Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Episode 18 - July 2024

 I *finally* recorded a video.  It's been a moment. Shownotes feel a bit scattered to me, but I think it's all there. Enjoy! 




Current cross stitch WIPS. 


Project Name: One Piece

Started: March 30, 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Cross Stitch Bay on Etsy. Chart no longer available

DMC Floss: 310

Fabric: 14 Count Aida purchased at Walmart

Needle Size: 26

Making for my son. 

What the finished piece should look like:


Easy enough stitch.  I'm using patternkeeper and taking my time to ensure I don't have to rip back much. 




Project name: Crested Porcupine

Started: June 27, 2024

Finished:

Designer/Source: Purple Stitching on Etsy.

DMC: 167, 168, 169, 310, 317, 318, 413, 414, 415, 433, 437, 451, 452, 453, 524, 535, 611, 612, 640, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 762, 779, 840, 841, 842, 844, 927, 928, 934, 935, 939, 3021, 3023, 3031, 3032, 3041, 3072, 3371, 3756, 3787, 3799, 3828, 3863, 3864, 3866

Fabric: Half yard of 14 count Aida purchased from Forbidden Fiber Co. 

Needle Size: 26

Stitching for myself.  I know it is going to take years. Story about Porkie is here. The follow up post is here. The story is towards the end of the post. Scroll down. 


Recent Cross Stitch finishes



Project name: Bunny stitch "The Meadow" kit

Started: March 3, 2024

Finished: July 3, 2024

Designer/Source: Bothy threads

Given to me by a dear friend. I want to find a natural wood frame, then hang it up on my wall until the time comes that it will hang in the nursery of the first grandbaby.  Which will be many years from now. 




Project name: #723 Snowflake

Started: Jan. 1, 2023
Finished: April 17, 2024
Designer/Source: Tiny Cross Stitches
Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart. Aida has silver threads running through it. 
DMC floss in called for colors
747 ; 964 ; 995 ; 996 ; 3756 ; 3761 ; 3843 ; 3846 ; B5200
Colors: blues
Needle Size: 26
Made For: Myself. I've decided I'm keeping it for myself. Will go on display year-round.

Current knitting WIPs




Project name: February Lady Sweater

Started: June 2, 2024

Finished: 

Yarn: Temu 

Color: Deep red
Needle size: U.S. size 8 / 5 mm

I'm cruising along faster than I thought I was.  The sleeve feels like it's taking forever. 




Project Name: Monkey Socks
Started: Nov. 12, 2023
Finished: 
Designer/Source: knitty.com
Yarn: Forbidden Fiber Co.
Colorway: Tale as old as time, on the Fortitude base.
Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm
Made For: myself. 

Yarn is a pleasure to work with. 





Project Name: Passenger Princess Socks
Started: June 3, 2024
Finished: 
Designer/Source:Vanilla sock pattern I use.
Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock Yarn
Colorway: Midcentury stripes
Colors: Peach, blue, cream, vintage looking colors.
Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself.

Other works in progress mentioned


Project Name: Sandpiper quilt
Started: Jan. 21, 2023
Finished: 
Colors: A different color palette each month.
Made For: Myself


DMC floss project


It was Erin Elizabeth who did the master floss set by colors according to the DMC card. At least that is how I understand it.  If I'm not correct please let me know. 


Spinning




I haven't actually started my spinning but I did give my wheel a spa and put on a new drive band. 

WIP bags

Fabric is now cut and ready to be sewn. 



Flosstubers I mentioned

Jackie - https://www.youtube.com/@ComfortStitchingJackie

Celia - https://www.youtube.com/@VulcanStitcher1701

Erin Elizabeth - https://www.youtube.com/@erinelizabethdesigns

Other podcasters mentioned

David Reidy - https://sticksandstring.wordpress.com/about/

Brenda Dayne - https://www.brendadayne.co.uk/

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Past the peak

Recently I had a conversation with a few friends, talking about the fourth of July and how it often feels like the peak of the summer to me, and that it is all down hill from there. Not really, but all the fun and holidays we are looking forward to are now done and past. 

 My husband and I had a lovely, quiet fourth of July.  It was different from past years, however. My son is now all grown up and he had to work.  When he wasn't working he was out with his buddies and they were whooping it up, when they weren't sleeping, I'm sure.  The plans I had tentatively set were rained out. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the time with my man, and the break away from the office.  It was a long weekend for us and it was appreciated and enjoyed immensely. 

