Getting back into the Groove of Things

Happy July Friends,

I hope all of my US readers had a wonderful 4th of July holiday whether it was time spent relaxing at home, on vacation or just catching some fireworks. I was able to enjoy a spectacular view of fireworks on the 39th floor of a condominium building in Downtown Miami. No matter which way you turned your head to view Miami, you could see fireworks at all distances. It was truly an amazing sight to see. Even driving home on the highway, you could still see fireworks all around. 

I am slowly getting back in my groove since I moved into my new house. I love where I live now. I have a new sense of peace when I'm at home now. No more landlords or neighbors down below to worry about! We only have to worry about the Homeowners Association which is merely making sure my garbage cans are not left in front of my house. The house itself is a slow work in progress. People weren't telling lies when they said it can be a money pit. There is always something to replace, or fix. But we love it! It is ours. That part hasn't sunk in yet for me. I still have this resistance to put holes in the walls to hang pictures, until I remind myself that I can do what I want. 

Besides the house, not much else has gone on except the same old thing. We did enjoy a cruise vacation in May. We spent 6 days and 5 nights on the Carnival Splendor. We visited Grand Turk and the Dominican Republic. We enjoyed ourselves for the most part. We weren't really blown away by our trip like we were hoping, but maybe cruises are not really for us. Maybe Carnival is not really for us, so we are going to try some of the other cruise lines and see which we like better. Regardless, we took in some pretty sights during our trip. I mean you really can't beat the view of a gorgeous sunset while out on the ocean can you?

We spent our time in Grand Turk at a private beach. We had a great time swimming, kayaking, and snorkeling. They also had a Caribbean lunch for us as well as drinks. It was very nice. Besides the beaches, there surprisingly isn't anything else on the island to see.

The Dominican Republic was also interesting. We missed the tour we originally booked, but managed to get on another one. We rode on a bus to Puerto Plata and saw a few sights along the way. This tour was kind of disappointing. They basically drove us to Puerto Plata, pointed out some buildings, took us inside a church where people were ready to take pictures for a tip and then took us to a gift shop. That was all. It made us realize why all-inclusive resorts are so popular in the DR. 

The tour bus did drive by a lovely beach where they stopped to let us take some pictures.

On the creative side, I have couple pics to share of projects I have finished recently.

A Knitted Beanie Hat 

Yarn: Expression Fiber Arts - Dewy DK Yarn in the colorway "Message in a Bottle"

Some Scissor FOB creations for my Etsy Store

I have also been knitting some socks. I had to start a new pair because my other pair I started is still MIA in boxes that we haven't unpacked in the garage yet. I also started a new crochet blanket for my baby niece since I wasn't enjoying the knitted one I had started for her. I'll share pics on these next time. I'm also working on the model stitch project for X's and Oh's. It's a cute design that I think you all will like when it is released. 

That is all for now!

Thanks for Stopping by and Visiting!

**Hugs and Love**

Jen

My Finished Scarf and Other Progress

Yes the title did say Finish! My lovely Unforgettable Scarf is finished.

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I am very pleased with how this turned out. So pleased in fact that I bought a few other colors to make more. I actually had two skeins of this same color so I went ahead and listed this one in my Etsy store. The next one I'll keep for me. These colors are just absolutely lovely, and the scarf pattern is perfect if you just want a lightweight accessory scarf. This is definitely not a scarf for warmth. 

I also made some progress on other projects.

I knitted 16 rows on my niece's baby blanket. It is officially 1 foot tall. I need to keep going until it's 39". Still have a ways to go on this project.

I also made some good progress on my new sock project.

I finished the cuff and proceeded onto the leg part. This pattern I am using is called a "Vanilla" pattern. In other words, a very simple sock pattern. The pattern is repetitive with no special pattern changes or anything. I was afraid this one was going to be boring but surprisingly this pattern works up quickly. I am loving the colors. As you can see they are taking on a "pooling" effect not a stripping effect. This would drive some knitters crazy, but not me. 

Finally, I also did some stitching this week on my Lizzie Kate Christmas design I started back in September for the Christmas SAL blog.

It's nearly there! Only a few more presents to finish on the left and then I have to stitch the last word "Tangle". After that, it will be done just in time for Christmas.

Well that's all for my project progress this week. I was able to do quite a bit on my projects last weekend when I was out of town. I had a lot of down time watching TV and movies at my aunt's house. It was the perfect opportunity for some crochet and knitting. My son, my one aunt and myself did go to Epcot at Walt Disney World the Friday before Halloween. It was a beautiful day. The Food and Wine Festival was great. I will tell you all that Disney really makes hand over foot at that event. After going a few times, I have determined that the food is a better value over the alcoholic items for sale in the different countries. You could pay $8.00 for 2 ounces of a drink that you could probably make yourself at home or buy at a liquor store. 

