Done, Done It!

Yes, it is finished--well, almost!  Needs some quilting though.

We'll get to that later.  I'm hoping to have several small wall

hangings ready for the quilter and she can just zip them

on one backing--that's my thought anyway--not sure,

how she feels about that though!!

I've been working away on my blocks from three monthly QAL--

so excited to get these two out of the way--until I really

looked and no way.................I put the last section of

the red block on upside down!  Gee whiz--going too fast

isn't always good.

Rip-it, rip-it and we are back on track! 

Slow down Nelly--don't need mistakes that take time

to correct..

Pooling Party........................

Let's go pooling!  Not a real swimming pool, but a yarn pool.  There are several patterns

on Ravelry that uses variegated yarns.  How to pool your yarn? And why?

Twist Collective has an excellent article on how and why--I know it takes 

some math figuring and I'm not the greatest at math, but, this looks like

an adventure in knitting.

What is pooling?  This all began with crochet method of changing the way

yarns work up.  There is a way you can make the variegated yarn colors

create patterns in your work.  Here is video on knitting to pool.

In one way, this is all very interesting and intriguing--I know I need someone to hold my hand,
hence, there will be a KAL with

You can find her basic DaVinci Cowl pattern on Ravelry; take a look on

Pinterest and/or join her Facebook group here.  Her knit along

begins April 1.

First, I need to find a good variegated yarn that will work with this technique--

does that mean I can buy, buy, buy?  

She also has KAL for Rhapsody which begins May 1.

This is a 30% discount on the pattern now through end of April

if you wish to join in this KAL.  I'm thinking if my yarn

for DaVinci doesn't work for pooling, I can use it for Rhapsody.

Summer Reading With Your Ears!...........

Every year I post about this terrific program--free audio books for youngsters!  But, I, as an adult like reading some of these books also.  Look at this list!!  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!  Wow!  All good reads or rather listens............hop over to their website and sign up to download these weekly audios.

2017 SYNC Audiobook Title Pairs

April 27 – May 3

THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich, Narrated by Charlotte Parry, Christian Coulson (Hachette Audio)

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde, Narrated by Greg Wise (Naxos AudioBooks)

May 4  – May 10

FEED by M.T. Anderson, Narrated David Aaron Baker, John Beach, Anne Twomey & Tara Sands (Listening Library)

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams, Narrated by Stephen Fry (Random House Audio)

May 11 – May 17

BRONX MASQUERADE by Nikki Grimes, Narrated Jessica Almasy, Cherise Booth, Kevin R. Free, Marc Damon Johnson, Sisi Aisha Johnson, Melanie Martinez (Recorded Books)

TEENAGE DIARIES: THEN AND NOW by Radio Diaries, Hosted by Joe Richman (HighBridge Audio)

May 28 – May 24

THE GATHERING: SHADOW HOUSE BOOK 1 by Dan Poblocki, Narrated by Dan Bittner (Scholastic Audiobooks)

IN OUR BACKYARD: HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN AMERICA AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO STOP IT by Nita Belles, Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella (Oasis Audio)

May 25 – May 31

FREAKLING by Lana Krumwiede, Narrated by Nick Podehl (Brilliance Audio)

BOY by Anna Ziegler, Performed by Sarah Drew, John Getz, Travis Johns, Amy Pietz, and Bobby Steggert (L.A. Theatre Works)

June 1 – June 7

BEAST by Donna Jo Napoli, Narrated by Robert Ramirez (Recorded Books)

OF BEAST AND BEAUTY by Stacey Jay, Narrated by Julia Whelan (Tantor Media)

June 8 – June 14

PLUS ONE by Elizabeth Fama, Narrated by Julia Whelan (Elizabeth Fama)

IF I RUN by Terri Blackstock, Narrated by Nan Gurley (Zondervan)

June 15 – June 21

THE RED UMBRELLA by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Narrated by Kyla Garcia (Ideal Audiobooks)

THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK by W.E.B. Du Bois, Narrated by Rodney Gardiner (Dreamscape Media)

June 22 – June 28

To Be Determined

THE WITCHES: SALEM, 1692 by Stacy Schiff, Narrated by Eliza Foss (Hachette Audio)

June 29  – July 5

AMERICAN NIGHT: THE BALLAD OF JUAN JOSÉ by Richard Montoya, Developed by Culture Clash and Jo Bonney, Performed by Keith Jefferson, Richard Montoya, Todd Nakagawa, Sean San Jose, Kimberly Scott, Herbert Siguenza, Tom Virtue, Libby West, Caro Zeller (L.A. Theatre Works)

MY NAME IS NOT EASY by Debby Dahl Edwardson, Narrated by Nick Podehl and Amy Rubinate (Brilliance Audio)

July 6 – July 12

REBUTTAL by Jyotsna Hariharan, Narrated by Phoebe Strole, Michael Crouch and Nina Mehta (HarperAudio)

REMEMBER TO FORGET by Ashley Royer, Narrated by Will Lasley (Blink)

July 13 – July 19

THE DORITO EFFECT: THE SURPRISING NEW TRUTH ABOUT FOOD AND FLAVOR by Mark Schatzker, Narrated by Chris Patton (Dreamscape Media)

SUGAR by Deirdre Riordan Hall, Narrated by Tara Sands (Brilliance Audio)

July 20 – July 26

GONE: GONE SERIES, BOOK 1 by Michael Grant, Narrated by Kyle McCarley (Tantor Media)

