Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Labor of love


Let's talk about Doilies! I love doilies. They always remind me of my grandmother. I have crocheted a few small ones in my time. I got a bee in my bonnet about making some doilies for our new home. I purchased this book "Fresh Knit Doilies" from Leisure Arts. I started this doily the other month. I got about fifteen rows into the project and decided to put it down. I kept missing a stitch and was very frustrated. The other week I decided to pick it up again. I have been painstakingly working row by row. The pattern is not too hard. It is just the darn yarn overs. The middle section has so many yo's, ssk's and slip stitches. All it takes is one darn stitch and your all messed. up. I finally decided to break the pattern up with some stitch markers. Finally I decided to count the stitches every row. This has made life a whole lot easier. Last week... I almost ripped the whole thing out. I then thought about all the hours I have put into this project. I have been persevering and now am closing in on the end. I have about ten rows left. I have to admit I hate to give up on a project. I am so glad I did not frog this one. It is going to be a gorgeous doily. I showed it to my customer yesterday. She was amazed I would put this much time into a doily. What can I say...I love a challenge. She told me she would frame it and use it for a piece of artwork. That is a good idea. But, I am sure I will display it somewhere in the house. If you asked me a week ago, "Would you knit another doily?" I would have told you " No *&%$ way!!". But, now I find my eye wandering to other doilies. Here is a site with some beautiful doilies Knitted Doilies. Anyone want to join me in the madness? :)

Friday, June 01, 2007

Busy times



I am long overdue with updating my blog. Things have been very busy for us. Bruce and I are in the middle of putting a new modular on our land. We are replacing a mobile home. Things have been moving at a snails pace for many months. I had a feeling everything would happen at once. We closed on the mortgage last week. We ordered the house on the same day that we closed. It is a Mapleleaf home. They are made in Canada.They have a wonderful reputation. We also have to put in a new septic system. We are hoping they will get going on that project in the next few weeks. Then we will have the foundation poured. We are putting in a full basement with a walkout towards the lake. It is a scary yet exciting time. I have not had a mortgage for 15 years. I will post some pictures as we go along. On the knitting front.... I have been working on charity mittens and hats. The hat pattern is from Charmed Knits House Hat. It is a nice hat and a great way to use up leftovers for stripes. I plan on making a few more of these. I also started a shawl from Victorian Lace Today. It is called the Melon Shawl. I will blog more about that next post. I have read a few books. I am a sucker for a scary story. I just finished Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. It was a good read. After the book was released, it came out that he is Stephen King's son. I just picked up a copy of The Historian . I have read great review for this book. I used to read every night before bed. I have gotten out of that habit the last few years. My bookcase is loaded with book . Hopefully I will read some of them over the summer. I do love to read when we are out in the boat. Well.... have a great weekend everyone. I think we are in for showers. Maybe they will be wrong. Happy Knitting everyone.