 Now it's time to get serious about the garden and get ready for the harvest to start coming in. 

This year is so different from the last several gardening seasons.  I told myself that they can't all be as fabulous as last year's harvest.


I was out in the garden this morning, before work.  Cherries are starting to ripen and I did my first harvest. 


I haven't whined too much about the weather on here, though my friends have heard an earful, and I'm sure it's the same comments all over the area. We have had SO much rain. One would think that all this rain would be good, but my garden is not growing like it should.  Last year my garden was turning into a wild jungle.  This year, not so much. 

This whole summer has not gone like I thought it would. Mostly because of the rain. 

I want this summer to be ... I don't know. ... special? It feels like *my* first summer since my son graduated and I was free to do whatever.  Not really that I'm tethered, or anything.  I just wanted to go do fun things, with either of my boys. 

My son works a lot and the days that would work for me to take off he works.  When my hubby and I have time off together it's raining. 

And now the first third of July is done and I need to start focusing on my garden.

I'd love to do a "real" garden tour video, but my poor garden ... 

So it doesn't sound like I'm whining through the whole blog post, here's a video of a hummingbird at the feeder I inherited from my mother-in-law. The hummers found it right away and started fighting over it. 

There's this youtube channel ... I don't remember what it's called but the woman's starts each video with "Hi, this is Robbie from Southern California." She has hundreds of hummingbirds visiting her yard every day.  Those birds don't fight.  I wonder why mine feel the need to fight all the time. 

Anywho ... 

I'm curious, does this summer feel different for any of you? 

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Oh look, it's raining again ...

I mean, "Hooray! July is here!" 

*ahem* 

I meant to write yesterday. The day got away from me.  I spent the evening working on my bunny stitch. 

I told my hubby that the closer I come to completing this stitch the more goof ups I make. 

Over the weekend I started stitching up the bee. 


And quickly realized I had made some mistakes stitching up the leaves.  I thought "I can make this work." until I realized I couldn't make it work.  

Bah!

So yesterday I spent my lunch hour ripping out stitches.  



Ugh ... no matter how I try to rip out a large number of stitches, it turns into a mess and then the mess takes longer to clean up than if I had been able to just take the threads out. 

Last night I diligently worked on this little bee and put the final stitches in around 9 p.m. 


Finally! Now the back stitching can commence. 

This cross stitch project has been my main focus. 

When I wasn't working on my February Lady Sweater.  Mostly I've been working on my sweater in the mornings, before getting ready for the day and work. 



I am done with the sweater body.  Yay!  Time to start the sleeves.  I have just over four skeins of the Temu yarn to work with.  I'm optimistic that each sleeve will need only 2 skeins each. 



I had the idea that I would write a post at the beginning of the month stating what active projects I have, and what I hoped to get done by the end of the month.  Overly enthusiastic, perhaps. The list will help me get things in perspective since I'm still kind of all over the place, project-wise. Frankly, until I get this bit sorted out I don't feel I can move forward and make a flosstube. 

So things that are currently in the works/percolating along. 

Knits

February Lady Sweater - I would like to get this complete by the end of the month

Monkey socks - Another project I'd like to get done by the end of the month.



Princess Passenger socks - No deadline since I'm only going to work on them when I'm a passenger.  I will pick up stitches on the heel flap in the house.  I don't think I'd be able to do so in a bouncy vehicle. 



Quilts


Sandpiper quilt - I have the top all sewn together and the backing sewn together. I'm debating on whether to put a label on, or not.  The binding still needs to be cut. I would like to have this done by the end of the month. 


Just picture all my squares with sashing and borders around them.


Yes, this is my quilt backing, all in a heap. I think the color will look fantastic with the front. 



Dancing stars quilt - I have about half the quilts squares to sew, still. ... I think I'm going to hold this one until August, unless I get the other things done. 

I have no current photos of completed squares. Sorry. 

Sewing projects


I now have fabric for five WIP project bags.  I want to make them by the end of the month.  I could maybe accomplish this.  It's something to strive for. 



Spinning


My spinning has been pushed so far to the back burner that I haven't touched it in months.  I would like to spend one evening each week of July spinning my little heart away.  Currently the Tour de Fleece is going on.  I've never been good at following any kind of a-long, so I didn't even try to start it this year. 

