The Mock croc socks in the hand painted yarn are finished! I used the smaller size by accident, so I knit looser and I am delighted with the socks. I love the color and the pattern. Someday, I will make another pair. This is a free pattern from Knit picks, Just click on the red letters and it should take you to the pattern. Now, I need to decide if I should start another pair of socks during this season or whether I have plenty of other projects that should get finished this year. It would be great to get a couple of the flimsies quilted.
Monthly Archives: November 2016
Mock Croc socks finished
Autumn flimsy finished and lambs
This autumn flimsy is finished and will go on a hanger until I have time to quilt it. See how far ahead I am. I know that I can finish this before next October. The corners were a bit of a challenge because I really wanted to use another fabric, but I didn’t have enough of it. Well, I guess that’s why so many are “scrap” quilts. And yes, for the most part I did use scraps. I’m happy with the way it turned out. Apples, corn, leaves, pumpkins = all speak “end of the harvest.
Keri, who is in the plaid on the left is having a birthday, so her friends invited us to celebrate with them at Panera’s. We really had a great time, and I can’t wait until we can get together again. Keri, please invite them over in April/May when the lambs show up or you can just send them to this site.
Speaking of lambs, today we witnessed a little play between these two. I wonder if their lambs will be black or white. Fortunately, he is very sweet and will stand between you and his girl friend, but that is the limit of his aggressiveness. So I mark my calendar for 5 months from now.
Seed inventory – ready for January catalogues
Today I spent some time doing my seed inventory. Some I have left over, some were from an end of the year sale and some I saved from my own plantings. It seems January 1, the seed catalogs start finding their way into my physical mailbox as well as my computer mailbox. And their offerings are so pretty that I tend to forget that I have any seeds at all and then ….you know the rest of the story. So this year, I’ll be ready. I don’t need many seeds – only perhaps some paste tomatoes and some foods I haven’t grown before. I still need to decide how much of each to plant as this year we will be planting for two families. I need to find out what they want to plant – this is new for them. The other thing for which I want to be ready this year is to replant the spring crops in the late summer again – things like broccoli and cauliflower. It seems we use a lot of them so it would be nice to have extra in the freezer.
This was the largest pumpkin we harvested this year and was too large for the oven without cutting it into several pieces. It baked for 4 hours and tomorrow the plan is I will put it in the food processor, freeze some and make some pies. However, when I have to spend 1.5 hours walking to get my steps done, and go to the gym to maintain the ability to do what I want to do, and then a birthday lunch, I’m not going to guarantee anything else except a rest will get done. These dark, rainy days – which I know we need – do not increase my energy level.
Busy day, not much to show
We had a busy day, but mostly running around to the gym, to the chiropractor, and two stores. No we did not purchase anything, and yes, my back is better. But that didn’t leave as much time as I would have liked for sewing. I wanted to finish this flimsy, but that will wait. I have one more row and then borders. I’m thinking I want to put something in the border corners, but that hasn’t come to me yet.
Last night I was looking through my 2014 goals for knitting, sewing, etc. I did not make one quilt on that list. However, in 2013, I achieved 10 out of the 12. I think much of my quilt problem is like the one above. I catch an idea from someone/somewhere and it soon morphs into something else. This one started with a Christmas quilt I saw, but didn’t need a Christmas quilt, so I changed the colors to autumn and then I was off and running with an entirely different quilt. So the lack of getting something on that 2014 list done, isn’t because I didn’t make quilts. I didn’t make those quilts, but I made many quilts. Yes, I’d still like to make them and I have another entire list to add to it. Perhaps next year, I can put one a month on my list the first of each month and actually achieve some of them. Too many busy days.
The same thing happened with the machine embroidery. I have plenty on my list, but nothing was done this year. It is time to clear everything off this desk except for the notebook with all the lists. Then maybe I can check off some of the items. I would love to check off more than I add. But I know that the neighbor lady and I are planning two gardens this year to feed both families. I’m not sure if that will give us more or fewer busy days.
Autumn wall hanging
I spent several hours working on Autumn Wall Hanging which will be about 48″ square so could also be a wheel chair quilt. I had the 4 pieced blocks done last week, but wasn’t sure where I was going from there
I decided that leaves and pumpkins both fit into the autumn there. Since I didn’t have a leaf pattern I went outside and picked up a maple leaf, put it into the copy machine and produced the pattern that way.
The pumpkin shape was taken from an embroidery design which I used it as an applique. Now I think this is how the blocks will look. I don’t have enough of the rust color in the leaves to do the sashing, so will have to look for another fabric that will look good there. All in all , I am pleased with the progress I was able to make today.
Time consuming errands
Not really an errand, but this window has been bothering me because it is in the laundry room, but can be seen by anyone coming to the front door. It was one of those little things that is annoying only when I am nearby. Today was the day, I could no longer tolerate people being able to look in. This is an old curtain from times long gone, but was usable. I cut off the bottom, turned it up and it will be fine until I decide what I really want to do with this window.
Time consuming errands began in earnest after lunch though the gym came before that. Off to Costco to return some clothes we decided weren’t best for us, over to Walmart for a gift certificate, then Office Depot – time to get next year’s wall calendar. We tried to find a new store but I didn’t have the name of it and we didn’t find it. JoAnn’s didn’t have what I wanted. All in all, several hours were consumed with mixed results. Those are NOT my favorite days. I like productive days.
