100 Day Project – Stitching

July 12th brought a close to The 100 Days Project and I participated with 100 Days of…you guessed it….Stitching. I knew that I could not “add” one more thing to my schedule but I did want to participate. Most of these photos were posted to Instagram, but some were not. And, I somehow missed taking a photo entirely one day and I am not quite sure how that happened! 99 photos and a bit of accompaniment courtesy of Simon & Garfunkel for the most part.

Now, how about some links?

That is all I have for the week! See you back here bright and early on Monday! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Three Good Things

Three Good Things

This week’s Think Write Thursday topic is to write about 3 good things that happened this week. We all know that focus on the GOOD is GOOD for us so let’s do it!

Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

This might be the perfect topic for me, Carole made this suggestion and it was like she knew this would be a struggle for me – and really, that is a very good thing.

Okay, maybe in theory…however, reality makes this a challenge for me. Contrary to what you might think, I am not Suzie Sunshine every day. I know, right? But, that is the truth.

So, that quote and this post are going to be my reminder that good things and happiness go hand in hand.

I am going to take a little license and expand “this week” to include last week as well.

One very good (and utterly selfish thing, I admit) was that Steve had a work function last week and he was gone Thursday through Saturday. I know – completely selfish, but what can I say – sometimes a break is a very good thing! This allowed me to stay up as late as I wanted and Sherman slept in bed with me. Oh, and there might have been some marathon knitting time going on and listening to audio-books sans headphones and watching subtitled shows on Netflix. I was ready for him to come home late Saturday afternoon, even if he complained about the knitting and wondered what the heck I was watching! LOL

The second good thing was the nights of rain we have gotten, nice soaking rains. Good sleeping rains.

The third thing is something that I started at the beginning of the month. I was fortunate to get into The Balanced Life Sisterhood. To start, it was so hard and holy cow am I out of shape, but I have been persevering every single day and this week ::even though the workouts are still so hard:: I could do more repetitions and more things than I could the week before! This exercise is a very good thing! I am excited to do it! I feel so accomplished when I am done! AND…this is good for my mind as well!

Good things sometimes are selfish, sometimes replenishing, and sometimes are hard work. But, they do create happiness!

If you want to see more good things, you will find them here. And, if you want to join Carole and me on Think Write Thursdays, you can sign up here.

Unraveled Wednesday, July 12

Unraveled Wednesday, July 12

Ohai, Unravelers!

Happy Wednesday to you!

I am working on getting back on track with my mystery shawl – slowly, getting back on track! I am almost done with Clue #2, which puts me only 3 weeks behind!

However, I did get a lovely distraction in the mail this week from Shepherd’s Lamb! They sent me 2 skeins of their new Organic Rambouillet yarn! Oh, my it is lovely! I especially love the natural dye colors! I have yarn from 2 different sheep – Rusty Nails and Acorns! The yarn is DK weight and has 180 yards per 2-ounce skein. I am thinking that this pattern might be the perfect thing for this yarn! The yarn has been minimally processed and has a lovely, but faint, sheepy smell! Stay tuned for the FO’s next week!

Now, on to reading – no finishes this week, but hopefully next week I will have a flurry of them! And, really – I need to kick it into high gear because I had a bunch of things come off hold at the library (of course!)

What about you? Any good knits and reads this week?

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June Stitching

June Stitching

June was the first month that the creative tension lingered most of the month and I am left feeling that it needs a bit more stitching. Will I stitch more? I don’t know – I am having a bit of an internal debate with myself about that.

My process has been to stitch one piece each month and when the month was over to begin a new month, however, I think this piece needs a bit more to feel complete.

But when I look back at the month, I see my garden: Yarrow, lavender, Impatiens, Foxglove, Verbena, Wiegela’s, and even some black Poppy seeds. And, lots and lots of growing!! It is a work in progress, and perhaps this stitching feeling “unfinished” is the best reflection of my garden. But, as I said – the internal debate rages on and I will let you know if I decide to add anything to the piece.

What I do love about the piece is how dramatically different it is from previous months with many new stitches and techniques. However, the reality is that sometimes new things requires more practice before you are proficient at them. I am certain that I will be revisiting some of these stitches again to perfect them.

I have also been contemplating the next quarter which will bring this year of stitching to a close and I have had some interesting conversations with Mary about some things in the Slow Stitch book (which if you do not have, you should! It is a fantastic starting point to stitching) and there is so much inspiration contained within the pages! It seems with needle and thread, the possibilities are endless!

There you have my June stitching. One thing I do know – I am at the point that I need a bigger embroidery hoop! Any stitchers out there have any recommendations?

 

 

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Monday Blues

Monday Blues

Weekend Monday’s are much better than Begin Your Week Monday’s!

This weekend did have some highs though.

  • My Knit a Sweater in 4 days took 5 days. I am in total awe of all those who completed this sweater in 4 days – and there were several who did. However, I am thrilled to have a sweater in the complete column! And, even in 5 days – I am super happy with it. I made some mods which you can read about here. It just needs a soak and some ends woven in and it will be ready for sweater weather. Now, back to Stillwater #1 and catching up on KK’s MKAL.
  • I binge-watched Witnesses on Netflix. Excellent and I highly recommend!
  • I am almost done with South of Broad! Which is a good thing, because I have gotten a flurry of holds that have come available – so my reading/listening list just grew exponentially!
  • We did a good bit of yard/garden work on Sunday. More trimming and more planting! Also, some creative adjustments to the “garden gate” because the wee bunnies can eat their weight x100 in beans! I had 10 bean plants, now I have 10 bean sticks! Sigh…
  • I discovered that Broadchurch is on BBC America on Wednesday nights! Also, Prime Suspect: Tennison on PBS was excellent!

There you have my weekend but, Monday has a long list and I better get to it! How was your weekend?

Knit-sanity

Knit-sanity

The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success. – Bruce Feirstein

The knitting continues, despite not making my “goal” yesterday. I wanted to be done with the body and ready to pick up stitches this morning however, I did get to the ribbing. Twenty-one rows to binding off, seems like a manageable number, doesn’t it?

Today I would like to sit under the pergola but the rain will keep me (and Sherman) in the house. I do have Pat Conroy’s South of Broad to keep me company. And, perhaps indoor knitting will offer fewer distractions than the pergola.

I do have a Brown Wren update! My persistent little wren won over a mate! She finished feathering the nest and now I think there are eggs in the nest! Mr. Wren’s songs are even more ebullient, if that is at all possible!

Also…I saw my first hummingbird on Wednesday! Yep, there she was sitting on the “deer-proof” netting on the garden. And, speaking of the garden…baby tomatoes are popping up all over and it looks like we will have a bumper crop this year!

Now, how about a few links?

First up we have all manner of shawl-y things!! Starting with Avian Melody which is just gorgeous!

To satisfy your inner super hero, you just might need a Wonder Woman Wrap (or perhaps we all do!!)

Sari, not Sari… too cute. And what is not to love about anything knit with Hedgehog yarns?

Rift is simple and so beautiful.

Aurora Borealis from Svetlana… oh.my.

In the somethings other than shawls category, first up Flexi… “MAXIMUM FREEDOM! Your yarn. Your gauge. Your size.” Yes, really.

Old Shale Cardigan for ladies is very cute!

And, finally – put a mitt on it with Wood Sorrel

That’s it for me this week, I am off to work on success and avoiding insanity! See you back here on Monday with a finished sweater! (Hopefully!!)

 

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