Knitting challenge

 

Mom and I have been working on our Orenburg warm shawls. It's been quite challenging for both of us, but also very enjoyable. I finally finished the increase section of the first border today, and I'm ready to move on to the straight section. Mom is way ahead of me. She's on her fourth pattern repeat out of eleven. These shawls are going to be gorgeous!

I spent this afternoon working on the Harmony tat-along from Tat-a-Renda. I had to snip off six pattern repeats because I had forgotten to tat the Josephine knots. There are two rounds left to tat, so I'm hoping to finish this week. It does feel good to be knitting and tatting again!

Yes, I've been tatting...

I just don't seem to have accomplished much!

I'm working on a cross bookmark for my friend Irene. I had it about half done when I realized I'd forgotten a ring and chain section at the beginning of the second arm. I'm working in size 40 thread, and I could have untatted it all, but I didn't. I snipped it off and started over!

I'm still working on round 5 of Tat-a-Renda's Harmony doily. This round is so simple, but I keep mixing myself up!

I'm also test tatting an Ice Drop pattern for Lynne Urwin. I would have it finished, but I have lost my place in the pattern several times... not Lynne's fault. I just got distracted! Sometimes it doesn't pay to try and do two things at once!

No patience

I couldn't get Blogger to work last night. I had no patience, so I turned off my computer and went to bed!

Yesterday we drove up to daughter Alison's house for an afternoon visit. We were celebrating granddaughter Eva's high school graduation. It's hard to believe she's starting college in just a couple of weeks! We were a small but happy group sitting outside under canopies and enjoyed the warm summer weather.

On the drive up, I worked on my Harmony tat-along. I had to refill a shuttle, and I guess it took longer than I thought it did. I really believed I had made much greater progress than this!

I finished sewing and trimming the pillowcases for the lavender eye pillows. I've started turning them right side out and poking out the corners so they look nice and neat. I'll press them all tomorrow and then I'll start working on filling the pillows. This has been a fun project!

Still sewing

Mom and I spent the morning working in the sun porch. Mom has been fringing all week, or so it seems! She finished a brown tablecloth and 17 napkins. At least I think it was 17... I didn't count!

Today she fringed this beautiful blue tablecloth. There's something very relaxing about fringing!

My 40 pillowcases have been sewn, and I've started zig zagging around the edges and clipping corners. I hope to finish this part of the task tomorrow.

I think I only tatted two rings today. Maybe I'll get more done tomorrow!

A pile of pillowcases

I continue to have problems with Blogger, so I've reverted to Legacy Blogger again. I tried posting using the updated interface, but I couldn't get my text color to change from blue to black and all of my text was underlined. Also, I couldn't add multiple pictures at one time. I sure hope the new Blogger interface gets fixed soon!

Mom spent the day fringing more napkins and knitting a baby blanket. I forgot to take a picture of the blanket, but I'll try to remember tomorrow.

This morning I cut out 40 pillowcases for lavender eye pillows. I came up with a pillowcase that I really like, and I hope to show you the results tomorrow.

I have six sewn, but they're not finished. I like to zig zag the raw edges, and I've decided to sew all the pillowcases together before switching to zig zag. Then I'll clip the corners, turn them right side out, and press them.

Yes, I did spend a little time tatting today, but I haven't gotten very far with round 5 of the Harmony tat-along. I guess sewing has temporarily taken over my life!

No time for research

I hope my blog post works tonight, because I had no time for research about blogging problems!

I started off my day working on lavender eye pillows for a friend of mine... 20 lavender eye pillows! They don't look like much now, but it took three hours to iron the fabric, cut it out, sew, turn, and press. Now they're ready to be filled with flax seed and lavender. After that, I will make pillow cases for them.

When I finished my morning sewing, Mom and I spent about an hour upstairs clearing out a closet so that we can reorganize craft supplies. We're finding all sorts of treasures!

Mom has been busy fringing napkins to go with the tablecloth she finished yesterday.

In the afternoon, I finally sat down with my tatting. I've messed up two or three times, and I've only finished four pattern repeats. I think I know what I'm doing now, so tomorrow should go more smoothly!

A productive day

Mom and I accomplished so much today! First, we spent about an hour upstairs and managed to clean off two shelves in one of the closets. Believe me, that was a major accomplishment!

I spent the morning finishing up face mask sets for family, while Mom worked on fringing a tablecloth.

This afternoon I finally finished round 4 of the Harmony tat-along from Tat-a-Renda. My shuttles are loaded and ready for round 5!

