Heading Toward the Weekend!

 Good Morning Everyone!

How are you? Has the week treated you well?  I hope so.  It is kind of grey and damp here.  I don't think we received the amount of rain that was forecast (thank goodness) - that seemed to be East and North of us.  But the temp has dropped a bit.  As I sit at my desk typing, Mabel is curled up on her shelf by the office window waiting for the birds to arrive at the window feeder for breakfast.  So far there don't seem to be any takers.  Everyone is sleeping in today (and I'm wishing I had).

Yesterday morning I met up with Dee at Manhattan Bagel for a bit of crafty time together.  Since it was Thursday, we did not have to put up with BAD live music!  LOL. It was a pleasant way to spend a morning for sure and I was able to work on my February shortie sock a bit.

Good thing, because just before dinner Fletch went out to get the mail and my April sock yarn arrived (a day early)!

Pretty colors.  The pink yarn is called "Out of the Mouths of Babes" which cracks me up.  And the brown mini skein really compliments the pink I think.  I am not usually one who gravitates to the pink shades, but I really like this yarn.  The pink is a hefty 100 gram skein too - the label says it is  463 yards.  The mini is 20 grams and the label states 92 yards.

Today will be filled with bill paying (I hate that!) and running some errands this morning.  We have decided on home-made pizza for dinner which will be nice.  Easter Sunday we will be heading over to Colin & Mailing's for Easter dinner.

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter to those who celebrate.  

(And now the birds have started coming to the window feeder - Mabel is chatting to some of them - LOL)

Unraveled Wednesday 3/27/24

 Good Morning!

It is a milder morning here in Eastern PA, but there is dampness in the air.  We are forecast to have a couple days of rain...and our backyard is still a soggy mess after the Saturday storm!

Hard to believe we are at the last Wednesday in March.  Time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about what we are making and reading.  Fun things!

As I mentioned the other day, I have (finally) cast on with my February sock yarn from The Farmer's Daughter.  I've decided to go with shortie socks (which I don't normally wear, but sometimes in the summer it's what I want).

Obviously I have not gotten far.  There are 12 rows of 2x2 ribbing in that pretty blue...then 8 rows straight in the lavender and now I am about 10 rows into the heel flap.  Being shortie socks they should (theoretically) go quickly...but for that to happen, one must spend time knitting on them!  There is a third color (gold) that will be added somewhere down the foot.  I should work on these as I just received notice that my April yarn has shipped and should be here by Friday! 

Meanwhile, another project I want to work on is my Shakerag Skirt!  Here it is exactly as I left it sometime last year.

I love the color of the yarn!  My plan had been to spend time on this yesterday, but something better happened!  Colin texted me to see if I wanted to go for a walk after lunch.  Taking a walk with Colin will trump knitting any day of the week!  Especially when it is a gorgeous day full of sunshine.  We walked through White's Road Park (a local park with a nice footpath) and then through the neighborhood for a bit - about 40 minutes of walking.  So many bushes are beginning to bloom and other plants are loaded with buds.  It was also nice to see so many people out walking about.

After I got home I walked out to our garden to see if anything is happening.  We have around 20 garlic shoots popping up through the leaf mulch!

And the first rhubarb shoot is up (and the stem is red!!).

I was also encouraged to see buds on our fig tree.  Woo-Hoo.  We never had figs last year, so I am hoping for a bumper crop this year.

On the reading side of things, not a lot to report.  I did finish The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters.  I liked it...thought it was good, though the ending felt rushed and just not up to the rest of the book.  I picked up several books at the library.  I've read roughly 75 pages of How to Say Babylon which is just ok for me so far.  I find myself easily closing my eyes while reading it!  I also picked up Big Sky by Kate Atkinson, but am finding it slow going...not sure I will finish it or just return it to the library.  The last book I picked up is one that was recommended to me:  The Good Thief but I have yet to get into it.

Today I am heading to the office to turn in my laptop, assorted keyboards, cords and mice as well as my key fob that let's me into our office space.  LOL. I'm curious to see the new office space, but don't plan to spend much time there.  I will make a Trader Joe's run since I'm in the neighborhood and will most likely pick up wine as well.  And then this afternoon I'd really like to spend time knitting!  We shall see.

Be sure to check out Kat's space to see what everyone else is making and reading.  And, while you are at it, have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/26/24

 Hello and Good Morning my Friends,

A few minutes ago as I was pouring my first cup of coffee, I heard some geese fly overhead - probably headed to some field for a bit of breakfast.  There is a rosy glow to the sky this morning...a bit on the overcast side, but also warmer than previous mornings.  Thank goodness!  I needed the heat in my car as well as the seat warmer when I left the house at 8:45 yesterday morning.

