Brown, brown and more brown
This weekend, the yarn ordered for my husband’s socks arrived. I am so unexcited. So this morning I got in most of my walking, fixed breakfast, washed the clothes including the sheets, and moved furniture to clean under it. Then I mopped two floors. After all that, I went out to the hoop house to see how the little job with the plywood was progressing. It wasn’t – it was on hold for ??? Since I’m such a great motivator “just let me do it, I’ll get it done”, I was dismissed to do something else. He has the job done and tomorrow I can bring some hay up to put around the potatoes that are tall enough. So back to the kitchen to make lunch, after which a rest was appropriate.
Does it sound like stalling. Yes, I was. However, these are things we do for people we love. Somehow, brown and more brown without even a pattern in the socks just doesn’t excite me and there is enough yarn for 3 pair. I think I might be finding a number of other “higher priority” things to do in between bouts of these socks.
Knitting guru dishcloth n Seahawks cap
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.
Galactic Explosion top finished
These are the borders used to enhance this quilt. The finished quilt will be 60 x 60, perfect for a lap quilt. As you can see on the right photo, at the top, I will repeat the stripe in the binding. Now this quilt goes into the ready to quilt stack.
Here’s wishing one of you a great weekend.
Sew Expo 2015
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.
“Targarven” sock knitting
I have now finished the heel. The photo shows one sock right side up and one upside down. Notice the redder stripe and heel area. Even though this is a sock yarn, it didn’t seem strong enough to hold up as long as I like, so I reinforced the heel with a 75% wool, 25% nylon reinforcement yarn by Schoeller Esslinger.
Tomorrow is SewExpo in Puyallup, WA, so will try to find something interesting to show you.
Starting a new jacket
This is a bit different from the way I usually make them. This is my background for the scene. At this point it is only tacked on.
This is the back. I’m using a pattern “Salt Box Glen” by Cindy Losekamp who owns Sew Artfully Yours. She has many lovely patterns.
In addition to that, our bathroom rug, which didn’t want to stay white has now been dyed brown. I wonder why when one buys a dark brown, there is so much red in the dye that one gets more of a rusty-brown? Seems they should add a bit more black instead.
Dishcloth and receipe
These are delicious baked artichokes hearts.
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.
Galactic Explosion review
This is what the quilt looks like-now. It is 55 inches square and with a small border it will be the perfect size for a lap quilt. So I need to decide if I will be happy with that or do I want to add more borders with possibly more stars for a larger quilt. The original BOM by Nancy Rink has 4 borders. Will I be happy with only 2 of them? Decisions!
Early spring
After church and lunch today, we took a drive and walk to see how much spring has sprung. We were surprised at how many trees and flowers are blooming. Above is a cherry, The plums are also starting to bloom.
These camellias, which should be starting about now, are already far along.
Unknown, but pretty, 
Here is a very pretty ground cover, and the daisies were also blooming.
We often call these tulip trees, but I’m thinking they may be magnolia trees.
This park makes me ready for summer.
Even the daffodils are blooming. We saw a rhododendron in bloom, but it was getting too dark to photograph.
The trees and flowers are really jump starting this spring. February is often our cold and icy month. Today. we enjoyed our Creator’s handiwork.