On the needles, Dec. 13, 2013

 I'm still working on that pair of socks. The first is finished, and I finally took the time to research how to do the toe grafting stitch properly. I had to follow along on the video and do it as she was doing it. And I'll have to do the same thing for the next one, too, because the instructions sure didn't stick in my head. I'm really enjoying working with this wool, it is so very soft and petable. And I really like the way the colours are spiraling around the foot and the leg of the sock. Later on today, I'm planning on tackling the Magic Loop provisional cast on For this Cowlie project. I've never done it before, so it will be something else new to learn. We
 have a wedding to go to tomorrow, a 2 or 3 hour drive away, so I'll work on this in the car, providing the winter storm that is predicted doesn't prevent us from going.

I'll be using this yarn for the cowlie. It's a worsted weight superwash from Berroco, but I threw away the labels when I wound it into the balls, so I don't know exactly what yarn it is. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.
I'm linking up to On the Needles. It's always fun, and sometimes dangerous, to see what others are working on. My favourites list of patterns just keeps getting longer and longer. But it sure is fun.

Stash Report, week 49, 2013

Not much in the used department this week, but none coming in, either, so I suppose that's good news?!? I exercised mega restraint and deleted all ads that came into my email pretty much as soon as they appeared. Now, I know I can always go to the web site and look at the sales that I know are there. But, somehow, it's more tempting to do it from the emails.
I'm working on my colour challenge for the guild. I've been working on it all afternoon and am only1/4 done, and seriously questioning my sanity. What I thought would be a good idea several months ago, now has me asking myself what was I thinking? Especially since it's for a placemat for Meals on Wheels, so it's going to be given away. That tool that I blogged about here has been getting a lot of exercise. Ah well, all for a good cause, and it is going to be very nice when it is done.

Used this week:                                     .5 yards
Used this year:                                 124.05 yards
Added this week:                                    0 yards
Added this year:                            165.55 yards
Balance.                                           41.5 more yards in than out.
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report and then it just might be time to find something to eat before I see if I can get to 1/2 done for the colour challenge. Oh, did I mention it's due this coming Thursday?

Real Studio Tour, Day One

Vicki Welsh, who blogs at Field Trips in Fiber has issued a challenge for us to show our real studios. Not the fancy magazine style ones, that nobody would ever dare to use and mess up, but our real ones, no clean up allowed. She's going to do it in easy stages over 3 weeks, talking about various aspects of studios and our work spaces. Today's assignment is to talk about a non sewing related,
re- purposed sewing tool.Well, actually, it was yesterday's assignment, but I'm late, as usual.
I didn't even have to think about this one. It is something I have beside me all the time when I am sewing just in case of oopsies.
This is my super dooper, handy dandy, battery powered seam ripper. Also known by its more mundane name of mustache trimmer by Conair, found at Walmart for the whopping price of about $10.00. It might be more than that now. I've had this one for a large number of years. It uses one AA battery, and is the best money I ever spent for a seam ripper.

It's quite simple to use. Simply gently pull the pieces that need to be ripped apart open so that the seam threads are visible. Then just lightly touch the blade end of the trimmer to the threads that you want to cut. If you use the tool to go along the seam and nudge it open with the blade, it is literally done in seconds. The actual moving cutting parts are set far enough back that it will cut the threads, much like it would cut hair, but it won't cut the fabric. It is so much easier than the old version that requires the insertion of a sharp point into a seam to cut the individual thread one at a time. There are quite a few more non-traditional tools to be found at Vicki's.

On the Needles....

                                                                 Today has been such a busy day, that I'm just thinking
of writing this now, at 10:48 pm. First thing this morning, well, first thing for me, at least, which is everyone else's end of the morning. Anyway, first thing, we went out shopping. We had some stuff we wanted to pick up for all the grand kids, and we did well, and found most of what we were looking for without having to drive all over the place. One store did it, actually. The driving around all over the place occurred when I said that I wanted to go to the sewing machine store to get some replacement needles for my sewing machine. The store is on the other side of the city, but we're really close to the highway here, so it's a fairly quick trip over there, unless, of course, the person who is driving, not me, takes the wrong exit and ends up going in the wrong direction. It meant I got a lot more done on the sock that's showing here, but I never did get those needles.
When we got home, it was time to mix up some ginger bread cookie dough, roll it out and make some ginger bread men cookies. We're all going to decorate them tomorrow, and put them on the Christmas tree, which I think we are doing tomorrow, as well.
Then, I got the Road to Brenham quilt bound. I do it all by machine, so it only took a couple of hours, The binding was already made.  And after that, I got all of the colour challenge stuff for the guild organized and my project started. Considering the colour challenge project is due on Thursday, and that I want to take the quilt to the guild meeting for show and tell, it was way past time to get these things done.
In the midst of all this, I've been knitting. That is the third hat I've gotten out of this yarn. I originally ordered it to make Noel, our son, a hat and a scarf, and maybe some gloves, but I didn't really know how much of the yarn to order. Obviously, I ended up with way more than I needed, so I think the other guys in the family might be getting hats, too. I tried the gloves a couple of times, and couldn't get them to work. And then I started to think that maybe gloves made out of alpaca yarn that have to do things like  clean off cars might not be such a good plan. So the gloves idea got scrapped.  And then, just because I felt like it, and I needed something portable for car trips, and stuff, I started another pair of socks. This is Alpaca Sox yarn from Classic Elite Yarns. It has got to be some of the softest yarn I have ever felt. It's 60% alpaca, 20% merino wool and 20% nylon. I bought 2 skeins of this yellow and turquoise colour, and 2 skeins of a light blue, as well. These are going to feel so good on the feet. I'm finding that the more of these socks I do, the faster I'm getting at it, too. I just started these 3 days ago, and just pick them up whenever I have a minute or two, or when going out in the car. I even took them out to work on in the restaurant the other day, while we were waiting for our lunch.
So, this was our day, very long, and busy, and wonderful. I'm linking up with Judy's On the Needles. Then I need to take my medications, and maybe knit a bit more before bed.

