third time the charm?

not long ago  made Mr Cute a new sweater with all kinds of construction equipment on it (pictures of it in this post)

there was some yarn left over from that project, so I decided I would make him a hat with a tractor knit in from that left over yarn as a Christmas present

the hat knitting has not gone well (you'd think it would, I've literally knit over 100 hats in the past few years)

there is no picture of the first attempt -- shall we say that a mobius hat is not desirable -- and somewhere between the cast on and the 2nd row of ribbing in the round I managed to get it twisted, so it was quickly ripped out

the picture on the left here was the next attempt -- no mobius!  all good, right?  uh, not so much as it wasn't until I had the ribbing finished and started to think about the pattern knitting that I realized that my brain must have been on vacation --

unless you are doing an all over repeating pattern of some sort, you can't do pattern knitting in the round -- the knitting of a tractor requires carrying the yarn back and forth over the back of the work -- so last night I ripped all that out AGAIN! and started again, working back and forth in rows

we'll get this figured out yet

it's finally finished

I started this piece back in August, originally intending to enter it in a "mini fest" of one of my beading groups, but with all the other things I've been doing, I just couldn't get it done by the deadline

I do like the way it came out -- I had forgotten that doing the inside edge of the open work was so difficult (I hadn't done that on a piece for a very long time) -- and I would do another one with that open work because I really like the way it looks

since the last post, when I was still working on this piece, I did the rest of the hand stitching on this piece

and I've started working on this one

somehow at the beginning of this one I started working at the top edge with all those little pieces and then realized I should have started at the bottom edge -- so I've been working both ends to the middle -- it's coming along

while the DH was having his cataract surgeries, I spent some time in the waiting area of the surgery center

this was the view out those windows -- pretty amazing!  it was fascinating to watch the shadows on the mountain change as the clouds moved across the sky

the packing continues -- books, music, dishes into boxes -- several trips to donate van loads full of "stuff" -- we've lived in this house the longest of anywhere I've lived since I left my parents house and we've not been good at keeping down the clutter -- I'm resolving to not let this happen again!!

last week I painted a wall in the living room and did a "skim coat" of wall board compound over a wallpapered wall in the kitchen that I plan to paint white -- its a struggle to just keep moving even when my knee and my back hurt -- I have moments when I would like to just walk away (but so far the adult side does return -- reluctantly -- )  we want to get the house on the market by Nov 1 and some days I feel like that is a pipe dream --- just keep putting one foot in front of the other

now where was I?

things are quite crazy here

packing continues -- I'll be painting a wall in the living room this week, and this morning I took another van full of clothing, toys, books and household items to donate

meantime, the DH had one cataract surgery last Tuesday and will have the same surgery on the other eye tomorrow

the MRI I had on my back didn't tell me a whole lot more than the xray did -- I have bone spurs and a disc that is basically gone in my lower back which causes pain if I overdo or sometimes just for no reason at all that is apparent to me -- the doctor wants to do injections along that area -- which might work -- or might not -- but will deplete my bank account for sure -- I think those will have to wait

I'm trying to do a little bit of work on art projects every day -- just to keep me from having to be shipped off to the funny farm!

this is the shed door piece I'm working on right now

I've been working on this too -- it was supposed to be for a competition, but the deadline for it was yesterday, so that's not happening -- but I do like it, so I'm going to finish it anyway

and I've just finished working out what I'm going to do for the new quilt for my daughter and son in law -- they like the look of this design and the colors, so as soon as I can get the fabric that will be one of my hand work projects

just rolling along as best I can

it's time to vote!

it's time to vote for this competition!

you can use this link to get to the place to vote:  etsy-beadweavers

with relish?

at least that is what my sister suggested I should title this post since the last one was titled "catch up" (groan?!)

it's probably as good a choice as any idea that I had!

last weekend we did a lot of loading of boxes and furniture into the pod

on Saturday morning, when I made a run to the closest convenience store for a bag of ice to keep the bottles of water cool, I got to see part of the balloons from the balloon festival that took place here last weekend

my daughter and son in law, along with Mr Cute and their two dogs came to our house to help out for that weekend

on Sunday evening I caught this photo of their big dog and our dog sleeping all curled up on the couch

I didn't know when I snapped it that it would be the last such picture I would have the opportunity to take -- because of ongoing health issues, the red dog has now crossed over the rainbow bridge

at some point in the near future I will be making this photo into an art quilt

I started working on this piece a couple of weeks ago - or longer -- and haven't gotten to it for over a week --- I hope the commotion dies down soon so I can get back to it

I have been working on this, which is another piece in the shed door series

yesterday I had an MRI done on my lower back --- I would not describe it as a pleasant experience, and I hope not to have to go there again --- I'm also hoping that by some amazing chance it will actually tell them something that will help --- I see the doctor next Thursday

for now it's back to the packing and cleaning and painting

time to get moving