MOD DESERT CACTUS KITCHEN TOWEL SET~Quartzsite-AZ

MOD Desert Cactus Kitchen Towel Set - I LIKE!

I love it here, in Arizona; I love it here, where we are currently set up … and I am trying to capture the moments in any small way I can - so, this kitchen towel set was worked up yesterday.

I used several different yarn colors to create the desert scene I envisioned in my mind's eye; and I used several knitting stiches to get the textured result I was angling for; I also used a hooked {embroidery} style to fashion the cactuses, and the sun.

The Sahara Splash portion of this towel was worked to resemble the rocky desert landscape. The Beige portion of this towel was worked to resemble the breezy desert dust-ups. The Blue portion of this towel was worked to highlight the desert sky. And the tinseled Holiday White was utilized to mimic the white quartz rocks that liberally litter the landscape of Quartzsite, Arizona. Saguaro Cactus and bright sunlight is also worked into my towel design. And I topped it off with a dragonfly button because I saw a dragonfly light on one of the creosote bushes outside our front door, the other day :-)

Rocky Arizona desert landscape; a silvery webbed Quartz rock; Bleu walking by a Saguaro cactus; & an armed Saguaro - in the distance.

No matter where I end up along this road trip … every time I use this towel, I will remember this particular moment.

In this space.

At this time, in my life ;-)

***************

MOD DESERT CACTUS KITCHEN TOWEL SET

The pattern directions may look complicated, but it's not that hard to work out ;-)

Materials:

Cotton yarn in Sahara Splash (Hobby Lobby store), Beige, Blue, Holiday White (Bernat yarn w-tinsel wound thru it); 1 skein of each - scrap yarn in Yellow & Green

# 9 knitting needles

#H crochet hook

Scissors

Tapestry Needle

Medium Button

Terms used:

st. st. = stockinette stitch (1 K row = RS - 1 P row = WS)

k = knit

p = purl

EO = end off yarn

CO = cast on stitches

EA = each

RS = front facing side of work

WS = back side of work

L = left

R = right

inc = increase 1 st (make 2 sts in same st)

dec = decrease 1 st (k 2 sts together)

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

sl st = slip stitch

With Sahara Splash & knitting needles, CO 74 sts.

Row 1: Purl

Rows 2 thru 10: Work the double Andalusian stitch as follows - 

rows 1 & alternate rows: K

rows 2: *k 2, p 4* across row.

row 4: P 3, *k 2, p 4* across row - end with k 2, p 1.

At the end of row 10, cut Sahara Splash and attach Beige.

Rows 11 thru 16: Work these rows in st. st.; cut Beige and attach Blue.

Row 17: *K 1, p1* across row.

Rows 18 thru 61: Work these rows in st. st.

Lightly textured & st. st. towel background.

Large Cactus Pattern: With  green & crochet hook, begin cactus on L side of RS of towel body as follows - attach green 13 sts from towel edge & 6 sts upward from beginning of hem line; crochet sl st 22 sts upward, then make 3 sl st for top curve, and work 22 sts downward. Continue in sl st embroidery for a satisfactory cactus design. EO & weave in loose ends.

Beginning large cactus outline.

Beginning first cactus 'spine' ... continue in same manner until cactus spines fill in the framework pattern.

Large Saguaro Cactus finished.

Small Cactus Pattern: With  green & crochet hook, begin cactus on R side of RS of towel body as follows - attach green 22 sts from towel edge & 16 sts upward from beginning of hem line (this should be at the beige part of towel pattern); crochet sl st 10 or 11 sts upward. EO & weave in loose ends. Make "arms" in the same fashion, just shorter in length. EO & weave in loose ends.

This armed Saguaro is worked to look far off, in the distance ;-)

Sun Pattern: With crochet hook, attach Yellow somewhere in the center of towel, and work a sl st embroidered circle. EO & weave in loose ends.

Embroidered hot desert sun.

Design in place; ready for topper ...

Row 62: Dec across row as follows - *P 2, p 3 tog* across row ... slipping sts off needle as you work across dec's row (you should have 27 sts on needle). EO Blue yarn.

