Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. We have had further visits to the hospital but things are under control and looking very good for us.

I haven't been able to get my sewing machine out as I had hoped - maybe this next week.

I have plans and hopes to join in the next challenge for our Challenging ourselves group.

We are to do a self portrait - I have started it and have decided what I hope to do and

hopefully will get it done in time. Life has been one long upset this past two years so

I am hoping we will have some 'down time ' now.

I have been knitting as you all know and during the past time since Pat was sick again and in the hospital and since, I have knit two cotton summer sweaters for myself. I design my own and

am reasonably happy with them. I have the front done on another one which I will post shortly.

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I watched the Royal wedding yesterday - she certainly is a classy lady - I quite enjoyed it.

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My heart goes out to all of you who were affected by the terrible tornadoes in the south.

I complain about the cold weather here and we have had a bad winter but it makes me

realize how lucky we are. I pray for all who have been made homeless and for the families of

those who lost their lives.

Challenging ourselves

I was unable to join in the challenge in the Challenging ourselves group due to my husband's

illness but what a great job the ladies in the group have done for the 4th Challenge.

We have some new members and I do hope you will all go and checkout the blog showing the challenges.

This is a group we organized from members of the Learningfa group who wanted to

expand their abilities and to challenge themselves to try new things. I am so impressed with the different challenges and different results. The picture shown is done by my friend Margaret

Shipley from Saskatchewan who just joined the group. She is a very talented lady and I love her challenge! The subject was "Orange, purple and blue' check out the other finished pieces!

We take turns picking out a theme so check out the archives for the different challenges.

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Speaking of my husband -- he is doing very well, slowly getting back to normal after major heart surgery and then having to go back the next day for repair to the first surgery. He is

doing better every day little steps at a time -- and both of us are very optimistic.

It is so good to have him home after 45 days in the hospital - (most of these BEFORE the surgery due to complications -- I have so much to be thankful for.

I am still knitting but got my sewing machine out yesterday and hope to make a basket as soon as a summer sweater in cotton yarn for me, is completed.

We had a HUGE dump of snow on Sunday - and what a mess! It is finally melting but they are expecting flooding as so much snow and quick melting today. I will be so glad to have spring arrive at last. We have our first robins and they are really shivering. Shirley

Isn't she sweet?

She loves the clothes I make for her -- She

liked the ruffles and especially liked the

sweater with the hat. Both fit her perfectly and

she is 'going to wear them to school'.

It is a fairly nice day here in Alberta- although

a bit cloudy. We have had a terrible March and

hopefully April will be better and we will see

some spring.

I am a bit tired as my husband is having a lot of difficulty sleeping after his heart surgery. It is hard to believe that it is 6 weeks since he

had the surgery - but it is a slow improvement. It appears that sleep deprivation is quite common after major valve surgery so I am hoping he will be able to sleep much better in the next months. He is doing well aside from that. I am just thankful he is home with me.

ruffled top

I made Hayley a cute little ruffled top for summer.

it has multi colored ruffles and really turned

out very well. It is crochet and I am really

happy with it. She can wear one of many

different colored t shirts and different

bottoms. Shorts, tights or pants.

It is quite simple - V stitchs throughout with

different levels of colored ruffles.

I hope you like it.

Latest projectsx

I finished a worsted weight sweater for me - I embroidered flowers on the front. It is really warm and cozy and I got a lot of use out of it here in Calgary this past month or so.

I also finished a fancy sweater for my grand daughter. she wanted pinks and pretty colors and some sparkle so this is the one I made for her, with a hat to match. I used some eyelash pink sparkle as a highlight.

I also took a picture of her dancing in the multi colored sweater I made for her. She wore it all winter and loved it. I am having fun

designing these knits. I am starting one for myself with seed stitch and cables in a pretty red rust so I am managing to keep my

'creative juices ' flowing even though I am not doing art quilts!

I hope you like them!

I am back!

