Slow-Stitch Sunday - Sky, Sand & Sea; some progress on Old Town

Made some progress on Old Town mystery step #9 (reveal) this morning before the Packer game at noon.  Another row of Walker's wedding quilt was also pressed; baby-steps with that project; a little bit at a time.  The draw of piecing the blocks for Old Town was simply more appealing than the wedding quilt.

By noon, the feet were propped, crochet hook in hand, and settled myself in with the Sky, Sand & Sea afghan on this Slow-Stitch Sunday, adding a few rows during the Packer/Bear showdown.  The plan is to add a few more rows later this evening when the Lions & Vikings square off.  I can't believe I'm admitting to being excited for that showdown, but.... c'mon man.  It's bound to be a darn good game to watch, even for a Packer fan.

My Beach Life afghan has needed some TLC attention for quite some time.  I never had intentions of using this afghan; rather it was meant to either be gifted to my sister or someone else 'er other.  However, it never made its ways downstairs to the storage bins.  Most of the yarns used were Hobby Lobby's "I Love this Yarn" yarn.  This yarn is currently my favorite to crochet with even though I haven't purchased much in recent years.  It's so soft!! The current Sky, Sand & Sea afghan is being made using the leftovers from this project. 

I'm sure, since I was down in her space on the floor, Bailee couldn't resist thinking it was play time.

Eventually she settled down and took comfort ...

The repair isn't perfect, but it's completely functional once again.

Every sunrise begins with new eyes.
-Richie Norton

 Linking up to Kathy's Quilt for her Slow Sunday Stitching.  Take a peek at what others are working on.

Wave scarf & Shell scarf [Crochet]

This wave scarf originally started its life as an afghan, however the pattern wasn't a super-enjoyable one for me.  *shrug*  The pattern was found in my "The Complete book of Crochet Stitches - Schapper", number 493.

Red Heart Supersaver yarn was used, with the final size ~ 6"x56".

I find the pattern kinda cool; almost resembling a DNA-strand ;)
Another pattern attempted, however it will be placed on the "probably-won't-do-again" shelf ;)

THIS pattern [Shelly Scarf], however, is working up quickly, specially using Moda Dea Cheerio yarn.  It's so soft and enjoyable to work with!!!  A little tinsel sparkle is present throughout as well, resulting in a fun, lil' decorative scarf (once finished).

Most of Wisconsin received snow over the past 12 hours; school is on a two-hour delay this morning.  Hence, time to update the blog, all the while enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee ;)
Happy Wednesday!

Country Cozy afghan progress [Crochet]

Coming home from school today with an EMPTY schoolbag, and only one of the girls needing to be taxi'd into and back from town for basketball practice, I was feeling a bit motivated to head downstairs to work on some quilting.   However, by the time dinner was served, cleaned up, and Caitlyn driven off to practice, interest had been lost in heading downstairs to the sewing cubby.  Besides, the temps are dropping, and the basement has a lingering chill!

However, I pulled out the Country Cozy afghan that had been started........ *shrug*..... SOMETIME last year.  At first I thought the pattern needed to be searched out again, but when I simply looked back at the repeating pattern in my stitches, I was able to determine the pattern and added another few rows this evening.

 I'm vowing at this moment NOT to start any new afghan projects until I clear out some of my UFOs and WIPs!  ;)  

The current view of the floor next to my rocker glider....

* A lil' lapghan ripple UFO using up some left over earth-tones...

* a king size manghan ripple UFO is underneath that...

* a neutral granny ripple WIP was started in mid-December one day when I received a bag of yarn from my MIL

* a crochet rug WIP that I started last week in hopes to gift it to my brother for his new house

.... and the view just to the back of my rocker glider...

* a bag of yarn for the king size manghan

* a bag of yarn for my ongoing scrapghan that rests on my ottoman footrest

* another bag of yarn that holds the earth-tone left overs for my ripple afghan

It's time to finish off a project or two!  The Country Cozy afghan isn't expected to finish as a large project;  it should end up being a nice lapghan, or a nice couch throw.

Our lil' lady celebrated her 10th birthday Monday evening!

