Skills

Do you have a skill?  Are you an expert photographer or quilter or writer?  Are you good at knitting or gardening?  Or are you like me and struggle to feel adequate?   I enjoy knitting but it is a skill in which I barely feel adequate.  The patterns sometimes overwhelm me with repeats and I fear getting lost.  So my solution is to make a spreadsheet listing each and every row.  I check off each row as I go along and recount my stitches.  It is tedious, but prevents me from making those easy mistakes when I am not paying attention.

I’m working on a shawl in which there are increases every row and pattern changes fairly often to make an interesting texture.  I have learned some new stitches and patience.  I got to this point once before, but there were so many mistakes I tore it all out and started over again.  It is fun to knit though.  It is teaching me and helping me to have more confidence in my knitting skills.  If/When I complete this project, I promised myself that I would give socks another try. (How many times have I promised that?)

Here is a close-up of my work so far. 

Not much of the pattern shows in the picture.  My camera is not the best or I’m not a great photographer.  The yarn has a little sparkle which is also not caught by the camera. 

(Please note that I do have excellent EXCEL skills!)

Bonnie

Back to sewing.

After being very sick for a week and recovering for another week, I was happy to feel like sewing today.

There was a whole lot of sewing done today, but I cannot show you what I am making.  It is a Christmas surprise for someone – someone who might look at my blog.

So I can only show some “teaser” pictures to prove that I have been sewing.  What a joy it was to give the sewing machine a good workout.

Bonnie

Feeling miserable…

with a terrible cough and a sore throat.  I’m taking medicine that just has not kicked in yet so the racking cough has me exhausted and feeling very sorry for myself.  Not feeling well enough to sew or knit, the day passes by slowly and I cannot find anything to perk me up.  Then my eye happened to glance over at the window sill in the kitchen and I saw two pops of red.  What?  Oh my goodness – my Christmas cactus has two flowers on it!!!!

This restores my faith that I too will bloom again – and soon I hope.

Bonnie

February UFO Challenge

Judy’s UFO Challenge for February was project #1.  I’m breaking the very loose rules and finished #11 instead of #1.  The #1 is at the long-arm quilter (out of my control), and all I had left to do on #11 was the binding.  The binding got finished tonight.

This quilt is for Quilts of Valor.   The backing looks like a men’s tie fabric. 

Now for the March UFO – #8. 

Bonnie

A Super-Duper Wonderful Surprise

When I got home today I saw a package on my front porch.

A box from Levenger.  Did I order something from Levenger???  I know I wanted a book weight, but I thought I decided against it.  Too expensive.  Hmmmm.  Then a little nagging thought came into my brain…………….my cousin MB.  Could it be?

Yes, the card inside tells the story.  My cousin is very generous, very thoughtful, and knows me well.  What fun to open a Levenger box.  Everything is first class, from the box….

to the cloth protection……

to the product.  A classy leather book weight with my initials!!!!!

Wow – Wow – Wow.  I love it and will cherish it and will NOT lose it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you my dear MB.  You make my heart sing.

Bonnie

Almost Seven Years

Yes, it has taken me almost seven years to finally complete this knitted poncho.

I purchased the yarn and pattern in 2005 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, while on a road trip with friends.  Penny helped me pick everything out and got me started on doing the pattern.

Taking a picture of myself wearing this poncho was rather difficult.

It is a very loose, uneven knit, but light weight and very comfortable to wear.  It also keeps me warm.

There is one scarf left in my knitting bag to finish up and then I would like to try making a pair of socks again.  I wonder if I could get them done in less than seven years……

Bonnie

Happy discovery

One of my favorite possessions, a leather book weight from Levenger, went missing a few moths ago.  That book weight was always on my kitchen table, holding books open as I read and ate my meals.  One day it was not there and I spent hours frantically looking for it.  Never found it.  I’m thinking it got mixed in with newspapers and went out with the recycle.

Today I decided it was time to purchase a new book weight.  I didn’t want to get another expensive Levenger one, so I looked on Amazon to see what options I might have.  Among the choices was this less expensive type of book weight -

My eyes popped when I saw it because I remembered that I had the exact same book weight at one time.  I went to the desk drawer where I keep my collection of book marks and sure enough, buried in the back of the drawer was this book weight!  I can’t express how happy I am to have found this little treasure.  Gotta go read now…

Bonnie