Cat days

 

The days were glorious last week down right chilly in the morning by after lunch time it was another pretend I'm  a cat and do next to nothing on the deck. The sun felt so good it made me want to peal a layer of clothes off then there would be a hint of a breeze that made me glad I didn’t.  I did take a book out to read and some knitting one day.   Mittens for DD and a stocking cap, fingering held double my color repeats match up pretty close on the balls of yarn ceating the pools of color.  This is yarn I bought in Monatana last summer and that is the best color pom pom I could find in  alpaca.  It is so soft. The synthetics just made me cringe, I'll admit I'm a fiber snob.  I love natural fibers.  Yesterday was grey all day and every gust of wind took more than a few leaves off the trees.  Its time to start wearing sweaters and wool.   The socks were meant to be knit cuff down with a Wool and the Gang yarn that was dyed to make the spots if the gauge was right.  I'm a toe up knitter so those stripes by the toe were to check your gauge and should be in the cuff, I'm right on.  The wide blue section was for the forgotten heel of the cuff down which I have never done but I think it could be done toe up, anyway it hit the gusset and the heel for me it just interupted the gold and spots but they are on my feet under my jeans  does it really matter?!? and the yarn was on sale. --Ann--

I pretended I was a cat

 

Another gorgeous afternoon on the prairie yesterday. I dry mopped the hard floors after lunch and it was just too nice to go to the sewing room, I sat on the deck instead, I took some reading out but I didn’t open it, I didn’t even look at my phone.  I listened to some little birds and watched  a squirrel having a late lunch, I looked at the trees so many are a brilliant red or yellow a few have not turned color at all.  I pretended I was a cat and did nothing. —Ann—

Playing with plaids

A new quilt started, I have admired this quilt for a very long time. It’s in the 12th anniversary book by Red Wagon Gerry Kimmel-Carr, it was published in 1999. I’m making it much smaller than the book. 60 x 20 inch backgrounds for the poppies reduced to  width of fabric by 13 inches, same size blossoms but shorter stems and a variety of plaids. I just love plaids. Another cold front is moving in. Those lazy afternoons on the deck with a book are gone replaced by busy afternoons with the sewing machine. —Ann—

A Little Forest

Summer is another memory, fall seems to be yielding to pre winter and a good day to finish these fussy trees.  --Ann--

A day to savor

The weather was predicted to change on Wednesday and it did, rain, wind and cold. But Tuesday was the day to savor. I helped pull weeds at McCrorey gardens for an hour in the morning, beautiful sunny morning, then I went to the local you pick raspberries and picked a few pints of delicious sweet berries. Freezer jam was next then after the kitchen was cleaned up I soaked up some vitamin D on the deck and read. It was a perfect day. I was reading Lassoing the Sun by Mark Woods for book club about our national parks. It’s about the history and future of our national parks and environmental changes. I was reading the chapter on Olympic National Park and the impact of sound. So I sat and listened for a while, a few birds, a few insects, the rustle of leaves, small airplanes overhead, but also the constant sound of traffic.  When daughter and I were in Glacier this past summer I made her stop to listen briefly we were far enough from the road that we couldn’t hear the cars. What a treat! But in everyday life if I am outside I can always hear traffic and inside I can always hear the hum of the fridge, the freezer and the dehumidifier. The only time I experience absolute quiet in the house is when the electricity goes out and it’s probably a howling storm outside so it isn’t quiet. Where do we find silence?  —Ann—

New girl in the sewing room

 I bought a new sewing machine a couple weeks ago because my 175QE Bernina of 22 years died a whithering death.  I tried to turn her on and all I got was a weak pulse of light on the control panel followed by the smell of something hot on the electronics.  The part that fizzled and burned is no longer made so what could I do but buy a new machine.  Another Bernina this time the 475QE  I haven't taken the mastery courses from the shop but I will in the coming weeks.  I have watched a few of the youtube videos the shop makes, like the one on how to thread and put the bobbin in because it is so different from the other Berninas because it has a bigger bobbin!!!!  I have been playing with the machine and trying all the stitiches

Then I was so intent on finishing just one thing that day I forgot to take a photo  of the whole piece of fabric that I spend days stitiching and I do mean days.  I used my dresend plate wedges to cut the panels for the trees some have three panels the one on the far right has four. I think I need to sew one seem up and the next one down for straighter trees.

I cut about a 7 inch strip off and extended the wedge to a triangle point for the trees, there was no waste except a little bit on each end.  These trees will find a place between my collection of Santas in a few weeks.  Learning something new --Ann--

Cozy evenings knitting

 

Will I ever understand gauge and knitting!?!???  I thought I had it right, it seems kinda wide so I tried it on again when I had enough of the bodice knit to really be able to tell how it was going to fit. UGH like a potato sack!! Compare it to the sweater of the same pattern ugh its about 8 inches too big. 2 inches on each side plus front and back equals 8 inches.

I did knit my swatch and my stitches on size 7 needles were spot on but I think I have a tendency to knit tighter on a small piece and on a swatch I am knitting a row and purling a row so the tension is different than knitting in the round.  This yarn was too expensive for it to be an ugly ill fitting sweater so I will rip and either knit the same pattern on smaller needles or try a different pattern that will work for the size stitches I was making on size 7 needles. That might be the smartest thing to do since I know the gauge so find a pattern that has that gauge.  Its just time spent in front of the television on cooler nights. and it is football season hubby seems to find a game every night.
--Ann--