No current photos of the wool I'm working with. 

Cross Stitch

Currently there are three cross stitch projects going. 

Bunny stitch before the back stitching. 



Where One Piece is. I haven't touched it in a while.  The goal is to get it done by Christmas, at least.  If not, then February next year. 


You may be surprised to read that I *finally* started my porkie cross stitch.  I decided to make it a birthday start.  Well ... I started it during my birthday week. 


It's not much but it is a start. I was still a bit intimidated to start it, and then I just went ahead and set up the aida cloth on my q-snap and started it. 

All the colors ... all 49 of them. 


I've been on the hunt for a porcupine needle minder.  Most of what I find are hedgehogs or images that really don't look like porcupines.  I may end up making my own.  Though I'm not sure how I will go about it. 

Project Name: Porcupine cross stitch
Chart purchased from Etsy: Purple Stitching
Started: June 2024, during my birthday week, 
Finished: 
Floss in called DMC colors: 167, 168, 169, 310, 317, 318, 413, 414, 415, 433, 437, 451, 452, 453, 524, 535, 611, 612, 640, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 762, 779, 840, 841, 842, 844, 927, 928, 934, 935, 939, 3021, 3023, 3031, 3032, 3041, 3072, 3371, 3756, 3787, 3799, 3828, 3863, 3864, 3866
Needle Size: 26
Made For: myself. 


Against my better judgement I kinda kitted up a few more cross stitches up that have come across my social media the last month or so. ... I'm really tempted to clear the cache, so to speak and take them out of the bucket until I get less projects on my plate.  As I keep reminding myself, there are no deadlines or urgent reasons to work these projects. So I just may file the floss back in to my storage system and put the charts away for now. 

My WIP bucket. My February Lady Sweater is in the blue daisy bag. 


I have this other project going.  It hasn't been touched for a while.  

A month ago, or so, I saw something on a few flosstubes and I thought "Hey, that's a good idea."

What, you may be wondering ... 


Putting a master set of floss on floss drops and sorting them by color families. 

I don't remember who came up with the idea but it took flosstube by storm, I think. 

This is a set of floss from Temu. The colors match DMC.  It's amazing! 

So my idea is to use this floss for my master set of colors and fill in the few that may be missing with regular DMC.  Also, if I need some floss in a pinch, I can use the floss from my master set. 

I think it will also be helpful to make color subs in the event I'm not wild about a color listed on a chart. 


I don't know how many I have put on floss drops yet.  I sort of burned out on it after a weekend of punching out floss drops.  I think I might have done some damage to my punch. Or, the card stock I was using for making themed floss drops was thicker than what I'm used to.

I'll post more in-progress project photos on my Instagram

Something just happened and I lost the tail-end of my blog post. I guess that is my cue to go work on my back stitching. 



Friday, June 21, 2024

Let's talk about my knitting! (and a couple other things)

 It's Friday. End of the week. Yay! 

Usually I'd try to do some sort of "This is how the week went" if I hadn't written much during the week. 


This week not much happened, except rain and crappy weather. Really.  I worked and when I wasn't working the weather was not conducive to being outside.  Bah!

So I've been puttering with this and that, all the while thinking about how I was going to sort all this crafty stuff out ... I'm still working on it.  Or, as some may know it, I've been in my own head a lot this week. 

Oh, and sewing. But that's for another post. 

I'm looking forward to the weekend, even though it may just be more rain.  I'm looking forward to spending time with my man and possibly having my birthday dinner early.  

Okay, so boring week. Nothing exciting going on. ... Let's talk knitting!

I've been holding on to a few things, waiting to share about them on the blog. I've been wracking my brain, making sure I remember everything and not leave anything out. 

Current WIPS (Works in Progress)


Project Name: February Lady Sweater
Started: May 2024
Finished: 
Designer/Source: Flint Knits.  I still had my copy from the last time I knit this sweater.  Apparently it's no longer "Published" but I'm sure you can still track down a copy. 
Yarn: Yarn purchased from Temu and the label has Chinese written on it.  So ? I can tell you that it's 95 percent alpaca and 5 percent acrylic.  It is SUPER soft. 
Colors: Red/burgundy
Needle Size: US #8, 5 mm; US #10 (6mm)
Made For: myself. 

