Our neighbors

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

The back half of our property is wooded and abuts another much larger wooded area. We have a new couple living somewhere back there who comes to our house to eat several times a day.

Two pileated woodpeckers. A female.

And a male.

The one with the red “mustache” is the male.

They both visit our suet cake bird feeder several times a day though the female is the one that usually hangs out on the feeder which is about five-inches square so you can see how large she is.

The male usually stays on a nearby tree or on the ground under the feeder catching and seeds that fall. We just love watching them.

In the mail

Posted on March 12, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

I sent the finished seamless slippers to my sister-in-law.

With any luck, she will have them on her feet tomorrow…

or Wednesday.

Several people have asked me about the soles. I found some “replacement carpet” for cars and trucks at Wal-Mart several years ago (2003 perhaps) when we put some new carpet in Mr. Aitch’s truck. It was easy to cut and hand sew so I tried it on the bottom of the slippers. The texture is similar to a thick felt though this is polyester. It’s good but does wear out. I bought a roll for under $10 (can’t remember the brand name) just for this purpose but I haven’t seen it at our local store for a few years. Layers of denim/old jeans, canvas or wool quilted together or even leather will also work as soles.

Almost

Posted on March 9, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Almost finished. Only one more row of the horseshoe lace pattern then three rows of garter stitch and bind off and my Kindness shawl will be off the needles and ready to block!I don’t have a scale to weigh the rest of the yarn but I want to use as much as I can.

So my plan is to put in a lifeline at the end of this last lace row and see if I can get another horseshoe lace repeat before I run out of yarn. If I don’t, then I can just rip back to the lifeline and continue with the three-row garter stitch and bind off.

I’ve only played “yarn chicken” once before…and lost.

A new pair

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Last May 15th my sister-in-law slipped on her basement stairs and clunked down the three remaining steps on her left heel. Her heel was shattered. The surgery went well and the bone, with the help of plenty of titanium, healed. Unfortunately, a sore and subsequent hole/wound from wearing a special boot did not close up.

I lost count of the various surgeries she’s undergone and had to wear a wound vac for several weeks. During this time, she was still teaching and wore the pair of slippers I knit for her to school as she needed to keep her foot covered and warm.

She was finally able to wear “regular” shoes sometime in January.