I have not had a chance to post on my blog for the past 2 months as my husband was

having major heart surgery -- There were complications but he has arrived home and is

improving rapidly. As a result I am able to get back to normal after many weeks of

hospital visiting and lots of worry.

I have been doing a lot of knitting and no art quilts so hope to get back at my

artwork within the next while. Here are some of the 30 crochet caps I have made. They are

quite pretty and easy to make.

I also have knit socks, mittens and sweaters.

It has been a dreadful winter weather wise and I really am ready for spring after fighting the snow and ice every day on the way to visit my husband in the hospital.

The Rocky mountains are beautiful today as I can see them out of my studio window. It is sunny and the peaks are covered with snow. The sky is a deep blue and the scene warms my heart.

(for those who don't know me well -- I live in Calgary, Alberta not far from the beautiful

Canadian Rockies).

Challenges

I hope you will check out the Challenging ourselves blog . There are a new group of

Favorite place (s) challenges posted today and once again the girls did a great job.

I was unable to join in this Challenge but am enjoying looking at the work the

ladies did.

Hayley's 7th Birthday

My grand daughter had a birthday party with a group of little girls . They had a face painter and this is the result. Such a joy!

It is very cold here today - they had hoped to have a skating

party but the weather didn't cooperate. She phoned and said they

had a good time anyway. 7 years have gone by so quickly.

It is finished!

I finished Hayley's sweater and it really looks

great on her. I made it plenty long so that she can be warm

while camping, or on cool days. It is multi colored -I used

worsted weight yarn and it has a drop sleeve.

I tried out l5 different stitches in the stripes and

it was fun trying to use different stitches for each color.

I have also made a few more hats as

a lot of people want one and have a pair

of worsted weight socks under way - finished the first one and am halfway

thru the second one. My friend lives

quite far north and I am doing about 3 or 4 pairs for her to wear in the winter.

I am also planning on doing a cotton

pullover for summer for myself.

I am really enjoying the break from my sewing machine - I have worked steadily on my art

quilts for l0 years without a break and so this is a really pleasant time for me as far as

my creative streak is concerned. I did some knitting and lots of crochet years ago and am

finding it interesting to try my own designs in different projects.

It is very cold here today - another winter storm arrived yesterday and there were some bad

accidents on the trans Canada Highway south of Calgary. We drove that road often when we

lived south of here and it is very treacherous as it is quite flat and the wind howls across the

highway and blizzard conditions make it very dangerous.

Pat and I are going to take it easy for the next week as the Christmas season and Hayley's birthday have been really busy. I am meeting a friend for lunch on Thursday but not much else planned.

Take care everyone! Shirley

Good morning!

I am just back from morning coffee with my swimming exercise friends here in our condo.

We all meet after swimming and other friends from the condo meet us - we then visit for an hour or two. rather nice. I am enjoying the swimming 3 times a week and it is definitely good for me.

I am still knitting -- today is

Hayley's 7th birthday -

it is hard to believe - we are going out for dinner at a restaurant tonight and she will have her little

friends over for a skating party on

Sunday.

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I am knitting her a very colorful original sweater (as usual, I enjoy designing as I go along) and it is looking quite good. I want it to keep her warm when they are camping and sitting around the campfire, or on chilly days --I have used about l5 different stitches on the rows and am having lots of fun with it. I am also still doing hats with the brim. It is amazing how popular they are and I am glad to say that the Christmas presents went over very well - in fact all the family girls have asked for another one. I am posting some of the new ones I have made .

2011 Calendar -My work is December!

I just found out one of my wall hangings is in the about.com 2011 calendar (December)

I am very pleased and hope you will check it out. There are other pieces featured under the "Art quilts" as well.

http://quilting.about.com/library/pdf_files/2011_Quilting-Calendar.pdf

http://quilting.about.com/od/picturesofquilts/ig/Art-Quilts-Gallery/

more Christmas knitting

I have finally finished my Christmas presents - and I hope the girls in the family will like them. It has been fun to do and helped me get over a hard time especially this past week.

It was a year ago on the l3th that we lost our son Rob.