A beautiful day

We had a beautiful Sunday! The weather was perfect, and my sister Janet and brother David came to visit. Still, I managed to get a little done.

Harmony is coming along nicely. I think I might have finished this round today if I hadn't had to stop to rewind my shuttle. At least that's my excuse!

While Mom and Janet took a nap, I worked on face masks for son-in-law Jan. I now have sets completed for daughter Joanne and family and for daughter Andrea and family. I still have to finish sets for daughter Alison and her daughter Eva, as well as sets for Mom and me. We'll all be set with face masks, that's for sure!

Connection trouble

I was having trouble connecting to Blogger last night and this morning. I switched to a different browser and now I can post, but everything looks different! Were changes made yesterday? I guess I have something to research today!

I love zipper pouches and I tend to collect ones I really like. You just never know when you'll find a use for them! I had bought these last year when I was teaching high schoolers how to crochet. Even though I only worked with a small group, I was prepared for more to join in!

It turns out that these zipper pouches are perfect for holding face masks! I started making some for my four daughters, Mom, and myself yesterday. I'm also going to make some for my son-in-law. I have ten masks for each of the three little grandchildren. My plan is to finish three masks each for my three older grandaughters, and for the adults.

I found some really nice elastic on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08962WGV7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It's a soft braided elastic, easy to sew, and quite stretchy. I've added pony beads to make the elastic straps adjustable, an idea I read on Sweet Red Poppy. 

I made a little more progress on my Harmony Tat-along from Tat-a-Renda. Daughter Carol came over for a short visit yesterday, and when she left I didn't feel motivated to anything. So, I just was lazy!

Mom has been busy weaving placemats and table runners. We found some packages of fabric strips that I had purchased on clearance at Hobby Lobby years ago. Mom was pretty happy to get three 12" x 15" placemats out of each package. It's fun to watch her weave. She has a technique down for weaving these beauties, and I have the benefit of learning by watching!

Almost done

I was on a roll with face masks today. I sewed seven in the morning.

Then I sewed six more in the afternoon. I want to make one more child sized mask, and then I need to make a few for Joanne and Jan. When those are completed, I will have finished masks for one of my four daughters and her family.

I did spend a little time tatting today, but I didn't get very far. I'm determined to finish the face masks for Joanne's family tomorrow, so I'm guessing I will not catch up on the doily until the weekend. I'm okay with that!

Playing

I spent way too much time playing today! I hadn't played Magic Puzzles in a long time, but Mom's been doing the daily puzzle and I decided to join her. When the puzzles have a lot of dark pieces, I give up pretty quickly. However, there have been some good ones in the past week, and I have spent a lot of time working puzzles!

Mom and daughter Carol have also been playing Happy Color. I made the mistake of trying it yesterday. I've had the app for a long time, but hadn't tried it out. I spent hours coloring mandala designs today!

I did spend a little time tatting today, but I didn't get very far with Harmony. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow!

I did finish face masks from grandson Janko. We're still not sure if the twins will be in preschool this year, but they will have the required face masks if they're able to attend!

Face masks

I did spend a little time tatting today. I'm now working on round 4 of Harmony tat-along from Tat-a-Renda. Even though this round is fairly simply, I messed up several times. Therefore, very little tatting was accomplished!

Instead of fretting over tatting, I switched to sewing face masks for my grandchildren. I'm really enjoying working with Sophia's fabric choices!

Hot, hot, hot!

It was really hot and humid here today, perfect weather to stay inside!

I've given away several of my lavender pillows, and a friend asked if I could make some for his wife's yoga studio. They needed to be much smaller than what I've been making, just large enough to cover the eyes. They also need to have removable cases so that they can be washed. Today I played around with ideas, and I came up with a plan that works for me. Now I just need to see if my friend and his wife like it.

I also worked on round three of the Harmony Tat-along from Tat-a-Renda. I like the two shades of green together.

I'm getting ready to test tat an Ice Drop pattern for Lynne Urwin. I hope it's cooler tomorrow so that I can concentrate!

Joanne received notification that children will have to wear face masks to school, and she asked me if I would make some for Sophia. Sophia chose the fabrics, and now that I have a design that I like working, I'm ready to get going with them. I only managed to make two today, but I have all the fabric cut, so it should be a pretty smooth process.

Mom has been busy warping her Saori loom for a new project. She took a break from warping and wound her shuttle with cotton fabric. It looks like she'll be ready to start weaving tomorrow!