color scheme.

With of course, the cape, beret & hatbox.

And here she is.

I changed up the face and hair. And if you know a great tutorial for adding yarn hair, please let me know!  This was a bit of a hit-and-miss with me. (read ---> an almost disaster.)

Regardless of maybe needing to improve the hair, I am pleased with how cute they both turned out.

fat cat ~ tatted.

I tatted a fat cat.

Mainly, because I have a fat cat.

And because I thought the pattern was adorable.  You can find the cat pattern here. 

And the tatted border is from here.

I used a glue stick to adhere scrap fabric to foam-core. Then using that same glue stick, I adhered the tatted elements.  A little bit of yellow ric-rac hot glued to the outside edge...

...and I have a fat cat ~ tatted.