A small shawl or is it a scarf?

Another knitting finish! 

We spent this past weekend (Friday and Saturday) at the State Volleyball Tournament in Bloomington, IL. In between games, I knitted! I had this shawl finished by Saturday noon so it's a good thing I carried my iPad because the games didn't end until well after 9 PM on Saturday night!

The pattern is Girl's Best Friend by Bronwyn Hahn. If I had knit this in a plain color, you would be able to see the wonderful diamond pattern. I did not use beads on the corners of the diamonds - you wouldn't be able to see them.

When I blocked this, I stretched it a lot just as the author of the pattern said to do!

The yarn I used was Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball. 

I can't wait to wear it - I'm thinking it will look great with a black shirt.

One last picnic this year!

We had lunch at Pilgrim's Pantry, a Mennonite Bulk Food Store and more near South Wayne, Wisconsin.  A couple of times each year they have a special event with a meal. Today and tomorrow is their Fall Open House. 

We had grilled cheese sandwiches grilled outside, potato chips deep fried over an open fire and apple cider donuts made in their bakery. We ate at a table outside while we talked with some members of the family that run the store. The open fire where they were making potato chips provided welcome warmth! 

I was talking with a Rachel, a sister-in-law of the owner and I think she was surprised to find that I was a quilter. We have enjoyed visiting with her before and today was no exception. The young man making the potato chips joined our conversation and we had an interesting discussion about Lancaster County, PA. He has relatives there, Rachel was there last spring, and we were there recently. 

After we ate, we did a little shopping in the store and enjoyed the many samples available for the open house! We also saw other people we knew and enjoyed ourselves. 

It's cold and overcast but it was still fun to enjoy one more picnic this year!

A couple of sweaters done!

I've been knitting but I haven't been showing anything I've done! So today, we took photos and I will share.

First is my Garter Stitch Hoodie. It is made from Rauma Finullgarn which is 100% wool from Norway. The color is Wheat Heather.

Guess I wasn't into smiling today!

This sweater is knit from top to bottom or sideways which was new to me. Then after it was finished and sewn together, it had to be felted (shrunk) a little bit. That was scary but it worked great!

I finished the sweater in mid-September and have worn it a number of times.

Next is my In Between The Rain sweater which is perfect to wear anytime! It is made from Kraemer Yarns Tatamy DK and is acrylic and cotton. The first picture is pretty close to the correct color. The spots must be from the flash of the camera - there are no spots on the sweater!

Hmmm, still not smiling!

The neck and the detail on the yoke are done in reverse garter stitch. The yoke detail and the fake side seams were not part of the pattern but I had seen them on someone's photo and decided I could do the same. It worked great!

Close up of yoke detail.

I just blocked this sweater and plan to wear it soon.

Seven quilts to make

I'm making seven twin-bed sized quilts - yes, seven! A friend asked me to make them for her retreat center. She fell in love with my Scrappy Trip Around the World. Beyond that, I can do whatever I want! And there is no rush. It's still hard - I've never made a quilt to sell. I make quilts for family or friends that are like family and to donate. So this just feels weird.

There will be 3 quilts in each of two rooms and 1 quilt in a different room. 

I just took pictures in our yard on this cloudy, very cool day. Ray just finished mowing/mulching leaves. The wind is blowing so I'm just happy that the tops are somewhat flat! You can see some more leaves that have blown down also.

I think one room will have 3 scrappy quilts with borders.

The quilt that started it all is a Scrappy Trip Around the World. I began it at a summer retreat and decided to make it longer and added borders.

I had this scrappy quilt top in a pile waiting to be sandwiched. I decided it would work if I just added a border. So I did!

I actually have another scrappy quilts in the works. It's on the design wall but has a long ways to go.

The second room will have three  two-color quilts.

For the red and cream Disappearing Pinwheel, I used scraps from my stash. I began this quilt at Quilt Camp in September. It's pretty much all I worked on those few days!

I have a blue and white quilt started. It's almost a fourth done. I'm not sure what the third design will be yet.

That leaves one more quilt that I really haven't thought much about at all.

Four tops to go, 7 quilts to sandwich and quilt - Oh, yeah, it's a good thing I don't have a time limit!!!