Chapter 35 - So Much To Show You!

Finally finished my Christmas shawl. Pattern is Leftie by Martina Behm. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to wear it without sweating this holiday season.

I saw this cute pumpkin pattern and had to knit it right away, since I had this lovely yarn in my stash. It's quite bulky and soft, so it made a nice sized pumpkin. The pattern is Spice Pumpkin by Hannah Maier

The next day I was at Walmart and saw this Peaches and Cream cotton yarn in a lovely autumn colorway. Only one skein left! I snatched it right up. It made an adorable pumpkin.

This is for my grandson's 5th birthday, coming soon! I'm calling it the Muggle Sweater because I plan to knit another one next year when he knows what Hogwarts House he's in. The yarn is Baby Softee and has become my new favorite user-friendly cotton blend. Pattern: Professor Sweater by Rae Blackledge for Willow Yarns.

Travel knitting. When I'm on the road I need something small to tote around, so I always cast on a sock for the trip. This is my own pattern: cuff down, heel flap and gusset, standard round toe. The yarn was given to me by a friend and as you can see, it's a self-striping sock yarn.

This huge pile of  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino (merino and cashmere blend) goodness is a cardigan. It's absolutely huge and I'm really quite over knitting it. I have to make myself trudge along on it every evening. I hope it turns out as pretty as the pattern sample. It's the Leaf Yoke Cardigan by Celeste Pinheiro, for Nashua Handknits.

I needed some relief from cardigan knitting, so, after buying the gorgeous copper skein from Emma's Yarns, I decided to cast on a shawl. It made me so happy to do some stash diving to come up with this color combo.

The yarn is a history of my travels. The speckled light aqua is Cool as a Cucumber by Spun Right Round Classic Sock that I bought at A Good Yarn in Sarasota, FL last year. The dark brown is Poor Tom by Copper Corgi, a Georgia brand I discovered at the Frayed Knot in Savannah. The copper color is Emma's Practically Perfect Sock in Sticks and Stones, freshly bought at Four Purls in Winter Haven, FL. Finally, the variegated yarn. I lost the ball band, but it can't be far. I honestly can't remember what the yarn is or where I bought it. 

A detail of the shawl by Casapinka, called Fabulosity. I'm really enjoying this knit so far! Can't wait to get to the next section.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

Four Purls in Winter Haven, FL is a family-owned store. Daughter Emma has a successful and vast line of hand-dyed yarns, and I took advantage of being at the store to squeeze and ogle them all. My first mohair project will be with these three. I plan to run a strand of the mohair with each of the two colors. Don't know what pattern yet. 

The mohair is called Mexican Wedding Dress. I'm completely psyched to start something with it!

If you look at the top end of the mohair you can see yellow and turquoise. This photo doesn't do it justice. It's really quite a fiesta of color. The pink is a DK weight called Very Berry, and the blue, which is actually a gorgeous tonal periwinkle, is called Heliotrope.

I bought the yellow at Four Purls too. I had been looking FOREVER for just that shade of yellow, and it happened to be on sale. It's Queen City yarn from Charlotte, NC, in the colorway Ryan Yeyow (sic). I'm guessing Ryan's a tot and that's how he says, "yellow."  The copper color is Emma's Practically Perfect Sock in Sticks and Stones. Cost is $26.50. But, after getting home, the receipt showed that it got rang up as Hella Hank in Sticks and Stones, and I was charged $42.00 for it! I'm very unhappy about that!

Close up of the yarns.

More haul: This was a Cooma Cowl set. It came with the pattern, designed by Emma's mom Laura Dobratz. The set has one skein of mohair in Himalayan Salt, and five minis. 

Mmmmmm mohair....

I love the subtle shades of these colors. They'll make a lovely fade.

The beautiful girl modeling the pattern is Emma herself! 

AND NOW, SOME NON-KNITTING PICTURES

My garden, a couple of weeks after planting.

My garden last week. I had to pull out the peppers. They didn't do well at all. I'm guessing not enough sunlight.The tomato, which I should have put in a cage early on, is unlike any that I've grown. It's really like a vine. I finally had to just let it go. It's resting its arms all over the garden. The basil's been harvested three times (pesto!) so I'm happy about that. The rosemary at the back can't see through the tomato. I will put it in the front after I'm done with maters. The peppermint is doing great but we never use it, so I think I'll replace it with thyme, since I use that a lot in cooking.

We had the white vincas pulled up in October. My eyes needed a break from all that white. November is petunia time, so here's a photo of the newly planted multi-color planting. I'll post a photo in a few weeks when they've filled out. 

I was driving home from the grocery store the other day and I couldn't believe the color of the ocean. Normally it's very pretty, but more of a turquoise color. I pulled over to take a picture of this. It's as Caribbean Blue as you're going to see this far north.

Speaking of beautiful colors, look at this sunset from back in September. The dark clouds on the horizon look almost like tall trees that are looming over the neighborhood. 

♕♕♕

And there you have it! Thanks for stopping by.

TTFN!