To all Mom's

Happy Mother's Day

Wind

Most of the time we have mild weather, okay it gets a little hot in the summer for a bit. Living in a desert one would expect that right. Even the flooding that happens with the rainy season, is to be expected, happens every year.

So do the winds. Every year we see places blown apart.
This is feet from us. Between my mom's place and aunts.

Took a lot of the roof right off, twisted the whole thing pretty good. No one lives there thankfully. It was to be used as a addition to my parents place... some day.


Same yard, same day. Not a petal out of place :D
Our gardens are a little wind blown but doing good. ( Now if we could keep the neighbor's cat from eating our pepper and tomato plants we'd be doing okay :D )

Really Good Week

All and all this was a good week for me.
It was my birthday. We stayed home and cooked out, had a great day :D
Brent for my Birthday is paying for our next Reiki Class. Our teacher has set the date for the beginning of July. Wow I can't wait. Already Reiki has changed our life in so many ways. It's been so good for all of us. Not just health wise, most certainly health as well, I can't recall the last time I was pain free before Reiki, but in ways I wouldn't have thought of. New friends for one.
Through my writing about the odd things that had been happening in our trailer, I was introduced to Reiki and got a new friend. I am so happy to say months later we are still living in a trailer that feels so much lighter, happier and none of the ugly things that had been happening are any longer :D ( knock, knock, knock )
It had been quiet for weeks at a time in the past, but this time is different, it feels gone. Not to say we don't have spirits coming around, I don't think I could change that if I wanted to, it's part of just being me ;) but for now things are going good. If anything like that should happen again, I think we will all be better able to deal with it.

It didn't stop there with friends, and let me tell you it very well could have and I would have been very happy as she is a really cool person to know :), we have been meeting the nicest people at our classes and shares. Just yesterday at our last Reiki share, a lady we had in our last class gave us each two bracelets of power beads :D

She let us each pick out the ones we wanted. How sweet is that :D I was was walking on clouds all day, still a little off the ground today lol

I picked Snowflake Obsidian and Poppy Jasper ( the first 2 in the photo ) Jorden picked Smokey Quartz and Sodalite ( the next 2) and Andre picked Tiger Eye and Blue Goldstone ( the last 2 ).

Our garden for two.
This is a single plant of Swiss chard, almost 3 foot tall with leaves about the size of a small elephants ear :D The whole garden is going great, even plants that looked like goners are doing good with Reiki, dare I say it.....might it be time for peas and green beans, one can hope.....

Hanging Hand Cloth

Hanging Hand Cloth
Size 8 US needles
Exact gauge is not essential to this project
52 yards worsted cotton yarn
One ½ inch button
10 ½ ” long by 6 ½” wide at main body ( 9 ½” bottom ) approximately


k = knit
k2tog = knit 2 stitches together
yo = yarn over needle
( )x = repeat directions inside brackets as many times as indicated



Cast on 34 stitches

1 - 2 ) knit
3 ) k2tog x 4, ( k1, yo )x 4, ( k2tog, yo )x 2, k2, ( yo, k2tog )x 2, ( yo, k1 )x 4, k2tog x 4
4 ) purl
5 - 6 ) knit
Repeat rows 3 - 6, ten more times, for a total of 11.

Bottom
1 ) ( k4, yo ) to last 4 stitches, k4
2 ) purl
3 - 4 ) knit
Bind off, weave in ends. Sew button on to match with yo on opposite edge of “tails“.

No purl Delft Cloth

No Purl Delft Cloth
Size 6 US needles
Exact gauge is not essential to this project
40 yards worsted cotton yarn
7” by 7” approximately
　
k = knit
k2tog = knit 2 stitches together
yo = yarn over needle
( )x = repeat directions inside brackets as many times as indicated
　
　
Cast on 36 stitches
1) k2tog x 3, ( yo, k1 )x 6, k2tog x 6, ( yo, k1 )x 6, k2tog x 3
2 - 4 ) knit
Repeat until you have about 7 inches, ending with row 1.
Bind off, weave in ends.

The delft stitch dates back to the 1930's, using a few more stitches and adding a purl row as well as purls with the increases.

Cloth # 7

Cloth # 7
Size 6 US needles
Exact gauge is not essential to this project
41 yards worsted cotton yarn
7” by 7½” unblocked
k = knit
sl 1 kw = slide one stitch as if to knit
p = purl
psso = pass slid stitch over
p2tog tbl= purl 2 stitches together through the back loop
yo = yarn over needle
* * = repeat instructions between as many times as indicated
Cast on 34 stitches
1 - 3 ) knit
4) purl
5) k3, * yo, sl 1 kw, k1, psso, k2 * to last 3 sts, k3
6) k3, p1, *p2tog tbl, yo, p2 * to last 6 sts, p2tog tbl, yo, p1, k3
7) k3, * k2, yo, sl 1 kw, k1, psso * to last 3 sts, k3
8) k3, p3, * p2tog tbl, yo, p2 * to last 4 sts, p1, k3
9) k3, * k2, k2tog, yo, * to last 3 sts, k3
10) k3, p1, * yo, p2tog, p2 * to last 6 sts, yo, p2tog, p1, k3
11) k3, * k2tog, yo, k2 * to last 3 sts, k3
12) k3, p3, * yo, p2tog, p2 * to last 8 sts, yo, p2tog, p3, k3
Repeat rows 5 - 12 three more times
Knit 4 rows
Bind off, weave in ends.

