Bowled Over

I didn't do much knitting the past month. I have been in a knitting slump. After ripping out my last scarf I felt burned out. Frogging back 400 stitches per row will do that to a person. I set my scarf aside and kind of gave up for a while. I knew I needed to find something small to work on that was totally different and new. Knitted and felted bowls. There is something so unique about a handmade bowl. It defies all logic.



The pattern is pretty simple yet so creative. I got it from the book One Skein by Leigh Radford.
The fun thing about these projects is how you can use them. They look so darn cute with a few eggs inside.




I think a felted bowl full of buttons is so sweet!




How about a bowl filled with sewing notions. It just fits.




Or how about adding an adorable knitted strawberry to a handmade bowl?




I love this itty bitty pattern. You can find it here. These bowls would make a great gift filled with the recipients favorite things like chocolate perhaps. The best thing for me was I got my groove back! Yippee!





Thank you for stopping by. I have a ton of stuff to share over then next few weeks. I have been working on all kinds of things. Everything from knitting to quilting and gardening. I leave you with this final shot of my first small harvest from the garden. Mmmm, fresh radishes!

Psalms{128:2} For you will eat the labor of your hands.
You will be happy, and it will be well with you.

What's Going On?

I was so surprised to notice how long it's been since I have written a blog post. Time seems to go by so quickly. So, what have I been up to? Actually lots of stuff. Today I wanted to share this cute little baby ruffled hat. The pattern is called Lilly and you can find it here.



The yarn is Bernat Cotton Tots colorway wonder dreams. I used size 9 needles. It's a fairly fast knit. Perfect for a little baby girl. I have finished a few other items this past month. I'll blog about those later. Lately my mind is not on knitting.



It's spring and my mind has been on gardening! Look what's growing in the basement. Yup, I've got lots of tomatoes and a few mini pepper plants growing.



I also started herb plants. I've got basil, sage, dill and thyme ready to transplant into larger pots.



Lat Thursday I spent most of my day playing in the dirt. It was wonderful to get my hands in the warm dirt. My mind swirled with grand gardening idea's! I bought a few plants at Home Depot.



Here are a few of the items that have been planted: Bok Choy which tastes great stir fried. Several broccoli plants, red romaine lettuce plants. By accident I purchased some iceberg lettuce plants. Those plants should be interesting. I planted radish seeds and all kinds of greens including my favorite, arugula. Yum!



This morning I checked the progress of the garden and look what I saw. You have to look closely. Yes, the greens are growing! Now if it would only stop raining and dry out a bit. I have lots more to plant.

Spring Has Sprung!

It's such a joy to see a pretty flower among the brown colors of early spring. I have these tiny Iris's growing in my perennial bed. They are the very first to greet the change in season. The iris's only stand 5" tall. The sight of them reminds me of all the colors to come. I am so grateful that winter is over.




I love the sound of spring also. This morning the birds woke me up with their beautiful singing. Such lovely sounds. The robin's arrived a few weeks ago.




I am amazed at the Lord's creation. New life springs forth!




How about a little knitting? I have been working on a really unique and pretty scarf.
Just Enough Ruffles is the pattern. I was able to finish it in time for our trip last week down south. I used a Malabrigo yarn in worsted weight. The color is pollen. The colorway looks like spring to me.




I love how soft it is. I am calling it my butter ruffle. I cast it off too tight so I didn't get all the ruffling I wanted. I still love it. I also learned a new short row technique.




Here is a goofy shot of me and my butter ruffle in Nashville. I sure needed the extra warmth that day. It was 40 degrees and raining!




I want to try the pattern again and get the ruffle right. This is Malabrigo worsted in Floral colorway. It is just gorgeous! This screams spring to me.




The garter stitch border is finished. The next step is the short rows. What do you think? I've got lot's more to share with you. I have lots of finished knitting and even some quilting to show off. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your comments. What are you working on?

