Monica Knits

This 18 color Ukrainian madonna and child image from the Museum Collection of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada was cross stitched by my mother-in-law, Margaret, from a pattern drawn by Nell Burianyk. The colors are more vibrant than shown, but I had to photograph it in the shade because it is framed with highly reflective glass. This gives creates a blue cast to the image. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.

Pattern source: "Ukrainian Embroidery Designs and Stitches," Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, 1956.

I'm sure the grass grew 2" overnight! The weeds (spiky, sharp leaved) grew from 0" to 6-8" just this past week, so I was busy digging them up by the roots before they took over my garden. I barely began when my 12 year old weed mini shovel cracked. Fortunately I was able to get another at the local Home Improvement center and got back to weeding.

I decided to take a photograph of a nupp (mini-bobble) to show what can happen if the center of the 5 loops is mistakenly not purled. As you can see, you end up with a loose loop, which looks like a snag. This is an example of one of the two most likely errors that can be made in knitting nupps and a method for preventing this type of error was discussed yesterday. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image or the link below for tips on how to prevent this type of error.

Click here to read the article: Tips for Knitting a 5 stitch Nupp with Lace Weight Yarn.

The lily of the valley pattern is a little trickier to knit with lace weight yarn than fingering weight because it is easy to miss picking up one of the 5 loops or to accidentally pick up an extra loop. The middle of the 5 stitches in the nupp is sometimes tight or hidden behind the other loops. The other potential error is to accidentally pick up 6 sts, since for many of the nupps, the next stitch is a yarn over, which is easy to unwittingly pickup with a 3.25 mm needle. The use of a small diameter, contrast colored is used to ensure that 5 and only 5 loops are picked up. Read more ... for additional photos and discussion.

When my husband first saw this friendly fellow, the dog was sniffing along a busy street and crossed the road during heavy traffic. Dogs seem to sense that he will help them, and when this yellow lab saw my husband, he came to him. While my husband was googling the dog's address from the name tag, the dog played energetically with a makeshift toy.

My husband has an innate and uncanny knack for finding the perfect game and toy for each dog and the dog was having a blast with the toy. After a too brief visit, my husband put a leash on the dog and returned him to his home.

The tropical style weather has done wonders for the flowers, which are more lush and have been blooming longer than in years past. These echinacea just started blooming last week. The contrasting lilac colored flowers are purple liatris.

I have to smile whenever I see this cat sleeping on a cozy chair in my parents' kitchen.

Pompoms can be used to decorate clothing, accessories and home decor items. They can be made in custom sizes and in single or multiple colors. Although you can purchase pompom makers, it is easy enough to make your own. Read more .... for instructions

I was returning from the post office and looked northwest towards my home and noticed the storm clouds. If you look closely you will see a vertical wall of dark clouds. The clouds actually were in a mushroom shape centered over our subdivision; I just couldn't get the whole picture in the viewfinder. By the time I got home, the rain was torrential and the lightening spectacular, even mid-day.

The Rochester Public Library has a collection of amazing sculptures including four of children at play. The "Wings" sculpture is one of these.