I started this sweater in May.  My first time working with yarn purchased off the Temu site. Each skein says 100 grams but I have no idea what the yardage may be. Crossing my fingers I have enough yarn to make sleeves a little bit longer than my other February Lady Sweater.

Yarn is super squishy, though, and I enjoy knitting with it.  It's easy on the hands. 




Project Name: Passenger princess socks
Started: June 3, 2024
Finished: 
Designer/Source: Vanilla sock pattern
Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn
Colors: Mid century stripes
Needle Size: US #1, 2.5 mm
Made For: myself. 

I decided to start a pair of vanilla socks and knit on them only when I'm passenger in a vehicle.  I made quite a bit of progress the first week.  I don't anticipate having these done until the end of summer at the earliest. 




Project Name: Monkey Socks
Started: Nov. 12, 2023
Finished: 
Designer/Source: knitty.com
Yarn: Forbidden Fiber Co.
Colorway: Tale as old as time, on the Fortitude base.
Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm
Made For: myself. 

This sock hasn't received much attention the last few months.  The main reason why is that I need to haul my chart keeper with me because I'm using it to keep track of where I am in the pattern repeat. Bit of a lame excuse, but it is true. 

The last time I had it out and was working on it I tried the sock on and it was a bit snug. I reminded myself that they will "ride up with wear"  grow a bit with washing and blocking. The yarn is so nice to work with. 

Look at those stitches. 




I'm will working on my charity stitching.  It's crochet.  Maybe I should have said "Let's talk yarn crafting." 



Project Name: Charity Stitch year-long project
Started: Jan. 1, 2024
Finished: 
Hat and blanket sets for Make Bundles for Babies. 
Yarn: Acrylic baby yarn I have in stash.
Needle size: Crochet hooks of various sizes, depending on yarn weight

Hats need to be made for these two blankets.  Since this yarn is a light weight yarn, and not worsted, I need to use a smaller hook and a different hat pattern than what i was using.  I'm dragging my heels on making the hats because of this. 

I have other sets completed.  They are already in the pile of finished sets and sitting out in the she shed.  I had sets left over from last year so there is 12 complete sets, which was my goal for the year.  I'm not sending them just yet.  I'm sure I'll make more, here and there. 

Finished projects (FOs)

I've been holding on to these socks to share. 



Project Name: Vanilla sock
Started: Nov. 13, 2023
Finished: March 5, 2024
Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn
Colorway: Amythest stripes
Colors: dark purples.
Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm
Made For: myself. 

I'm happy with how they turned out. They fit like a dream. 


Project Name: Vanilla sock
Started: Nov. 18, 2023
Finished: March 15, 2024
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. 

This was the pair of socks I started out on a 9 or 11 inch chiaogoo mini twist and decided I wasn't happy with working on that size needle. 

The toes turned out more pointy than what the photo shows.  I'm happy with these socks too. 

And now that I've shared them on the blog I can wear them. 




Project Name: Opa! Dishcloth
Started: June 5, 2024
Finished: June 11, 2024
Yarn: Peaches and Cream dishcloth cotton yarn
Colorway: green
Colors: green
Needle size: U.S. 5, 3.75 mm
Made For: myself. 

A while back I saw someone on Instagram making dishcloths and sharing the patterns from the Kitchen Sink Shop. Free dishcloth knitalong this year and a different pattern each month.   So I bit and signed up for it. 

This is the first dishcloth I worked on.  I'm almost embarrassed to say that this pattern repeat gave me more problems than it should. I kept messing up. I think because the pattern repeat is so similar to the pattern repeat of the February Lady sweater, too. 




And now for the project I know a lot of people have been waiting to see. 

My Harvest Cardigan.




Started: Nov. 12, 2023
Finished: Feb. 10, 2024
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. 

I am ridiculously happy with how this turned out. It's super cozy and I enjoyed snuggling in it earlier this year when it was still so cold out. Oh, who am I kidding, it's still cool out.  The coolest June in ages. 



Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Let's have a coffee date!

 This type of blog post is for when I have a lot of little things I want to share, or when I feel the need to catch up. 


Image result for amniconstudio.blogspot.com if we were having coffee

So, grab your coffee/beverage of your choice and join me. 

It's been a while since I've written.  I have a few of little tidbits to say, so let's have a quick coffee date!