Halloween was okay. It seems that every year it gets less and less exciting. People don't decorate their homes or even stay home to pass out candy to trick or treaters. We came upon homes that were decorated, but the candy was just in a bowl at the door for the taking. The essence of Halloween fun just doesn't seem to be around like it used to. Has anyone noticed this as well?

I hope you all have a great week. It will be a long week for me. My mind is heavy at the moment as I heard news this morning that my grandfather had passed away. He had been in hospice since last Thursday so the untimely news of his passing was expected. I'm just glad he's in a better place. The last few years have been really difficult for him and I am relieved that he went peacefully and lived out the last week of his life resting comfortably. 

Thank you for visiting and listening to me ramble a bit. Till next week.

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen

P.S. I am running a Christmas sale in my Etsy store from now until December 18th. Use the Coupon Code XMAS2015 for 15% off anything. I will be working on some new items for the store this month also. 

Trying this Sock Knitting Stuff Again.

I decided to jump back into a new sock project. I had some beautiful yarn in my stash that was just calling to me. I chose a lovely yarn by Expression Fiber Arts. I heard this yarn was really nice to knit socks with so I was eager to try it out. I would be farther along with my sock progress except I ran into this little problem first:

It took me six hours last week to untangle this mess. It was my fault. I untwisted the hank and didn't think to put it around the back of a chair before I started winding it into a ball. It was a true test of patience getting it sorted out. 

Now I have this:

Much better right? This is the cuff of the sock. The colors look great I think. The stitch definition is so nice. I used an easy sock pattern this time around. 

I have also crocheted some more on my Unforgettable Scarf that I showed in my last post. It is coming along nicely. I have already bought some new colors to make a couple others in the near future. In case you missed my last post, here is my crochet scarf in progress:

I will continue working on this until it is 55 inches long. Right now I only have about 38 inches done.

That is all of my crafty progress for this week. Tomorrow night I will be leaving to Orlando to visit family for the Halloween weekend. We have plans to visit one of my favorite places while I'm there.

I can't wait to try the yummy foods from the different countries! The weather is supposed to be perfect too.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and a fun spooky Halloween weekend with lots of candy.

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen

Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle!

I absolutely love this saying in this Christmas design by Lizzie Kate. It is perfectly whitty and sassy. Just her style!

I recently joined the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 blog hosted by Kaye. Click on the badge on my sidebar to be taken there. Every month is a different Christmas theme. If you post a finish before that month is over, you are entered for that month's prize so graciously given by Kaye herself. This month is Christmas Tree/Presents. I didn't have to choose a design with both but this LK design just happened to have both.

Here is my progress after this weeks stitching:

I don't think I will be done by Wednesday but I'm glad the SAL gave me the motivation to start.

I have also done some knitting on my niece's baby blanket. It's only 7 1/2" tall so far. I have to knit until its 37" tall! A little at a time right?

Thank you for stopping by. Tonight I will be attending our Bowling Association's annual dinner to celebrate our Bowlers of the Year from last season and to celebrate those who will be inducted into our association's Hall of Fame. It will be a fabulous evening I am sure.

Have a Lovely Weekend.

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**
Jen

Happy Fall!

Farewell to Summer and Hello to Fall! If only I lived a little more north to be able to enjoy this wonderful season. I guess I will have to live vicariously through other's pictures and stories. September for Florida is a a very wet month as is July and August. We have had rain almost every day this month. If only I could wish the rain clouds to go to California. They can have them all!

The kids are back to school down here. My son started 6th grade this year at his new middle school. I'm so glad he is enjoying his school. He likes his classes and his teachers. He even joined the Cross Country team. He had no idea what that was about till the first day. I told him there was a fair bit of running involved! He really likes it though.

I do have a couple project updates to share with you today. 

Last month, I became an auntie! My older sister had a beautiful baby girl. I haven't seen her in person yet as my sister and her family currently live in Hong Kong, but my family and I get daily pics of the sweet baby. Of course, this auntie had to get busy on some handmade presents for her.

I started knitting this sweet blanket:

The pattern is called: Hooded Pipsqueak Blanket by Bernat. It is a free pattern on their website. The yarn is their Pipsqueak Yarn in the color "Baby Baby". It is supersoft. Its looks likes a fluffy towel, but I assure you, it is super cuddly and doesn't shed. 

I have also been knitting a new pair of socks. Last month I signed up for a sock yarn club called YarnBox.  Each month they send their Sock Yarn members a skein of hand dyed sock yarn by an indie yarn dyer and they also include a new sock pattern. I've been pleased with the club so far. It gives you a chance to experience yarns by dyers that you may never have known about. Yarn Box has other clubs also.

The yarn is by Phydeax Designs in the colorway: Vignoble. The pattern was the one included with the yarn for August. Here is my progress on Sock 1.

