Discombobulation

 This whole week has been off for me. Our last publishing day was done earlier than usual and this past week I thought we were working towards a publishing Friday. Ufff, when I was wondering why the issue had such a far out date I was like "What's going on?" then "Oh yeah ...." 

So, yeah, it's been a weird week. 

I recorded a flosstube on my Wednesday lunch hour.  In it I shared my tale of woe about my Armande cardi. 

When I was scrolling through my camera roll I saw this photo. 

*sigh* and it was taking me back to when I knit my first Harvest Cardigan. 

Even though I saw this Armande in the sunlight and I'm well-aware of the color difference, and it doesn't bother me that much ... seeing the color difference in this photo did. Ugh, I just feel annoyed when I think about all the work I put in to this cardigan. 

Back on Monday Feffer was in a mood, so I decided to spend some quality time with him and cuddle for a bit. 

He can be still for only so long.

Then he saw me trying to take photos. 

"What you got there?"

This one came up on my Book of Faces memories from like eight years ago.  I'm *sooooooo* feeling this one. 

Fortunately, the snow is going away. Finally. I admit to not remembering much of the weather this past week.  So it must have been less than ideal. This weekend's weather was a bit off, shall we say.  Though it did end the weekend in a lovely way.  Temps in the 70s!  At the end of the day. That part wasn't so hot.  I would have loved the nice weather for most of the day. 

Things starting picking up this weekend, despite my hubby being ill. He did a wee bit of car maintenance on my vehicle, before admitting defeat (about being sick) and spend most of the weekend taking it easy. 

We made a quick trip to town Friday evening.  I joked to him about taking me out past my bed time. 

I took a few photos of the sights along the way. 

Yup, snow.  Though I was more focused on how beautiful the sky looked. 

The sunset, though. ... WOW! 

Saturday morning was cool and a bit sunny, before it turned cloudy and rained for the rest of the day and all through the night. 

See, beautiful day!

I did a couple homesteady-type chores before the rain. 

I had to get wood for the woodrack. We have now reached that time of year when a wagon full of wood lasts more than half a week.  Yay! Though we did tear through this load a bit, thanks to the rain and wanting to keep the house warm for my hubby. 

The girls certainly enjoyed the weather while it was good.  When it started raining they did go in to the coop for the rest of the day. 

Friday evening I started a new cross stitch chart. My friend Alison posted a new chart and I decided I had to get it and stitch it right away. Then I got hit with the tireds and had to go to bed.  Turns out I wasn't immune from whatever pestilence was in the household.  I managed to bounce back, somewhat. 

I picked the chart back up Saturday afternoon while I was watching CHiPs.  Yes, I was watching CHiPs.  You know why? Potato chip tv watching, plus I know things are going to wrap up by the end of the episode. A bit campy. A bit silly, but I don't have to worry about what I might see or hear. 

Anywho ... here was my progress. 

In this episode of CHiPs Ponch was being super serious and explaining to some motorbiker that if he hadn't stopped him, the motorbiker would have driven off a cliff and hurt people and likely killed himself. The motorbiker saw the error of his ways. 

This morning I woke up to rain.  Rain and mist and fog and all the things that would make you think you lived on a boggy moor, or something. 

We ran to town for the weekly grocery shopping. 

Once we returned home and I did the things that needed doing, I completed the chart I purchased from Alison, over at AZ Family Zoo. She also has a youtube channel. 

Wee Bee Patriotic

Can be purchased at: https://azfamilyzoo.com/shop/ols/products/wee-bee-patriotic-cross-stitch-chart-pdf-download

Started: April 10, 2026

Completed: April 12, 2026

Fabric: 14 count aida, dyed by me

DMC: 310, 725, blanc, 797, 321

Super fun and quick stitch.  I told Alison I'm going to need to get the entire series now.  

Oh, I want to mention that she runs a forever home sanctuary so all the proceeds go towards the care of the animals, which I pink, puffy, heart love, and it makes it super easy to decide to purchase the charts and support the animals. Plus, when she records her videos, we get to hear some of the birds that are in her care, and they are always so lovely to hear.  Especially Zazu, the canary. 

