A Finish

I had started this little afghan when I first went to Monroe in 2009. I felt bored by it. Now I wonder if it was because I wasn't thrilled with the intended recipient at the time. When I picked it back up with no recipient in mind I worked at it with regularity until I totally finished it last night at my "yarn" guild.

Everyone asked me who it was for. I really had no idea. We then talked about the new baby that the owners of Scrumbious had. They had let us hold a party at their business even though we filled the place and potentially could have run others off. I had just written them a thank you note the night before when it dawned on me what a wonderful opportunity I had here. I wrapped it up and gifted this little afghan to them this afternoon and they seemed to really like it.

I Buried My Husband Today

He was laid to rest at the DFW National Cemetery. The location is one that every time he and I drove past we commented on how beautiful the area was.

Rest in peace my dear Mark.

It's Over

He quietly passed just before 7 last night. He had a gentle smile on his face and I imagine he saw his loved ones waiting on the other side.....

Waiting is the Hardest Part

When we left the hospital on July 15th they said 6 months.

When the hospice nurse did her assessment on the 20th she said 3 weeks.

When we took him to inpatient hospice due to a fall on the 22nd they said let's see what happens over the weekend.

When the doctor saw him Sunday the 24th he said 24-48 hours.

Today a new doctor said Thursday.

Waiting is the hardest part.

Where is She?

I have mixed emotions about sharing family health woes here on my blog. I am going to let you know what is going on so you understand why I have been away. I posted this on FB yesterday:

• I forget that a lof of people dont know my husband's health situation. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1990. It went untreated. By 1998 he was diagnosed with cirrhosis. Again it went untreated. He ultimately was on liver transplant list but broke the rules numerous times and was kicked off. He had surgery in May and his body couldn't take the anesthesia. His liver is failing......

My husband will be 53 Sunday so this is all too soon. We lost his younger brother, and only sibling, last year on New Year's Day due to long running health issues. I am concerned about my Father-in-law. I assured him that I will be there for him to take care of him.

So there it is. Feel free to ask questions. I don't mind.

Denim and Flannel

I have started sewing my denim and flannel together. These are the jeans that I cut up several weeks ago. I decided to use a 3" square and strip to make this. I wanted a size that wouldn't have too many seams to keep it lighter. I also didn't want to use a huge size and just have big chunks of fabric globbed together either.

I am happy with this size. Let's see how I feel once I start sewing these blocks together!

Deconstructing Jeans I have been saving jeans to make a flannel and denim quilt for some time. While I am separated from the projects I really want to be working on I decided to start cutting up the jeans so that I can start stripping them. I am going to make a log cabin from them. I just have to decide my strip width.

I bought these rag quilt snips some time ago at Michael's. I have been putting off this task as I was afraid I would have sore hands and fingers from cutting through the denim. It has been a breeze so far since these snips are super sharp!

Sweeper Cloths Thanks Paula. I did mine all by machine with purchased flannel. I still get my green points by not having to use disposable pads. I made 16 out of 3 yards of flannel.

Loom Knitting Socks

The striped "sample" is my needle knit sock that was given me by my friend. The autumn colored "sample" is a swatch that I knitted on my sock loom. I don't know about you but I think I have achieved success!

I bought the book "Loom Knitting Socks: A Beginner's Guide to Knitting Socks on a Loom" by Isela Phelps recently and read the technical part of the book. I am using a loom made by her husband in 2006 but just now got around to using it. These looms are sold on DA Looms but no longer by the Phelps.

There are 4 ways to make a knit stitch on the loom and my goal was to get the same gauge and look as my hand knitted socks. 3 of the 4 stitches look just like those in my sock but I definately have a preference as to ease of creation and the tension of the completed stitch. Now I just need to figure out how many pegs I need to get my size sock and I think I will embark on my first pair of loom knit socks!!

April UFO Done Already!! Woohoo! I got lucky that I had brought this from LA with me. I am still going to be separated from my other quilty UFOs for awhile or I would be jumping into the next one! This was the UFO that Judy L at Patchworktimes drew for April for her UFO Challenge.

