Rainy Days

Hello and happy Friday to you all.  We've had some absolutely gorgeous days this week, but last night it began raining and it is a dreary day today too. The weekend looks the same, so I think we'll be staying home and working on getting things ready for the garage sale next week.  There are five of us on our street having garage sales next Saturday.  I don't have good luck with them, but I'm going to try one more time.  Maybe with several of us having sales, more traffic will come in.  Dennis is taking Friday as a vacation day so he can help and do the lifting that needs done.

Meanwhile, I spent Wednesday night at the lake and took these beautiful pictures yesterday.  Finally some blooms!  These are in the flower bed by the trailer.

And these beautiful tulips are close to the park entrance.

I don't know the name of these happy flowers, but they remind me of daisies and are so cheerful and bright.  The purple and yellow look so pretty together.

While I was walking I took these two pictures.  The cabins are all spiffed up and waiting for the summer visitors and the sailboat looks ready to take a voyage on the lake.

I began the Amulet Shawl by Helen Stewart of the Curious Handmade Wednesday.  I started this thing three times!  I don't know what was wrong with me.  It's a fairly simple shawl pattern so far with just a few increases.  Each time I would get to this point I would mess up.  Do you see the huge holes just under the stitch marker?  I messed up the m1's on either side of the center stitch.  And I kept doing the same thing for some strange reason.   I seem to be on the right track now though and finally have it past this point.

I'm using a cream yarn I had in my stash and the yarn I showed you last week that I won from the Yarn Style podcast.  I also purchased beads to add to it.

The corner to corner baby blanket was finished.  It's being washed right now, so this photo doesn't show it blocked properly but you get the idea.

This is a truer representation of the colors.  It's a nice size blanket, about 36 inches square.

My mother-in-law requested some new kitchen towels.  The ones I made her about 25 years ago finally wore out.  I made these in a couple of hours.  Several people have requested the pattern.  I made it up as I went along, but I tried to recreate it for you.  There are several really good free patterns I found on Ravelry yesterday though, that are probably muchbetter written.  Here are a few:

Quick Kitchen Towels

Hanging Kitchen Towel

Towel Topper H

Towel Topper   (this one is my favorite)

I didn't have access to my computer when I made these or I would have used one of those, but here is my pattern anyway.  I hope you can understand it since I'm not a pattern writer.  Feel free to ask questions.

Cut a purchased kitchen towel in half.  I then sew a 1/4 inch hem on each towel.  Alternatively, you can stitch twice along the width of the towel and cut between the stitching.  The first row you sc as close to each end of the towel as you can.

R1-slip knot, sc 44 sts across the towel over the hem.  ch 1, turn

R2-sc in each st across, ch 2, turn

R3-*sk 1 sc, dc, ch1* across, ch 2 turn

R4-dc in each ch1 across, ch 1 turn

R5-sc in each st across, ch 2 turn

R6-Repeat row 3

R7-dc in each st and ch 1 across, ch 2, turn

R8-dc in every other dc across, ch 2, turn

R9-dc in first dc, sk 1 dc, dc in each stitch across row to last 3 stitches, sk 1 st, dc in last 2 stitches. ch 2, turn

R10-Repeat row 9

R11-21-dc in each st across, ch 2, turn, (in row 21 ch 1, turn)

R22-sc across to end.  Weave in ends.  Sew on a button and you're done!

I hope that made sense.  As I said, I just made it up and I'm not a pattern maker.  I highly recommend one of the patterns on Ravelry.

I don't remember if I told you last week, but the x-ray they took on my back has shown absolutely no change in the bone since January.  The break hasn't healed at all and they don't know why.  I am now taking calcium supplements and yesterday they drew blood to check my vitamin D levels.  Apparently that can affect bone growth.  I've been walking, a lot of walking, but now I'm having dizzy spells again and almost fainting.  No one knows why those are happening and the cardiologist says to talk to my primary care doctor and the primary says it's heart related.  To say I'm beyond frustrated would be putting it mildly.  I don't mean to bore you with all of this, and I know most of us try to keep our blogs happy, happy, happy but this is my life and I have come to think of you as my friends.  I share my life with my friends.  If you are praying people, I would definitely appreciate your prayers.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and I'll try to keep up with your blogs.

I'm trying to live out this verse and I know many others are facing much worse than I am.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3

Blessings,
Betsy