Happy July 4th

Having a great long weekend over here. Hope you all are too :D
Have a safe great day.

A very huge Thank you to all our Soldiers past and present :D

random post

Our next masters workshop is coming up quick :D I can not even begin to say how much Reiki has changed my life. I am so happy we can bring this wonderful energy to others :D



The whole garden has a wonderful smell from all the roses, rosemary and sage it's so nice. Our yellow rose bush gives off a softer scent, just enough to make things sweet without being blown away.



The sunsets are always a sight to see around here, but with all the wild fires burning there's more color than ever.......

striped shawl

Another prayer/healing shawl.
I used the same over all pattern as shawl idea with stripes that progressively get larger. I wanted just a bit of eyelash on the very end, to make up for the size difference in yarn I ( k2, yo ) to the end then cast off.

Garden time

Jorden has the garden off to a good start :D

Mint we thought we lost this one with the freeze :D

oregano going strong, garlic chives in the background

one of his thyme plants/bush hard to see in this photo but they have tiny little flowers on them

The raspberry sage still waiting on the white.......

little bitty peppers ( very strong ) :D the garlic in the background shows just how small they are lol

We got a bay plant :D been wanting one for ages

He also put in sun flowers, summer squash, tomatoes, potatoes and too many more for me to recall lol

So I've been playing with beads....

just got a new order in.... happy happy :D

Photos

I've been meaning to post a few photos.....

Our sage is up and running, this year we added raspberry sage and will be adding white as soon as it gets here in the post :D
The roses are doing good :D

Jorden took these

Nostradamus

This is our new family member Nostradamus

He's teething .... so he pretty much has to have something to chew on at all times...... I'm just glad it's not my arm or ankle ;) his breed are herders by nature, he is constantly trying to "herd" us....

At the kennel they said he is a Great Pyrenees blend, by all looks I'd say that's what he is mostly if not fully.....

He's just over 4 months and close to 30 lbs. he's grown almost 10 lbs. in 2 weeks, and he's not over weight....

He still has a hard time slowing down some nights.....he falls asleep in my arms....starting to get the hang of sleeping on his bed now......I'm guessing spending all that time in the kennel and vets gave him the real need to get out there and move lol

This is how he looked after healing up at the kennel


he's so cute

He ended up at the kennel after falling off the back of a farmers truck, he got hurt pretty bad....had to have a tooth removed, in shock.... the people behind the farmer stopped and saved him....the farmer never stopped, the people tried to get him to pull over......he was doing about 65 mph.

After that the poor guy got parvo and had to stay at the vets for a month....

That's when my parents got him the day back to the kennel..... as he was kept away from everyone he's a bit lacking on his "people" skills....

He was too much for their older dogs.....

He gets along pretty good with our guys....not all sugar and sweetness, but getting along....still don't take Buffy's chew bone lol

shawl pattern idea, mindless knit

I needed to do a mindless knit....

I grabbed the first yarn I came across in my odds and ends bag ( larger sized scraps and yarn without any plans ) ......when that ran out I grabbed more...... same with needles, used the ones that happened to be in the bag......

no counting, no gauge, no anything, just knitting.......

I put a marker in the center stitch to make things nice and easy....

did 2 increases in each row, stuck to the ends and middle

I stayed with a simple yo

no cares at all

it was great

I used worsted weight yarn as well as some fun fur and other novelty yarns

the needles were a size 11 US

cast on 5 stitches

1) k1, yo, knit to the last stitch, yo, k1

2 ) knit until the center stitch yo, knit center stitch, yo, knit to end

I kept knitting until I liked the size

bind off and weave in ends

I will admit to putting in a bit of thought but not much lol...... I knew I would be using at lot of different yarns so to keep things even ( sort of ) I added the novelty yarns on the "wrong" side as well as the variegated yarn....
by even I mean, not all of the ends of the added in yarns were on the same side, there for the thickness that weaving the ends adds was on both edges

windy weekend

The winds have been kicking up a bit ...... this is looking right at the mountain's!

on the way to town..........you couldn't even see the valley

Beads and Wire

There are a few things I just love to "play" with..........yarns, buttons, crystals/rocks and beads.

Now I can add wire to that list :D

I would never have given it much thought if I hadn't seen wire knitted up lol

I had to give it a go............. yeah well that was only so so..........do you know what that does to a set of needles :( I couldn't put my needles through it ........ the trauma

I made one button and knitted wire pin but gave it away without taking a photo, it was nice and felt good but not my thing just thinking about how it felt on the needles............ that scraping ugh........... until I saw it done with a crochet hook............not real damaging to the hook, this is where it shows that I'm a knitter not crocheter........

This a crocheted wire and bead button pin, very quick to make, just string a few glass seed beads on some 26 gauge wire and chain stitch a few inches, I used a G hook, place beads as you go.

Attach to button and pin with wire, by 'sewing" them together through the button holes.

I like how quirky they come out no two a like :D

Playing with the seed beads again was fun. I had used them with my cross stitch in the past, but wanted to do more, so I got a bead loom.

I used this pattern in a knitted baby towel a while back, still need to test knit the pattern before posting :(

She's smaller than she looks in this photo, only a few inches long.

As you can see one thing leads to another.......wire, crystals, beads, buttons, pins... all go together so nicely

I was gifted some out standing beads, some old pretty leafs, crystals and hand painted glass beads........ they are so nice. I used a old button to match them, wired onto a pin. The crystals and beads are hanging from some wire work. Thank you so much Kelly :D

I used thicker wire this time. I made this pin to use with my skirts ( the wrap around scarf style )and thought stronger would be better............that lead to wire wrapping.....and these

brass and crystal earrings

as well as these crystal and copper ones, that lead to playing with stronger wire and this

stainless steel and lapis wire wrapped bracelet

Now how do I add knitting back into all of this.............

Seamed pot holder

I wanted a pot holder that was easy on and off, would work with different sized hands. Quick to make.........

Seamed pot holder
Size 6 US needles
exact gauge is not essential to this project, just keep it on the tight side and do both sides the same :D
about 100 yards of 100 % cotton worsted weight
Yarn needle for seaming

k = knit
k1 tbl = knit 1 stitch through the back loop
k2tog = knit 2 stitches together
k2tog tbl = knit 2 stitches together through the back loop
yo = yarn over needle

Cast on 5 stitches
1 ) k1, yo, k to last stitch, yo, k1
2 ) k1, k1 tbl, k to last 2 stitches, k1 tbl, k1

Repeat 1 and 2 until you have 41 stitches

Knit 7 rows

Decrease
1) k1, k2tog tbl, knit until the last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1
2) knit
Repeat 1 and 2 until you have 19 stitches left

There are 2 ways you can do the cuff of this pot holder
1) Done in the round = bind off stitches and make a second piece, seam them together. Pick up stitches across each side, knit 2 by 2 ribbing ( k2, p2 ) for about 1 inch, bind off.

2) Done with 2 needles = after reaching 19 stitches,
Cloth # 1 * k2, p2 * across ending with p1 for 1 inch, bind off.
Cloth # 2 p1, * k2, p2 * to end. Bind off.
Seam both pieces together.