In case you didn't know, frogging cross stitch is a dream compared to frogging knitting. I've done my fair share of frogging on this sock only because I'm still learning the construction of socks. It is hard for me to visualize what the pattern is telling me to do but I'm getting there!

I have done some stitching too. I was bad and started a new project. In the spirit of September, I decided to stitch the September Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks.

My Progress:

Let's see if I can finish this one before the month is over. Then I can start October next month.

Thank you so much for visiting me today. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen

My Adventure in Sock Knitting

Hello Friends and Happy Spring!

I can't believe its been three months already since I last posted on my little blog here. Well actually I can. These last couple months have just been go, go, go with little time for much else. I think the day I chose Accounting as my career was the day I signed away all of the January's and February's of my life until retirement. Every weekend and most evenings were spent in the office. We did acquire a new addition to the family at the beginning of February.

This beautiful little girl is named Ellie. We have many stray cats that wonder around our apartment complex. It is heartbreaking really. This little girl just stole our hearts, well actually she melted my boyfriends heart more cause it was his idea to take her in. He's a dog person by the way. He has never liked cats. I already came to terms that he would never let me have a cat.... like ever! 

One night, I came home with my son and this little cutie approached us at my car like she knew us. She had no fear at all. My boyfriend was working at his bar that night. I text him just to tell him about the adorable cat that approached us outside...end of text. At 4:00 in the morning, he comes home and what do I hear...him guiding the cat into the apartment. I thought I was dreaming. Nope! He says, "Jenny, I want to keep her." I'm still in shock at this point and say, "Well you better turn around and go to Walmart. We need cat stuff." He did. End of story. She had no collar, no chip and she wasn't fixed. Our vet estimated that she is only 1 year old. We can only guess that someone was feeding her, but that was the extent of her care. Poor thing had ear mites and worms. But now she is fixed, and free of worms and mites. She is loving life now.

March was an enjoyable kind of busy including a lovely weekend trip to Cape Canaveral, FL. The trip was more for a bowling tournament, but we used it as an opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center and also to explore Cocoa Beach, FL. A wonderful area to visit if you are ever in Florida. Pictures to follow in my next post.

Now that the year-end craziness has passed, I can finally concentrate on the fun things that have been calling my name. One of my new challenges now is learning how to knit socks! Yes, Socks! A tad bit different than cross stitch and crochet, but luckily thanks to You Tube and Google, I'm well on my way. I'm also trying very hard not to acquire more sock yarn. That's a new expensive temptation for a craft hoarder like me. There are so many beauties out there.  

Before I show you my current sock in progress. I will give you a glimpse of my first sock attempt. I didn't use fancy sock yarn. I just used regular acrylic yarn, big double pointed needles and an easy sock pattern to get the feel of things. It was turning out great.

Until the very end at the toe...

It's okay you can laugh at it. My boyfriend did. He said right off the bat, "Um, the toe doesn't look right honey"...........Ya think dear?? Oh well this sock was not meant for someone with five toes. I know how it happened. When you are using 4 needles and your place markers keep falling off as you are knitting, you may just lose your place. I have affectionately named this sock my "Boo Boo Sock".

Now I'm working on this one:

 I am knitting on two circular needles instead of double points with a beautiful sock yarn from Knit Picks called Sweetie. You can find it here. The pattern is called Vanilla Latte Socks by Virginia Rose-Jeanes. It is a free pattern on Ravelry here. If you into knitting and crochet, you must sign up on Ravelry. There are so many wonderful patterns on that site. Many of them are free!

I will keep you posted on my progress. I am not a fast knitter by any means. If I finish this one within a month or two, I will be ecstatic.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you will visit again. Now that the crazy season is over, I can dedicate more time writing on my blog to share pics of projects or pics of my travels. If you are a new visitor, please drop me a hello in the comment box so that I may come and visit you.

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen

My Finished Scarf!

Happy Sunday!

I finished my knitted scarf project today. I love how it turned out. What do you think?

This yarn I used was so nice to knit with. The yarn was actually a mix of wool and acrylic yarn woven together. This is what gave the scarf its mix of really thick rows of stitches with rows that look really open and lacey. Of course my silly self ignored the cardinal rule of knitting which was to make a swatch example first to see how many stitches made up an inch. I was about half way through the project when I realized the scarf looked way too wide. I was also worried about not having enough yarn to finish the entire thing. With that, I just decided to unravel what I did and started it again. I'm glad I did. I just barely had enough yarn for the whole thing. I managed to scrap together some yarn to add a little bit of fringe on each edge.