It was cloudy and overcast for the majority of today.  I think it was mid-morning when my hubby checked the forecast and saw we were supposed to hit a high of 70 degrees.  We were both like "What?! No. Way." 

You know what? It happened. 

The sun came out.  The temps warmed up. 

I went out and did outdoorsy things. But mostly I sat by the garden and soaked it all in. 

The hens loved it and I spotted them out in "the great wild" looking for tidbits and tasty bugs. Because I'm nice (hee hee) I took some video of them enjoying being wild wood chickens. 

Flosstube 43 - New location, sharings WIPs and plans

I am so glad you stopped by! 

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FOs (Finished Objects)

* Love a Furbaby, Sambrie Stitches

Started: March 26, 2026

Completed: March 28, 2026

Fabric: 14 Count Aida, white

DMC: 22,729,911,959

* Springtime Social, Brenda Gervais

Started: March 15, 2026

Complete: April 2, 2026

Fabric: Handdyed 14 count Aida, by me, Taupe color, maybe

DMC: 434, 640, 644, 680, 780, 782, 840, 841, 920, 926, 3012, 3013, 3031, 3045, 3768, 3771, 3830, Ecru.

Current WIPs (Works in Progress)

*Flea Market Flowers, Lori Holt

Started: March 1, 2026

Complete: 

Fabric: 14 count Aida

DMC: 347, 3328, 3712, 760, 761, 922, 729, 471, 937, 3345, 3814, 993, 598, 597, 322,  08, 07

Stitch-along with Alison, @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitchesAlison, and Mair, @sincity_crossstitcher. Chart purchased at Fat Quarter Shop. 

Farmyard Friends, Lori Holt

Started: April 1

Complete: 

Fabric: 14 count aida, dyed by me, green.

DMC: 347, 893, 151, 976, 3820, 3052, 3848, 3813, 926, 3768, 930, 3799, 535, 3866

Stitch-along with Alison, @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitchesAlison. Chart was won in a giveaway hosted by Becca, of Sambrie Stitches, on her Instagram. 

Yarncrafting

*Update about Battenberg SAL with Leann, @leann.stitches

*Maeve granny square update. SAL with Kat over @StitchinWiththeGriffin

*Vanilla sock progress update

I don't have my project card with my as I write this.  I started it around Jan. 1. 

Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock Yarn

Colorway: Blue Striped Ragg

Yarn Purchased: Hobby Lobby

*Armande Cardigan, Knitty.com

Started around Jan. 1, 2026

Yarn: Red Heart

Color: Saffron

Yarn Purchased: Probably Walmart

Other channels mentioned in this video

https://www.youtube.com/@SamBrieStitches

https://www.youtube.com/@Sarahthenorthwoodsstitcher

https://www.youtube.com/@FatQuarterShopFlossTube

https://www.youtube.com/@JanetJabber

https://www.youtube.com/@StitchingWithMyKitties-xe8qz

https://www.youtube.com/@GaRonStitchery

Other links mentioned

Tutorial 

https://youtu.be/fcH_ElnZznY?si=nUXL8IKjB8O8dHvo

Sambrie Stitches

https://www.instagram.com/sambriestitches/ 

Easter update, a maybe funny story and a tale of knitting woe

 Today was my first day back to "reality" after a four-day weekend for Easter. 

Easter was quiet. My son was (and still is) sick.  We had a *really* good prime roast for the Easter meal. (This was the only photo I took of any of the food)

However ... we had ... weather .... Ugh ... 

Icy bits of death was falling from the sky.  Then it snowed ... then it rained. The weekend didn't start off very good, weather-wise.

Sunday was gorgeous.

Today's weather wound up being pretty nice, despite waking up to 8 degrees outside. I had work, though.

I have a story for you. One that will have you kind of shaking your head, I bet. 

