Noro Redux and Other Stuff

I finally frogged Baby Eleanor and cockroach-ed 8 skeins or so of Noro Silk Garden that were Klaralund before.  I lost some because of the fringe.  I really enjoyed knitting Eleanor, but I never wore it and none of the family in the frigid north seemed interested in it.

The yarn is joining some other odds and ends and becoming 10 stitch Blanket.  It's up to 27 inches or so now.

This is going to be very hot.  In the last day the temp has dropped a little to the mid 70's.  ( Is it time to put the blanket out for the bed?)  For while I had to turn on the AC to work on this, lol.  I know I'm a wimp.

I worked on a few sewing projects.  I got a quarter inch foot for my Featherweight and a stitch in the ditch foot for my Janome, and I got to try them out.  I also fiddled with stitch 11 on the Janome, trying to replicate the serpentine stitch I miss so much on my Bernina.

Blogless JoAnn is sewing little dresses for her church, so I helped with the bodices while she was off to the Holy Land. I found this nifty method for doing them, the burrito method.  It beats trying to get the shoulder seams to match up .

I made a couple of busy bags for upcoming birthdays.  Reversible Bag is a fast easy project!

I had so much fabric and decided to do pencil bags as well.  No pattern, just an elongated pyramid bag. 

They came out stinkin' cute if I have to say so myself.

I crocheted another hanging bag using up some handspun. I wish the beehives stuck out a bit more.

(Skip to the bottom to avoid the whines)
1.  The Iphone update did not go well.  It drained all my battery power and made the phone run hot.  After the exploding Galaxies, I was a alarmed.  I fiddled with it and improved those two problems but my laptop does not like it one bit.  They aren't talking, so I have email my pictures to myself to get them on the laptop.  It does talk to ITunes.  Go figure.  ITunes, however, claims I do not have enough memory to back up the iphone even though I took off all music, pictures and most of my apps.  Oh well.  I don't know if I still need to see the Genius Bar on Thursday.
 2.  The final word on my neck is that it is "broken".  Well that sounds harsh.  I like to think of the injury as severe bone bruising.  The compressions are stable and that all that matters.  Rest and time.  The associated ligamentous injuries are what hurt and will take time to heal.  I must say.  I'm not sad that I am not to continue my Senior Fit Class for now.  I struggle so with exericise, sigh.  Michelle's magic massage hands have helped a great deal.  I'm going to see if I can wean myself off the massages and NSAID.  I so hate to take meds, but they really do help.  The doc is giving me a month and will be thrilled to inject my facet joints if I still have a lot of pain.  That is incentive enough to heal myself!!

The Landcaster whipped out his camera and photographed Totoro in the wild.  You know it's a wet summer when fungi pops up everywhere.

Cotton Notes, Skully Hats, and Perfection

Notes to self on cotton in Texas, shamelessly slurped from the Web.  The ideal time for planting is May 15 to June 20.  Harvest lasts from early July through November, producing more then 5,800 thousand bales in 2015 making Texas by far the largest cotton producing state in the US.  The US is the 3rd largest cotton producing country in the world, after China and India.

According to Google,

Ideal conditions for the cotton plant are:

• Long vegetation periods (175 to 225 days) without frost.
• Constant temperatures between 18 and 30°.
• Ample sunshine and fairly dry conditions.
• A minimum of 500 mm  (19 inches for the metrically challenged) of water between germination and boll formation.
• Deep, well-drained soils with a good nutrient content.

So my poor cotton plant suffers from too much water and poor soil.  Even then, I can't keep up with my spinning, lol.  And there is a backlog of purchased cotton sliver.  It does make for a cool arrangement and the flowers are pretty on the bush.  The are yellow one day, orange one day and then the cotton begins!

 On the knitting scene, there be hats.

Skully hat one
Pattern:  Skull Beanie by PolarKnit from PolarKnit
Yarn:  Vanna's Choice (yes, acrylic, eek)
Comments:  The pattern does not seem to be available anymore, but the chart was easy to ascertain.  CO 100 stitches, 1x1 rib for 5 inches, increase to 108.  12 pattern repeats.  St. stitch to total of 8.5 inches.  Divided into 6 pies.  Decrease one every other row until halved then every row until 12 stitches remain, Finish off.

Skully hat two
Pattern:  The Heartskull Hat by Siouxsie Stitches
Yarn:  Cascade Luna black and burnt orange, White Jeanee.
Comments:  I love how the heart motif's came out.  This pattern is not available now.  Luckily I queued it long ago.  I ran out of black at the very top, so made it white.  My first burnt orange pompom was pretty sad, so I used what little leftover I had to make a two toned one.  The Luna is so soft.  I love this yarn.  Sadly it has been discontinued, but there are still skeins to be had here and there.

On the personal scene, I had a stupid accident in my Senior Fit class so I had to take leave.  I scrunched my neck and have an MRI scheduled.  I think it's okay, though, and am working with my masseur with the magic hands and some pharmaceuticals.  It has interfered with my crafting.  This getting old is for the birds.

On a sad note, we have to say goodbye to The Ko'olau Santa Lady, Ione Adams.    She was in a fatal auto accident, not even one year after losing her husband to the big C.  Her beauty, talent and creativity will be missed.

This is blogless Melody's santa, created by Ione Adams.

Here is a video I found on Faceback.  It speaks to perfection issues and finishing issues I have in my life.