WIP Wednesday and a quick weather update

The last time I wrote it was a beautiful day and I said we were supposed to get a blizzard.  

Oh yeah, we got a blizzard.  

I woke up to snow on the ground.  Granted, not as much as I thought it would be.  

However, it was snowing steadily and kept snowing for the next two days.  Monday our school district did not close and I felt bad for all of the bus drivers that had to push through the blizzard and crappy roads. Tuesday and today there was no school for most of the districts around us. 

I took a few quick videos the first day. Yesterday I didn't bother because all you could see was snow blowing, and not in a pretty way. 

On Monday my husband made it to town, then came home after a few hours.  The wind coming off the big lake made roads in town treacherous. 

He spent hours and hours the next few days snow blowing, plowing and cleaning snow off the outbuildings. 

Looking at my Facebook memories I saw we tend to get storms at this time of the year.  I do hope this is the last big storm of the season.  

Today was my day to clear snow. Which I did, just about every free moment I had.  

It's been a while since I've moved and labored as much as I did today.  I am a tired girl. 

The sun was shining big and bright today, so it wasn't too awful to be out there. 

I went out there this morning before work.  When I came back in Furby (blind house hen) chewed me out something fierce. She shrewed and caterwauled for at least half an hour.  She doesn't like being left alone, and my son was still sleeping. 

Beautiful sky. Still, though, it's these kinds of skies that make me long for spring. 

It's been a long minute since I did a WIP Wednesday.  Let me show you what I've been doing. 

I've been passenger-ing the last few weeks, and have quite a bit of progress on the sock I've been working on. Also, they are just so cheery! 

Project Name: Vanilla socks

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Designer/Source:

Yarn: Cascade Heritage Prints

Colors: Looks like tutti fruiti

Required Amount: 

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 1 (2.5 mm)

Gauge: 

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: Col 45; 160 3224

I've been cranking along on my cardigan the last couple of weeks.  I've worked up to where I have the back stitches on a holder and I'm working on the left side of the front.  Things seems to be zipping along now.  Now I'm just wondering (hoping) that I'll have enough yarn to finish this.  This pattern wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be, and there are a couple bits in the pattern that I had to suss out for myself, but over all there have been a few elements that I've loved and would try to do in other projects. 

Project Name: Armande Cardigan

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Knitty.com

Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash

Colors: Red; No. 809

Required Amount: 6 skeins (1,320 yards) However, I have 5 skeins *fingers crossed* 1100 yards

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 4 (4.5 mm)

Gauge: didn’t swatch. I’m living dangerously

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: Lot1511089

Spring fakeout

 Today we had a beautiful day. When I woke up the temperature was in the mid-20s (F), and climbing. 

My husband and I took a trip to town and went to Menards to pick up some supplies. 

I couldn't help but swing by the seeds section even though I already purchased seeds for this year's garden. 

My husband came over and started looking. He decided we needed more. 

I certainly will not say no to more seeds!

We got the rest of what we needed and then headed out. 

That sun! Oh my gosh! The combination of nicer temperatures, blue sky and sun is absolutely irresistible during this time of year. 

After returning home I immediately switched over to solar power, and started the dishwasher and threw in a load of laundry. I get a big kick out of being able to do these things with solar power.  It's the little things, sometimes. 

I spent time cleaning off the back deck and the front stoop.  Which is kind of silly because we are supposed to get a huge snow storm tomorrow.  

For a little bit I get to enjoy actually seeing the wood planks that make up the deck.  I was so tempted to drag out a kitchen chair and sit out in the sun for a while.  I left all the outdoor chairs in spots where they inevitably got covered in snow. Boo!

When we went out to restock the wood rack I brought Furby out with me.  I didn't have my phone with me, so there are no pictures.  She sat on the back of the ATV and basked in the sun, while making sure we were stacking wood into the trailer the proper way. I imagine she's looking forward to official spring as much as we are. 