If we were having coffee ... I would give you a bit of a health update. I'm better.  I'm not going to say I'm healed.  Not yet, anyway. I've seen a handful of health care providers over the last few months, including one specialist. I've done a lot of reading and research and I've started some supplements that I think will help my body in the long run. Having a bit of a medical mystery going on has been incredibly frustrating and I think it's going to be a long time before I can say I'm healed. I have something going on that I think is the result of the long-term infection. So, for now, I'm better than I was. 

In the meantime some of my pep has returned and I don't feel a constant feeling of being worn down and exhausted. Just the regular exhausted. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you my hubby woke me up one morning a few weeks ago and said "get in loser, let's go buy you a greenhouse."  

No, it wasn't really like that.  We were on vacation and it was a Friday morning. ... He walked into the bedroom, noticed I was awake, (I was processing being awake) and he said something along the lines of "Hey, let's go get a greenhouse for your birthday, and build it over the summer." Totally unexpected and a heck of a way to start the day. But I loved the idea and got up straight away and downed some coffee.  I've been wanting a greenhouse for such a long time. 

So we went and got me a greenhouse! 

We started working on it that day and thought we'd take our time.  It pulled together so much easier than expected. I belong to a few hobby greenhouse groups on the book of Faces, and to hear some people talk ... 

My husband got the foundation set up. (You like my sassy stance?)

Then the walls and roof went up lickity-split. 


The next day we finished the little things and ran to town to get materials for shelves. 


As soon as the shelves were complete I started moving a few things in. 




I'm really excited for the next seed starting season and I want to try my hand at starting some perennials this year and plant them in the fall. 

Unfortunately, we have had rotten weather the last several weeks. SO much clouds and rain. Which means not a lot of sun or desire to spend time outside.  In fact, last night the region had the next round of nasty storms go through. I've been keeping an eye on newsy things online and seen/saw there have been a lot of washouts, flooding and people needing help with flooded basements, etc.

This morning the newsperson said today is the 12th anniversary of the major flooding of 2012. THAT was a crazy time.  Maybe you remember hearing about the seal that was out on the highway? 

My work building flooded as well.  

I'm ready for things to dry out a little bit, for a little while. 

If we were having coffee ... I would say all the rain has been good for the garden, but it's also making the garden not grow very quick. It feels like the garden is a bit behind right now. 

AAAAnnnnndddd ... I don't have any recent photos of the garden. 

These are from a couple weeks ago. 


I have a few things that I'm experimenting with.  In this photo you can sort of make out the "little greenhouse" as I'm now calling it. I debated on taking it down. However, I have a few garden things that I need to store somewhere and I'm not willing to start filling the new greenhouse up with things that will make it cumbersome to be in there. 



I do like seeing all the green in the yard and all the trees. 


Way in the back I have cucumbers and squash plants growing in the containers in the back.  

Sometime soon I will take proper photos of the garden. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd chatter about how my crafting hasn't gone like I planned this year, thanks to the health stuff.  For a while I didn't touch anything.  Then crafting was sporadic.  

I was feeling a little bit of stress an anxiety about this.  Then I remember/reminded myself that there are no deadlines on the things I'm working on.  Only goals that I wanted to reach by the end of the year. 

With reminding myself of this I started feeling better about the whole thing. 

A few nights ago I completed the last block on my sandpiper quilt. 


Now to assemble the quilt top.  I have the sashes and borders ironed and ready to go.  I'm debating on the backing. Go with something wild and unexpected, or be sedate with my color choices for both the backing and the border? 

I do want to update my goals list.  That will be for another day.  I need to gradually get back in to the habit of writing. 

If we were having coffee ... Speaking of goals ... Social media is reminding me that the Tour de Fleece is just around the corner. Do I bother with it this year?  I can't remember if I did anything with it last year.  I haven't touched my spinning since ... February ?  Back when I first learned to spin (100 years ago), and heard of Tour de Fleece, online teams and whatnot were not nearly as ... "fun" as they are now.  Tiaras and T-shirts with fun logos and the year stamped on them.  Looks like TONS of teams you can choose to spin on, and a butt-load of prizes and giveaways. 

The one spinning group I'm a member of on Fa*ebook has been pretty quiet for months and months. I don't know what's going on there. I suspect there was a change in adminning and the new person may not be as active on social media. That's fine.  At this point I'm using social media now mostly to look at pretty things or to be inspired.  Sometimes to know what is going on. 