This scarf is being donated as a prize for a charity event my stepmom is putting together to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I hope whoever wins it loves it as much I do. It is very cozy and warm around the neck. A perfect accessory for the cold winter weather (that we hardly get in Miami LOL). I will be attending the event and you bet I will be putting in tickets to try and get this back! If not, I guess I will just have to knit another one. ;-)

I hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday. I have some sewing projects to start for another charity event that my bowling association is doing to raise money for breast cancer awareness. I can't wait to show you those projects. Thank you for stopping by!

**Hugs from Sunny Miami**
Jen

Stitching Finishes and a New Knit Start

Hello Friends:

I have some lovely pictures of finishes. progress updates and a new project to show you today. I realize that last weekend was International Hermit and Stitch weekend. While I did participate, I just couldn't find the time to photograph my stitching this past week. So here we go!

I "finish finished" the "Tulips with Bunny" design I stitched. I finished it into a Pillow. I used Vonna's wonderful pillow tutorial right here. I didn't want to make it a hanging ornament so I merely left off the hanging loop and added a little bow on top. 

"Tulips with Bunny" by Maja at The Snow Flower Diaries

Stitched on 28Ct Ivory Jobelan using Hand-Dyed Threads by Nina.

(You can find all links to the pattern and threads in my last blog post)

Finishing Method: Pillow Ornament

My next finish I am happy to report is a project that has been sitting on my WIP list on the right sidebar for the last year. Feels nice to scratch ones of those off! I stitched this pattern for an Exchange back in 2011 and decided to stitch it for myself. It just took a little while to stitch it for me. ;)

"He's a Flake" by Little House Needleworks

Stitched on 30 Ct Dove Linen by Weeks Dye Works

Using the recommended threads as called for

Finish Method: Hanging Pillow Ornament.

Next up is my progress on my Bluebell Fairy by Nora Corbett. 

Progress as of June 2, 2013

Progress of August 25, 2013

Isn't she looking stunning?! Her hair was a little trying on the patience as it has a lot of color changes, but I made it through. All of the wings are stitched in Kreinik. I actually enjoy Kreinik so the wings have been a pleasure to stitch for me so far. I'm leaving all of the beading for the end. There are ALOT.

I also started a new knitting project this weekend. My step mother asked me if I would be willing to make something to donate as a giveway prize for a charity event she is organizing. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. I had to think of something quick to make. I decided on knitting scarf. Here is my start. I will attempt to get better future pictures because the colors are so much prettier than in this picture. The sun was starting to go down by the time I took this picture. My flash made things extra bright.

The yarn is a very soft Wool/Acrylic blend with flecks of glitzy fibers added in. You can see the glitzy fibers better when you click on the pic. I'm loving the colors. I already know I will be buying another ball of this yarn to make a scarf for me! Of course, in Miami, there would probably only be 2 days in Winter I could wear it, but that's fine. 

Thank you so much for visiting with me today. I hope you enjoyed my pictures. I can't wait for Thursday to come this week. I took a few days off of work before and after the Labor Day holiday to give myself an extra long holiday weekend from work. I will definitely be busy stitching those days. 

Have a Wonderful Week :)

*Hugs from Sunny Miami*

Jen

A Knitting Finish on Labor Day Weekend.

Good Evening Friends:

First I want to say Happy Labor Day to those of you who celebrated it. I hope you had a relaxing weekend with family and friends or even just yourself. I know I did. I went to the Miami Marlins game with family yesterday at the new Marlins ballpark. It was the first time I had been to the new ballpark since it opened this year. I had a great time watching our boys play. The best part of it all was we enjoyed the game without the sun and humidity beating down on us. Yes, our new ballpark stadium has a retractable dome roof and it is fabulous. I wasn't too crazy about the amount of tax payer money that stadium cost our city, but I won't complain about that dome roof at all. Besides it being convenient, it really was a necessary addition since baseball season is the same time as the rainy season down here.

I finished a knitting project today. The last time I picked up a pair of knitting needles was almost 2 years ago, so it was time to do a project of some sort before I ended up forgetting everything I knew! I decided to do a dishcloth using a pattern from the book "Kitchen Bright Dishcloths" by Leisure Arts.

I used Lily Sugar' N Cream yarn in the color "Over the Rainbow" and knitted on size 7 needles. The pattern I used in the book is called Bee Stitch. See the bees? :)

This stitch was easy and makes for a nice thick cloth. Perfect for the kitchen I think or even as a washcloth in the bathroom. My dishcloth finished at 9" square.

I also want to give you all a preview of a future project I am planning to do. It is a quilt for my 8 year old son. He loves The Cat in the Hat. I showed him the quilt kits that are on the market now. His choice was this one:

He liked it because it had the most pictures of Cat in the Hat characters on it. I found this kit for a reasonable price online already. I just have to wait a little bit to get it. I can't wait to start this for him. It is adorable.

Thank you for visiting with me today. I have done some cross stitching but I will save that for the next post. Take care everyone and have a wonderful week.

**Hugs**

Jen