The rest of the day was fairly chill and I spent part of the evening working on my cardigan, and receiving the stink eye from Furby.  

Let me tell you, Furby is a master of the stink eye, and she begs like a dog if she sees you have food. 

The other night I had an English muffin with peanut butter.  She just stood there and stared at me. I eventually gave in and broke a piece off for her.  She started doing her happy chattering and devoured the piece.

In this photo she's looking at me with her good eye, seeming to think "I can see you have food.  I can't *believe* you aren't sharing with me. Can't you see I'm practically wasting away here?"

WIP Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022

 I've been a little busy with the hand crafts this past week. 

Name: Sparkle

Designer: Forbidden Fiber Co

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Stitched on: First attempt was on 14 count black Aida cloth. Second attempt is 14 count hand-dyed Aida cloth, dyed by me. 

Stitch count: 224 w x 174 tall

Stitched Size: 12.5 x 16 approx.

Floss: DMC 3865, 23, 3756, 27 or blanc etoile, D168 Diamant 

I got a start on this project.  As you can see, I've got a word done. I started working on "Sparkle" and things kind of gone off the rails. I was trying to outline the words, so I could fill everything in. I went off count somewhere and I couldn't fudge it. I had to rip back all my stitches and the filled in parts.  Then I was trying to stitch something else and two lines wouldn't line up.  I don't know where I went wrong, but I think *think* it's all okay now. Thankfully, the diamant thread is easy to rip out.

I don't know how many hours I've put into this, too many to have such little progress. I basically went backwards. 

Next up, my vanilla sock. 

Project Name: Vanilla socks

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Designer/Source:

Yarn: Cascade Heritage Prints

Colors: Looks like tutti fruiti

Required Amount: 

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 1 (2.5 mm)

Gauge: 

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: Col 45; 160 3224

I haven't made much progress on it.  I knit two or three rows on it.  An old podcaster trick, I suppose.  It's progress, nonetheless.

Finally, my Armande cardigan.

Project Name: Armande Cardigan

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Knitty.com

Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash

Colors: Red; No. 809

Required Amount: 6 skeins (1,320 yards) However, I have 5 skeins *fingers crossed* 1100 yards

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 4 (4.5 mm)

Gauge: didn’t swatch. I’m living dangerously

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: Lot1511089

I made pockets!  

This is such a cool design element, whatever it's called.  It never occurred to me that pockets could be knit in place like this. 

I've made it pretty far since I last shared. Once I got past the pockets it started feeling a bit like I'm zooming through.  There are some shaping decreases and I think it's going to look very nice with that little design touch. 

I've knit about 8.5 inches of the body. I haven't looked too far ahead in the pattern. My guess is I will be doing some straight knitting for at least a few more inches, before splitting for the arm holes, or something. 

I didn't work on anything else this past week.  I've got a few ideas percolating for a couple sewing projects. Quick things. Well, "quick" and I don't really hang when it comes to sewing. 

In other news, it was a cold one today. My area is currently experiencing a cold spell.  When I woke up this morning it was -17 degrees Fahrenheit out there. It's warmer now.  The wind is blowing a bit and that makes all the difference. Furby and I stuck close to the wood stove and I made myself a pot of tea.  I haven't done that in ages. 

Years back, when I discovered "good tea" and there was something out there besides the Lipton stuff (Not that there's anything wrong with Lipton) my mother-in-law found this little Tetsubin tea pot and gave it to me.  I LOVE this pot and have never seen another like it. I can't remember where the cat tea cup came from. It eventually wound up in my Mother-in-law's cupboard.  When she passed away and we were cleaning things out, I immediately grabbed it.  I use it for hot chocolate and tea and it reminds me of all the times I sat at her kitchen table, jabbering away and her listening and smiling at all I had to say. 

Now I sit and tell all my secrets to Furby. She's a good listener.  

