The Joy is in the Journey

I wish I could remember the name of the author, or the name of the book I read a few years ago.  It was about the life of the Amish. One passage that really resonated with me was how they slowly and purposely enjoy and work at each task, as if it were the most important job that day.  They didn't rush through the chores looking ahead to the end of the day.  The chores were their day, and they were accomplished with grace and gratitude.  I think of that now and then as I am trying to get something done.  I am not really paying much attention to what I am doing - I am thinking about the end result. 
As I read some year-end blog posts, I find that some writers reflect upon a word or phrase that will be their inspiration point for the New Year.  One blogger, again, I am being very bad about sources here, said that a necklace from Origami Owl was the start of her word for 2014: Joy.  The necklace tag says:

Oh, my goodness!  There is that sentiment again.  I started to look around my still-decorated-for-Christmas-house-that-needed-to-be-undecorated-for-Christmas and stopped.  I took a breath and looked around at the red and the sparkle and the cheer and realized that it was still fun to take in.  It can stay festive a bit longer.

 I also spied some other things:

This sign is over the desk area in the studio.  Notice the "twinkle lights" (as I called them - they don't flash, they just light up and make me smile) - Carl painstakingly installed cup hooks around the entire room, vaults and all, and hung up lights for me. They will stay up year round.

This ceramic sign hangs in our bedroom, and I need to look at it a bit more often.  How many oh-no's! in life opened the way to many wonderful things? 

Then, I spied some coffee cups in the kitchen:

I collected those letter cups, inspired by the find of the vintage "J" cup on Etsy.  I realized that I had a word and a phrase all along that I should take to heart in 2014.  Life isn't going to start when I lose 10 (20, 30?) pounds.  I won't be all that more creative when I clean and organize my storage closet.  Lake beauty doesn't start when the lake thaws and the trees get their leaves again.  My extra padding is perfect for soothing a baby.  I find that I am at my most productive when things are a bit messy.  The scenery out my window right now is breathtaking...a scene right out of Doctor Zhivago.  The Joy is in the Journey.  What a trip it is!   Jerilynn

Pillow Talk

Wow, it just seems like a few months ago that I was enjoying the snowy view from the studio, and here I am again!  Well, it was just a few months ago that we had the big May snowstorm.  I guess Northern Wisconsin is always full of surprises!  It has been a busy few weeks - some family arrived November 22, and then other assorted children/grandchildren/family have been taking up bed space since that date.  It has been fun, and I did get the Christmas decorations out, but not much sewing has happened.  I have been working on some Christmas knitting at night, which is good.  Today is a sewing day, and I am trying not to get too nervous looking at the list of things that need to get done.  It all magically happens, though, doesn't it?  It's as if there are little elves that somehow pick up the slack while I am sleeping.  Before the arrival of all the peeps, I finished a garter stitch knit pillow and some bluejean pillows for the new porch room.  I think I need to think of another name to call that room, because, as the last couple weeks have shown, it has become a much-used room for all sorts of gatherings.  We even put up a big table out there when we had 19 for Thanksgiving dinner.  We have a couple heaters that keep the room very toasty and comfy.  Yesterday Carl put in 30+ cup hooks and hung white lights all around the vaulted ceiling.  Now I love it even more!  My list is glaring at me, knowing that I should be getting busy.  Hope wherever you are, you are warm and cozy, too, with lots of projects to keep you from being bored.  Jerilynn

Swiss Army Knitted Pillow

Been doing some knervous knitting these past couple of nights.  I wasn't sure if I could do intarsia knitting using a garter stitch, but, after a little internet search, found it it was quite easy to do.  Someday I may have enough money to buy, or enough luck to find a bargain priced Swiss Army Blanket.  Until then, I will continue to make blanket inspired projects.  So, I knervously knitted a couple of big squares using cotton yarn, inserting a red cross in one of the sides.  I made a squishy pillow form for inside, and whip stitched closed.  This was a pretty quick knit - 50 cast-on stitches on size 6 needles, 50 garter stitch ridges (100 rows).  Another good idea would be an intarsia tree on a red background.  I have a request from oldest granddaughter for some new felted wool mittens, so I may knervously knit those for a while.  During the day, the studio is in full holiday speed ahead, but in the evening, a comfy chair, a little tv, and some knitting is what I need.  Jerilynn

