Busy week

Mom and I have had a busy week with hair cuts, doctor appointments, and having fun!

Mom took apart her Addi King knitting machine to give it a good cleaning. She's been watching videos so that she can  keep everything in order. There have been a couple of hiccups such as dropping screws, but she now has a clean machine that's ready for action!

I've been working on my doily, with only 19 pattern repeats left before I can move on to the final round. I'm not sure that the 4th of July is an achievable goal. I just realized yesterday that it's less than a week away!

Reorganizing is still a priority, and I'm finding that Mom and I need never shop for yarn again. In fact, we're avoiding our favorite stores so that we won't be tempted. In an attempt to use up our stash, I've started cranking out gnomes and twisted headbands again. If I have enough yarn for a larger project, I'm setting that aside. However, Mom and I tend to go shopping and buy individual skeins of colors that appeal to us.

Mom has also been working on reducing her stash. She's been making beanies, lap throws, and baby buntings. Because of our industrious set of mind, we now have quite a stash of beanies, lap throws, baby buntings, twisted headbands, and gnomes!

I guess it is easier to give away a finished piece than to show someone a skein of yarn!

Not much progress

 

Last night at the play, I was asked about my progress on Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I'm just past the half way mark. Between a sore elbow and making gnomes, I did not meet my goal of finishing by Memorial Day. Maybe I can finish by the 4th of July!

24

 

24 gnomes are ready for adoption at the drama club's summer showcase, How to Succeed in Grant Park Drama Club Without Really Trying 2.0. Performances are Friday, Jun 21 and Saturday, June 22 at 7 p.m.

Sometimes these guys are well behaved.

Other times, they go a little bit crazy!

17

Today marks 17 years of blogging fun! Granted, I don't blog nearly as frequently as I used to, but I haven't given blogging up completely yet.

Next weekend is the drama club's summer showcase. There will be raffle tables at both performances, and I was asked to make gnomes. I'm not finished making gnomes yet, but I've been working on them like crazy for the past two weeks. I hope the fund raiser is a success!

Variety

I needed to add a little variety to my crafting this week. I made no progress on my doily. Oh, I did plenty of tatting, but I made so many mistakes that had to be taken out. I spent more time fixing mistakes than I did tatting. Just when I thought I had everything fixed, I realized I had skipped two picots when joining to the previous round. I'm sure you've guessed it... my mistake was right where I left off after my last post.

Luckily, I have plenty of other crafts to distract me when I need a brain break! The school drama club is doing a fund raiser in two weeks, and daughter Carol asked if I would make some gnomes for their raffle. I plan on putting together three or four baskets. There will be two nights of performances, and I'd like to have two baskets for each night.

Mom and I bought a ridiculous amount of yarn for our circular knitting machines, and some of them just didn't work well in the machines. So, we have quite a bit left for hand knitting and crochet projects. This week I made a Simple Cable Beanie found on Ravelry and a Cowl from seamenschurch.org. Both were quick knits, and I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I knit them both with Big Twist in turquoise. I much prefer working with wool, but this is a pretty nice acrylic from JoAnn's.

Mom decided to try the hat pattern as well, and she made a drop stitch cowl to go with it. I went down two needle sizes for a firmer knit. Mom stuck with the original size needles, size 8, so her hat is slightly larger.

Mom then decided to knit a set using size 7 needles. This hat is a little shorter, but we think it will work well for a child.

So, despite making absolutely no progress on the tatting front this week, it was a productive week!

1/3

 

I'm about 1/3 of the way around Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. Needless to say, I did not reach my goal of finishing by Memorial Day. I've been fighting a cold for the past two and a half weeks, and I just don't seem to have the energy to stick with anything. I'm enjoying the tatting, and I think that is what it's all about!