This is a known stitch with knit border.

Crystals

I have always been drawn to a few things your typical buttons...yarn...needles.... beads....

However some of my first "prizes" were stones and cards :D I have always loved them both, and now some one put them together :D

All of the cards are close ups of crystals sweet :D

I've posted shots of some of the crystals I had received as a gift after starting this blog, but none of our others.

Taking photos of crystals sounded fun, so .........

amethyst

smokey quartz

quartz with a touch of amethyst

quartz

citrine

quartz with citrine ( found in yard )

amethyst

quartz found in yard

amethyst

Well thats a few of them

It is fun to take photos of crystals

they stay put for the most part ;)

Socks and Table

Been making some socks. Just my basic house sock.

I love them. Cheap yarn means I can be just as hard on them as I want. No hand washing, or flat drying for these, and yep right through the desert sand no problem ;)

Don't you just love quick knits that are so useful and fun :D

Went to El Paso a few days back. Still looking for that just right pair of boots for Jorden. Stopped at our favorite burger place :D Had a great time even found a good pair of boots :D

Our new reiki table

It took a couple of weeks to get here, but was well worth the wait. It's about 50 lbs. Came with a case and head rest as well as arm rests. Very sturdy, 3 inch thick foam, with adjustable back. It's great :D no more bending over a chair or couch :D

King Charles Brocade Cowl

Spring time is here :D and with the warmer weather comes our winds.
I needed something to wear over my hair that would be easy to pop on and off, that the wind didn't take off for me ;)
I wanted to be able to wear it laying smooth as well as up, so I went with buttons and quick yarn over button holes.
This is a loose knit, so it's perfect for this in between kind of weather. Quick and easy to knit.

King Charles Brocade Cowl
Size 8 US needles
120 yards worsted yarn, shown in Preaches & Crème’s Sage
Gauge 4 sts by 5 ½ rows per inch
27” long by 8” wide ( approximately )
Three ¾” buttons

on etsy
on ravelry

Basic Cloth

We all had to go to the dentist the other day. The dentist had all four of us set for the same time, and who know how many others :( It was over a hour before one of us was called in :(

I am sure everyone out there has come across this pattern in one form or other it is very basic, however I didn't realise how much I had evolved this pattern to fit my needs. So I thought I'd share mine with you all :)

I started this one at the dentist office and finished it there too ;) it is a very fast knit, but I had way more time than I needed :(

I often use these as a hot pad as well, so I place the yarn overs close to the edge. I like the speed of a yarn over to most other increases, but you can use any increase you like, knitting into the back loop works well :)

I really don't like large sized kitchen cloths. When I use them as hot pads I always mange to get them in the food ;(

I am a very messy cook, I swear I can't even open a can without making a mess, let alone cook lol. I try, but you know somethings just can't be helped ;) ... no this has nothing to do with why I cook outside so much ;) lol

I add a little chain loop on the end so I could hang them on the cabinets for easy reaching.

I use a size 6US needle, as I find they give me a nice and tight stitch for use as a hot pad, but still knit up fast.

If using as a hot pad always use yarn that can take the heat. I always use 100% cotton in worsted weight, and be sure to keep your stitches on the tight side or go to a smaller needle. As well as keeping to the knit stitch for thickness. As always be careful with anything hot :)

I don't like the way it hangs if knit into a square, the sides kind of fold in :( so I don't make mine square. They are also great for using up bits of cotton.

Mine are "work" cloths so I use whatever colors I have around :)

Cast on 6

k1, yo, k to end.

repeat until you have the size you want ( I go anywhere from 35 to 45 stitches across )

k1, yo, k2tog, k to end

repeat 5 times

k1, yo, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k to end

repeat until you have around 15 stitches

k1, yo, *k2tog, * to end, knitting the last stitch if need be ( the k2tog's give a slight curve to the cloth that makes hanging them easier )

Bind off, leaving tail long enough to make loop for hanging.

I use whatever size crochet hook I have around, making about a dozen chain stitches, join loop by weaving in end.

This style cloth can be changed up in so many ways. Go with what you like :)

The next time you find yourself sitting at the dentist office without a pattern give it a try :)