Friday's Flowers

A collection of flower photos from our camping trip at Arcadia Lake, Edmond, Oklahoma.

Ashy Sunflower







Flowering Spurge



Trailing Wildbean



Partridge Pea



Tall Thistle


Wishing everyone a great Labor Day weekend!

Living the Simple Life

Camping in a trailer travel is the simple life. Simplicity is forced on you, because there isn't that much room to bring a whole lot of stuff. All the work that is associated with the upkeep of a home is tremendously reduced, which sets you free to enjoy other things, like knitting.



Simple Crew Socks worked on 64 stitches
Yarn: On Line Supersocke Cotton
Color: Beach - Color 945
Needles: US 1 DPNs

And when I'm not knitting, I'm usually outside enjoying nature. We like to put out seed for the song birds and a feeder for the hummers.



Nature hikes are fun too. There is always something to discover.

A heron on Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma



A stand of trees along the lake shore.



A feather in the grass.



A rock canyon at Mineral Wells State Park, Mineral Wells, Texas.



A pecan tree limb twisting in search of the sun.



Then when I've had my fill of the outdoors, it's back to knitting.


Online Supersocke Cotton, Beach - Color 948

Oh, how I love the simple life!

School Colors

The fall semester is starting on college campuses and that means college football is just around the corner. The Preemie Project likes to celebrate the kick-off of Hawkeye Football by providing the NICU at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics with hats and booties in UI colors. Here is my black and gold contribution for this year.



Patterns: Hat (worked on 48 sts), Booties (worked on 25 sts)
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft (worsted weight)
Colors: Black 9727 and Lemonade 9606
Needles: US 7 DPNs for hat and US 5 straight for booties
Size: Preemie (3-5 lbs)

Last week John and I helped Matt move his stuff back to the dorm. We turned our trip into a mini-vacation by bringing the travel trailer and camping at Central State Park on Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma.



We're on the way home by way of Fort Worth to visit Robyn and James.

Friday's Flowers

Turk's Cap

Our shrub is about seven feet tall and twice as wide.



It blooms profusely from spring until frost.



And is a favorite source of nectar for butterflies...



...and hummingbirds.



Same photo cropped way down so you can see the hummingbird perched on the fence.

August

007 Snap a Dozen Days


Needville, Texas
The Home of Friendly People
Pop. 2609

We moved to Needville the first weekend in August, twelve years ago. John took a transfer to Houston, but we knew city-living was not for us. We had already lived in the Houston area two times before and had heard about Needville from friends who lived here. We decided it would be a great place for us to live and raise our children. We were right. Robyn was in 7th grade at the time and Matt was in 2nd. It was our hope that we could live here long enough to get both kids through high school and we have.

Needville is a small town with good schools and a strong sense of community. So far it has escaped the urban sprawl of Houston, but it's coming. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the cotton fields and pastures and small-town-living that I love so much.


The Four-Way Stop in Downtown Needville

You can tell you are in Texas by all the pickups and SUVs. We can tell who's not from Needville by the way they drive through the four-way stop. Out-of-towners loose track of whose turn it is.


The Old Needville Water Tower

This is a well known landmark around here. If you should ever get lost (which would be hard to do), just look in the sky for the water tower and follow it to downtown.


Needville Fire Station

The Bluejay is the school mascot, but it is also the symbol of our town. It is used by the fire department and police department. Everyone around here shows their Bluejay Spirit.


Needville's First Fire Truck

Of course, we have modern well-equipped fire trucks now. This old one sits outside the fire station and represents a piece of our town's history. Click here for a detailed history of Needville.


Entering Needville on Highway 36 South

When I see this sign, I know I'm home.

P.S. For those that might wonder, that's a hawk in the first picture. It was sitting on the sign when I pulled over. I grabbed the camera quickly, but only got this one shot (from inside the truck) as it flew away.

Ribs and Cables

Continued from this post.

My intention was to spin a yarn that would be suitable to knit the neck gaiter from the book One Skein. I was shooting for a worsted weight, but ended up with a bulky weight instead. I tried to adjust the pattern to work with the yarn, but I didn't have much luck, so I decided to knit a scarf instead.



Pattern: A combination a couple of different patterns from the Rib & Cable Quartet
Book: One Skein
Yarn: 2 ply spun from J. Knits 100% Merino Wool Roving
Color: Iowa
Needles: US 9 straight
Finished Size: 5" wide by 38" long



This scarf is for John. It's long enough to go around his neck and tuck into a jacket or vest, but short enough not to get in the way when he's casting a line into the water. It will be perfect for winter nights on the pier or other extreme weather fishing he's famous for.

I enjoyed knitting with this yarn which is extremely soft and squishy. It spun up round and smooth and I really like the way it looks in ribs and cables.

Friday's Flowers

Yellow Butterfly Vine

The tiny orchid-like flowers on this plant are pretty. The foliage is green and glossy.



