Socks have NO THUMBS!

Season's Greetings!

2011-12-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

TODDLER in the house!

2011-12-04T06:25:00.001-05:00

(Slightly naughty, can't take your eyes off them for a moment, toddler!)

Her first evening found her mostly hiding under the table.

She was raised by a couple who appeared to be deaf, without verbal abilities. It took a few days to get used to our voices. She may not have ever been out of the building where 2 litters were being raised.

Outdoors is a wild and wondrous place.

She's decided she quite likes it outside!

All trained to "Go. Hurry-up" outside. NO ACCIDENTS!

Well, my training came a long quite nicely. I know her whiny toddler signals!

We've had a very warm fall lately. (Except for the 2 SNOW storms!)

I took my mitten project out onto the deck so I could keep an eye on her.

She climbed up into a chair to join me in the sunshine spot.

She loves having a bath! Climbs in and out one her own.

She thinks there should be 2 things in her mouth at all times and it doesn't matter if that's a your hand. Or ear. Watch out for biting!!

Vet thinks I'm a big fat fibber. Warned her to beware!
Jax pretended to be the best behaved puppy Dr. Jessica had ever seen.
I still can't believe how good she was!

She IS a chewer of everything NOT piled high out of reach.

Croc makers should go into the puppy-teething-toy business as they seem to be the only indestructible shoes in the house. Tom has lost at least a dozen shoe laces.

PICK UP YOUR STUFF! Or else . . . :)

She blends in and does the instinctive retriever point.

Every hair on her back from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail stands straight up at unfamiliar sounds. Pretty sure she's seeing something I don't on our walks. There was a piece of half eaten pizza left on a rock deep in the woods of our nature trail. It was trash day and I'm pretty sure some little critter had just abandoned it. (I hoped it was little and we headed for home pretty quickly.)

Jax stays with us on the Nature Trails very well, although sometimes drops down into a hollow spot and plays invisible.

Hates collars so I need to get a bigger, easier to put on harness.

She's a bit of a Daddy's Girl.

(For a COOKIE she'll do whatever we ask!)

I was DISTRAUGHT!

2011-11-10T11:46:00.001-05:00

My beautiful daughters were home for two weeks in July and we enjoyed every minute of being family. Four of us all in the same place - again!

There was Letterboxing and hiking with a borrowed dog up Chick Hill. There were lobster dinners and takeout meals from all the favorite places they missed from being two time zones away. Strawberry shortcake and strawberry crepes.
There was bookmaking with Steph. Sara needed another lesson in Paper-Pieced quilt blocks so we dragged my sewing machine out onto the deck to enjoy the wonderful weather.

Then they flew away to be grown-ups again.

And I didn't know what to do with myself. It always takes a few days to readjust to the empty nest but this time it seemed harder. Part of the problem may have been that I was tired of crocheting and was ready for the normal recycling of hobbies. What had been obsessively filling idle time needed to be changed up.

So I decided to figure out how to make mittens. Mostly I wondered if I could make knitting the thumbs not suck so much. (Still NOT my favorite part!)
I tried out several free patterns and have settled on a method to call mine.
And then of course I did what I always do: I kept knitting mittens.
About 25 pair within 2 months.
Actually I'm still knitting them. 15 pair have been made for the kids at Downeast School.

I also made this really cool book planter:

And then we bought a new puppy!

Life got busier :)

More crocheting . . .

2011-06-13T13:15:00.001-04:00

It's so satisfying to mark a Work In Progress finished.
These little scarecrows by Fiber Doodles were to be my 2nd crochet project last March when I rediscovered crochet hooks.

It turned out they were a little over my head at the time, so the pattern was put in a folder and tucked away. It's no longer a free pattern so I'm pretty happy to have found my copy. I made 2 :)

I've also been trying to figure out how Elisabeth Doherty of Gorrmet Amigurumi makes her style of doll faces - a much changed style since producing her book Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute. She only makes finished dolls and doesn't seem to be interested in selling patterns anytime soon - reasonable I suppose. But I want to try that myself! The nose is still coming out a bit like a snout. Another attempt is underway.

I did use her book to learn how to do jointed arms - with safety eyes, actually! Very cool - although I've learned a lesson on proportion. Arms are a tad long!

I also finished another doll using various Dawn Toussaint techniques. The hooded sweater was my own - again with proportion lessons! Hood needs work next time. I hope I wrote down what I did so changes can be managed.

So crochet it is then

2011-05-13T18:43:00.002-04:00

As the craft pendulum swings...

I could not bring myself to start the next quilt UFO. Our living room is getting a bit of a makeover and not really the best setting for a quilt in progress, anyway.

For April and May I just felt like crocheting.
So I did!

Edited to add pattern details:
All of these patterns were by Dawn Toussaint. Her website is here.
Koala pdf is free.

A finished quilt and other things

2011-04-07T05:46:00.002-04:00

March's UFO Challenge was #1.

1. Y2K quilt started in 1999. needs to be quilted. It's HUGE.

A quilt top that I made too big.
Ridiculous big! I think it would have dragged on all 4 sides of the floor on our queen sized bed. I sat with a seam ripper on an Aunt Laurie and Ben Day and took off one row. More needs to go to make it a manageable size. I didn't have the will to quilt this one yet.

Number 9 became # 1.
(Executive decision :)

9. 1. 48 STRING BLOCKS! Made for the 2010 Bonnie Hunter RRCB mystery.

(Step 5: make 600 half square triangles.)

NO. I would rather poke my eyes out. I'll be using the blocks for an Evelyn Sloppy pattern instead.

I adapted instructions to fit the 8.5" squares - 30 used right away. The extra string blocks were whacked into 5" strips - across the middle for straight edge "piano key" outer border. I was completely out of most of the colors, but by salvaging the extras, most of the colors are in the border.

I put it onto the sewing machine - turned around so the cutting table would hold the extra as it fed through the machine. Took one inch of machine stitching. Decided I hated it BOTH the look of the stitches and shoving it through the tiny little space of the sewing machine. Ripped it out. (Cleaned my sewing room back up!) And hand quilted it.

Quilting began March 10th. Final stitch of the binding made 8 pm March 31st! All stash fabrics used for this one except the backing. A finished quilt in just under 4 months!

Sock Madness round 2 socks were completed. Knit March 21-25. Round 3 should start any day now.
We'll need a cable needle.

On April 1st we got 15 inches of snow. It's snowed a couple of times since, without adding much more. It then rained for days and days, melting most of it away.

I am so ready for some outside gardening.

For now I have a shelf of African violets in various stages of bloom!

March Madness

2011-03-09T06:05:00.001-05:00

Torrential rain, an ice storm & mad knitting!

An ice storm took out a couple more trees on our front lawn.

My snowman lasted until March 4th - the head fell off first. For a while the scarf looked like it was hanging in mid air around the invisible man! Then we had 3 inches of rain in 24 hour period; went into basement flood watch mode but luckily no broken sump pumps or power loss this time around.

Sock Madness 5 has begun!
Having participated in Sock Madness for many years, their labels outnumber many of the others on my sidebar. I dropped out of SM4 on the very first sock and wasn't sure this year would fare much better once I saw the first pattern. K2, P2 stripes.
Nearly the entire pattern: knit two, purl two. UGH!

I hate stripes and I'm the slowest K2, P2er in the east :)
Like March Madness Basketball, there are refs that make calls on the rules. Shortly after pattern release it was allowed you could do the socks in a single color since the pattern designer showed one at the end her pattern. I had already completed 3 stripes. I took her throw away picture of a solid color sock at the end as a sample of what it looked like AFTER Sock Madness. Not an actual option if everyone was to knit with the same handicap (2 yarns dangling & tangling the entire sock.) But once stripes were started it was ruled you had to do stripes all the way to the toe.

Not sure what Mad at the Ref chant applies, but I shouted a couple in my mind for a while. Then I decided to suck it up and keep knitting. I started them Friday at noon and finished them Tuesday morning. On to round 2?

At least they're "stephani colors". March Madness also means my daughters both have a birthday coming up this month.

Which reminds me...yikes!

She needs her head examined!

2011-03-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

(This quilt is finished!)

The Patchwork Times UFO project for February was #10. It's done. 2 days late.

I hand quilted for hours on end from February 14th to February 27th. The quilting frame took up most of the living room and the final push to get it done was mostly so we could have the room back!

(My wrist aches, but I'm not sure if it's because I quilted too much or because I haven't done any for 2 days and it's missing the activity.)

Ran out of fabric for the binding and an ice storm kept me off the road an extra day. Finally got out of the house Tuesday. I hand stitched the back of the binding down today.

Used actual bias cut strips and I must say I'm a convert. Straight cuts across the width of fabric may be easier, but I liked the way the bias folded so easy to the back. It's also supposed to hold up better and not wear out at the edge.

Prize Surprise :)

2011-02-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

I win the BONUS prize!
Last week Quiltmaker Magazine's Blogger posted a chance to win fabulous prizes if we left a comment making up a dinosaur name - something quilty.

I wrote: "When my girls were young we renamed one STEPHasaurus because her older sister had TriSARAtops

(Land Before Time stickers are still stuck to my sewing machine 20 years later ;) SCRAPaSEWrus…"

2 Winners were chosen. And then came a surprise that still makes me grin ear to ear:

"A special prize goes out to Laurie in Maine, because any woman who has The Land Before Time dinosaur stickers on her machine 20 years later is just too cool for words."

I'm Too cool for words!
(It's in writing :)

UFO quilt top complete!

2011-02-11T17:27:00.000-05:00

(As usual there's an OOPS!)

Patchwork Times UFO Challenge for February is to work on #10 from my list:

10. Orphan Blocks quilt. I want to use the Settings Solutions book.

This started out as another foot dragging, I don't know if I want to project.
It's not that I don't have plenty of orphan quilt blocks to choose from. There's too many mismatched blocks.
Overwhelming in their do-not-go-together-ness.

I kept digging and finally settled on 7 + 1/2 Wedding/Crown of Thorn blocks, 4 leftover star blocks from an exchange in 1998 and a Monkey Wrench made from the same fabric. I managed to come up with a yard or two of each of the leftover matching fabrics as well.

I studied the Setting Solutions book for the first 4 days of February and continued to dither. What to do?
The "solutions" in the book seemed designed for pointy star blocks and my abandoned Wedding Blocks spoke to me of circles.
I decided to try a medallion center using Drunkard's Path.

Have never done this curved pieced block, I might add. I finally settled on using my quarter inch seam foot and the no pin, just sew method. A Curve Master foot looks like it might be very useful. If I had one!
My curved pieces were a little wonky, but they trimmed down to 3.5 inches fairly well. Once I pressed the wonk out of them with the iron!

I wondered if Drunkard Path could be used as a frame for the individual blocks? Turns out my orphan blocks ranged from 8 to 10 inches. It might have been helpful to realize the wedding blocks were not 12 inches when I decided on 3 inch squares for the Drunkard's Path design. I found the pattern for the Wedding Blocks I thought I had used and it "said" blocks were 12 inches. I never doubted.
I also never measured. My blocks were 10 inches.

WELL...some sides were 10 1/2 - 11 inches actually. Apparently I was very careful to keep all the points of this block "pointy"! Not so much concerned for scant quarter inch seams or block sides of equal size. Probably why I quit this project? Blocks are "framed" in an effort to compensate (oops!) But by now fabrics were running out, so a new color was added.

The red print fabric selvage dated it as 1994. It's ALL gone now. Yeah! Drunkard's Path (or whatever this patch is called!) blew through fabric pretty fast. I bought 2 yards for the outer edge and border and even that is all gone but for a few inches.

Got Sticky Snow?

2011-01-19T12:41:00.009-05:00

Build a SNOWMAN why don't you!

Why yes, I did.
All by myself.
Took me about 45 minutes this morning.
Lifting the 2nd ball up onto the 1st was way harder than I remember.

Also worked on a new Block of the Month quilt project that started this month. Each free "Jewels" block will be available at Morning Glory Designs for 2 months I believe.

And because I'm enjoying my sewing machine again, I also did the 1st block of the month in the Bunny Hill Designs "Henrietta Whiskers".
I changed the branch of leaves so I could applique the stems instead of embroider leaves on the end of string. Looked a little like balloons.
The yellowish leaves might have been a been a bit much.
Maybe another leaf to make it layered.
Needs Something.

No longer a UFO!

2011-01-15T08:33:00.006-05:00

AKA #6: Stack-n-Whackier @ "Treasure Boxes" (50" X 54" lap quilt)

Long ago the local quilting group I belonged to hosted an all day workshop. Bethany Reynolds taught the class pre-book release if I remember correctly. Book is dated 2001 - so this PhD has been hiding for awhile.

To be honest it would have been hiding a whole lot longer, had #6 not been drawn for the January Patchwork Times UFO Challenge. I was more or less at peace with stuffing it back on bottom of the pile!

And of course just to make more work out of this project: I noticed the 3rd block from the bottom on the left was UPSIDE DOWN. For a moment I debated the mistake on purpose theory; pretending I meant to do that... because no quilt is supposed to be "perfect".

Yeah RIGHT! This quilt is SO far from perfect it's not funny but I still could not help myself. I got out the seam ripper and fixed it. And by fixing it, I mean the block is now right side up and edge is possibly even wonkier than before.

It had wonky looking issues as a top and it still does now that it's finished. But it should be warm as I decided to go with a thicker than usual bamboo batting and a flannel backing. By adding the wider border that samples fabric each of the 'treasure boxes' were cut from, it at least gives it a bit of novelty of an I SPY quilt. And hopefully distracts from the what-was-I-thinking burnt orange?

It has now been hand quilted and binding is finished as of January 14, 2011. It could easily be used for demonstration purposes What NOT to Do in Quilting. Also discussed was the option of placing it into the nearest drop-off box for charity and walking away as fast as possible.

Now to get myself to the next meeting so I can return the book!

Quilt(s) under construction...

2011-01-02T04:57:00.005-05:00

Progress report:
I'm working on my PhD!
(Projects half Done ;)

Sara got her PhD last May so I found great humor in this quilt plan announcement. Unfortunately my delivery was off and I said 'Projects half Finished' when I told her.
Ruined the punch line as usual!

Likewise, we were told to get our ducks all in a row before committing and I failed to take into account this UFO mission is for 6 months. I told the organizer I had just listed 12 projects and would work from that list. My lazy duck will finish some half-done Fabric Postcards to keep the count behind my name on her blog-roll from being a big fat liar.

The 2011 Patchwork Times UFO Challenge is off and running. For January #6 was drawn. I'm supposed to work on the project that corresponds with the list I made:

6. Stack & Whack Treasure Box workshop. Needs borders. Preferably something to distract from the hideousness of orange.

Sara lobbied hard to get me to sneak back in and edit my list so that I would be working on one she likes. But this one is small; just needs borders and quilting. Doable in a month.

Ugly duckling factor aside. #6 does come with more guilt than most of the others. See that little yellow label on the bottom of the book cover? Evidence this book belongs to my local quilting group. I haven't been to a meeting in years. A couple anyway.

In addition to pulling #6 from it's place at the bottom of the Treasure Box and trying to iron some of the wonky wrinkles out of it, I've added the background strips to either side of my Row Robin. Leaves need to be appliqued down both sides. The next round of instructions are due out January 10th ...so I'm on target with that.

Telling myself what I have to!

UFO Challenge 2011

2010-12-17T18:03:00.006-05:00

Sewing Room Makeover is nearly complete!
To celebrate my more comfortable (and ORGANIZED!) sewing space I'm going to attempt to put it to work finishing up some of the projects from my Treasure Box.

