A Fun Day Spent Shopping

Greetings everyone.  I hope your week is off to a great start wherever you may be.  I had a lovely day today. I accomplished my housework early this morning since I knew I would be out and about.

My daughter met me for some shopping and a quick lunch afterwards.  We had a fun time together finding those bargains we can't do without :)  I just had to buy some fresh flowers for the home before they raise the prices for Valentine's Day.

After lunch, I took myself over to Home Goods which is just down the road from where I live.  Look what I found!  I've read about these for years and have never tried them.  You might think it's funny, but I don't eat chocolate...long story about allergies.  I think dark chocolate may be OK - I'll soon find out.  The rose flavor was interesting in these as compared to the rose flavor I find in Middle Eastern food.  I'm going to serve them to my guests at the dinner party I'm having on Sunday.  While at Home Goods I perused the linen department looking for Italian linens.  I found a set of Italian made 100% linen sheets but I didn't buy them.  I'm sure they would be wonderful but I hesitated.  I did find a new bedspread that should work great.  (I know they're not called that anymore but I forgot the new name...)

Speaking of flowers, I planted some bulbs in pots this past winter and they are beginning to come up.  My favorite is the hyacinth.  And, my hellebore, lenten rose, has many buds.  I'm so happy that it survived the poor soil it lives in.  As a coincidence, the new Sock Society pattern I just received is called Winter Rose.

And, look at my geraniums blooming.  I love the white one.  In the middle is an Arabian Jasmine that has the most fragrant flowers.  It reminds me of Egypt when my husband took me there on my very first trip.  We were at Casino El Nil in Cairo (not a gambling casino), on the Nile River.  Flower sellers were selling necklaces of jasmine and they were heavenly.  It was my first time to eat ice cream with mastic (an aromatic resin from the mastic tree).  The addition of mastic changes the texture of the ice cream.  It is very popular in Turkish ice creams, too.  Sadly, I don't eat ice cream anymore due to allergies :(

For those of you who don't knit or crochet, I won't bore you with any patterns, etc.  But, please wish me luck as I'm baffled with my new sock pattern. . .

Lilly sends her greetings to each of you.  She had a restful afternoon sitting in my chair and taking her afternoon nap.  Until next time. . .

My best wishes,

Pat

My Universe is Complete

Hello my friends.  Do you like the title of my post?  Haha, a play on words.  My Sophie's Universe blanket is finally completed! It's new home will be in Turkey.

You may remember that I began this project back in July of 2017.  I diligently worked on it every day until I left for Turkey and when I returned home, it kind of sat in a bag in the closet.

But, like many of you, I hate to have unfinished projects.  So, since the middle of January I have been working to get this blanket completed.  I added my own design for the border (starts with the green leaves shown above), as I loved doing the red roses and wanted to incorporate it the edging. It's such an intricate designed blanket that I felt it needed a little more pizazz for a border.

Here's the little bag of yarn leftovers from this project.  I must say, this blanket is a yarn eater!  Originally, I purchased 15 shades of yarn but ended up using 13 skeins.  I had purchased this yarn to make another Attic24 coastal ripple blanket in a different color combination. But, after working on it awhile, I frogged it.  My inspiration for this blanket was Kate over at Kate's Adventures; look at her gorgeous blanket she made! Isn't it amazing with that additional border? I ran out of energy and yarn to make my blanket any larger. . .  

I completed my Vintage Fairy Lights socks.  This was a fun and easy knit from talented designer Helen Stewart.  I'm now awaiting to begin The Handmade Sock Society.  My new DPNs and sock yarn are ready! 

It's Saturday night here and my little grandchildren just left.  My dear children pictured above, took off for a short 3 day cruise.  So, I and my dear son-in-law along with my dear husband, took care of the little ones.  It was a fun time for all.  We will all be cruising together later in the summer.  

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and I know absolutely nothing about football.  But, we will celebrate on this day nonetheless.

