Frustration

I had my day planned. I knew what was going to happen. Things were going to sail along smoothly. Then it happened! Here's the story.........

I was drinking coffee and reading blogs this morning. I found a new to me blog, The Way I Sew It. The first sentence I read includes the words 15 Minute Challenge. If you know me at all, you know it doesn't take much to send my off in a new direction......hence my new plan for today. I decided to go about my plan only I would use the timer set at 15 minutes and keep a list of accomplishments. I use the timer a lot and know that I can get so much done in just a few minutes. Then I would come here and tell you how great I did and how much I got done.

So I go into the sewing room to get the timer. I want to finish the quilt that is on the frame and decided to go ahead and put in a new needle (I quit yesterday when I broke the needle!) and get her warmed up. So I set the timer and got busy. After she was warmed up, I started doing some stitch in the ditch-not my favorite thing to do-and broke another needle (slow stitching on paper pieced blocks with thick seams)! Damn!!! I put a new one in and turned the needle down to pull up the bobbin thread and it hit the bobbin case. The darn thing is now out of time! I turned off the light, grabbed the timer and decided to sit down with a cup of coffee and vent.

Now I am going to vacuum, then sit on the couch and fold laundry as I watch the dvd (again) that shows how to time the machine. It should only take a few minutes. Thank you P. for inspiring me to do a day of 15 minute challenges. I think I will stay out of the sewing room for a while and do some domestic stuff and then see how many 15 minute blocks it will take me to time my machine.

Tuesday Knitting Report

Last week I had just started the heel flap on sock #2. Now I am halfway to the toe decrease. I have only been knitting a few rows a night. I am almost falling asleep in the chair, so I give up and go to bed.

In January, Judy L posted here about using her knitting needle to measure her sock length. What a light bulb moment for me! I no longer use the tape measure for anything other than the heel flap length and if I ever remember, I'll see how I can measure that with my fingers. I'm excited about remembering how to do the heel turn without having to look at any of the instructions now. If only I could remember how to do the Kitchener stitch but I can't so I keep my book handy.

Design Wall Monday

This isn't really my design wall but the quilt that has been loaded on the frame for over a week and is only partially quilted that I'm using to lay out my coffee mugs. I've been fusing coffee mugs to background squares for a swap. That concludes my quilty time for this week.

The mug pattern is from Fat Cat Patterns.

Just when I think my Mojo is here to stay, it runs away again. But I've made good progress on my socks! I've also made more progress on my afghan. Instead of quilting, I've smoked fish and several chicken (not my girls!) and have canned several jars of broth so my week hasn't been totally unproductive. I'm hoping next Monday there will be more quilting in the DWM report.

A Little Walk Around The Farm

A couple days ago I grabbed my camera on my way out the door to do my morning chores.

First stop was to give the new baby chicks fresh water and food. They are growing so fast. One of these days they will have to be put in their outside pen but it's still too cold.

Next stop was to dump the compost bucket and I looked up and saw the sun shining through the tree and had to see how a photo would turn out. It's now the background on my computer.

My camellia is full of buds. I hope the rain doesn't beat them all off before they bloom out.


Last stop was to open the door for the big girls. This hen is so dependable. An egg almost every day from her. But the rest of them, not so much. I told them today, produce or else. Think they are worried?

Tuesday Knitting Report

A day late and $5 short, the story of my life! Several times yesterday I told myself not to forget to post about my socks. Looks like I wasn't listening.

Last week I had just a few rows of the ribbing done on sock #2. This week I knitted some evenings but not others. I had a bout with that darn flu again and didn't want to concentrate on much of anything.

Today it looks like the sun is going to bless us with it's presence. I think when it warms up a bit, I might do some playing in the dirt. I noticed last night that my camellia bush is blooming and I have 1 daffodil with lots of lilies sticking their noses above the ground. Doesn't look like much knitting will get done today either.

Design Wall Monday

Last Monday, these blocks were shown on my design wall with the border strips laying by them. Then the blocks had been sewn together and now the border strips are waiting to be cut to size and sewn on.

Why was there no progress made? I don't know. I wasn't in much of a sewing mood this week. Probably because I bragged about getting my Mojo back the other day.

Saturday I worked on the UFO on the quilting frame. I'm doing lots of ruler work and I'm stippling in the background. And I am SLOW! The first four blocks have the background work done. I'm doing all the background work first. I'll go back and do the borders, sashing and ruler work with brown thread. Then I'll change to pink thread and finish off all the stitch in the ditch. That's the plan anyhow!

Visit Judy L's and see her design wall, then visit others in Blogland to see what they are working on.

Saturday Fun

Happy National Quilting Day

That's right, it's National Quilting Day and I am going to celebrate! Really I am going to quilt! I think I'll put something delicious in the crock pot so I won't have to think about dinner until it's dinner time! Ernie is off wood cutting today so that will make my day very easy.

I finally started quilting my February UFO from Judy L's challenge. I lost my Mojo sometime in February and now that it's back I'm hoping it stays around for a while. I'm a little nervous though with spring right here close and so much needing to be done outside......but in reality, spring might be here on the calendar but it isn't here yet with the weather. So I still have quilting time!

If you are a quilter, enjoy our day! If you aren't, why not???

Tuesday Knitting Report

I've spent lots of time in front of the TV watching the sadness in Japan. I've spent lots of time knitting.

Sock #1 is finished and #2 was cast on last night. I had to hurry and get it started to see if it would pool the same as sock #1. For some reason I carefully marked matching color areas. I had no clue how this yarn would knit up because it's the first time I have used it.

I was surprised that there weren't stripes but instead large pools of color. I almost took sock #1 out and started over but I couldn't make myself do it. Now I am crossing my fingers that sock #2 will be fairly close in color sections. When it came time to make the heel flap, I kind of agonized over how to lay out the colors, I'm glad I did it like this.