THE ONE SAFE PLACE by Tania Unsworth, Narrated by Mark Turetsky (HighBridge Audio)

July 27 – August 2

AIRBORN by Kenneth Oppel, Narrated by David Kelly (Full Cast Audio)

SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoe Marriott, Narrated by Amy Rubinate (Brilliance Audio)

August 3  – August 9

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys, Narrated by Emily Klein (Listening Library)

IN MY HANDS: MEMORIES OF A HOLOCAUST RESCUER by Irene Gut Opdyke with Jennifer Armstrong, Narrated by Hope Davis (Listening Library)

August 10 – August 16

SHADOWSHAPER by Daniel José Older, Narrated by Anika Noni Rose  (Scholastic Audiobooks)

METAMORPHOSIS by Franz Kafka, Narrated by Martin Jarvis (Naxos AudioBooks)

Shopping For Birth-day Quarters.............

It's that time of year again--the ex-patchers give fat quarters (18"x22") as birthday gifts.  It's always fun to shop for these fabrics--keeping fingers crossed the recipient will like what you have selected!

Here is the list:  Judy--Bright Kaffe Fassett--this will take some shopping!

Camilla--Brown (is that a plain brown or a patterned brown??)

I settled on patterned brown!

 Debby--gold and black OR creams (which do you think would be easier to find?),

just a little red

Sandy--medium to dark reds that read as a solid for patriotic quilt--now that's specific!!

Now, that I see this in the camera--it's not looking so Red!

Karen--black and white or white on black

Tedi--medium to dark pink or orange batiks--hmmm, which will I choose?

Annette--naturals--beiges and ecru--no white

Brenda--Yellow

Me--cream/white

I know--I'm not suppose to buy for myself, but you

can never have too much cream

Linda-- gold or yellow batiks

That takes care of all the birthday wishes except for that bright Kaffe Fassett Fabric

more shopping in my future!!

     

Need Inspiration for Colorwork?

Do you ever get stuck with ideas on what colors to use for your next project?  I do all the time.........

I have taken to viewing old seed catalogues

Actually, the blog features numerous Arts and Artists work

But, there is nothing like viewing these colorful prints

Smithsonian Digital has several of these vintage seed catalogues

for your viewing pleasure--whether you take up needle and thread

or brush or paint, there are good color choices to be found 

when you get stuck in a rut.

In The Land of Mesquite!

Mesquite trees grow everywhere in Texas and other southwest lands.

keep reading--you'll find out why I'm writing about Mesquite trees.

Mesquite trees are one of the toughest trees known to man with more than 40 species to be found worldwide, and 7 of those species growing in Texas. The most notably prolific of those mesquite trees growing in Texas is the honey mesquite.

Of the 167.5 million acres that Texas takes up in this United States, the honey mesquite flourishes like a bad weed on at least 56 million of them, or grow over a third of the state. 76% of all mesquite trees in the U.S. grow in Texas though they are native to other Southwestern states also.

Seedpods are the means by which the mesquite tree propagates itself and those seedpods can be up to 10 inches long. The seedpods are called beans, since they resemble green beans only much larger, and they mature in late summer when they are covered with a sweet coating that has a sugar content of as much as 30%. It is common for people to chew the sweet coating off the seedpods 

When I was younger, We had a number of mesquite trees in our yard and it was my brother's' job to rake the

seed pods when they fell--boy, how they hated to do that job!  Don't think they ever ate a

seedpod though!

One reason we hated these trees were the thorns!  Oh my--if one of 

these thorns hit you--big OUCH!  They are good protection from

outside elements though.

Okay, you are saying--why are we talking about mesquite trees?

If you got this far in the blog, you're in for a treat--

and I have a whole new admiration for these lowly trees!

Why?  All because of an article, by Teresa Morris, in this magazine

opened my eyes! These trees surround us--yes, I know the

wood is used for furniture and smoking meats, but

never in my wildest dreams would I have thought about

eating the tree!  The magazine has recipes in which you can

use this flour from mesquite pods.  

This is a low glycemic food, high in protein and fiber; used to replace 25-50% of

other flours; the taste warm spice flavor, cocoa and molasses--It's worth

a try!

 There are other food products that come from trees, but I hadn't even 

given them a thought.  I do know that one simple little pill that

gave the world a pain reliever-- Aspirin!!

"The ancient Egyptians used willow bark as a remedy for aches and pains, said Diarmuid Jeffreys, author of "Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug." They didn't know that what was reducing body temperature and inflammation was the salicylic acid.

I'm looking to cook up a tasty dish with mesquite flour powder--

Helical stripes--oh yeah!

This has been a great instructional time for me!  Just take a peek

at this video from Arnall-Culliford Knitwear.

You can also find them at Facebook

why I never did my knitted stripes this way before??  simply simple--easy to follow and
mindless knitting!

I've divided my Zauerball into two sections--wish I had got

the colors different to begin with, but that is lesson learned!

I have the pattern, five needles (could use two circulars--but was

too lazy to go through my needles to find them!) 

Look at this!  No bumps!  No interference with the stripes--

just a continuous round.   

I'm ready for the thumb--so enjoying this knit!

Finished!  I know the thumb looks weird--I didn't knit enough

single rounds before I began the ribbing--and I was too 

lazy to rip it back--

now!  onto the second mitt!