Take care my dear friends and thank you again for all your great advice regarding my new bed.  The bed arrived a week ago, is all put together and now I'm waiting on the new mattress.  Patience. . .

With my best wishes,

Pat  

A Great Start to the New Year

 Happy New Year dear friends.  I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a great start to the New Year.  I've had a wonderful holiday season with my family.

 

 Yesterday afternoon all the family ventured to the Montage Resort where we sat outside on the veranda and enjoyed coffee.  It was a perfect afternoon to watch the ocean and do a little people watching, too!  It was my daughter's idea (photo above) and we all agreed that this was a great way to start the New Year's Eve celebrations.

 

 Christmas at my home has been all boxed up until next year (although I hope the true meaning of Christmas is in my heart throughout the coming year).  My home is slowly coming back to it's normal, eclectic decor.  My dear son bought me these lovely pink carnations.  They brighten up the family room.

My beloved knitting needles have made a reappearance, too this season.  I'm knitting a pair of socks from the very talented Helen Stewart.  They're called Vintage Fairy Lights socks and you can find the info here on my Ravelry page. (Lilly insists on sitting my my lap when I'm knitting!)

I love to knit socks.  I taught myself how to knit them; unbeknownst to me that they can be a bit of a challenge. Luckily, I and my four DPN's get along very well.  I love the yarn I found on Etsy.  It's from Southern Skeins; she is an indie dyer from Florida.  Her yarn creations are so lovely and best of all, her prices are very reasonable!  My yarn is called "frosted berries"  which I thought was so appropriate for this project.

Speaking of the very talented Helen, she will be hosting The Handmade Sock Society.  There will be six sock patterns included in this KAL.  I can hardly wait until it begins in February.  Fun times ahead!

I received some beautiful and useful things for Christmas.  I love the perfume tray that my dear daughter and her family gave to me.  It sits on top of my Grandma's antique bird's eye maple chest which is in my closet.  It was fun to clean and rearrange the top of this much loved chest.

Lilly wanted to say "hello" to everyone.  She had a great holiday and is enjoying her catnip toys.  I hope everyone out there who has furry family loved ones, to wish them all the best for the New Year, too.

Thank you dear friends for being my friend and visiting my blog.  I wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Bear

Hello friends!  I've been wanting to share this project with you for a couple of weeks now, but I didn't dare show it until I had given these to my little grandchildren.

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Valentine Bear...here they are enjoying the warm sun outside today in the garden.  

And, here they are warming their backs again the teapot.  Although, Mr. Valentine Bear prefers coffee!

They wanted to post as a couple for Valentine's Day and I think this photo suits them well.

My Valentine (my dear husband), gave me these lovely violets shown in the background as an early Valentine's gift.  Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Bear loved the bright colors.

Mrs. Valentine Bear has a picot edged skirt.  She preferred this design over the knit stitch pattern that kept curling up during the knitting process.

Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Bear are so soft and fuzzy since they are made out of Drops Lima which is 100% wool.  It was a joy to knit with on size 3 DPNs.

Here's all that left of the four skeins of yarn.  You can find my Ravelry notes here. 

I found this cute pattern and many more at Mary Jane's Tearoom.  Susan, who is the designer, was so, so kind and helpful to me while making this project.  She has some fun designs you can check out on her website.  And, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact her, as she promptly replied to my question and even sent me a free pattern.  Super nice!

I will sign off for now as my paperwork is calling to me to finish; a never ending job.  But, hopefully later tonight I will visit my knitting needles which holds a new project.

Thank you for visiting Lilly My Cat.

With my best wishes,

Pat

 PS - The colors I used reminded of a Scandinavian design.  The red is so difficult to photograph but the first photo is the truer of the color.  It was the perfect red.  

Linking with:

Yarn Along 

...Like a Kid in a Candy Shop

Hello everyone from beautiful, green, rainy southern California!  Things has quieted down here a bit and life is getting back to a normal routine.  That includes knitting and crocheting!

