Sunhine awards

I have been honored with TWO Sunshine awards from other bloggers who enjoy my blog.

Carol and Eileen have both sent me an award, and I do appreciate it. I hope you will visit both their blogs.

I am away for a couple of days and will post the blogs I will award the wonderful daisy to when I get home. It is an honor. There are lots of wonderful blogs out there and I will find it difficult to pick out my choices. thanks ladies. Shirley

KNITTED VEST

I started out knitting a sweater, using a Norwegian pattern which I found on the internet.

I saw one finished and really liked it. I had nothing but problems with it and finally got

the front and back finished -- When I started the sleeves the instructions were poorly

written and after trying 4 times and even taking it to a knitting store - found out that

the whole sleeve pattern was incorrect. I trie

d to design my own sleeves, but with the

pattern on the whole piece , I found it more trouble than it was worth. I therefore decided to make a vest

from the back and front and actually I am quite happy with it. I crochet a narrow design around

the neck and sleeve openings and bought myself a black long sleeved t shirt to wear with it.

I decided to start another plain pullover with a seed stitch strip 3" wide up the center front -- it is well under way and I am going to get lots of use out of it. It is still only Sept. and we have had

a bit of snow already -- We have had a terrible summer - it is very cold out and everyone is

fed up with the bad weather. Especially as winter seems to be arriving early! I bought a

pretty medium pink and will knit it on the round.

I am enjoying my break from landscapes and thread painting and once I finish the 2nd

sweater I will get back at it.

CHALLENGE REVEAL two

Today is the reveal for the second challenge of our group Challenging ourselves and once again there is lots of interesting pieces posted. Here is mine.

I painted the scenes with craft acrylics and then

did thread painting on top to highlight the pictures. I then did some beading .

I am enjoying the group so much and love looking at all the new work. I hope you will visit

the group see the side bar, and check out the

reveal today.

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I am working on a beautiful cardigan and it is slowly getting done. It has been a

long while since I knitted a pattern and found this one confusing. I saw the finished

cardigan in a wool shop here in Calgary, and tried it on and fell in love with it.

I decided to cut back on my art work for awhile and decided to do this sweater.

I find the pattern hard to understand but have struggled through it and have the

back and both fronts nearly done. I am so glad I stuck with it and I know it is

going to be nice when I finish it. I am not sure whether I am allowed to show

the pattern but here are the pieces I have finished. It is pattern l04 Garn Studio

September is here!!!!

Unbelievable that we are well into September after a very cool, stormy summer. Our

summers are so short anyway that one like this past one makes the winter seem much longer.

We did manage a few nice days -- had a picnic with the family at one of the parks (one I used to visit when I was very young) for my

birthday, which was lovely. Such a good time --

I have made a big decision and have decided to retire from the Learningfa group which I started in 2007 - it now has over 400 members and is a very active good group- I know I will miss running the group but I really am ready. Delia Holst from Australia will take over the

art quilt classes and she is a wonderful artist so the group will be in good hands.

It is such a successful group, with free traditional and art classes, that I really wanted to make sure it is in good hands -- Julie runs the traditional free classes and Delia the art free classes so it should be

a smooth transition. Check out Delia's Blog (right side bar)- her art work is outstanding and I am fortunate that both these girls were willing to keep the group going.

I will still be teaching on my blog and for the group so I am not 'leaving' the group --

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I have started knitting a cardigan and as it is years since I knitted by pattern, I am having quite a time. It is a Norwegian Pattern and difficult to understand even though I am using US

measurements. It is bright and pretty and I know I will love it when I get it finished.

I have done a bit of unravelling but am slowly getting there. I have always designed my own knitting patterns for sweaters but this one is so pretty I couldn't resist it.

Here is the link to the pattern (it is l04). I hope you can open it -- I tried a sample on a couple of years ago and it has been in my mind since then. I will be glad when it is finished. I wish I lived close to a really good knitter as I am sure it isn't as confusing for someone who follows patterns all the time! I will persevere though!

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/drops_oppskrift_oversikt.php?drops=104

I have the back and 3/4 of one front done . The decrease for the neck should be simple but isn't and (I have done this type of neck before with no problems. It is just understanding

what they are saying ) I am seriously thinking of doing the neck my way rather than the pattern. grin.

Well, back to it. Shirley