It hardly seems possible, but welcome to the last TNT post of March 2024.  How can we be a quarter through the year already?  Anyway, I have a finish to share as well as a new start!  First up, The Hunt Sampler:

The center of the wreath is supposed to contain initials as well as a date, but since I highlighted my initials in the alphabet, I decided just to go with the date and used the same color that I had used for my initials.  Details:

• The Hunt Sampler by Homespun Sampler
• Stitched on 36 count linen over 2 (18 stitches to the inch)
• Silk threads by Vicki Clayton:  main color is Aqua Marine; color for the date and my initials is Deep Ocean

Someone (I forget who) asked if I would show the back side of my stitching, so here goes:

When my Mom was teaching me to embroider, she always emphasized that the back side of your work should be as neat as the front.  I once was in a class where one of the students was stitching in a manner where it was hard to tell the front from the back!  That was pretty amazing.

I finished The Hunt Sampler on Saturday, so a new piece was started on Sunday!  Once again I am stitching with only one color of silk.  The piece is entitled "Sew Red" and is by iStitch Designs.  There are a number of free designs on her web site.

I dug deep into my stash for supplies.  The linen is 40 count wood smoke (which looks a bit mottled) - a piece I won in a give-away years ago.  The silk thread is once again from Vicki Clayton and the color is "Old Maid of the Heart."  I'm not sure if you can see the variations in the thread - even clicking to enlarge the picture they may not show up.  But at times the thread has a hint of pink and at other times it gets darker and almost has a touch of brown in it.  Here it is on the spool:

You can see the variations on the spool a little easier.  I've surprised myself going with another piece in just one color.  Not my usual style, but I'm thoroughly enjoying this piece. I definitely need my magnifier though!!  This is a rather small piece.  It is only 85 by 85 stitches...so on 40 count fabric stitched over 2 it will be roughly 4.25" square.

Well, time for me to pour another cup of coffee and wake up Fletch.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending 3/25/24

 Good Morning Everyone,

My gosh but we had a ton of rain on Saturday!  I woke to hear it raining during the night and it never let up until dinner time.  I'm not sure how much rain we got - we haven't yet put our rain gauge out because our temps are still dipping below freezing - but our backyard was essentially a lake!  And then the winds picked up and roared.  Sunday morning I noticed that once again my archery target and the backdrop at the edge of our yard before the woods had blown over again.  Poor Mabel did not know what to do.  She wanted to go out, but then she wouldn't.  Instead she tried to drive us crazy getting into and onto things that she should not.

Backing up a bit, Colin & Mailing came over for dinner on Friday.  We had picked up some strawberries when we were grocery shopping and I found rhubarb from the garden in the freezer, so I made a strawberry-rhubarb crostata for dessert.

Tasty, but I won't bother freezing rhubarb this coming summer.  It is much better fresh!

I did manage to do a few chores - laundry was done and I finally (finally!!) dusted and vacuumed our bedroom.  Fresh sheets and a clean room do wonders for a good night of sleep.  I also ran to the library and picked up a few books.

Sunday was for making.  I started a new cross stitch piece (more on that tomorrow), I cast on with my February yarn from the Farmer's Daughter (finally) and also pulled out a project that I had forgotten about - my Shakerag Skirt!!  That will be receiving some well earned attention.

This is a busy week - something going on each day, but all manageable.  Meanwhile, it's time to pour another cup of coffee and dry my hair.  I hope your week is off to a great start!

Finished!!

 Good Morning Everyone,

Brrrr...it is in the 20's here this morning.  Even Mabel doesn't want to be outside!  I woke a number of times in the night hearing the wind howl.  We have a buoy bell that we bought while on a trip to Maine years ago and have that hanging on our shed (at the very back of our backyard just before the woods).  That bell was clanging ALL night.  Later, once the sun is up, I will venture outside to cut some more daffodils.  The ones I had on the table all wilted and now the ones on the windowsill are following suit.  

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, it was my Mom's birthday yesterday.  She passed away 20 years ago and at times it feels like yesterday - hard to believe she has been gone so long.  Many of you have heard these stories, so I won't go into depth, but she was a very independent woman and someone I admired so much.  At the age of 20 or 21 (I can't remember right off the bat now), she rode her bicycle from Vermont to Canada by herself.  The following year, she and her girlfriend Jennie rode their bikes from Vermont to California!  They just took bedrolls and a few changes of clothes and stayed in youth hostels mostly.  They were not opposed to sleeping in someone's barn if the weather turned foul and they were still riding.  LOL.   Unfortunately they had an accident when they arrived in California and Jennie ended up being hospitalized for a number of weeks.  My Mom worked in the hospital while Jennie got better and then Jennie's parents paid for them to fly back to Vermont.  (My Mom's parents did not have a lot of money - my Grandfather was a minister and my Grandmother did not work.)

My Mom is the one who taught me to knit and to embroider (not cross stitch - she did not do that).  I still have an Icelandic sweater she knit for me as well as some of the linens she embroidered. They are treasures.  She was a great tennis player - almost always acing her serves; she swam like a fish and hiked like an explorer!  One summer she packed up me and two of my brothers and we drove across the country in a Northern route, down the Western Coast, back across the country on a Southern route and up the Eastern Coast to come home.  We were gone for weeks!  My Dad flew out to meet us when we were in South Dakota and then he flew back (to go to work) when we reached Los Angeles.  What a trip!  I cannot imagine doing that on my own with three kids!