The new She Shed

 Some time during the summer my husband asked me a couple questions about "What if ..." we converted the big chicken coop into a she shed for me.  I thought about it for a bit, and said a few comments and he said it was something to think about. 

Fast forward to late October or early November and it was decided to move the hens and roo over to the little coop and convert the big chicken coop into a she shed and storage space for us. 

This is very exciting stuff, if you ask me. Despite having a craft room in the house, it is shared space with the incubator, brooder room, office, miscellaneous storage and spare room when company calls. I have a LOT of stuff stored in that room.

We've been working on making the coop pretty since November. We took out the old flooring and painted the walls.  My husband did a fantastic job of cleaning up the windows and making them look like new. 

On Black Friday we ordered some shelving from Amazon and I set them up and we started hauling stuff out of the house and garage. 

This is when I realized just how much stuff I had stored in the craft room closet. 

I've been spending time out there, putzing with things, setting things up and doing work for pay. 

Unfortunately, my idea of using a Mr. Heater to heat the space wasn't really working out.  It was taking forever to warm the space up, and it was never really warm or toasty feeling. 

My husband said "Let's keep our eyes open for a wood stove."  I said "Okay, cause this isn't working like I thought it would." 

In a couple weeks, I think, he happened to be looking on craigslist and spotted something.  He showed it to me and I said "Yup." and knew in an instant that was going to be our wood stove.  I could picture it out there and me sitting in a chair in front of it, being all cozy and hygge. 

This past weekend my husband put up the heat shield and figured out all the stuff so that when we have a "nice day" he can finishing the outside pipe and I will have a nice warm cozy heat in my very own space. 

Isn't this a great looking wood stove? We got it for a song! 

At some point soon I will be painting the grey bit, so that it will be a bit prettier. We found a tile to put in front, for a hearth.

Here's some updated photos of the space.  Things are still a bit of a mess. 

This is my desk area and where I have most of the yarn stashed.

I reckon you could call this my weaving area. (?) In any case, I'm happy to have a dedicated spot for my loom.   

To the left is a sewing machine tucked in the table. I have grand plans of sewing a scrappy quilt on that machine. We'll see.  I'm full of ideas!

Garden, fabrics and other miscellaneous stuff is stuffed on this shelf.  You can see I'm really good at tetrising stuff. 

In other news, life is quiet. 

Except for when this girl decides to be vocal. 

I'm back on my work schedule.  I was busy trying to work on pages. 

Today she decided she had to be whiney.  Really whiney. 

She had plenty of food and water. Something was making her extremely unhappy.

She refuses to stand still when I try to take a photo or video of her. 

She regrets nothing ... She's so spoiled. 

She is finally settled down and quiet.  It's a hard life she has. 

WIP Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022

I wanted to start posting WIP Wednesday updates.  Since this is my first WIP post of the year, I obviously couldn’t get my stuff together. Oh well. 

I’ve got a vanilla sock that I work on when I’m the passenger in the car. It got a lot of attention at the beginning of the month. Now … not so much. 

There is about an inch to go before I can start working the heel flap. 

Project Name: Vanilla socks

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Designer/Source:

Yarn: Cascade Heritage Prints

Colors: Looks like tutti fruiti

Required Amount: 

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 1 (2.5 mm)

Gauge: 

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: Col 45; 160 3224

Next up is a sweater.  Yes, you read it right, a sweater. 

I settled on the Armande Cardigan from Knitty.com

Project Name: Armande Cardigan

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Knitty.com

Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash

Colors: Red; No. 809

Required Amount: 6 skeins (1,320 yards) However, I have 5 skeins *fingers crossed* 1100 yards

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 4 (4.5 mm)

Gauge: didn’t swatch. I’m living dangerously

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: Lot1511089

The yarn is working up nice. I’ve worked on this most evenings last week. It’s going slow, though.  I think because I can’t just go *zoooom* when I’m knitting the knit side. I’ve never made pockets, much less pockets as you go. It’s a great design element. 