This quilting inspired effort actually began October 6th. An online Challenge at Patchwork Times requires us to name 12 projects for the coming year. This may be a little optimistic! But here goes:

1. Y2K quilt started in 1999. needs to be quilted. It's HUGE.

2. Grandma's Country Album 1 - 1998 McCall's Magazine series in 6 installments. (all of the issues have been tracked down! Working on 2nd block now since picking this project back up.)

3. Scrappy Seasonal Applique Blocks - started 2010.

4. Piecemakers Time and Seasons TREES 2002 calendar project. I want to do 4 blocks for a wall hanging.

5. Spider in Grandmother's Flower Garden. Hex project - old!

6. Stack 'n Whack Treasure Box workshop. Needs borders. Preferably something to distract from the hideousness of orange. DONE!!

7. Frog Pond quilt. Started this when Steph was in 3rd grade I think.

8. Stack & Whack - Fall. Top; borders may have wonky issues!

9. 48 STRING BLOCKS! Made for the 2010 Bonnie Hunter RRCB mystery.
(Step 5: make 600 half square triangles.) NO. I would rather poke my eyes out. I'll be using the blocks for an Evelyn Sloppy pattern instead. DONE!!

10. Orphan Block quilt. I want to ~~use the Settings Solutions book~~ completely make something up out of thin air and further complicate things by sewing a billion curved pieced drunkard path squares. Oh... and then hand quilt it! DONE!!

11. Kermit's Bouquet - an internet row robin needs to be quilted, replace a border that I took off with something smaller and less biased.

12. Patchwork Posse Row Robin. 2010-2011. Current and I hope to keep it that way!

12a. FINISH ANYTHING I START IN 2011!

I PLEDGE TO KEEP MY SEWING ROOM CLEAN! (and continue to purge items I don't love or plan to use soon.)

Row Robin Quilt-A-Long

2010-12-03T06:35:00.007-05:00

I confess: I could not resist.
Patchwork Posse has a Row Robin underway. I found it the week Round 4 had just been posted.
I had just finished the table runner and a stash of fabric (freshly sorted by color!) was sitting in the living room just begging to be used.
I felt compelled!
I'm almost caught up and hoping the next round is just as pleasing, so progress will continue. Determined to fight UFO syndrome! Still a little applique left to do, but not sure about the bird samples from Round 3. May go with butterflies and a frog from Butterflies & Blooms book on my shelf. Flickr group of others participating in project.

If you give a man a putty knife

2010-12-03T05:28:00.005-05:00

You get a sewing room makeover? Seriously!
I celebrated "Black Friday" by NOT shopping. Sewed all day. I rewarded myself a few weeks ago - for finishing 2 quilts - by purchasing snowman fabric for a reversible seasonal table runner. All of the rest of the fabric would be from stash.
A pattern from July/August Quiltmaker in 2003 by Sharon Pederson had been used once before. Took me awhile to find which magazine it was in.
In the meantime, I found her book Reversible Quilts: Two at a Time through the library loan system. Very helpful - I hope to use up more stash fabric with a quilt using this method. Learned how to make reversible binding although Sharon's method didn't allow mitered corners. This may be better way to go: 2 color binding!

Tom decided Black Friday would be a great day to paint the laundry/sewing room. Enter putty knife & Spackle compound. And dust!
His plan was to do the "laundry" half and then move my 30 years of sewing stuff to the other side of the room and doing the "sewing" half.
Did I mention dust?
I decided to empty the room. All of my "good stuff" went to the living room; stuff that could probably fall off the back of a truck and never notice it was missing went to Sara's old room. To be honestly sorted and purged. By December 24th since she's coming home for Christmas and may want a place to sleep!

Since the room was empty we decided to do the ceiling first. So on Saturday off we went to Home Depot for half of the needed pine boards. Ceiling is almost done! (One board short of course ;) Wall painting should begin this weekend. Will be on the lookout for new storage system shelves & cabinets.

Our new dryer was delivered on Monday! Have been hanging clothes on the line all summer. They don't dry very well with below freezing temps and the week before "Just like Black Friday" sale prices were worth the wait.

Quilt block progress

2010-11-18T06:03:00.005-05:00

This week in Quilting
I've been appliqueing random images to my scrappy block project. No theme - just whatever strikes my fancy.
(Tried the Big Huge Lab mosaic maker again.)
My Flickr photostream

A Mystery Quilt Along begins this week from the blog of well known Quilter, Bonnie Hunter. I came across it during a blog tour for quilters by Quiltmaker magazine.
(I won a copy of 100 Blocks!)
I'm tempted (okay PLANNING) to play along. My follow through has been less than spectacular. I may challenge daughter Sara with her brand new quilters sewing machine to play along from her new address in Minneapolis and see how different our projects come out. Enabler Alert!

Quilting Again!

2010-10-30T03:30:00.013-04:00

So FINISH something why don't you?
My craft pendulum has swung once again and this time it's quilt UFOs that have my obsessively undivided attention.

Since October 6th I've been working on unfinished quilt projects with determination. I pulled out the Circle Jean Quilt and began w here I left off .

Turns out it was 3 Days from DONE when I abandoned it to the Treasure Box. Knitting needles and crochet hooks had taken over for so long my sewing machine needed an introduction. It's finished!!

After 3 straight days of focused (remember to breath) sewing, it's checked off the list of unfinished things!! The first day felt a little overwhelming (there was a slight panic attack). One 4 row/20 circle section was completed before I gave myself permission to walk away. The next day a renewed sense of determination took over and the rest of the windows were sewn down and the outer edges hemmed.

It was a little like shoving 20 pair of jeans through the sewing machine - all at one time - on day 3. I would not make one of these this big again. It's big enough to cover the bed but too heavy to sleep under. And probably too big for the washing machine when it comes time. But it's done :)
(Treasure Box of UFOs on top)

PROJECT #2: Finished as well!! Started the day after Christmas 2008 if this blog entry is to be believed. I seem to have worked on it pretty steady through January 2009, when it became a finished top, the 3 layers of backing/batting/quilt top were pin basted together for quilting. To be abandoned. ...and then I lied in Blogger writing:

The I will quilt it right away!" pledge must be taken. Right hand in air, left hand on sewing machine: "I will!"

It sat on a shelf until October 2010, while I dithered between hand or machine quilting. (And discovered crochet hooks have an actual purpose.) Hand Quilting took exactly 2 weeks and THEN I did the binding on the very next day. DONE.

Next up for Project 3 was an applique block from this project.
Enjoyed remembering how...
Although this project is a long way from done. This is only block 4. My quilting fingers need to recover from 2 weeks of steady hand quilting without a thimble on the underside of the quilt.
I hates them.

Graffiti in the Wild.

2010-07-28T06:31:00.008-04:00

And other things...
We were driving to one of our favorite trout fishing get-away spots and I caught a glimpse of this bunny at the side of the road.

The pictures don't do justice to it's Bigness!
The rock is huge. We went by at quite a clip so I tried to remember enough landmarks nearby so we could stop on the way back. Turns out the mile marker is right next to it.

I've crocheted several tote bags and another doll. Ran out of yarn for one of the bags I've been working on, but found a lady on Ravelry with a half skein for $2. Waiting for it's arrival so I can finish.

I was intrigued by knit-like cables and bobbles done in crochet. The first time I tried to follow the pattern I gave up in frustration. A couple of weeks later I gave it another try. Unfortunately by then I had used some of the yarn from one skein for a doll sweater, making the bag come out half a strap short.

I followed just the front panel of the pattern (mostly) and then made up the rest myself. Searched for stitch patterns with texture and chose Seed Stitch for the back & sides. With the extra yarn I'll be able to do a flap as well, although I don't want anything as big as the free original pattern showed.

We've gone fishing nearly every weekend. The weather has been wonderful this year! Even our garden is doing well. Extra zucchini, cucumbers and summer squash WILL be pushed onto anyone stopping by. I put some out by the side of the road with a FREE sign and it was gone by afternoon.

2 weeks ago we put the canoe on top of the Jeep and headed to Sunk Haze Stream for a repeat of a past paddling experience, only to be honked at by a woman in a truck screaming, "YOU CAN'T GO THERE!" Apparently the property owner across the road wanted Friends of Sunk Haze Stream to buy the right of way, but they refused and took down the big welcome sign. Noticed the sign that said where to park was gone but no closed sign was put up. A cable was across the dirt road that went down in towards the stream, but we thought it was just to keep cars from parking down there. I didn't think they could deny access to a stream below a bridge on the main highway. If the drop away below the bridge hadn't been such a cliff-like climb we might have pushed the point.

Unfortunately we had the canoe all off the jeep before Screaming Woman objected. We loaded it back on, tied it down and drove to The Hirundo entrance of Pushaw Stream instead.
Please excuse the curse I placed on the property owner and it's close proximity to Penobscot River.

Something about Spring floods rising to his attic.

Perhaps I should be careful what I wish on them, given my brother's slightly less close proximity to the same river.

Let my Nano go!

2010-07-02T05:13:00.006-04:00

Mandatory Blog Update

Sara bought a new Mac iBook and took them up on their offer of a "free" iPod & iPrinter.

As the only family member without one of these precious musical iDevices, she decided to give me her old one! She promises all country music has been satisfactorily deleted. I blame her fondness of music with twang on being left with my mom a few too many times. It's now Pearl Jam packed with my love of Eddie Vedder (teehee!)

BUT shipment from Minnesota will be based on the update-iness of a certain mom blog meant to keep her in the loop. Further more, mom packed-lovingly care packages shall improve in both frequency and quality. I have accepted the challenge (and critical observance) that the most recent envelope stuffed with "junk mail" failed to deliver the degree of satisfaction she might have hoped a letter addressed from home should have. Let the updating trend begin!

Crocheting bunnies, babies and bags has continued at something of an amazing pace. Amazing that I have not gotten sick of them and moved on to explore yet another obsession. Switching to some past, present or yet unexplored craft of the moment is almost certainly a given. Sooner or later. I proudly present my 1st crocheted bag! My skill at following a pattern correctly proved fatal when at about Row 22 my stitch count had decreased from 96 to 88. Making the bag take on a bit of a pyramid shape.

Upon overnight reflection my state of denial was self-accepted and nearly the entire thing was ripped out and done over. Ripped out all the way back to Row 6. A certain offspring's voice echoing memory of "you are such a perfectionist" in scathing tone like an epitah. I told the voice to be quiet!
Try. Try Again.
Doing something better (when 1st attempt goes terribly awry) continues to be a motto that takes me to my happier place. It only hurts for a moment. The unraveling is done quickly. Like yanking off a band-aid all at once. A certain Treasure Trove of quilting UFO's were unearthed yesterday. Briefly. I stroked the Circle Jeans quilt on top. It's in a stage of almost done-ness that really deserves a place back in the line-up to be finished.
Or else! My sewing machine might seize up from lack of use?

Keeping the hands busy

2010-06-18T06:06:00.007-04:00

Nothing at all obsessive, compulsive: crocheting the same bunny pattern 6 times.
Is there?

Actually, this is a picture of the same pattern - 4 times plus my latest 1st attempt at a doll by the same designer.

Not surprisingly, I continue to prefer to have something to keep myself busy while waiting, rather than to sit doing nothing. I am a bit shocked by how much I'm still enjoying exploring crochet. A crochet hook and skein of yarn are the current 1st choice to grab up and shove in a tote bag to take on the go. (Crochet is MUCH easier to rip a section out and do over, by the way!)

I've decided I prefer some cotton or wool mixed in with acrylic yarn. I started crocheting with Red Heart Sport (100% acrylic) but don't care if I never use it again. Local availability and color choices being limited to what they are, I'm using TLC Cotton Plus for the doll/bunny body (51% cotton). But the clothing doesn't "drape" as nicely, so I've matched Naturally Caron Country with colors that go nicely, but the 25% Merino Wool makes it feel nicer as a sweater or dress.

These 2 sweaters are removable. The green one I experimented with my own design, once I figured out the pattern construction concept, but the turtle neck would have helped hide the "fat neck" look. (wrong color) I did make some pattern technique changes, based on what I've learned from knitting socks & mittens. No-sew picot border around the bottom of the sweater and waste yarn rather than casting off the armholes and then picking up stitches afterward. I've learned a lot from trying thses patterns and look forward to more experiments in doll sweater design.

These are the projects that have kept me busy during May & June. I needed my size 5 knitting needles to knit the sweaters but they were on a pair of socks I started in January. One was half done, so I finished it in an afternoon. The other is waiting at the start of the heel for me to have another surge of sock knitting desire.

I don't see that happening anytime soon.

"Do Worms Have Eyes?"

2010-06-11T08:52:00.003-04:00

Thank you, One Mom in Maine!!

Thanks to a recent Blog Giveaway, I'm so proud to have won a chance to visit DonorsChoose.org and decide which classroom request to award a $25 gift certificate to.

It was very tough choosing! There are many worthy projects and in the end I clicked the Maine classroom requests and picked this one:

Do Worms Have Eyes?..... And Where Are Their Ears?

My Students

"A 5 year old's favorite word is "WHY?" Wondering is an integral part of their thinking! Exploring is an important part of our learning in kindergarten. They want to find answers to questions like "Do worms have eyes?" and "Where are their ears?".

I teach kindergarten at a school in Maine. Although located in an urban area, my school is adjacent to a large woodland tract. My students love to explore the woods and trails. It is on these trails, woods, and the natural areas of the playground that they develop curiosity and a relationship with nature."

My Project

"I want to provide hands-on authentic experiences that develop excitement and curiosity for science learning. Young children love to use science equipment and role-play being a scientist! Having big screen microscopes will meet those needs and also enable my students to develop inquiry and observation skills through real life experiences. Non-fiction literature helps to integrate areas of Literacy and Science and provide a springboard for inquiries.

For the past two years, I have focused on acquiring the science materials that my classroom needs that will enable students to better understand their relationship with nature. I have whittled away at my wish list bit by bit and have had to leave the most costly items for last. Once I obtain these items, my collection of science materials will be complete!

My students need 2 big screen microscopes, 2 big books, and 6 sets of Level B books. "

The class needs a little more to reach it's goal:

Project Cost Including Donation to Support DonorsChoose.org				$472.13
Partner Funding Offer				-$236.06
Given				-$25.00
To Go				$211.07

It's my party and I'll crochet if I want to!

2010-05-21T08:50:00.006-04:00

That's right ... it's my birthday :)

Last weekend I won this very cool Frog Prince pattern from a Blog giveaway I happened upon. THANK YOU!! to blog owner & frog creator Penny at http://oliverboliver.typepad.com/blog/

Commentators were asked to imagine their ideal way to spend the day and mine included strawberry breakfast crepes and lobster rolls for lunch...and what the heck SUPPER too! With the day spent curled up crocheting a certain frog prince pattern.
A guilt-free rainy day spent crocheting, watching a Scifi marathon of Startrek Enterprise or Stargate Universe.

Hey... it was MY Blissful daydream :)
The sun is shining brilliantly so I suspect there will be outdoor gardening instead.
Or I should say... addition to a little crocheting, I perhaps will get dressed and go outside on such a beautiful day and do something chore wise ;)

A third version of Nicolette has been made, using the stitch pattern of the Designer's Lilian sweater, but done in the round and attached to the front loops at the neck of the bunny. My back & forth crocheting attempt at the cardigan were frogged!

yeah...wonky trapezoid shaped edges that were un-crocheted without taking photographic evidence of.

I also finished my Dragon Whisper using what I learned making the Baby Dragon and the Snowsuit Babies from Easter.

Clearly inspired by a well known designer, but with just a little selective use of free patterns I was able to design my version of the little Whisperer without buying a pattern.

Each free pattern I've chosen has been a little more "difficult" - learning techniques specifically that would enable me to try winging it without a pattern. I've come along way since March 14th when I hadn't even EVER decreased a crochet stitch, had no idea which stitch was which for that matter.

