Siren Call

Lace knitting.........the call of the delicate and beautiful.  Another one on the needles!  I can thank my friendly YahooGroup for the temptation (Triggy is the name of the pattern.).  I am using lace weight, spiderweb yarn, size 6 needles.  The pattern is untested so it is fun to see how it goes.  There are others knitting this, too, so hopefully the way will be clear for knitting! This is about the size of a dinner plate now-not bad for two evenings of knitting.  The yarn is a souvenoir from the recent trip to her LYS.

I finished the quilt for my friend-this was a large, heavily quilted project.  The quilt was the largest my frame will hold-110 x 110"  so it was quite a palette for quilting.  This is the back-free motion leaves and swirls.

A Book Report

One of the fun things about being out of town for a week is the fun of a large mail haul.

I unloaded the Amazon book order which is part of the Christmas shopping and I got sidetracked with this 'present' for me. 

Shamelessly I enjoyed an hour of being sure this book was a keeper........it is.  I love the way it has color pictures of the same weave in different color combinations-all one color warp, two color warp, change the weft just a little and voila-all new results!  This has begrudgingly gone into the pile of gifts and I will not look at it until ......Dec 25, I think!

It Worked!

I wasn't sure that I could make a rug work on my loom.  I shouldn't have worried!  It wove just beautifully.  I used an 8 dent reed but only warped it for 6epi (thread 2 dents, skip one across), and for a  2' x 3'  rug using the strips of cotton t-shirts I had cut up and wound into balls a few months ago.  I must admit I did miss the shuttle throwing because I had to use the shuttle sticks for the fabric but it did weave up faster than the fine threads!  It required one t-shirt for each of the stripes, about 5-6" per shirt so I  used 6 shirts for this rug.  ( I cut the shirt off at the underarms and then spiral cut it to the hem for one long strip.)  It is now recorded for my notes and future plans.

I finished one sock and started the second last night.

I dyed the sock ribbing-it turned out much as I had expected-since these are for me, I will have this happy reminder each time I wear them!

 I dyed 2 more skeins for another pair of socks-I left these in the wound balls instead of skeins-it took up the dye very differently, of course, but it looks just as mottled as I had hoped.  It will be fun to knit with something besides the natural I have been doing.

We have had 2 warring families of sandhill cranes in the yard.  They are very loud when they are stating their territories.  This is the couple that won the turf war-we have had them around for quite a while and they are very relaxed around us but very demanding-they have a soft spot for white bread tossed out to them and come right to the door and ask for some!  It is still fun to have them ask-Nyki is impressed with their size and nearness-but I hope they won't become a bother-they are persistent.

A Different Kind of Day

Bill spent most of the day hauling stuff out of the house, garage and rental units. 

We even have a little stash to sell in the community yard sale this Saturday!  I went over to help him this afternoon and swept out the house, garage and the 2 double unit rental cabins also on the property.  The rooms  were very scary looking to me, think 1940's migrant workers and all the 60+ years of mold growth and you will be  close to the ambiance!  I said they should just level the buildings and sell the lot, Bill was telling me that someone would jump at the chance to buy it......well, when I was taking the pictures outside, someone stopped and asked if they could talk to the owners about buying it.  I hate it when he is so right-he loved it , of course. 

Well, Peg in So Carolina, I am having to face the consequences of my haphazard dyeing methods because I ran out of the dyed suffolk and now have to try and duplicate the original color!!! It isn't going to happen.  I think I will be dip dyeing the top to see just how close I CAN get and then overdyeing the pair of socks to fix the experiment!

I am going to start a new pair of socks.......Aimee socks by Wendy Johnson.  I hope to make a pair of matching mother/daughter socks out of this and then dye them to highlight the butterflies. 

The beginning of a new month is always so great for starting lists for all you anticipate to get done this month.  Hope you feel the same way!

Returned to Florida

Always wonderful to go on a trip and always nice to get home.  The white camelias are out in full bloom-they come out a full month before the red ones.  So pretty but no perfume; we notice that a lot of blooms in FL are showy but not perfumey.  Interesting random thought.

I finished the pair of long fingerless gloves for Marsel.  She gave me the yarn so I could make her a pair.  I used this pattern to give me a general idea and then did my own thing as usual.  They needed to be l o n g  for my daughter!

I am making progress on another pair of socks.  This yarn is my favorite from KnitPicks, bare superwash/nylon blend.  The pattern (Sheri's posies socks) is another from WendyJohnson's book Socks from the Toe Up.

Bill is off to a fun 'job' the Lord dropped in his lap.  While mowing the place where my parents stay for the winter, a man stopped and asked if he was willing to help him in his business of emptying foreclosed homes and then mowing the yards to keep them from looking abandoned.  This guy works for several banks in the area and has more work than he can keep up with;  is this a sign of the times or what!!!  Bill has been interested in some odd jobs for additional money and I had been resisting the 9-5 grind for him again or worse, shift work nightmares!  (I had prayed for the last of them when he retired!)  This present opportunity is so ideally suited to my packrat husband.  He has to haul all the stuff the last tenants left behind to the dump or to his garage, his choice!  This would be like letting me work in a fiber warehouse and giving me carte blanche to take home whatever I could carry each night!!!  Needless to say, he is excited.  If he gets this kind of work often enough, he can hire someone else to finish the house while he is doing something he enjoys!  He says he might even have some work for me cleaning out after Bill hauls the heavy stuff.  Who would have thought of this kind of work as being so lucrative.  We shall see how this pans out.

White with Harvest

While driving north to Marsel's, we enjoyed the sight of so many cotton fields white with their harvest.  We did see a cotton combine at work on one field but I wasn't quick enough with the camera!  The bales were huge!

