Cassidy's Shawl, Woodstove and a Treat

Finally, something to show! I knit this shawl using 100 Purewool; my favorite yarn of all time! It's so soft and nice to work with. Anyway, I just knit a basic triangular shawl and then did a shell stitch border all the way around and then a chain six into the 'holes' of the shell border on two sides. It turned out quite nice. I think Cassidy will be happy with it on Christmas morning.

I've kept Gary busy, too, putting in a woodstove in our bedroom. My brother gave us the stove and it was in our garage over the winter. It was a tad bit rusted so Gary sanded the rust off and then spray-painted it with black woodstove paint. It looks brand new. He also cut our wood floor and tiled it where the stove sits. He installed the piping (although in this picture the pipe that goes through the wall wasn't in, yet. It's all hooked up now and ready to go. I have a jar of lavender stems from my garden sitting on top of the stove waiting for the fire to burn. I read to throw them in for a sweet scent of lavender.

I entered a little give-away from Mary-Katherine's blog (see my sidebar) and won this adorable felt and beaded cookie that I use to put my needlework needles in. It's so cute! I also won a skein of Belle Soie hand dyed silk in Strawberry Shortcake! The color is just beautiful and I can't wait to use it! Thank you to Mary-Katherine! Please hit my sidebar and take a peek at her blog and shop. She has the most beautiful projects!

Crochet Edged Pillowcases

Wow it has been such a long time since I blogged. Summer is nearly gone. With all the garden goodness, I've been trying to can and freeze whatever is coming out of there. In between, I've been enjoying the summer; the meteor shower, our 27th anniversary, birthdays, trips to the beach and of course, vegging by the pool. Today it's rather rainy but I'm happy for it. I'm getting ready for the school year to begin, with setting up a new desk for Cassidy and my learning area for the littlies. They are so excited to start and I am too, but I'm still trying to squeeze in the last bits of summer.
Our kitchen table is so pretty with flowers from the garden. Every few days I'm able to pick something else and put it in a vase. I love the way the table looks with different embroidered linens and fresh flowers.

I've been pretty busy beginning on Christmas gifts, too. I made these pillowcases with a crocheted edge from a fantastic tutorial from www.yougogirl.typepad.com. Step by step directions complete with much entertainment made for a real fun project. I made four of these pillowcases: two for my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas (they'll be getting something else, too... I'll show you that when it's done) one for Kyle's girlfriend for her going away party gift (she's off to nurse anthestist school) and one for our couch. I made real good use of the material and directions! I'm nearly done with a shawl for Cassidy; I'll show that soon, too. Hopefully I won't stay away from blogging this long. It takes forever for my pictures to load up so I shy away from making a post. Maybe if I can get one of the kiddoes to clean up my camera it won't take so long. I'd love it if you would leave me a comment... would hate to think I'm talking to myself here...lol...