I subscribe to Deramore's emails and the other day they were offering free shipping!  I'm always looking for a bargain but did I really need any more yarn/thread?  What caught my eye was this Scheepjes Maxi Bonbon thread.  At $1.49 a ball, it was very reasonable.  I believe there are something like 87 colors to choose from! That's why I feel like a kid in a candy shop. 

I only bought 7 balls of 6 different colors; snow white, bluebell, willow, rugby, old rosa, and linen (2 balls).  The thread is 100% mercerized cotton and it is a very smooth thread with no bumps.  And, it has a bit of a satin sheen.  So far, it's been quite lovely to work with.  I'm using a size 8 steel crochet hook = 1.5 mm.

I just finished a Valentine project for my grandchildren and will post it next month (I don't want their Mom to see it!)  And, I cast on this new shawl pattern, Nurmilintu, with Rowan Fine Art yarn in the kingfisher colorway. I love this yarn; it so nice to knit with and has not only a change in the colors but a little bit of sheen, too.

Maybe you're wondering about our weather and all the rain we received?  It poured on Sunday.  Being from the Seattle area, I'm used to rain but when it rains down here, it is something else.  According to the weatherman, I think it was called an atmospheric river and it came from the south Pacific.  It rained so hard that the pool overflow couldn't handle the water and the drains cold barely keep up with the water!  The pool was overflowing.  It was a bit scary but luckily, we live in an area where there are numerous storm drains/channels and we were ok.  It was quite different for the people in the fire damaged areas like northeast of Pasadena.  They had horrendous floods and mudslides.  It was so sad to see it on the TV.

On a bright note, look at how green everything is now!  We've waited so long for this rain.  It's been 7 years this month since we had this kind of moisture.

Lilly is enjoying life as normal.  Sleeping whenever she can get in a cat nap.  How I wish I could be Lilly and have her posh life!

I wish each of you all the best.  Feel free to comment and share what you've been up to.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Weather, Shawls, Holidays & Lilly!

Hello my dear friends.  It's been a busy fall season for me with the usual business.  My husband and I are both retired but the business isn't retired.  It's become a bit of a joke between my husband and I as he is always telling me things will slow down and become easier.  I think he's dreaming as it's been busier than ever around here with selling property, managing property, setting up new accounts and everything else.  We've had the same bank for over 41 years - that's a long time.  And, we just completed moving our accounts to another bank.  It all came down to customer service and we are so, so happy with the move.  How I miss the old way of how things used to be.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that although my blog world consists of my knitting and other fun things, my real life is centered in the business world of things.  I know my way around the business world quite well because I have to.  But, my heart is really in my home and family.  So, at the end of the day, when my work is done, I so look forward to picking up my knitting needles and enjoying the world I love.  I don't know how I managed all those years when I had a real paying job and children to raise.  Maybe I survived because I was younger? Enough said. . .

My husband absolutely loves the water but I am more of a rain and clouds person.  We have had such a long, hot summer and fall here in southern California.  I am really looking forward to cooler temps.  I'm probably the opposite of most people as I like clouds, rain, mountains and trees; most people prefer sun, sand and water!  Keep your fingers crossed as we're suppose to get some rain on Sunday and Monday :)

In a previous post, I shared about this shawl I made.  I completed the shawl and just needed to block it but I was not happy with the size of it.  The photo above shows version #1 of this shawl.


Since I had so much yarn left over, I frogged the border and made the body of the shawl longer. I altered the design of the border.  It turned out great as you can see in version #2 above.  I just need to block it now and add the tassels (one day!)

One day this week, we took our lunch to the lake and ate by the shore and watched all the wildlife.  This is a manmade lake in our little city but it's so pretty; especially with all the different birds who flock to the shore.  The city will soon be hosting their Christmas tree lighting at the lake.  It makes for a beautiful site.