I received a parcel from my friend Deb - a skein of merino wool and a skein of alpaca wool. So beautiful. I haven't decided w

hat I will do with it. The alpaca will definitely go into a pair of socks for

me and I am thinking about a lacy scarf. The merino will make a lovely hat to go with my leather coat! Dear Debbie - such a good friend.

The weather is getting colder but actually we have avoid

ed the terrible weather here in

Southern Alberta.

I imagine most of you are ready or nearly ready for Christmas. I hope , if you are

going away, that you will arrive at your destination safely. For those of you who are staying

near or at home, I hope your Christmas is lovely.

For those of you from around the world -- May you have health and happiness, whatever time of the year, or whatever faith you live by.

I think of the Christmas we spent in Whangaparaoa, New Zealand in the 70's on the beach with

our friends -- and our Christmas's in Arizona at Valle Del Oro where we made such wonderful life long friends.

I want to congratulate my dear on line friend Miriam Gogarty who designed 'Emma's Tree' in

honour of her daughter who died of cancer a few years ago. Emma's tree is being made by

Quilters around the world. Miriam presented the President of Ireland an Emma's tree. She

also contributes a huge amount of her time and knowledge teaching, designing and quilting -throughout Ireland. I am honored to know her. We share the loss of an adult child and it

means a lot to me to have her for a friend.

Christmas projects

I have been knitting up a storm this

past while -- have done lots of hats, mittens, scarves and socks

for family and friends for Christmas.

I have also knit 3 sweaters so as you can see, I have been

busy!. I made the brown set for myself - I like

the caps with the brims - I designed a

crochet pattern which works well. The red hat and socks are

part of a set I did for my dear friend Debbie - socks, hat, scarf and mittens. She lives in Athabasca and it is even colder there than

here on the average - (North of Edmonton). The mottled teal and beige set is for one of my family members and the pink socks go with the sweater I did previously. I needed a break from thread painting and art quilts and these are my first times doing socks and

mittens although I have knitted and crochet for years. I am enjoying it very much.

I still learn a pattern and then change it - grin. Our weather is better -

we had a terrible week awhile ago and word was that we were one of

the coldest spots on earth -- (might have been a bit of imagination - but

it sure felt like it and it was in the paper as a fact!)

It has been nicer lately and we have even had some Chinook winds which

are warm winds from the west.

more knitting

I designed a cap for myself that isn't as large as most of the patterns - I like it better for

me as I don't wear floppy hats that well. I think I will make up a bunch of different styles of hats and give them to a charity that needs clothes -- our winters are so cold here that warm hats, mittens, sweaters etc. are very welcome. They only

take me a little while so I think I will use it as a project for " Inn from the Cold" which works in conjunction shelters for abused women and families who have to leave home suddenly.

The blue hat I posted previously is much

larger and would suit a young person more than the red one does.

I have so many different types of yarn I think it would be a good project for my evenings.

Finished pullover

Here is the finishes sweater and luckily it fit her perfectly.

I can now relax and decide what I want to do next.

I think I will start doing some thread painting as I have

some photos of some interesting subjects so I might just start one of them.

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They are warning we will get our first winter storm starting on Monday, so I guess winter is on the way. We have had a great autumn so far after a crappy summer.

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I have enjoyed knitting 4 (can it be 4 sweaters in the past two months?) think I will start doing some socks for

Christmas. It is years since I knitted some socks so have been checking the internet. I found a couple of patterns that look quite simple. I hope to advance into making some

fancy legs with the regular sock foot but I think I had better knit a couple of pairs first!

LATEST PROJECT, THIS AND THAT

I am coming along with the sweater I am knitting for my dil - I finished her hat and the back of the sweater and am currently working on the front. The hat is crochet and I took a basic pattern and

changed it quite a bit -- The yarn is so pretty -- and I decided that I would use an overall pattern for the sweater.

It will be quite cosy and good for outdoor activities in our winter, under a coat or jacket. I think it will be good for camping too as they go camping quite a lot and the evenings are chilly.