One of her gifts was a latch-hook rug set of a treble clef;  she's been working on it a little bit for each of the past two nights.  She's loving it so far, and she's advanced to the bottom part of the clef just moments ago -- she's excited to add the new yarn colors!!!!!

;)  Another yarn monster in the making ??

Okay.....

Now I KNOW I said NO NEW crochet projects...... 

.... but in ALL SERIOUSNESS, my brother legitimately has requested a pair of shorts similar to this.  He plays in an annual golf tournament that awards a "donkey prize," and I guess he's hopeful a pair of these FASHIONABLE SHORTS could guarantee a victory!  *snort*

I DO aim to please!!!

Beginnings: school, running, tomatoes, and some crochet

Rather than thinking that the summer has come to an end, I've accepted this time change as "School begins!"

This year we have a Freshman, 6th and 4th graders.  A friend asked what grade I was in, so... after 12HS + 5BS + 5MS + 18 years teaching... I am in 40th grade. ;)

The morale around the 7-12 wing is on the up-n-up; we have new administration, and so far, the change has been for the better!  We are so hopeful and optimistic!!!!  It feels good to be hopeful again!

I've even started running again!!!!

Mind you, PART of that decision came when I organized my closet two weeks ago, trying EVERY item on.  I parted with quite a bit, but also added a lil' bit due to a Goodwill shopping spree.  SOME of my pants are a bit too snuggy-snug right now, so...... back to running to burn that lil' layer of pudgy-pudge!

 

The face on the picture really says most of it so far;  :\.  I really haven't run a training program for the past two years, so I'm 100% back to square-1.  Many walks, and slow pace... perhaps I'll get back down to my 9:30/mile average that I ran in 2013 for one of my half-marathons.
Baby steps for now...

 Last weekend a small collection of tomatoes were ripe for the picking, and I made up a batch of salsa.  After a week of HEAT and HEAT and more HEAT, mixed with loads of HUMIDITY, our tomatoes started taking off.  (um yah, that heat in a classroom with zero AC this past week ---- UGGGERS!)

Caitlyn and I gathered up what was ripe;  it ended up being a decent ~70 pounds, with lots more out on the plants yet!     Since the heat is still barring down on us, I was NOT interested in having the stove/oven on for much of the weekend in order to reduce these babies down to a sauce, so instead... Vegetable juice was the plan!  We'll save the sauce-making for next weekend with our next ripe pickings; it looks like this heat is finally breaking this week.  Whew!

 
I have a few different varieties out there:  Abe Lincoln, Polish Linguisa, Red Oxheart, Viva Italia (my FAVORITE for sauce), and a few IDK heirlooms that we received as seed from our neighbor two years ago.  We've planted a few of the 'mystery seeds' each year since we've had them;  they make LARGE tomatoes.  I didn't weigh any last year, but I want to believe that this is close to the largest we've had.  There have been two others I've weighed as well:  one was 1 lb 10oz, the other was 1 lb 12 oz.    It doesn't take many of those tomatoes to add up to a lot of juice in a little time.  ;)

 
After the morning of processing, we filled two full cases of quarts of Vegetable juice (tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, parsley, peppers).  We no longer preserve straight tomato juice; we prefer the flavor of the veggie juice.  My in-laws like using the juice in Bloody Marys; I'm not much of a fan, but I LOVE using this juice throughout the year for Chili!

I'm SO thankful for the long holiday weekend;  it's always nice having a slow 4-day week start to the school year;  this year we have TWO 4-day weeks to start since we didn't start until this past Tuesday, Sept. 1.
I've used a bit of the available time to organize a bunch of my recent crochet finishes in order to have them ready for my MIL and some craft fairs she'll be participating in.

 

Lots of 100% USA-grown cotton washcloths;  8" and 10" with a couple 7"x9".

Bath Poufs have been a new addition to my collection: small and large sizes

Hats have also been a new addition this year, in a variety of sizes ranging from youth M to adult S.

A bunch of the frilly yarn was still sitting on my shelves, so I found time to get those made into the frilly scarves, plus I still have some left;  I may just bite the bullet to buckle down and clear this yarn out completely.

