Done!

My socks are finished!

I was afraid they'd be too thick to wear with these shoes, but they work perfectly, and I love how the colors work, too.  My tootsies are warm and cozy on this cold and soggy night.  

Pair number two coming right up!

I'm addicted.  :-)

Socks

I love socks.  When I first started teaching school, I started a little tradition for myself of wearing "funky" socks on Fridays because we teachers usually wore jeans and our school sweatshirts that day.  My normal Friday footwear was loafers and fun socks were the perfect accompaniment.  I had socks with cows on them, socks for the holidays, even a pair of socks with the Union Jack on them which Bruder Bear brought back from England for me.  Trust me when I say I have a lot of socks.  

One of the blogs I read on a daily basis is Patchwork Times.  It's written by Judy Laquidara who is a prolific quilter.  But Judy is also a prolific knitter of socks.  After reading about socks numerous times, I decided I needed to make a pair for myself.  (After knitting roughly one-hundred-three dish cloths, I was thinking it was time to branch out...)

I found a free pattern on the Lion Brand website and went looking for some suitable yarn.  I finally found one I liked at the local JoAnn's.  There are lots of wild yarns out there, and I was looking for something more subdued that would go with my blue jeans.  I live in blue jeans.  

I have one sock done and am well on my way with number two.  

Using five needles and knitting in the round is a hoot. The yarn itself makes the stripes and I absolutely love how it looks knitted up.  Even the stripes look like they have a pattern in them, making it look like I went to much more work than I did.  

Judy recently posted a picture of another pair which I'd love to try.  And CJ has been knitting and just made a gorgeous scarf I'd also like to make.  As long as it keeps snowing here (fourth day in a row we've awakened to the white stuff), knitting is the perfect cozy down thing to do.  Especially in the evenings.  

Spring?

It's the first day of spring, and . . .   

yes, that's snow.  It seems to go along with the shop project I've mentioned.  It's coming along and I'll share a few pictures.

There are nine embroidered center pieces that make a scene of Santa's sleigh with the words Merry Christmas. Around the edges are the black pieces, each embroidered with a lace snowflake design.  The last part of each section is a stitching line.  By matching them, the pieces fit together and form the scene.  

I'm hoping to finish up this week and when I do, I'll post a finish photo.

This and That

Another week has passed and we've been busy with, yes, this and that.  Last Friday we went to work making a new batch of elk burger.  We continue to be amazed at how well the KitchenAid grinder attachment works for this!  In a few short hours, with the mixer doing most of the work, we have good, healthy burger packaged and ready for the freezer.  I think we got about eighteen pounds and I wrapped them in one-pound packages.  Here's Dan, hard at work:

Saturday morning we watched Keaton and Daniel while Ann took Cameron to an out-of-town soccer tournament and Eric practiced with the worship band at church.  He plays the drums, usually every other Sunday.   Saturday afternoon we drove down to Mom and Dad's and enjoyed both the visit and the beautiful drive down in the sunshine.  

Sunday, it snowed!!  And blew.  Cameron's early morning soccer game was a wet one, but it was the last of the weekend and they got hot chocolate (Cam) and a mocha (Ann) and drove back in time to join us for the last few minutes of church.  Cameron's team didn't win any of their games, but he scored one goal on Saturday and three in Sunday's game!  Apparently that's called scoring a hat trick.  As Ann says, he plays with determination.

Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday I worked at the quilt shop and enjoyed it.  The weather continued to be true March--snow, sun, rain, sun, snow, etc., and it was good to be indoors, surrounded by fabric and sewing machines!  I got acquainted with the new machines we just got in.  I must say, I love sewing machines; I want to take them all home with me!  Like I need one more...

Yesterday we enjoyed dinner and a good visit with daughter-in-law Amy's parents.  They are looking to buy a new SUV and wanted to test drive ours for comparison to some they are considering.  

And now it's Thursday.  I have a pork loin with potatoes and carrots in the crockpot.  I did the laundry this morning and spent part of this afternoon stitching on that project for the shop.  I'm almost done with the embroidery part and will move on to assembly shortly.  I should have a share soon.

And so ends today's update from the Resort.  I hope this finds all my readers cozy and in good spirits!  

A Little Sewing Fun

I haven't posted on anything sewing related in a while so I decided it was time.  I'm working on a project for the shop, but I put it on hold for a few days so I could design a new project for this month's embroidery club. Sometimes when I have to do my own creating, it seems a little overwhelming.  This was one of the times, but I "bit the bullet" on Monday.  It's an idea I've had for a while.