Speaking of Christmas, the holidays are fast approaching.  My family will be celebrating at my daughter and son-in-law's home.  She already has her menu printed and ready to go.  Isn't it lovely?   And, it's our family tradition to play monopoly until the wee hours of the morning.  Why?  Because, there's a pot of money the winner gets to take home!  I am in charge of making appetizers.  I'm thinking of doing some type of cheese puffs and maybe a meat empanada with dipping sauce.  

Ah, Lilly.  What can I say?  She is my constant companion.  I can't believe that she is 11 years young!  Poor little kitty, she has been a bit confused with the time change as her little built in clock tells her when it's time to eat.  Cats are such amazing creatures. 

That's about all that's happening around here.  Thank you for your kind comments and for visiting Lilly My Cat.  Lilly always loves to hear from you! 

With my best wishes,

Pat

Fall. . . A Time for Family and Friends and Knitting of Course!

Hello my dear friends.  I'm writing you from hot, windy, southern California.  Those Santa Ana winds are still at it and the temperature is reading 95 degree outside this afternoon and it's November!
Warning:  don't worry as there are no political statements included in my post today :)

My dear aunt made me these cute little pilgrims years and years ago.  I still put them out each year for my fall decor.  They are filled with dried beans and their little heads are made out of wooden balls.  I love them because I have such wonderful memories of my dear Aunt Allene.  She was such a talented lady and could make anything out of whatever she had.  Her crochet work is exquisite as she crocheted with thread - not yarn.  And, of course she knitted and was also excellent at embroidery.   I had three aunts and she was the most talented.  And, may I add, that she worked full time all those years and raised her family.  She was favorite aunt and so special . . .

I celebrated my birthday last week and my dear daughter took me to the Purl Soho warehouse. I don't know if you are familiar with Purl Soho, but basically to me it's like the Pottery Barn for knitting and sewing.  They're located in NYC and my daughter was just in NYC last month.  I tell my daughter, who has impeccable taste and design skills, that if she knit, she would be addicted to Purl Soho!  It was by chance that I found out that Purl Soho's warehouse was in California, about 20 miles from my house.  I received five skeins of the lucious pure alpaca yarn shown above for my birthday gift from my children.  I can hardly wait to cast on for this project.

The Purl Soho warehouse was a warehouse setting and yet, there amid the shelves, where all the items that I see via your emails/newsletters/website.  Awhile ago, I had seen these unique bulb shape pins and there they were at the warehouse beckoning to me to buy them.  Of course I had to bring them home with me!  What am I going to do with them?  Maybe just admire their shape and color!

Speaking of knitting, I really don't have a yarn stash - just a handful of miscellaneous yarn that lives in my craft closet.  But, I had one skein of King Cole Comfort Chunky that was left over from another project.  I found the perfect pattern for this yarn and I'm so pleased with this little, teeny, tiny baby sweater that I knitted.  The designer of this pattern is Danish so of course, being Danish/American, I had to knit this.  You can find the pattern link here via my Ravelry page. 

Ah, Christmas . . . that special time of year that will soon be arriving.  I think I have the majority of my shopping done.  Basically, I ordered online from Nordstrom since they have free shipping - yah!  And, if something doesn't fit, it's easy to return it.  But, I ordered the SALE items on Nordstrom.com.  I always love a bargain.  This year I ordered for the family a Fortnum and Mason Christmas hamper.  Since I had to pay 30 pounds shipping, I added on a few more items to my order.  But, after I signed into my account, they discounted almost every item!  I was so pleased because basically, it made me feel like the shipping costs were very reasonable.  I think the family will enjoy these goodies this holiday season. 

That about wraps it up as to what's been happening here at Lilly My Cat.  Monday morning I'm suppose to report for jury duty at 7:45 AM.  I've been called before for jury duty; once for superior court and once for federal court and both times I was excused.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and as always, I appreciate your taking your precious time to visit Lilly My Cat.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Linking with:

Yarn Along . . . 

