So Much Activity!

The heating/cooling unit is outside on its cement pad!  (Heat comes off it, and Bling liked the warm air-plus, cats always check out something new.)

My hall has a new return vent in the ceiling.

Bill had to do some more duct work and Nyki helped him-she does love running up the ladder.  She was ready for her nap-or bored with the slow work pace-what do you think?

I have a new set of plastic bag totes on the loom!  It is good to be weaving again.

A different kind of loom called me this afternoon when a fiber friend on my YahooGroup mentioned this site.  (Scroll down until you find the how to weave with yarn on your potholder loom May 5 entry)
I had to dig out my potholder loom and try it for myself!  She suggests using wool yarn instead of the loops that come with this frame.

 Do I have wool yarn lying around or what?  Well, let me tell you, such fun!  There are more of these  on way-this is a great way to use up scraps! 

***Workermans Are Here!

This morning a *crew of two arrived to move this to its new home in the breezeway.  We will eventually be removing this closet to give us more space in the diningroom. 

Here it is set up but not working yet in its new home;  we will be framing it in after all the work is done.  We are without air/heat but it is so mild outside  (65F) that it is just perfect to be without this tonight! 

I worked in my sewing room making a hoody for me to match the pants I had finished quite a while ago.  I don't need the hoody here yet, but since we are going to Marsel's for Christmas, I need to shore up my cold weather clothes!  (The fabric is fake velour....easy to wash and wear!)

For the fun of it, I sewed up a t-shirt and a tank out of some stash fabric.  I haven't worked with knit fabric in a long time and forgot how quick it is!

On to finish the second sock for Bill.  It is a marathon of sock knitting when they have to fit his size 15's!!!

***When my oldest son was little, he needed to categorize everyone and when he would see manual laborers-think jeans/tshirts/workboots and in cold weather, add some Carharts and he would point them out, "Look, Mom, workermans!"  He outgrew the moniker but I still use the phrase.  The funny part of this story is that he grew up to me a workerman himself!  Right down to the Carharts!

PS on Yesterday

The birthday party was such fun-always cheering to see all the kids play.  The pants fit and she almost lost her arm trying to find the bottom of the pocket!

The college graduation was very interesting.  The speakers were dedicated and brief; refreshingly so. 
We had a great time afterwards, celebrating the big event with dinner and much laughter!  What a great day.

What a Memory Keeper

                                          
This quilt  (48" x 60") contains the lace motifs from a wedding dress of a friend.  She was cleaning out and gave me the dress to do 'whatever' with quite a whle ago.  I sure had fun with this project.  I had this golden brocade in my stash and thought it would be a perfect complement to the dress fabric.  I had to break all the rules of on grain but it went together very easily and even the quilting was a blast.  (Hint-put the off grain fabric on the bottom when you sew two patches together.)

I used a different free motion feather/frond on each lace block and the same drawn block on each gold block.  I will be giving it to her this afternoon when I go to her graduation from college!  (She is making a career change and as a single mom with three great kids has been attending college for a teaching degree and still working, too, so there is much room for celebrating today!)  Since she also reads this blog, I have had to be secretive about this project!

 I wanted to make the wedding dress a useable asset instead just a big box in storage-I am thinking of cutting up my dress for a memory quilt, too!

Good Day/Bad Day

The day started off with a wonderful morning.....I finished a pair of socks, and moved to the sewing room .

We are going to a birthday party tomorrow so I thought to make a pair of 'pocket pants'  by Birch Street Clothing for the tot who turns two.  The pants were a breeze and in no time at all I had my gift.

After lunch..........mmmmmm, the red grapefruits are showing up in the fruit stands. They are truly ready in January but it is hard not to be tempted by this fruit!
Then my day took a turn for the worse.....I went in the kitchen to bake.  I am so proficient in so many arenas but fancy baking beats me down every time.  Today I am blaming it on this....

a wretched gadget that refuses to let go of its pretty shapes for cookies.

 I tried for an hour but gave up and made the cookies the old fashioned way-dough balls squished flat with a spatula, baked on a cookie sheet (throw that baking stone....it will make a good stepping stone in the garden); I splashed some frosting on the cooled orbs. 

I am beaten but not down!  (Marsel, I will be bringing the cookie press to you for a permanent home, I am done trying to make it work!)  Bill mentioned that they do taste good so they were successful in spite of the kitchen demons trying to rob me of my GOOD CHEER!  (Actually, these are not Christmas cookies but just a thought to make some  fancy plain cookies for 3 little girls in Sunday School who have birthdays this week!)
I am starting a new pair of socks so my blood pressure will go back down.......

Warm and Wooly

Another pair of suffolk socks.  If you have a chance to spin some of this fiber, I hope you will.  It is the most comfortable pair of socks I have ever worn and they are machine wash and wear!  Can't get any better than that!

Bill just wore out his pair of superwash wool socks  from last year so I am dyeing a few skeins of the suffolk to knit a new pair of socks for him.  He is going to be pleasantly surprised by the cushioniness of this yarn!
(Two skeins are plenty for a pair of socks for me but Bill wears size 15's and so the additional skein is more than needed!  Hmmmmmmm, maybe I should dye another for good measure!)

