Wyoming Breezes

Noro scarf #2 June 2022 The first Noro scarf was finished in May, and once it was off the needles, I gathered the last four balls of Silk Garden from my stash and cast on another one. Currently, I am over half way and chugging along at a steady pace.  I have no plans for these scarves, so they’ll go into a gift/giveaway bin. Slowly my yarn stash is getting to a more manageable stage. 

Woven Together 62 x 68 inches Quilt of Valor #220 I pulled all the 3.5 inch rectangles from the “bricks” bin and used a variety of 2 inch tone on tone strips for the sides of the bricks. The white frame was cut 2.5 inches, and the outer frame cut from donated yardage will finish at 5 inches. 

While going through my yarn bins, an abandoned project caught my eye. Frankly, it’s caught my eye every time I’ve searched for a new project, but it hasn’t been worked on in years. Yesterday, it went in the frog pond! long neglected, improvised scarf You can tell by its rumpled appearance that it’s been stuffed in the bag far too long. It was an improvised pattern that didn’t spark my interest anymore. The yarn is pretty so it went back into the sock yarn bin. 

Brenda and Marilyn Prairie Museum of Art and History Colby, KS 2015 A couple of weeks ago, I shared a post about playing Jacks at recess , and several readers also remembered playing the game with their friends. Another game that I played often as a child, both at school with friends and at home by myself was Hopscotch.  The diagram painted on the sidewalk leading to the prairie school at the museum in Kansas was quite different to the one that my friends and I played. The diagram we used was like the one below, but with much larger blocks.  Our diagram was not painted on the sidewalk: we drew it in the dirt with a stick. We didn't number the boxes because everyone knew the sequence.  I remember have some favorite stones for playing hopscotch. The perfect stone was flat and about the size of a fifty cent piece. Anything bigger would probably not reach the upper blocks.  We would practically fly through the boxes after we picked up our stones, turned, and hopped ...

These blocks have been on my design wall for over two weeks, and Sunday, I finally sewed them together. When I started preparing this post, I don't know how many times I looked at the photo and thought that it didn't look right: the rows were not supposed to create a square. Eventually, I realized that a row of blocks was missing, but what did I do with it? I had carefully removed the blocks (in order) from the wall and placed them on numbered squares of poster board. I worked on each row separately and pressed them in the same order so I would not mixup the layout. As I finished a group of blocks, I placed the poster board squares on the floor by the sewing machine. I had inadvertently put the poster board with the last row on the floor without sewing the row.  the "found" row of blocks ready to sew I'm glad the blocks were found right where I left them and that I could quickly sew them together and then add the final row to the other blocks.  ninth row added to ...

June 2022 “Kunterbunt” #565 is the name of the colorway on the Trekking XXL label. Curious, I typed the word in a German translator: it means “jumble,” “motley,” “varied,” or “multicolored” — all fit the yarn well. As I knit on the socks, the colors and striping became more appealing to me. Matching the socks took just a bit maneuvering to find the correct color change for the cast on edge.  This pair will be a gift. 

June 2022

June 2022 Once more, I’m working on reducing scraps - this time the 3.5” x 6.5” bricks of patriotic fabric. I’m also using scraps of tone on tone, white fabric by adding 2 inch strips to the sides to create a 6.5” block.  The blocks practically sew themselves, and I have nearly enough made for a QOV. I’m using the Forest Bricks pattern from MaryQuilts It seems that the more I try to get the scraps under control, the more I find or create . 

May 2022 One sock finished and the other at the heel flap. 

Giant Jacks and Ball sculpture  by Christopher Weed Douglas County Library Parker, CO I have fond memories of playing Jacks at recess and lunch during my elementary school years. The giant jacks and ball in front of the Parker Library triggered those memories.  Do you remember playing Jacks?

Noro Scarf  May 2022 I spent last week in Colorado visiting my niece and my sister and BIL. While there, I knit during the televised Avalance (Stanley Cup playoff) games and the Colorado Rockies games. Inch by inch the scarf grew until I ran out of yarn. reverse side of scarf The scarf is 72 inches long and was knit with four balls of Noro Silk Garden. Two balls were the same color (Color #221) and used throughout the scarf for the darker stripes. The other balls were different colors (Color # 341 and Color #258) and added the bright stripes.  The scarf was started in March , was stalled in my knitting bag for a few weeks, and finished in May.

anonymous fabric donation May 2022 Last week a surprise package arrived at my front door from two people who wish to remain anonymous. The box was stuffed with wonderful patriotic fabrics for making Quilts of Valor. I haven't seen many of these fabrics before, so I know I will enjoy using them. I appreciate the generosity of the individuals who sent this windfall of fabric. Thank you for making more Quilts of Valor possible to our brave veterans.  