First I made a simple pillow, but I put contrasting cording around it for fun.  I decided I'd make the pillow red as it would work through many seasons in my living room (my accent colors are dark red, dark green and navy blue).  I like having very neutral furniture (sort of beige/tan) as a backdrop.  I rummaged around in my sewing closet and found a chunk of dark red fabric that was just the right size, and then a piece of checked fabric I thought would work for the cording.  

My first mistake was in cutting the pillow front and back. I totally forgot to cut them different sizes so I could put a button closure in the back side.  Oops!  Oh well, Plan B: I'd leave an opening and stuff the pillow form in and then stitch it up.  The cover didn't need to be removable. Well, try as I might, there was no way I was going to stuff that pillow form in--it was too big and stiff.  Plan C: stuff the pillow cover with craft stuffing.  It took some doing to make it look smooth, but in the end I was satisfied and called it good.

Now, on to the reason for the simple pillow, the embroidery part.  I thought we could make wraps with embroidery for different seasons and simply change them out whenever.  I used my favorite decorating fabric, Osnaburg, and embroidered three flowers in dark green and dark red.  A little velcro on the ends, and it was easy to wrap the pillow and give it its first makeover.  

Here's another view where you can see it with other red, green and navy accents.

I'm kinda likin' this idea.  Now to make a wrap for summer with something patriotic.  The possibilities are endless.

Oh, and that rocking chair?  It was the first piece of new furniture (excluding the washer and dryer) we bought when we moved from the 8x35' trailer into a duplex when we were expecting Matt.  It's seen plenty of miles.  :-)

A Moose on the Loose

One fun thing about living where we do is the abundance of wildlife we see on a daily basis.  Quail, gorgeous pheasants, coyotes, skunks, and . . . moose.

A few weeks ago we noticed a young moose across the street nibbling away on our neighbors' trees.  She was there for several days and then disappeared.  This morning, she was back.  Dan managed to snap several great shots.

She looks tiny in this photo, but be assured, she's definitely not.  She's probably a yearling, but she's not small.  Dan says she's probably as tall as he is.  

Here she is laying down; her coloring camouflages her very well.  

While we've grown accustomed to our wildlife, it's not every day that a baby Bullwinkle shows up across the street.  We're hoping, though, that she stays there--we're rather fond of our arborvitae and hope she doesn't decide they'd make a tasty snack.

Camp PapaGrandma2

Back when Cameron and Keaton were two and four, Ann and Eric took a trip back east and enlisted both sets of grandparents as babysitters.  Ann made special shirts for the boys and using a Peanuts design, added the words Camp PapaGrandma to the shirts.  All instructions were also labeled with the "camp" name.

Fast forward almost eight years, add one more child, and we just finished Camp PapaGrandma2.  Ann and Eric went to Florida to celebrate (belatedly) their fifteenth anniversary.  Eric's parents came for the first half, Monday through Thursday afternoon, and we finished up from Thursday afternoon until Sunday night.  The boys couldn't have been better.  These grandparents, however, definitely knew they were eight years older, especially with Daniel.  He knew something was different and often came over with his hands up requesting to be picked up and held.  My body wasn't used to such strenuous aerobics, but I'm certain the workout was good for me!  

Cameron had a presentation Thursday afternoon and all of his grandparents were there to watch.  Grandpa Elton was able to film it for Ann and Eric, which helped compensate for their sadness at having missed it.  (They had already booked reservations when the presentation date was announced.)  The project required each sixth grader to research a person who has made a difference and then "become" them in the presentation which includes a PowerPoint slide show also created by the student.  Cameron was Neil Armstrong and he did a fabulous job.  Ann purchased a jumpsuit for him, sent away for patches, and embroidered "Armstrong" over the left pocket.  It made an impressive costume!  I took this picture of him when we got home:

The boys spent part of one evening on the computer, doing a little virtual shopping, and Daniel found the situation to be irresistible.  He wasn't happy when he was removed from the scene.

He did, however, love his bath!

Ann and Eric had a great time in the Florida keys.  They stayed at a resort that had its own beach which made it easy to enjoy a little time by, in, and on the water. 

They came home to freezing weather and snow!

And now everyone is back home again, with good memories of time spent with special people.  And we have the pictures to prove it!  :-)