Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Yarn Along

I'm joining in on this week's Yarn Along hosted by Ginny from Small Things. For this KAL we post what knitting projects we are working on as well as what books we are currently reading. Here is an over-view picture of what I've been up to this week...
 Lots going on in the above picture:)  First off, I am reading, really really slowly!! So I'm still working on the same books as last week, but it was a week were I either got to knit OR I got time to read, and well, the next picture will show what I choose...
 TWO projects off the needles!!! Neither has had the ends woven in or has been blocked, but I'm super excited to have Dockside done and half of my kitchen curtains done!!!
And well, I couldn't help myself, and I went and started another project. This time a crocheted project that will become a bag (I think). HERE is a link to my inspiration for this, although mine will be quite a bit different. I have also cast on for the second half of my kitchen curtains:) 

I haven't done it yet, but I also need to pull out a project I started around this time last year. I started on a knitted cap/hat/bonnet for my daughter that she found in a book, but I didn't get very far on it. It will be a learning curve for me as it transitions from straight needles to dpn which I've never used, but since I want to learn to make socks this year, it will probably be good practice:) 

Off to see what everyone else has been up to!! 

Thursday, September 22, 2016

It's Officially AUTUMN!!!

But it doesn't feel like it!!! The weather forecast says it will be 92 degrees today:(

That's okay, because I have a plan this year. I think I'm like most of you who have good intentions on making the most of everyday only to find yourself 3 weeks later wondering how time has flown by so fast and all the little fun things that you wanted to enjoy with your family and friends are now over and done without you ever having even noticed.

This happens to me all the time. I even have started to set goals out at the beginning of the year of things I want to accomplish (some personal, some family related, and a lot of crafty goals:). But this has proved to be too big of a list and by a few months in I usually have abandoned it, or forgotten about it - or just lost the list. So I'm thinking that smaller lists that go along with the seasons/holidays are a better option - plus I love making lists, so I'm good with needing to do this over and over throughout the year:)


So here it is, and with the exception of the crafting category, I think it's all doable. I always over do the crafting list:) Also, I really don't want to watch a scary movie, I hate them!! But dd and dh both like them, so I'll give it a go, maybe. Here's to hoping we have a productive and memorable Autumn season!! Anything you would add to this list that I didn't???

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Yarn Along

I'm joining in on this week's Yarn Along hosted by Ginny from Small Things. For this KAL we post what knitting projects we are working on as well as what books we are currently reading. Here is an over-view picture of what I've been up to this week...
The white curtain is blinding in this picture!!! 
Reading: I went to the library to find something, anything, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and found The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes. I have to say I've not been disappointed at all in this book. I expected her to be funny and I can't tell you how many weird looks I've gotten from my daughter while I am laughing out loud as I read this book. Then I have to read that part to her too:) I'm only a few chapters into this, but I expect it to be a very quick read.

Then I was also in the mood for something a little deeper and darker so I looked up Salem Witch Trails, and found Deliverance From Evil. (*note to say that I have a bit of a fascination with this topic. Not of witches but of what would cause a whole town to lose their ever-loving minds and allow something like this to happen. But I guess that could be said of a lot of craziness out in this world as well:). This book goes between the Salem Village and the story there, most of which I'm skimming through since it's almost word for word what I've read elsewhere - though there are some interesting possibilities of the parents/town leaders getting the girls to keep this going, and a town in Maine with a whole other group of people that I'm not sure yet how it ties into this story yet. We will see how this one goes:)
Knitting: I'm getting so excited as I have two projects that are just days away from being completed. Well, the shawl is, and HALF of the curtains are, I will still need to knit the other half, but it still feels like two projects almost done!! In last week's update I told you that I had a mistake in both projects and that I could either fix them and continue on or just start a new project:) Well, I'm happy to say that I was a good girl, got them both fixed and now am really close to having them finished. The link to the free curtain pattern is HERE and the link to Dockside by Alicia Plummer is HERE.

Now I just need to finish these and not get sidetracked by the yummy squishy yarn I bought this week!!! 

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Stitching Update

I'm coming along on my stitching projects here lately. I would say it's the cooler weather moving in that has me motivated - and it did get a *bit* cooler for a few days, but it's been in the upper 80s and lower 90s for several days now, with at least a week left of this to go, soo... not the weather!! I am very much looking forward to 60-70 degree weather coming soon, though I'd like it to stay around and skip the whole winter thing:)

Here is my stitching progress for this week...
 'She Feeds Them Well' is starting to really come together. I've made a couple minor thread switch outs, but only because the colors were blending together a bit too much. Other wise I'm stitching it as it says:)
And Bittersweet Lane is beginning to take shape as well. I had to keep making myself work on the brick work and not switch over to stitching the pumpkin!! But the brick work is getting closer and soon I'll be able to start stitching the fun part:)

I'm off to work on a couple sewing projects now. Hoping to get a bag I've had partly sewn together for a while now completed so I can actually use it:)

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Friday Night Sew In - September

It's been a long while since I've participated in a FNSI hosted by Wendy over at Sugarlane Designs. And true to most FNSI I didn't actually sew on Friday night, but rather during the day. My sewing area is also my dining room table, which isn't actually in a dining room as we don't have one, but in the middle of our kitchen. Since we have very little counter space our table gets used just about every day so it needs to stay somewhat cleared off. This means I have to put the sewing machine away when I'm done with it, and sewing while everyone is home does not work very well. So I sew while hubby is off to work and dd is either at work or busy with her own thing:)