Posy Penney Table Runners

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The bottom shot is the "up north" coloration of my Posy Penny Table Runner.  A Florida friend was visiting a friend up here in Cumberland and saw her runner and loved it!  The colors, however, were too "cabiny" for the Sunshine State.  One Christmas gift request later, and a change of colors to a tropical palette, and the Sunny Posy Penny Table Runner was complete.  It was fun making something in colors that I don't normally use.  I think we all have colors that we just naturally gravitate towards; certainly red is my anchor color!  I hadn't made one of these runners in a while and I was pleased to discover that I could follow my pattern instructions quite easily.  Like a past note to a future me on what to do.  Jerilynn

Fall Back Fun

Happy Fall Back Day!  This is probably my favorite day of the year.  Usually, sometime during this day, I will think that is it an hour later, realize I was looking at a clock that has not been set back, and....I have an extra hour!!!  A gift of time.  It is a nice day here, finally, after a week of clouds and a bit of rain.  I helped Carl rake a little until the neighbor came over with his gigantic leaf vacuum and helped Carl finish the job.  Another gift of time for me!!  I decided to take that found time and finish a quilt-as-you-go Big Bottom Bonnie Bag that I had started a few days ago.  I increased the size of the bag until it was about 9"x12", a good size to hold a lot of stuff.  The method I used was the one I learned in a Craftsy class taught by Tara Rebman (I highly recommend that class).  It is a quilting style that can be applied to all sorts of projects and is a good one to use up snippets of fabrics.  I love all the colors of fabrics that I used...I just pulled out my bin of tiny fabric scraps and mostly picked from there.  I think my hour is up, but I do still have that found don't-have-to-help-rake time, so maybe I can find something else quick and fun to tackle.  I have a pretty good list of things that need to be done, but I think Fall Back Day is for kicking back, relaxing, settling in for those early dark evenings and starting the lake freeze watch.  What did you spend your extra hour on today?  Jerilynn

A Cute Bag and A Cute Grandson

Finished a bag I have been working on.  It is A Cute Bag by Ginnie Kelly of Wonder Woman Quilts.  It is A Much Cuter Bag in person.  Color is off in the photo and I had a hard time getting it corrected.  Anyway, the fabric is a heavier home-dec fabric.  The stripey side is one side of the fabric, and the little square dots is the other side.  The reverse of the bag looks just like this side with the rounded pocket.  The two big outer pockets are closed with magnets, then there are two outside zipped pockets, one inside pocket for the cell phone, and one inside zipped pocket for treasures.  I added a zipper to close the top instead of the magnet in the instructions.  I also made the strap different.  I ran out of fabric - I used almost every bit of the fabric I had on hand - and didn't have enough for the wider strap which is supposed to attach to the top of the rounded pocket.  The fabric I used was just a bit too thick, but I managed to sew through all of the millions of layers just fine.  Trick is to use a very heavy needle - in this case it was a 110 topstitch needle, the kind I use to hem jeans.  I have been upstairs in the studio most of the day, while the electric stuff is being finished in the porch.  Our oldest grandson, Nick, has been working with his father, a commercial electrician, all summer.  Carl called Nick a couple of days ago and asked for help with finishing the electrical stuff.  Carl couldn't do it with his current finger mishap, but knew that Nick could do it.  Lucky us, Nick was able to come up today to help.  We now have working plugs, an outdoor light, a ceiling fan/light, and a hanging lantern light for over a table.  Carl is working on finishing the window and door trim before we put in the modular carpet.  It will be a race to see if it can be finished in time to use it a couple of times before the long winter freeze.  Happy hour will be under the lights on the screen porch tonight!  Woo hoo! Jerilynn

These Shoes Are Made For Storing

The picture in the middle is from ShelleyGerber.com, and it is a shot of part of her studio.  She is a multi-talented knitter, sewer, jewelry-maker, graphic designer, and so on and so on.  Her studio was shown in the Spring 2012 issue of Studios by Cloth.Paper.Scissors.  My friend Bonnie, of the Big Bottom Bonnie Bag fame, came up for a lesson on her new sewing machine.  She needed a little one-on-one instruction and I was happy to help.  She picked up this Studios issue and thumbed through and spied the pink shoes on the wall in Shelley's studio and said that is something I should do.  I agreed!  I was in the shoe business for many years and had some fun shoes that were just being stored in a box.  I couldn't get rid of them...they were just too cute.  I remembered the Zalo needlepoint ladybug flats that I purchased in New York for a ridiculous amount of money.  I wore them a few times, but, though cute, were a bit uncomfortable, and maybe just a tad quirky.  They remind me of my career days, and, because of the ladybugs, I just cannot send them to another home.  Carl, with his finger still bandaged, helped me pound in hangers in the heels, and the shoes now hang on my studio wall, in the "ladybug" corner.  I don't know what they are going to hold yet, but they look pretty darn perfect.  Much better than being in the box in the storage room.   Then I spied my old ladybug rain boots that haven't been used in quite a while.  They wanted to be part of the party, too, so now they are holding  yardsticks.  When we moved from our condo to the lake, I got rid of tons of stuff, but there were a few things that were just too dear or sentimental that I couldn't part with.  I wonder what else I could rescue from a box and give it new purpose?  Jerilynn  P.S.  We saw Carl's finger for the first time yesterday at the doctor's office.  Somewhat shocking.  He is back to his building project today, of course, not letting a shorter finger slow him down much. 