Okay ... back in December I started seeing other flosstubers talk about the most recent issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine landing in their mailboxes.  I waited until early January and contacted Just Cross Stitch customer service becasue mine hadn't arrived.  I was told that I should receive it by Jan. 9, and to contact them again if it doesn't arrive. 

About mid-February I contacted customer service, again, and said I had not received my issue yet.  I was told they'd send me an extra one in the mail. 

Meanwhile I had received a second Christmas ornament issue. 

Sometime in the middle of March I contacted customer service *again* and explained how I hadn't received my issue yet.  By this time I have received the Spring issue. 

I received a prompt reply, apologizing and that they would send me an issue.  Within 24 hours I received an email which said they were sending me something. 

So I waited, patiently. 

Weeks went by and no magazine issue. 

Then, on Good Friday, I *finally* received the magazine. 

I thought maybe they dragged their heels on sending it out. 

Look at that postage date. They posted it a few days after I contacted them. 

As my friend Becca would say, USPS Do better!

On the crafting front I've been diligently working on my Armande cardigan the last week. 

I've encountered some issues and it's so frustrating. 

I've knit up the front and backs of the cardi.  I finally finished working the second front  and collar and laid the sides together to compare

Something is very *not right* with the collar. I've ripped back the left side twice and reknit. It did not line up with the right side.  This morning I ripped out the right side. This evening I started reknitting the right side and it's not lining up. Again. ... I think I sat and started at it for a full 10 minutes. 

So then I messed around a bit, adjusting and tugging the fabric a bit, getting the bottoms of the collar to line up. 

I'm seriously debating on ripping the project and putting the yarn towards a different project, or finish the collar, again, and seeing if things will line up. Then, if they do line up, I'll keep going with it.  Or rip it because it didn't work out and never speak of it again. 

In the meantime, the cardi is in time out. I can't believe how long I've let this linger on the needles. 

Midweek post

 A blog post on a Wednesday? That is just crazy. 

Well, being that it's the start of a new month, and I actually had some chatter to share, I figured it was as good of a time as any to write my thoughts down. 

Now what were they? ... 

Ha! I crack myself up. 

We are still in the phase of what I'm going to call "Quiet times" at work and at home. I've been taking advantage of the quiet times and catching up on a few work things that have been on the back burner for a while.  I went to the office today and it was like a ghost town there.  Then I remembered that it's holy week and people are either taking time off, or are out and about doing holy things. 

On the home front we've been dealing with cooler temperatures. Again. Currently it is 27 degrees Fahrenheit. Supposedly we are in for another storm.  Last I saw it was supposed to be a mixture of snow and ice. Who knows what we will wake up to tomorrow. 

Can this *please* be the last snow weather event? Please? 

Just about any time that the weather is decent I'm out in the greenhouse.  I'm starting to worry I might be starting some things too early. But, really, I think I'm thinking that because the weather keeps going cool on me. 

Last night I decided it was time to make the second patriotic-themed project bag. 

I love that I've figured out how to properly use a zipper foot. 

And this style of project bag is so great. 

I still need to figure out measurements for making a larger bag.  While I love how compact this size is, I want a larger size for the projects that need bigger hoops and Q-snaps. I still haven't figured out what style of project bag I want to make for those Peter Rabbit animals I want to make at some point. 

This afternoon I spent some time with my old man Feffer. 

Yes, he was on the table. Do I care? No. This could be his last year with us and I'm going to indulge the heck out of him. He was super lovey this afternoon, too.  I wonder if he senses the storm that's supposed to be descending upon us? 

With it being April 1 (and I totally forgot about it being April Fool's Day) I started a new stitch-a-long with my friend and fellow flosstuber Alison. 

We started Farmyard friends by Lori Holt. I keep wanting to call this one barnyard friends. ... 

Here's my start.  A whole 170 stitches. 

I'm using the called for DMC and 14 count aida that I dyed myself. 

I've been absolutely awful lately about posting my projects, updates and pertinent info on the blog lately.  I really need to fix that.