My bookmarks are now overtaken by crochet? How did this happen :)
A little like peeling back layers of an onion or counting rings inside a tree.
I can trace my current degree of crafty obsessiveness by the blogs I visit and my Google Search history!

Still more of that CROCHET thing . . .

2010-05-01T15:55:00.003-04:00

Look what I can do!
(I'm a practicing hooker :)

Still obsessed with cute crocheted things and the abundance of online possibilities has me trying more & more new-to-me techniques.

My latest project is nearly finished. "Nicolette" was started April 27th. There's supposed to be a fabric under skirt, but the crochet part is done.

The arms & ears were made ahead of time and joined right along with a row of single crochet - instead of being sewed on with needle and yarn later. I LOVE that now that I've done it that way and don't know why more patterns aren't written that way.

I was terrified a bit when I first read this section of instructions.
Took a deep breath and went for it. JUST DO IT. The yarn does get tangled around ears and arms a little so I put an elastic around the top of her head while doing the sweater.

It looks a little like bunny torture?

Pattern is crocheted mostly as written :)
A few changes here and there and possibly the head is on backwards. I wanted a wider forehead but if I understood the section following ear attachment...it's backwards on purpose.

The sweater was the one thing that was to be sewn on later but my first effort was crocheted a little tight and didn't fit very well. So I crocheted a new one right onto the bunny. This seemed to keep my tension more relaxed working around the bunny body. Random increases meant ending at the bottom with more stitches than the pattern called for but everything seemed to work out in the end. I made the textured pattern longer and left off the extra ripple.

Not sure yet what I'm going to do with my growing box of toys.

That CROCHET thing . . .

2010-04-01T08:13:00.004-04:00

Aren't they cute?

Amigurumi.
It's what I've been doing the last couple of weeks. Never heard of the word before this year. Not real clear how you pronounce it either.

(It's a crocheted toy.)

Cowpoke was a free pattern found here.
He has curly, pose-able legs. Sort of.

Next up I had 5 little Easter-like Babies in bunny & bear snowsuits made before the brilliant idea occurred to put them in an egg carton so I could get a better picture. Naturally, I decided to make an even dozen to fill out the carton.

Instead of cutting the box in half.

You know. Normal & perfectly logical.
As apposed to seriously troubled and with too much time on her hands. Possibly?

It seems like the Wikipedia article detailing Amigurumi needs a little work. Some might take exception to an opening concept "Amigurumi have no practical use". (Looks like it was quote from a book, so I guess that makes it true.)

I suppose that depends on one's definition of "practical"?
(It's a crocheted toy!)
3 year old Ben was fascinated by the cow and 9 year old Kyle asked, "can I have one?"
Didn't actually take it but the kid is transformer obsessed, so any fleeting diversion of the moment can be cherished.

The description goes on to say, "The pervading aesthetic of Amigurumi is cuteness."
Can't argue with that, I guess.
I'll add Addictive, for the moment.

Although I've come across a few examples by now that I've thought, wow that's . . . so not cute.
Frighteningly awful.

WARNING!! (Should maybe think twice about adding this link. Sorry in advance?)
This crocheted woman giving birth (with a baby sticking halfway out) caught me a little off guard, I must say. YIKES!
NOTE TO SARA & STEPH: You may not want to click that link!

Don't say I didn't warn you ;)

Half a bubble off center

2010-03-19T06:07:00.005-04:00

I've taken up with hookers.

I'm remembering how to CROCHET.
What did you think I meant? :)

I never did know how to crochet very well - mostly because I can never remember how many time to wrap the yarn around the hook for the different stitches. It's been 30 years since I tried granny squares and if I remember right I gave up on them because sewing them together was a pain.

It's easier this time around. I can even wrap the yarn around my left finger to control tension...unlike knitting. Have never changed the way I knit - clenching the yarn in fingers & palm and dragging it around the needle methodically.

Stuffed this Fraggle Rock into Sara's birthday box. Working with the freakish hairy yarn was different. And there was an alarming number of body parts to be sewn together! 3 smaller sized hooks made their way into my shopping basket while at AcMoore last week. I need to buy stuffing as this is quite addictive. There are some AMAZING designers out there. Many free patterns, although of course several that caught my eye are each sold separately.

Dorothy the tabletop loom remains welcome in the living room. We closed off the kitchen door to the end of the house we're not using this winter, now that the girls are living away from home.
Our light bill went down $40!! Just saying :)

I WON a box of yarn from Camp Runamuck!

When I just now checked back to add the link, it seems she has dressed her dogs a little funny! :)
I quite often blog hop in the morning with my first cup of coffee. Although I don't actively seek out Give-a-ways, they are an irresistible weakness. Winning was quite wonderful as well!. The deal was we agree to make a donation to our local animal shelter.

Round 4 of Sock Madness began last week. I knit Pattern 1 for a half a day and quit. Forgive me for saying so, but this pattern put every technique I hate the most into one pair of socks. Life is too short to knit something and hate every minute of it. I feel bad for being a quitter and will miss the Sock Madness gang I've been a part of since the 1st year it began. But it was a huge relief to yank that half day's worth of wasted time off the needles and move on.

It's when I took up with those Hookers!
Went outside to snap a picture on a recent morning of the half moon rising

Forward on the learning curve

2010-02-16T05:55:00.005-05:00

Dorothy's latest adventure

The knitting/crocheting/weaving world is celebrating the 2010 Winter Olympics in it's own way. By crafting up a storm! I've completed my 1st two projects:

Knit & felted the comfiest slipper EVER.
Fiber Trends clogs.

And cut another woven fabric fresh from the loom.
I made a really fraking big tote bag!
(The Olympic Carrier :)

Came off the loom Saturday morning.

I ran out of Weft color 3 times before I got to the end of the Warp. The color breaks helped decide the design.

(I DIDN’T have a plan!)

As I added the finishing touches to the bag I realized it was pretty “fraking” big. So in honor of the Ravelympics & Battlestar Galactica I’ve named it The Olympic Carrier :)

Cutting this time wasn’t so scary - in fact I wove it with the express intention of cutting immediately. Ran out of yarn I was using for the weft and there wasn’t a skein to be found at any of the stores around here. I wasn’t thrilled with the red/grey color at first, so I just wanted to get it off the loom. Grabbed the Debbie Mumm brand; a little thicker weight, deeper red and it has sparkle shots throughout. Was not crazy about that either. By using it on the sides & handles of the bag as contrast, it didn’t seem so bad when I was done.

After thought bag flap done in Warp color just so I could finish the skein and the warp that was at the end of the loom. (Just found another skein of this stuff I've been using as warp. I thought it was gone. Jeesh!)

Already planning the next project to cut up. Maybe down size the Design-As-I-Go method for a smaller scale bag pattern next time.

Finished THINGS!

2010-02-05T06:16:00.006-05:00

Me and Dorothy
...still friends :)

I threaded my loom with some cheap (mostly free) acrylic yarn and wove 6 feet of of "too stiff to be a scarf" fabric. I SEW. So why do I have a pile of woven stuff gathering into an ever higher clump of unused "fabric".
Time to take the scissors to some of it and make something!

Weavolution has a sub group for "Fearless Scissors" and I joined thinking it would motivate me into cutting & sewing something from my growing pile of woven material. Finally dawned on me if I just pile up everything that comes off my loom and is NOT a scarf and ready to wear, the yarn might as well stay rolled up in a ball. Kind of like exchanging one stash for another...what was the point?

Current mood: Quite Satisfied!
I spent a very productive morning once I screwed up enough courage to take the rotary cutter to my latest woven effort.
I made a bag!
The "fabric" is almost upholstery-like. If you thread bulky yarn through every hole of the loom's beater (12 slots per inch) you get very stiff fabric - unfit for a scarf. And the weft all but disappears. I kind of liked as it took on a denim look almost.

I found my sewing machine & SOME of my cutting table.
Need to do some spring cleaning so I can find more of it.
THE PLAN: throw stuff into Sara's old room and SORT, SORT, SORT.

I also made some size 12 socks out of wool and shrunk them down to size 8 Fuzzy Feet slippers. I put them in the washer at about the same time as I made the first whack with a rotary cutter for the bag.

Irony: I took them to work on while waiting for Uncle Joe at the eye doctors on Monday. It was so dark in their waiting room I grabbed a size 7 needle that was in my bag instead of the size 9.
Did most of the heel with one wrong sized needle each row.
Because I could not see what I was doing.

Let's try again, Dorothy

2010-01-15T08:54:00.005-05:00

Weaving - Take 2:

So, I promised Dorothy not to put her back in the laundry room, dejected & defeated for another year.
Let's PLAY some more...

That Scarf has issues, sure. But this is no time to quit. Practice Makes Perfect ...okay NOT perfect. Exactly.
But we'll have fun, explore possibilities and see what happens. (Warping the loom began while it was still very dark outside...)

Besides. It's freaking cold outside.
What else is there to do?

And my 1st born baby moved to Minnesota.
Total Travel Estimate: 26 hours 51 minutes / 1631.58 miles
Mom distractions needed to fight the It's not just for a visit this time blues.

Daylight arrived to light up the fact that we had a long way to go before weaving could commence.

No surprise here...?
This project didn't go exactly as planned either.
But we had a good time getting there and Dorothy is still welcome in the living room. (Just to be clear ;)

I chose a pattern for threading the warp from Mastering Weave Structures, page 208: Plain Weave with Rib weave stripe.

I had actually considered trying fabric strips, mixed in with textured yarns in shades of tan to yellow.

That didn't seem like it was going to work so I tried to follow the actual directions from page 208.
More or less.
I soon realized the warp I used would be too thin to match the texture of the sample on page 209.
So I did just a plain weave.
Back and forth; boringly satisfying.

No Rib Weave yet for Dorothy and I.
Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn weft. Potpourri.

Things learned best NOT to do this time:

Take off wire heddles after the loom has been threaded.
There were too many wires strung on shafts 3 & 4 since I was trying to thread all the way across the frame. The extras usually pile up on the side and hang out of the way. Threads from shaft 1 & 2 could not get past the stack of unused heddles hanging on the sides of 3 & 4.

Add 2nd strip of (yellow) warps after the loom is threaded to double each of the warps where Rib Weave would have happened.
I added 6 to each side, proving it could be done.
Gave up on the other 30 or so in varying colors I had considered.

A Temple is a new term I've only just learned. It might possibly have kept the woven fabric from pulling in so much trying to do the Rib Weave. Pretty hard on the outside warps if the beater has to smack 3 or 4 on the outside in either direction away from the actual edge.

This is why warp yarn breaks?
I think yes.
This is why I quit while I was ahead and settled for boringly satisfying.

It's not your fault, Dorothy

2010-01-15T07:20:00.006-05:00

Seemed like a good idea at the time*

What NOT to do (perhaps) with 2 pricey skeins of Noro Silk Garden yarn.

This was the first Noro I've ever purchased.
And last most likely. While it was VERY pretty on the outside of the skein, inside dwelt some of the yuckiest purple + yellow + green equals mud I've never imagined.
I know this about variegated yarn and still I fall for the pretty bits on the outside. I much prefer a one or two color-shade variation. Why do I keep forgetting that?
All those colors don't belong together!

I didn't read yarn reviews until after I bought it of course. The knots where they joined blue and green with no attempt to match the color pattern would not have come as so much of a surprise if I had. Likewise, the mysterious foreign objects spun into the yarn that have now been identified as sticks, hay and other little "bits" sheep get stuck to themselves. No mystery.

We've got issues:

I threaded the reed at every other space with the 1st skein of Noro, thinking that by spreading it out farther across the loom it would make the scarf wider. The 2nd skein would be the weft. The tiny little skeins didn't have as much yardage as I imagined they might.

Wish I could say lack of yardage was this Scarf's only issue!

I began with the plan to do an all Rib Weave (page 20 - Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler). Didn't look good and I suspected this was due to the every-other-space threading.

But did I weave backwards (unweave?) and start over?
Thread the reed differently?
NO.
Should I have?
YES! Definitely.

I ended up breaking a warp within 6 inches and it was pretty clear things were not going to get any better. The force of the beater smacking up against the yarn - especially the outer edges - was certainly going to break a few more very quickly. Did I stop NOW and regroup with a new plan?

NO. Well not exactly.
I "beat" nearly the entire thing into place with a comb.
(Do NOT recommend!) The beginning of the weaving where I used the normal beating action was several inches wider than the rest of the scarf.

I ended with a Rib Weave pattern to see what it might have looked like, if threaded correctly.

Thinking I can cut off the wide end and make hems so it looks even. Steph says they are "her colors" and she likes it. I've given her permission NOT to say "My Mom Made It" if anyone asks.

In fact, I think I would rather she did not...

Backstrap Weaving UPDATE

2010-01-03T05:06:00.007-05:00

TAH DA!!

I cut off the heddle strings and prepared to scrap my 1st Backstrap Weaving project. But I'd carefully saved the cross as I considered whether or not it was worth a try changing out the heddle strings to match same fiber as the warp and see what happened.

I FINISHED IT!

Not sure I did the braid ends right but it is D.O.N.E!!! It's a little primitive - or as Steph said "I like it...it looks primitive."
(I can accept that ;)

Weaving did get easier, although after a few inches started matting up again. The first & last warp (the ones that had a slip knot to start with) were not the right tension - too loose - and contributed a little to the funky edges. Along with all the other things that this beginner did wrong, I'm sure.
(Like winding on 2 yards of 96 wraps and skipping the BEGINNER PROJECT with only a yard length of 20 something ends.) But I'm pleased to have completed it rather than quit. I am NOT a quitter!

An extra cross in back has been suggested by the experts at Weavolution as a way to control the tilty sliding around issues, of both shed rod & the ends themselves. I thought I might have missed a step, but I've now learned how to add an extra cross after the loom is set up. I drilled extra holes in the ginormous wooden knitting needle I was using as a shed rod and it seemed to help keep that from sliding all over the place.

(That funky, weird single "needle" was in some stuff I inherited from aunt Nonnie's craft stash, so I was happy to find a possible use for it. Although now that I've drilled holes in it - it probably won't function well for whatever it was originally intended!)

NEXT TIME I will add the extra cross in the back to see if it helps with stability.

TA DUMB??

Just to keep me humble in the new year, I managed to knit the crap out of a Mystery Sock Knit-A-Long. Wrote down the 1st clue and then after the 3rd row, proceeded to knit what the hell ever I felt like, it seems.

"It only hurts for a minute" to yank out the needles and start over?

Yeah ...sure.

This much was ripped out. I've now reknit it (following the ACTUAL directions) as well as getting the 2nd sock almost to this point. Directions include a bead option but I don't seem to have anything that works in my stash. This is Opal yarn, about the thickness of a strand of hair. It's been hanging around for a year or so in the yarn bucket. I swore I was never making socks out of yarn this thin again.

Now I remember why.

Which path will you choose?

2009-12-31T05:45:00.016-05:00

Backstrap Weaving: a lesson in how. NOT.

So just before Christmas I dusted off Doro thy and brought her out from her storage room once again. I had recently read blogs about weaving with sock yarn and felt a burning desire to weave something. I wound warp from 3 left-over balls of yarn (last of 2 skeins Sara gifted me from her trip to Germany) and since there was not enough for a very wide scarf, contemplated which other left-overs to add to the mix. And then there was the question of which weft to weave with. I was thinking something to tone down the reds.

I day dreamed of a quick trip to our only local yarn store (LYS) for another skein of "the good stuff". AcMoore's limited choice of sock yarns was hit pretty hard by holiday shoppers. My biggest obstacle was the fact that my jeep was in Orono with Steph. Said yarn shop's location coincidentally. But I was not. No wheels, stormy driving conditions and holiday chaos* all conspired against me & Dorothy.