The cats are enjoying their time visiting, too.  Nyki is in the middle of whatever we are doing, and Bling is doing a lot of resting.  (See the new piano, too?!)

I am spending tme playing games with the kids and coloring.  (Managing to get in lots of snuggles!)

I finished the handwarmers for Marsel.  I used the lace pattern for them from the socks I just finished dyeing!  It modified well! (These do not look the same size, but I assure you they are-one is just tried on and the other one hasn't been!)

Speaking of modifications.........I am making the socks in the latest SpinOffMagazine but knitting them from the toe up which is my favorite way.  The pattern on the leg is reversed but looks good!  I have started the second one already.  I am using the suffolk I spun; it is so light and springy.  This yarn doesn't full when washed so I have been anxious to knit it up into a pair of socks and see how it wears!

Today, Bill went golfing with a friend, and Marsel and I managed to get in some sewing time.  I put together 2 new totes while she is laying down the foundation quilting on a baby quilt. 

Sock Results

This is the finished product of the dye day.

I used dark , color saturated green and blue to highlight the cable and lace area of the socks and then put the leftover blue and green into a bowl and soaked the socks for an hour.  This way I got the beauty and unevenness of a dye bath and the accent of color where I wanted it, too.  I used the left over dye that the socks didn't take up and used it to dye 2 small skeins of the suffolk yarn for a pair of socks for me-more on that next post!

Destination: Georgia Family!

We are going to visit Bruce and Marsel and grandchildren!  A whole week to visit, snuggle and converse face to face.............pure joy!

Peaceful Activities

I had the pleasure of weaving four tote bags ; now to tie off the fringe and sew them up.

One fingerless glove done using the lace pattern from the socks I completed.

Said socks waiting for their dye bath.  I am going to try to put them on a form and then spot dye them instead of using an immersion bath.  That is the plan for today anyway!

When we went to town yesterday, we bought a replacement for our printer and the scanner-I reduced 4 cords down to 2 and have a delightfully easy new copier/scanner/printer!  I almost went crazy untangling the mass of cords doing this but now they are all labeled, organized and neat.  (I realize this will be a tempory fix because  like Christmas tree lights, they do become mysteriously tangled up while they lie inert!)

Plastic Bag Tote Tutorial

Because it was requested......here is a quick how-to for sewing up the woven plastic bags to make a tote.

SUPPLIES:

30 - 36" length of woven plastic bags (13" wide)

2 1/2 yards of strapping (1" wide)

90 or 100 machine needle

regular sewing thread to match the strapping

Lay out the woven piece, fold down about 3"  on each end for the flaps.  I make the straps with 9" above the top of the bag,  and 3 1/2" in from the sides.  Measure and pin.

Overlap the strapping by 1" and pin in place.  (If I use nylon , I do burn the ends so they won't ravel; because this is cotton webbing, I will deal with the ends when I am sewing.)

From the table to the sewing machine!  Set your machine for heavy fabric, use a 3.0 straight stitch length and sew the straps to the bag along the edge of the strap.             

                         

As you  near the top, be careful to arrange the fringe, either tuck it behind the strap (on the warp threads you are covering, or to keep the outside ones out of the seam).  A little care here will save you trouble later on!

Stop stitching an 1/8" from the top edge, pivot and  back stitch to secure the stitching across the top and then continue down the other side of the strap , back to where you began stitching.  Secure and trim threads.

When you come to the join, pivot, change to a multi-step zig zag and cover the end with stitching so it won't ravel, backstich,and continue around the strap with straight stitching, being sure to keep the under layer lined up so it is a neat join. 

When both straps are secured, fold the bag in half, having the flaps on the inside.  Stitch the side seams  together with the multi-step zig zag.  I sew this seam over at least 2 warp threads, and sew it twice for strength.  Be sure and tuck those fringe ends in and out of the seam!

Trim any stray weft plastic to neaten up this edge as it will be revealed on the inside of the tote.

After both sides are sewn, I fold the bag and sew the corners to give dimension to the totes using the multi-step zig zag stitich .  (I use the colored part on the sewing throat for my guide :'P  which translates to about 1 1/2" in from the point and gives the width of the bottom of the tote 3".)  I leave the corners in the bag, they give good form to the corners.

Trim the fringe around the bag to be sure it is level.  Remember, cutting fringe is like cutting bangs-better to trim a little at a time than have them too short!

You now have a completed bag!

Let me know if I have skipped any pertinent points, or if you have a question!  Enjoy.

Cat Antics

The weather has let go of its heat grip and so we have been using our new screen door most of the day. 

Nyki learned to open it within minutes so we installed a lock.  For the most part she doesn't try to open it any more but does enjoy looking and listening to the outdoors.

Then the stray came to the front porch and she tried to coax him near.........it didn't work.  She even offered her mousie but to no avail. 

When she began to hurl herself against the door, I went to investigate.  Bling  has such an instigator streak in him!  I had removed the flowers from the stand because of wind, he had an idea........it worked.

Plans.....

To cut up these bags and read these books....(How warm and fuzzy it is to get an unexpected package in the mail......to open it and find 3 new books and an assortment of plastic bags!!!  It speaks volumes of love!  Thanks, Mom.)

To finish the second sock;  I have one sock done and have turned the heel and am cranking out the top.

To finish the second quilt all loaded and on the frame with 3 rows done so far.  (Leaves and swirls in panto)

To begin cutting out a new quilt in cinnamon and browns.  (No, there is no pink in these fabrics.......!!!)

To weave several more tote bags from all the cut-up stash I have been accumulating.  I have found that if I keep the balls in this sleeve of a bag, Nyki won't unwind them all over the floor!  I have 2 dozen bag balls stuffed in here!

I love a stay at home Monday with all my goals for the week full of possibilities!