Today I made good progress on “Bronwynn’s Mock Cable Socks”. I printed this pattern off the internet in 2005 and the site no longer is working. They were very easy to knit and the heel turn did not take much thinking.
I used this yarn which I purchased in Australia about 10 years ago. So both socks and yarn have had time to age. However, this is 100% wool yarn which is not as good for socks as if it has some nylon in it. Because this is a heavier yarn, I used #3 needles with 48 stitches.
This is made by several companies specifically to strengthen heels and toes. I used this darker color as it was what I had on hand. So if you look at the heel on these socks, you will see that I carried this yarn along for strength. Mending is not my favorite option and the bit of color difference won’t matter, since they are either worn at home or with shoes.
The Chinese coins quilt is cut out now and partially sewn. It is so wet here and the church wants quilts for the homeless, but how do they stay dry? And how do they clean them when they get filthy? Does anyone know or do they just throw them away and ask for more?
Finished 4 St. Patrick’s placemats for our own use. All the fronts were from scraps and I used one piece of fabric for the back, which also made it easier to quilt them all at once.
And here is part of the crew supervising. OK, sheep taken care of, time to quilt.
And here is the quilt that does not want to be a quilt. It was paper pieced and that went good. Quilting it was another story. The first thing that happened was the thread jumped out of the disks and I had a big mess on the bottom. This happened not once, but twice. I finally conquered that and the next thing was the machine tried to eat a hole in the fabric when the needle got stuck. Eventually, after a few hours this little 33″ square is quilted and tomorrow I will put the binding on and some little baby will be wrapped snuggly in it.
I made the 4 placemats 14 x 19 and have the binding ready to put on them as well. After they are quilted, each will get a green shamrock in the corner.
I know that some of you mothers who read this blog will enjoy this photo. Dear son thought the snow would be nearly non-existent as it usually is when forecast. However, he opted to park by the barn under a tree – just in case – so he wouldn’t have to deal with the hill. Note: The tree is bare. You see two sets of tires. DH had snow tires put on before Christmas just in case. The tires are usually kept under the deck. DS realized his mistake in not having the studded tires put on and grabbed the first set of tires, dragged them up to where his car was parked, got a tire off the car and realized that the tires he had dragged up there were his father’s normal tires. Back to get the studded tires, he went. He dragged them up there and mounted them. Then tried to get out. He did get to the paved road, but the snow was too high for the car to go over. He came back home very tired and vowing to get the tires changed before Christmas next year. Now just to make things really good, all this happened on his 50th birthday. Maybe the birthday was just too exciting to think clearly. But I did enjoy a good laugh.