Happy Feet on and off the needles

 Happy Feet! socks and slippers are done! The slippers went through the washer and dryer twice and the washer 2 more times then air dried and they fit perfect now. With two layers of felted soles they are so soft and squishy and warm.

I started a new pair of footies from leftover yarn.  Stitch patterns for both these socks are in Wendy D. Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up the footies are the Butterfly pattern I did 2 repeats of the chart before I read all of the instructions so my "butterflies" are going to be in vertical rows instead of alternating across. They are footies I am using up yarn and learning a new stitch pattern, just yarn overs and knit 2 together and slip slip knit. The other socks are the Lacy Rib pattern.

I found a wonderful variegated yarn for Suzie Roger's Reading Mitts I think I should pull off enough yarn for the thumb to be all pink . If I finish the mitt then go back to the thumb with the yarn as it comes out of the ball, I think it will be changing to dark, dark red then black. Happy knitting sometimes I just have to put the kneedles down and give my full attention to the Olympics. Check out On the Needles at Judy's  --Ann--

out of the cupboard

 Changing the quilts on the walls always improves the spirits in the winter. Out with the snowmen and up with the spring baskets.  These blue and yellow baskets are like a sunny day. I made this quilt in 1999 with 6 inch squares of Merryvale fabrics click explanation of Merryvale. Each basket used one 6 inch square of fabric, I cut 2- 2 inch squares and 6 triangles using the easy angle. From the background fabric I cut 3 - 2 inch squares and 2 - 2 x 3 1/2 rectangles and 2 - 2 inch wide triangles using the companion angle and one 3 1/2 inch triangle. The piano key border is cut from 6 x 18 inch strips of Merryvale fabrics. I free motion quilted it on my Bernina. --Ann--

journals

 It was warm and sunny here today the snow is melting. The robins are back, the silly birds were here 2 weeks ago but today it seems real that they are back and spring might not be far behind. There have been dozens of robins in the backyard today.

  It was warm enough to use the spray adhesive outside and cover some composition books.  All you need are composition books or plain journals, spray adhesive and decorative paper, I'm using old calender pages. Trim paper to about 1/2 inch larger than book on 3 sides. Spray the paper and let adhesive set for a minute or two, I overlap the edge with the black spine covering. Then trim off excess paper. And you have a pretty journal for planning your blog posts or your big book of lists. My thoughts are always more profound going into a beautiful journal and its not so expensive that I am afraid to use it.

 Those silly birds, what do the eat this time of year? here!??!  No strawberries that's for sure. --Ann--

On the Needles

The slipper clogs for son are knit and felted he said "they are perfect, Thanks Mom" His birthday was Sunday,  had we realized 28 years ago that he was born on the anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on American television we would have named him.....Ringo! He lucked out there.

Before they were felted with the over felted now child size slippers just for scale. Felt slowly in the washer on medium temp then into the dryer and repeat until they fit.

 

The colors in this yarn is pooling now. Much more interesting. I like the flashes of color. The yarn is German Schoppel Wolle it is 2 strands of yarn wound on a spool and dyed on the spool so my color changes are getting shorter as the spool gets smaller.

 This hand painted yarn has even color changes which have not stacked up into interesting color patterns just texture that is until I did the gusset increase.  The orange and brown made a little grouping of color and the pink and yellow made a sideways V. Turning the heel I got a nice repeat of stripes. I like stripes. Did anyone notice the person knitting the first night of competition? Just before one of the last snowboarders went down the hill you could see a person with calm nerves standing knitting a white scarf? It looked like the yarn was coming out of an opening in his jacket.
I'm finally feeling better after 5 days of the flu, I have just hurt all over with chills and a runny nose. I would get up because it hurt to lay in bed then sit in my chair and nap and knit a little then nap some more then knit. Next year I'm getting a flu shot. Check out the knitting at Judy's On the Needles. --Ann--

Vintage Valetines 3

 So many of these old Valentines have moving parts, her arm moves covering the  writing, move the front wheel and the cupid disappears,  the slider is too short for the slot but the soda disappears and their eyes blink as it goes.
These Valentines used to keep me entertained for hours.

 I just love the honeycomb tissue fold outs, this one is in pristine condition its about 10 inches tall.

 And these dimensional stand up cards some needed a little coaxing to open and one needed a weight. the three little girls pop up when you pull the tab. Small treasures for Valentines Day hope you do something special for your sweetie. --Ann--

Vintage Valentines 2

 A couple more times through the box of Valentines I found the one I was holding in the black and white photo in yesterday's post. My favorite puppies and kittens with clothes.

 These are all Valentine cards from my childhood, my mother put them all in a scrapbook with my baby cards, birthday cards and  other  holiday cards, all fastened with cellophane tape so everything is falling apart. And look no syndicated characters. --Ann--

Vintage Valentines

I have a box of my Mother's Valentine cards some have dates written on the back. The arm moves with the ace of hearts, the dogs eyes move, the dogs head moves and the clowns head pops up. More vintage hearts tomorrow. --Ann--