An Easy Crochet Cardigan

Good morning all.  The predicted snowstorm has hit. The weatherman was right on with this one.  We have been getting a steady onslaught of the white stuff and it continues to fall as we speak. 

Here is a couple photos from yesterday morning..






And now this morning…I have to say my Potting Bench is holding up well in all types of weather!




If you want to see the post the building of our potting bench click on the photo above.

Now that the weather report is done I shall move on to what I really wanted to share today. 

Not long ago I had happened on to this blog post The Green Dragonfly and read about this sweater she had made, I followed the links to this pattern Chevron Lace Cardigan. 

It sounded like a fun project to work on in the evenings.  I have enough scarves and I really wanted to branch out.  It has been at least 20 years since I crocheted a sweater. 

Here is how mine turned out…I took lots of photos but I am not adept at self photography without my tripod and a remote so forgive the less than stellar results.
Here is a shot with the flash…I tried to do some without but of course they have a bit more blur.



Ignore the fact I had not put on make up yet, my laziness outshines my vanity at this point in life.



Now without the flash





My intention in making this was to wear with a sleeveless linen dress I am sewing for myself, and though I am working with some dumbbells to improve the muscles in my upper arms my batwings are still unsightly.  I figured this sweater would disguise the batwings without being too warm.





I fell in love, love, love with this yarn and I will definitely be getting more to do other projects and quite likely another sweater like this one in another color.

I bought this bamboo cotton blend yarn here..Deramores and the service was excellent.  I received my order very swiftly and the shipping was free.  Sign up for their newsletter and you get a 5% discount off your order.

Today I am going to sew some more.  I borrowed a quilt from my mom that my grandmother had made for my dad and I wish to copy the pattern. It is a vintage butterfly pattern and I love the primitive quality of it.  She made her quilts from their shirts and other clothing once they were no longer fit to be apparel. 

And many times those shirts were made from feed sacks.  Oh how I wish the feed suppliers would go back to fun cotton fabrics to package their feed in.  It would be so much nicer to recycle the feed bags into quilts and clothing rather than tossing the plastic ones into landfills like we do now.  

Enjoy your day wherever you may be. 

February Goes Out in White Glory!

Yes, winter is reminding us it is not done yet!  We woke to a flurry of snowflakes coming down. 

 

At times the snowflakes were quite large, nearly the size of the palm of my hand.



It did not take long for them to turn everything white.  All construction next door is at a stand still.  



My poor little chuck wagon raised bed is getting a good testing for snow stability. 



And my studio in the background is where I spent a good portion of the day, painting on special orders.  A nice day to spend doing something creative, at least the snow did not get too deep to trudge in and out through. 



And though this storm is winding down another is right behind it with supposedly a lot more of the white stuff.  Winter is making up for lost time I guess.  

Just last week we were enjoying mid-60 degree temps.  The ski resort up the hill a ways is more than likely jumping for joy.  A lot of new snow will attract the skiers and snowboarders on Spring break which is coming up soon.

It is not unusual to get measurable snow here in March and even April so I will just ride it out.  

Enjoy!

 

Seedling and cutting updates

The past week has flown by.  I have been busy working, painting, cleaning and hosting some delightful guests, my brother in law and his wife.  They left earlier today and I will miss them, such refreshing company.  I was so glad they came, it gave me incentive to dig in and clean out an area I have wanted to for a long time but something always seemed more important. 

This afternoon I am trying to update my website and figure out how to add Linky Friends or whatever it is called to my blog.  I have meant to check out Google + as well, I just have not had time so today is dedicated to online chores, so to speak. 
My seedlings and cuttings on my plant rack are growing very well. 
Here is my geraniums when I first potted them up on February 7th.



And here they are today.



The yellow paper is a sticky trap for the fungus gnats.  They come in the potting soil but the yellow sticky traps work great for keeping them under control. 



This is a gorgeous Trumpet Vine,  I don’t seem to have great success in growing it up here but I am going to put one or two of these in large pots and move them into the greenhouse in winter and out to my back deck in summer so I can get it to bloom for me.  Just down the hill half an hour these flourish and can even become invasive but up here the winters are just too cold for it I guess. 



And if you remember my Christmas Cactus post.. here are a few photos of how they are coming along.



It went from 2 having new growth to all of them.  They were so easy to start, I did not expect success with every cutting but every one of them has taken off.







I do believe I have plenty of cactus now.  I have another tray full of these as well from other cuttings.  

The past two days were so lovely and warm, mid 60’s for a high, feels like Spring.  I am still working on filling my raised bed, it is deep!  Once filled though it will be great. 
Now I need to get back to my online chores.  Enjoy your fabulous Saturday!

Signs of the Week.

As promised here is the signs that have kept me busy this week.  I had a few special orders come thru and some sales off my website so I was busy in the studio all week.
 
With the snow coming down it put a damper on my being able to fill my straw bale raised bed with first a bit of horse manure (12 inches deep) to compost and create heat beneath the finished compost I will fill the rest of the bed with.  This next week is to heat up and I can once again work on that so I can start my lettuce and spinach seeds. 

My first order of the week was for a cottage sign, the customer requested purple hydrangeas, at first I had them too dark but I was able to lighten them up easily.



Next was an order for two signs for to put on two garden gates.  This is the larger one. 



And this is the smaller of the two.



I had an order for the Garden Therapy sign on my website, it is a popular one and I am making a few more with different flowers on them.  This one has the pink rosebuds.



My potting shed signs are popular and I thought to make one with some embellishments to go along with the ones that are just plain text. This of course is a pink rosebud one. 



You can see my worktable is being put to good use.  The shelf on the lower level is perfect for letting the paint dry on items leaving the top free for me to continue working. 

I am putting a nice large shelf above the French Doors and will share a bit about that later.