the red and grey. Somewhere packed away I have a plaid flannel shirt that would go quite nicely with those 
Loving the Sox ladies! I’ve been working on hats in Dallas Cowboy colors for a friend in Texas, and on my little man’s blanket. Started the 3rd row of blocks… a quarter done!
I bet they’d be way way too big for you. I wear size 9 1/2 shoes. Hey, wait a minute, you have my cast iron and my flannel shirt? 
Oh, I want to see the blanket and the hats. It’s great you’re getting knitting time. I’m so glad. 
Knitted Buttons, a search on ravelry. 
The I-cord one caught my eye, the directions were not clear, but a raveler posted a diagram.
:cheering: 
GG: You are out of my league??? No way in H***, I really hope you are all not thinking that of me, I still consider myself an intermediate knitter, there are so many things that I have never made or do not have the knowledge to attempt. As you know of me by now, if I want to learn something, I become obsessed in trying over and over till I ‘get it’, but only if the technique interests me. We all have different interests in our knitting, I love the shawls the girls are making, but, I would never wear one, but that doesn’t stop me admiring them.
Love of knitting is what keeps us all connected, whether it is a dishcloth or a beaded shawl…
As for plain jane socks verses patterned socks, that is just a matter of preference. Making a few YO’s, SSK or k2tog to make a design isn’t rocket science, it is only a design element. A good pattern also helps.
If I can help someone on here, I do. If I can’t, I keep quiet.
I thought I was pretty good at knitting, have made several aran sweaters and other bits and pieces, until I found knitting help and realised there is so… much I don’t know. 
Since I have found this forum I have tried lace knitting, (without success so far) making socks and gloves (fairly successfully) :woot:.
But there are such a lot of helpful people here that knitting has become a pleasurable pastime again.
So thanks everybody 
I’d say anyone who knits Aran sweaters is at the very least “pretty good at knitting.” I saw socks you made and they’re terrific! Just because we find new things to try doesn’t mean we aren’t good at the things we already do. I’ve been told I make beautiful sox but they’re always Plain Jane Sox, nothing fancy. I have yet another heel to try, not because I really need another heel option but because I want to. My attempts at lace knitting thus far are less than hoped for, but I will try again. I read and heeded what Lori told me. She doubleknits with a zillion colors and makes patterns and inspires me. (Thanks, Lori! 
) This forum is horrible. It is the main enabler for so many of us.
Oddly enough this evening knitting isn’t soothing to me and that’s what I need, something soothing. My wonderful daughter has talked me into trying my hand at container vegetable gardening in her yard. It’s at least 5 years since I had any vegetables growing so we’re starting from scratch. We spent time at stores this morning getting plants and seeds and trying to figure out the best way to get started. I’m a wreck, I don’t handle that kind of thing well. Tomorrow I’ll be ready to go at it again. I have to get potting soil and think about how we’ll eventually build a raised bed as the soil there is nothing but sand. I’m irked that I can’t sit down and knit. :hair: I can’t stay still long enough. If I could it would help me think about these things. I’ll be glad when the worst of the start up is done, then I can enjoy it. I love growing things.
It got to 84F here today and this afternoon I washed towels and put them out on racks to dry on the balcony. I don’t think they took more than an hour. That’s another thing that’s bothering me, I had to clear the deck of all my stuff which means it’s inside. They’re going to be “paining” the buildings. They pressure washed them, I have no idea how long before they get around to “paining” and my stuff’s all inside… I think they meant “painting” but the typo seems a perfect Freudian slip to me. :gah:
I hope all are having a good evening or night or whatever it is where you are. This last month has been a really hard one for me and knowing you all are out there has helped immensely. Thank you!
Good on you GG for trying gardening. I am lucky? to have a smallish garden at my home, but I don’t have green fingers (or a green thumb) so my garden is yet again full of brambles.:tap: I WILL GET OUT THERE AND SORT IT OUT I keep saying that as they continue to grow bigger and BIGGER.:hair:
But seriously, if I get it tidied up I will enjoy the space, and the bbq’s 
Sorry to hear you’ve had a bad month GG, I hope they get that “paining” done soon so you can relax a bit.
my garden is yet again full of brambles.
Get a goat! They’ll eat just about anything. People here rent out their goats to eat the wild blackberries that want to overrun the world.
ETA I think what we call a yard, you call a garden. DD has a really large yard/garden.
What a good idea! :yay: Now I just need to find a rental goat!:roflhard:
mmm…okay, when can I come up and pick blackberries? Once I canned them with honey :drool:
Here’s a link for growing vegetables in sandy soil.
MIL’s garden is raised beds, I can take a look tomorrow and tell you how they’re constructed.
And I found this link on how to make soil for a raised garden bed.
sometimes I wish I didn’t need to sleep, night all :angelgrin:
Thanks, Claire. For now we’re starting out growing in pots. We’ll see how it progresses. Today is supposed to be in the mid 80s. Here, this time of year, that’s hot.
It’s 85 degrees here right now and dry as a bone.
I’ve been experimenting, trying out different buttons. I did an I-cord out of the yarn I’m using, and made I think a monkey-fist. Cute, but would stand too ‘proud’ for this project. I found a crochet one I really like, but the thick and thin characteristics of the yarn I’m using along with the weight of the yarn also not going to work.
Just dug out my ‘thread’ box and pulled a size 10, color natural, I think it may be too thin, try a single strand first, may need to double it. I’ll have to see if this works for the crochet button, I’m also thinking maybe twisting the yarn and doing a monkey fist, idk.
Well, at some point I will make it past the back on this vest. 
the entire back two days ago; found an egregious error today and yes you could see it from a galloping horse at 100 yards. I :knitting: therefore I :roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard:
I love the idea of this vest. It has no seams, instead buttons are sewn along the top edges and lots of buttonholes (eyelets) so that the vest can be buttoned differently each time it is worn.
I’ve decided on Emi Harrington’s Crochet Buttons :cheering: I used a size 10 crochet thread and a size B hook, 18 single crochet stitches for the length, rolled up and stitched together, it looks like a little rosette Cute as a button.
Egregious errors, my specialty. :mrgreen: I sympathize.
Nice vest and it will be so lovely as an FO! I like the button. Good job.
I think you beat us, it might get a little warmer but so far our high is 84. That’s OK by me. Tomorrow is supposed to be back to the 70s and then cooler and typically wetter. This might be our summer. I’m glad I could dry laundry outside today and yesterday. I may want my flannel sheets back on the bed by the weekend.
Claire that is going to be beautiful. :yay:
The weather over here is what they describe as “changeable”, which means the weather forecaster just isn’t sure what’s going to happen. Sunny, then greys over, then sunny again followed by some light rain etc. etc… But hey, still pleasantly warm, so really can’t complain too much.
Continued to look at North America maps again today, to find places to visit on our summer trip. Mt Ranier (not sure I’ve spelt that correctly) in Washington State looks good and not too far from number 2 sons Seattle home. So that’s one on the list.
Here’s Tori and her boyfriend, Tyler.