Is it Spring, Yet?

We woke up two mornings, last week, to snow. I'm seriously over winter. I want to sit in my sunroom and knit, but it is still too cold. We are still in self isolation, with no news of any loosening of the restrictions. I miss my time with friends and family. Video just isn't the same. So, I guess I need to find more things I can control.

The sourdough experiments continue.

Pizza was less than successful. The crust was way too thin.

Raisin buns were much better. I made a half batch, so we didn't have to eat them all week.

I decided that I needed to finish this pair of socks.

I have the first sock finished and the second one is just at the heel, so they should be done in a few more days. More Turtlepurl Yarn.

And as a hopeful sign, the hepatica in the front garden is in flower.

I need a new sewing project, I think.

This week, I had to say good bye to Dolly Dog. She has been my companion and sewing room supervisor for 16 years.

This was from an adventure we took to the East Coast.

Week Five of Social Distancing

Other than walking trips in my neighbourhood, I have been at home for over a month, now.

On a short walk this morning, I saw this fellow social distancing, too. I loved the contrast between the cardinal and the branches.

A classic sign of spring around here is a robin. This one seems rather plump. I expect there will be babies, before too long.

Last fall, my grandson and his grandad planted some crocus.

They are popping up all over in my yard, now.

I finished the family taxes, and my clutch bag, this week. The taxes just look boring.

The bag is lots more fun. It is tiny, so was more difficult than I expected. I think I might try the bigger size next.

This is the bag, with my phone beside it. I used two fat quarters from my stash, as well as stash hardware. I may need a hardware order, before long. I think I will make a list of some bags I would like to make, and check my hardware stock to see what I might need.

The bag is called Carol, by Sincerely, Jen Pattern Company. 

The hardware is Emmaline Bags, and the zipper tape is from Blue Calla Patterns.

And the cell phone does fit!

Easter

It is strange not to go out, on Easter. Normally, we would be going to church and having friends and family for dinner. Instead, I went to Zoom Church, and we will be alone for dinner. If I get really organized, I'll put a spring tablecloth on the dining room table. "Eating out" these days, is eating out of the kitchen, in the dining room.

Remember the sourdough? After 2 weeks of feeding it, it finally became something more.

Last night, I used a bunch of my flour, and created the dough for Hot Cross Buns.

This morning, I formed them into rolls and baked them. I think they got a bit too brown, but they looked pretty good. I couldn't be bothered with the crosses, so they are Easter Fruit Buns.

And they made a delicious lunch. The recipe made 16 buns, so I imagine we will be having them for snacks for much of the week.

Yesterday, I decided that I should actually sew something. I've been mostly knitting these days.

I started a new clutch bag, and, of course, managed to mess up the first step. The pattern called for 2 - 6 inch zippers.  I foolishly cut my zipper taper to 6". In the first step it says to cut your zipper tape to 7". So, I had to put the zipper slides onto the tape again, to make 7" long zippers.

At that point, I decided to go back to my knitting, and start again today.

I did slightly better, today. I am working entirely from my stash, so my hardware is a mixture of Iridescent Rainbow, and Shiny Nickel.

I only have one swivel clip in the right size, so  I am making a wrist strap for now. When I have a larger list of hardware, I'll order two more swivels, for a shoulder strap.

I finished the flap, this afternoon.

This is the outside.

This is the inside. Note the rainbow d-rings and the nickel snap. I'm probably the only one who will notice.

And this is the lining. The flap, is a pocket, for your phone, your keys.

I have the rest of the pieces cut out and stabilized. I might get it finished, tomorrow.

Faith

Today, I am working on having faith that we will all get through this and come safely out the other side. So, I will show you my acts of faith, for today.

I purchased an update to my Corel photo software, some time ago. I had a really hard time getting it installed, their problem, not mine, so I kind of left it and continued using the old version. Today, I opened it up and used it to process my pictures for the blog. Surprise! After I spent about an hour learning how to use the new features, it is so much easier and quicker that how I was doing it before. I think I still need to practice a bit more, but I learned something new!

Yesterday, I cut branches from my forsythia bush. I bought the bush when it was tiny, about 30 years ago. The poor thing has had a hard life. It has survived ice storms, extreme cold, and even having the city dig it up to fix the water main. It is a symbol to me for how adversity only makes you stronger. Each year, just before Easter, I bring branches in and force them. It has never failed, although it looks questionable, today.

I have been doing a lot of knitting.

I started my Flotini shawl, just as we started staying home. It is easy knitting for TV viewing. it will be perfect for spring evenings.

There will be a lot of ends to weave in, but it is looking very good so far. Not bad for a stash dive.