So Dorothy waits patiently. Out in plain sight in the living room; petted often and promised soon.

I explored many "weaving" websites in the process of waiting patiently and came across a Backstrap Weaving site, complete with tutorials and how-to-videos, done so well anyone happening upon them might easily be convinced: I CAN DO THAT! Might even lead to playing with power tools and an unexplainable compulsion to hunt & gather assorted supplies. Most of which promised might actually be readily available in the basement.

For days I poked around, looking for wooden dowels, rulers and rope. Rope turned out to be the most allusive actually but finally all things needed were gathered, measured, cut, drilled and ready to TRY. (I should preface this by stating I had a good time trying and there will be an attempt 2. What follows is how my Wednesday went...)
Backstrap weaving attempt 1:

Ready?

Tilty!
My former girl scout knot tying skills need a refresher course. Also, very old ginormous wooden knitting needle did not prove to be a good choice to use as the back shed rod. Rolled around and was too heavy and tipped from side to side.

WEIGHTY?
Not weighty enough! I thought our rustic coffee table along with some heavy books would anchor the back end in place. It did not.
Oopsy!

Had trouble opening the back shed. Strings used to open the front shed DO NOT belong way down in the section marked off with cardboard for fringe braids later.
(I knew that.) I just couldn't figure out how to open the back half at first. I had my laptop down on the floor of the living room in my sunny warm spot - all ready to watch the helpful video on how to string the heddles once more. EXCEPT that sunny warm spot made seeing the laptop screen IMPOSSIBLE.

Sticky!
Yarn choice sucked. Piling & matting fiber beneath the heddle strings made opening the back shed a nightmare. But I can tell you the first time I actually got it to open was JOYOUS! They had been strung correctly, but with the wrong choice of yarn was clearly a setback.

Tricky.
Why is the shuttle yarn wrapped around my leg?
Once I actually had some weaving going on, I put down the shuttle at some point. (Answered the phone, let out the dog, let in the dog, took laptop to kitchen where I could see it in order to find out if the heddle strings were tied right, etc.)
Number of times I accidentally wrapped the shuttle yarn around my leg: 5!

CRAPPY.
No amount of fiddling can overcome this sorry first effort and I don't think I will continue struggling with bad yarn choice. Will TRY AGAIN using different threads, rather than torture myself with this and become so frustrated I quit.

And I have the jeep for the morning!

Does this cable make my hand look fat?

2009-12-14T04:51:00.005-05:00

So I STILL hate making thumbs.

I've finished another pair of mittens and this time they fit me. I used Caron Simply Soft that was left over from a project that got frogged (ripped out and shoved aside...ribbit!) and I suspect they'll stretch out of shape big enough to put both hands into one mitten, judging by socks I once made from the stuff.

But they are warm.
And soft.

I used all but about 20 inches of yarn for the first pair. I wish the thumbs had been longer but maybe they'll fit a 12 year old. We don't have any 12 year old's around to shove them onto. I'm thinking someone with freakishly short thumbs with long fingers?

I ripped out the top of the hand on the first pair as the fingers were too pointy. I'm still not loving the decrease methods I've tried so far.

So far. Did you catch that? Likely to be more. Mom helped me write out her basic recipe for mittens last week but I've lost it already. Should probably quit experimenting stick to mom knows best method.

Still making it up as I go along. The cables need to be ended in a less abrupt manner and tapered off so they don't look like they're designed for a platypus!

Mittens HAVE THUMBS

2009-12-08T07:17:00.007-05:00

I can't explain this.
It goes against everything I've believed until now. I am knitting MITTENS.

I got out my Barbara Walker Treasury Books 1 & 2, inspired by this picture of mittens, chose 3 stitch patterns from Book 2 and for some reason felt compelled beyond all understanding to rip out 18 rows of ankle knitting and make mittens instead. There's thumbs in mittens
(we don't likes thumbs!)

They started out as socks.
Really they did! A one Goodwill skein of yarn I hoped to use up from stash to make a pair of socks.

I cast on Saturday morning for some grocery store knitting-while-waiting (for mom) and by Sunday morning I was ready to do the heel flap. I hoped to repeat a recent triumph in optimal skein usage and knit up as much as possible from the single skein of yarn. There was no label, not that those are much help to me. I grabbed up some size 5 needles and cast on a random number and hoped for the best. They would be whatever size they wanted.

I knit until the voices in my head said to change direction.

Knit both at the same time and tried to guess how long the yarn would last. That little scrid of yarn next to the brown flecked socks is all that is left from that skein of yarn!

BEGIN RANT: Dear SOCK YARN people: put enough in a damn skein of yarn to knit a damn pair of average (small even) socks. Most of us have 2 feet and this gimmick of "you need 2 skeins to make a pair of socks" is unacceptable. END RANT.

I've been knitting under the radar since the middle of October. My sister-in-law's grandmother mentioned her church was hanging items on a tree instead of ornaments and I thought I would Knit Unto Others a bit. Use up some stash yarn.

In between socks I started doing some more Fetching fingerless gloves. This probably explains how the thumb thing happened. It occurred to me that knitting the WHOLE THUMB might actually be easier than binding off a hobo half-thumb.

PLEASE NOTE: I seem to have conquered (for now) my lack of LEFT/RIGHT sense. There's going to be one of each!! These do not fit me however. The do fit one of my offspring, who points out she has a brown coat. I may have to buy a special skein for myself to justify the next attempt.

We'll see if this thumb business sticks.

African Violet progress report

2009-11-14T04:03:00.009-05:00

Starting Over Began With Forgiveness

My Mom has always grown African Violets. She grows them on her windowsills and there’s nearly always something in bloom. No names in “heavy” potting soil; in plant pots twice the “proper” size. So far as I know she’s never bought fertilizer in her life. None of this matters to the plants on her sills. They bloom.

When I moved away from home she happily supplied me with a plant or two in full bloom. I would enjoy them a few months. And then they would be dead. (A little water wouldn’t have hurt!) My sorrowful confession would result in blooming replacements. We would repeat this love-kill relationship several years before it occurred to me these plants weren’t meant to be disposable and surely I could do better. I went to the internet and was amazed by what I found. They had names! With blooms in colors I had never imagined; variegated & girl leaves were a delightful surprise and so of course: I had to have some!

For three years I became a fairly successful African Violet grower.

"Laurie was a newbie, enthusiastic and wildly modern in her approach and expectations of her violets." To quote a friend in Montana!

The miracle of babies-by-leaf was perfected and beautiful plants bloomed on my new lighted shelves. Purchases from well know vendors were made, private collectors traded extras for postage and BINGO was won. Twice! Before I knew it more than 100 names came. And went.

Problems began. Gnats were everywhere. Powdery mildew appeared. Plant centers began to look funny. Information overload probably made things worse with every counter measure I tried. I started throwing plants away by the tray full and before I knew what had happened, I was back to three plants on a windowsill.

Over the next two years they would barely survive. They stubbornly hung on even as their labels fell away and watering went back to the desert-flood method. (Ignore until desert dry and then water the crap out of them like that will make up for it.) Shame on me! I knew better. I had made internet friends with wonderful people like Mrs. John of Violet Voice, Fred Hill, Nancy Robitaille and Rich Follet - I won Sweet Violet’s 1^st Bingo! My youngest went away to college, as I think back now. Empty Nest tears & fears may have played a role in my disheartened lack of energy. They felt like too much work.

In December 2008 I decided I missed the blooms; I missed standing in front of the lights each morning with my 2^nd cup of coffee, lifting pots; testing for “heaviness” to see if they needed watering or grooming. I missed my internet friends but I didn’t feel worthy of joining the forums again until I could prove my new found enthusiasm was more than a whim. I would allow myself a lighted shelf for the winter months and IF my three survivors made a healthy recovery I would feel like I belonged once more. On Valentine’s Day a local nursery newsletter announced it had AV’s “Just in – to fight the winter blues!” My 4 foot shelf had plenty of room so 3 no-names were chosen. Their soggy peat was replaced with my mix, suckers were repotted and leaves were set to practice propagation. It was all coming back to me and it was fun again.

Three lighted shelves have been turned on now and 1^st blooms have rewarded my renewed efforts. My original three are in bloom as well; enough so I can tell who they are once more. They’ll always need an “*” if I bother to mark the pot with a name, but Woodland Sprite, Rob’s Toorooka and Rob’s Zoot Suit have earned their spot back on the shelf. My named collection now number about 30. Keeping that number at a manageable level takes a constant reminder of the need for self-control. Too many may take the fun out this just like before. But once I forgave myself, it felt okay to begin again.

Ramblin' Sunshine was among the first plants in an order I placed in May 2009 - after I had proven worthy of buying more. It was actually a "gift" from the seller. (shhhh....*gawd awful ugly little plant is hurtful and we were in denial ;)

She has come a long way under my rehabilitated houseplant care!

P.S. !!

Violet Voice is about to host a game of HOLIDAY BINGO! I'm donating socks & wrist warmers - and a journal. NEW MEMBERS are welcome to play.

Discovering America

2009-10-12T04:38:00.017-04:00

We drove to the EDGE of America!

On Saturday we set sail in our Jeep Wrangler to explore America.

Route 9 to Calais, Maine for some Leaf Peeking.

Weather forecast promised a mostly sunny afternoon. So we drove to where it remained mostly cloudy, with rain.
A pattern for 2009 it seems.

Since neither of us have a Passport it has just hit me: we are prisoners of security.
No spontanous visits to Great Grandparents graveside in Canada, even if we wanted to.

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave motto needs to be adjusted to the reality of today. We are locked in until we pay up for new ID.

Over reaction from 911?

Common sense was the first to go.

Although, judging by the line of cars and the random concert of honking horns, coming back to America is more tedious.

As if an unseen maestro was directing a parade of standstill cars, non-angry honking horns sounded off in a harmony

of musical notes floating across the St. John.

For as long as it seemed to be taking, it's a wonder the honking was not the angry kind.

Then again my sense of Homeland Security may be temporarily skewed by the number of times last week I listened to airport terminal messages explain 311 for carry on liquids in luggage, reminders not to take things from strangers and the strolling TSA agents with seemingly nothing better to do than to step outside for a smoke.

Take off your shoes and get in line.

Bright side: for 3 hours I was able to make progress knitting my socks-while-waiting as Sara's plane from Finland was still on the ground in Newark, NJ when it should have been just arriving in Portland, ME.

She pointed out that if I had a cell

phone I wouldn't have missed the call 10 minutes into my road trip warning of her absence.
2 hours 32 minutes; 142.86 miles according to MapQuest.

Each way.

But I digress.

We were leaf peeking explorers.

Did not know blueberry fields put on such colorful fall display.

Are you paddling back there?

2009-09-10T06:49:00.013-04:00

Sunkhaze Stream
"Where the Wild Things Are"

We took a canoe trip on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Another one of those close to home - right in our backyard adventures you almost forget to take advantage of.

Perfect weather for it and many wildlife sightings along the way included a turtle sunning itself on a log in the middle of the river, a family of 5 river otters and a family of cranes. The river otters swam just ahead of us for much of the way, blowing bubbles at us and rolling onto their backs, floating along side.

A crane never strayed far ahead of us or the otters, keeping careful watch over everyone. A very tiny baby crane showed itself standing on shore just as we realized there were actually 2 cranes swapping places with each other.

A train whistle sounded in the distance just after we passed under the trestle on the way back, so I made the steerer in back turn us around so we could wait for it and get pictures.

(Tom does a lot of "steering" back there and not much paddling if you don't keep your eye on him!)

The engineer had a sign under his window announcing it was his birthday. Tom saw it, although I would have missed it but for the joy of digital camera age!

NO CABOOSE?

PS to BLOGGER: your edit features suck! I need a tutorial for moving pictures where I want them.

Sewing Machine Excursion

2009-08-20T05:30:00.006-04:00

Field Trip!
I took my sewing machine out onto the deck. I've found the best room (outside) the house for some sewing - to beat the heat of the tiny room my sewing machine usually shares with the piles of laundry in waiting. Shade from the maple tree plus the umbrella over the table kept me in shade until 2 in the afternoon.

I'm making another Circle Jeans Quilt - started this spring so it's NOT in danger of being labeled UFO. Yet.
I want to make this one big enough to cover our Queen sized bed. Time will tell if it can actually be used for sleeping under, or simply a cover quilt that's "okay if the dog climbs up or husband keeps his shoes on" layer.

I discovered the perfect sewing machine foot to combat the stretchy bias of denim cut in a circle. I've never actually used this foot and didn't know what it was for until I opened my owners manual. Book says it's a Corded Zipper Foot. (I think...I can't find where I put it. Which means I will tear the house apart trying to find it because I HATE not being able to find something. The mess I will have to put back afterwards is not always pretty.)
BUT ANYWAYS...best foot ever for holding down the bias material while doing the best Blanket Stitch my machine can manage. Once I got used to "where I should be looking" as I sewed along feeding fabric through.

In other news: We got a new refrigerator. My first Brand New one. Ever. Stuff is cold again AGAIN and I guess that's all that can be asked. Except I'm ridiculously pleased with it!

Sears delivery & take away went off without a hitch.

Unlike the purchase of my new stove which I picked up at Home Depot myself and the silly old man tried to load it onto the truck all by himself. At which time I threw myself under a corner of the box about to hit the ground.

Professional. I took a picture of the way they carried the old one out. Told them "I blog" as I snapped the shutter twice. Man walking backwards said "Well, that's a first"!

She walked on water

2009-08-08T13:25:00.004-04:00

Betrayed by Season (again)
The forecast said 30% chance of afternoon storms on Friday so we headed to the river. We would stop for breakfast along the way. Tom would cast for trout and I would get out into the fresh air, hike along and cast on for a new sock. Knit while waiting.
Snap a few digital pictures and just enjoy the beauty of the day. I haven't ventured very far this season as the weather has just sucked. It was time to get outside.

Arrival at his chosen branch of the river requires stepping into the ICY cold, spring-fed water to cross immediately. (Because the fishing is better on the other side?) Whatever. I had made my peace with getting wet at least up to the knees when I agreed to come along. The water has been too deep for my comfort this year. I usually fish too, but this tropical-rainforest season that has morphed our spring & summer into something so wet and unrecognizable for our part of the country, I refused to pay for a fishing license this year. I checked the State website and a one day permit was half the price of the full season fee. Screw that. I'll just knit, thank you.

3 fish were caught right away. 11 a.m. In the time it took me to knit 6 rows.
And then the sprinkles started. Wind came gusting down into the valley where we took shelter under a thick canopy of trees. And the distant rumbling (he tried to convince me were "just trucks going over the wooden bridge") continued. For half an hour we stood back to back against our pine protectors, even as we debated the dilemma of not standing under a tree in the middle of a forest during thunder. But it seemed distant and sky was lighter over there. Really. The sunshine would return soon. Sure it would.

To get back to the jeep (with a muffler that had suddenly gotten extremely loud 2 minutes before arriving at our destination) there was still a river to cross. Conceding defeat, we decided to make a run for it.

Two steps back into the ICY water and the loudest boom of thunder all day was followed by a river that glowed with lightening in the next instant.
Tom was a step ahead of me, holding my hand.
Reminding "slippery rocks".
"Go slow".

Except suddenly I'm two steps ahead of him, still clutching his hand but confused by why he needs me to help him along. In the instant of panic at finding myself in water while lightening was happening, I'm pretty sure I walked on water at least a couple of steps. I could have gotten the rest of the way to the other side, but for the hand that would not let go.
A deep breath while the panic receded and then we were across. It would be several more minutes before the heart rate would return to normal. Another 15 minutes of walking through the pouring rain.

