Have Knitting……..Will Wait!

Have my knitting at the ready—need to go anywhere outside the confines of my cool comfortable house, it’s in my bag ready to pick up. 

Only place I travelled too—Firestone for tire rotation and alignment.  I just love the smell of fresh new tires!!  Here I sit, breathing in that wonderful rubber smell—but my hands are busy

I love making these hats; easy to cast on, knit, knit, knit; decrease; weave in ends and bam--you have a finished hat!  Plus--added bonus, using up all itsy, tinsy bits of yarn!  Just hold two together, case on 80 or 88, join in the round and you are on the road to a hat!

I send my finished hats to Emily's Hats for Hope Initiative 

She'll gladly accept scarves also 

I really like the way the yarns add dimension to the stitches.  going to dig through my stash and see what else I can find

And when you finish one hat, what do you do--but begin another hat!

Maybe, that new tire smell got to me!

have knitting, let's wait!

 

Oh Well!

 My bags are all packed and I'm ready to go--just one small thing--I've got nowhere to go!   Isn't that the way life is?!!  I've been lazy lately so it's a good thing I don't have anywhere to go--just staying inside being cool--the toughest item to conquer is what's for dinner!  Check out the pantry and freezer, plan something that's not complicated and I can continue to sit back relax and do nothing--but read, binge watch a series or two, nap maybe-- oh, no!  I hear some chores calling--they can wait for another day when I'm not so lazy.  Did you know that August 10th is declared National Lazy Day??!!  Guess I’m there already!

I did visit my sewing machine for awhile--really would like to get these quilt blocks together.  So far it has taken me three days

The blocks are from Pat Sloan's Sweet Childhood Memories earlier in the year.  While assembling the blocks, I knew that I had all the ones I needed but alas--was I wrong!  I was missing one of the larger blocks--had to go back and find out which one I did not sew!  And there is another problem, she issued the layout at the beginning of the sew along, but did I do it as I made the blocks?  Of course, NOT

I'm working on the border--need to make some half square blocks--there were a few I made about two weeks ago; not enough though.  I found this roll of 3" finished papers; best use them up.

Back to the sewing machine--trim up, tear papers and there you have a perfect 3.5" block for the border

Whoops!  the corners are all wrong--a date with Jack the ripper!

I'm bored and now I'm going back to my easy chair to be lazy some more!

 

It's Done!

 I got tired looking at it!  Every time I walked by, the mistakes were glaring!  Thought I could ignore those mistakes, telling myself, "it'll come out in the wash" or 'no one else will notice".  It really bothered me--these could go down in history!  Especially for those who take the item and place in a chest of drawers (an aside here--why is it called a CHEST of drawers?)   Sorry--being a procrastinator--back on topic!

Finally, I took the scissors (think it was one day last week) and cut it off!! Yes, I cut it off!  Whew!  that was a big decision--it's done now; that can only mean it must be fixed RIGHT so I can continue on.  What I'm obsessing over is my latest tea towels on the loom--I'm weaving with my handspun cotton and there it is--SEE IT?  On the left hand side--three threads in one dent instead of two--I checked it once, I checked it twice when I was sleying and then on the loom after weaving a few sheds--it stuck out like a sore finger!   

I finished weaving this towel; will hem and wash--it will go in my kitchen cabinet for use.

I pulled out all the threads and resleyed them two in each dent--tied it back on the front beam and wove away--well, darn it!  looks like another mistake--but, trust me, there isn't a mistake--I checked it with a fine tooth comb (where did that term come into my word phasing?)  

I found this skein of indigo handspun cotton--probably some of the first cotton I spun!  I wound the skein off into a ball and using for weft--think all will be fine once it's washed!

Okay, I feel a little better now--I just hate to cut off a warp--oh, the warp is continuing from many warps ago--just tie on a new warp and wind onto the beam.  It's all good--until the back beam becomes loaded with past warps.

over and out for now!

August?? Already??

July was another month to tick off the calendar!  It was hot, hot, hot! Looking forward to August--

better things weatherwise is just around the corner--yay!  Also, it should be the month when our great grandson will have his surgery!  Prayers please for that!

Just look at him!  He's the cutest!  Just perfect on the outside but all messed up inside.  But, he's getting better each and every day.

A new mystery quilt for Quilts of Valor started August 2 with fabric requirements.  Clues will be weekly and end on September 20.  YOu can check in with Quiltygirl to find the clues!  I'll be sewing along with the group--love red, white and blue quilts.

I find this interesting--how about doing an 2x2  piece of art a day?  Begin August 7- 11.  Mindful Art Studio

is the place to sign up--and see what's it all about!

I uncovered these little dainties' the other day!  I know I've been neglecting these for so long--maybe, that's why they were buried under other stuff on my table!

I don't remember how many I made--evidentually those little pieces will go into this block--I do have some made--this is from a pattern (free) from Lisa B

She has another quilt along ongoing now--but, I said NO this time--maybe, some other time I'll want to work with those tiny pieces again.

Couple of blocks from July--whew!  finished before another release.  This one from Sew With Me

This one from A Quilting LIfe 

At least, I'm trying to keep updated.

It was an easy knit but boring as far as I"m concerned!

I've begun July pattern--

Using my handspun cotton, 4 ply.  I spun most of this cotton while watching Tour de Fleece--

😔 but it's over till next year.  I was in a rhythm to spin some each morning--hopefully, I still be able to do some spinning the rest of the summer==

 washcloth pattern from Galene, the kitchen sink patterns

 

Trends!!!!