My friend Cheryl, (aka Grandma Coco), asked if I would be be interested in knitting the Bellevue Mittens. She asked the designer if the pattern could be used as a fundraiser for the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Rescue. I am behind the other knitters, but I don't think we will need mittens much more before October. This is my second try, since the first try went very wrong, very early.  The yarn is Knit Picks Chroma, found hiding in my stash. Of course, it is purple.

Finally, like millions of others, around the world, I am trying to grow my own sourdough starter.

It is kind of like having a fish tank. You feed it every day, and watch to see if it is doing anything. We had signs of life today, bubbles! We might get bread in a couple more weeks.

To everything, there is a season

For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter, under heaven:
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing
a time to tear, and a time to sew
 -Ecclesiastes 3: selected verses

I may be dating myself, but this song was popular in my youth.

It was running through my mind, this morning, as I was doing some mending. I bet a lot of people are catching up on their mending, while buying new is not so easy.

My sweetie loves heavy cotton sweatshirts. He wears them until they are threadbare. The one he had on this morning was more a poncho than a shirt. The thread in the sleeve seams was just gone.

I sewed up the seams, so it was a shirt again.

Another favourite had a rip in the elbow. I decided to patch it. Of course, there was no way I could make it invisible, so I decided to make it a design feature.

I lined the patch of bright fabric with flannel. Then I used 1/4" strips of fusible web to baste the patch to the shirt.

I top stitched them into place. Of course, I made a matching patch for the second sleeve.

After I finished this, I looked in his closet and found he had 4 more, all in better shape than these two. If I had known, I might not have worked so hard at mending these.

Big Sock, Little Sock

When my boys were little, a favourite book was Big Dog, Little Dog by P. D. Eastman.

It is a book about differences, and lots of fun. This book popped to mind, when I finished another pair of socks, last night.

I finished these socks on Saturday. I knit the second sock in about a week, which may be a new record for me. I find plain vanilla socks to be very soothing to knit. The yarn is the lovely Turtle Toes by Turtlepurl Yarns, from Hillsborough, New Brunswick. 

You can make perfect twins from her dyed together skeins, and you can get a solid skein to do the heels, if you don't want to mess up the striping pattern. This is the fourth pair of adult socks I have knit with her yarn. (She has a sale on currently, this might be a sign I need more yarn.)

Sunday morning, I cast on this pair.

I managed to get the stripes in the perfect spot for baby socks.  I may have been knitting them, while I attended church remotely. (At least I got dressed before church!) This is my very favourite Kate Atherly Baby sock pattern. I don't know how many times I have knit it now, but all the babies I give them to, love them.

Back to Big Dog, Little Dog.

Big sock, little sock. The big sock is to fit a men's size 13 foot. The little ones are size new born.

Two pairs done. At least I am not wasting my time in social distancing. I was knitting the first adult sock, at a meeting before we locked down. Someone told me they were impressed that I didn't waste the time I spent at meetings. I replied that I knit at meetings, so I don't kill anyone. The same might be true of knitting in isolation.

Week One of Social Distancing

I have been playing in my sewing room, knitting and binge watching TV this week. I actually did some yoga and took a couple of walks, as well.

One of my projects this week, was to sort through some of my UFO sewing projects to decide what to do with them.  I watched a video awhile ago on dealing with your UFO's by Just Get It Done quilts.  So I am using her method to sort things.

I actually let go of two projects that I realized I no longer liked. Once I realized I didn't like them, it was easy to let them go. It was very liberating.

I also found two projects that I can finish easily if I make the project smaller. One was a twelve block embroidered quilt. I realized that I could make it six blocks and have a nice little wall hanging. Five of those six blocks are done, and the sixth needs only a small amount of effort to finish.

The second one was a tablerunner, that I had seriously over reached on. I had planned to make it about 12 feet long. In looking at it, I realize that I didn't buy enough fabric and the sections took much longer that I had anticipated. This morning, I decided to put it to the top of the pile, and get it finished (in a much smaller size).

This is the Christmas side. It is quilt as you go, and strip pieced. This is the one end completed.

This is the other end, still in need of a triangle, and piecing.

This is the everyday side. If I were starting this now, I would use a lot more contrast in my fabric.  However, I will finish the last triangle, put the binding on, and call it done.

My short term goal is one UFO for every new project I finish. When I finish this, I get to start a new project. I have a pair of socks nearly done, so I will have to choose a knitting UFO to finish next.

My amaryllis are looking great, and brightening up my days.

We have a house guest, just now.

He is a friend's cat. She is trying to get home, but in the mean time, this guy is hanging with us. I have a serious soft spot for ginger boys.