November 16, 2014

Sweater knitting has been going very slowly.  One of the side effects of being on pain medication all the time is a marked decrease in the ability to concentrate.  Along with this comes trouble with following patterns.  While not such a problem in quilting, it's been a huge problem with my knitting!  Overall, there has been a lot more unknitting than there has been knitting!  I swear that I have knit and torn out each row that you see here at least twice.  I think I have a system now to keep me on track, so hopefully things will go more smoothly, with a minimum of frogging.  The sweater is the Lace Jacket from Debbie Bliss' Winter Garden Book, done in Winter Garden Super Bulky in Purple.  You would think with a Super Bulky yarn it would be going quickly.  Not so much...although maybe now that I have things figured out it will.

When my brain can't comprehend that pattern, I resort to this sock.  Grace bought a skein of Cascade 220 for me because she thought I would love this color.  And I do.  I wanted a simple, low cuff sock to wear around the house, one that I could make without thinking too much.

The Easy Peasy Sock pattern fit the bill. Simple, a quick knit and I don't have to look at the pattern while I'm knitting, except at the heels and toes.  Just perfect!

One of these days I'll head back into my sewing room.  I miss it, but would really like to get this sweater done to wear THIS winter!

October 26, 2014

 Long time no see!  There hasn't been much to blog about here...no sewing or knitting to speak of, just life going on.  The kids are well and happy, we're well, I've found a pain doctor who has managed to get my pain from the shingles mostly under control with a wonderful side effect...I've lost almost 30 pounds!  I certainly can't complain about that!  So, we've just returned from a short trip to the happiest place on earth and it was all decorated for fall. It was just so beautiful!

The new parade, Festival of Fantasy, was incredible and I loved the dragon...Maleficent!

While we were there we took a spin on Prince Charming's Carousel...

and I visited a few favorites...Duffy...

and a very special princess, who is a friend of my daughter's from when she worked there doing the college program...

We got to see the Sorcerer's Apprentice hat at Hollywood Studios for the last time, Disney has announced that they will be removing it early in 2015, so by the time we head down at the end of April on our next trip, it will be gone.

We also attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which was such fun! It's the one time of year that adults can dress in costume and go to the parks.  Lee and I dressed as King Fergus and Queen Elinor from the movie Brave.  We got to the Magic Kingdom before the party started so that we could be sure to get in line to see Princess Merida.  She was just delightful!  She stayed in character and spoke to us as if we were her parents.  My dress is the only bit of sewing I've done in ages and it was quite the challenge.  The pattern I used didn't have bell sleeves, so I made them up as I went along. 

The back had grommets that I had to install and was laced...this picture gives you an idea of how it was done.

I've been looking back over my old blog entries and realized I enjoy seeing what I worked on and when I did certain projects.  Blog reading has changed so much, now that so many blogs are either advertisements for the writers own fabric lines, patterns, etc.,  or they are pushing other people's products and websites.  I miss the days where we just shared what we were doing without trying to sell something.  I haven't quilted for the public for a number of years and haven't even used the longarm very much for myself.  I plan to get back to my quilting and knitting...and I plan to keep track of it here once again.  I hope you'll join me.

Happy New Year!

Life around Lakeside Quilting has been a whirlwind, I didn't mean to be away so long!  So, what's been going on you ask?  Well, right before Thanksgiving, The Boss and I took a little vacation to visit Grace at The Happiest Place on Earth, where she'd been working since June.

The Boss and Grace

We were lucky enough to be there to see the Osbourne Family Lights...they were absolutely gorgeous!

Osbourne Lights

 We spent some time in Magic Kingdom where I got to meet my favorite princess, Merida.  She told me we were twins with our curly, red hair! (Hers is so much prettier!)

At Epcot, Mickey joined us for dinner at The Coral Reef....

 Then we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!  The castle was beautiful...

We met Pooh and Friends...

and Grace and Duffy were dressed up for the party...

