Some Sewing on Sunday

 

We've still got six more trees to buy and then plant but we're taking a break today. We've run out of room. I have no idea where the city "Tree Board" thinks I'm putting six more trees but I'll have to fight that out with them later. Yesterday before all the digging took place I took a few minutes to work on my Colorwash Quilt blocks. I've figured out that I need 300 of them in order to make a crib sized quilt. It's not meant for a crib but I like the size of the crib sized batts. I've got 166 already so it seems doable. Hopefully today I can get back in there and make more.

Some good news is that Betty White is back. I worked on bringing a bit of refrigerated discard back to life all week. After getting it going again I had to transition it into a white flour starter which went a lot easier than the first time I tried it. Brown Betty can be pretty stubborn. She knows what she likes. 

On Friday night I got the bug to give the new Betty White a try even though the float test indicated she was not ready. I'm not kidding when I say I was up tending the dough at 4 am. It's what I get for starting something so late. 

In spite of my misgivings, Betty White came through. It would have been a terrific success if I had only remembered to add the salt. She's pretty but she's bland. I'll have to get creative with what we put on her. I'm thinking some salty tapenade might be the thing. I haven't made it in ages. 

Tree Hunting

 

Our taxes were a bit more complicated this year since we both cashed in our retirement funds so The Mister went across town to have his looked at by H&R Block the other day. On the way home he stopped at Walmart and noticed they had trees. We went back over yesterday and loaded up the car. I got two more dogwoods and another red Maple. They were all bigger and healthier than the ones I ordered online and were a third of the price. That makes 18 new trees so far. Six more to go. I thought this would be a terrible thing but I'm actually having fun with it. Ask me again when it's 90 degrees with 90% humidity though. 

Trees weren't the only things that caught my attention. I've been meaning to buy another rose to go with the pink one that I planted last year. 

It was a tough decision but I settled on this one.

What was really hard was walking away from all the annuals. I told myself that I've got enough to deal with this year what with keeping all these newly planted trees alive. The pretty stuff will have to wait until next year. 

Cornered

 

I couldn't wait until Tiny Needle Tuesday to show off that the scary ends did indeed meet. It was hair raising. I was actually nervous. I had to put on some calming music and take deep breaths. At about an inch away, I was convinced that there was no way that it was going to meet and even looked at the pattern to see where I went wrong. Nothing jumped out, so I went ahead and like magic it all fell into place. Whew....

Fit to be Tied

 

Remember this? It's the project that took me months to get to this place. Everything from warping to threading went wrong.

Now it looks like this. This is me trying real hard not to stomp all over it. Silly me thought I could adjust the heddle count after it had all been tied on in order to even out the tension and......it didn't go well. It all slipped off in a tangle of metal and yarn. I pulled it all out and cut it off.  Sometimes things are just not meant to be. I should have gotten the message sooner. 

I had a momentary fit of pique and then went and pulled out some scraps and started over. 

This time I'm going back to familiar territory using materials and techniques I like and have had success with. I never liked anything about that last project. It felt good to stuff it into the trash.

I do confess that it wasn't all that project's fault. I should have done a better job at counting off these things instead of just leaving the ones I had from the last project on the loom. I will next time.

Wednesday WIPs

 

Sitting and Knitting time was hard to find this week but I did get an inch or two on the socks.

I've been working on my first "innie" block of the Hue Shift Afghan and it's not going so well. I had to send my first try to the frog pond because the place where all three blocks meet looked terrible. I had managed to get a big bump there so I'm starting over and being more careful this time. 

I've got the March quota of the Doodle Cowl finished. Now I have to decide where to go next for April.

And I'm sad to report that my powdered buttermilk didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped with the soda bread. I usually get a big rise out of the real stuff but yesterday I ended up with two scones. Ah, well. Flat or not, they were good. 

TNT: Slainte!

As a stitcher, is this or is this not the scariest thing you could ever see? I've been working both ends hoping to meet in the middle. Remains to be seen. If the worst happens, it's getting a pattern adjustment. I won't be ripping that all out. 

Since we are all Irish today, let me wish you a Happy St Patrick's Day! I've got corned beef and plenty of cabbage and potatoes for dinner. 

After scouring the town for some buttermilk, I had to resort to a delivery from the evil corporation that shall not be named. A dear little man braved yesterday's storms to get this to me and I am grateful. I know I could use the vinegar or lemon trick but I can't. Soda bread just isn't right without the buttermilk. 

And....I had a question about the recipe I'm using for my discard crackers so here it is:

I take whatever discard I have and weigh it. For every 100 grams I add 1 TBL of olive oil and a dash of fine sea salt. 

I spread it as thin as I can get it on a silicone mat lined cookie sheet and sprinkle it with a bit of Parmesan, rosemary and a bit of coarse sea salt. 

It goes in the oven at 350 for 5-6 minutes, then I take it out and score it with a pizza cutter. Then back in the oven until very brown. 

I like them almost burnt but it's up to you how dark you want them. The trick to getting them really crisp is to leave them in the oven after you turn it off and just let them sit until you get the amount of crunch you're looking for. I hope this helps.

Dogwoods and Ginkos and Maples. Oh, my..

 

Meet #15. This little thing was the last one to be planted this weekend. Those little pines are so darn cute. I wanted to just keep them in the house as pets. 

The bigger trees are just sticks right now. I'll be anxiously watching for signs of life. 

While we were digging I could feel someone or something watching us. It was Louise, nestled in the tree debris. She is our remaining inside/outside cat from the big litter we rescued years ago. She hardly goes out anymore since she lost her hearing but she was apparently interested in what we were doing out in the yard. I don't think she was impressed. 

In sad news, I killed Betty White. I had used part of her to get this last loaf started and somehow when I moved her remains to what I thought was a clean jar, I put her in one that contained some dirty old onion skins. I had been making soup on the counter earlier and somehow some skins must have ended up in the bottom of the jar. Ick. Thank goodness Brown Betty is still going strong. 

I've been using her to make Rosemary/Parmesan crackers. If I never make another loaf of bread I would be fine as long as I can make these. They are addicting.