Unplugged

 

We spent almost the entire day yesterday without any internet or cable. All we had for company was my little radio. I have to say it was weird being cut off from the outside world. You don't realize how much you depend on it until it's not there. 

I had wanted to tackle that knot bag that's been waiting for me to finish but I couldn't access the video I used for directions so I decided to work on Taylor Barbie's new dress instead. This Mattel pattern that 57 Pumpkin just sent me is just what I needed. The directions are written for the average 9 year old. That's about where my skill level is for sewing tbh. 

I told myself I'm going to take it nice and slow. I putter a few minutes here and there with all my other projects but when I sit down to sew something I rush through to get it done and that's been a recipe for disaster. Today I cut out the pieces, tomorrow I'll figure out how to put them together. 

I figured I had to up my game after my sister sent me this photo of the dress her youngest granddaughter made for her American Girl doll last week. How cute is that? 

Tying One On

 

I cut the towel off the loom on Friday. I said I was going to do it when the weather took a turn for the better and we had a glorious 24 hour window of downright chilly weather that day. It was cool and rainy and I loved it. The heat and humidity returned yesterday. Booo....

I even sat down at the machine and hemmed it.

After washing it looked better. A few more washings will shrink it up even more and tighten the fabric. 

The Mister helped me move that dreary fall warp onto the loom but that's as far as I got because....

....I ate one of those sprinkle donuts instead of lunch and that was it for me energy-wise. I should have known better but those sprinkles were irresistible. They are covered on both sides for Pride Month and they sure pack a sugar wallop. No regrets.

In Luck

 

I had the very good luck this week to find someone on Ravelry who was selling the heddles I use on my Wolf Pup loom. Since I've been making wider towels I needed more and much to my dismay, I found out that they don't make these anymore. I tried to use the ones they sell now but they are too bulky for my little Pup. I've been looking for these for months and I finally hit the jackpot. 

In case you're wondering what a heddle is, they are the metal things that you thread each end into. You need a lot of them. Most towels need at least 400.

Speaking of towels, this one is finished but I haven't taken it off the loom yet because....

.....I'm just not feeling the new warp. It's finished too but I'm hating on the fall colors. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Some folks can just chain this up and put it away until they want it but I don't have the courage to do that so here it will stay until I work up the mojo to deal with it. A few days of decent temperatures might do it. 

Friday Fluff and Felines

 

Slowly but surely I'm still working on the Peaches and Cream Chinook.  I don't usually like lumpy fiber but this one isn't too terrible to work with.

The Pi Shawl is about halfway through the 40 rows EZ suggests before the lace edging starts. It's still a pleasure to pick up. It's a nice meditative knit. I try to pick it up every morning when I'm home.

We're just a week or so away from this year's Tour de Fleece. I'm planning on getting out the bin that holds the last of the fleeces I washed and dyed. If this heat holds up it might be hard to do. I liked it much better when during the Pandemic they held the Tour in September. There's something about all that woolly wool that's so hard to bear in July. 

Solar dyeing is the only thing that benefits from all this heat. I know I sure don't.

And...I don't have any cute photos of the Grands from this week's sitting adventure but I do have one of the cat. This particular kitty is not fond of us or Pup and is rarely seen but I did catch her peeking at me one morning. 

She seems to have forgotten that we were very good friends when she was a baby. I did a lot of kitty sitting back then and I'd never seen a kitten that loved people food as much as she did. She'd steal anything off your plate if you weren't careful. 

Material Girl

I had two deliveries of fabric this week. Connecting Threads sent me some replacement fabric for the botched bag I tried to make a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully this time I'll remember to get the trees going in the right direction. Missouri Star sent me the blue material because...

....I decided that Taylor Barbie really needed this dress. Trying to find material online that has the right scale for a doll is hard but I think the lighter blue should work just fine. 

I'm also going to try and spend some of this forced indoor time getting back to work on the Color Wash Quilt. I've got a lot of charm squares that are going to be leftover from the Patchwork of the Crosses quilt and they might as well be doing something instead of just adding to the stash. 

Wednesday WIPs

 

As I mentioned yesterday, I am good for nothing after I get back from a sitting trip. It took me until Sunday to feel close to normal again last week. Add the heat into it and I'm a mess so not much is getting done except maybe ticking off my Netflix queue. I did finish the short row heel on the Cozy Quilt socks and have started down the foot but I'm just a couple of rows in. 