There Will Be a Slight Construction Delay....

What a crazy few weeks!  I gave a talk/trunk show/demo at Sew Complete the first part of October.  Prior to that I sewed and created for hours a day to finish up some projects to show.  At the same time I sent off to Indygo Junction another Modern America quilt, this time an applique version for Fall Market. That was followed by a request for pillows to match.  I was keeping my nose slightly above water when I got the phone call that you don't want to get...."Jer, there has been an accident."  I was having lunch with my mom on the way home from the last lecture.  Carl was working with our builder on our new screen porch room and he was doing the sawing while Joe was doing the nailing.  Carl got distracted and ran his right pointer finger into the table saw.  Two ER trips, one reconstructive surgery, and two weeks later, Carl is doing good.  We go in tomorrow to take off the original surgery bandages.  He should have good use of the finger and joints, once the broken bones heal.  The finger will be shorter, part of the top bone was too crushed to save.  We are lucky that a hand reconstruction specialist happened to be coming to the hospital here the day after the accident.  We are lucky that Joe was here with Carl to take him to the ER.  I am lucky that Carl is the best-natured guy in the world and has been the best patient ever.  The first couple of days were rocky for him, but, other than a huge bandage on his right hand, he is back doing most everything.  I spent the last few days digging out my studio from the sewing frenzy/drop everything from the lecture.  I did find some time, however, to make a blanket for a doll for our youngest granddaughter, Addy.  Addy and her parents are going to Costa Rica for a couple of weeks on a sabbatical.  The doll, with extra clothes, will be an airplane toy.  I thought the baby could use a blanket, and had a few scraps left of Addy's first year clothes.  You may remember the blanket I made for Addy's first birthday.  Anyway, the little squares are 2.5" and are serged together then stitched to a soft blanket and bound.  The doll may not appreciate the softness, but I think Addy will like her baby having a blanket like hers.  The construction of the screen porch is still coming along.  Carl figured out he could use his nail gun with his left hand.  He is slowly sawing boards for the interior finish, but with much attention.  Whew.  Jerilynn

Red Love

I may have mentioned at some point that I like the color red.  My Pinterest boards are full of Red Ideas...the top two photos are images that I have pinned.  The first is a tutorial from Purl Soho.  I simply took a pre-made white tea towel and did three lines of decorative stitching with a deep red thread.  Modern and vintage at the same time!  The second photo is from http://lilliathome.blogspot.com/search/label/Jul and is in Norwegian, so I am not sure what it all says, but I took the cross-stitch pillow idea and designed my version in Bernina V6 Embroidery Software in the cross-stitch program.  It was quite easy:  just click in a square that you want a stitch.  I made a towel out of a deep red Osnaburg fabric.  Love that fabric and color, don't you?  I used a wash-away stabilizer and stitched away.  I threw the towel in the washer and dryer to remove any stabilizer and this is how it looks - straight out of the dryer, no ironing.  Red and white Heaven!  Jerilynn 

Name Coasters

Remember the snowflake name coasters I  made last Christmas?  I though I would come up with another name idea for this year.  I made the snowflake by digitizing a name (Lori in the snowflake picture), mirror-imaging it and wreathing it 6 times in a snowflake pattern.   Hmmm, what else could I make by wreathing a name.....duh!  A wreath!  I added some hot-fix crystals just for a bit of holiday sparkle.  Any week now Bernina Embroidery Software Version 7 is coming out.  I can easily say that I am just more than a little excited about learning all the new stuff it can do.  I hope the wreathing tool is still there.  I  need to make a bunch of name wreaths.  Jerilynn  P.S.  Can you tell what the two names are in the new coasters?