However, I really really really am thinking of getting downstairs into the sewing room later today.  It's been a month since I've quilted!  If not even longer!  I've fallen behind in the RSC'15, and I can't let Andee down seeing that we decided to team up in a project together :D  And my Smith Mountain Morning in greens is still sitting, waiting for its 14th hour of progress.

For those in the USA, I hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend!!!  For everyone else, I hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon before heading back to the workweek tomorrow.

Happy Sunday!

Crochet washcloths and County Fair Grand Champion

This past week, I've been focusing on some crochet projects with hopes to add a little more variety to my MIL's fall craft sales.  The washcloths have been piling up nicely, seeing the temperatures and humidity have been slowly rising these past few days.

Monday morning, I visited a local Bookstore/Yarn shop, looking for some "Made in the USA" cotton yarn.  JACKPOT!  This Cestari "Old Dominion Collection" yarn caught my eye; the price was reasonable at $8.99/100g hank.  Only two hanks were purchased..... and by the end of the day, both had been crocheted up into some 8" and 10" washcloths.  Therefore, on Tuesday, after eye appointments in the afternoon, I stopped back in to the shop in order to pick up a couple more colors ;)

I primarily used a simple hdc shell stitch pattern [Ravelry link] for most of the washcloths.  But by day four, it was getting old, so I went back to my simple sc/dc alternate pattern.

While searching, this Simple Soap Saver pattern [Ravelry link] also intrigued me, so I gave it a quick whirl.

  

A few other washcloths using Knit Pick's Dishie yarn were also stitched up.

Sometime along the way, the currants and gooseberries were picked and jammed up.

And the past couple of days have been consumed a bit with the County Fair.  Exciting news for Cassie and our Steve -- they earned Grand Champion Cock (Rooster)!  She's tickled pink!

Easy Peasy Scrubbie cloth [Crochet]

While browsing through a bin of yarn this past weekend, this Scrub It from Mary Maxim struck me as interesting.  A sample cloth was available on the display rack, and I found it right up my recent alley of creating wash cloths for the house.

After searching Ravelry for 30+ minutes, I was coming up empty handed on a simple washcloth/dishcloth pattern.  !!!  I know, right?!?!  There literally are hundreds of patterns out there, but I couldn't find a simple, easy peasy pattern.  **shrug**

So, I made up my own.  Super simple.  Easy Peasy!

This yarn calls for size 5mm knitting needles, so I used my H8 (5mm) hook.

The pattern established is a multiple of 2 (plus one).

I chained 32 +1 (33 chains), resulting in a cloth 9" wide.

Row 1:  Sc in 2nd ch from hook, dc in next ch.  Repeat *sc in next ch, dc in next ch* across the row, ending with a dc. Turn. (32 stitches)

Row 2:  Ch 1.  Sc in first dc, dc in next sc.  Repeat *sc in next dc, dc in next sc* across the row, ending with a dc.  Turn.  (32 stitches)

Repeat Row 2 until desired length achieved.

I quite literally ended my final row with 3 inches of yarn left!  (Just enough to tie off and weave the end in!)  Now, my toughest decision to make:  do I use the cloth for our dishes, or for our faces?!!?!?

Fall finishes [Crochet]

Such a sight is long behind us already in the northern parts of Wisconsin. Cassie captured this image during the first weeks of October; a sure sign that winter was nearing.

...And crochet projects got underway for the changing season. 

 Cailtyn's Hat [free Ravelry pattern]

Cassie's wristers [free Ravelry pattern]

And yes, we wrapped up the tomato harvest as well -- JUST in time for the snow to come.

We have two cases of spaghetti sauce and a couple cases of pizza sauce.  In fact, I just made up a batch of lasagna yesterday with one of the last jars from last year's harvest. 

Somewhere amidst the end of summer, the Fall Ripple was finished but never blogged about.  

Candace had chosen the colors and order of the yarns for the afghan.  She wants to claim it as hers, but she can't get EVERY afghan I make.

This is a larger afghan, finishing at 68" x 90" and fitting a queen sized bed decently.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was in a creative slump -- I didn't care to work on ANY projects I had underway, crochet nor quilting!  I know I'm not alone when it comes to starting a new project;  after all, that's usually why (and how) we have so many UFOs floating around ;)

However, this one kept me motivated...

... and I put the final stitches in this afternoon while watching a Harry Potter movie with the girls.