And this reminds me that I posted a new garden journal video yesterday. 

I've got kind of a funny story about this one.  Maybe not funny ha ha, but funny odd. 

I loaded the video to youtube early and had it unlisted, with the intention of making it live today. Yesterday I saw a youtube notification pop up from a friend leaving a comment, saying she had a hard time finding the video but eventually persevered in finding it. I was like "huh?"

This was me: 

I went, looked and verified the youtube video was still unlisted. How? How did Youtube sneak that one out? *shrug* I decided to publish the video early. If you watch, I hope you enjoy it. 

Another thing that happened this evening was the launch of Artemis II. We are headed back to the moon! This time it has nothing to do with the stock market. (Ha! There's that hilarious wit of mine again.)

I said to my husband that the last space launch I remember was Columbia in 2003. Well, wait, that's not true. I remember watching that one spaceship launch where it put itself back in it's spot. That doesn't sound correct as I type it.  Let me go google it. ... 

It was this one, though I didn't actually watch the launch. 

Pretty trippy. 

Tomorrow is my work Friday.  I'm looking forward to a four-day weekend. I have Good Friday and Easter Monday off. I don't have a game plan for the weekend just yet.  I do know I want to make a carrot cake. I haven't had a carrot cake in years. I'll likely end up menu-planning on Friday. I know what the main course for Sunday will be.  I haven't figured out the sides. 

Well, until next time. 

2026 Garden journal #03 Chickens, seed organization, tangents (March 31, 2026) Northern Wisconsin Zone 4a

 

Hello! Today I put out a garden journal video out over on YouTube. The girls decided to be my live studio audience for a bit, so that was fun.

It's a perfect video to have on while crafting. 😁 Thanks for much for spending time with me.

Surveying my domain

 It looks like I'm turning in to a Sunday writer. Nothing wrong with that, eh? The week was just so quiet. 

Work was quiet. Mother Nature was a bit manic with the temps and sunshine. 

Spring is here, no matter what Mother Natures does!

Okay ... So I basically covered this week in two lines. 

The weekend, however, that's where I got all my stuff done. 

I'm serious. The majority of the weather this week wasn't that great.  I think it was Wednesday that we had sun and a bit warmer. I spent a wee bit of time out in the greenhouse. 

Oh, and I think that was the day I started a batch of fermented radishes. (No photo, forgot to take one) If you haven't ever had fermented radishes you *need* to try them. I use the recipe from Homestead and Chill. 

And since the weather was basically subpar the rest of the week days, I crafted. 

I've been working on "Spring Social" by Brenda Gervais, I'm making steady process. 

I've also been working on my Armande Cardigan. 

Thursday night I started working on a cross stitch chart I've had in my collection for about a year. "Furbaby," by Sambrie Stitches. 

Friday I finished it. 

I was optimistic when I woke up on Saturday.  Unfortunately, it stayed chilly for the day, until it was about 3 p.m., maybe? 

So we ran to town in to the a.m. Since I was a passenger princess, I brought my sock and got some knitting in. 

After returning home I decided it was a great time to *finally* shred the head of cabbage sitting on my counter, and make some sauerkraut. 

Thanks to Sarah for keeping me company.

When the wind finally died down and the temperature rose I went out to the garden and puttered around a bit, tidying up the greenhouse a bit, cleaning out some stuff that needed to be thrown away, and just enjoying the nice weather.  I sat down for a bit and was pondering moving the fountain to a new spot this year. Where it's currently sitting I can't hear the water as well as I'd like. 

I swear ... as soon as there is the tiniest bit of nice weather, my mind starts kicking into overdrive with ideas and daydreams. 

I spotted this turtle that I've had for several years now.  He needs a fresh coat of paint on him. Do I do it, or do I ask my favorite son to do it for me? Maybe as a Mother's Day gift? 

Today I decided the "big project" for the day my cleaning up the back deck and setting up the table and chairs so I have a spot to sit and enjoy the warmish temperatures, until the mosquitoes come out and start being a menace. 