Frontier Dreams . . . 

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Hello my dear friends.  I've been away from my blog for awhile and time has slipped by so fast.  It's been a bit busy around here at Lilly My Cat.  My little grandson was here for a week and it was a joy to take care of him and take him to and back from school as his parents went to NYC for a business meeting.  How I remember those wonderful days.

 Two weeks ago my husband had surgery for a torn rotator cuff.  He's been doing well although it's a very painful and long recovery.  Tomorrow he will see his doctor for the post op follow up and we are hoping that all is well.  In the meantime, we have had occasion to go down to the beach and enjoy dinner and the sunset.

Sometimes, I feel that my knitting has taken over my life!  Haha...not really but I'm lucky that I found this hobby that keeps me grounded.  Have I told you that I love, absolutely LOVE Ravelry?  There are so many resources online.  Above is a little baby set I knitted as a gift for a dear blog friend.  This was the yarn I had received from my Little Woollie Yarn Club from Australia.

Pictured above is my Bois Blanc Island Quill Shawl which I recently completed.....but wait....I didn't like the size of it and I had lots of yarn left over.  So, after frogging the border, it's back on my needles again.  Maybe I'm old school, but to me a shawl should be something to wrap around your body but today's shawls are designed to go around your neck for a stylish look.  (yes you are correct, I'm not a fashionista by any means)  But, if you lived in year round warm southern California and still suffer from hot flashes, you wouldn't want anything wrapped around your neck either!

I made my little granddaughter a fun little tiered jacket awhile back and I had one skein of yarn left over.  I found this pattern on Ravelry and it's the perfect pattern for a one skein baby sweater.  I named it the Little Danish Sweater since the designer is from Denmark and I'm half Danish!  It will be a gift for someone someday.

With all this knitting and using my brain cells, I do find time to enjoy a glass now and then of my favorite red wine.  Don't you just love this glass "Knit One, Sip Two".  How great is that?  My dear sister-in-law, Lynda (who is an excellent knitter, quilter, needlework artist) gave me this glass.

We've had rain today and this evening down here in parched southern California.  Some much needed rain with more supposedly on the way.  Lilly has found her warm, winter bed to snuggle in. Although, it's beyond me how she fits her body into this tiny, little bed!

I hope all of you are going well.  Please feel free to say hello if you wish to leave a comment.  Until next time,

Wishing you all the best,

Pat

Linking with:

Handmade Monday . . . 

Bois Blanc Island Retreat

Hello my dear readers.  I'm back home after being away for awhile.  Would you like to join me for a journey to a magical place?  Please come along . . .

I traveled to Troy, Michigan where I met my sister-in-law, Lynda,  and together we made our way to Cheboygan, Michigan, on the shores of Lake Huron.  

We were joined by seven of my dear SIL friends as we boarded the ferry Kristen to take us across Lake Huron to the magical island of Bois Blanc in the straights of Mackinac.  Pictured from left are Gail, Susan, Me, Lynda, Lisa, Gale, Henny, Pat & Lindsay.

As we made our way out of the port, we crossed under a bascale bridge that opened to allow our ferry boat to pass under.

Just as we were making out way onto the main body of the lake, this quaint lighthouse greeted us.  It's about a 40 minutes crossing from Cheboygan to Bois Blanc Island.  The waters of Lake Huron are so clear and lovely.

 

 Upon our arrival at Bois Blanc Island, this little sign at the ferry terminal greeted us.  The locals call this island Bob Lo.

Those of you who read my blog regularly, know that I am partial to trees and pristine natural settings.  I really think Bois Blanc Island is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.  It's a sparsely populated island; so pristine in it's natural setting.

Our destination on the island was Insel Haus where we would be partaking in a three day knitting seminar.  What could be more fun than knitting?

