What's in the Queue

 

First on the needles is the To Eyre shawl by Carol Sunday (Sunday Knits).  I love the idea of a little shoulder shawl with the shaping to keep it on the shoulders without tying it or using a shawl pin.  I'm making this out of the lovely Alpaca that Dena bought for me.  It's so soft and lovely to knit with!

Also on the needles is Mom's Swallowtail shawl knit from the Windy Valley quiviut blend that she bought on her cruise to Alaska.  After I finish hers, I'm going to knit myself a shawl from the quiviut that she bought for me.  I was a bit nervous about knitting with this - what if I messed it up and the yarn didn't hold up to ripping well?  It's not a problem.  The yarn is lovely to knit with, very soft and also very sturdy.  I think it might not like being knit and ripped and knit and ripped several times, but it's ok if you have to tink back a row or two.  It's going to be gorgeous!

And, for while I'm out visiting Dena . . . the bag that we are making together.  I have gathered all the yarn and Dena and I are going to at least start it together.

This has been in the queue for a very long time.  I spun the yarn over a year ago and the pattern was in the queue before then by a long while.  It's about time I actually got it knit!

 

And I'm putting the Spinning Wheel Glass mat by Mary Konior and the Dragon Wings Doily by Anne Bruvold on the top of the tatting list.  I really love both these patterns and the finished items but I've given all that I made away.  I want them back in my house and they are both fun to tat and should get me kick started again!  I have some lovely HDT from Sherry Pence that is going to be on my shuttles soon!

And a Hat to Match!

With my leftover yarn (well, and a skein of black) I made a hat to match.  It doesn't look like much freshly knit, does it?

But when you get out the proper blocking tools and use them to their best advantage . . .

. . . this hat changes its look entirely.

It becomes very circular for one thing.

And it also becomes what it was meant to be.  This one is going to be very warm in the winter!

(For those that want to know, this is Stacked Hat #1 from 45 Fine and Fanciful Hats by Anna Zilboorg.)

Embossed Jacket

I finished it!  This is my Embossed Jacket by Anna Zilboorg.  I love this sweater so much!  I loved knitting it and I absolutely will love wearing it.  It's gorgeous and wonderful and it will be so nice and warm.  I didn't even hate sewing up the arm seams (the only ones this sweater has) or sewing in the zipper.  Ok, I hated sewing in the zipper but I love the sweater so much that it wasn't nearly as painful as I expected it to be!

This was how my darling (but insane) husband decided to help us during the photo shoot.  Let me tell you - it's tough enough taking photos of a winter sweater when it's 95 degrees out and the sun is shining.  It's just that much more difficult to get reasonable photos when you have a clown entertaining and distracting you!

The Carolina Red Hibiscus in the pond has started blooming - isn't it gorgeous?  It has those two flowers open today, two more for tomorrow and at least 15 more buds coming up behind.  The two pink hibiscus also have buds but they won't be ready to open for a while.  The red and white star hibiscus don't seem to have buds yet but they usually don't bloom until mid to late July.  The pond is looking good and Casey loves feeding her fishies!  (See them in the water?)

Sneak Thief

Click on pics to get a closer view . . .
There is a bag of sunflower seeds in that box.
Check out the cheeks coming in and then going back out.

It's all Diane's fault . . . .

If she hadn't posted about her little worm I could have resisted this book when I saw it in the used book store.  Now the next big issue is that I don't have any bobbins.  Ok, one book does not a habit make . . . I can still resist the temptation.

A Gentle Reminder

These are now packaged and ready to be mailed.  They should go out very soon - apologies for the delay.

If our offer appeals to you, don't forget to click on my (Teresa's) profile and send me your snail mail address.  I can't send you anything without it!  The original post regarding the Workbasket Magazines is here.