The rest of the socks are with me up at Daughter's right now. The blue ones should be finished by the time I get home tonight. I'm already at the toes.

The heat has pretty much killed my knitting mojo but I did get a few more rows on the Ski Sweater. I try to think of ice and snow while I work on it at night. Ice and snow. Sounds wonderful doesn't it?

And....my crazy new floral Crocs arrived just in time for me to pack them for my trip up to the Grands yesterday. If the Golden Girls were a pair of Crocs these would be them. All I need now is to put on my capris and go have some cheesecake on the lanai.

Tiny Needle Tuesday

There's not much to see here, tiny needle wise, this week. It took me until Sunday to get my bearings after just two days of Grand sitting. It takes a toll on my old infrastructure. I worked on three flower blocks but I didn't do the white background on them. I figure that when I get home this week and am too tired to think, I'll be glad to have them to work on.

I did add a few more paper pieced X's to my pile. I've got 30. I need 44.

I really struggled with Dear Jane. Block E 1 was not as easy as it seemed until I figured out how to applique a leaf shape correctly. My usual method of paper piecing did not work. Then I tried needle turning. Nope. That's the top one on the left that got ripped off after I took this photo. Then I used the paper pieces but sewed around them and pulled it tight. That worked.

E 2 has very similar shapes but I'm ready for it. Bring it on, Jane, bring it on. 

 

Punchy

 

In the package 57 Pumpkin sent last week were these punch needle things which included the lap stand. I've really been struggling with the whole concept but on one boring rainy afternoon I decided to give this one a try. It's not like mine. My kit uses a big needle and thick wool on monk's cloth. This one has a fine needle. It's printed on even weave and you use embroidery floss. The printed pattern is always on the wrong side in case you're wondering why it looks so bad. 

This is the right side. Since The Mister and I were having words over something stupid that day I was feeling a bit stabby. Luckily for him, I got to work out my feelings on the cloth instead of on him. 

I also spent a few minutes stabbing my mug rugs. 

It's very therapeutic. I should pencil in some punching time every day.

In Bloom

 

The rose I planted last year has finally found the opportunity to bloom. The deer had been eating all the buds off of it but for some reason the deer haven't been around much lately. 

We know this by the fact that we still have hostas. They have usually nibbled them to the ground by now but they are all still standing.

In fact, they are out of control. They've got us surrounded. It's hard to get down the sidewalks. We're thinking that all the trees that went down on the paths behind us are keeping them from coming over the creek for the moment. I'm sure they will figure out how to get back here soon enough. 

And...in spite of having had a severe haircut due to last year's drought damage my brave hydrangea managed to put out a few blooms this year. I bought it a soaker hose to keep it hydrated but we've had nothing but rain for weeks. Go figure. 

Mission Accomplished

 

As promised, the plumbing guys were here by 7:30 yesterday morning to finish the job.

I had to laugh at them squeezing into the little shower to get it set up. The Mister was snoopervising.

How it started. The curtain hides an absolute horror of a beige fiberglass shower stall and all that wood cabinetry had pretty much turned to sawdust from the humidity. 

How it ended. We still have some caulking left to do, the molding to put down and the shelves and cabinets to put up but we're getting close. Two down and one to go. We told the plumbers we'd see them again next year when we tackle the last of the horrible bathrooms, the one downstairs. 

Bag Lady

 

I never understood this scene from Steele Magnolias until....

...I bought these. When we usually travel up to Daughter's for an overnight baby sitting gig I pack all my stuff in lots of different shopping bags which was a pain. Now I have all my personal stuff in the suitcase and all my crafty stuff in the top bag. Since we're going back every Tuesday-Wednesday for the next six weeks I don't even have to unpack it just add more clean clothes after I do the laundry. Silly me just had to go try and find a pair of somewhat matching floral Crocs. 

I wanted these but the $70 price tag put me off so instead....

...I settled for these that I found half price at Dick's Sporting Goods. They don't really match but they'll work until I can find ones that do.

Baby Talk

 

The Mister and I just spent two days doing a lot of this.

It wasn't all baby stuff. Toddler Grand had a box of new crafty things waiting for us to play with.

We made flowers and paper chains. 

There was even a fancy birdhouse to paint. 

It's always hard to say goodbye but we had company along the way. We had an almost 3 hour ride home thanks to Kendrick Lamar having a concert at Northwest Stadium last night and that rainbow stayed with us almost the whole way home. I've never seen one last that long or cover that much territory.