The yarns used were extras I purchased for the Trip Out West afghan (hmm.... did I ever blog officially about that???)

Random Ripple Afghan (54" x 67")

At first, I started out with the standard ripple pattern, alternating colors after one back-n-forth path.  But then, I tried out a random strip generator, and followed a sample there for awhile.  Sadly, I ran out of the darker gray yarn midway and refused to buy any new yarns! (GASP!)  So, I threw in a charcoal grey towards the end just to get another 'dark' in the afghan before wrapping it up for good.

Roughly, this afghan took 20-25 hours to complete;  not too shabby.

Berquist Beauty - top done; crocheted dishcloths

Berquist Beauty - 105" x 105"

My sister and BIL's quilt had been resting on the sidelines downstairs, awaiting the final four seam lines to put the top center together.  Between Bonnie's QuiltCam Monday night, and another half hour tonight, the final 3.5" brown borders were attached.   It has joined the pile of LARGE quilts resting on the carpeted basement area, awaiting fabric selections for backings.  I truly feel I'm going to search out some wide backing (108" and/or 116/120") for the two king-sized quilt tops that have been finished recently.  {{Celtic Soltice, in addition to Berquist Beauty}}

Tomorrow, Linda and I are road tripping to a town 30-or-so miles to the west.  Sadly, a quilt shop is closing its doors, and we're going to head there to check out what's included in the 40-75% sales.   We're going to enjoy the day regardless if we come away with any great deals or not.  School is right around the corner (she teaches in the 3-6 wing of our district's school building), and we've never road tripped together before.  I'm sure the day away will be enjoyed by both of us, and we'll do our best to leave the school-related chatter to a minimum ;)

Last Friday, my parents made a detour for a short visit with us before traveling on to their weekend getaway at a neighbor's cabin 'up north.'  As grandparents often do, they had purchased some school supplies/shoes/clothes for the girls that needed to be delivered.  (And yes!  My sister was involved with that shopping spree as well.  The family truly helps out with our girls so much!!!)

I'm not exactly sure how one of my crocheted dishcloths ended up as the topic of conversation, but Mom hinted about wanting some for Christmas.  I sent her on her way with a couple that I had in my linen drawer;  I'm not a bit fan of the cotton yarn dishcloths; at least the YARNS that I've tried so far -- maybe she'll end up liking them more than me.  There really IS a difference in yarns, and I haven't found a yarn I like yet for dishcloths.  

With another ball of Sugar 'n Cream left in my stash, I made up another cloth with a new pattern (Granny Dishcloth).  I LIKE this pattern!!!  Now to just find the right yarn.

Red Heart Prairie Star progress [Crochet]

I've been continuing to put more time into crocheting lately than quilting.  After spending some time perusing Ravelry Tuesday AM, I was compelled to jump into a new project despite having a few WIPs going.  I swear, my crochet world is slowly starting to look like my quilting world!   But when a project screams and pleads to you to be made, what'cha gonna do?!??!?  

Red Heart's Prairie Star [Red Heart link | Ravelry link | YouTube series] caught my eye.  It reminds me so much of a Lonestar quilt.  One feature I love about Ravelry is the ability to look through projects others had made.  Color combination after color combination, but the original color grouping still pleased me most.  I love greens.

So, I dug through the small stash that I've accumulated so far since my crocheting addiction began last summer...

And I jumped in, full steam ahead.

This is a join-as-you-go project; definitely have grown to like this method if it involved motifs/units that need to be attached.  The joining method took me a bit of stitching and frogging (crocheters slang for removing stitches);  the directions were a bit wordy.  Eventually, the lightbulb went on--duh!  Easy peasy.  I had found the YouTube video series and tuned into the clip that explained the joining method. The footage is a bit dark, but it did verify I had figured out the join correctly.

The motifs have become second nature now, 54 diamonds into the project.  Each diamond takes about 9 minutes to stitch, join, and sew in the ends.  So....54 motifs x 9 minutes = ~8-9 hours of time already invested.

I know there are ladies who set timers for 10 minutes in order to get some quilting/sewing time in.  I figure if I can get at least a couple motifs in everyday, this'll eventually see a finish. :)