This week I needed to make dd a new bag. A couple summers ago she worked as a camp councilor and got used to carrying around a draw-string bag. But over time it got to looking like this...
There are several holes in it, and it is super dirty and since the fabric is almost paper thin, I'm not sure how many more washings it can stand up to. So she asked me to find her a new one, but I haven't been able to find any. I did find instructions on how to make them in the book Sewing to Sell by Virginia Lindsay. I had dd pick out some fabric...
Yes, that is My Little Pony and yes my daughter is 17. What can I say? The 4-6 year old girls in her MOPs class love it!! :)

And here are my progress pics..

And it's done!! It was a really quick and easy project. It seems that the nylon string I got for this is a bit too thin, and cuts in to her shoulders when it's loaded down, so I will need to pick up some thicker string and redo that part, but that's not a big deal.

Now I'm off to see what others worked on last night:)

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Yarn Along

I'm joining in on this week's Yarn Along hosted by Ginny from Small Things. For this KAL we post what knitting projects we are working on as well as what books we are currently reading. Here is an over-view picture of what I've been up to... 
Reading: I finished both books and they were very different, but both really good reads. Sweater Quest had a section that featured Stephanie Pearl McPhee of The Yarn Harlot. I've read her blog for some time now, but never any of her books. I love her sense of humor and now I'm on the lookout for one of her books to be my next read:)

The Things We Wish Were True did have all kinds of secrets that everyone was keeping and some did intersect with others. Everything from peeping Toms to lying, cheating and stalking, but the book moved along quickly and while each character had their share of heartache, there was plenty of positive things happening too and in the end lots of happiness as secrets came out, but love still prevailed:)
I didn't post a picture of 'Dockside', the MKAL from Alicia Plummer because I never went back and fixed the mistake I made over two weeks ago. So no more knitting got done on it. But I have been knitting away at the curtains I am making. I'm super happy with how these are turning out. ***As a side note, soon after taking this picture, I made a mistake on this one too, so now I have to go back and fix one or the other just so I can have something to knit!!! OR I could start something new, I guess, but I really want to get at least one of these projects done before I allow something else to steal my interests:) 

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Welcome to the Kansas State Fair!!!

The State Fair is in town this week and I've already been up there three times. It helps that we only live about a half hour outside of the town it is hosted in:) Also that is the town we do our shopping in and most of my daughter's activities. The first day of the fair I dropped off my daughter's 4-H projects. These are projects that won a purple ribbon at the county fair and then got to move on to the state fair.
Arts and crafts don't get judged at the state fair level (at least in the 4-H division in our state) as they feel you can't judge someone's creativity, and since the judges don't meet the kids at the state level, they can't talk to them about their experience/skill level either.
Rylie did win a blue for her Jamaican Banana Bread though!!

Yesterday I dropped hubby off at the fair while I took dd to a class and did a little running around. I meet back up with him a couple hours later and we walked around the fair for a bit. Dd ended up going to the fair with some friends so I went back up there later to pick her up. I got a little time to do some looking at the fair before meeting up with her. I saw...

 The midway, something I try and avoid. This area is loud and crowded and kinda gives me the creeps. Of course, this was what my daughter and her friends came up here for:)
 This moo-cow looked so soft and cuddly. It won high prize in the FAA division.
The newborn kids.. this is one of my daughter and my favorite places at the fair - the birthing barn:) We have spent many hours here waiting for and watching the animals being born. 
And of course, the butter sculpture. This is a staple at our fair - and I'm sure many others as well. This year's isn't as impressive as in years past, sometimes the whole area is made out of butter, so this was a little disappointing. The butter kittens are super cute though!!

My daughter and I have plans to make it up there one more time this week so she can look at a few things that she missed while being there with her friends. Maybe there will be more babies in the birthing barn by then:)

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Well, That's a Little Better...

Been stitching a bit on 'She Feeds Them Well' from The Scarlett House and the lady now has most of a body. It no longer looks like the birds are flying off with her head!! :)
I love stitching with hand dyed threads, but sometimes it poses a problem. For example, in 'She Feeds Them Well', if you look closely you can see that part of her face is completely white. It looks like she wore sun glasses and that part of her face didn't tan. It isn't so noticeable that I think I'll change it, but in 'Bittersweet September' from Blackbird Designs you can see my first attempt at the house has the back color blending in with the brick color. This design came as a kit as part of  the Ladies Prim Society club and the caramel corn threads I received were darker than the ones used in the model.

So I played around with another thread that was similar but lighter, only to find that parts of it were too light and got lost in the fabric. I decided to go back to the original caramel corn and just cut out the 4-5 inches of thread that was darker and you can see that is working out just fine...

Not sure yet if I'm going to stitch the boarder on this one as it is a little busy for my taste, but I love the house and pumpkin!! I really need to get moving on 'She Feeds Them Well' if I want to get that one done for a Christmas present (I can't believe I am already having to think of that!!), but I couldn't resist starting up something Autumn-y:) Hoping that the cooler weather finds its way to us soon!!