PT = Pink Therapy Sampler and Knit

Last night, I picked up a Blackbird Design Pink Manor sampler to cross stitch while Mr. Darcy and I watched back to back episodes of Blue Blood. We are on Season 4 now........it's a really good program. We have watched back to back episodes for a while now in the evenings.

So I reached in my long, long ----can't even remember, when I started this----stash of WIPs last night and spent some time on it. I love pink. Specifically in this sampler, Jakey Brown.

After I dusted the project bag off, I decided to try to finish this.

I just stopped mid program and looked at Mr. Darcy and said "this makes me happy!"

Of course, if I didn't have a magnifier lamp and good glasses it would be hard to do.

This is 35 count fabbie.

I'm so close............ I started the "Dear____" part with one over one.

And so I  have some pink projects to finish that should have been a very long time ago.

These gloomy rainy days we are having are perfect for settling in for the evening with some pink therapy after physical therapy.

And so.......... this...........

This is a project I started for a baby that is now..........almost a year old. Yup........all this progress you see was knitted in the NICU waiting room while daddy was sick.

I got to almost finished and put it down. I did use Bernat Baby, a sport weight yarn in acrylic because I wanted it to be very washable. The intended recipient didn't know I was knitting this.

I made a few mistakes in it so now I don't think I will be giving to this year old baby, but..........I think I'm donating it when I finish to a knit group on Ravelry to send to hospitals who accept baby blankets handmade for families of infant loss.

I didn't really go by any special pattern, just rotated stockinette with garter with a consistent garter edge.

The finished size is perfect for newborn-3 months. I just will pick up and knit the last section in garter, wash, fluff, and donate.

Picking up a piece with 100% acrylic again is actually helping me appreciate more of natural yarn fibers.

I know some knitters do not knit with acrylic at all but I have a good bit in my yarn stash from when I fell in love with knitting in the beginnning and I'm sure I will occasionally find some use for it.

On to cook some ham, sweet potatoes and green beans.

More PT this evening as it rains outside again today...........................

Jennifer

New Glasses and New Progress---Kate Spade

I've made some progress since last posting! I'm still working on the top down section with a lace border. I have about 30 rows left ( or when I have 191 stitches on the needles) until I get to all lace charts.

 And.........this will be my first project reading charts instead of written instructions.

A bit of a curl right now and hard to display but it's uber soft and buttery.

You can see at the beginning how the edging will look at the top and sides from the beginning.

So pumped about my glasses getting here in the mail this week!

 I ordered some readers and this time went a little out of my comfort zone for bigger lenses in size but I heart anything Kate Spade!

She mailed them to me like this AFTER I opened a box full of all different colored glittery paper.

I'm a sucker for packaging. I jumped up and down like a little girl. 

I love the detail she put on the outside of the wrapped part.

These are great quality. I used them today while knitting on the back porch. Hubbie likes them.  Alot. 

The inside of the case is so cute.

It's time for dinner and some knitting. I hope to get the first section completed by the end of the week if possible. 

Miss Abbie is hiding her treat bones. Yup, just don't shake out the throws on the sofa around here because you might just find one or two of them. :)

Hope your Saturday evening is a delightful one too.

Watching the sunset over the mountains, good food, a good book, good companionship, and knitting are my favorite simple ways to enjoy a Saturday night.

Tomorrow after church, a trip for fresh veggies. Maybe I'll take some pics!

Till later,

Jennifer

PS  Don't forget to take your vitamins.

My Favorite Place at Home to Knit During the Summer

Hot weather or not, I like the wicker chaise and the sounds of nature to inspire when I'm  knitting.

 It's peaceful.

It's soothing.

I like to spread out on the wicker chaise with fresh cushions and comfy pillows with the fan going on the back porch.

 It's my form of meditation.

A cup of tea from Teavana is always by my side out here. My favorite is Orange Blossom and Youth Berry mixed. It's a white tea and fruit base that is heavenly.

