An Ending and A Beginning!

Ending--

 The Regia socks are finished!

They were knit on #2.5mm needles over 64 stitches.

I worked them toe-up with a gusset and heel turn.

A simple 2 x 2 rib was worked for the leg.

They match!

Beginning-- 

On the way to go and work at the mailbox,

I stepped out my front door to meet this guy!

We conversed for a bit and then he wandered away.

The single males are kicked out by their parents 

when they raise their new brood.

These gents wander for a bit figuring things out 

and try to find an area where they can settle in safely.

Beginning--

 I started the mailbox yarn bombing!

I think looking at the picture, 

I didn't realize how much of a gap there would be where the

brace meets the upright post.

I will work on filling it in with another section today.

And adding some to the top section--that was just my mis-math! lol

I'm also going to work on covering the horizontal section under the mailbox.

For that, I will have to use some staples.

I think I know what I am doing for that!

Beginning--

I leave you with this shimmering photo of the desert rose

almost in full bloom!

She is spectacular;  standing 4' tall.

(no aroma!-I told you, showy isn't savory!)

Ending--

Goodbye April....

I can't say I'll miss you!

Work on Two Fronts

 I pieced several rows of the apple core in the morning yesterday.

It didn't exhaust me to work at this!

 After lunch, I played at making different swatches at my knitting machine

until I had achieved the look I envisioned

for the beginning of my own yarn bombing!

This will be stitched to the lower part of my mailbox post.

I can't wait to work on the next section today!

Thank you, Isolated Creativity, for the inspiration!

Socks and Softshell

I picked up this sock after my self-induced cotton cone challenge ended

and began a knit 2, purl 2 rib for the leg.

I ended it just before the color for the toe, bound off the one

and immediately cast on for the second sock.

It felt good to have a sock under my needles

and I feel up to the upgrade in knitting! 

Look what Bill saw out by our pond!

It is called a Softshell turtle,

native to this area and the largest softshell turtle in North America!

Look at that pointy nose!

I can't wait to catch sight of him when I graduate to exploration again!

(The xrays showed clear lungs!  This is a huge improvement and a sign my body is recovering

from the pneumonia, sepsis and then septic shock.  I'm getting glimmers of feeling like me again.)

20 Dishcloths!

 So this is how many dishcloths can be made from one cone!

I did use up scraps for the centers of the sunflowers/daisies

and then even bought more yarn for the centers!

One doesn't want to be without any cotton yarn!

Proof that the cone is empty!

In fact, I was 18' short for the last dishcloth;

the last two rows of a point 

but I used white and then wove in the tails

and no one is the wiser!

TA-DA!

Tired of and Tired from Doing Nothing....

I had no energy to do anything yesterday.
Well, almost nothing.
I did do a little cleaning, a load of laundry
and then two zoom meetings--one with my knitting group and one with my church ladies.
Both did much for my mental health!
I made my own pizza-dough and all.
It tasted wonderful even if it was a bit misshapen! lol
I hope you have a wonderful day today.
I'm finally nearing the end of that cone of yellow variegated yarn!!!!!

Appointment and Errands-Done!

 We started out the day yesterday by heading into town to get some x-rays of my lungs to be sure the pneumonia is truly part of the past!  I won't hear the results until Monday!

Once my appointment was out of the way,  Bill ran a few errands since we were in town.

 I stayed in the car and just looked at people while I knitted.  

When Bill came back to the car, he had a 'wipe down' and hand sanitizing and then hung his face mask out the window until we drove to the next store--it will be a humorous memory some day!

 This is a cat you don't often hear about--I call her grumpy cat because she never smiles!

Every once in a rare while, she will get playful -- she sat in the box waiting for someone to walk near so she could 'get' them!  She looked grumpy the whole time, too!

 Here is another delicious smelling flower--our magnolias are blooming!  We have several trees and Bill picked these from a smaller tree--one he didn't need a firetruck ladder to reach  them! lol

I realized that all of the blooms that are wonderfully aromatic are all white ones!

All of the showy flowers are just that--showy and without scent, interesting!

Friday Finish and Flowers

 Now all this top needs is to be layered and quilted--it will happen soon, I hope!

I only had to rip out three little units ;

I really had to watch what I was doing!

 Anyone ever play this game?!  

Bill actually played a game with me at lunch time, of course, he won!

But it felt good to play.

(the board is how you keep score for Cribbage)

 This is the Mother's Day gift that has kept on giving....a beautiful red Canna Lily with some shrimp plant flowers in the background.  It sits right outside my bedroom window in the lanai.

And for the additional sense--jasmine in full bloom that makes the whole front yard smell tropical!

