What a lovely day. I had the opportunity to sit on the deck and watch the waterfowl as I knitted for awhile today.
I have heard from a few of you that I get a lot done in a day. You might think that, but what really happens is that I often do things over an extended time. For instance, I could tell you that I canned 8 pints of salsa and 15 pints of split pea soup, which is all true. What isn’t in that sentence is that I started simmering the tomatoes, celery and peppers (which were from the freezer) on Sunday. By Wednesday they were simmered to a good thickness, so I pressure canned them, took them off the heat and let them set overnight. Yesterday, we made a large pot of split pea soup, jarred it and last night, pressure canned 10 jars of it. Again, I let it cool while I went to bed. This morning, when I got up, I took the last 5 jars out of the refrigerator and canned them while I made breakfast and started walking. They have to be under pressure for 45 minutes, so sometimes, I get my DH to watch pressure while I do something else.
The little dress that I posted last night was cut out at Christmas time and just finished late the night before I posted it. These socks that I am making were cast on a week ago. Each night before going to bed, I have knitted 2 rows minimum. I have started crocheting a baby blanket which is a learning process for me. I have started some Christmas gifts which are getting done a bit at a time. They are cut out and yesterday were embroidered. They will eventually get sewn. So when I post something, remember, it could have been awhile in the making. This is how it appears that I get so much done. So please don’t be discouraged by what you are achieving. We are looking through different glasses. If you make a list of what you have done, you’ll be surprised at how much it is.
Having said that, there are times that I really push myself to get something finished by a certain time. It’s just not usually the case.
And now back to this over packed, squished down, box of fabric that I must make into blocks and strips that will eventually warm someone.
dishcloth is composed of only two rows repeated throughout, a very easy beginner’s knitting project
This Seahawk cap was a gift for my daughter who is an avid Seahawk fan.
She loved it! A friend makes them in several team colors and wanted to make this for her.
This is the best “over all” photo since I was on the same level as all of these booths. All up close photos were taken with permission as this is a show where photos in general are not allowed.
One of the vendors enjoys painting her machines.
Notice the gadget for thread. This winds off the metallic threads in the correct way to keep them from breaking. (Yes, there is now one in my studio.)
This was an interesting demo. See the quilt in the background. She used gridded fusible interfacing onto which she put the pieces – either tee shirt or other fabric. Then she adhered strips between them as well as setting blocks if wished. This keeps the shirts from stretching.
Then she sewed straight lines across and then down to complete the top.
This is a look at the back of the quilt. (With this method, one could make a quilt very quickly)
Cindy Losekamp is demonstrating her paints and special stencils.
These ribbons made their way home with me,
as did these threads from Superior Thread Co.
I also needed a new rotary cutter from Kai scissors, some seam rippers, 2 pair of knitting needles and a pattern. I did NOT buy any fabric or yarn.
I found the recipe in my inbox this morning. Basically they are artichokes canned in water that I bought at Costco. I quartered the artichokes which I dipped in almond flour, milk, and crumbled chips. This site has some good recipes.
So after laundry, checking the bees, baking bread, going to the chiropractor – you know the routine, I had a few minutes to sit down and finish this cloth I started yesterday. It is Grandma’s favorite and can be made any size. In the past I used the pattern for a baby blanket. It really is a very beginner’s pattern that works up pretty.
I went to JoAnn’s and didn’t find what I wanted, so off to Wal-Mart and they didn’t have it either. Then, after running around, I thought to look on the internet. Guess what!. The colors I wanted aren’t made in the yarn I wanted. So now that I’ve hit a wall, I really didn’t feel like working on one of the larger projects and I needed a cheery color, so I chose this project.
I was knitting away on this when DH noticed it looked like one I made earlier. He informed me that I can’t show you this because it looks like the last one. It is the same pattern, Almost Lost, but a different color. I used a larger needle on this as well. Apparently, he thinks this blog should be for helping you to understand how things are made. So I’ll add a bit of that with this. So here comes the learning part. I used a Peaches and Cream cotton.
I thought I was done with this, when I noticed after petal #6, I had one petal upside down (on the bottom).
I ripped out to just before this photo (forgot to take photo of mistake).
So the learning is going to have to be to watch more closely what I’m doing. It ripped out quite easily for which I was thankful. Some of the sock yarns aren’t so forgiving.
Today was another lovely day, so after church and lunch our daughter and son-in-law came over and we spent some time walking in the park.
