Charming Stars

 

I get up early every morning. Around 5 am. Why? Because I have a kitty alarm clock that goes off then and I can never get back to sleep. The mornings have been chilly so I had The Mister fill up some boxes with wood so I could have a fire on the deck if I felt like it. 

I love to fix a cup of tea and sit out in the quiet.

It was also a good opportunity to take Charming Star's mugshot. It's now a done deal and I have to say I loved working on it so much that I miss it. I'm tempted to start another. 

It's an easy peasy pie pattern that uses charm squares and you know how much I love charm squares. I've got a million of them.

This one was made from the leftovers from a big Disappearing Nine Patch I made for Son in 2013. I had a whole box of leftovers from it but now I don't. One box down. Many more to go. The fabric stash is finally going in the right direction.

A Fond Farewell

 

Dearly beloved, we come together to honor the memory of a valiant warrior in the mighty meal wars. This Rival electric skillet belonged to my mom and must be at least 30 years old. She made her amazing Calypso Chicken and Halloween donuts in it among other things. I made countless meals in it for Daddio after she passed. Then it came home with me. It was a wonderful little appliance but alas, its journey is over and I'm sad. 

Its replacement showed up yesterday. At least I hope so. I tried to replace it a few years ago, spent a fortune on it and then it only lasted a couple of meals before the non stick coating peeled off. In the trash it went. I'll put this new one together today and hope for the best. First up will be some salmon cakes for The Mister. 

It was only a month of so ago that I had to replace my equally old Oster food processor with this new one. I'm pretty sure I won't see 30 years of use out of this one. You can't beat the old appliances. They lasted forever. The new ones-not so much.

Friday Fluff

 

I put the Ashford Traditional back to work on those merino nests I carded. I'm trying to match that other wonky skein and it looks like that won't be a problem.

I've been watching the Vuelta de Espana in the mornings and trying to get these singles plied but it's slow going. I got a lot of yardage out of that 4 ounces of fiber.

And....my Golding spindles are empty now so I had to go stash diving for something to do with them. I came up with this incredibly soft Polwarth/Silk blend. The colors is meh and it's only 2 ounces but it'll keep me busy at least until next year's Tour. 

The Devil is in the Details

 

You would think I'd be done with the binding on Charming Square but I'm not. I just can't get a long enough stretch of time to work on it. The weather has been too nice for inside things this week so I'm literally going inch by inch on it. 

When I do get a few minutes to myself I want to do something quick and dirty like making a few more of these cute little scrap blocks. Talk about instant gratification.

Ditto for this paper piecing project I started ages ago. I could be working on Dear Jane but making a few pieces here and there on something new sounds like more fun right now. I'm not even sure what this is going to be but I just like playing with all the pretty fabric.

My lack of bandwidth is coming from the weather and the stage we are in with the downstairs. We've got a lot of fiddly work to do and neither The Mister or I are good at this part. Exhibit A is my kitchen that is still lacking some finishing touches. We've got a lot of thresholds to put down, doors to put up and other doo dads to deal with and we're doing everything but committing to actually getting these done. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.

Wednesday WIPs

 

I've got a knitting theme going on this week and it's not good. Here's my twin Pairfects right before....

....I realized I had started the heel in the wrong place for the color change and had to rip them both out. No fun there. 

Don't even get me started on the blobs. Lots of ripping out with them this week too. For every inch I knit I seem to have to rip back two. No fun there either. 

But....my new ever blooming azalea has finally decided to show off and it's really pretty. I had no idea they even existed and now I want more. 

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

Woo hoo! I have a finish. Patchwork Ete from Jardin Prive is a done deal. Now I have to finish Printemps, Automne and Hiver. All in good time. I'm heading back to spring this week. 

Peter Rabbit still doesn't have a head but he almost has a shovel. It was giving me fits this past weekend but I'll eventually figure it out. 

I'm behind on my Dear Jane schedule but I hope to have the last of Row C done this week. 

I could have gotten more done if I had remembered to put the half finished block under some weight overnight so I could have gotten the last two lattices sewn on. I do this to flatten out the paper pieces. Ironing just doesn't work but gravity does. 

Sweet Summer

 

I'm not the only one enjoying this milder summer weather. My new little rose actually put out a bloom that didn't immediately wither and die. 

For the first time in forever I've got things in flower all over the front yard. 

Here's another sign of fall, my wild purple asters are ready to pop. They don't usually show up until late September. 

My Black Eyed Susans are still hanging in there. They put on quite the show this year. I've got them in a pot and it may be time to put them in the ground so they can spread out. 

I put some impatiens in between the hostas and some survived. I'm going to be moving a lot of these hostas come late fall so next year I'll have more room for flowers.

This was an experimental year seeing that we have a lot more sun since my neighbor cut all her trees down last year. I have pots of different annuals along the sidewalk to see what can live in my yard. Everything looked terrible up until the weather changed for the better. Now they look promising. 

I even got a portulaca to live in a lava rock we used to have in our aquarium. We spent most of our summer working on the downstairs but next year it will be the front yard that gets the makeover. I've got plans.