First Measurable Snow

We have had our very first measurable snow of the season. The snow comes as a surprise to our area. The weather forecasters didn't predict the snowfall until last evening. Yesterday our temperatures was in the mid 40's. I found it hard to believe that it would snow overnight. The snow is pretty.




Let's go out and take a look at the garden. I love the footprints in the snow.





The lettuce is still under cover. I checked on it yesterday and it's looking good. I'm not worried about the wet snow covering the greens. I'm still praying for my Thanksgiving salad. I think I'll make it!!



I love the way the snow covers this tiny pine tree. I would love to walk around my property taking pictures of the snow laden branches. I'm on a work time crunch so I can't lolly around this morning.





Sam the snowman is in all of his glory. He has his hat and scarf on and is ready for the day! Enjoy yours!

Quilted Postcards and Gardening Update

These are the quilted postcards I made for our fall swap on Ravelry. This is my third postcard swap. Our group exchanged cards with 13 swappers. I challenged myself to only use a stack of 8" squares left over from a quilt I made a few years ago.





I cheated and added a 1/4 of a yard from my fabric stash. Here is a close up of one of the cards. I ended up stitching 22 quilted postcards in all. If you remember my post a couple weeks ago here I showed you some beautiful fabric. The batik leaf print was so totally gorgeous that I knew I had to fussy cut them out and applique them to my pieced backgrounds. Then I used a variegated gold embroidery thread to compliment the vein in the leaves. I really enjoy sewing these cute cards. I also make sure to send a few to some friends and relatives. My great aunt who is 85 loves getting mail. I am so honored that she enjoys my quilted post cards.





These are the cards I have received so far. I love them all! My plan is to decorate my sewing room with all of the postcards. I have a vision for a quilted postcard border.





This is what I sewed with the rest of the pretty fabric I showed earlier. Wildflower pincushion is the pattern. I will admit that my sewing skills are little rusty. It took me several reads of the pattern to figure it out. I wanted the pincushion to look like a pumpkin. What do you think? It's so cute.




The fall lettuce crop is still growing. Even after a few very cold nights in the low 20's! After one especially frigid night I waited for the sun to rise to check and see what survived. I had everything covered with the floating row covers. I put my hand under the covers and could feel crunchy leaves. I thought for sure that all was lost.





I am so grateful for the warm weather that we have enjoyed for the last few days. It seemed to revive the garden. Nothing was lost! Maybe I will be able to harvest some baby spinach!




The arugula is still producing many wonderful leaves. I have lots of spicy, nutty leaves to share. I am amazed that my garden is still growing on November 14. Awesome!

Second Harvest

It's harvest season in my area. The farmers are out all day and most of the night reaping this years crop. The colors in the fields are amazing. It reminds me of spun gold. I love this time of year. The sound of the combines harvesting across the countryside is so comforting to me. I relax when I hear the hum of the engines.





I'm hoping for a second harvest of my own. I planted some more lettuce and radishes a few weeks ago. I'm planning on baby greens for a Thanksgiving Day salad. Sounds good right? I know what you are thinking because I'm thinking it myself. I'm crazy, nuts, unrealistic so on and so forth. That may be too much to expect. Usually my garden has been put to bed by now. I can't seem to let this gardening year go. I purchased a 60"x50' roll of garden row cover. It should keep plants safe to 24 degrees. Maybe, just maybe I can make this work.





Last night it got down to 28 degrees. Brrrr. I uncovered my tiny little plants carefully. Looks like the garden quilt works. The lettuce is safe and sound.





On the knitting front I started another fingerless glove project. I picked out a very simple pattern to show off this colorful yarn. This is the first time I have knitted with Boku by Plymouth yarns. Hopefully it will soften more when I block it. I'll blog more about it next time. Hopefully I will be finished by then.
On a personal note thank you for all the well wishes for new new position. This is my first week with my new employer. So far so good. I fell very blessed.