A warm thought for any who are chilly  this morning.........it is 76F out now, and climbing into the  80's.  Just wanted to share this with you!

Always Time for Your Sons

My sons don't ask me to sew very often for them but I have this idea that to have a home , you need these essentials and they are kind enough to let me sew for them!  This is for their fireplace mantle.

                                                

Tassels!  Just enough color and glitz to finish the pointsand at 10" x 96" it will just drop off the ends of the mantle and add a bit of Mama-love to their fireplace.

I sent out all my Christmas cards......finished decorating the tree and had a nice day.  A lapful of cats and knitting in the evening closed out my day.

Rainy Day Do's

We are still getting lots of banana peppers so we tried to make a new treat; we made a filling of cream cheese and mozerella, onions.  Baked at 400 for 25 mins and it was just too wonderful!  I think we will pick a bunch to bring up to Marsel's at Christmas to share the delight!

We started to put up our Christmas tree; Nyki went beserk!  This is her first Christmas and she didn't know what to do first.  Bling remembered, you sleep under the tree.  Nyki climbed it, tried to bite the lights and suck up a strand of tinsel.  Just like having a toddler again! 

Bill went to a high school football game tonight and I opted to stay home, warm and dry instead.  I was sitting with Bling on my lap and spinning my wool when the power went out.  Do you realize how dark it is when the lights go out at night?!  Good thing I had my cell phone next to me on the couch because I used it as a flashlight to go and dig out the hurricane lamp!  I got the storm radio out and sat in the dim light and enjoyed the beat of the rain on the roof (just over 2").  It wasn't out too long (1/2 hour) but it was an interesting interlude for my evening.

I did manage to finish two skeins of the Targhee; it is so soft, reminds me of minkee fabric , if you have ever had the privilege of feeling that.  I hope there is enough to knit a pair of something!

Birthday Greetings!

Happy Birthday to Caleb, who at 23 is still the baby of the family!  We love you, Son!

A Package!!!

I found myself in the scary position of almost being out of fiber!!  A quick order to my friendly EtsyShopOwner (Stephanie of LunabudKnits)  remedied this!  The order of dyed Targhee fleece even included a few perks (wool soak and some firestar bits to add to my batts)!

[Talk about superior customer service, I should send a letter to the fireplace guy!!! Seriously.]

                             

 I had to try some last night so I carded up a bit of fiber from the pink/blue bag and then a handful of the darker colors .

  Bling will sit on my lap while I spin, he doesn't mind the lap-rocking motions and it was a perfect end to the day!

This is going to be a skein of yarn very soon.  The fiber is soft and spins very easily, I can spin with a long backward draft, very differently from the Suffolk I have been spinning.  The 'little tangle' is just backspin that the cats added-they know better than to stick their paws in while the wheel is spinning, but it is fair game when I go and get more fiber!

We stopped in Sam's while in town and brought home this box; the cats know what to do with this treasure!

They vie for the best position, and then attack.  Bling usually wins.

East To Town

Hunting for a fireplace sent us to Daytona Beach today and that means a visit to the ocean.  It was so warm, a light breeze and hardly any people.  So glad we stopped for a view.

Bill keeps a can of  peanuts in the car, and we dipped in it for some pigeon treats-they were so gentle and curious.  It was tempting to pick one up and hug it!  We must have dropped pieces as we were throwing and soon they were right in the car to get all the food.  It was relaxing to have them cooing and fluttering around us.

The fireplace store failed for our business; they have no idea of customer service and/or product info. :'(

Color to Dye For!

I still wanted to do the spot dyeing on these sets of socks so I tried the dyeing on cardboard tubes!  It worked great!  See how the lace flowers are now highlighted? 

                            

And the butterflies are now outlined better to reflect the sulpha flutterers we have all year here.

I then dyed 2 more of the suffolk yarn skeins.  (Can you see I love this color best?!)

I set the dyes for the socks in the oven but cooked the skeins on the stovetop-Bill was not impressed with the wool aromas I produced......

But what great results from this, my preferred kitchen time! 

A New Month and a Clean Slate

I did a little shopping at my new local fabric shop!  (I had gone to get a zipper and some quilt backing and ended up having a grand time!)

I loaded a new quilt on the frame-more on this one later.

I have been spending a bit of time in the sewing room.  I have ignored my first love of garment sewing for  ages.  It has gone well......

A mantle scarf is coming forth.......

                                             

I finished the cursed pair of butterfly socks! ....well, finished knitting them; I will hit the dye pot today as I have quite a waiting list for color.  (See the ink stain......hoping to reduce that with  some spot remover before the dyepot.)

Bill has added the fireplace header!  We had the usual husband/wife language barrier for adding a fireplace to this room.  It has been remedied at a structural level and tomorrow we go to the fireplace store to do some visuals! 

A very great start to a new month!

They're Here!

The Robins are here-it is amazing how they arrive in December and fatten up on all our berries!  We like their visit!