I love this welcome sign in German.  There's a reason for this as our gracious host, Christa is from Germany.

The owners of Insel Haus and our gracious hosts were Christa and Shelby Newhouse.  They have worked years on this stunning property and it's not only beautiful, in a lovely setting but the interior is like a museum with so many beautiful furnishings.

My sister-in-law and I shared a lovely room with a view onto the water.  Each morning we were there, we were greeted by deer.  Deer are such endearing, lovely creatures (although they do like to eat garden plants . .)

After we were assigned our rooms (this 7,800 sq. ft. inn has something like 11 bedrooms and 9 1/2 baths!), we got started with our knitting.  Christa is a world renowned fiber artist.  One of her specialties is double knitting.  Some of her work is shown in this photo.

Our knitting retreat was centered on lace knitting.  Christa had pre-ordered for each of us a lovely spool of 100% natural silk yarn.  We had numerous patterns to chose from with intricacy  ranging from a 4 four row repeat to 52 row repeat.  I chose the four row repeat and I was not disappointed.  This silk yarn is heaven to knit with.

 Christa designs all of her patterns and it was amazing to see some of her work.  The book pictured above was her inspiration for the lace workshop she taught us.  Some of these pattern designs date back to the mid 19th century.  Being a history buff, the pattern I chose was from 1843.

This was the first retreat I ever took part in and I must say, I was thoroughly spoiled.  The tranquil setting, the lovely home and the delicious food topped off with knitting made me feel like I was in heaven.  My sister-in-law, Lynda, who is a superb knitter, enjoyed her time as well.  You can see a bit of Christa's immense antique collection in this photo.

We basically retired to our rooms each evening to sleep as otherwise, we were busy knitting away in some quaint corner of this large B & B.  I was so intrigued by this painting that hangs on the wall.  I believe it is of the dowager empress of China; supposedly a very unkind ruler.  Christa and Shelby have a large collection of far eastern antiquities.

Can you imagine the fun and conversation that us nine ladies had during these three days?

 This was the third time my sister-in-law had been to the island.  She is Michgan born and raised.  I've been a few times to Michigan.  The last time a few years ago when we went to the most eastern part of the upper peninsula.  But, Bois Blanc Island is by far my favorite place in the beautiful, picturesque state of Michigan.

As our retreat was drawing to a close, the last night we sat under a gazebo on the shores of Lake Huron and enjoyed a camp fire while watching the sun set.

Just look at this photo; have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?  It was truly magical being in this place.  

Another magical photo of nature's painting.

As the sun tucked itself in for the night, this colorful pink sky appeared.

Our last morning on the island soon arrived and it was time for us to take the ferry back to the mainland.

On our way back into the dock, we passed this U.S. Coast Guard ship.

 

It's an icebreaker, ready to take it's place for winter's work.  The ferry does not run in the winter, as the lake freezes over.  If you want to get off the island or onto the island, you will need to take an airplane.  I understand from the locals, that if there is sufficient ice, you can take an "ice road" across the lake on your snowmobile!

I hope you have enjoyed going on this amazing journey with me.  I found out a few things about Bois Blanc Island that I thought you might enjoy; here are five of them:

1. Bois Blanc translates to "white wood" in French.  There are numerous white bark birch trees throughout the area.

2.  The island is 12 miles long by six miles wide.

3.  There are no paved roads on the island except the paved landing strip at the Bois Blanc Island Airport.

4.  Bois Blanc Island didn't have electricity until 1964!

5.  Detroit, Michigan is approximately 310 miles south of Bois Blanc Island.

I'm so thankful for having this wonderful opportunity to meet new friends, experience a new place and have a wonderful time.  Hot temps greeted me upon to my return to southern California.  Still no rain :(  Thank you so much for taking time to visit with me today and I always love reading your comments.  

With my Best Wishes,

Pat  

Linking with:

Amy's Five on Friday . . . 

Yarn Along . . .