Month: February 2019

February 28, 2019

Baking Day

The Amish Friendship Bread Starter was ready and it was time to bake!

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Homemade Vanilla!

I started getting out all the supplies and realized my homemade vanilla was ready!  How exciting!  It smells divine!

This time I made 5 dozen mint and chocolate chip cookies, 2 dozen strawberries and cream cupcakes, and a pan of chocolate brownies.  There is still enough of the starter left over to make pancakes for the kids tomorrow morning.  This experiment has been fun, but it is getting a little overwhelming to have to bake so much every 10 days!

February 27, 2019

Fair Isle Hat

I was lucky enough to be able to attend Stitches West this year!  I took classes every day and had a fantastic time.  The first class I took was the Fair Isle Hat.  I have tried colorwork in the past with not such great results.  My tension was always off and the knitting looked puckery and the images were not clear.  I definitely needed help.  Our teacher was amazing!

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2/21/2019 – Fair Isle Hat from Stitches West Class.

I learned how to knit with a color in each hand and how to get my tension right.  Everyone in class made such pretty hats and they were all different.

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Closeup of stitch pattern.

One of the best parts of class … I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen since our kids were in pre-school together!!  It was such a fantastic surprise to see and chat with her.  She’s still local so it will be fun to get together sometime soon.

February 25, 2019

Taaa Daaa!!! One Monthly Goal Finish

I FINALLY have a finish!!  Last night, during the Oscars, I put the finishing touches on the label and attached it to…..The Mighty Rainbow Blanket!

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2/24/2019 Mighty Rainbow Blanket complete!

I started this in September of 2016 and finally, finally finished it!  This is my daughter’s twin size bed.

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Hand made label – to cover a spot.

I usually put labels on things.  This one is a little large because we had an unfortunate accident with a heat lamp (for geckos).  The heat lamp was turned off and then placed on the blanket which was in a bag.  Well….the bag melted and a hole appeared where the bulb from the lamp lay on the bag.  I am just lucky that the fibers of the blanket only melted slightly, but there was still green icky stuff on it that I couldn’t get off.  I decided this was the perfect place for the label!!

As soon as the label was attached, my daughter snuggled up in it.  Then we put it in it’s proper place – her bed!  The Mighty Rainbow Blanket is a super easy knit, it’s all garter stitch.  My daughter picked out the pattern from Knit Picks and we purchased the yarn called for in the pattern.  It is super soft and warm and she loves it!

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal.  I put this finish as my goal for the month.  I figured out that I needed to complete 6 rows per night in order to finish on time.  During this month we went to Disneyland.  I knew that I would not be able to work on it at the park so I knit 24 rows on the car ride there and another 24 rows on the car ride back.  That left only 8 rows to finish before the end of this month.  I did that on Thursday, February 21st in the evening and bound off at knitting the following day at my knitting group.  I then wove in all the ends at home.  During breaks at Stitches West, I made the label and attached that to the blanket last night while watching the Oscars.  Both my daughter and I are thrilled to have this completed!!

February 24, 2019

SAL Update-February #2 & Slow Stitch Sunday

I feel like I always start these updates the same way!  Here I was last time we updated,

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2/3/2019 Update

And this is where I am now,

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2/24/19 Update

There is a lot more backstitching, but as I am comparing the two photos I really can’t see that much of a difference.  Yes, things are a little more defined, but it’s hard to see any actual work.  There is also a little bit more stitching done between the window panes.

About the SAL (copied from Avis’ blog)

This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL.  If you would like to join us, please visit Avis’ blog and either comment on one of the SAL posts or email her.

Welcome our newest member, Sharon, to our group of stitchers!  If you have a chance please click on the links below, they will take you to some wonderful stitchy goodness!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen,Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny,Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

February 21, 2019

Hand Pies

Whenever we have leftover chicken, I make hand pies.

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Chicken and Vegetable Hand Pies

I throw the leftover chicken, any veges that happen to be in the fridge and usually some potatoes into the food processor.

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Hand Pie filling

I then put a heaping teaspoon in either refrigerated biscuit dough or crescent dough, which ever I have on hand.  This time I had crescent dough.

Then I add a little bit of shredded cheese to the top of the filling, wrap everything up and bake them.  This, along with a salad, is a true crowd pleaser at our house!

February 14, 2019

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

We’ve been trying to eat a little bit healthier.  Meaning more vegetable and beans.