 Shortly after we came home from Florida, we had some snow...

and we ran into some friends at the mall while we were Christmas shopping...

Santa came...but we really missed having Grace home for Christmas!

And I finished my Milk Run Shawl! Although I didn't keep it...

And then on New Year's Eve I headed back to Florida to help Grace pack up so we could drive home.  We did 3 parks in one day...starting at Epcot...

 

Where Grace said goodbye to her buddy Duffy...

and asked Mary Poppins to sign her book...

Then to Hollywood Studios where we had dinner with one of her friends at The Brown Derby...

We took an animation class and learned to draw Piglet...

and Grace said goodbye to her boss.

Then we headed to our 3rd park of the day, Magic Kingdom, where Belle said good bye to the girls.

Before setting off for NJ the next day, we stopped by the Polynesian Resort to have breakfast with Stitch...

Grace and Stitch

Me and Stitch

 Pluto stopped by...

And Grace got to say one last goodbye to her former boss, Mickey...

and so did I...

 We stopped in Savannah, GA on the first night home and finally got home at 10pm the next night.  It was good to have all 3 kids back under my roof again, even if it was only for dinner... 

Ellen, Grace and Andrew

Actually, make that all FIVE kids!!!

Joe, Ellen, Grace, Andrew and Dayna

 Grace is back to school now, but before she left we saw Frozen twice. (Yes, it's THAT good!) and created one last Disney memory for her...

So now it's time to get back to MY projects!  Haven't been in my sewing room for awhile, but I have a few things in the works...I need to put my Short List together and get moving!

Shop Cat Update

 Today we were able to catch one of the little guys I talked about in my last post...so meet Jay, the new shop cat!  He's been to the vet and gotten a clean bill of health.  The vet figures he's about 4 weeks old and he weighs in at a whopping 1.8 pounds.  He was purring so loudly that the vet couldn't hear his heart.  She thinks that the mother is no longer with the kittens because he was dirty...see that little ring of dirt around his nose?  I brought him home, cleaned him up, did a little shopping and he's now all set up in our office.  I'll head in to check on him tomorrow to make sure he's doing okay.  He is such a sweetheart!

It's tough work being a kitten though, especially one who is captured and then pampered to the point of exhaustion.  He just couldn't stay awake any longer...

Now we hope we can catch his two siblings who are still outside!

Crazy Cat Lady

So, if you saw this picture, say on an animal adoption site, would YOU be able to resist?  Well, I couldn't!  Especially since we've been looking for a Siamese at a shelter for over 20 years!  When we got married, the Boss had a beautiful Siamese named Kimmy. Ever since she's been gone, we've been looking for another, but we didn't want to go through a breeder, we wanted a rescue.  Well, these two popped up in my Facebook feed at a local shelter and I couldn't resist those faces.

That's Nala on the left above, and Simba on the right.  I went to just adopt Nala, the female, but I couldn't separate them. They came from a hoarder's home and are very skittish.  We've had them for about 2 months and they still won't let us touch them, but they do come out now and play, snuggle up with us to sleep, take treats from our hands.  

They are also coming out and running around the house now.  They are ALWAYS together and have blended well with our other three cats.  Yes...we now have FIVE cats.  See what happens when the kids move out?  

Speaking of kids, one of Ellen's coworkers is expecting a baby girl and Ellen asked me if I could make a quilt for her.  Of course!  I put together this little star quilt for the baby...

and this week I got it quilted and bound.  I love how it turned out, it's so soft looking! 

Ellen and her boyfriend are moving from her apartment into a larger apartment, so she decided she would take her bedroom furniture with her.  The furniture was my parents from when they first got married, so it needed some updating.  She started with a nightstand, just to test it out.  I didn't get a before shot, but you can see the rest of the furniture in the background.  She sanded, primed and I painted and...

it now looks like this!  Since the nightstand came out so cute, they're now busy prepping the rest of the bedroom set for paint.  Now we have to figure out what kind of finish to put on it...wax maybe?  Any great ideas?

