Happy Valentine's Day!

 Happy Valentine's to all. 

My husband and I celebrated with a meal at home.  He cooked filet mignon and I made a salad to go with it.  Homemade ice cream for dessert. 

My man can cook a great steak. 

In my Facebook memories for this day a photo of us from one of our first Valentine's Day dinners popped up.  

I know we went to a supper club that is well-known for it's prime rib. 

My mother-in-law took the photo and told us to have a good time. 

We were such wee babes.  

Here we are, 27 years later. 

We first met when I was working at Wendy's. I'd say it was love at first sight.  Though it probably didn't seem like it, at first. We exchanged phone numbers and talked on the phone for hours almost every night before we went out on first date. Our first date was memorable.  The engine on the old Monte Carlo caught on fire and we had to pull over, by Pattison Park, and pop the hood and throw sand on the block to extinguish the fire.  Yes, we did continue with the date and went to a pizza joint in a town I don't remember.  

He said when he drove me back home I jumped out of the car so fast he thought he'd never see me again.  I remember being so excited that I couldn't wait to get on the phone and call one of my girlfriends to tell her how the date went. 

Happy Valentine's to my soulmate, and that we have many, many more. 

I can say soulmate because we've been together *forever.*

In other news ... I've been feeling a bit low the last several days so I haven't been writing or posting the #fiberuarychallenge posts over on Instagram. The recent weather kinda blows and I think the barometric pressure is sapping my energy.  Then last night I didn't get a good nights rest. 

And since I can't sit still unless I'm sick in bed, I've been working on my quilt blocks. 

The next set of my Dancing Stars quilt blocks

 The next block in my Sandpiper quilt

I also started my Emotional Support Chicken.

Project Name: Emotional Support Chicken
Started: Feb. 13, 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Knitting Tree LA

Yarn: Scrap yarns in my stash and Red Heart

Colors: Brown and Saffrom

Needle Size: US #7, 4.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

I also finished my Harvest Cardigan.  I'm saving it for the next podcast I record.  You will just have to wait to see it. 

Spinning fiber also happened.  Not as much as I would have liked. I'm falling behind! 

Oh! I did have some fun mail today.  I ordered a floor lamp for my spot in the living room. I think it's going to work out. It's nice and bright and it is positioned such that it's not blinding anyone else in the room. The price is also very reasonable.  Less than $40. 

Earlier today I went to town, to pick up mail at the office and take care of one thing.  I swung up to Harbor Freight and picked up a generator. 

Guess you could say it's a Valentine's Day gift for the man of the house. 

Experiencing setbacks and setting this week's goals

 Sunday afternoon I started working on the second sleeve of my Harvest cardigan. 

I knit and knit, and knit and knit. I may have knit almost all the way to bedtime, with a small break for playing Animal Crossing with some of my friends. 

So ... no finishing my cardigan by the end of the weekend.  That's okay.  No biggie, right. 

Yesterday, after dinner, I settled in my chair and knit some more ... I was tempted to push through and knit the last five inches so all I would have to do today was binding off and attaching the button. 

This morning I finished the last decrease repeat and measured the arm.  It was at the correct length so I just needed to switch needle size and knit the cuff. 

I opened my needle case and the slot for the needles I needed was empty. 

I knit almost the entire sleeve with the wrong size needles.  

That has been my crafting life since the new year started.  I don't even get it.  When I'm crafting I don't  feel stressed, or really any pressure to get the project done. Why do I keep having these issues? 

So at 6 a.m. I ripped back 16 inches worth of sleeve. I did compare the two sleeves and there was an obvious difference in gauge.  I know I would have never been happy with it as it was. 

Tonite, after dinner, I picked up the stitches and knit a few rounds.  I decided to call it for the night. Give myself a break from it. 

 Sooooo .... my goals for this week is to reknit the second sleeve and finish spinning the fiber that I didn't finish spinning in January. 

I'm going to take a bit of a break from most everything tonite, though.  

Tonite, I'm going to toss on "Community" and sew together the leftoever squares from my daydream wall quilt.  

I'm short two white squares.  I have no idea how I wound up with extra half-square triangles.  They will be ripped apart and pieced together to make full white blocks.  I'm thinking mug rug? Small pillow? Still deciding.

In other news for the day I had to make a run to town and the office.  I made the rounds to the stores and found the yarn I wanted for making the emotional support chicken. 

These two colors are probably the closest I will find for Furby's colors. I can start knitting the emotional support chicken at any time. 

I also picked up a string of fairy lights for the she shed. 

They need to be adjusted still. I'm sort of wishing I had picked up a longer string.  Oh well.  It is a nice pop of color and sparkle. 

One of the ladies at my work building called me about noon today.  There was some excitement after I had left. 

One of the guys had just returned from the post office.  He came through the front door and a moment later there was a terrific crash of glass breaking.  Some lady was going through the area and smashing windows of businesses and houses.  She's been arrested.  That is all I know. 

Someone from my work building posted a photo online. I was able to see the damage. 