Going in Circles

Circular embroidery attachments for sewing machines are so much fun.  Pfaff has one for their  machines now and it is very sturdy and easy to use.  I also have an attachment for my Bernina and my Brother.  I guess you could say I really like using them - and each machine has their own unique stitches, so I have been having a great time thinking of new projects to make with them.  I came up with a good idea!  I thought it would be fun to try to put in a zipper with the circular attachment and make a half-circle bag.  The idea worked great!  I  made a jewelry pouch, a sewing kit pouch, and a smaller pouch to stick in a bag for money, etc.  They are lined and have an inner layer of Soft and Stable for padding.  I will probably write a pattern for this technique.  I will keep you posted when this is done.  In the meantime, I am preparing for the Sew Club lecture at Sew Complete in October. Of course I have too many projects I want to finish and too little time.  Some days I feel as if I am just going in circles.  Jerilynn

Apple Woolfelt Coasters

What a gloomy day.  Still hot and muggy and no sun for a decent shot of my newest coaster set.  I am getting an order ready and thought I would come up with a new variation of an apple design I did last fall.  I think they turned out pretty cute, but I need to work on the sew-out order.  Too many jump stitches for this lazy-trimmer.  This is the last big lake weekend of the year, and probably the last weekend before the front of our house gets torn up.  I am  excited about the new addition-to-be, but realize that things are bound to get messy.  Carl and I made a pact when we put on the big addition a couple of years ago not to get upset about the inevitable snags in the plan.  We agreed to figure out solutions and look at the problems as opportunities to be creative.  Even though a three season screen porch is a minor project, there will be surprises.  I have a long list of things that should have been done yesterday to keep me busy in the studio.  I will supervise from above.  When I think that I need a mental break, I will turn to my simple little Woolfelt coasters that seem to amuse me to no end.  In the meantime, I need to spiff up the house and make a food plan.  Apple pie sounds good. Jerilynn

Getting Ready for Snow

The weather.  Let's talk about the weather.  Carl always says that there will be a winter storm during the high school basketball finals at Madison.  He also says that it will usually get very hot once school starts in the fall. He is usually spot on.  Although some kids don't start school until after Labor Day, and I see that the really hot/humid weather should break by then, some kids have started, and it has been a muggy mess.  Last winter was cold and snowy and loooooong.  I am sure there are all kinds of predictors for this year, but I am prepared for Old Man Winter.  I have made a new set of coasters that I am calling Cabin Blanket Coasters.  How do I ever come up with such clever names?  My furniture will be protected from coffee, hot chocolate, and warm spiced wine.  For sale soon at Idlewild, a local Outfitting store that is chock full of cool clothing and decor.  You better go buy a set or two before the snow flies.  Jerilynn

Tackle Box Catch-All

We do not have a junk drawer in our small kitchen. There is a drawer in one of Carl's tool cabinets that has an interesting assortment of "stuff" leftover for the junk drawer at our condo. I am sure he would be delighted if I would sort/toss/discover the contents. Feeling very noble about the lack of said drawer in the kitchen, I spied the file basket at the end of the counter that we use for pens, paper, chargers, sunglasses, flashlight....hmmm...we HAVE a junk drawer and it is right there - in plain sight all along! In the meantime, I bought a vintage green tackle box to put in the niche under our tv to hold coasters and playing cards. Unfortunately it was about 1/16" too tall. It was just patiently waiting for a good idea. I dumped out the contents of the basket file, and wish I had taken a picture of what was in there. Just like a junk drawer, it had a puzzling amount of odds and ends. Even if I had ever needed any of it, I wouldn't have known to look for it there! I also have the inability to throw away pens or pencils, even if they don't write well. So, the spot to grab a pen to write a quick note had about 50 to choose from. Armed with the desire to utilize the tackle box, I whittled down the pens to a few favorites (wow, it was hard to toss the remaining writing utensils. Aren't they still good for something?) a small stack of cut scrap paper, two phone chargers... You get the picture. There is even built-in measuring on the tackle box lid for quick sizing. It is cute, efficient, and the lid can close. Check back with me in 6 months to see what curiosities accumulate within. Jerilynn

