HHG

Debi at Temari Math just posted a wonderful tutorial on the HHG "one stroke" technique. I had the privilege of using her instructions last year, and made this temari. I like it a lot, even though it doesn't exactly match the one Debi made. The points/centers of the stars are not as wide as Debi's and you do not see the secondary designed that developed on her temari.

This color scheme reminds me of milk chocolate...

Yesterday was a very nice day!

I started the day with my shawl knitting. Starting the day that way is really helping, setting up somewhat of a routine, and meeting a goal first thing in the day.

I had such a nice day yesterday, that I wanted to share it with you. We are having company. C & P are visiting their auntie in Colorado, so mama and Po are staying with us. Po is a black and white hamster (Panda coloring) and is named after the hero in Kung Foo Panda. He is a little shy of us, yet, but is getting used to all the hubbub.

So, having DD2 here, I took advantage, and we rode out to House of Stitches (and lunch at Arby's). This is what I got at House of Stitches:

It is for a Martina (Weber) Rosenberg mandala, called Herbularium, an herb garden, so I thought fabric the color of dirt would look nice. I just love these colors together. This is the same designer from Holland Springtime Mandala, and a couple of other pieces I have done.

I got a phone call to go out for lunch on Friday! And DD2 and I got some cleaning done.

After knitting, I put in an hour or two on HSM. These are the outlines of delft tiles, not too colorful, but very pretty.

Supper was easy and good, and then I went to guild, and had conversation with good friends. My secret stitcher gave me this packet of post-it notes which will be an amazing help while I am knitting.

Here you can see the blue arrow pointing to the point on my pattern where I have to start tomorrow. Knitting went well this morning too, and I finished my 4 rows in less than an hour, and put in the next rescue row.

I hope your day is as good.

Today I have to grocery shop, and stop at the farmer's market, and assist at a cooking class for kids. Not as much fun as yesterday, but maybe more useful.

Talk to you soon!

Monday morning

This morning I started by sending DH off to work, turning off the TV, putting the dog to bed, Not turning on the computer, and picking up my lacy shawl knitting. It took me 1 hour to knit 4 rows (this thing is going to take forever!) but I was successful on those four rows. Here you can see my progress.

I have stitch markers between the motifs, and the white line is my rescue row; I stitched some pearl cotton on to my needles after the border and before I started my lace knitting, then if I mess up I only have to take it out to that point.

The lace pattern is 4 rows, repeated 3 times, then a different 4 rows, repeated 3 times. I finished the first 4 row repeat before I put it down this morning.

I also am going to give this gift tonight, so I will show it now:

It is a square piece of flannel with the corners rounded and a nice little edging. The green gingham pattern is printed, and you can hardly see the blue paint spatter design over that. We do not know if it is for a boy or a girl, but I thought this would work for either. The fabric color is neutral, the blue edging would work for a boy, with a little bit of laciness in case it is a girl. I enjoyed this project so much that I am making 2 more blankets for the daughter of a friend who is expecting twin girls... two pink blankets with more laciness, one with white lace, and one with pink.

Here is a picture of my kumihimo braid:

The first one has the ends trimmed, but the second one does not, yet. I am very pleased with how these turned out. Here is a close-up:

I used DMC floss without stripping out the threads, but 4 colors in 2 families. The colors inside the families were close enough that the over-all pattern shows up (the spiral) but the extra colors added a richness and complexity that I did not expect, but really love.

This should be a quiet week, hopefully I can get a lot done. We are planning a family outing in a couple of weeks so that will be something to look forward to as well.