Progress

 I like this better……and then as I was clearing my table to clear my head I found some more greens that play better with the other greens than the little patches at the bottom corners. My first stitching in months, I started with the presser foot then switched to the free motion quilting foot so much easier and fewer puckers. I also layered a sheer yellow piece over the black and white buildings, toned them down. 

I had a productive day.  —Ann—

Small steps

Look at those little shoes!  Each little part was a small step. I worked on one person at a time, I think I found the perfect fabrics for each. The hair was found in a pheasant print. A light spot between the barns was perfect for the sunlight on the boys hair and the tall grass was perfect for blond pony tails.  The shoes were fussy because the parts were so small.  It fuses best if I remember to remove the paper from the back.  It’s been a long time since I used the fusible.

Still not ready to stitch but close, I see some things I might want to change I see little things in the photo that I don’t see as I’m working on it.  In the actual photo ( previous post) there is a little ridge in the grass on the left side, I can duplicate that ridge if I cut an “up” curve. I’m not sold on the lightest green in the foreground either. I’ll think on it before I stitch.  —Ann—

Another no sew summer

 

My no sew summer has come to an end. So far I am just choosing fabrics and enlarging the figures but soon I will be sewing. My monkey brain has been all over the place, work on the background then on the figures then I see I haven’t changed the calendar in my sewing room jump up and then stand there….what was I going to do?  Go back to the table look around ahha the calendar! Cutting these parts out isn’t so hard……oh time for coffee……maybe write a blogpost haven’t done that for awhile……maybe the caffeine will help me focus.

I’m making a pillow for my cousin in Ireland that’s her daughter and grandkids.  They took me to the beaches around Portrush.  Savoring summer memories—Ann—

Where have I been………

 I will give you a hint……

The shamrocks

The Open at Royal Portrush on the north coast of Northern Ireland what I know about golf could fit in a thimble but it was exciting and amazingly well organized to handle 48,000 or so people a day for 4 days. I went opening day hubby went all 4 days.  I spent my days with my cousins and had a wonderful catching up.

That’s Rory McIlroy on the first hole.

 

We went to some beaches some were sandy with sand as fine as sugar others were rocky and my little cousins fished for golf balls with their little nets. On other beaches we gathered shells and sea glass. It was just fun watching them be kids. 

We had lovely days at the beaches —Ann—

Do overs

This post is old news.........I have been working on this sweater off and on all summer. I finished the first sleeve a few days ago then on to the second……everything was going smoothly I was on a roll a veritable knitting machine until I laid the second sleeve on top of the first, it was a few rows short. Do I knit a few extra rows to even them up, no, I tried it on, the second sleeve was tighter than the first.  Thinking back I could feel the caffeine in my fingers the day I knit 12 of the 4 row decrease repeats. So I ripped back and started over, I was knitting noticeably looser like I drank 2 glasses of wine but I didn’t then I noticed a mistake so I needed to rip a few rows. I laid sleeve 2 on top of sleeve one again to compare, without the needles in the sleeve the comparison was more accurate. Sleeve two was over an inch wider then sleeve one! Rip again and put my big girl panties on and do it right this time.  Knit firm but not tight. Well I ripped two more times—those do overs only involved a few knitted rows but still picking up 98 stitches but for someone who is numerically challenged…….I think I’ve got it now.  The yarn is a fingering Wool Addicts by Lang called Footprints it is 45% cotton, 42% wool and 13% nylon. It says superwash but my swatch shrank some. The pattern is Autumn Square by Hinterm Stein.  It has a little design detail, a square knit into the center of the garter stitch section in the upper bodice but each time I have gotten carried away with the simplicity of just knitting back and forth and missed the cue for starting the stockinette stitch for the square.  I like it without the square on my chest. Can't wait for cooler days to wear it. I did wear this sweater several days in Ireland.  --Ann--

Aran sweaters and yarn

 

We were on a tour so we went to lots of souvenier shops and just about all of  them were selling Aran sweaters many were machine knit I don't know if the machines in the top two pictures are knitting machines or what but what caught my eye was all the colors of yarn. Years ago Aran sweaters were either the natural cream or brown or dark gray now they area available in all colors.  I wish I had taken a picture of the many colored sweaters.  The kids sweaters were so much fun but all too small for my little granddaughters and I want the fun of knitting for them.  The sweater on the stand was hand knit as were all the sweaters behind the shoulder in that picture.  The shop at Blarney sold packages of yarn and I'm so glad I bought a package there because all the other shops sold odd balls and skeins, all of it Aran weight and seldom enough of one color to knit a sweater.  I will have 3 or 4 extra skeins. This is the same yarn that I knit last (click) winter but with a different label they even had the exact same color.  A pullover or a cardigan??  --Ann--