Just as predicted, the sun was back out by the time we had the jeep halfway down the mountain. Betrayer!
Even the maple trees have started shedding their red fall leaves, as if they give up on this one. Fall is looming with a dread I don't remember ever feeling more.

One thing leads to another

2009-06-24T08:27:00.000-04:00

And now we are EGGHEADS!

Reading 1001 African Violet Questions Answered by 12 Experts edited by Helen Van Pelt Wilson, I found a question that tweaked my curiosity.

"Question 156. I am asked, is egg-shell water beneficial?"

The book's expert scoffed a bit at the notion African Violets craved calcium or that they would ever need to be watered with eggshell water. So I did a search to see if this was an old time-tested "grandma recipe" ...or a myth. Found other old-fashioned tips as well, such as adding used coffee grounds as fertilizer (which I've done to outside plants), banana peels beneath house plants (which I will not!) or inserting rusty nails into the plant pot soil to give it iron?
And RAINWATER is said to be a good thing.

(Don't get me started. I'm ready to run screaming from the house like a mad woman the instant the sun appears...mother of gawd is it ever going to stop raining?)

Got it into my head to experiment at some point with the eggshell ideas once a few extras of the African Violet "mouse ears" have grown big enough to separate. These leaves were started May 5th when my package of 6 plants arrived in the mail and needed to be repotted.
Not too surprisingly, babies appear to grow faster from a leaf under 12 hours of artificial light VS the 2 pots placed on the window sill above the sink facing north. Still nothing visible from those. Although there is also one pot of leaves from same date on the light shelf with still nothing happening ...hmmm.

During all of my searching using the word eggshell, I came up with a craft idea and decided to include my 8 year old nephew Kyle on Father's Day.

We made Eggheads!

I made one up ahead to give him an idea of what we were doing and he eagerly agreed to help, carefully drawing faces on 6 eggshells and then chose which plant hair-style to give them. He opted not to do the actual planting. (Baby-steps getting him away from Transformer obsession; a few minutes at a time!)

Note to self: washable markers NOT the best way to create lasting images on plant pots that get wet!

If you build it you can put stuff on it

2009-06-17T04:19:00.012-04:00

My trusty Radio Flyer has seen better days

Jazz seems to know when an adventure is about to begin, especially when it means going down into the woods for a walk longer than a trip to the mailbox. She was beside herself to get started, but had to be bribed with several pieces of cookie for the fake photo shoot when we got back.

Jealous Steph? Here I am having an adventure without you, while you blog about those damn black dogs you play with now more than me. Whatever.

We headed to the far end of the field to collect rocks for my latest project, rusty wagon rattling all the way down over the bumpy trail. I've had an idea floating around in my head now for a while to build a display area in the corner of the deck out of rocks. Big ones.

I also got it in my head I wanted a Strawberry Planter. A lady on GardenWeb mentioned she found one at the Lowes in Southern Maine. My trip to the library yesterday did a really big swing so I could say the new Brewer Lowes was on the way. Sort of.

Okay not at all! But I wanted one.
While I was there I bought a few plants to put into it. I still want one of these smaller designed planters to put trailing African Violets in.
(Link included for the shopping ease of family members who like pie :)

A gift of Purple

2009-06-14T10:04:00.004-04:00

Purple Passion Plant

Visiting the Hardware store across the street from where I get groceries a week ago I noticed the large purple passion plant in their window. I commented at the time how beautiful it was. It gets full afternoon sun and is a gorgeous shade of fuzzy purple in the bright light. Another plant of about the same size sits on their counter out of the sun, like a drab copy.
(Note to self - once it settles in, move back to sunny window)

This store is also a postal substation, where I take most of my fabric postcards to be hand canceled & mailed. The lady behind the counter knows me and always takes the time to admire the cards before sending them on their way. I asked her yesterday while there getting bird seed if she sells any of the plants. She took one out of the jar all rooted, wrapped it in a couple of paper towels and handed it to me for free :)

I'm very tickled, although it got a little wilted while grocery shopping. I hope it's recovering, as of this morning it's looking a little better. A quick search with the google to see how to care for it (since I've killed this one before) and I found this from a Canadian Greenhouse grower that made me laugh.

It seems he did a google search of his own when asked by a customer if he had heard of the plant. Apparently the blossoms of 50 or 60 plants in full volume are a little stinky according to his findings.
He concluded," I don't think I will be growing this anytime soon!"

I left him a comment...
Shame on you for judging a plant by it's google! ;)

African Violets by name

2009-06-13T06:47:00.004-04:00

Obsessive Tendencies

I have admitted before my obsessive nature towards the subject of the moment. I tend to eat, drink & breath a hobby or interest for as long as it lasts. All out and full speed ahead. I want to learn more. I want to find bloggers or forums with similar interests. I visit the library. I buy used books for my growing library of how-to.

(First new blooms on Happy Trails since starting over. It arrived by mail in May along with 5 other plants.)

A quick search of my blog using the word ob session surprised me how many times I've admitted the description of myself. Dating back to the very 1st entry!

My current project is replacing some of the named African Violets I used to grow on lighted plant stands. I committed all but 3 to the compost bins several years ago. Sounds less guilty than "she killed them all"? (Which is what I had to admit when Steph came home after being away for a year and wanted to know what happened to them all.)

I've rejoined active participation at Violet Voice. It moved from the MSN site and it's less active than I hoped. If you have an interest in growing better African Violets, check it out. Help liven things up a bit!

This old blog entry is actually full of wise advice. Most of which I neglected to follow in the end. I'm reminding myself daily the best advice I ignored of all: Grow only the number you have time to care for.
(I ordered 2 new plants and 3 leaves yesterday. 2 shelves is my limit. I swear! :)

Chickadee Tantrums

2009-06-09T04:09:00.005-04:00

I spent the day outside!

(That was going to be half of a sentence, but I decided it expressed the happiness of my day quite well all on it's own.)

I spent the morning exploring the back corner of our property, looking for more plants for another terrarium or a dish garden for the deck. This is the terrarium I replanted on Sunday. Only a couple of trees were doing very well, so I took out everything else and started it over.

I also wanted to transplant Beech Trees to the little "grove" in our front yard. Beech Trees are one of my favorites and they're popping up all over the place on our 20+ acres. Except where I want them. Fingers crossed I got a big enough root ball.

I've been helping Tom all spring get next winter's wood up to the house for splitting. We're borrowing dad's ATV and trailer to get down into the woods where his truck would have a hard time going. This was one of my better ideas. Given that I'm the one that usually lugs the sawed up pieces to where the truck can get to. When I saw how far away I would be carrying the last section he cut, I decided it was time for a new plan! Tom is having a blast on the thing and is going to miss it when we give it back. I suspect he might be on the lookout for one of his own.

I had staked out a tiny "hackmatack" tree that I thought would be perfect for a dish garden, but when I went to dig it up, it had an extra foot long trunk growing under the moss. Not going to work! So I kept my eye out for another "perfect" miniature tree. Of course you never find one when you're looking for it.

I wandered to where I remembered a few cedar grow to look for small seedlings. I found three! I never see small cedar trees around here. I think the deer eat them as fast as they get started. Tough luck guys: I raided YOUR garden for a change :)

In the afternoon I cleared out one of my gardens that had grown over badly with weeds. There are several bird house boxes hanging out there and I suspect one may have been home to a family of Chickadees recently. This little guy put up quite a fuss when I started sawing limbs off the trees hanging low over the lawn. I've been mowing this section all spring while Tom hauls wood, and some of the branches just about took my head off trying to go under to mow.

Was afraid I must have sawed off a limb with a nest in it by accident, judging by the fuss this Chickadee was making. Decided he was too small to be a mom. He was one noisy juvenile delinquent I can tell you! Pretty sure his mom came over to see what all the fuss was about when I noticed this much larger chickadee on a branch above.

About the Hacmatkack tree. I swear that was what we called it when I was growing up. There was one growing on Mom & Dad's front lawn and you NEVER park under it because sticky stuff drops off it constantly. I decided to google it to see if it was a real name.
Also called Larch Tamarack
One site said Hackmatack was also called Balsam Poplar.

No sir! Two different trees entirely.

One Legged Seagull

2009-05-24T10:10:00.005-04:00

Or Scam Artist!

He totally had 2 legs and was hiding one tucked up...somewhere!

We stood there taking pictures, feeling so sorry for the poor thing. And then it took flight and the missing leg dropped down into place and away he flew.

Faker!

Me too as it turns out.
Purl & Prejudice: it was an honor to be among fastest slow pokes in this year's Sock Madness!

Here is the progress picture of where I quit! I'll change the pattern to do a 2 color heel, repeat the leg chart once in reverse and then knit a plain foot.

Looks like YarnWhisperer will represent our team for the final 4 and I will cheer her loudly...glad to be out mad sock knitting mode. Until next year?

The madness continues

2009-05-19T11:11:00.007-04:00

On to ROUND 6?
Or not...

I finished my 5th pair of socks since March 19th. Sock Madness is down to the final 16.

Sweet 16!
And I'm still in it?

Next pattern comes out Wednesday night between 8 pm & midnight. I'm NOT a night person so I doubt I'll be knitting before my first cup of coffee on Thursday.

Thursday is also my birthday.
I'll be 50. Holy Crap!!
(Several other words come to mind but I'll refrain.)
As of now... I'm not planning on spending it sitting inside knitting all day.

More puzzle pieces have been finished.
My current obsession is perfecting my bullion stitches.
I'm more in the mood to embroider than knit.

And I'm old enough to do what I want!

Sunset Grazing

2009-05-09T05:29:00.006-04:00

Fabric Postcard experiment
(Sunset fabric postcard - Version 2.0)

Felt like "something was missing" or perhaps it was just too simple - or maybe I'm just too used to adding quilting or seed beads to blank spaces.

So a recent Blog visit to the designer of the tatted giraffe happened to have this picture of her giraffe, I was reminded of a long ago plan to make a bookmark with mine.

I made a new giraffe - several trial & error rejects as I relearned needle tatting. I had 10 backgrounds painted and ready to embroider the leaves for a swap so I experimented with the giraffe on one of them. Suits my NEEDS MORE syndrome.

Also experimented using Flickr account to upload pictures here.
Let's see how that works now that I've edited a plain text message...
I think I might like the change! Have to edit after 1st round of publishing blog post but easy. Once I figured it out.

Madness has its own reward.

2009-05-07T14:53:00.004-04:00

I won a prize this round!

Seen here is the skein of yarn with MY name on it :)
Isn't it pretty?

Meanwhile...
I've been making Fabric Postcards during the lull.
Just what I needed! Very relaxing.
I'm pushing myself to try new-to-me embroidery stitches.

I bought Needle Lace & Needleweaving by Jill Nordfors for like $6 including shipping. Decided I would buy it the instant it arrived from a lending library.

It's that awe inspiring.
I have a Sunset themed Fabric Postcard Swap to finish as well as an Underwater theme to get mailed out. My partner for the Underwater theme went above & beyond. I may have to send her 2 cards to be worthy of this swap!

It's Madness, I know

2009-05-05T07:30:00.008-04:00

On to Round 5!

Sock Madness 3
Round 5 up next?
It's the farthest I've ever made it.

"If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
Lord of the Rings!!

Thank you luck of the draw.
I'm in one of the slightly slower divisions.
Purl & Prejudice

Or as I dubbed it halfway through 2nd sock:
Pride & Perseverance
I will finish.
5th from last as near as I can tell.
(Just this once I wanted to make it one step more :)

Wasn't sure I could force myself to sit knitting for this one. Sunny days and gardening.

Plus a nephew turned 2 - so there was partying to do!

Here he is escaping. He seemed to have had enough with the partying and just wanted to go outside. Marched to the door and let himself out halfway through present opening. A promise of a cupcake got him to turn around and go back in.

I've about knit myself into "never want to knit again" state so not expecting to get beyond the next round.

But I did it!
One step more than ever before.

It Rained Green

2009-04-24T12:31:00.005-04:00

Spring rains made everything green - seemingly overnight. After the brown decay of winter, 2 or 3 days of rain washed everything clean. It rained so hard at times it was a bit like Mother Nature took charge with a power washer.

Spring Cleaning!

It's a bit of a shock to the system to suddenly see everything so green it makes your eyes hurt. But happily looking forward to the gardening season about to begin.

I have one and only one flower in bloom.
A daffodil right outside the kitchen window.
There's an angel in waiting next to it.
Reminding me to be patient.

I finished my hardanger bookmark!
Made the first tentative cut along an outer edge and then got swept up in knitting for Sock Madness again - pattern came out late Monday afternoon but we were away for the day. The pattern corrections worked out during the test knit were mistakenly missing from the file sent to contestants. Luckily someone was usually standing by on Ravelry - willing to set things straight as best they could.

I tried not to let myself knit for too long at a time but the last day I JUST WANT TO BE DONE mode took over and I may have overdone it. My wrist & arm still ache. Got Asprin?

The bookmark cutting waited until I felt braver.
Cut it completely out Thursday night and clipped the threads as close as I dared. Trimmed it again this morning, but never having actually seen anything cut out, I'm only guessing it's done right.

It's really done!!

Round 3 socks for Sock Madness have been finished in time to move on to the next round. I've never gotten past Round 4. Part of it's luck of the draw in who you're paired up with. This year I seem to be luckier - our group is slower to finish up each round. Maybe I can beat my personal best this year?

Nemesis

2009-04-17T06:59:00.007-04:00

*Buttonhole or Blanket Stitch
"formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent"

I was reading the Nordic Needle newsletter and came across this bookmark collection project underway for Reading Literacy.
Nordic Needle has taken it a couple of steps further:
For every hand stitched bookmark you send to them before May 7th you'll be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate.
They're also doing a Bookmark Challenge contest - due May 3oth.

So I decided my next Hardanger (with color) project would be a bookmark.
I can't seem to visualize by designing on paper yet and so it became another design-as-I-go trial.
And error.

I'll probably keep this one and try again for a more kid friendly donation.
I wanted it to be narrower but forgot the buttonhole stitch all the way around would be necessary. Until I had already done what I thought would be the outer edge. Adding the buttonhole border means doing about a bazillion more eyelets before needle weaving can begin.

I'm almost ready to cut. I'm using 1 strand of matching DMC floss for the eyelets & woven bars. It's a little like sewing with a strand of hair. But it matches the size 5 DMC variegated Perle Cotton. Need to talk ACMoore into carrying the pretty balls of size 8 & 12 perle cotton. Black, White & Ecru are all we can get without ordering online.
Come on... we need the pretty, pretty colors!

*Besides not being able to "see" the first time around trying Hardanger, the buttonhole/blanket stitch is what pushed me over the edge in giving up on it.
It's coming easier but I can't say I like it much better yet.
And I've never cut the outside edge away yet.
I'm a little afraid.

I almost forgot:
The front of the Needlecase do-over is finished!
Well. Except for the buttonhole edge or hem or whatever they call to do for finishing it.
(Free Pattern here)

I jumped to something else first.
Surprised?

Interruption or Intervention

2009-04-08T04:52:00.009-04:00

First, to finished things

I finished my hardanger practice piece April 2nd!!
I'm thinking it will become a page in a fabric book of sampled needlework.

I hope to continue exploring different techniques for each page. Giving me a perfectly reasonable excuse for jumping from one thing to another as the mood strikes!
Brilliant?

Sock Mad ne s s - round 2 got underway Saturday. The pattern was delivered by email at about 9:30 in the morning and we were told it would need 2 contrasting colors.