Trends!  trends drive fashion, food, traditions. 

Lately, I’m looking at more trends, some coming back from ages ago.  One of my friends said she wanted to make sourdough bread—of course!  Sourdough was one of those things I indulged in about 40 years ago—I found a sourdough starter from the original 1847 Oregon trail.  Every day, I would make at least two loaves of bread—it was finished baking when the kids were home from school—and devoured immediately!!

Fast forward to present days, I’m back to begin another starter to share with my friend.  She wants to make those lovely loaves that are seen on Instagram 

Ready, set, bake!

My first loaf was a disaster!  But, we ate it—nothing like hot bread fresh from the oven—the above is second loaf and it was better-not quite perfect.  Darn!  I'll need to keep practicing!

Here's an example of what my friend WOULD like to fashion--she bought all the tools to create these lovely loaves--

Yelp!  Even the lowly cottage cheese is getting in on the trend!

I heard about this trend and tried it!  I don't really like cottage cheese by itself, so this whipped stuff is different texture so not better especially when you add a little peach jam, topped with Hot Honey.

Hot Honey is another trend now!  Smear it on anything!  Great on fried chicken/waffles!

We took our daughter out for dinner and she ask for a Mocktail!  A What?  Yes, a cocktail that doesn't have alcohol!  She was using non-alcohol ingredients with the taste of alcohol--go figure!  She's using 

Seedlip, RITUAL ZERO PROOF Whiskey Alternative, Lyre's American Malt products. 

Here are some other food trends

Check out the one about potato milk!!

We do love our bourbon occasionally so hubby received a 'smoking gun' for father's day!  Why not?  Men like to smoke meats, veggies, etc on their grill--this is just an extension to use for his drinks.  I guess you could smoke anything in the house with this little gadget.

It's the novel gift but we did enjoy showing off to his friends "how to smoke your drink"!

and another trend is Olipop--it's called a soda but at $2.45 a can, don't think I"ll use it as a soda!

There are some beneficiary to drink one of these on occasion.

• Prebiotic soda is a soda alternative packed with prebiotic fiber to support your gut
• Prebiotic sodas are a much healthier alternative to a regular can of high-sugar soda
• Prebiotic sodas contain more natural vs artificial ingredients that help make them a healthier choice
• A new viral TikTok trend suggests the combination of tart cherry juice, magnesium powder, and Lemon Lime OLIPOP prebiotic soda can help support sleep.
• While this drink won’t be a magic bullet for everyone, the ingredients may actually help some people find quality and adequate sleep.

 

Orb Weavers and spinners!

 This time of year we see many orb weavers in our yard.  Be careful when you walk through your garden, you might run smack dab into one of their beautiful webs.  Did you know that spiders are the first spinners/weavers ever?  garden spiders (subfamily Argiopinae), which are common in grassy areas and are brightly coloured—yellow and black or red and black. The oldest known orb weaver, Mesozygiella dunlopi, was described in 2006 from fossils discovered in Álava, Spain. The species was dated to the Early Cretaceous Epoch (about 145.5 million to 99.6 million years ago).  

Isn't that remarkable?  The other day I walked into my backyard and was stopped by a web glistening in the morning sunlight.  It was a piece of sheer beauty and workmanship!  I could never build such a masterpiece of intricate lines and spaces!

I did not see the creator of this lovely art.  Maybe, she was sleeping out of my sight, waiting on an unspecting prey.

The other day our daughter found this creature outside her back door--

We have seen this type of spider before outside our front door--one day it was on one side and the next day, she had moved to the other side.  Such a fast worker!

Yellow garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) are also known as writing spiders due to the zig-zag pattern they weave in their large webs. These beautiful spiders are beneficial and prey on bothersome insects, such as gnats, mosquitoes, flies, and aphids.

Why the zig zag?  It's a warning to birds that a web is built--please do not destroy!  and that goes for humans--these dandy insects are useful to nature.

Spider silk is a wonder material that, weight for weight, is stronger than steel, tougher than Kevlar and can be more elastic than rubber. It's also flexible and antimicrobial. Scientists have used silk to make bulletproof armor, violin strings, medical bandages, optical fiber cables and even extravagant clothing.

the spider can create an egg sac or weave a web for capturing food. Spider silk is highly flexible, extremely stretchable, surpasses steel in strength, and most importantly, can be formed into a mesh that would stop a bullet.

Next time you see a spider or one of these orb weavers--give them a break!  They are wonderful and useful for humans!

Case For Short Fiber

 Short fiber—in spinning a short fiber, you need 1. Patience!!  2. A well prepared fiber 3. Wheel in good opening function—that’s all you need to produce a useful yarn.  I’ve been spinning brown, green, white cotton for years.  It wasn’t easy to get the hang of twist in this lovely very short fiber—I lost my cool several times until I visited with Acadian spinners while living in Louisiana.  Never heard of brown cotton before—Acadians learned to use this fiber because there was plenty of brown cotton; useful due to it’s natural color—many textiles were woven with brown cotton intermingled with indigo dyed cotton and white.

Just because a fiber is short in length, doesn't mean it can't be spun.  Here is a video presented by two of my Louisiana Acadian spinners/weavers.  Their knowledge is well rounded to give you an insight to this important craft.  Watch and enjoy!