It's about 89 degrees, but definite high humidity today. The weather man says in low 90's but real feel is 103 F. The shady area on the side of the mountain is always a bit cooler.

I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked this week, but........hey, I've put in at least a couple of rows a night this week. Still on the stockinette top part of the shawl.

When blocked I hope it uncurls and looks more like this one. 

It doesn't hurt to smell something grilling and having good conversation.

Just chillin' while grillin'

I don't get much time for this but when I do, it makes me appreciate it more.

This pattern is free on Ravelry. See my previous blog post for materials and name, etc. It's basically a top down shawl.

The yarn is knitting like butter. It's smooth, soft, and such a pretty colorway.

I have 2 caked-up skeins for this one.

 I'm really enjoying my project bag I got from Cozy Crafting, an Etsy shop online.

She also has a sweet vlogcast on You Tube.

It's perfect with an arm strap to carry with me anywhere so I can have knitting on the go.

She has alot of bags and they are well made and lined inside. It will hold 2 large cakes of yarn, notions, and pattern. It was a bit on the smaller side than I thought but I love the Summer pattern of fabric. So tempted to get one for Fall.

This little birdie measure came from Bumbleberry's in Clarkesville, Georgia. It's a sweet addition to my notions this week. 

See ya'll later. The hot dogs, lemonade and oven baked beans are ready!

Hope you are staying cool!!!

Jennifer

New Sister Blog! Knitting in My Nest

As time rolls on, things change in my life, as well as others and I have decided for organizing and for your benefit to create a separate blog for knitting stuff. Feathers in the Nest is mostly for cross stitching of which I dearly love, our life in the mountains and how we keep up the homestead.

My interest in learning to knit came about 18 months ago. I had always wanted to knit but was a little intimidated with it. I got a certificate as a gift several years back from a local store and took the 2 hour class, came home and was lost when I made my first mistake. I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

So, many months later in December 2012, I took a course called Knit Lab on Craftsy.com. If you don't know about this site, it's a GREAT site for any creative arts, not just knitting. Some classes are discounted deeply around certain times of the year and because of December and Christmas, the class was half off. This was the best decision I made because the class was taught by an excellent instructor, Stephanie Japel, and for 12.50 I got 8 hours of instruction and also 3 patterns that were not on Ravelry.com. She had lessons you can play and repeat over and over so it was almost like sitting right next to a teacher.

I also used You Tube to help with some instructions on certain new stitches and patterns that were basically free. The class I took from Craftsy.com incorporated one main pattern that included teaching increasing, decreasing, knit, purl stitches to make garter and then sections of basic lace.
As you know, if you have followed me for a while, I began to knit a lot. Mostly I gave away as gifts

Because I have a deep love for both antique samplers, designing AND knitting, I decided to split up to put any knitting progress, patterns, news etc. on Knitting in My Nest. This way if you are only wanting updates on cross stitching, Feathers in the Nest will not be a waste of time if you are not a knitter and vice versa.

I hope these changes are for the betterment for everyone. Sometimes, very frequently I have both a sampler project and/or homestead news updates as well as a knitting project or two going at the same time. This way if you are interested you can be selective in your interests.

For the click to the Google Blogger BlogSpot for Knitting in My Nest, look at the top of the right side bar and click directly on it.  You can follow it by favorites bookmarking, or even better following the site. The link will always be on Feathers in the Nest side bar also for your convenience.

I also have a selling blog for items that I clean out of my stash or items that may help you with finishes for sampler making. I haven't added anything to it in a long while but while it is still there, in the near future I will have new items posted. Once I stitch a sampler, I usually sell it because I have never really stitched samplers of the same twice. For example, the Scarlett Letter one that I just finished will be added for sale at a reduced price fairly soon. So stay tuned for this if you are looking for accessories or patterns. I simply use Paypal for this and it works well.

I appreciate all your feedback you have given me, and I do take it and try to make better use of new ideas to help you.

Again, thank you to all readers and followers that have been hanging out with me through changes!
My yearly mission of simplifying includes making some of these changes.

 

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Jennifer