Towel Topper: With Holiday White & crochet hook, work in sc across row - decreasing first 2 sts EA end of every row until 7 sts remain.

Crochet towel topper.

Alternately work 1 row sc & 1 row dc, for 13 rows.

Sl st x3 sc; ch 6 and sl st in same sp; sl st to end. Turn.

Dc x12 in chain loop; EO.

Add a decorative loop edging of your choice (or leave plain).

Sew button in place and weave in loose ends.

Dragonfly button closure.

MOD DISHRAG: Cast on 2 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 1, inc 1 st in next st.

Row 2: Knit 1, inc, knit across the row.

Row 3: Knit 2, inc, knit across row.

Row 4: Repeat Row 2 until you have 50 stitches on the needle.

Row 5: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row. Repeat Row 5 until you have 3 stitches left on the needle; K 3 sts tog - EO off and weave in loose ends.

POLITICAL INSANITY BEING HALTED

Thankfully, the DC insanity is being reined in.

It's about time reality set in: males should NOT compete in Women's sporting events. Males should NOT be entering female bathrooms, dressing rooms, or locker rooms 🤬

MALES ARE NOT - AND NEVER WILL BE - FEMALES 🤔

Males are biologically DIFFERENT from females & they are physically stronger than females. Any dimwit with even a miniscule sense of scientific understanding SHOULD "GET" THAT 🙄

NATURE'S BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED ROCKS~Quartzsite-AZ

The ground around our site is liberally littered with quartz - any shape and size; all different colors of the rainbow spectrum … white is the most prevalent, but today I lined our makeshift patio with beautifully hued hunks of quartz.

I was tempted to squirrel some away, but realistically there is nowhere to store them - space is pretty limited in a 5th wheel, and we need the space for food, tools, and maintenance implements.

So, I will enjoy them for a limited time (while we are here), and the leave them behind for someone else to enjoy.

These are the treasures I found today:

(1) Slate gray rock with rusty pink threaded through it. (2) Turquoise colored rocks are almost as numerous as the white quartz … (3) This rock was a mottled red - like a raw, fatty, beef roast. LOL

The pic does not do the rock justice; the black and orange was really darker - a good contrast.

Glittery black quartz … and another turquoise colored rock.

Turquoise colored rocks were pretty prevalent in this area …

Purple rock with gray speckles.

The dry wash behind us … LOTS of bushes to hide rattlesnakes, so I'm careful with Bleu nosing around back there.

The varied types of quartz that litters the ground around our immediate space; they have been added to the larger rocks that line our patio ;-)

This pic does not do this rock justice - it sparkles like glitter & is brilliantly colored.

Elohei is a great designer, and nature highlights the beauty.

Today's pretty rocks, and the other day's towering cactuses have inspired me to start work on another "knitted canvas" for our home ;-)

A BLOG HOP 'FEATURE'

Another Blog Hop 'Feature' ;-)

Creative Jewish Mom - Craft Schooling Sunday Blog Hop

This morning I checked in on my Israeli friend Sara; I've enjoyed her Blog Hop's for quite a while … and since hamas declared war on Israel a few days ago, I am concerned for her and those she loves: she did lose a friend on the first day of hama's attack.

I'm glad to see that she feels safe enough to be back blogging - (((thank You, Lord!)))

And I appreciated her featuring two of my chef towel patterns; she gave them nice reviews, too :-)

And nice reviews, too …

SHE RAH!~Sonoran Desert-AZ

 

The desert rang with the shout of "She rah!" this morning 😁

It was a little nippy this morning, so while laying there in bed listening to Bleu whining (he was hungry), I thought to myself, "I'm going to get that baby generator running today. Today is {The Day}; I know I can do it. Elohim knows I can do it. Holland bought that thing knowing I can do it. I WILL DO IT (my first attempt a few days ago was pathetic).

So, I got up. Fed the dog. And flexed my muscles - thinking how surprised Holland would be when he heard the generator singing 😉 

Firing the generator up was definitely on my 'Bucket List' ;-)

But …

Holland woke up before I made the door 😒

And when he made moves to get the generator, I said, "Let me do it" and quickly scooted past him before he could object.

