New Yarn for the Yarn Along

~" Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? " ~ Ginny at Small Things. I am joining Ginny's Yarn Along.

 

 

Look at this soft colorful yarn I just picked up. They are both sock yarns, one bought at AC Moore, one at the local yarn store. I have a secret crochet project in mind for each one so I can only share the yarn.

I finished the left side of my sweater and have started knitting the right side. It is so true that knitting gets much easier as you go along. The left side took me just over a week. I know, I know, there are those of you who can knit much quicker, but I have many projects in the works and I can't decide to stick with any one.

 Especially when I feel guilty about some of my projects such as my daughter's holiday quilt that should have been quilted many moons ago. Sigh..... I'm not sure if you can see the quilting in the green and red borders. It is a string of Christmas lights.  I didn't take into account the constant direction changes needed to stitch the bulbs by hand. It is slow going. 

 

I am thoroughly enjoying reading The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. It is not at all what I expected, but it is quite interesting none the less. I fear I will be reading it for quite some time though for the same reason that my knitting is going slowly....too many crafts calling to me. 

 

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An Inset Pocket and Yarn Along

~" Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? " ~ Ginny at Small Things. I am joining Ginny's Yarn Along. Feel free to check out her site and peek in on what others are knitting/crocheting and reading.

 

I am so excited! I have managed to knit an inset pocket.

 

See that stitch holder, behind it is the pocket piece I knitted last week. I know, I know, those of you who are accomplished knitters are wondering what the big deal is, but this is a first for this 50-something lady and I am quite impressed with myself. I can even understand now how I might be able to inset a pocket in a crocheted sweater - something you rarely see.

My knitting is moving along much quicker now that I am more sure of what I am doing. Hopefully I will be able to finish this sweater soon, although there still seems to be an awful lot to complete. There is no time frame though so no real pressure.

I finally finished The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs. It was quite a good book, so I'm not really sure why it took me so long to read. My next book is The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. I've seen it recommended by other Yarn Along participants and thought I would give it a try.

 

 

How do you like my little witch below? I made this outfit several years ago. It is from Hooked on Crochet magazine, number 53. The edging is more purple than the picture shows. She is the first craft you see when entering my home during October.



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A Framed Cross-Stitch!

I finally had one of my larger cross-stitch creations framed. I may have made a mistake not using a secondary colored matte but I didn't want to detract from the design.

I love this design (one of my own).

It is a quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu surrounded by the quilt pattern called "Trip Around the World". I thought they went well together. The colors are quite vibrant.

I have also made a decent amount of progress on my Winter Angel.

 

 I am pretty happy with my color choices although I sometimes think the hair is too yellow. I hate frogging though and I want to see it as a finished product.

 

I would have more of it completed but I am also knitting, quilting, tutoring, reading and crafting some other items.

 

I am joining Chrissie's Stitching Sundays. Stop by her site to see what everyone is stitching.

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Yarn Along and Apple Pie

This weekend hubby and I went to the Mill Neck Manor Fall Harvest Festival. This is a fund-raising event for the Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf. It is also known as the Apple Fest. Look at all the apples below:

  

 

We bought three five-pound bags and a small mum.

There are also craft and food vendors as well as activities for children. I forgot my camera so only a couple of pictures from hubby's phone. A great way to have some fun and support a great cause.

Of course, with all those apples I had to make my go-to apple pie.

This is a fairly quick microwave recipe that gets placed in the oven for only about 15 minutes. It is hubby's favorite. The recipe is from this book:

 

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Hop on over to her site to see what others are making and reading.

 

I have finished the back of my sweater!

This is a big accomplishment for me. Now I am making two pockets, easy knitting. Then I get to start on the front. The back came out so well that I am excited about the rest of the knitting.

 

I am still reading The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs. As usual, I am enjoying her writing. My reading is still going slow though because there seems to be so many other things to do. I did manage to finish washing all of the windows in my home. I always feel a great sense of satisfaction each fall and spring when this task is completed. Now I feel ready to face the holiday season.

 

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Something Old

Cool autumn weather finally blew in to Long Island last night. Since we have had such beautiful warm (hot!) weather recently, I have yet to change the bed linens to their winter counterparts. Thus, last night was a little too chilly for a summer blanket and lightweight coverlet. I did happen to place the large afghan shown below at the foot of the bed a few days ago. So hubby and I pulled it up and it kept us quite warm and toasty all night.

That is a queen-size bed that it is covering. There were a lot of granny-squares to crochet.

 

 

I made this afghan in the 80's. I still have the pattern. It is from the 9/9/86 Woman's Day magazine. It still looks pretty good, doesn't it?

 

I'm joining Ginny's Yarn Along today. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading?

 

Here is the update on the Barn Jacket I am knitting.

 

If you look real close you can see that I bound off for the armhole shaping last night. That took a leap of faith for me as I have yet to really master that skill. I think it went quite well and I'm pleased with the result. Now I have another 9 inches of the back to knit.

I am finally finished reading Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. Although I like the movie, I realize that I just don't like this author's writing style. Not that the book isn't quite interesting but I don't enjoy the reading.

I am so happy to be moving on to Susan Wiggs' The Ocean Between Us. I have yet to find a book of hers that I don't devour. First, I have to renew it at the library though because I got so bogged down by the last book.

 

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A tree grows on Long Island

Many people have heard of the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was also made into a movie. Did you know that Brooklyn, New York is actually on Long Island? It is also known as Kings County. Three other counties are on Long Island: Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Kings and Queens are considered part of New York City while those of us who live in either Nassau or Suffolk consider ourselves Long Islanders. Those who live in Brooklyn and Queens are New Yawkers. As you can see below Suffolk county (orange) makes up most of LI with Nassau county (yellow) as the second largest county. It is about a 2 hour drive from the Nassau/Suffolk border to the eastern tip of Long Island. Just a little geography lesson there. 

 

 

 Below is "Through the Woods" by Little House Needleworks. I have managed to stitch one little tree so far, hence the name of today's blog post.

 

The fabric is 28 count linen and the color is somewhat darker than the picture shows. It is not the exact fabric recommended by the pattern.

  

My second WIP is my own design: "Winter Angel". This is the first angel of the four seasons that I have planned. When finished, the chart will be available on this site.

 

The fabric is a wonderful feeling 28-count linen in a mushroom color. Unfortunately, I did not make note of the manufacturer when I bought it, but I made sure to buy enough to stitch all four angels.

 

That is what is up stitching-wise right now.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 



Long Island Fair

 

My family and I visited the Long Island Fair this weekend.

 

There was a lot of different squashes

 

 

and some decorative displays.

 

 

We also walked through part of the Old Bethpage Restoration where the fair is held each year. The houses are from throughout Long Island, New York and have been moved to the Restoration to be preserved. The Restoration harkens to life on Long Island in the late 1800s.

 

 
 
 






 

 

 

 

I won some ribbons too!

Third place for my Daisy Square Afgan. You can find the Daisy Square Tutorial here. Thank you Annette.

 

 

Second place for my counted cross-stitch.

 

And finally, first place for my Scary Cat Pillow. Yay!

 

 

I definitely enjoyed my visit to the fair.

 

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along. What are you knitting or crocheting? What are you reading? Stop by her site to see what others are up to.

I have made a good deal of progress on my barn jacket.

 

I love the wool. It is so soft and easy to work with. Looking forward to a lot of knitting in the immediate future.

 

I am still reading Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. For some reason I am not drawn to sitting with a book right now so the reading is going quite slow. I am far more interested in working on all my current craft projects. I will be updating them in a future post.

 

Thanks for stopping by!