I was afraid it was going to be stripes.
I should have been more afraid, as it turned out to be stranded knitting. I'm ridiculously slow at stranded knitting and when the highlight of a chart is getting to do several sets of 4 stitches in a row of the same color!! ...seriously. Slow.

Steph dubbed them Cinderella Socks as she squeezed them onto her foot for the official & mandatory "feet must be in the socks" photo. The girls were both on campus until after 6. I finished them around 1:45 but couldn't convince them 2 of their feet needed to get home immediately. The madness!

Finding someone they'll fit should be interesting. They are very tight.
As I believe I've mentioned: I do knit quite tight.
And they're very long in proportion to width.
Cinderella?

And now for the needed intervention round 2 of Sock Madness provided. Concentrating on knitting socks for 4 days made me put aside the colossal mistake I had just made with a pair of scissors that morning.
I was happily stitching away on a piece with some much desired color when I seem to have gone mad with a pair of scissors. I foolishly cut across 3 of 4 columns of threads before realizing 24 of them were not intended for cutting.
I had not yet pulled many of the longest threads, and I thought by cutting them in half I could pull from both directions. They would come out easier.

Major structural damage has occurred! It will take more time to try and fix that I intend to devote to it. I believe I'll let the flames of the wood stove destroy all evidence of my stupidity and try again.

Like it never happened but for the lesson learned.
Careful with those scissors! (And no shortcuts.)

Humbled by Hardanger

Picking up where I left off

2009-03-27T08:10:00.006-04:00

Hardanger progress

Continuing with my "design as I go" practice piece, I needed to work myself away from the center. Somehow.

I thought centering the next section above the on-point square - keeping the 3rd stitches in line and 4 threads above - would allow for the corners to meet back up at the edge. They're off by at least 2 threads.

I'm telling myself it was mathematically impossible and not my counting. Since all 4 corners did it.
Design flaw?

I managed to give myself way more eyelets to do before I could cut & needle weave again. Since the book says eyelets must be done first or the cut threads will be ripped from their moorings, eyelets it is. MERCY!

I'm just itching to start something with some color but so far I've stuck to this so that it gets done. And then I can move on to one of my new books.
Or maybe I'll try this needlecase in DMC Perle Cotton 5 4190 Ocean Coral.

Yes. An impulse buy while birthday shopping for Steph.
Along with this Clover turntable hoop discounted from $36 to $8 at Joanne's. It's even marked down to $15 here - so it was either overpriced in the first place or just plain sucks.

For $8 I'm going to find out for myself.
As soon as I finish the rest of these eyelets so I can get to the fun part of this hardanger project. (And before round 2 of Sock Madness!)

Sock Madness 3

2009-03-23T07:24:00.008-04:00

We interrupt ...everything!

Yes. I took time out starting Thursday morning for some Mad Knitting.
If it's basketball playoff time, it must also be time for Sock Madness 3.

Since I participated in 1 & 2 it was hard letting go. The words "I don't think I'll play this year" were spoken aloud, with at least 1 witness. But in the end I decided to try the 1st pair, with a promise not to overdo it. I don't want to be a Pattern Collector - someone who ONLY signs up for the free patterns. That's not fair to all the sock designers or the 2 hosts.

I made it through round 1...
Finished Sunday morning. It had an interesting new cast on that I might try again. ("Twisted German" :) Luckily there was a YouTube video to get us through that.

The After Thought Heels were a little too much like someone thought up a way to put THUMBS on a pair of socks. They had us put a big hole in the bottom of the socks (on purpose!) for trying on purposes during knitting.
And then knit the heels last, with the idea you could replace the heel when they get a hole in them.

LOOK UP AT MY BLOG TITLE.
We don't like thumbs much around here!!

And it's SOCK MADNESS.
There's no 'trying on' in Sock Madness!
You knit them EXACTLY like the pattern says.
Not one stitch less! (More is your own call.)

The design was inspired by a quilt block called Drunkard's Path.
Probably won't be printing a fresh copy so I can knit this one again but it's a cute gift idea for quilt friends who might get a kick out of it. Definitely never doing heels like that again!

I don't know how long I'll last this year as my elbow and wrist ache when I do anything with my right arm for very long. I need to LOVE the 2nd pattern if I'm even going to cast on for the next round.

I've taken a break from knitting. These are the only 2 pair I've knit in the last 6 months. Knitting only while "waiting" takes a long time to get a pair of socks.

Take a deep breath

2009-03-17T19:39:00.005-04:00

Remember to exhale!

My first Hardanger Woven Picots :)
Not sure if I did them right - but they don't suck.

How dainty stitches are on 30 count fabric!

Took me all afternoon to do these few.
The hardest part was getting the courage up to make the 1st knotted loop.

How committed would I be if it failed?
Would it be a mess to untangle if things went very badly?
A great gasping breath escaped after about the 3rd pair and I realized I had been holding my breath for way too long!

Next to cut the middle threads away and weave it back together. Remember to breathe...

I bought new stork scissors and some better tweezers for removing the drawn and cut threads.
Dear family: HANDS OFF!!

2 of the new books I ordered arrived.
Can't wait to explore them; they both look full of inspiration and brimming with the details of new stitches just waiting to be tried.

Still Puzzled

2009-03-15T05:58:00.008-04:00

How I spent Friday

I made another puzzle piece :)

Here is the blog with some other examples.

I needle tatted the basket with a smaller weight thread last year, so it wasn't big enough for a postcard. It got dropped into the sewing box for someday.

I dug it out and put it to use. It's been so long since I did one of these that I'll have to relearn how to make them before I try another for swapping.
Basket Pattern (Designer: It's me!)

I need to make a "view finder" shaped puzzle template so I can center things better. It's hard to judge where the middle will actually end up with my current method: Just guess...more or less.

I added some petals, leaves and beads at the base to offset the basket handle being too close to the top and too much empty space below. Sara took a look at it and said it looked like petals had started dropping off.
So I guess my disguise worked :)

On Saturday I basted newly purchased 30 count Hardanger fabric and set to work on a new block. I'm winging it as usual, with thoughts of making it into a Stitch Exploration fabric book page.

This is about 4 hours of work.
Free chart I started with. Looking forward to cutwork & needleweaving sections. Where I go next is still up in the air.
It's going to take a while to make a "book" at this rate.

Puzzled

2009-03-13T06:47:00.005-04:00

Did I mention I bought a light?

And it came with a magnifying glass?
PRICELESS. Seriously recommend it!!

I've been experimenting with more puzzle pieces. It suddenly occurred to me my pieces could be like little band samplers of every technique I've ever tried with fabric postcards or fabric ATCs. I don't have to reinvent the wheel for ideas! I've already had a couple of good ones and it's okay if use them again. A needle tatted basket of flowers soon :)

I tried the Hardanger doodle puzzle piece on top first. No basting. Just outlined the puzzle shape roughly a quarter inch away and started in one corner and away I went. It's a little random - but I was practicing!
There's a tan fabric layered behind to highlight the cut work and I added some beads as quilting when I was done because it seemed like it needed something more.

Mostly I wanted to see if this type of fabric could be buttonhole stitched without fraying all over the place. I used fusible web, plus stitched the outline very close before cutting the puzzle shape. (I should not have used a pencil as I can see some marks that I thought would never show. Oops!)

I also tried experimenting with the tabs on the bottom one. To see if I could make it fit, I custom cut the top tab down to size.

I was afraid the stitch work on the bottom piece was too close to the edge, but when I locked them in place the open space from the top piece made it less noticeable I think. It's a 2nd try.
(This time it's square... for what it's worth :)

I mistakenly used 3 strands of floss and didn't realize it until I went to separate the other 4 in half. There were only 3? Damn! I ran out with an inch of edge work left. I hope I have some more. Somewhere. It was late so I haven't gone looking yet.
Wish "organized" was trait I could say I've passed on to the girls.
NOT.

While I still need lots of practice and need to study the stitch how-to's more closely, Hardanger stitches are coming so much more intuitively. I blogged about it at the time, so I'm surprised it was so long ago that I first tried.
2006. Really?

I shouldn't have held out so long without a light!
Instead of flinging it away in frustration because I can't see, I want to try more.

The Curious Frog

2009-03-10T07:58:00.004-04:00

How it came to this

For some reason lines from the opening of the Lord of the Rings keeps going through my mind:
"What news of the outside world? Tell me everything ... Everything? ...far too eager and curious for a hobbit.
Most unnatural."

I may not have even known the terms Needle Weaving or Drawn Thread until 2 weeks ago. But I'm an eager hobbit... tell me everything!

I've gone to 2 libraries and carried home 1/2 dozen books (just now requested another offered suggestion through the lending library program), purchased a couple online that still haven't arrived...grr!... and dug out all the books I've collected on Stumpwork, embroidery, CQ, Hardanger & more.

All to satisfy a current mood to teach myself.
To stitch something.
I've been working on this 2nd experiment in stitching.

My thought bubbles along the way:
I want it to be bigger than the last piece so that there's room in the center for surface embroidery.
I want it to be square so I can try the Zig Zag hem tutorial - needs an even number of threads.
Baste A LOT because I can't count.
Okay that was too much. Didn't need half of it except as markers in counting to ten.
Tried following the diagonal flow of the last piece but it turned out too Laverne ...Letter L!
Fill in some more to disguise the L.
Now is it too much?
Maybe I liked rectangle better. Next time.
Sort of reminds me of ivy growing on the side of a building.
There's too much empty space to fill. Balance?
Try some Hardanger...make a window!
Now it makes me think of kitchen windows & garden walls...
Add more knots.
Now beads.
Too much?
Should I have left more empty space?
Should I snip OFF some of it?
Too late...filling it in.
Adding more.
And more.
Last night: "I'm stopping now... maybe it will look different in the morning."
When I got up this morning: "Something's not right."

And then I saw the frog charm in the bottom of my stitching container.
Purchased a long time ago and waiting for a place to go.
I dropped the curious frog down onto the piece - peeking into the garden window.
I knew what I wanted to do.
Maybe it would be okay to Add MORE knots & wheels to balance the window.

A line from something Stephani once wrote ends: "that's how you learn" has been repeating in my head as well. I'd been considering my next blog entry and thought I might go with the title I taught myself.

I'm nothing if not determined. If I see something I want to do, I try to figure out how. Whether the "teacher" comes from books, from internet tutorials, patterns with complete and detailed instructions or a simple image that I feel compelled to explore.

Explore. Yes that's what we can do. And access to internet is a seriously valuable tool. Just as we can pick and choose what to use. What to consider. What to discard. What stitches to put together and which "rules"to break.

One comment from a site I visit currently spoke about mixing stitch techniques. She asks: Is there a point when you do so much that it all gets fused in your mind, and you use any technique that seems appropriate, or should you keep each style of work separate?

In my head it was a description of what must be going wrong with my latest effort. What I woke up to this morning seemed "just not right" and I wasn't sure if it needed more, less or something not all. I was still looking at it when I read her comment. I didn't know if I would be brave enough to blog about it, if in the end I hated it absolutely :)

Still not sure about it but I tried something different...
I went exploring like the curious frog!

Does this look SQUARE to you?

2009-03-05T13:46:00.009-05:00

NO.
Because I (still) can't count.

Here's the progress made on my 1st effort using a combination of Drawn Thread, Needle Weaving and Surface Embroidery.
I think I'm calling it finished.

Kind of small so it may have too much going on?

Cutting was not so scary as I remember it from the Hardanger project.
Fun even! Although I am going to need some sharper scissors.

But what seemed a huge expanse of open cut threads before attempting to follow Mary Corbet's tutorial for Hem Stitching, turned out to be a scrawny little patch for Surface Embroidery! Will need to go bigger and braver with next attempt.

And learn to count.
I would have sworn this would be square - until I realized it wasn't!!
There were 20 pairs of "threads" one way and only 15 the other.
Sigh.

So I wrapped the drawn threads with randomly symmetrical Needle Weaving. Or at least what I suppose is Needle Weaving.
I wish I had gone a shade lighter in color.

Next time...
(when I go bigger & braver ;)

Fine lines & slippery slopes

2009-03-02T05:26:00.009-05:00

No turning back...

A few weeks ago I admitted defeat and bought a Daylight tabletop lamp.
I swore I didn't actually need the magnifying glass that came with it but it would be there for someday. If someone ever did need it.

On Sunday I peeled the protective sheets from the magnifying glass and tried it out. Okay. Maybe I do "need" the magnifier.

I tried Hardanger a year or two ago and declared it the hardest needlework method of all time. Mostly because I couldn't see the damn threads.
I did several heart shaped practice projects before finally getting one to come out "right" enough. Then moved to other things.

I am trying again . . . but now with better lighting.
Inspired by this picture I felt compelled to give counting threads another try.

I've ordered 2 books including the one mentioned at Maggie's Textiles.
Until they arrive I'm (* sort of) going by Mary Corbet's tutorials found on her blog, Needle 'n Thread.

*OOPS!
I was supposed to wrap 4 threads (except for 2 on each end). I did 2 all the way across. All the way around.

I meant to do that!
Not buying it? Didn't think so :) I stopped reading directions too soon and just started sewing.

If there was a report card
Follows Directions marked: Needs Work

Lilacs in Waiting

2009-02-24T03:33:00.009-05:00

Before and After

Tom and I went snow shoeing just before sunset on Sunday.

The threat of another storm was brewing.

By Monday 18 inches of snow would blanket us a little longer in winter.

I am officially sick & tired of Winter now. Please go away!

Last year I may have lasted a little longer before giving up on February. But not by much. Winter has been much more severe this year. No open ground where the snow pack melts completely and winter hits the reset button.

We lost power twice yesterday, for several hours of roughing it without electricity or water. My right arm aches from all the shoveling & roof raking.

For those who need convincing: Freshness Dates on a box of cereal are merely suggestions. The Cracklin Oats are fine. Really.

I made chicken & dumpling soup for supper.
And Whoopie Pies in the afternoon to celebrate power restored to the kitchen.

Perfect Whoopie Pie Recipe
Cream together 1/2 cup Crisco & 1 cup sugar.
Add 2 eggs, stir until creamy.
Add 2 cups flour
Add 1 teaspoon each of: baking powder, baking soda, vanilla and salt.
Mix well. Add 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cocoa.

(Still a little fuzzy when the perfect time to add the cocoa is - but near the end!) Stir for a really long time until creamy cake batter consistency.
Drop by spoonfuls on lightly greased cookie sheets and cooked 8 minutes at 400 degrees. Exactly. (less but not more!)

Allow to cool!

Filling:
2 cups Confection sugar
3/4 cup Crisco
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla and * "a little milk"
* What the hell kind of measurement is that?!
Beat until creamy with mixer.

("a little milk" seems to be about 1/8th cup or less)
Sandwich 2 cakes with filling and squish together slightly.

I don't know if this is the same recipe readily available on the internet but when I couldn't find "my" recipe, I tried one from the internet. It sucked. So I'm writing "mine" down now so I'll know where it is next time the battered recipe card goes missing.

The mouse takes the cheese

2009-02-11T15:51:00.007-05:00

Or gets stuck with pins & needles

Look what I made today!

Valentine Mouse Pincushion.
Instructions are here.

Changes made: Added an extra layer of "cheese" colored felt under the heart shape and practiced my blanket stitch for an extra sturdy base.
Added a braided tail; 2 beady blue eyes.
I stuffed him with dryer lint.

The only good mouse is a felt mouse!

"I can stop any time I want"

2009-02-03T13:08:00.007-05:00

"So are you addicted to THESE now?"

(comment by ~~a smartass~~ Stephani)

Okay. They're addictive!
I've made 4 now.
If there's a Whirl Into Spring drawing, I'm ready with my prize.

Because shadow or no shadow given off by pesky rodents in Pennsylvania - I'm ready to bring on Spring. Now.