It's not the first time there has been "excitement in my work building neighborhood.  I'm sure it won't be the last. 

Podcast Ep. 17 - January 2024 progress

Hello!  I'm back for episode 17. Shownotes below.  Thanks for visiting with me.  If you like my videos, please tell a friend. 

 Current WIPs.

My knitting ... 

Project Name: Harvest Cardigan
Started: Nov. 12, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Tin Can Knits 

Yarn: Hobby Lobby "I love this yarn"

Colors: Cinnamon Cedar

Needle Size: US #6 / 4mm & US #8 / 5mm

Made For: myself. 

What it looked like the last time I shared. 

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Project Name: Vanilla sock
Started: Nov. 13, 2023

Finished: 

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colorway: Amythest stripes

Colors: dark purples.

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

Last time I shared. 

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Project Name: Vanilla sock
Started: Nov. 18, 2023

Finished: 

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colorway: Coastal stripes

Colors: variations of blue and some white or grey.

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

What it looked like the last time I shared.

My cross stitch ....

Project Name: 12 Days of Stitchy Ornaments

Started: Dec. 3, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Erica Made Designs

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 county Hobby Lobby Zweigart, with the sparkly threads running through it.  Opalescent? 

DMC in called for colors: 3862, 498, 470, 472, 598, 761, 745, 844, B5200

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Project Name: Quilted Christmas

Started: Late November 15, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Emily Call

Fabric: Charles Craft 18 count Aida cloth

DMC in called for Colors: DMC Blanc, 168, 469, 3712, 3045, 816, 310

The last time I shared it. 

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A few finished objects

My crochet ...

The crochet cat plush I made for my son.  

Crochet Plush Cat pattern ordered from Etsy. 

Project Name:  Crochet plush cat for my son

Started: Jan. 15, 2024

Finished: Jan. 29, 2024 (or thereabouts)

Designer/Source: Crochet Plush Cat pattern ordered from Etsy. 

Yarn: Hobby Lobby Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball

Color: Flannel

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Charity Stitch year-long project

Hat and blanket sets for Make Bundles for Babies. 

Set #1 - Made in pink acryllic yarn I had in stash. 

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Other things I mentioned ... 

I would like to start this cross stitch in February. 

A friend sent it to me a few years ago.  It will live in my new WIP bag. 

I mentioned the new Just Cross Stitch magazine. 

The first shipment in Lindy Stitches Endangered Species club arrived.  I LOVE it. 

I'm going to knit an Emotional Support Chicken. Join me! Share your progress with the #emotionalsupportchickenKAL hashtag on Instagram. 

The Fiberuary challenge. 

A few of the Youtuber Podcasters/Flosstubers I watch. Please share some of the Youtube channels you watch. I love seeing new people and their projects. 

@fatquartershop

@DoSoKnits

@BernStitches

@LoriHolt

@Knittingtraditions

@911Stitcher

In order to have success, you must read the instructions

 The saga of my quilt squares ... I tell ya, I'm smarter than this, except for when I'm not. 

I've come to the determination that this Dancing Stars pattern is deceptive. Based on the shape of the cut pieces and how you sew them together, you'd think they should together one way. However, after you cut out the diamond-like shapes you sew three of them together, and then you trim them down into square pieces, and then sew those pieces together with the angles going a different way. 

Clear, as mud, right? 

The other night I ripped apart the pieces of block because I sewed the pieces together incorrectly.  I had 3 sets of four when I should have had 4 sets of three pieces sewn together.  

Then I tried sewing all the pieces together and had weird circular wrinkles going on.  I thought "Oh, that's not going to get fixed if I redo this square." and moved on. 

Then I had an instance of sewing pieces together  and realizing they didn't match the first square I pulled together.  It was a moment in which I was SO frustrated.  I ended up ripping apart that first square and moving the pieces around so everything was the same. 

All the pieces were sewn together. ... 

And wrinkles. ... 

By this time I was like, "What the heck?" I'm obviously doing something wrong. 

I dug out the instructions, looked them over, and mentally slapped myself on the head. 

Well, for one thing, I'm not supposed to sew all those pieces together. 

Each 3-piece quarter is trimmed down to a square.  Then you sew all those pieces together.  Only not in the direction you'd think.  I was thinking I had to sew all the pieces together, and *then* trim the entire thing down. 

In this photo it shows what the pieces look like before and after you trim them. 

I trimmed them so the center piece is as even as possible.  Then when you sew the 4 square pieces together, the larger part of the center piece faces the center of the finished square. 

The finished piece looks a LOT different than what I was originally trying to do. 

I've been fighting with this for way too long.  It could have been completely avoided if I had just sat down and looked at the instructions, and actually READ what it said, instead of half-glancing at it all. 

Once I started sewing and trimming the pieces the way they were supposed to, everything fell into place and came together really quickly. I finished these blocks last night at 9:59 p.m. 

I think there are eight more sets to go. Now that my brain has worked it all out, I'm really hoping the rest is a cake walk.