But it's the seed pods that I love the best.



Bright chartreuse butterfly wings that fade to shades of brown as they dry.

Progress in Pictures

It started with roving.



That was spun on a wheel.



Then plied into yarn.



And knitted into cables and ribs.



(Finished project and details next week.)

A Matter of Preference

When I first started knitting socks I used 7" Brittany birch double points. After a time though I realized it would be better to use shorter needles, so I bought what the store had in stock which was 6" Crystal Palace sock needles. I loved them, but have always wanted to try the 5" Brittany sock needles. Recently I bought a set and had a chance to compare the two.

Brittany Sock Needles vs. Crystal Palace Sock Needles
(Size US 1)



Length:
Brittany measures 5"; Crystal Palace measures 6". It's only one inch, but I enjoyed the shorter length very much.

Points:
Brittany needles have rounded points; Crystal Palace have sharp points.



Material:
Brittany is made from birch; Crystal Palace is made from bamboo. I didn't think this would make much difference but there were a couple of things I noticed. I found that the stitches did not slide as easily on the Brittany needles as they do on the Crystal Palace needles. Also, the Brittany needles were more flexible than Crystal Palace.



In the end, I found that the Crystal Palace needles worked better for me, mainly because I like to knit short-row socks the PG-R way. When working the heels and toes in this method, sharper points and stiffer needles help maneuver the yarn for stitches like K3tog and SSSP. The Brittany needles were too flexible and the points not sharp enough to make these stitches easily. That's not to say they aren't good needles, because they are. After all, the needles we ultimately choose are just...a matter of preference.

Friday's Flowers

Morning Glory

Morning Glories are such pretty flowers, you wouldn't expect to hear that someone is trying to get rid of them, but that's exactly what we are doing. Several years ago we started a vine on the small arbor that marks the entrance to the vegetable garden. The vine grew well and filled the arbor quickly.



Unfortunately it grew so well and so fast that it began to take over everything. We were always having to pull runners out of the thorny rose bushes (not fun). The vines would grow at least a foot a day and twist themselves on anything near and far. It was a constant job to contain this vine and we couldn't keep up with. So this year we said good-bye to Morning Glory.



But it doesn't look like she's ready to say good-bye to us yet.

Spiral Rib Bag

There is something very satisfying about knitting with your own homespun. Even yarn that looked like an unorganized mess coming off the wheel, can work up nicely in a project.



Pattern: Spiral Rib Bag
Book: One Skein by Leigh Radford
Yarn: My Homespun (3rd picture from top), 100% Colorado Wool, Natural Dyes
Needles: US 10: 16" Circular and DPNs
Size: Choice of two sizes. This is the small one.

This was a fun, quick knit. From start to finish, it only took me two nights of knitting. It could easily be worked in one sitting. The small size is worked on 50 stitches.

The body of the bag is worked first, starting with a provisional cast on. The live stitches are picked up later to knit the bottom of the bag.

I like the way the purl stitches are bound off in the rib pattern while the knit stitches are continued. This forms the tabs at the top. An I-cord drawstring is run through the eyelets in the tabs to cinch it closed.

I don't know if it's the stitch pattern or the yarn I used, but the bag has enough body to stand up on it's own without anything in it.

Newborn Sweater Set

Pattern: Fred Textured Sweater
Book: Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby D.K., 50% Acrylic Microfiber, 50% Nylon
Color: Cream - 101
Needles: US 5 and 6 straight
Size: Newborn

This sweater was a joy to knit. The front, back and sleeves are knit separately and then seamed together. The chevron stitch pattern is simple to work and adds an interesting texture to what would otherwise be a plain sweater. Garter stitch is used for the bands on the bottom of the sweater, the neck and the sleeves. Three little buttons on the shoulder add design detail and will make dressing baby a little easier.



Though Dreambaby is not a natural fiber, it worked well for this pattern. The result is a nice soft sweater for baby and easy care wash and dry for mom.



The pattern for the booties is also in Natural Knits. The only change I made was to knit them on needles one size smaller: US 5 straights.



The hat was inspired by the sweater. It was knit in the round on size US 5 circular and DPNs with Dreambaby D.K. yarn.

Cast on a multiple of 8 stitches (I used 72 stitches for a newborn size).
Work 2x2 ribbing for approximately 1 inch.
Work rows 1-18 of chevron chart from Natural Knits.
Work rows 9-18 once more.
*K7, k2tog, rep. from * to end (64 sts).
*K6, k2tog, rep. from * to end (56 sts).
Cont. to decrease every round, working one fewer st between decs until 4 sts remain.
Cut yarn and thread through remaining sts. Pull tight and weave in all ends.
Sew on pom-pom.

If you like to knit for babies and still do not have Natural Knits in your library, I highly recommend that you add it soon. I've made 8 of the 21 patterns in the book and see myself knitting almost all of them before I'm through.