Jackpot!

Look at the fabulous stuff I got from my aunt yesterday!

How cute are these buttons?!

...and this elegant print

...and these bright prints

...this one reminds me of something from my childhood, but I can't quite place it

...more bright prints

...and some lovely solids

Not sure what I'll make yet, but I'm sure I can come up with something.

Had a busy weekend so I didn't get much knitting done, or anything else for that matter. Oh well. I've got four days off coming up and big plans for a couple projects. Might try to get away and have a little fun too. I'll keep you posted!

A is for Anna

Yes, in my last post I promised crochet, but things got a little crazy and I ended up doing some embroidery instead. This is something I've been wanting to work on for some time now. Monogrammed hankies. I've made them before, gifts for family or friends, but I would like to start making them to sell on Etsy, and maybe offer "kits" or patterns as well. So I'm going to be testing some over the next few weeks. I made an "L" for my best friend a while back and I really wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but I forgot. Anyway, all I do is draw my design on paper with a dark pen, and then I trace it onto a white hankie with pencil. ~ Pencil because it washes out.

Then I snap on a hoop, pick three colors of floss and stitch it up!

Yes, the photo is a little out of focus, but our camera is old and I've been having a hard time with it. Hopefully we'll be getting a replacement soon. Any ideas on what we should get? We're thinking Cannon, but I've always kind of been a Nikon girl...

Ok, next post you might see a little crochet, but I'm not making any promises!

Summertime knitting

As I might have mentioned before, my summertime knitting consist of smaller, cooler projects. No wool, nothing bulky, and nothing that sits in the lap. It's just too damn hot, you know?
Here's number three in a lovely ocean blue - almost done.

Number two, a refreshing purple.

And number one in a bright green - this one is my favorite.

They are all washcloths, BTW.

So, I'm trying to fit as much knitting in as I can, in between the garden and other household stuff, but honestly, lately all I want to do at the end of the day is zone-out in front of the boob-tube.

There might be some crochet in the next post so stay tuned!

Where's the knitting!?!

I know, on a blog named Purlanna you would expect to see a little knitting, right? Well all I have to say is sorry, but honestly there hasn't been anytime for knitting, and when I do get a minute to pick up my needles I'm usually finding myself nodding off after 5 or 10 minutes. The garden is keeping me busy along with my day-time job. I've been trying to crack down on my house cleaning too. Summer is creeping up and the house can get pretty messy pretty quick.


When I do fine the time to knit, I've been working on a simple baby blanket. The yarn is an acrylic I found on sale at the local HL, not my favorite place to buy yarn, but I was there anyway and couldn't help but check out the sales. Seriously, what is it about yarn on sale? I can even find an excuse to buy the ugliest, cheapest yarn if the price is right. I think to myself, "I know there's a project out there for this." Yeah, an ugly project! Although this baby blanket isn't that ugly at all, it's rather cute, boring, but cute.

I was recently able to get rid of a bunch of "sale" yarn in a garage sale my mom and aunt were having. However, I don't think any of it sold, there's a surprise...


OK, so I promise to have more knitting on here, at least every other post, OK? You just have got to understand that it's garden season so there is going to be lots of garden post (lots!). So, I hope there are knitters out there, knitters that also garden, or at least like fresh food, and that you will understand that this will pass and knitting will return (along with the cold, quiet, winter nights) and all will be back to normal, or as normal as a knitting addict's life can be...


And, in case you were wondering what I did tonight instead of knitting, here's a glimpse.



...and here's a friend that stopped by for a visit last night.

Peas!

The vines have gotten much taller and we have been getting lots of peas. I forgot how long the shelling process is and I'm thankful I didn't plant anymore that I did.




And here's what we got tonight.



Bright green peas, yum.

And, my calendula has bloomed!


Lots more to do in the garden this year, herbs to dry, potatoes to dig, corn to plant, and soon tomatoes to eat!

Food from the garden

Mmmm... It's always fun to start with dessert. These are strawberries from the little patch I started last year, which has turned out to be very fruitful.

For dinner it was a Swiss Chard and Cheese Quesadilla. Very tasty!

...and on an unrelated note. Here are two bears I made for the Mother Bear Project. These were two of three that I sent a few months ago. I really need to make a few more. It's a great cause and they are really fun and easy to make.

Got a busy weekend ahead, but if I'm lucky I'll have photos and maybe a few stories to share by the end of it.

I'm back

It's been exactly three years since my last blog. That was when me and my husband, then fiance, moved out to the country. No Internet, no cable, but loads to do. So now we have the Internet and are a little better established out here. Still no cable and probably won't get that anytime soon. We have plenty to watch between our 5 or so stations, a Netflix here and there, and the computers.
My goal with this blog is to mainly write about my knitting with a few of my other hobbies tossed in. Being almost summer, the knitting is dwindling down, but I think I'll have plenty to keep you all amused. And, even though there might be little knitting this time of year, there will never be no knitting. There will always be something in the works, for example









socks.


...and there's a cotton washcloth that's almost finished, and baby blanket halfway done, and a sweater that will probably stay tucked away until this fall, or a cold rainy day.

I'm also working on some crocheted lace... A great spring project.












...and lots of time is being spent in the gardens. More on that soon...














There might also be a couple sewing projects coming up soon and I hope to share a few patterns later on too.

So, it's good to be back and I look forward to lots of post full of good stuff for you all to enjoy!