I started a project last year which will probably take me a good chunk of this year to accomplish. Someone on my Instagram feed shared a photo of some charity knitting or crocheting (I can’t remember which) and they were wee little hats and wee little blankets for a non-profit called “Bundles for Babies.”  According to their Instagram bio: “A community serving families facing infant loss by preparing hospital bundles to help ease the pain of the moment no parent can prepare for.” Their website is www.makebundlesforbabies.org/

I have a goal of making a dozen sets of hats and blankets. 

Do you think it matters of the hats are knit and the blankets are crochet?  I’ve tried to make crochet hats, as you can see in the photo, and I’m not sure I’m getting the crochet hats to the right size. I have settled (I think) on a 2 x 2 ribbed knit hat. 

These are the yarns I’m working with. I fell for the green yarn. It’s super soft.  However, I’m not getting it to work up right.  I’ll need to find something else for it, maybe. I’m open to suggestions. 

The last thing in my cross stitch that I had to rip because the aida cloth was too small. 

This is what it looked like. 

Name: Sparkle

Designer: Forbidden Fiber Co

Started: 1/4/22

Finished: 

Stitched on: First attempt was on 14 count black Aida cloth. Second temp is 14 count hand-dyed Aida cloth

Stitch count: 224 w x 174 tall

Stitched Size: 12.5 x 16 approx.

Floss: DMC 3865, 23, 3756, 27 or blanc etoile, D168 Diamant 

I tried ripping the DMC floss out of the Aida cloth. I didn’t want to just toss the fabric, cause that felt wasteful to just toss it.  Well, when I was about two-thirds done with ripping the stitches out, I realized I had ripped the fabric. Drat! 

Today, because I had the day off, I decided to try dyeing Aida cloth.  I followed the tutorial from the Real Housewives of Cross Stitch. 

Both sides of the cloth. 

It was easy and fun.  I think I nailed it! 

Doing a bit of catch up

I had today off from work. I have a bunch of vacation time to use before my work anniversary, so I figured I need to start taking it when I can. 

This day was used to catch up on a couple things.  The day flew by and I just barely got everything on my list taken care of. 

Something I did accomplish today was putting together the desk for my new She Shed.  (More about it in a different blog post.)

I spotted a desk I thought would be perfect for my new space on Menar*ds website. It was a deal! I was flipping through the flyer and spotted it, took a screen shot and sent it to my husband. When I went to the store to order it, it wasn't in the flyer or on their website's flyer.  Turns out I managed to catch a glitch and capture an image of it. Menards honored the sale price and the desk arrived this past weekend. 

Things are still a bit of a mess out there.  With how cold it has been, it's hard to spent a lot of time out there and making things just so. Plus, I'm still moving things around. 

Last week I had an early deadline for work, and I was busy completing works in progress.  Well, things I've been wanting to make for a while, but never had the time. The week before I had time off but somehow the week got away from me, so I didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked. 

Anywho ... *looking innocent*

First things I made were some WIP bags, using the tutorial from the Fat Quarter Shop. 

Over the years I've tried a variety of bags and none have really fit the bill.  I'm really happy with this style of project bag, and wanted more than the two I had. 

This bag was made with fabric in my collection.  I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been. After I got the binding all done I realized I wound up with the handle on the side, instead of the top.  Oh well.  It still works and I'm not changing it! 

I found this fabric at Wal.mart and fell in love with it. It had to become a project bag. 

I spotted this fabric at Wal.mart, as well.  

January appears to be the month of sewing for me.  I "took a class" through Craftsy and made myself a dress for this summer. 

The pattern is McCalls sewing pattern #11015 7120. The fabric is from Hobby Lobby. 

This took me about a week to make.  I worked on it here and there. I made a few mistakes and fixed them. 