Try the scratch and sniff--it just might work!

Piecing Happened!

 This apple core top has waited for me for a long time;

I finally did some piecing.

I didn't make a mistake but I have to work at becoming dexterous again!

Fumble, fumble is how I would describe my hour of piecing! 

I cut out the pieces to this little quilt top--I have long wanted to make a Carpenter's Block.

After cutting it out and trying to get the pieces in the right order on the design wall, I was all done in!

This is the last of my azaleas.  

I sat and savored the color while Bill took me out to get the mail on our golf cart.

I'm having a great deal of pain from my achilles tendons-

they feel atrophied; yup, both of them!

I am shuffling like a 94 year old!

This journey of recovery is not a straight lane......

Painting is Calming

Another finish!

This will be a good reminder of where I was born,

under the shadow of Mt. Rainier!

 Since this serious painting is finished, it is time to correct this sad attempt--

I first drew it to do as a water color but 

it was splashed by an energetic toddler and I let it languish in the drawer too long.

 I tried to use acrylics to paint over the 'spots' but the paper wasn't sturdy enough 

and there was too much buckling!

 I traced it (gotta love the lightbox!) so I could use the drawing for another attempt.

 After tracing it, I placed some carbon paper under it so I could draw it right onto the canvas!

 Note--they don't call it carbon paper anymore!

It comes in lots of colors and works the same way!

I applied it to a flat canvas--

set it up on the easel - 

So it was time for the fun part--the painting!

The first layers of paint are called color blocking or underpainting--

just waiting now for the details that will make it recognizable

as my parents' home!

Color Therapy

 No wonder they offer painting in sanitariums!

I warmed up with an easy picture....the blend between the colors didn't please me,

 so I redid the background and added the palm trees again!

 Likewise, the beach picture I had previously done had a cloud I didn't like so I repainted the sky

and then the beach looked blank so .........I added a few sandpipers!  

I had to practice first on scrap paper!

 Just what it needed!  Now I can see the beach even when I can't go there!

(They are beginning to lift the beach bans here which is a welcome thought!)

 Here's a laugh for the day--see what I keep in my walker's seat !? 

 No surprise, right?!

And beauty for the day......the tropical milkweed is letting loose its seeds!

Two More

 Count is up to six now.  

It finally looks like I've used some of that yellow cone

 but weighing it shows it is only half gone!

 Look at all of the blooms on the African Violet!

I've moved it to my bedroom for two reasons;

it will do better in an east window

(it had been in the southern window and it was too hot!)

and it is in my viewing pleasure now!

 And speaking of viewing pleasure, Lena takes a bath....

and even did her toes!  

There is so much pleasure in the little things all around me!

Just an Hour

 

Some more sunflowers....

with a kitty for company.

 The dining room table has become my art studio.

I usually paint standing up but I have no endurance for that so...

This was great fun to paint,

while an area is drying I head back into my recliner

and knit some more!

 I am working on this picture my son sent me in the Fall.

It is a view of Mt Rainier.

I am now working on the foreground...

when I watch a YouTube video, things go so quickly.

I think it has been a good lesson in patience to paint again.

 I also made another face mask in Bill's chosen fabric so he will have two.

The length of the elastic had to be longer for it to fit him well-note to self, 

men need to have larger sizes for masks to fit them well!

Church by social media this morning....I am missing everyone so much!

Different Strokes

I finished this dishcloth first thing yesterday .

It has a dark olive green center that reads almost like a brown

which is fitting for the sunflower look.

 Then in early afternoon, I made a few of this kind of face mask for myself-it fits me best!

I made two that are subtle and the color of my eyes;  always a good color for a person to wear.

 Bill requested one, too;  he wanted it loud and wild!

He got it and loves it!  He is a neon kinda guy! lol

To each his own, right?!

Two for him and two for me.

Now to make plenty to hand out, finally.

And I rounded out the night with another starflower dishcloth that I call sunflowers.

I'm using up scraps for different colored centers--so far I like the blue best!

Walking a Mile

 Well actually only a tenth of a mile!  It felt like miles, though! lol

I used my walker and went to the mail box-400' from my front door;  

it is a slow grade downhill so the return trip was a bit more good labor!

I used two colors of cotton for this 'sunflower' dishcloth.

I will make another today.

 Lena shared my 'sewing in the tails' , arriving just in time for the finish.

She's a great encourager!

I had to do a bit of this--medical paperwork.

It was the phone calls to straighten up certain 'points' of discrepancy that were most exhausting.

Too bad I can't just text them!  I wish.

Only one bill left to take care of today-they were in meeting and out of office yesterday.

I hope you have a good day!