Once I get this one finished I will open up my sewing machine and start a couple of projects I have in mind --I really needed this break and feel a lot of energy now that I have taken a bit of

a holiday.

I also have been doing water exercises 3 days a week and am feeling the difference.

I turned over my yahoo group (Learningfa) to Julie and Delia as I felt I had done what I could in the way of teaching my work. It is amazing we held 37 classes not counting my thread painting and some of my rough edged landscapes - over the past years- all classes are free and

it is amazing the great work the girls are doing. Debbie just taught us a watercolor quilt and the girls put a motif of some sort in the middle or side of the piece.

I will however do another thread painting series sometime next year. I am in the process of debating whether to change the format and do groups of 3 tutorials in one group - with signups for each group. Both the new owners are doing a great job and it is a relief for me to see how smoothly the transition has been accomplished. both are very talented and I know lots of new things will transpire on the group.

It is a lovely autumn day here in Calgary - sunny and not too chilly. I love the fact that

we get so much sunlight here rather than dull, cloudy days. I don't mind the cold that much when it is sunny! We didn't have a nice summer but October and the first part of November have been lovely. There is snow on the peaks of the Rockies and I can see them out my window.

We are going to take a drive up to Banff next week if the nice weather stays. I will post a picture of the finished sweater in the next week or two.

My latest challenge (knitting)

has taken a lot of my time lately. I decided to knit something for the girls in my family, after I finished the two sweaters for myself. I just finished a pretty blue pullover for my daughter. I put a moss stitch pattern (one of my favorite knitting designs) up the front and on the sleeves like I did for my pink sweater. It is finished now and I am starting one for my dil in a lovely

soft heavier yarn which gives the feeling of heather when it is knitted. I found

a wonderful knitting book which was published in l984 which allows you to use whatever yarn and needles you wish to design your own sweaters either in knitting or crochet. It has been sitting around my library for years as it looked rather difficult to understand how to knit a swatch and

figure how to get the proper size. I spent the afternoon a few weeks ago reading it thoroughly and it is great. the size works out perfectly. The only disadvantage is that it gives very

plain patterns and you have to design your own additions, stitches, collars, different types of sleeves etc. I enjoy doing that so it works out well for me.

it is called "Sweaters in every guage" by Barbara Goldstein and was published by Prentice Hall in l984.

I doubt I will ever use a pattern again unless it is something that can't be worked into the instructions in this book. I think if I really worked at it I could adjust written patterns to it - I always 'do my own thing' even when following a regular pattern but I love it that I can pick out a yarn - use whatever needles I wish and figure out the guage with a swatch, then go to the

charts and figure out the stitch number. there are

different necks, sleeves, collars etc. which can be incorporated. I did my pink sweater with different sized needles and yarn than the blue one I am showing today and both turned out nicely --

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I just started one for my dil a few minutes ago in a lovely yarn by Red Heart (collage) and it is knitting up beautifully. It is heavier yarn so I am using larger needles.

It is a cool foggy morning here in Calgary - we have had a very nice autumn but it is starting to get pretty chilly. I imagine most of the 'snow birds' are heading toward Arizona, every year I feel homesick for our park there but life is good even though we don't go down any more. We still keep in touch with our friend in the park we stayed at for l0 years.

Well, I guess I shall read my morning paper and go shopping. Shirley

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

Gifts for my nephew

My nephew got married on Saturday and I am posting pictures of the gifts I made for them.

They are divers and photographers and have some Wonderful photos of different fish, and underwater coral. I decided to do 3 of their pictures for their wedding present. I completely thread painted each photo after transferring it onto a fabric sheet, placing the background fabric on a piece of heavy timtex, and placing the photo in the center. I then thread painted the whole photo. I made a set of three of their photos and then made the underwater landscape I posted previously. (Here it is again). I just heard from him and they really liked them. It was one of the most fun projects I have ever done - Their photos taken during their dives are

wonderful. All over the world - so interesting.

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