On and off the needles

 The pink socks are done and the first in the stack of socks for Christmas gifts. The yarn was from Three Irish Girls and the stitch pattern was Serpentine from Wendy D. Johnson's toe up book. Keeping track of the yarn overs was the key to staying on track with the stitch pattern. I'm doing a variation of a basketweave stitch on the blue and green socks which I found in my big Vogue Knitting book. It has a row of knit 2 purl 4 then a knit row, a repeat of the first row then 3 rows of knit. Then purl 3, knit 2, purl 4, knit 2 etc ending with a p. (The purl stitches overlap the last purl the 2 knit and the first purl of the previous knit purl row.)  Knit a row then repeat the previous row and knit 3 rows. Repeat the 12 row sequence. You would think that would be easy but my brain shifts into neutral and I start doing knit 2 purl 2 as if I am doing ribbing and it doesn't even have to be late at night for me to slip into neutral.  I made that error in the first row on the sock on the right and did it again after I took these pics. I'm not giving then to Mr Monk for Christmas. The yarn is a Swedish garn, that's how the Swedes spell yarn, look for the blue and yellow flag on the label. It's foggy and wet here a good day to knit.--Ann-- linking to OTN at Judy's.

Out of the Cupboard

My maternal grandmother made this quilt in the 1930's, it has always been a source of awe and inspiration. It was on my parents bed for many years, the colors have faded, I tweaked them a bit and brought them back to their original brightness I wish I could do that with the quilt, that and stretch it to a queen size. When I was a little girl I used to walk with my fingers across each color to the center of the quilt. The colors changed so comfortably from one print to the next like the sunset. And Grandmas tiny hand quilting stitched through a heavy wool batting. My mother sewed a satin blanket edging to one side to protect the fabric from chin wear. The colors have faded as summer has faded into fall here.--Ann--

On the needles

When I start working on the gusset the colors start clumping together in a more interesting way and the heels striped as the colors stacked up in the purl rows. I like longer color changes these short color changes are busy looking.

 I used all my Kroy yarn on these socks I had remnants of 4 balls. I thought I was using each of the dark balls of yarn for the toe but I eventually saw that I was knitting 2 toes from one ball. So I knit until it was gone and picked up the next 2 balls of the same color and knit to the end then used the last dark yarn for the ribbing. I did a diagonal knit 2 purl 2 in the leg and made a couple mistakes but I kept on knitting until they were done. They are socks that will be covered up by blue jeans; my feet won't care if the diagonals change direction.  Still happy with sticks and string.--Ann-- linking to OTN at Judy's

wee beastie

I didn't even see the wee beastie there on the edge when I snapped the picture. I was sitting outside this morning soaking up some vitamin D and enjoying my cup of vitamin C caffine, there were a few cattle grazing near the fence when I saw some movement half way out in the pasture, it was a coyote headed north. Its fur blends in so perfectly with the prairie grass and then it was out of sight.--Ann--

More book I have read or listened to this summer:

1.  The Nut Hut by Kathleen Taylor about state institutions in the 1970's.
2. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain I got tired of deciphering the colloquialisms.
3. The Art Forger by B.A. Sharpio a modern day story about an artist in New York who is very good at copying Degas work and a mystery about one of Degas painting. It was a fun listen.  audio book
4. The Mockingbird Next Door by Marja Mills also an audio book about Nell Harper Lee. I should listen to it again.

Trees on the Prairie

See in the distance there are trees on the prairie and given the chance to grow they will have the most beautiful symmetrical shape and provide a welcome canopy of shade. I finished this quilt a couple weeks ago but it has been too windy, or too hot, or too cloudy, one day was too foggy, or too much dew on the grass or even too wet and rainy to take pictures and today is just right, nor more excuses, sunny almost no wind and getting a little too warm. Just listed on etsy. Thanks for the comments yesterday still no clue as to why some go to my email and some do not and some responses fail to send.--Ann--

Design Wall Monday

The third Snail Trail (click to see more Snail Trail) blocks went together so easy. Some of the 12 inch blocks were cut from fat quarters, some were cut from longer yardage, I used the fat quarter leftovers for the piano key borders. Next the part I like least about making a quilt--piecing the backing. Linking to Judy's design wall Monday. Has anyone else been having trouble with comments on their blog? I leave comments or respond to comments via email and I almost always get the delivery failure message, or I have to go into my contacts in email and try to find the email that matches the blogger and even then I frequently get the delivery failure message. any suggestions --Ann--

On and off the needles

I think this is the first Friday I have been home all summer......On the needles another pair of socks this yarn is from three Irish girls and I wish I had taken a picture of it before I wound it into 2 balls there was yellow at the top of the hank and brown at the bottom with gradations of white, pale pink, bright pink and red then the brown and the same colors on the other side. I'm doing a serpentine pattern from Wendy D. Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up.

I finished socks for son just a basketweave stitch. Knitting on solid color yarn is so boring I need to knit a pattern. Most of these socks were knit on weekend trips when hubby dear was driving.

I finished a cotton sweater for me the color is pansy.Tee for Two pattern it was an easy pattern to knit, the front and back panel were knit first then the sides and sleeves were knit by picking up stitches along the front and back panels. It is the color of pansies!

They are such cheerful flowers. Happy knitting and linking to Judy's On the Needles. --Ann--

summer

 I haven't posted for a while, its easy to get out of the habit. I've just been busy with summer and life. A day trip here, a weekend there, a class reunion, a family reunion, serving a funeral here going to one there, putting together a dvd of family photos, baking cookies, pulling weeds. Its time to get back in my rut of a routine and replace the daffodils in the kitchen with sunflowers and sew quilts again and read and knit and take notice of the little things again.--Ann--