Anyway, on to the title of this post.  My March socks are finished!!  

I managed to knit through most of the foot while seeing Dee yesterday morning.  When I got home, I only had the last 5 rows (with the pin stripes) and then the toe decrease, so I finished them up last night after dinner.

The yarn is the March selection from the Farmer's Daughter Sock Squad.  The main color is called "Grandma's Hands" and even though it looks like the socks are kind of striped, the yarn is really just variegated.  I knit these using #2 needles and knit an Eye of the Partridge heel flap.  The leg and foot are just plain vanilla.  Luckily I had determined early on these would be for me...luckily because I really, really like them!  In fact, I may just have to wear them today.

The other finish I have is a book.  Last night I finished The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters.  This was another fast read for me.  I found the story to be good and the writing is strong.  The end felt a little flat to me, but I still give it 4.5 stars and highly recommend.

Later this morning I'm heading to our accountant's office to go over tax stuff.  Hopefully this will not be a painful visit!!

And...I'm hoping I can find Spring somewhere!!  Have a good Thursday.

Unraveled Wednesday 3/20/24

 Hello and Good Morning!

And Happy first full day of Spring.  This is my Mom's birthday and, if she were still alive, she would be 105 today.  Gosh I miss her - we had so many laughs and good times together.

It's Wednesday which means it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about all the making and all the reading.  I've been focusing on my second March sock and am very close to finishing it!

Sock Displayed on a VERY Messy Table!

I had thought that I might have it finished by today, but that is not the case.  I'm roughly halfway down the foot to the toe decreases and that knitting should occur this morning because I am meeting Dee in just a couple hours for one of our therapy sessions.  LOL. I say therapy in a joking way, but you know, I always feel better after we get together.

My mind has been on the February yarn I received from The Farmer's Daughter.  I still have not quite determined what it will become, but I'd like to start in on something when my March sock is finished and BEFORE my April yarn arrives.  I'd also like to get back to my Hitch on the Move.  I have not knit a single row on that project in a week.  Of course there are plenty of other ideas/projects/WIPs calling my name.

Reading has improved and I feel as though I am getting over my reading slump where nothing seemed that great - a lot of just average or mediocre books.  Bonny had listened to a book that sounded good to me and so I requested it from my library.  Glaciers by Alexis Smith is a short book - just over 100 pages, but what a delight it is!  The story takes place over one day in the life of Isabel (Bell or Belly) and each chapter is a tiny vignette looking into what she is feeling or doing or seeing.  The writing is quite good.

Now I am reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters.  I forget where I heard about this book, but I had been in the queue for months.  This too, is very well written.  I have under 100 pages left to read, so should finish this one soon.

Be sure to head over to Kat's place to see what others are making and reading - inspiration abounds.  Now it's time for me to pour another cup of coffee and wake up a bit.  Happy Hump Day!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/19/24

 Hello, Hello!

Finally, Spring is here...or at least the beginning.  I believe today is the Vernal Equinox.  I always consider 3/20 the first day of Spring because it's my Mom's birthday.  But from what I hear, today is the Equinox.  And, naturally, it feels like we are back in winter.  After some lovely warm days last week and into the weekend, I am now back to having fleece leggings on and a wool cardigan.  Geeze!  An extra blanket on the bed last night and socks on my feet kept me warm during the night (and Mabel curled up tightly against me also!).

We survived our booster shots with no issues or reactions.  Fletch said he didn't even feel his shot.  I felt mine (for sure) and my arm was a little tender or sore when I rolled over onto that side in the night, but no other issues.  Next up I've got to schedule my mammogram.  There is always something....

Here we are at Tuesday - another week flown by - and it's time for a TNT update.  My tiny needle did get a bit of a workout this past week.  I am closing in on the end of the Hunt Sampler!

The alphabet is compete - I love the slant of the letter A.  I also love my initials (VEL) in a lighter shade of blue.  Mr. Squirrel in the lower right octagon was added along with the motifs in the two lower hexagons.  There is one more octagon to be filled as well as some stuff in the lower left.  This should be finished up pretty promptly which means I'd best go stash diving to find something new to start!

Yesterday afternoon I loaded up the back of my car with stuff to donate and drove to a lovely thrift store in the next town.  It felt good to (finally) unload some stuff.  There will be more, of that I'm sure.  But I feel as though a little progress has been made.  I also got rid of some old sheets and pillowcases from the linen closet (why had I held onto them??).  (They went into the trash...not donated).  I may (or may not) tackle the towels today.  Slow and steady - I'm not racing against anyone, just wanting to get things done (in my own time).

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tonight on our Zoom discussion of "The Poisonwood Bible."  I'm betting it will be a very lively discussion!!