I've been working on my quilted Puzzle Pieces for a swap set up by Pat Winter Gatherings. Also addictive. I don't know if they'll fit together with other submitted puzzle pieces without purposely tweaking the nearby connecting tabs a bit. Hopefully I'm not alone in needing to revise the pattern of alternating pieces to make them fit.

One alternative I can see would be to ask some entries to leave their edges unfinished. I've been practicing my blanket stitch. I think I may be going the wrong way. All the tutorials seem to work the stitch right to left but after trying the first one and feeling like I was doing it backwards, I wondered why not go the other way. So I did. Seems the same to me.

It's still NOT my favorite stitch! If front is supposed to look as good as back, I've got a lot of practicing to do yet.

(If any Puzzle Swap participants stop by and want to do a one-to-one puzzle swap email me!)

It's a Beautiful Day!

2009-01-21T00:36:00.017-05:00

My heart is happy :)

Tom and I went snow shoeing Tuesday morning. And this time I brought the camera.

There was a song in my head and a need to just look up into the sky.
I said thanks more than once.

Happy Inauguration Day!

I also whispered something about "men" and "idiots".
In the same sentence and several times.

My idea of perfect Snowshoeing is to go forth and blaze a wonderful trail until you're half tired, turn around and enjoy the fruits of your labor: A nice groomed trail for homing. Since you're half tired, getting home is just the right distance and goes quicker than you think.

An idiot man declares at 20 minutes past half tired:
I know where we are!

It'll be quicker to go off into the deep woods, with no clear trail.
I can see the road!

Never mind that we're getting off the "interstate" of snowshoeing trails and taking the over grown "tote road". You'll need 4 wheel drive to get back to the main road after he finally acknowledges maybe we should turn around.

Gee, never done that before ;)

I almost forgot...

2009-01-20T04:17:00.005-05:00

Star Bright borders are done!

Saturday morning family members were called to a gathering in the living room for a mandatory round of applause over another finished quilt top. They complied quite nicely.

It was supposed to have another 5 or 6 inch border of the lighter fabric, but all the bias of the pieced stars made for wavy borders. One side was a real headache. Enough that I've pledge to myself only border-less quilts from now on! We'll see :)
I thought I had a quilt bat all ready to go and was going to pin the layers and get started with some quilting since we were having a blizzard. Except it was crib sized when I pulled it down. Too small.
Now I must go to the fabric store at my earliest convenience?
Oh, darn.

{Thought bubble: More red fabric? Or maybe some muslin so I can try a hand stitched Scrappy Cathedral Window...}
No one can see that, can they?

Took a little detour

2009-01-19T15:43:00.006-05:00

Found myself in Russia gazing at beautiful stitch work.

I don't remember what word I put in Google the other day. But, This is what I found! Plus her tutorial for the Hex shaped needle books.
I have an addiction for making needle books.
So I made one for myself today ;)

The pictures of the tutorial are so universal I hardly needed to use Babel Fish to translate. (You can enter a web address and it translates everything for pages & pages. Mostly understandable, even!)

I made mine quite a bit smaller, once I realized how much larger 17.5 cm is than I thought. Next time I need to decide on a template size and stick to it. That way back & front might come out more or less the same size - first try. I used a CD as the template for the cover circles and instead of hemming the edge I sewed 2 circles together, trimmed extremely close and snipped a slit in the middle of one of the circles and turned.
Slit is completely covered by insert.
(Way easier!)

This one does have a bit of a design flaw as my stork scissors stick out of the pocket too far. Plus I cannibalized a 6 inch crazy quilt block with the hummingbird already stitched. I wanted to get started right away - instant gratification. It started out as several fabrics with embroidered seams, but the more I cut it down to a smaller size, the more was lost. You can just catch a glimpse of the other fabrics. One of the seams had a pink embroidered chain that stood way out of place without the rest of the block seam work. I snipped off the pink, but the needle marks still show.

But most importantly: I finished a project AND have one less orphan block in the treasure box!

(If) I bought fabric

2009-01-16T04:50:00.010-05:00

I'm not blogging about it.

If I had a discussion with the cutting table lady at the fabric store she might have laughed as we discussed a need for some red to supplement my fabric inventory.

If there had been a 50% sale on everything, this would have been a really good day to supplement just a little more.
You know. If.

Progress has been made on several quilting fronts.
(She attempts to divert attention)
4 weeks of the Calendar Challenge have been completed.
(this is only the 3rd week!)
I may add some applique to the red & blue week panels to mark the return of my desire to applique.

Star Bright borders have been worked on once again. 2 days in a row. No pictures yet because I never think of it when it's all spread out on the living floor. You'll have to trust me. I'm working on it!

And why did I forget how much I love to applique?
It's been a lot of years since I did any bigger than a postcard.
A Tisket a Tasket, 12 Months of Baskets

I decided to put the Bunny Hill Designs free block of the month design for January in the blue block setting I already had made. Needed to make the basket smaller so it would fit.

Congratulations to Briarose, winner of the socks AND Needled Mom, winner of the Knitting Needle Roll-up from my Whirl Into Winter contribution.
I even won something from Patchscrap!

Now let's get winter whirling out of here.
It's too freaking cold!

Quilting Old and New

2009-01-12T01:41:00.006-05:00

She's at it again

Great News:
I used up some more of my fabric inventory!

Formerly known as stash fabric. "Stash" has a negative tone and what I'm really doing is Quilting Green. Right? If you have plenty of material on hand you don't waste gas running to town. Until you know.

When you need some more...

Did you note how I'm ignoring the fact that I've started some new things and Star Bright has gone 4 days without much forward momentum?

BUT.
Digging through all my inventory, I found some more of the 2nd border fabric. So I can add a very narrow strip to the either side of the seminole border under construction (I was afraid would be too wavy) and still have enough to do the binding.
What luck!

Wondering: Should I practice saying this with a straight a face or a grin?

I've also been digging through my Unfinished Treasures for the - ahem - aging English Paper Piecing project(s) I knew were in there somewhere. I happened across some cheap Hex Therapy - and after some debate with myself, got out the ironing board and took a few wrinkles out my Grandmother's Flower Garden. I'm going to work on it again.
(Note bold font promise and shiny new button in the sidebar!)

I suppose you might further note the second English Paper Piecing project also pulled out of hiding and ironed nearly wrinkle free. Because if you quit working on one hand-pieced project, you should start another.
In a different shape.

(Would have been better though if every family member in the household did not appear in the kitchen to find mom standing on a chair taking pictures of very old unfinished quilting things. Explanations sound so much more guilty said out loud.)

With that said... I signed up for a couple of quilt block exchanges a couple of weeks ago. shhh!

One is a birthday exchange; 7 people signed up. Each get a block from the others on their birthday. I missed one that happened before I signed up. She said I could surprise her or wait until it rolls around again.
I thought I would try applique and make my contribution extra special since my own 5.0 is just around the bend. Except I really like the Heart Applique. Tom actually commented on it: "you should keep it".
I'm undecided and now the clock is ticking louder...
But I enjoyed doing applique for the 1st time in years! And I really like this setting.

The other swap is a centralized Chain of Friends block, in groups of 8. I have 9 finished. Commitment completed!!!

Until a different set of 8 blocks show back up in my mailbox and their life clock starts counting its way towards another UFO on my list?
Maybe not! I sent an email to our local county Project Linus director and they accept orphan blocks. And there's a Blanket day coming up so the big pile of unwanted treasures may find a good cause.
Or become someone else's problem.

201 posts! So she took a hammer to it?

2009-01-09T05:40:00.002-05:00

Pardon our mess...

Finally said screw it and upgraded from Classic Template to New & Improved Blogger Template. I may have some tweaking to do still!

Star Bright!

2009-01-04T11:37:00.010-05:00

Now we're getting somewhere!

Star Bright by Janis Nelson, Quiltmaker magazine #83 Jan/Feb '02.
(Started the day after Christmas ;)

The New Year's Day attempt at Planet Patchwork's One Day Mystery Quilt set my resolve back a bit ...already?
Started something big, before finishing a project underway. And then changed my mind.
I hate the Big Fan pattern, but now there are quilt pieces sewn together as evidence that give me away. Especially once it becomes a blog entry. I started something new.

Delete button, maybe?
No... it will just be something else. Soon.
Promise!

But I went on a guilt ridden, star paper-piecing, fake 9-patch sewing frenzy. The main body of my Scrappy Quilt is DONE!
There's even an extra row up the side so Stars would be in all 4 corners. Now pattern calls for 4 Borders - one of which is Seminole styled piecing.

The "I will quilt it right away!" pledge must be taken. Right hand in air, left hand on sewing machine: "I will!"

Have I mentioned I don't know right from left most of the time?

I need a Plan B

2009-01-02T05:58:00.008-05:00

Happy New Year!

(or How a UFO is born)

Planet Patchwork had a GLOBAL all day quilt-a-thon on New Years' Day. I had this in mind when I picked up the 3 fabrics at 50-60% off while Christmas shopping.
(Don't say it.)

Starting at 11 am ET they would release a piece of the pattern every hour.
Door prizes.
Live Chat.
(Good for getting questions answered. Sort of. But a little hard to chat, mark, cut, sew and iron seams open all at the same time.)
I had the house to myself, so why not?

Turns out I didn't have the right Fabric A. (light color)
So I tried tea dying 6 of the fan pieces.
Better? Maybe. Or Not.
I'm not loving the Fans.

So now I need to look around for another quilt project that uses 8.5" & 2.5" Half Square Triangles somehow.
I'll call it my Slippery Slope Project.

Or I'm going to be making a lot of needle holders...

I did start out the day working some more on the stash busting scrap quilt. Squint really hard so all all those colors on the same quilt top don't freak you out!

AND.

While our furnace was on the fritz (24 hours) and I needed to keep the back up wood stove cranking so I wouldn't freeze to death, I was distracted by this little bag.
Recycled denim, of course.

Pattern free as a challenge, although may only be available for limited time. Hurry over!

Whirl Into Winter (part 2)

2009-01-01T01:01:00.012-05:00

It's not easy being yellow.

The WINNER IS:
Briarose said

Dear Birdies in the feeder
I am your fearless leader
Who forgot to put seeds out last night
OH you guys are a sight
Sorry dog gave you such a fright
But did you have to mess up the deck?
I should give you heck!

ok that was sooo lame, but those socks are soooo amazing and my feet are cold....I can imagine them on my feet sitting in front of a fire...

ps...I love your blog name...

In the Summer of 2006 I joined the group internet knit-a-long called Amazing Lace.
I had just learned to knit socks in December of 2005 - with help from my mom. The basic plain knit sock recipe she uses. She's left handed so I had to teach myself to knit from a booklet. I learned the basics when I was a teenager, but had no real interest for very long.

By the time I joined Amazing Lace I was ready to try something harder. A fancier pattern from the internet. This was the pattern I went crazy with! At the end of Summer I met the challenge to knit something a little lacy.
(A garden of socks for the photo contest.)

Trouble is I bought all that yarn on sale and nobody in the family has wanted the yellow socks for themselves or a friend in need of gift giving. So I am giving them away.

For a chance to win the yellow socks write a little letter of poetry. As described in my previous introduction to the Whirl Into Winter Giveaway:

"Face a window and write a poem in the form of a tiny letter addressed to anything you see outside."

For inspiration, read actual student entries from an Outdoor Lit class here.
My attempt:

Dear Mr. Maple,
Dignified and gracious
standing guard at driveway's edge.
Does it tickle your bark when those 2 bushy tailed gray squirrels
chase each other round and round?

No Poetry Police here... All actual attempts will qualify :)
International entries accepted for both contests on this blog.

Some of our favorite people are overseas right now!

Whirl Into Winter with 60+ Quilt Bloggers!

2008-12-31T09:10:00.026-05:00

THE WINNER IS:
Needled Mom said...

What a fabulous needle case! It has to be a ton better than any poetry I can come up with. (I loved math and science in school.)

Chance to Win quilty Stuff!

And hurry Spring along!
(Okay. I made that up...)

I've joined the Quilters Blog Giveaway, starting January 1st. I've been sewing up a storm and it's almost like I'm a quilter again.

I'm giving away a quilted knitting needle roll-up.
If you want a chance to win - leave a comment.

NEEDLES NOT INCLUDED.

I tried out a quilt pattern for a block called Chain of Friends.
There's a pdf file with complete instructions.
The quilt block should have ended up 9.5 inches square.
It didn't.
Big surprise!!
(Designer not responsible for my wonky quarter inch seams -
I'll have to try again!)

I could have shoved the misfit block into my treasure box and let it age. (Like that would fix it.)
Instead I made a knitting needle holder
...this morning!
FINISHED things are glorious. Why do I forget that?
Maybe finishing things will be a trend in 2009.

For a chance to win more stuff:
60 or more other (real!) quilters are giving some pretty nifty things away as well. Visit the Whirl Into Winter website that started it all for a complete list of Giveaways. Each one will have different rules so read the fine print.

All drawings are to be held January 15th.
Make sure you include an email address so I can contact you!

I'm also giving away some hand knit yellow socks - Size 5-6 ish.
Different rules!

EDITED 1/2/09: Comments have gone off track a bit!

If you want to win the socks leave your poetry comment in the blog post above titled "It's not easy being yellow". SEE LINK:
For a chance at the NEEDLE HOLDER leave comment with this blog entry. (For a chance at the socks leave 2nd comment here.)

You'll have to try writing a little poetry for the socks entry:

"Face the window and write a poem in the form of a tiny letter addressed to anything you see outside."

For inspiration, read actual student entries from an Outdoor Lit class here.

(EDITED 1/2/09: They're really good - you should click the link and see how they did it in class! Include a letter form greeting like "Dear..." or Salutations!)

My attempt:

Dear Mr. Maple,
Dignified and gracious
standing guard at driveway's edge.
Does it tickle your bark when those 2 bushy tailed gray squirrels
chase each other round and round?

No Poetry Police (but...)
All actual attempts at poetry will qualify for the socks :)
(even the ones who didn't read directions - a second chance if you read all the way to here and do it right ;)

International entries accepted for both contests on this blog.
Some of our favorite people are overseas right now!

Below will be updated links to Blogs asking for a mention about their giveaway - for an extra chance at winning
(how can I resist? ;)

Keepsake Moments (very elegant prize! ;)

Scrappy Quilt and Resolve

2008-12-28T01:39:00.011-05:00

A few loose ends to tie up

I don't usually make resolutions.
I might just give it a try this year.

Bold font Blog promises have a way of keeping me honest!

Cat Quilt - binding complete
Y2K Quilt - Top finished

Tom wondered where the pile of change he laid on the table went. I showed him where the Y2K machine quilter funds were growing. Fair warning to all members of our household: a coin snatcher is in your midst!

Never Ending Socks - finished
Pair cast on next day - 2nd sock heel underway.

(taking longer than hoped; but not cursed anytime I catch a glimpse of them as of yet.)

Scrappy Stash Busting Quilt - A work in progress.

My resolve was 6 blocks a day. I'm plus 4 now that memory of how to paper-piece has returned.

My reward resolution for 2009 is to grow a shelf of beautiful African Violets under lights once more. One shelf of beautiful blooming African Violets.

Light Therapy.

I'm going to plug 1 light back in and try growing plants on a shelf again.

I further resolve to retain control of my AV habit and NOT save every leaf to start another plant.
Ending up with too many plants.
More than I can handle.
Again.

ONE.
Now to see what becomes of my stash busting, UFO finishing, WIP resolve in 2009. The year I turn - dare I type it? 5.0

Improved versions always get a higher number!

Use it or lose it

2008-12-26T06:11:00.011-05:00

Will need to pick up the quilting pace a bit.

