new and not so new

Only one week til we pull out the Christmas decorations.  I’d like to see a few new things on the tree.  I was thinking of stitching up this pretty new design from Beehive Needlworks, but not sure if I should stitch it in white on red or in red on white…. as you can see I have a few things to keep me company while I stitch – that’s the new sock monkey ornament I tweeted about.  I’d also like to knit a few more of these little mittens.  It took me ages to do one last year but since I have a year more worth of knitting practice under my belt, perhaps it will go better this year.

What do you think of my ‘new’ boudoir chair??  It’s quite a sight isn’t it?  This has migrated from Amber’s room to mine.  Although it’s quite hideous to look at, it is marvelously comfy.  It’s also the most coveted spot to lounge for the cats.  Look at sneaky Yzma ready to remove Ophelia from the seat of honor!

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You can find Cranberry Deer Pinkeep on this page at the webshop. The linen shown is Aztec Red and Linen (color name) 30 count Weeks.

cuddle up

From Lion Brand Yarns- free Warm Up America knitting pattern

Here is the little patchwork I was finishing up this weekend. I used part of a Mill House Inn charm pack. I have a bunch of these on hand if you are looking for them (just email me), I just never got around to listing them at Etsy or my webshop.

I came across this free knitted blanket pattern. I started a block last night and learned a new stitch. I hope to learn another new stitch for block #2 soon. Maybe this will be done by next winter!  I’m leaning toward making a throw which is much smaller than a blanket. . .

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autumn with tea

Making up for my lack of blogging lately today! Thank you again for the get well wishes. I’ve had to start another round of antibiotics, still lots of coughing and a fever, not feeling quite as good as I thought I was :0(

We are having a beautiful Autumn day yet again. The weather has been wonderfully warm (in the 70s). They’ve been mowing and baling hay over the fence, you can just see the wagon out picking up bales on my first knitting photo. As to the knitting, this is my little wool scarf project. I’m very much an amateur knitter. This pattern just alternates between knit and pearl but I’ve still managed to flub it up – you can see where my zigs (or maybe my zags) are a bit wobbly. I’m having fun either way.

I finished up the tree that gave me so much trouble on Red House Sampler, the leaves went very well. I added another bit of the border. I did put in some other stitches but they were all wrong and had to come back out.

Here is my little care/comfort package from the cheese shop. There’s also some brie nestled in there you can’t quite see – and my replacement MP3 player – I’m so happy to have that back. More importantly you can see the new tea cozy here from Impie, Hattie & Bea. It comes in two prints and co-ordinates perfectly with The Tea Room from Country Cottage Needleworks. I have both prints at the webshop and remember there is free shipping this weekend!

Another little photo of Fall, most of the squirrels in town look like the average squirrel, now and then you see these pretty black ones too.

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woolens

(The Sampler Girl – Oh Mother Dear)

I struggled with this little design for some reason. I put the kitties in the wrong place and had to choose between the basket and the key when I realized my mistake. I think it looks okay in the end – it is for a gift and I hope it will be well received. I loved working with the wool threads (the kitties & the dark blue on the mittens). I used Carrie’s Creation threads for the other colors. I think wool and kitties go together, I often find Ophelia trying to sneak off with a ball of my knitting wool, in fact she tired it this morning. I didn’t have time to grab the camera as she was halfway down the stairs with it when I spotted her.

I’ve made a little progress on my wool scarf, the recent snow has inspired me, we got a bit more today. Maybe I’ll have a new scarf by next winter, actually it can get pretty cool in the mountains even in the summer so I’m sure I’ll have use for it as soon as I get around to finishing it.

A nice thought in my chocolate tonight :0)…and did you see my new Twitter widget on the sidebar? I can blog from my phone now. Nifty!!

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Rocky Mountain Wednesdays

A chilly day, in fact we were snowed on this afternoon. You can see it was coming down pretty good for a bit, it was hard to get my camera to focus on the elk, it kept trying to focus on flakes. I did make a stop here and warmed up with a complimetary cup of chai while I shopped – it was bliss.

I hope to have some sort of stitching to share soon. Not enough hours in the day lately and I’m not feeling all that great at the moment. I have done some knitting, I’ve decided I really like circular needles (for stitching back and forth on). It seems like one of my needles is always wandering off (for a science experiment or to use as a light saber…) this doesn’t happen with the circular needles and it is so easy to throw a project in my bag on the way out the door (I always seem to be running out the door).

The new dryer is wonderful and we’ve finished 5 loads of laundry so far, thank goodness!

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stitching & knitting

I love this little design form the newest Blackbird Designs Loose Feather #33, Keepsake Box & Pinkeep. I stitched this on 30ct Iced Cappuccino with Belle Soie Silk. It is filled with ground walnut shells and even has Harvest Home fabric on the back (also from Blackbird Designs), I didn’t have any suitable trim for the edges in my stash, I may just leave it plain. Buttons are from my grandmother Ella’s button box.

I won’t tell you how long it took me to be able to finish a presentable mitten to hang on the tree. I only bought the wool last Wednesday, but I think half of it is in the trash from my failed attempts. I’d like to knit at least one more. I think it looks sweet hanging near Winter Woolens from Stacy Nash Primitives. I used this pattern.

Here are a few more decorations. I made these socks more than 20 years ago when the adults on Jerry’s side of the family would draw names to fill Christmas socks. (I decided not to add ‘Kathryn’ to mine). Our little count down to Christmas calender is something I made about 10 years ago, there is a little stitched square for December 1-25 you can see more of it here.

I’m stitching a little something for Amber that I can’t show you yet (because she reads my blog), it is either for her birthday or Christmas depending on when I get it finished, her birthday is a week before Christmas.

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PS – I’m heading over to update my Blog Projects page now.

tea thyme treats

My new hard drive arrived in less than 24 hours and I’m able to post from the comfort of my own laptop – that makes me happy! I still have to spend some time getting MS Office installed and things like that but I’m thrilled that I was able to get the new hard drive so fast.

This is my finish of PrimitiveBetty’s Tea Thyme in the Garden. I did have the border half stitched but decided against it. It lets me make the pillow just a bit smaller. I’ll use the green fabric on the back.

I’ve got the knitting bug, I stopped at the knit shop, actually the new knit shop (same business, great new location) and saw this really pretty washable wool blend yarn and thought it would make a great cap for Ethan. The cap I ended up with – I’m just making this up as I go – may have fit him 4 years ago so I’ll be giving that to a baby I know and making a larger cap. It’s great yarn so I’m happy to start another project with it.

Wishing you a day of treats!!

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