Are You a Member of Ravelry?

I joined a little over 3 years ago. Up until this year I have been a light user. But this year I really started exploring the site. I have stashed all my sock yarn plus a few others. I have joined several groups. I have begun stashing my looming, knitting and crochet books. It has been a fun site to search and see how others are using yarns you have or how patterns that you plan to do one day turn out for others with their yarn choices. I even found a yarn I needed to finish that last shawl I just completed.

The thing that I have enjoyed the most is the people. I am an active member of three groups that meet in person. One group is in LA and the other two are in TX in my town. One of the latter groups decided to have a one year anniversary party. I have been the least active with this group but they reached out to me to encourage me to join them. I did and was given the party favor below. Isn't it adorable? One of the members made one for everyone that attended.






To see more pics of the event go here.

A Knitty Finish!

It is not very wide. I am going to test drive it as is. Someone suggested I sew it into a shrug. I thought sewing it into a mobius would be another good option. We will see.

Design Wall Monday This is my #4 UFO for Judy's UFO Challenge. Yes, that is right I am binding it! This is the third side so I hope to finish in the next day or so. This is Bloomer's by Anima's quilts. Go here to see what others have on their design wall.

Mission Accomplished

Here is the center of my top minus the corners. Those will go on quickly. I will be able to get those on, the top trimmed and the borders added and mitered by the end of the month. Was a big job in a short time. Feels good!

Friday Night Sew In and Stahbuster Retreat

I had to stay in LA for work this weekend. It worked out well for me as I have extra time to sew on my most challenging UFO. These two sections make up almost half the quilt. I have started assembling the other corner as well and have three rows together. That leaves just 8 more rows to assemble and attach to the rest.

I hope to get the center of the top together and trimmed and to cut out the borders before I leave for home. This will put me in a very good position to have a completed top this month which is my goal for Judy L's UFO Challenge.

Thanks for all the help Mom. I would have had a hard time making this much progress without you!

Are you sewing this weekend?

Design Wall Monday

All 106 blocks are assembled. Yeah! Thanks Mom. I sewed and she trimmed and pressed. I have started assembling the rows. Looks like I will make my goal to have a completed top this month

Mother is Here!!

My parents arrived yesterday. I expected them about an hour later so didn't finish everything I planned before they arrived. I had a pile of scraps that sit on the floor in my living room and Mom made me organize it. Well, I had started...she made me finish. My sewing area looks good. We went out to dinner afterwards, came back and went to be. We were all tired from driving to get here.

Today we got up and went out to breakfast then set out on lots of errands. When we finished those I started sewing while Mom cat napped on the balcony and Dad in the recliner in front of TV. After a little while Mom joined in. We just finished up for the night about 30 minutes ago. More ripping than sewing was our clue to stop.

If you remember a few posts back I showed a bunch of bits sewn together. Below is a block we finished. And even further below is progress we made on the rest of the bits. I have 4 block sets in this quilt. Our goal is to finish a set and then take a break and do something else. Repeat til they are all done. This is my #1 UFO from Judy L's challenge. I am feeling hopeful that I will get this topped!

Hydrangea Shawl

Here is a better shot of the shawl

Design Bag?

Here is what I sewed Friday night. Yup, just tossed into the top of my bag. Waiting to be trimmed and pressed. To see what others have on their design wall stop by Judy's.

Friday Night Sew In

Last night was the sew in at the church with members from the Mesquite Quilt Guild and their friends. I took my bag of "Bloomers" parts with me (UFO #1) and started construction. I almost panicked because I did not have the pieces I needed for the first step. I knew I could do a lot of sewing without that part so for three hours I made the petals and leaves for the flowers.

Good news. I have sewed half of them. Bad news. I still have to press and trim them. So for a three hour investment I am on my way to making a dent in this quilt. Mom will be helping me later this month and it will go so much faster when she is here.

Here is my knitty project that I am working on. It is being knit on a Knifty Knitter long loom. I had to find another skein of yarn to complete it and was lucky to locate one on Ravelry that was sent on Wednesday and I had by Friday. It is a shawl for me.