I seem to have forgotten every thing I ever knew about Paper-Piecing.

Decided on this scrappy quilt from Quiltmaker magazine next.
(Jan/Feb 02 #83)

It'll use many different fabrics from the stash bin. I've convinced myself that's as good as working on another UFO.

Not off to a great start making the star block as 2 of the pieced seams had to be undone because I had the background fabric where the star was supposed to be or it didn't cover the space intended.

There are only 6 seams for the three sections. 2 blocks managed this morning, although much cutting has been done. To keep it scrappy and not have all the same colors bunched together, some of the sections have to stand in line.

I'm using my new iron.
A Christmas present from Mom.
There was an oath taken.
NOT to iron sticky stuff (fusible web).
No Fabric Postcards, journal covers or ATC's are to come near the bottom of this iron.

I did hand sew another side of the cat quilt binding down.
One edge left.

I made a matching bag for the Circle Jeans Quilt I gave Angie. My sister-in-law genuinely seemed to love both of the gifts I gave her. Showed a satisfying amount of love for the quilt I made her and petted the box holding the casserole dish with hot/cold covers & carrier.
A couple of times actually!

And Ben does love his ice cream on a stick.

Christmas Sunrise

2008-12-25T09:24:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas!!
Sunrise properly applauded this morning just for Steph. Have fun in Austria now that your travel nightmare is over.

Y2K obsession over

2008-12-24T01:55:00.009-05:00

The 10 day wonder

It's finished!
At 7:57 a.m. December 23, 2008 the last seam was pressed.
I think the proper term might be Um. Ta-dah?

As explained in an August 2006 entry:
"Um. Ta-dah? deserves to be the new "Finished" standard for completed projects. Especially if outcome was uncertain right up until the end, previous skill level is admittedly lacking and you "like nothing more than a challenge (which may render me a bit unstable) to keep me off the streets."
To quote a crazy chick with a goddamn hammer!!"

The Dog Loving Knitter has changed her blog name and the link to her entry that made me laugh out loud doesn't work anymore.
But, thankfully only a few of the blocks failed to fit together nicely and were threatened with a hammer...
To make them fit.

My very big quilt (top) has been completed in a timely fashion.
1999-2008. No?
2009 by the time it's quilted. Technically.

In exchange for one of my Fabric Postcards, the last Y2k Squishie arrived Monday afternoon from a quilter in North Carolina. I made 2 blocks with blank center squares - one for me and one for the quilting date.

I had one package from a quilter with the wrong sized squares sent. I added a border of matching light fabric, but didn't use it in the end.

And the Ugly Duckling block that kept getting thrown back to the bottom of the pile to "use later" never did make it in. I started to unpick the center square so I could use it with prettier fabrics but after about 15 seconds said screw it and used a blank. The machine quilter can sign there!
I'm thinking the spare change dish is going to be a machine quilting fund because this thing is huge.

I don't know what to do with myself without 25 squares to obsess over and fit together in each new block.
So I bought a few yards of fabric ...to go with what I have.
What???!!!

(It was 50%-60% off?)

Now I can obsess over what to start next!

Or I could choose the next UFO to work on.
Nah!

Blogger says I've used my quota of pictures
Steph? Know anything about that?

And that yellow pair of socks pictured in the link above still sits unloved. I knit them in 2006 and still they sit in my Finished Bucket for Socks.

Like a misfit toy.
Nobody in the family seems to want them. Even as a gift for best friends who move away, office pals or boyfriend Moms. (Sara keeps picking pink ones for Will's Mom. 3 years of Pink socks for her? The woman is going to think all I knit with is pink!)

Perhaps I'll give them away.
If you've noticed the little Snowflake wearing a scarf in the sidebar (and like entering blog giveaways) there's going to be a bunch to celebrate the New Year.
Sign-ups start after Christmas.

And it's still snowing

2008-12-22T03:08:00.009-05:00

Roadblocks & Snowbanks

I've worked on the Y2K quilt a little every day.
At least one block a day; most days four or more.
It's now in 3 big sections with 72 blocks sewn in.
8x9 feet (BIG)
One row to go!!
Will need to work from my scrap basket & stash as most of the 3" squares left are damned ugly.
Or too medium shaded.
Stopping to cut and decide color placement is the slowest part.

Sunday morning was my "Worked on the Y2k quilt for a week" anniversary.
Everything was going smoothly until I sewed 2 strips of 3 blocks together upside down.

Log Cabin pattern: Wrong.
Noticed just as I was about to press the seams to the dark that names on one row were upside down?
And since my sewing machine has been bouncing over seams a little crooked, I went across the row twice. Some of the 3 inch square intersections needed to be tacked with a dozen stitches to make the seams match better. So there were 3 rows of stitching in some places.

Stitch setting: 2.0 (Small)
45 minutes of unpicking put it back on track.
I worked until lunch to get it in 3 sections.

I flicked on the outside light at about 2 a.m.
Yes, it's still snowing. I thought we were getting about 6 inches until dad informed us at Sunday lunch it might be a foot or two.
He plows for us and was worried about the forecast.
I jokingly said "Don't worry; I'll be able to shovel..."
There were witnesses and I'll be hearing these words used against me I'm sure.

Y2K (a quilt story continues)

2008-12-18T03:42:00.011-05:00

Piece by Piece

My latest obsession started about 3 am Sunday morning.*

I decided to pull out the package of Y2K blocks & Squishies and lay them out all over the kitchen floor and see what kind of plan I had.
I must have had a plan?

I'll admit to having a mild panic attack at the though of what lay ahead.
Literally my knees were shaky and my heart was racing in an "I can't do this" kind of way. In a way I don't ever remember before.

Come to think of it maybe I was coming down with something. I spent ALL day Monday sick in bed, nauseous and achy,1st hot and then cold. I requested a shovel to the back the head at one point. Er...thankfully he didn't take me up on that. BUT I did get a good hour of work done on the quilt before admitting defeat. And who the hell dirtied all those dishes? I made sure all the dishes were done before allowing myself to start my Millenium Project on Sunday. And all I cooked was toast for 24 hours. Every freaking dish in the house was dirty by Tuesday?

The thought of shoving it back in the Treasure Box and pretending it didn't exist for another ten years flashed briefly across my mind.
Instead I took a coffee break and joined a Ravelry Knitters Who (used to) Quilt group. My first post:

(SOS! :)
My name is Laurie and I have some UFOs…is that the way members of support groups start their pleas for help? lol

A few days ago I pulled my Treasure Box out, aka underbed storage container full of UFO’s, determined to do something about it. Closest to finished first seemed like a good plan so a quilt that just needed binding is underway - halfway around hand stitching binding down on back- waiting for sunny window later to finish.

So I thought my Y2K would be next. Now I’m having a panic attack! I seem to have 45 blocks sewn together, with 11 swaps still wrapped in the envelopes they came in; 4 signature squares floating around loose.
Sewn together Log cabin style light to dark diagonally… Clearly I had a plan. Once!!

Okay. Rather than stuff it back in the box for another 10 years, it’s waiting on the floor for me to calm down. Remember to breathe normally. Sign up for a support group. Perhaps I’ll blog!
LOL - husband just got up and noticed my cause of distress laid out on the floor. Shaking his head and going back to bed!

It was not a bad plan at all. I had sewn (at least) 45 blocks together, with squares reading dark to light on the diagonal in the style of the Log Cabin pattern. Only with little squares instead of strips.

I remember starting out trying to keep everyone's 24 pieces of fabric together with their signature square.

(A.) you don't always get a very good read of dark to light.
(B.) you get some ugly-arsed blocks.

There's one 12" block I may have to unsew just to get the signature square out. It's NOT going in.

I had swapped (25) 3 inch squares with at least a hundred quilters. As seems to be true of all internet swapping no matter the theme, there are always people who break their promise. Best Intentioned Swappers I can take to a point. They meant well, but stuff happened.
PLEASE: STOP SIGNING UP FOR STUFF UNTIL YOU GET CAUGHT UP!

There always seem to be a few who think they're signing up for free stuff from any idiot who will send it to them. (And I guess if you're silly enough to send strangers you meet on the internet stuff, you should probably count yourself lucky you ever get anything back.) But still we trust. Probably part of the reason this project lost its charm. If the objective was 2000 pieces, it would take 80 trustworthy swappers. I never did count how close I came until Wednesday.

I was (at least) 2 short. Too short...ha ha! corny joke just for Steph ;0)

I must have had more than 45 blocks sewn together to start with; as it is now I have nearly 72 squares. Clearly my math or basic counting skills need some work as I still have 5 or 6 signature squares left. Plus my own needs to go in! I used the fabrics I had cut into 3" squares for the cat quilt and i can't remember how I signed it. I remember using a rubber stamp print though!
A recount will take place today.

*Actually the obsession to finish something started 3 days before when I came across 2 old emails printed out and saved from 2001-2003 during an Internet Round Robin ...gone bad. A group of 6 or 7 of us each made a 12 inch crazy pieced block and we agreed to swap them to each person in turn, who would work on our block and then pass it to the next.

The last person to get my block was Gayla Cox. She sent me glowing details of the work she was doing in reply to several of my emails, trying to encourage her along and get my block back. For years I had faith I would get it back. She wrote how wonderful my block looked. All about the ladybugs and caterpillars she was embroidering. My name! She said she embroidered my name.

And then she kept it.

The girls said a blog post titled "You Better Be Dead" was unacceptable. Steph googled her. She might be. Rest in Peace...but I'm still a little bitter.
My name was on it.

To this day THAT is the only Internet Swap that rankles. That I obsess over still. I had blind faith until the end. (Well, sometimes still I think what it would be like if I found it in the mailbox. FYI: I still live at the same address.) But there was never closure. Even the hostess handled it poorly in my opinion as her only response was "oh, that's too bad."
No more Internet Round Robins for me.

Quilting like it's 1999!

2008-12-16T07:56:00.011-05:00

Y2K. UFO. SOS!
(lol ;)

This segment starts with a personal guilt factor as usual.
UFOs.

UnFinished Objects.
Quilt projects in various stages of waiting.

A cat quilt has been hanging out waiting for it's binding.
For like a year. I won the blocks in Chapter block of the month drawing.
Okay... that was actually several years ago.
I machine quilted it. I prefer hand quilting, but I thought it would be quicker by machine. Less likely to end up in the Treasure Box of Unfinished things.

But, that's all it needed?
Not sure what the hell I was waiting for.
Except the fabric I wanted to use for the binding was gone and so I had to make a new decision.

Decision made! It's binding is all on and I just need to go half way around sewing the back of it down by hand. Waiting for a warm sunny window.
This week for sure!

Next up I decided would be my Y2K quilt.
By "quilt' I mean a pile of 45 blocks and 15 envelopes still barely opened.
Peeked at when they arrived.
In 1999.

Swapping charm envelopes - Squishies- was all the rage back in 1999.
While the computer geeks worried the world was going to come to an end because no one thought ahead about rolling over the internal clocks of our electronics - quilters celebrated the event with 25 three inch squares of assorted fabrics, one of which would be a plain muslin with our signature and location signed. Often a stamped image!

This is where I seem to have left off.

Nature is having it's way

2008-12-12T14:21:00.004-05:00

Denial is a shovel still stored way out in the shed.

A day after Thanksgiving

2008-12-08T08:24:00.009-05:00

Road trip!

Tom and I headed for an overnight stay in Portland the day after Lobster Day.

Save a turkey...eat lobster?

Not a problem!

We gave thanks home alone, with a pot of boiling water and some butter :)

LL Bean outlet shopping and a little Letterboxing.

Next time we eat lunch first.
We spent way too long circling the first park.
Determined to find missing boxes in Baxter Woods.

While I searched in vain, Tom fished the missing stamp out of a pond next to the tree it should have been hiding near.
Floating in a baggie.
Green with pond scum.
Like the bum who threw it there!

By the time we searched for 5 across the street in Evergreen Cemetery I was starving.
(Plus only found one.)

Almost 1:30 by the time we gave it up.

Next time we eat first!
So Life is NOT crap.

And what's with the Crooked Little One-room Schoolhouse posing as Santa's Workshop?

Imagine

2008-12-08T08:06:00.003-05:00

Remember.

Tom and I had moved in together 4 days before. He says we were watching Monday Night Football when we got the news.

Imagine. What might have been.

Stuck in a folder no more

2008-12-08T05:21:00.010-05:00

6x6 Meme

The rules:
--Go to your sixth picture folder and pick the sixth picture.

*if you've recently renamed folders - is the order skewed unfairly?

--Tag - you're it!

And I'm adding a twist: [(6x6)+5]
--find 5 more pictures you really meant to blog.

From what I remember my 6x6 picture is low tide in Belfast. Tom and I wandered the farmer's market and later looked for several Letterboxes.
And ate lobster/crab rolls sampler lunch. Yum!

Next 2 are at Schoodic Point.

A front yard rainbow.
Rainbows always appear here, often double.
I think it's because of Pushaw Lake's proximity and the magnifying glass it becomes.

(But my science expertise is equal to my math skills and my ability to tell left from right at a moments notice... what do I know!)

Last pictures are right side of our yard at the road's edge.
A storm this way comes!

Left side rock wall where tree line meets sunrise.

Applauding Sunsets. Required.

2008-11-27T08:45:00.012-05:00

An Adventure in Hiding Things

The girls arrived home from their respective campus job-related activities the day before Thanksgiving with 2 hours of daylight left!

This miracle does not happen often. Especially less frequently as the number of available daylight hours tick ever downward.

Jazz & I greeted them at the door in time to pick up on a half baked plan to drive up to Hirundo Wildlife Refuge and walk the trails before dark.
The 4 p.m. hour of falling blackness was pointed out.
It was agreed we must make haste.
Even as someone piddled away valuable minutes of lightness upon learning dogs were not welcome in an animal refuge.
And there were no Letterboxes to be discovered.
(I want to hide 2!)

"Fine. I'm Not Going."
Familiar somehow.

But this time successfully coaxed out of a funk and into the car.
And we were away.
For a 15 minute drive to one of those places right in our own backyard.
Too often forgotten about.
Overlooked as a possibility.
...when there's Nothing To Do.

I haven't been there since Tom and I hiked some of the trails when we first began looking for outdoor things to do together. In 1980.

I stuffed my coat pockets with camera, trail map and pen.
Plus the 2 Letterboxes all set to be hidden in the perfect place.
I hadn't decided where yet.
Several locations have been considered and discarded in recent weeks.
But I was certain I would know it when I saw it!

Our hiking adventure included wet feet and much puddle jumping thanks to the recent heavy rains.
A few girlie poses for the camera along the way.
And the perfect hiding spots were found for our newest Letterboxes released into the wild!

Along with a standing ovation of the setting sun.

This is a Stephani sanctioned procedure.
Participation mandatory. But why wouldn't you want to?
Everyone must applaud the setting sun.
With feeling. Like you mean it.
You will get The Look (while she applauds) if you have not responded in kind and in a timely fashion.
Why wouldn't you want to, indeed.

It was a great adventure!
I give thanks for the awesome memory of our afternoon together that lingers still.

Why aren't you out there Letterboxing?
I know where a couple of really cool ones are hiding!

View from across the river.

2008-11-09T16:31:00.004-05:00

Indian Trail Park

New Letterboxes are hidden in Brewer;
2 of 3 found due to very slippery slope covered with rain soaked oak leaves.

Oh, YES WE DID!

2008-11-05T00:34:00.006-05:00

We are ONE NATION. Again.

Did you forget to breathe today?

I kept the TV off for most of the day.

As the sun started to set I went for a walk, trying to capture the image. Without a house or a passing car.

Seen through the trunks of beech trees; dried leaves holding on for a new season...

Let the healing begin.