Quilt-As-You-Go

I like going to sewing/quilting/photography classes in my red jammies.  Of course, the classes are online, and I usually watch them with a cup of coffee, lazily starting my day.  I think that if I keep watching techniques, eventually something will stick and I can apply it to real life.  I have taken quite a few Craftsy classes, some free and some for pay.  Of the half dozen or so that I have watched, only a couple were disappointing.  Some I would even watch again - so much good info was presented that I may have missed something the first go-round.  One class that was really good was the class by Tara Rebman, Quilt-As-You-Go Patchwork Bags.  The main project was the Tinker Tote, first picture above.  The class included the pattern for the bag, and very good step-by step instructions, presented with humor and lots of good hints.  The quilt-as-you-go technique has been around for a while, in many different forms, but this one is simple and straight forward, producing neat results.  The drawback to some other methods is that the back of the quilt has some start and stop problems.  Tara gets around this by quilting the patchwork top, then adding a back.  The first project in the class, to introduce her method, is a sew, flip, quilt potholder.  Pick fun fabric scraps, some heat-resistant batting, cotton batting, and thread.  Zip, zip, top is done.  Add a cute fabric back and do some quilting in the ditch.  Round the corners to avoid mitering, and stitch on a bias binding.  A fun, quick project when you are avoiding doing what you really should be doing.  Did I write that out loud?  Jerilynn

Pinned PIN Pincushion

Protect your PIN at all times, and that also goes for the pins in your sewing room!  The bottom shot is one I pinned to my Pinterest board, and it is from Charlotte from Folksy shop Sixes and Sevens.  Since I am on a "Pinterst board inspiration kick", I decided to make my own version of the PIN pincushion.  I had some alphabet stamps that I stamped in Versacraft ink, which, when heat-set, are permanent on fabric.  Scraps of decorator weight, sewing-themed fabric were added to each side of the stamped linen.  I made a quick little square "pillow", filled the pillow with crushed walnut shells, and hand-stitched the opening closed.  The stamping was quite fun.  I gave away all my stamps over 20 years ago, and now wish I had kept some for stamping on fabric.  I have seen some Pins of stamped bags and totes, and would like to combine some wording with applique or embroidery.  As I write this blog post, I spy a bit of orange on a maple tree outside my studio window.  My goodness.  We had just a touch of summer!  Lots of visitors, but not much jumping in the lake to cool off.  Carl will be adding a three season porch to the front of our house in a couple of weeks.  I will "supervise" from the third floor while trying a little more stamping.  Jerilynn

Wall Flower

Another new project based on a Pinterest idea.  There are several variations of this idea floating around, and I am not sure if I even pinned it to one of my boards.  Usually a ball jar is used, and it hangs by a wire on a curtain rod support.  I used a little glass milk jar to hold just a few posies.  We got a huge, takes two hands to hold, garden bouquet at the Saturday Farmer's Market.  Split up it makes three bouquets...smile.  Jerilynn

Easy Ironing Board Cover

I love Ikea, but as we all know, their products are not USA standard-sized.  Part of the appeal, I guess, but don't get Carl started on trying to fit a USA faucet on an Ikea vanity top...Anyway, a second ironing board in my studio is one I got at Ikea, with a cute cover - top photo.  At least it was cute when new. Lately, it has been looking a bit weary.  I decided to wash it, thinking that would bring it back to life, but it still looked pretty stained.  Because the ironing board is an odd size, I can't just bop into Walmart and get a new cover.  Plus, who designs those covers, anyway?  Pinterest to the rescue.  Last night I saw a pin that was pinned from http://www.makeithandmade.com/2013/05/the-easiest-ironing-board-cover-ever.html.  It truly was super fast to make!  I re-used the gathering string from the original cover, so I didn't even have to find any elastic.  The hardest part was finding a big enough piece of fabric that was cute.  The fabric I found is just perfect.  I had bought it a while back on Etsy, and I think it is Swedish (I know, the words are English).  It seems to be a cotton/linen blend and is a very sweet-looking cover, at least for a while.  I think it is so fitting that the new cover for my Ikea ironing board is some fabric from Sweden.  I am pleased with my new cover, I am pleased that I used another idea that I pinned, and I am happy  that this cute fabric is no longer folded up in a drawer.  Jerilynn 

August

August?  Well, we DID have our one week of summer in July.  And, even though the weather has been a bit chilly, we live on a lake, and it is summer, so the Hotel has been busy!  We do love having friends and family.  Lots of eating, drinking, laughing...not much time for blogging!  Last week I had a few friends from my Bernina V6 software group up for a few days of sewing.  I had a list of things that needed to get done, but I decided to make a quilt for one of the beds in the Blue Room and finish quilting a little wall quilt I started a few years ago.  The quilt was inspired by one I pinned to my Pinterest Sewing board and can be found here at quiltsbycheri.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-quilt-to-share.html .  I am still inspired by Malka Dubrawsky's big block quilts, so I made these cross blocks 12".  I think the next quilt I make I will aim for even bigger sized blocks.  This went together fairly quickly, and I simply quilted it with a slight zig-zag stitch using a walking foot.  The wall quilt I free-motioned with a flower motif and outline quilting around the shapes.  Two reasons I am pleased:  one, I finished an unfinished project; two, I actually used something on my Pinterest board that I had pinned as an inspiration!  While looking through my Pinterest pins, I discovered all sorts of fun ideas to get me going.  Now, more than ever, sewing and creating offers me the escape from the realities of personal and family health scares and the numerous crises of children and grandchildren.  Corners  match up, steam irons flatten seams, bright colors sing. All is well.  Jerilynn 