Five Ordinary Things

I was reading in my devotional that comes into my email every morning, and a challenge it gave caught my eye and my heart. I was just going to pass it by, and go onto something else, so much else that I have to do, especially at this time of year. But then, it caught me again, and said to me, do it, don't just briefly think about it and then forget it. Do it!

"Take some time to write down five ordinary things that you appreciate. Then, list reasons why these ordinary things are actually special blessings from the Lord."

I'm sitting here in my recliner, looking out the window, and the first"ordinary" thing I see is trees. Trees that give us shade in the summer. Trees that give us food and so many creatures shelter. Trees that create the forests where I love to spend time in the spring and summer and fall. Trees, and the sound of the wind in their branches and the sound of rain on the leaves. Trees, that even in the winter, have beauty, as their bare dark branches provide patterns across the sky.

The next "ordinary" thing I see and think of is this home. It's a home made of bricks and mortar and wood, but it is so much more. It is a home full of the people I love, each giving to each other. It is a home full of the love of God being worked out in all our lives. How glorious is that!

Fabric, another "ordinary" thing, and yet it is full of colour and possibilities. Fabric fuels my creativity, which is surely God given. Fabric clothes us, keeps us warm, and is an outlet to express the love to others that I feel inside, but sometimes have such a hard time expressing.

And then I look at our coat rack, and the "ordinary" garments hanging there. I count six or seven different coats and sweaters hanging there. and then I think of the closet, full of our clothing. It's not fancy, it's not the latest style or trend, and yet without all of it, we would not be able to live. We would freeze in the winter. And yet God graciously provides all our needs, like the lilies of the field.

And the other "ordinary" thing that has such a prominent place in what I can see from where I am sitting is books. Books that  are just ordinary fiction, read for entertainment and escape. Books full of God's word. Books, written by men and women, who wish to glorify God through their writing, who wish to dig deeply into God's word, and bring it to life, to take a passage of scripture and dig deeply into it for all that God has to say and teach His people.

Five "ordinary" things, that are such great gifts from the Lord our provider. Thank you Lord!

Design Wall Monday Dec. 2, 2013

My design wall looks exactly the same as it did last week.

I had hoped to have a lot more done on this by now, but other things, like the pre-Christmas quilting rush, both my own and other peoples' has kinda taken priority. Maybe by the end of the year. it will get done. This is a pattern named Thanksgiving, from Judy Martin's book Patchwork Among Friends, which I just noticed is on sale for $9.95, by the way, if you are at all interested in her designs. I don't have any affiliation, other than a very satisfied customer. This is the third quilt I've made from this book. It was well worth it at full price, so this is a steal.
As far as the rest of my time goes, I've been making lists. Things that I need to get done now, and in the next few weeks. And then I've been thinking about next year, and what I'd like to get accomplished. I have listed some of my UFO's, the ones that came immediately to mind, and there are 10 of them. I'm sure there are more buried somewhere, but I have 10 I'd like to work on. And then there are some new projects that I'd like to start next year. At some point, I'll be updating some lists in my right side bar, showing these lists I'm making.
In the meantime, I'm going to link up to Design wall Monday, and then see if I can't get more things on my list crossed off.

Stash Report, week 48, 2013

I used up a bit more fabric this week making a couple of pillow cases to go with the Road to Brenham quilt I did this past summer. Past that, nothing else has been used. I'm still working on finishes, so no new usage is happening. I guess that's the down side to counting stash used as it's cut, rather than waiting until the project is finished. However, if I waited to count until something is finished, some things would never get counted. Although, maybe that would be incentive to actually start and finish a project, before starting something else........... nah, not gonna happen in my world. Although, I think I'm doing really well considering, other than the scrappy Saturday challenge, I haven't started a new project in months, since Road to Brenham, I think. That is going to change, though. I am planning on celebrating the starting of the New Year on January 1st, by starting a new project. I just decided that now. I think I'll go through my books, and find a project that I love, and start it then. New year, new project, I think I like that. Anybody else want to join me on that? I haven't bought any new fabric in 6 weeks, and haven't any plans on buying any before the end of the year, budget constraints are dictating that. It's time to start dipping into those fabric retirement savings I built up over the last few years. So if I start a new project at the beginning of the year, I'll start the year with a fabric out balance, rather than the other way around.

Used this week:                                  2.3 yards
Used this year:                                 123.55 yards
Added this week:                               0 yards
Added this year:                                165.55 yards
Balance:                                                42 more yards in than out.

Back when I was participating in a UFO challenge, where we would list them by numbers, and choose a different one to work on each month, I used to work on current projects for the first part of the month, and the UFO project for the last half of the month. I might go back to doing that. I really like the feeling of getting something finished, but I miss the excitement of starting something new. I'll have to think about that some more.
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report, and then I think I'll sew some more leaves for the Thanksgiving quilt, which hasn't seen a whole lot of progress in the last week.