Time off

 

I took a little time off to spend a few days with daughter Alison. I did take my knitting along, and I'm making good progress with my Equinox shawl by Lisa Overby. I think I have 14 rows to go, something I should be able to achieve this week. 

I also have a good start on round 6 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

Reorganizing of the upstairs continues, which does cut into my crafting time. I'm finding long forgotten materials and projects, some of which I know I'll never finish. It's time to de-stash!

Round 5

 

I just finished round 5 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. Even though this round took great concentration on my part, I truly enjoyed tatting it. 

Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I hope I have time to start round 6!

Enjoying the weather

We had a beautiful Memorial Day here in northern Illinois. The temperature was warm. The sun was shining. The best part was, there was a glorious breeze all day long.

Tollway Tatters met via Zoom on Saturday, and I was able to make pretty good progress with my Star of Bethlehem doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

My sister came to visit Saturday afternoon and spent the night. She left early Sunday to work in her garden, and Dave and I left shortly after. We made a plant delivery and then headed up to visit daughter Alison for the day. My brother came down to spend time with Mom. They're collaborating on a heddle idea for Mom's band weaving.

Memorial Day was very low key for us. Mom and I spent the day knitting, reading, and watching movies. Dave worked outside planting vegetables and flowers. 

Today will be busy. I have three recent high school graduates coming over to help me organize upstairs. It's time to de-clutter!

Summer break

Today was the first day of summer break from school, and it was a busy one! Mom and I did laundry, went grocery shopping, and did a bit of crafting.

I decided that Kara's doll needed a couple of extra touches. So, I made a Yorkshire button bun to spruce up her hair.

I also gave her a little necklace. Kara loves both of the additions! I can hardly wait for the two of them to meet at the end of June.

It was nice to spend time tatting today. I'm a little more than halfway finished with round 5 of my Star of Bethlehem doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I plan on working on this during our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting tomorrow.

We have a busy weekend planned. I sure hope I'm as productive over the next few days!

Relaxing weekend

As expected, I didn't do much on Saturday. I did spend most of the day in my chair working on Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with Tatting - doilies  by Laura Bziukiewicz. I love the way this round is worked. It's like working on three rounds at the same time!

This is Dave's busiest time of year at work, so daughter Carol came over in the morning to help out with mowing. She also brought Mom's favorite dish to celebrate Mother's Day... homemade macaroni and cheese! My brother came to visit as well. It was a beautiful day!

After everyone left, I decided it was time to get back to granddaughter Kara's doll. Mom finished the body weeks ago, and I've been picking up and putting down the bits of clothing I've been working on. The apron is almost done, but Kara doesn't want an apron. The bonnet is almost done, but Kara doesn't want a bonnet. The shawl is finished, but that's the last piece to get added. Bloomers were next on the list, and I just wasn't enjoying making the bloomers. They're done now! 

I started the petticoat last night. After that, I need to knit the skirt, and then put everything together. I know Kara will love her doll!

Sunday visitor

 

Mom saw this chubby little guy peering through the sliding door to our deck. He scurried away when I headed toward the sunporch, but I managed to get a picture of him as he nibbled out back. You just never know what critters you will see when you live in the country!

I spent the day knitting yesterday, and I surprised myself by finishing the second spiral knit tube sock. 

I never really thought I could knit an entire sock in one day, even if it is in worsted weight yarn! 

I was tempted to start knitting another pair of socks, but I chose to work on the bloomers for granddaughter Kara's doll. I have too many works in progress, and I need to finish them up!

I've started round 5 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. It takes concentration, but it is so pretty!

April Tollway Tatters

 

We were a small group of four today, but we had great fun tatting and chatting! I managed to tat round 4 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I've been looking at round 5, which is very detailed and very pretty. I look forward to starting on it tomorrow!

This afternoon, I worked on my spiral knit tube sock. I managed to finish it early this evening. It doesn't look like much on the footstool.

It looks much better on a foot!

These are way too thick for wearing with shoes, but they'll be great for wearing around the house on a cold winter night. The next sock is started, so I will have a complete pair soon!

The pattern for these worsted weight socks can be found here: http://www.appleleeffarm.com/PDFs/Patts/spiraltubesck.pdf

Progress

 

I added a couple of inches to my sock. It's now a little over 13" long, with about 3" to go before shaping the toe.

Most of my free time today was spent working on round 3 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

Tomorrow we will be having our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting at 9 a.m. central time. My shuttles are loaded and ready for round 4 of Star of Bethlehem. It looks like an easy round, so I should be able to tat during our meeting. Sue posts the link to the Zoom meeting on our Facebook page. Join us if you can!

Slow crafting

 

I didn't get a whole lot done today. I did finish round 2 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz.

My sock is now 11 1/2" long. It needs to be 16" before I start shaping the toe. Somehow, this is a much easier pattern to follow than it was 20 years ago!

A new routine

I've been trying to take time for knitting, tatting, and reading each day, and so far it's going well!

My spiral knit tube sock is coming along nicely. I'm really enjoying these Prym ergonomic knitting needles. It took me a little time to adjust to the length, but that really was not a big deal. I think it's the tips of the needles that I like the most. I haven't been splitting my stitches since switching to these needles. That's a big plus!

This morning I started on my fifth doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This one is called Star of Bethlehem, and I decided to tat it in white just like the picture in the book. The pattern has nine rounds, so I expect this one to take me a couple of weeks. If I could focus on one thing at a time, it wouldn't take nearly so long. However, my mind flits from one thing to another, so I always have multiple projects in progress!