All Aflutter 63 x 70 inches Quilt of Valor #219 Two orphan blocks from Karen M. inspired this quilt, and they can be found in rows 3 and 4. This quilt went together quickly and without any problems: it was fun to replicate the blocks to create this unique Quilt of Valor.   Thanks, Karen!

Saint Matthew's Cathedral  Laramie, WY Most of the doors on St. Matthew's are bright red, and I love them! To me, the color of the doors is welcoming.  When I lived in Riverton, I painted my front door Kelly Green, but I also considered painting it Lemon Yellow.  If you could paint your exterior door any color, what would it be?

blocks ready to be sashed May 2022 During Sunday's FaceTime call, I sewed the sashing on the star/flag blocks, I made last week. Thank you for your sashing suggestions. I auditioned red sashing and thought there was already too much red in the blocks (the flag stripes and half of the star points). I also auditioned red frames for the blue stars and blue frames for the red stars, but it didn't quite work, so I settled on blue.  My sister and brother-in-law joined the FaceTime call on their way back from Texas. They were traveling somewhere in Oklahoma, Brenda was in Denver, and I am in Laramie. A three state FaceTime call - technology is amazing!

Over the weekend I purchased some plants for my tiny garden patch: some perennials and some annuals.  This time of year I'm anxious to dig in the dirt, but Laramie's altitude (over 7,000 ft) makes growing plants a challenge. As you can see on the graphic, the average date of the last hard frost is June 2nd, and by that time all the nursery plants have been picked over. If I don't purchase plants now, I'll be out of luck, but I don't dare plant them yet.  I'll place them in the sun and water them during the day and move them into a sheltered area at night until at least the end of May when I will turn the soil in my tiny plot and put them into the ground.  I'm trying to get a perennial bed started, but haven't had too much luck the last three years. This year, I'm adding two more blanket flower plants (one from two years ago survived another winter) and some salvia to attract bees. I couldn't resist the tiny geraniums (they were on a clearance rac...

stained glass window  Ivinson Mansion Laramie, WY                           •  there is light                           •  there is hope                           •  there is help May is Mental Health Awareness month Here is some helpful information from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing about mental health and substance use in America: 1 in 5 adults (52.9 million adults) in the U.S. experienced mental illness in 2020. 40.3 million people aged 12 or over had a substance use disorder in 2020. 32.1% of U.S. adults with mental illness also experienced a substance use disorder in 2020. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people aged 10-34. 1 in 3 young adults (aged 18-25) in the U.S. experienced mental illness in 2020. 1 in 6 adolescents (aged 12-17)...

close-up of color striping May 2022 While I would probably have not combined these colors on my own, I like how they work together once knit. I was not expecting the yarn to stripe but rather to have random blotches of color, but I do like the stripe effect. I think the gold stripe at the end of the gusset is the first stripe on the cuff. It will be fun to see how the rest of the foot looks. 

May 2022 While listening to an audiobook last week, I made more flag/star blocks. As I mentioned in  an earlier post , I replicated the orphan blocks that Karen M. sent to me. I think twenty blocks with sashing will make a nice size Quilt of Valor.  I've been contemplating sashing: maybe framing each block with blue/red, depending on the star point color, or a different color sashing with cornerstones.  Any suggestions?

current knitting projects  May 2022 Last week was busy: filled with appointments, errands, volunteering, and reading. My old dental work (circa 1970s) is beginning to show its age. Recently, an old crown come off and part of the tooth with it. Thankfully, the tooth had a root canal years ago, and I didn't have any pain. The pain is going to be in my wallet as I don't have dental insurance. I'll have the tooth prepped for a new crown this week. I volunteered at the Eppson Center (senior center) last week, too. The morning receptionist asked me to substitute so she could attend her granddaughter's music performance. Thinking I might have time to sneak in some knitting, I grabbed the basket containing my current projects. Sadly, I didn't have time to even pick up the needles.  Most of my evenings last week were spent listening to an audiobook: This Will Not Pass  by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns. It is a fairly balanced account of the events leading up to the 202...