I swept and moved things around and washed the table and pulled up a chair and sat down and enjoyed the view. 

Granted, there isn't much to see just yet.  There's still a lot of snow on the ground. The areas that aren't covered in snow are covered in pine cones and branches from that last wind storm we had. 

*sigh* I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I want to whip the yard in to shape. I should say we, because I know my son is going to be all over cleaning up the pinecones as soon as possible. And who know what plans my husband has up his sleeve. I'd say we've all officially reached the point of being tired of being cooped up and we want to be outside and doing something. 

Yeah, my brain is definitely in a whole different mindset right now.

Unfortunately, the weather is not going to cooperate this next week, according to the weather app. Rain, cooler temps and clouds. Blah! I'm hoping that the app is wrong.  I'd like for nice weather this upcoming week, and it would be good to have nice weather for Easter. 

Okay, is there anything else? I'm not sure.  It's getting close to bedtime and my brain is tired. 

So, for now, have a good night.  Be kind. (To paraphrase a retired newscaster from my area) 

Spring is here!

 Yesterday was a gorgeous day. 

What, don't believe me? I have proof! 

 I haven't seen a temperature like this since last fall. 

Back on Monday, outside looked like this: 

What things look like this evening:

What a difference! 

I went out and spent some time in the greenhouse, up-blocking a few more seedlings. 

I got to wear my new rainboots! I ordered these earlier this month but haven't had a chance to break them in until now. 

Even Feffer enjoyed some time out in the garden and sun. 

My son brought Feffer out there and let him run around a bit.  Feffer enjoyed it.  Then stopped and started cleaning his *gasp* wet paws. Oh the horror! I can see his winter coat is starting to blow out. 

My husband took the tractor out for a spin and started doing some branch clean up from branches that broke off during the winter storms. 

He got a new toy for the tractor and it works wonders.

So, yeah, it was a great day and I see the light at the end of the tunnel that is winter. 

Then we come to today. ... Today was decidedly less than, if you know what I mean.  Woke up to grey skies, much cooler temps, and wind. Please refer back to the earlier photos I shared on this blog post. The sun did finally pop out for a bit, about 5 p.m. 

There is not much to say about today. Other than I puttered in the craft room for a bit, cleaning up, clearing away and finishing a project.   I did do some knitting. I knit a bit this morning, before doing housework and playing in the craft room.  I also knit late this afternoon and evening. The knitting bug has grabbed me recently. I'm eager to get this Armande cardigan done. 

Working on the cardigan makes me wonder if I had the same wonderments and questions about this pattern the first go around that I made it. Are some things supposed to be intuitive? I was cruising along on one bit before stopping and wondering "Was I supposed to do what I just did, or cut the yarn before continuing on? After staring at the pattern for 5 minutes I decided to break yarn and continue on. 

Temperatures are going to be lovely this upcoming week. Well, better than what they have been. 

This past week flew by. Which seems to be a running theme with me lately. I do have a few photos from the week and I will share them here. 

Monday evening I was intently working on the Armande cardi. The cardi looks so golden yellow in this photo that it reminds me of a yolk in a farm fresh egg. Ha! 

Fabric and floss for a new project.  I dyed the fabric myself.  Can you believe that when I was looking at this photo I completely blanked on what project it was? I think the fabric turned out fabulous. If I was a professional I'd probably know how to replicate this colorway. Alas, I'm measuring everything with my heart, and not being scientific at all. 

Tuesday I had a doctor appointment. 

I felt like such a country bumpkin, with the snow on my car and no one else had any. 

Lake Superior still has ice close in.  

Out in the open lake there is none. 

Friday morning a lone deer decided to stop by.  He, or she, was pretty skittish.  About 10 seconds after I took the photo the deer trotted back off in to the woods. 

The hens enjoyed being out on Friday. I brought out some food scraps for them and they were happy to get some treats. 

The lake by me still has ice, as of yesterday.