This is a fun pair to work on. The color is very intense and the yarn is so soft. I love Knit Picks Stroll Multi Sock Yarn, color is Sorbet Multi.

You should order a couple balls and give it a try. :0)

Design Wall Monday

The UFO Progress Train in chugging right along. I started this Split Decision quilt back here in October as one of my project kits for retreat. I got 25 of the 30 blocks sewn together before putting it away and forgetting about it.

I had forgotten about this project until reading Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor. Jill was talking about her Split Decision quilt and the light bulb flashed on in my brain. So I went in and got mine out and put it on the wall. Guess what Jill has on her design wall today!!

After rearranging the blocks, they are now sewn together waiting for the borders to go on today. Isn't Design Wall Monday great for prompting your project to get moving! Go here to see what others are working on. A light bulb in your brain might come on!

Tuesday Knitting Report

Yes, I know it isn't Tuesday any more, I can't even come up with a good excuse for not posting yesterday. :0)

Remember (here) when I was so excited about my sweater? And then a week later when I was heart sick because it was so ginormous?

Well here it is now! I am in the process of un-knitting it and it is almost making me sick to my stomach! But that darn thing was starting to nag at me. So I am going to finish un-knitting the sweater and turn it into a scarf or two or twelve!

Good news to report though, my socks are finished! Even after that darn Mr. Tony dog tried to un-knit one of them for me. I only had a couple rows left to do and had to take a quick break.

When I came out of the bathroom, I saw a line of pink yarn. I followed it and found my sock with only one needle in it and no dog to be found. I had a melt down! A temper tantrum like I haven't had in a long time! That darn dog is 2 1/2 years old! He is too old to be packing my things off just to get attention. So after I calmed down, I found some new needles without teeth marks in them and carefully picked up the stitches--that was intense for me--and finished the socks.

So just in case he does this again and I have to start over, I enhanced my sock yarn stash. Oh yes I did! Really I did it before the unraveling incident. Knit Picks was having a fabulous sale on my favorite yarn, Felici. And now there are new colors that I don't have and a new sale. I cannot wait to play/work with the colors that I have and I am not tempted to buy any more for a while. Which one do I pick for my next pair of socks?? Hmmmmmm

Goodwill Shopping and A Giveaway

I love shopping at Goodwill. This morning was a good shopping day. Among my purchases was a bag full of 15! almost full cones of serger thread and this partially finished dresser scarf (I'm assuming) with 3 balls of crochet thread and a size 5 hook (the giveaway).

After putting the bag in my basket, I made a quick phone call to ask Crystal if she wanted the thread and of course she did. There was no price on the bag and I tried to get it for $3 but after the price check, I paid $7. Still 15 cones of thread for $7, thank you to who ever cleaned out their sewing room!!!

Now for the giveaway, if you can figure out a crochet pattern by looking at what was already done and would like to have the partially finished dresser scarf, thread and hook, please leave a comment. Be sure I can contact you. If there is more than 1 comment, I guess I will have to pick a winner on Thursday, March 10th.

Design Wall Monday

I started the weekend with this on the design wall.

I ended the weekend with this on the design wall.

I made great progress on my UFO #1.

I am a happy camper.

See other happy campers here.

March UFO Challenge

This month Judy L pulled UFO #1 for the challenge. This is my #1, blocks from a small internet group BOM that started in August 2009.


The blocks are 9" finished and I did pretty good keeping up with making the blocks, then I stalled. After playing in EQ7, I came up with an on point design and needed to make one more block. I chose the heart block in the center. That is the block we use when we make a comfort quilt for a group member and I thought it belonged there. Then the printed quilt picture and the blocks went into the bag and into the UFO bin until I pulled them out for this challenge.

I used only fabrics that were in my scrap basket and 2 fabrics for the backgrounds. I stuck with that plan for the whole year. I decided this weekend would be a good time to finally get the top put together.

Last night I left the sewing room with this ready to put on the final border today. While playing in EQ7, I ended up with 4 different border designs. I decided to not go with a pieced border so this quilt does not stay a UFO.

And now for my confession~~February's UFO, still not finished! Yes, I know, sad face here too!

New Babies

I admit it, I'm weak! I heard their little chirps when I walked into the farm store today. Ernie needed some part he forgot for our new water pump so he headed in that direction. When he found me, I had picked out 3 new to us breeds of chicks. I brought home 2 Blue Andalusians, 2 Light Brahmas and 2 Speckled Sussex.

We came home, let them settle for a while and then introduced the dogs to their new family members. Each time I check on the chicks, I pick them up and let the dogs smell them. The babies are now settled into their new home, eating and drinking and napping under their light. I can't wait to introduce the grandkiddos to the babies.

Tuesday Knitting Report

I haven't made much progress on my sock since last week. The gusset is done and not I'm headed to the toes. My sock knitting time kind of got side tracked with this hat and the Kindle. I'm not talented enough to be able to read and knit at the same time. So I have to choose.


We've had a late winter storm--anyhow that's what the news people are calling it. Anytime there is snow in Portland OR, it is a major news event. After their snow time passed and the rains came, we still got snow. A full day and night of wet, heavy snow. It's weird to watch the news and see the rain, then look outside and see only white. We are about 3 miles away from the banana belt line. I'm hoping it's over and we are headed into spring. My bulbs are up all over the place and trees are starting to bud. I hope this storm didn't destroy anything.

Today is turned to light rain. I put on my boots and walked to the mail box and to take care of the chickens. There was 5 inches of snow on top of 2 inches of sloppy wet slush. I felt like I had on lead boots. Sure gave this ole out of shape gal a workout!!! So now I will put on my jammies and get ready for a quiet night of sock knitting.