Holland

I unlocked the hatch; grabbed the generator and hauled it out of the basement cubby (no small feat because the cubby is chest high on me) - and man-handled it across the patio to the propane tank.

Holland by now was watching me: gently encouraging me on how to get it hooked up (and verbally applauding me when I did "good"). Then came the cord pulling - this is what trips me up (I run out of breath yanking on the cord).

BUT

After 3 hefty pulls … IT CAME ALIVE.

The 'Baby Generator'

And I danced all over the patio, shouting and clapping, "I did it! I KNEW I could do it! Elohim knew I could DO it!"

Then, I grinned at my laughing husband, and whispered, "She Rah!" while dancing up the steps to get a cup of morning joy juice 😘

😂🤣👍👏😁

MOD CROCHET RUBBER THONGS TOE POST COVER

My rubber thongs are seriously worn down, but we've been on the road and I haven't been able to find the time to get new ones made up: I had bought four new pair, along with a spool of crochet thread, months ago - and this afternoon, I was finally able to get to them :-)

This is my own design: I first did this in 2017 … and first posted this 'on-the-fly' pattern to the Blog I had, in July of 2018.

I crocheted around the toe post of the new thongs with lightweight merchandized cotton thread to keep my inner toe skin from getting blistered. It didn’t need it to be fancy … just comfortable :-D

There is no pattern; I just got busy ;-)

But if you want to do something similar to your thongs, all you need is Size #10 Mercerized Cotton Thread, & a very small headed crochet hook. Gently pull the toe post out of the thong base. Make a chain to go around the thong post – join to encircle post and work in rounds to the upper straps, then crochet a chain long enough to reach around the strap, join to the beginning strap chain and sl st across the front of the post to the other strap and repeat. End off and weave thread in neatly. Gently push thong toe post back into place.

Begin the thread covering.

Weave in the loose thread.

Ta-da!

Repeat for second thong.

That’s it!

Easy peasy ;-)

MAKING HEADWAY

We've been here, in the Sonoran Desert for 11 days.

The first nine days were very hot - so the majority of our time was spent finding ways to stay comfortable: mornings we tended to household tasks; afternoons were siesta hours; and evenings were busy doing what didn't get done between morning tasks and afternoon siesta's ;-)

We have been enjoying ourselves.

We have been enjoying the sunrises and sunsets.

We have enjoyed watching Bleu enjoy his unleased freedom.

And we have been talking about getting to know "the neighbors". Holland has met two of them, & I have met one in the past 48 hours.

This morning while Holland dumped the trash and chased water, he made time to make time to meet and greet neighbors along the route.

Holland making time to take time to meet and greet the neighbors.

He also drive into town to grab some 2-cycle oil for the generators. I suggested he stop by 'Silly Al's', and get a pizza, too, while he was that way: he watches YouTube Channels, and one of the fellas he watches mentioned this Arizona Pizzeria; and Holland has been itching to try it.

While he was gone, I also got busy doing things I haven't had time to do.

I set out solar lights around the patio, while he was gone.

And taped down the foam lining the bed platform; the foam keeps us from skinning our knees and shins on the coarse wooden platform: Bleu keeps pulling it off when he jumps up and down - hopefully the duct tape will keep it in place.

Holland came home with a 22-inch diameter pizza!

I replaced my old, worn out thongs, with new ones; they worked up fast; this is my own design:

(https://roadgypsiesvalandholland.blogspot.com/2023/10/mod-crochet-rubber-thongs-toe-post-cover.html)

After Supper, we sat out on the patio enjoying the warm weather - and watching Bleu chase after his little rubber ball.

I was glad when the solar lights came on: they have been bouncing around in the RV basement for months, and even though I set them out … I wasn't 100% sure they would actually work.

Holland saw the first one come to life, and pointed it out to me: he also mentioned that he saw either a coyote or a fix race across the desert grit a few feet ahead. I missed that bit of excitement because my eyes were on the solar light flaring to life.

The other two lights were slow to catch life - but they eventually flared to life with a steady shine as the sunset lit the horizon ;-)

1 by 1 the solar lights came on; winkin', blinkin', and nod ;-)

We sat outside and watched the sunset for a while; 81-degrees.