I've made some clothing in the past.  Very few pieces have turned out well.  I decided I would follow the class and do everything it said.  You know what? -- it fits and it looks really nice. Imagine that. 

I can picture myself wearing this dress out in the garden this summer, and it makes my heart happy. I'm looking forward to pulling out the patterns I already have and giving them another try. If they are the correct size.  I've had some of these patterns for years.  Then I'll have to learn out to resize them. 

What else have I done? Hmmm ... I've made a few quilt squares for the Sewcialite quiltalong that is also hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop. I'm so far behind on this.  I did start it on time.  Then chick season started last spring. 

Block 22 - Blessed

This block kicked my butt a bit.  Those flying geese squares were not my friend in this particular block.  I had to recut many pieces. 

Block 23 - Steadfast

This one pulled together, easy-peasy. 

Some cross stitching has been happening. 

I made the cross stitch pattern from Fat Quarter Shop's Cross Stitch University.  (Are you sensing a theme?)

I changed the blue to red, and changed up a couple of the centers.  Or, maybe all of them.  

Everything else is called for DMC colors. I stitched it on 14 count Aida cloth, with the sparkle bits in it.  I'm still looking for a frame. I'd rather have my pieces in picture frames. I'm happy with the finished stitch. 

I also was working on another cross stitch.  (*was* working on it) My friend who owns Forbidden Fiber Co put out a free pattern, and I saw it and knew I had to make it. Photo is directly linked from Forbidden Fiber Co. 

I did the called for DMC, but opted to use the Diamant floss in silver for the "Sparkle" part.

It's so pretty, right? 

Yesterday I worked on it all evening.  Math bit me in the butt. The piece of Aida cloth I used wasn't big enough. 

Boo!

This might work in my favor. Before I started the cross stitch I had thought about trying my hand at dyeing some Aida with Rit dye. Sounds like a weekend project. 

My first finished objects of the new year

Time flies! I know I wrote on the winter solstice, and said I was going to start writing again.  Then I dropped off the face of the planet. "What's up with that?" I bet you are thinking. 

Well, I've been putzing. I've been going through my fabric and yarns and organizing and clearing through what I no longer need.  I forgot about some of the things I have. I've also been thinking about the projects I want to make in the new year, and what works in progress I'm carrying over.  I'll probably get into more details about those things later on.  I was thinking about doing a list of things I wanted to do.  Just the thought of doing so felt overwhelming.  So that idea has been nixed. For now. 

See this? This is just the cross stitch projects I've kitted up. I have at least two more patterns I want to work on.  Maybe three. 

Then throw in the knitting, the spinning, weaving needle punch, embroidery, sewing and quilting I want to do. It would be a LONG list. I'm thinking I'll break it up and put each thing in it's own entry. 

Maybe.

In the meantime, I'm organizing, pondering, setting things up, making things I've been wanting to do for a while.  You know how it is. 

I'm on vacation this week. It's been a week where I can put a lot of focus on a some things I've been wanting to do, and not have to work on them in small chunks of time. 

I've been going through the fabric collection and found a few fabrics to make grime guards for my cross stitching hoops and q-snaps.  Grime guards are these wonderful things that go around and can keep your hands from dirtying up the project you are working on, along with being able to tuck the extra fabric into. 

I made three sizes. One is for my 11 x 11 q-snap. The second is for my 8 x 8 q-snap. The third is for my 7-inch hoops.  I have to chuckle a bit when I look at the one on my 7-inch Morgan hoop.  It looks a little bit like a toilet seat.  These are the sizes I use most often.  Though I do have a preference for smaller hoops. I tend to hold cross stitch close to my body and I like being able to not have to reach real far to the back of the project. 

The middle grime guard in action: 

The pattern is "Sparkle" by Forbidden Fiber Co. I started this on Tuesday. Haven't got as far as I'd like. Black Aida is hard to stitch on in the evening. I'm substituting a few things and I can't wait to see if they work out.