Roses with Other Names

In this case, I knit three roses using different yarns and dissimilar centers.  But they all looked pretty much like red roses, even if their names were changed to fit their purposes.

Here is the last of the four roses knit, Miss Priss.  It was knitted with 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon.  It used about 15 yards of polyester grosgrain.  Disadvantages of grosgrain ribbon was that it was too stiff to easily handle, causing problems in pulling through loops and resulting in cramping hands, and the back was not flat.  Advice: use a lighter weight ribbon, and flatten down ribbon before sewing it to make a backing. It has a good heft to it.  A found silk covered button was sewn into its middle.

This rose I wore yesterday on a black mock turtleneck pullover, giving a bit of color to the outfit.  The name Miss Priss seems to fit this rose.

Below is another rose, we'll call her "Libby's Sunday Rose" for use on a hat brim.  Libby was the reluctant model.  It was knit from two strands of fingering weight wool yarn, without a middle button. It gives a bit of "Je suis belle et ça ne demande aucun." Translated it means "I'm beautiful and it requires no effort." And it required no effort on the part of Libby other than to hold still.

Then there is another red rose, "Two Tones Floozy" that is my favorite.  It was knit from worsted wool, with the inner petal knit in a darker, warmer reddish blue yarn.

Two Tone Floozy might get knit again in contrasting colors of yellow for a summer scarf.

Here is a blue flower with ribbon and blue acrylic yarn with a rhinestone button used for a stamin:

The pattern for the roses shown is the same pattern: Knitted Flower by Absolute Knits.

Closing in on Thanksgiving

Yesterday at the manor, almost 200 residents and family members were served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  It seemed to come off without a hitch, and everyone was in good humor.  Julie even had the opportunity to play with a tiny puppy brought in by a teenaged family member.  The puppy was less than two pounds, named Bentley.

 

Ed, Food Manager

There were two seating times, and Gene and Julie and I ate during the later time.  We were seated with Louise and her daughter Linda, and it was almost like any other weekday lunch, except my usual soup was not packed and reheated, and it was a tasty and festive holiday lunch. Activity Director Cindy made place cards and pretty table decorations.

Marianne made some delicious artisan bread last week and forwarded the recipe that you can pick up here.  Another loaf of bread that I made over the weekend was also pretty darn delicious, but it called for half a cup of olive oil, so it was more calorific. That recipe can be found here. Both recipes are delicious and easy to make.

Nephew Jeremy and his family are driving up from Georgetown, Texas this week.  I will try to get some old fashioned Quaker Oats Vanishing Cookies made for snacking, along with a few loaves of the no-knead breads.  We will be having our Thursday noon meal at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic parish along with a few others sharing in a Thanksgiving potluck. Jeremy and Martha and Evan and Edie will be staying at a bed and breakfast in Montrose this week, but we plan on getting lots of visiting in while they are here in Colorado.

Remember the St. Brigid cross that my friend Sharon was on the lookout for while she was in Ireland over the summer?  I put all the crosses, including St. Brigid's, on a wall mount for display. The red makes me happy! The cross on the right is made from olive wood and was crafted in Bethlehem.  The cross on the bottom left is from the youth group fund raiser as they are collecting money to go to an alternative Spring Break in El Salvador

And then, after two weeks without posting, I feel compelled to update knitting news.  I am making this free headband pattern as my hair is thinning and a cover-up can't be beat, especially when it is cold outside.  I have made a couple of knit flowers that are fun and look pretty on the headband.  That flower pattern is here.

Drops Headband Pattern

Easy Knitted Flower

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Animal Friends' Visits

It was a dog weekend to roll over for.  Friend Kathy in MN and her daughter adopted Olivia last night.  Olivia is a loving catahoula mix, who came all the way from her foster family in North Carolina to live in her new forever home in St Paul.

On Saturday, two friends came over at separate times with their animals.  Maggie is a Moxie Doxie, very smart and street savvy in a grand dame manner of sophistication and good breeding. She and her owner of 14 years have a wonderful, symbiotic relationship.

