Flowers in a Garden

There is certainly a lot of growth happening in the garden.

This big guy looked asleep. Too much pollen, too little time!!

The Lilies smell divine!

Although our summer has been cooler and wetter than usual, everything is flourishing.

I finished another Noro modular afghan and it really does look like a summer garden. I really enjoyed doing this one too and I think I did improve on my construction techniques.

It is always hard to get the right lighting with some yarns.This is another big project-the new fence. Painting fence boards isn't the most exciting at times but it is great when it is done.

The fence and the shed are progressing bit by bit. We are thankful it hasn't been too hot or we would have not been doing as much as we have. I like to supervise from the lawn chair in the foreground-ha ha!! I don't have a project on the go right now-knitting wise. I have been making lots of jam, strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, raspberry, bumbleberry... I like making jam! A lot of it is destined for friends and family. I did notice the zucchinis are growing very fast. I guess some loaves and breads are next on the agenda. My neighbour likes to grow zucchinis too and used to leave anonymous donations on our front doorstep-maybe that will be my next maneuver!! Beware of a knitter bearing jam and zucchini loaves!!

Attack of the swirlies

I very seldom or really hardly ever knit the same pattern two times in a row. Here I am knitting another modular afghan using the Taiyo yarn. This is really great knitting. It is fairly easy and the yarn is so nice to work with and the colours are so much fun. I know my needle is stuck!!

The weather here is perfect. It is sunny and warm but not too hot...yet.Everything in the garden is growing like crazy. I picked some snapdragons yesterday and they have such a lovely scent.The nicotiana that reseeds every year is starting to bloom. It is very fragrant in the evening. As it hasn't been too hot everything looks so green and fresh. I think that I was drawn to this colourway as it has a lot of bright summertime colours.

We also had an unusual visitor in the backyard this week. I don't know how he/she got here. There is a pond a few blocks away but that would be a long trek for a lost turtle. We also have a large horned owl that roosts close by, maybe it was picked up and inadvertently dropped by the bird. We also have raccoons, deer,coyotes and bats. The turtle was transported back to the pond and they can sure move fast when they want to!

Sunflowers in a field

I finished this late last week. Knitting these modular little swirlies is really fun. It is potato chip knitting!! Watching the colours change seems to keep me entertained for hours.It is a really easy pattern to memorize and each swirly doesn't take very long to do.

I find it hard to get the right lighting for good pictures somedays. It is often too bright outside or any picture just showcases my weed collection. The Taiyo yarn is supersoft and super nice to knit with. I used Soak-Citrus before I gently blocked it. It did take a couple of days to dry-probably due to the cotton content.
 I got quite caught up in a big plan to crochet granny square afghans. I was going to use lots of my Cascade 220 leftovers-they were going to be so colourful and marvelous and fast  I could make them for everybody-you know how it goes sometimes . I did use a little sense and did a few practice ones. Well crocheting and tendonitis/repetitive stress injuries do NOT work well together. Felt like my arm had been through a wringer. Ouch!! On to Plan B.

I was at our library today to pick up The Opinionated Knitter by EZ. Funny conversation ensued,
Librarian, Wow you knitters never stop.There are knitting books constantly coming and going out of here!
Me, Oh yeah (feeble laugh)
Librarian Yes even in the heat of summer you guys are in here getting your books (gives me a funny look)
Me. Well I guess some of us get a little excited about stuff ya know, there are lots of different things to do...
Lib,oh ok then (looked puzzled)
I thought it was pretty funny.

A New Noro Book

I recently ordered this book from a local book store,it came in three days! I am a huge fan of the Noro. I have knit socks, bags,wristers, wraps, two Lizard Ridge afghans and the Mitered Crosses Blanket.  I could easily knit some more. The colours are so beautiful and all the colours all seem to work so well with each other.




















The book is full of wonderful projects by different designers. Check out these socks! There are patterns for socks,hats, sweaters..and some really nice throws. For some obscure reason I seem to be on a knit blanket thing. I have never been on one of these before. Mind you I went on a major sock knitting binge for a couple of years and then I got into lace, so who knows? This could be my gift of the year for my family members. What really snapped me to attention was this...

Oh my, oh my! It is knit modularly starting in the middle and progresses outward. Again the colours are unreal.Who thinks of these things! Recently I have noticed on Ravelry that quite a few crocheters and knitters are knocking of beautiful throws using the tried and true granny square. Again using really bright colours or non traditional colour combo's. Check out Attic24, her throws are so bright, cheery and very pretty!! Makes you want to grab a hook and get going-great stash buster too.

Sometimes resistance is futile!

Have a nice evening!

The Wonders of Blocking

From this to this

  Blocking truly amazes me everytime I block a project. What looks blobbish and undefined is magically transformed into something quite nice or even quite spectacular. I often think to myself-wow I didn't know it was going to look this good, mind you I am also nervous some critical or really bad mistake is going to rear its ugly head. Having your knitting all bunched up on a needle can lead to a few oversights!
 I really really liked knitting this one. It blocked really nicely. I didn't use pins or wires as I realized it was pretty big-it is approx 63 inches in diameter. I just shaped and measured to see if it was a circle and not an ellipse. I definitely will knit another one. The pattern is just so very pretty.  Thank you Mr. Flood. My pictures do not do the dyeing justice. Thank you Madtosh

A small but mighty yarn shop

Attention all yarnistas in the Okanagan Valley or those of you travelling through this area, there is a great little yarn shop in Falkland, B.C. Falkland is a a small village located on Highway 97N between Vernon and Kamloops.It's about a 15-20 minute drive from Vernon-no biggie! Kelly and her husband Jamie own the Falkland General Store and in this store is a yarn shop-Nee Nee Girl's Yarn Shop.Now this shop has lots of really nice yarns and fibres, great books and some really nice knitting stuff...Lantern Moon needles and bags, sheep mugs from Ireland,Noro, Fleece Artist, Regia sock yarns Amy Butler organic cotton...etc as well as other  assorted crafting materials.Kelly is a super knitter (of course) and the stock she has chosen is lovely. As most the staff are knitters, everyone is really helpful, friendly and quite enthusiastic. It is such a pretty drive up through the valley.Throw in a picnic lunch or have lunch out, it's a nice mini road trip!

I  forgot to take any pictures in Falkland, but here is a shot of an old barn enroute. I love old barns, the windows in this one are great and are still intact.
 I have calculated there are 213 pattern repeats for the knitted- on edging of the Girasole. Sometimes it is better not to know all these things!Despite my counting and sighing it is progressing well.The end is in sight!

Knit knit knit

I started knitting Girasole-a Jared Flood pattern sometime ago. It is a beautiful pattern. Head on over to Ravelry and check out some of the  lovely throws, shawls, blankets...etc  knitters have made with this pattern. They are amazing! It also knits up so well in lots of different fibres-from silk to wool to cottons.So I have had this puppy on my hit list for a few years, I even bought some yarn for it a couple of years ago (gee what a surprise).Anyways, a few weeks ago I walked into my LYS and saw this yarn. It's Madelinetosh DK in the colour Earl Grey. Of course the rest is history. This is such nice yarn to knit with and has a great sproingy texture and the colours are wonderful.And its not in the blue pink purple family! I do tend to gravitate to certain colours!

My pictures do not do the colours justice.However I am on the part of the pattern that has 640 stitches for 44 rounds,that's a lot of knitting! It is a fairly easy pattern to knit so it's going okay. It is great to knit while watching the Stanley Cup-go Canucks

  Gardens everywhere are bursting out in colour. What a great time of year!