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Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

This recipe really hit the spot.  I served it with fresh baked soudough bread and dinner was done!  It was met with about a 50% like rate.  Myself and a couple of kids liked it, the rest (including my husband) did not.img_5198

I had it for lunch the next day with a slice of buttered sourdough bread.  That was the perfect combination and filled me up!

February 12, 2019

Rag Rug #1 Done!

The first rug for this warp is complete, but not without some “issues”.

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Rag Rug #1 – Evenweave

I wanted this rug to end up being about 24″ X 36″.  The warp is 27″ wide and I wove for 40″ – all evenweave.  I took it off the loom (you’ll see why later in this post), tied the ends and washed and dried it.  It is wonderfully soft!  The dimensions without fringe are:  18″X29 1/4″.  I lost almost 11″ in length and 9″ in width.  This is good to know for future items!  Another surprise to me was that it only took 4 t-shirts!  I have boxes of the kid’s t-shirts and lots of them already cut and rolled into yarn balls.  I will need to think of other things to make from them as we don’t need that many rugs.  This rug is already in use by the front door.

Challenges:  t – e – n – s – i – o – n!  I am a newish weaver.  I have only ever warped this loom with the help of a teacher and have never put a warp on that is this long.  I decided to “just go for it” and use the rag rugs as an experiment and learning opportunity.

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Warp issues.

As I was weaving and advancing my warp, this is what was happening at the back of the loom.  The threads were coming loose and not holding tension.  I would run my fingers through them, and then stick the pick up sticks in the back and twist to get at least some tension so I could weave.

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Warp hanging off the back of the loom.

Without the pick up sticks and weights, the warp looked like this.  From this picture, I’m sure some of you can see what I did wrong.  The warp on the back beam is much narrower than the weaving width.  I forgot to measure the width of the warp when I put it in the raddle and adjust to make sure the warp went straight across from the back beam to the front beam.

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Re-rolled warp.

To fix the problem, I stopped weaving and rolled the warp to the front beam, fixing the tangles.  Once all of the warp was on the front beam, I retied it onto the back beam and rolled back.  Many, many hours later, I still had some issues, but not as many as before.  The warp is not perfect, but it is straight, has no tangles and I can weave much easier.  And I started the second rug.

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2nd rag rug – twill

If all goes well, the plan is to weave about 8 more rugs with this warp.  I am not planning on cutting them off as I finish each one but rather to weave with the whole warp and cut them at the end.  Wish me luck!!

February 10, 2019

HQAL Update – February & Slow Stitch Sunday

Every time the  update for our HQAL comes around it really doesn’t seem that three weeks have passed since the last update.  Time feels like it’s speeding by!  And yet, right after I post this today, I will feel like I have oodles of time before the next update.  I’m still working on my Grandmother’s Flower Garden.  I’m really enjoying every bit of it:  choosing fabrics, the prep and the slow hand sewing.  My stitches have gotten more even and I am a little quicker than when I first started this project.

 

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Flower #10

This flower is complete.  I really like the two greens together.  Originally I had a different green intended for the darker area and had glued the cardboard to the fabric and cut it out.  I had even sewn some of them; however, something you don’t know happened to them… our dog LOVES glue.  I have to be very careful and keep this project in a plastic box and place it up high somewhere when I’m not working on it.  I accidentally left the little pieces out when I went to bed and when I got up there were bits of fabric everywhere and the cardboard was gone!  Whoops!  The dog is fine.  She had no idea she did anything wrong and she’s so cute I couldn’t chastise her!  I just chose different fabric and started those pieces over again.  I am MUCH more careful with this project though.

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Flower #11

I started this one.  My next flower will be pieced and I’m looking forward to that.  At the last update I was asked to show all the flower together.  I took a couple of pictures and that’s how I know how many I have done.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I seem to be just focusing on which fabrics and whether I want to do a pieced flower piece instead of how many I have done.

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Flower #s 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8

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Flowers 1, 2 and 3 with the border

Originally, the plan was to attach the flowers together as I went adding the green border as needed.  Once I decided to make the pieced hexis for the flowers, I stopped adding them because I think I want the flexibility to place them where I want them once I’m done.  Please see below for detail on this HQAL and information if you would like to join us.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

I am also joining up with Kathy for Slow Stitch Sunday.

February 9, 2019

Mash

Whenever it gets cold outside, I make a mash for my chickens.

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Chicken Mash

It’s made with oatmeal, dried cranberries, garlic powder and flax seed.  I serve it to them warm and they really enjoy it.  It’s nice to do something for them.