Then Cookie visited our sister dogs with Abbye, a Shit Tzu.  Here are some of her glamour shots.

You better believe that Cookie and Abbye are one hot number; they travel everywhere together.

And here is a photo of some of Sister Maggie and Sister Libby together, prior to Maggie marking her spot just below Libby. Libby was NOT the alpha dog that day!  In "air quotes" imagine that Maggie is telling Libby that she is the one who is in charge, in no uncertain terms.  (Beth was mortified.)  It was actually quite funny. Sister Maggie gave no apologies for her "appropriate" doggish behavior.

St. Francis is credited with being saint of animals, merchants and ecology.  He is beloved. More information about him here.

When he considered the primordial source of all things, [St. Francis] was filled with even more abundant piety, calling all creatures, no matter how small, by the name of brother and sister, because he knew they had the same source as himself. —Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274) [1]

And now I know why I refer to our dogs as sister dogs. Because St. Francis always knew their of their relationships under God's creation.

A Skylight, A Recipe for Rice Pudding, Carol's Thoughts on Knitting

Husband disapproves of blog posts that have more than one topical area as he thinks writing should be "on topic." When he reads this post, it will be understood that he again thinks I've gone a ramblin'.

Getting on with it, here is a picture snapped yesterday of one of the Tile Meister maestros performing his job of setting in a skylight in our relatively dark kitchen area; he had to go up twelve feet from the top of the ceiling through an attic area and onto the roof to get the job done.  Yay for him and great that we now have God's own natural light coming into our work area. 

Today's work in this new sunlight should be completed by 10 AM at the latest, to include this recipe (rice pudding with oranges) and this recipe (pumpkin snack cake).  I must return containers once filled with tasty, very much appreciated foods supplied by friends (apple and pumpkin pie and homemade chicken soup), so why not go ahead and make some foods that my tummy can handle as well? Brilliant. (oh, and no sleep last night because of steroids and I forgot about that insomnia issue until it was too late to take a sleeping pill). Not Brilliant. Latest bone scan this week showed progression of lesions on ribs and spine, uptake of dye inside the skull.

Treat yourself to some Trick or Treat Candy; I'll turn on the coffee!

Thoughts on Knitting (Guest writer is Carol Weber from New York). Carol wrote this a few weeks ago, and it has such a fall flair, an autumnal air, that I wanted to share it.  Carol went to the now Very Famous Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival in September.  At this event, many knitters spend more time and probably even more angst creating just the "right" sweater to wear to this weekend event.  (I would love to just go there and take pictures of the knitters showing their creations.) But I digress, and on with Carol's notes:

Hi Nancy, I wish I could have packaged up today to send it to you, to cheer you through these dark hours. My two knitting friends and I were at the sheep and wool festival. A heavy duty day of yarn shopping, punctuated by some muffins and cider, with a bright blue October sky above. The best part was meeting so many fiber folk, most of them dressed in their beautiful Rhinebeck sweaters that have been months in the making. 

...I was so excited to read that Mary Lou was going to be there at Rhinebeck that I went straight to her table when we arrived. And right next to her were Ann and Kay from Mason Dixon Knitting! I felt like a complete groupie. I got to tell them in person that it was their first book that got me back into knitting after a long dry spell. Blog land is certainly an amazing place!

And in a prior email... 

The best part of the day for me was meeting Mary Lou Egan of Yarnerinas. She's the only person I know who's actually met Jean Miles,; we had a nice chat. She is delightful. Mary Lou and her friends have a new book out, Drop Dead Easy Knits. I bought us each a copy.

Carol, please know I have looked through the book many times, and like I told you, the striped socks on size 5 needles are in the queue!

This is my newest screen saver, and I wish I had the nerve to pull it out when someone starts whining about ANYTHING.  Maybe I just will do that.  A few manor staff and residents will like this, Julie and Louise and April and Cindy for sure.  I'll record their reactions when I go in this morning.  I have missed being at the manor more than a few days this week due to health issues due to radiation of the pelvis. Enough said.

Chin up, dahlings!