If we were having coffee ... Books ... I started listening to an audiobook yesterday, "A Single Thread." I'm about an hour and a half in to it. The voice actor is good. I heard about this book from a flosstuber.   It's been tough on the book front.  I haven't known what book genre I want to listen to.  I've started listening to a few audiobooks but haven't finished them.  One, "Speaker for the Dead," I had started listening to a few years back, and never finished it.  I started listening to it again and with being more "seasoned" of a reader, or more life experience (whatever you want to call it) I found myself hearing what  the author is saying about a few things and it basically left a bad taste in my mouth and I wasn't really enjoying the story anymore.  

If we were having coffee ... I'll give you little update on the chickens.  

We rehomed our older girls and Roo.  Someone called us up and asked us if we have any adult roosters available.  We said yes, and then said "Hey, do you want his girls, too?"  

"Sure, the person said."

We still have a Barred Rock rooster and 10 hens. The hens are fat and sassy. The rooster is a jerk to me.  It's the first time I've had a roo that sees me as a rival, I suppose you'd call it.  I have to walk around with a stick in my hand, at the very least. Otherwise he feels like facing off with me. My son named him but I can't remember the name, for sure.  James Charles?  I guess it's a youtuber, or twitch streamer? ?? I no longer know who or what is it and happening. Or, trending ... 


There are also some babies that joined the flock this spring.  Totally adorable.  They don't care for being held, though.  They are free and wild buns, apparently. 


Speaking of buns ... Feffer is still with us.  I think he's at least 6 years old now.  Maybe 7? 


He goes through spurts of being friendly and wanting scritches, and being an aloof bun.



Regardless of his mood, he's my good little boy and I tell him that every morning when I go out to see him and the chickens. 

I'm trying to think if there's anything else I want to ramble about. I'm sure there's something and I will think of it as soon as I hit publish. 

Crafty news I'm going to break up a little bit and put in a few blog posts so I don't overwhelm myself trying to write one massive blog post. My hope is that breaking this up will help me update my goals list, figure out what I'm working on, what other things I want to make, and maybe make a gameplan so I can get my ducks in a row and be bit more organized on the things I have on the mental "I want to make this" list. Like, I want to make some project bags and have the fabric for them.  Then there's a few little things I want to make that are crafty and will help me while I'm being crafty. Like a phone pillow and a little fabric ort tray. Oh, that reminds me ... do I want to buy the snaps or should I just sew the corners? I doubt I'll ever travel, so maybe there's no need for snaps.  See, what I mean? 

Okay, I think that's everything I want to blather about. Yeah ... I'm off to go get my ducks in a row. 

Later! 






Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Checking in

Hello, dear readers and friends.

It's been a minute since I last wrote a blog post. 

This afternoon I saw Chris of ChrisXrossStitch post an update video, kind of checking in, and I thought maybe I should do the same over here.  

I'm still here.  Unfortunately so is whatever has been ailing me.  I got sick in February.  Then developed an infection at the start of March, and it's still with me.  I thought I was better, and started to write a blog entry last week.  This past weekend I started feeling poorly again. 

So, while i'm doing better, I'm not 100 percent back to my old self.


My seed starting is no where near what it usually is. 


At this time last year my seedlings were overflowing and I had them in two bookshelf greenhouses. 

Crafting is still going at a much slower pace.  I'm plodding along, taking it easy and resting when I need to. 

I've shared a few projects and works in progress on my social media.  My heart hasn't really been in sharing. 

I did finish my Emotional Support Chicken. 



Isn't she adorable? 


Yes, I do call her Furby June.  Currently she has a prominent spot on the couch.  Sometimes when I'm talking to my hubby I crack comments about Furby approving or not, and then make the chicken noises. Yes, I'm hilarious and I crack myself up.  It doesn't hurt to not take yourself so seriously sometimes. 

Project Name: Emotional Support Chicken
Started: Feb. 13, 2024
Finished: April 12, 2024
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 would like to make at least one more. 

I've completed other projects but I'll save those for a different blog post or video. 

Which brings me to Youtube.  I have not been up to making a video.  Hopefully soon, but I make no promises. 

So, this is what is going on with me and why I've been quiet.