Shawl.... finally done!

I finally finished the Aeslight Shawl

I knitted it about 2 times as the first time the pattern was messed up and the second I was running out of yarn so had to rip back and start over.

Wrigley has nothing to do with this blog post, I just think this is a super cute picture of him so slapping it in at the end here.

a Boy and his Dog

Dear son and Kodi exchange a couple kisses that only a kid and his dog can really understand.

Are you ready for some Football??

The first football game of the season was Friday night. Dear son's team won the first game.

He plays on the sophomore team which plays each Friday night before the Varsity game.

Sweet daughter is a Senior this year (yes, time does fly). Here she is with friends. It was an away game so she was able to paint herself up. The home games she will be with the marching band as color guard captain.

Door County Dreamin'

I enjoyed a wonderful retreat in Door County with some of my favorite people.

Iowa City girl friend invited me up to her "cabin" on Lake Michigan again this year and it was wonderful!

Ankeny girls, Iowa City girls and Colorado girl made it for the trip. We enjoyed a delish dinner at Mike's pub on Friday night.

The sewing machines were buzzing with everyone sewing this year.

Here is a bed bug that I knitted. He has a little night cap on his head.

He is from the book Mochi Mochi

I sewed projects out of my stash. Here is Country Thread's Count. I need to add some borders, stitch his face and quilt it.

From the chair where I knit I could watch the kayaks, the waves and enjoy lake Michigan.

Here is the view from my chair, coffee, knitting and sunshine!

We enjoyed shopping on two days. Here is a shopping mall at Fish Creek. The great $10 watches and wonderful yarn store can be found here.

Ankeny girl whipped up some adorable bags!

Sitting on the deck and enjoying the company was such fun!

Colorado girl made custom made booties for us out of fleece. I kind of, sort of, can't wait for winter so I can put on my coozie booties!

Here is the mistake scarf that I made for sweet daughter. It is knitted out of handspun angora.

It is so snuggly!

Lunch at Fred and Fuzzy's was a hit again this year.

I made this throw for the boys at home. I think they will like the white tail in the middle.

I took a little hike to Cave Point. The cliffs were amazing and so was the hiking trail.

We ended the trip with a birthday party for Ankeny girl!

There is no State Fair like the Iowa State Fair!

We made a quick trip to DSM and back today. I was surprised at how easy it was to get into the area and parked. The crowds weren't bad until probably 2:00.

I didn't take a lot of pictures because we hit everything in about 4 hours and back home we headed.

I had to take pictures of a ribbon quilt that my friend in Cedar Rapids made. She is a very talented quilter.

Spinning silk

I spent the most wonderful day in the country with one of my most favorite persons (IC girlfriend) and a bunch of gals from the Cedar Rapids Fiber Arts Guild. I joined the guild last year as a very beginning spinner. Due to kid's activities I have not been able to go to meetings much but I had to make time for this workshop. In fact it was so important that I missed my 30 year class reunion (yes , I am that old, whatever!) The workshop was held in a farmhouse in Lone Tree Iowa, which is south of Iowa City. It was a beautiful home that rambled with room and interest. The gardens were interesting too, even a dry creek (I think that is what is called, for rain runoff management).
The workshop was on how to dye and spin silk hankies.

Silk hankies come in a square stack of what looks like very delicate fabric. After they are dyed you pull the apart very gently and then stick your hand in the middle pull it apart and wow, you have roving!!!

We started our day in the house and learned about silk hankies and dyeing, then went to the barn to get busy with dye.

here is my hanky without dye.

while we waited for our hankies to process, we spun.

Do you see that big wheel in the back of the room? I spun on that! wow, was it wild.

Here is a pre-dyed hanky that I spun while waiting. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, however, I am still getting thick and thin yarn.

Here is my hanky as it is drying today

Wow, what an education I received in just one short day! I am really getting into this new hobby of spinning!

art on the deck

Here is a shout out to my talented, handsome hubby!


Dear hubby painted the coolest picture of some moose that we saw while on vacation in the Jackson Hole area. It brings back so many wonderful memories of that trip. He has also started a blog - here

The photo does not do the art justice, he really captured the coat of the moose and the aspen behind. This one I am keeping and I am not going to let him sell!

dog days of summer

Things have been kind of lazy around here this weekend.

The heat has been awful in Eastern Iowa with the heat index over 100 degrees.

I managed to get a little spinning done and a little knitting.

My spinning is coming along, still not sock weight but it is smaller than rope!

The hydrangeas are putting on a nice show. I just love them!

The basil and other herbs are looking pretty good.

However, there is something missing on the tomato plants, tomatoes!! This is 2 years in a row when I have not harvested tomatoes. I have been using preen and I wonder if that is killing off the tomatoes. The only plant that has a few tomatoes is a volunteer that came up in my strawberry patch.