I came home and tried to change the door knob on the barn, but couldn’t get the old one off. I’ll ask the neighbor to help with that on Sunday. I did get the bee equipment into the garage for the winter. As soon as I can get the barn all fixed up, we will store that type of equipment up there.
Wednesday and Thursday there is a chance of some mild freezing, so I need to get finished with outside activities. And according to my Iphone, tomorrow starts a week of rain except possibly Tuesday. And did you know that Thanksgiving is two weeks from yesterday?
Enjoy the restful Sabbath hours where you can recharge. Shabbot Shalom to those of you who celebrate.
Mock Croc socks, pumpkin soup and new puppy
These are the Mock Crock socks started October 9. Am I really that slow? I have about 4″ of the foot done, so I’m hoping that another week will see these finished. For those of you doing several pairs of socks each month, what are you doing? How do you knit so fast? The detail on this pair of socks is Cascade Farms Heritage Paints and these are hand painted. The pattern is a Knit Picks (free) pattern. I like how the yarn works up in this easy pattern.
Isn’t this one of the cutest puppies going? She is also a sweetheart who thinks everyone should pick her up and love her back. At 8 weeks of age, she is the newest member of the neighborhood and no, she’s not ours. She belongs to the neighbors next door.
Yes, I did get a menu done for a week and a half, which will help me get food on the table without too much thinking. Today we had pumpkin soup, based on a recipe on the Territorial Seed Company.
Pumpkin soup recipe:
I started with a 3.5# sweet pie pumpkin, cleaned out the seeds and strings, then salted the inside. I then blended 3/4 cup of cashews with a quart of water and 3 cloves of garlic plus a teaspoon of ground sage. I put this in the pumpkin. All went into the oven in a casserole dish for 1.5 hours on 375 degrees. The dish was in case the pumpkin didn’t hold up. It was collapsing as I removed it. So I skinned the pumpkin, put the milk and pumpkin in the blender until smooth and served. It was a good thick soup and was enough for the two of us for 3 meals. I served it with a salad. It was so easy and so good, it will be served again and again this winter. The plan was to have the pumpkin be a fancy serving bowl, but it didn’t hold up. Maybe if I had cooked it a bit less or if I had had a larger pumpkin, it might have held up better. – I don’t know. I am sure one could use other milks with this.
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Block for an Autumn wall quilt
This block is for an autumn wall quilt that I’m wanting t make . It is a corner block from “Merry, Merry Christmas Quilt” by Debby Kratovil in her Quilt Block-a-Day Calendar 2006. I liked this block, but didn’t want it for Christmas so changed the colors to autumn colors and now need to decide if I want to stop here or add motifs to it. These 4 blocks are done, and I’m thinking perhaps pumpkins, turkeys, and another motif will become part of this. One thought is to put pumpkins in the corners and these between the pumpkins. My quilts often morph as I build them. No I’m not late, just early for next autumn. At least the plan is to get the flimsy done this next week and get the quilting done by then.
The bear paw quilt center is cut out. put in trays for sewing and the cutting table had been cleared, until I started cutting this autumn quilt.
Next I want to get my menus made for the next two weeks. And there is still some garlic to get into the ground before it freezes. It looks like I have at least 10 days for that. Might as well put it off as long as possible – or maybe not as it looks like rains starts back this weekend. Oh and I need a terrific vegan sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving potluck. Do you have one?
Organization and getting done what is important
Organization is usually very easy for me as I like to organize and can think better when things are organized. One issue comes when other people in my life get involved. If I have to leave something unfinished or someone moves things, does not put them away, etc. it is easy for me to just give up on organizing.
Another issue comes when I have overloaded myself which is common. Right now the sewing table and the ironing board as well as other surfaces are covered as I try to decide which pieces I want to cut out for this quilt. When the cutting is finished, I can put much of this fabric back and clear surfaces.
That being said, the following blog, by Sherri, on time organization came to my attention today. http://www.aquiltinglife.com/2016/11/time-management-for-quilters.html It is very much worth taking a moment to read. If I actually did #2 and limited myself to high priority each week, I would feel less scattered.
Then there is #3, meal planning for 2 weeks. I fallen so far down on that. Today, I went to the pantry,
which is well stocked this time of year and couldn’t find a thing I wanted to fix for lunch which is shameful in view of how full it is. We ended up having roasted potatoes, roasted squash and kale. It was taking time to think that was throwing me – (and some don’t even have that privilege). Had I taken the time to create a menu, it would have been easier.
#6 Being realistic in how long something will take me, is something with which I will always struggle, especially when I don’t count interruptions into the plan.
#8 is absolutely true. If I do that, then I don’t waste those little moments. This week my knitting has been sitting out, so that if I have 5 minutes, it is easy to pick up and knit a row.
Growing sweet potatoes education
Growing sweet potatoes this past summer is providing me with an education in how “not to”. First of all, I have never seen them grown and wasn’t sure what to expect. When I would dig a bit like with regular potatoes, I did not find anything.
I read that if the sweet potatoes are allowed to get below a certain ground temperature, they get hard spots that don’t cook soft. So today, I dug them. I really should have waited as they are still so small. (lesson learned) This is how they look underground and the roots manage to grow very deep. Next year, I will buy some starts of sweet potatoes that have a shorter maturity date because I did enjoy growing them. They took a good month to do anything and then they went crazy.