I also decided to do a little painting.  I was tired of the shelves in the Boss's office, so while he was on a business trip, I took them from white to red.  A bright, Philadelphia Phillies red.  Without telling him I was doing it.  Yeah, I'm like that.

Fortunately, when he got home from the trip, he liked it.  He let me stay.

And just because there wasn't enough kitty cuteness at the top of the page, here's a shot of a little guy who we found outside our shop at work this week.  He was playing with two others in an enclosure where we have this hose.  They were having a wonderful time running in and out of the hoses!  We're trying to capture them and if we do, one will be adopted by the owner of the company, one will go to foster care until he's adoptable and this little one?

He'll be our "shop cat" and will live in our office/warehouse.  Yeah, kittens at home AND at work.  

I am officially the crazy cat lady.

Vintage Rouge

About 2 years ago I thought I needed to add a Block of the Month program to my life, as if I didn't have enough other projects waiting in the wings!  I dutifully did the first month when it came in and then...well, you know how THAT goes!

Months One through Three of Vintage Rouge

I've finally pulled the rest of the kits out and started working on them.  I'm proud to say that I have the first 3 months done now.  (Three months worth in about 27 months?  Yeah, don't want to think about that!) The next month is pieced, then come 2 months of applique.  My goal is to have it done by Christmas of 2014.  Wonder if I stand a chance?  What do YOU think?

I'd swear this used to be a quilting blog...

but it's become a little bit of everything.  With today being Labor Day, I was thinking back over where the summer went.  It passed so quickly!  I did little in the garden this year, chronic illness has a way of keeping you from doing the things you want to do because what you have to do takes precedence.

Summer started here with Andrew and Dayna getting engaged on the day before my birthday!  The wedding won't be for about 2 years, but we're delighted to welcome her into the family!

The happy couple!

Another highlight of my summer was driving Grace's car down to her in Orlando.  I hadn't expected to see her until November, but we realized that she really needed her car.  I took a few days off work and drove the 16 hours from NJ to FL.  I enjoyed the ride and was so excited to see her.  We were able to spend a full day at the Magic Kingdom, it was such fun!

Grace and Minnie

We arrived at the park at 10AM and left sometime after midnight.  After visiting the park so many times, Grace knew exactly when to go on each ride with the shortest wait, the best times to get fast passes and how to time things so that we didn't have to wait for more than a few minutes anywhere.  It was fabulous.

Cinderella's Castle

 It poured the whole day, but we didn't care, it just made it easier to get on rides! She wore her Minnie ears all day and insisted that I wear the tiara that she got me for my birthday...I got to be Merida from Brave.

Grace and I...with tiara of course!

We did have the most amazing time and I can't wait to head back down in November!  Since I've been home I've been working on my Milk Run Shawl.  I fell in love with it when Mollie was making it and needed to make one for myself.  I have about 40 rows on the body left, then onto the ruffle.  I only plan to do the ruffle on two sides and not across the top, so I hope to have it done before Disney in November.  I think it will be nice to wear on the plane! I'm using Cascade 220 in Silver Gray. I did make a mistake that I see, but don't know that anyone else will notice.  I'd gotten almost a full skein past it before I noticed and I was NOT going back that far!

Milk Run Shawl

Finally, I came up with an idea to hang my Grandmother's Album quilt that I finished several years ago.  We have wood trim around the top of our family room.  I took a 6 foot long 1 by 3, stained it and the Boss and I drilled into it, and screwed it into the wall with knobs so that I can change out the quilt.  I had another of this type of hanger than I won years ago and it never occurred to me to use the same idea using the wood trim in the family room.  What can I say, I'm a little slow sometimes!  But it's finally hung and I'm enjoying it...it's much  better than just seeing the edge of the quilt, folded in my closet!

Grandma's Album Quilt

I've done some sewing, but it's handwork and doesn't seem to be showing much progress.  More on that next time...