Ireland

 It’s been 6 weeks ago that we went on a tour to Ireland. The we was me and hubby, son, hubbie's two nieces with their hubbies and son.  The tour started in Dublin, hubby, son and I were a day late getting there because weather canceled our flight actually it was because weather backed up flights and our flight crew would have been on overtime and airline would have to pay a big fine. We rescheduled our flights drove home then back to the airport bright and early the next morning.  The trip was great after we got there. We spent a few hours at Glendalough which is like a national park with two lakes, trails to hike and the round tower and chapel ruins. There are ruins of stone churches and houses everywhere. We went to St. Patrick's Rock, Cashel dating back to 12th and 13th centuries. Blarney Castle was another stop once you start up the stone spiral stairs there is no turning back (absolutely no room to turn around) son got in position to kiss the Blarney stone, I did not.  I told the guide his grandmother kissed it in 1952 and they didn't have thick rubber mats to lay on then or a spray bottle of disinfectant.  Son didn't get backwards far enough to kiss the stone and didn't feel gipped.  Blarney Castle had information boards that explained the rooms and castle life.  There were also beautiful botanical gardens.  The scenery was beautiful and so green.  We toured the Ring of Kerry which is a scenic loop around a peninsula on the western coast and saw the Cliffs of Moher on a sunny day and the Burren then the clouds came in again.  The joke in Ireland is we had summer last Tuesday between 1 and 3. We had more nice weather than rainy.  --Ann--

Reading list #3 2024

Tis a lovely day for a Guiness.........

or a lovely day for an Irish coffee

1. A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen story about a young woman with 5 year old daughter who is abandoned by her husband in  late 1800’s in England. She starts designing dresses to support herself and daughter eventually opens stores in London, New York, Paris and Chicago. Also a Titanic survivor. Good story and wonderful descriptions of fabrics and color.
2. Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb as delightful the second time I read it as the first.
3. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich children’s book probably 4th grade reading level just for fun.
4. Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson murder mystery takes place on an island near Stockholm, Sweden. 
5. Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Rose nonfiction to keep my kindle streak going. About the importance of art in our lives for our wellbeing. Lots of studies and physiology of how the brain works and responds to the arts. Interesting.
6. The Women by Kristen Hannah for book club best book I have read in a long time about nurses who served during Vietnam war and their return to America.
7. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland I read this years ago and very few moments reading it the second time that “oh yeah I remember this” almost like I was reading it for the first time. It’s about a painting probably painted by Vermeer, the Dutch artist. Each chapter is about who owned the painting, how they related to the painting and how they acquired it.
8. Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger book # 15 in the Cork O’Conner series.
9. The Paris Novel  fiction by chef, food writer and editor, Ruth Reichl, delightful story about a young woman going to Paris after the death of her mother. A bit of a fairy tale in that the people she meets in Paris each contribute to her finding herself and understanding her mother. Short happy ending book.
10. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig for book club I just about quit reading it because I was going to miss the discussion but I said one more chapter and the action / tension picked up so I read to the end. The story takes place in 1909/1910 in Montana about a widowed father of 3 boys attending country school. Country school was the best 4 years of school of my life. 
11. Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier another book about Vermeer and his painting.
12. Sulfur Springs by William Kent Krueger #16 in the Cork O’Connor series, lots of twists and surprises.
13. Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes a mix up of gym bags and a drastic change of circumstances forces two women to literally walk in the others shoes. It’s a story of friendship and overcoming hardships and relationships. Very good
14. For All the World by Jean Grainger story takes place in Ireland at the beginning of WWI. 
15. Murder in the Marigolds by Fiona Grace a very short book murder with a horticultural theme just for fun. 
16. Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger Ireland about a young woman with polio in1938 overcoming obstacles and finding happiness and a letter in a bottle.
17. Last Port of Call: The Queenstown Series book 1 by Jean Grainger the story begins in 1912 in Queenstown, Ireland  reverted back to the original Irish name of Cobh with Ireland's independence from Britan. The story is about a young woman and her daughter who inherit the big house and turn it into a bed and breakfast to support themselves. Cobh is the departure point for many Irish leaving Ireland.  Rereading these books after visiting Cobh a few weeks ago.  
18. The West's Awake  by Jean Grainger book 2 of the Queenstown series. This series made me sympathetic toward those fighting for an independent Ireland.

I took a much longer break from blogging than I intended but then not much has been happening on the creative side.  We took a trip to Ireland with son and nieces and families.  It was a tour group and traveling with family was wonderful. We hope to travel together again in a couple years.  We toured the southern part of Ireland this trip.  My previous trips were all in the North to visit relatives so saw lots of beautiful new scenery. More about that in coming weeks.  I have been rereading the Jean Grainger books and trying to visualize  Cobh /Queenstown 110 years ago the only building that I'm sure is still in exactly the same place is St. Colman's Cathederal.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

 Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I've been plugging away at this quilt for weeks now and better to do it right than fast so it is not finished for Saint Patrick's Day 2016.  Next year it will be hanging on the wall. I'm going to keep at it until it is finished.    I figured if I cut the pattern along the outside stitching line I wouldn't have so much paper to pick and I could place the points on the  seams. I quilted the first Celtic knot.  So far so good.........only 17 more to go.

 And the back, I chose this green with the little hexagon design because it reminds me of the Giant's Causeway on the north coast of Ireland.  Hexagon shaped pillars or stone, legend says they were built by the giant Fin McCool.

 And Celtic knot number 2! had a problem with the tension I didn't see it because of the paper I was stitching through.  Fortunately it was easy to remove and left a scar so easy re-stitching.

 A Celtic Cross with a Celtic knot

A happy, generous nature, a friendly spirit too - these are the gifts Saint Patrick has surely given you - and may every day to come bring a generous part of all the happy things in life that keep joy in your heart.  an Irish Blessing

--Ann--