Doesn't Everyone Want a Beaver Dam Lake Towel?

So excited about a project that I am in the middle of!  The above photo is of Beaver Dam Lake, with  the depths in different colors.  I designed this using Bernina V6 software, so I not only have the outlines in vector format, but also in stitches, should I wish to embroider this out.  I printed the drawing on Transfer Artist Paper and then ironed it on a nice white dish towel.  It looks good, but I was limited by the 8.5" x 11" size of the paper.  Then it hit me! (An idea, not the towel)  I could upload a file to Spoonflower and have it printed there!  I did some research on the Spoonflower site and it seems as if most towels are printed on their linen/cotton fabric that is 54" wide.  I remembered that I ordered the fabric for our new shower curtain on that blend, so I made a towel out of some of the leftover fabric, washed and dried it, and was very pleased at the weight, and "wickiness" of the towel.  I am going to add the names of the bays of the lakes, and some of the nicknames of some of the spots...such as sunset and woodtick points.  Of course I won't be able to pinpoint where we live (red star in above shot), because I think other lake people might also think this is a fun idea.  I ordered a color chart from Spoonflower printed on the linen/cotton that will show the computer screen colors translated into print colors.  Once I get that, and the information from some locals on lake labels, I can upload and print.  I will not be limited by size, although four pretty good sized towels can be made from a yard.  That would leave plenty of room for a bigger map.  Placemats, tablecoths, even tee shirts made from the map printed on knit fabric.  This is fun.  Jerilynn

Knit Pillows

With the leftover yarn from the gold afghan, I made two throw pillows using a garter stitch. I overlapped two edges and closed up the sides. Added buttons and stuffed in a pillow form I made using a dark yellow cotton. They look comfy in their new home. I've been looking at my pillows around the cabin and thinking I need a new bunch. Know anyone who could make some for me? Jerilynn

Summertime Memories in the Making

Yesterday I had an outing with a couple of friends from across the lake.  We went to a big old house just into Minnesota for a special sale of "treasures" that happens just a few times a year.  So fun.  I tried to remember my self-imposed buying ban, but I couldn't resist an old green metal tackle box, or a hand-stitched, HUGE, patchwork quilt in excellent condition for $24.  I had to buy it and give it a new home.  It was a rescue mission.  Anyway, we also stopped at the bead shop in Taylors Falls, MN.  I did very well.  I only bought some African Christmas beads to replace the ones I have used up.  They are the tiny, multi-colored beads that I love using as fillers.  A bargain at $2.50 a strand.  What I HAD to buy, however, were some drilled stones from Lake Superior.  When my kids were growing up, a trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior was THE best trip.  When it was hot and muggy in Chippewa Falls, it was fresh and beautiful on the shore.  Hours were spent just throwing little stones in the lake.  I saw those little stones, and knew I needed to make a little pendant.  It is only 1 1/4" x 1/2", with sterling silver wire.  It will be fun to wear here at the lake.  Summer is here, both on the calendar and on the thermometer.  We have had the windows open for quite a few days - nights have been at such a good sleeping temp, but today the humidity has arrived and the air conditioner is on.  I am hoping that it gets a bit nicer at, say, 5:00-ish.  We just bought a bottle of pre-mixed Zombies and I think a little patio sipping may be in order.  I will wear khakis, a white shirt, and my new Lake Superior Necklace.  And bug repellant.  Jerilynn

Leftover Yarn Blanket

Here are a couple of shots of the afghan made from the leftover yarn from here .Again, this is a seed stitch, knit one, purl one.  The bottom shot is a more detailed look at the squishy goodness of this.  Once you get over the idea that you are going to knit one, purl one, for a very long time, it is the perfect Knervous Knitting project.  The yarn is acrylic, but of a very good quality and very soft, very washable.  Good for a lake house cuddle blanket.  Jerilynn