Dancing in the Sun

I'm making use of the new LED light for my Featherweight, which is back out of its case and on the job.


The piecing of the first quilt top of the new year, "Seeing Stars," is almost done. Here's the photo I took of the first block, ready to put together.


The pattern is "Clara's Journey" from Connecting Threads.

The center nine-patches and the primary fabrics in the big stars are scrappy, but otherwise I've been consistent in the use of fabrics. All that's left to do is the borders, which will finish the outer small stars, with an outer border of the off-white background fabric.


The turquoise was sort of a daring feat for me. I'm branching out. (I still love traditional and vintage reproduction fabrics, though.)

The Sundance Film Festival has started again, and I've served one shift (on Saturday) of the four I have planned. I have another one this afternoon/evening.

I always take something to work on, in case I have some down time on the job. Saturday I was assigned "exit/re-entry, which gets pretty quiet after the film starts, so I got some knitting done. I've been making good progress on my Brick Cardigan. (The pattern is "Aleph" by Hannah Cuviello.)

We went to the opera yesterday, so I had the trip down to SLC and during the opera to work on it.



Our older granddaughter is coming for a visit and will be here when I get home from my shift. I see sushi and more knitting in my future....

What's on my needles: Brick Cardigan, good progress.

What's on my Featherweight: "Seeing Stars" quilt, center done, just the borders to go.

What's on my loom: Some warp for another scarf, but still folded up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The President's Pilot by Robert Gandt, and Home from the Sea by Mercedes Lackey. Now listening to In the Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotsen. Still reading And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander, not on the iPad for once but a paperback version I picked up at a rummage sale.

What's my app of the week: Southwest, for flight information, etc.

What's in my wine glass: A Chianti this time, Livingston Cellars.

What's my tip of the week: There are a number of apps that let you make calls through the Internet without charge, which is handy if you live in the mountains and have poor or no cell service in your home or you're visiting a place where you have access to WiFi but don't have service. Some of these apps allow you to use your own cell phone number.


Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Out and About

Common Threads met at Wasatch & Wool on Thursday.

It was inspiring, sitting with our knitting while surrounded by lovely yarns of all types. Margaux provided us with some delicious munchies.

Lynda wore the hat she just finished:


I wore my Sandy Beach Scarf, which took one skein of Manos del Uruguay Lace alpaca, silk and cashmere. (Yum!)


I finished my hat during the meeting. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Maxima, 100% merino.


Then I swatched for my new cardigan, using the yarn I bought on my birthday. I'm calling it Brick because of the color. Here's the project page. The ladies at Common Threads helped me decide which pattern to use. This is the one I'm using.

I cut the bottom ribbing in half, because I'm so short-waisted, and I'm using a tighter gauge to get a size that will fit me the way I like.


My other choice of pattern was this. I probably will use Andes Del Campo for this second pattern. I have enough in "Brass Heather" to make it. Here's the project page for that, although I haven't started it yet.

I'm making good progress on the cardigan, now that I've settled on the pattern:


In the meantime, quilters, I'm playing around with these fabrics:


I'm starting to have more energy again, so I should be back to quilting soon. (I find quilting to take more energy than knitting.)

What's on my needles: Sandy Beach Scarf finished, then Wasatch Cap done. Now working on my Brick Cardigan.

What's on my Featherweight: Still put away in its case, but calling to me. ("Let me out! I want to play....")

What's on my loom: Some warp for another scarf, but still folded up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to The President's Pilot by Robert Gandt, a recent Daily Deal from Audible. Also reading And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander, not on the iPad for once but a paperback version I picked up at a rummage sale.

What's my app of the week: Sundance 2015, which should come in handy this week as I help patrons of the Sundance Film Festival get information and wait-list tickets.

What's in my wine glass: Big House Cardinal Zin Zinfandel 2012, 3 L Premium Wine Cask (basically a octagon box). Shockingly good!

What's my tip of the week: When piecing pieced strips, run them through the sewing machine with the seam allowance of the top strip toward the presser foot, if possible, so the seam will nest automatically.


If one side is bigger than the other, though, put the bigger side on the bottom, so the feed dogs will grab it and ease it in. (In the photo, you can see my little stack of sticky notes that guide the fabric through to the needle to give me that 1/4" seam allowance I need.


Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Back in the Saddle

I'm almost back to normal, and finally getting some knitting done. My Sandy Beach Scarf is coming along.

The orange stitch marker shows the halfway point in the length. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Lace, alpaca, silk and cashmere.

Soren's hat is finished and in the mail to him. I used this easy pattern:

My Sock Ruler arrived:

Can't wait to try it out!

Things have been pretty quiet this past week (like Lake Wobegon?), but I got out with the pups on Saturday, so they could have a run on the street. I'm hoping to get my strength back, so I can get back to quilting, which takes more energy than knitting. The Sundance Film Festival starts soon, too, so I need to be ready for that.

In the meantime, this week's cuteness is a photo of Johan's first swim lesson:

What's on my needles: Making good progress on the Sandy Beach Scarf.

What's on my Featherweight: Still put away in its case.

What's on my loom: Some warp for another scarf, but still folded up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Just finished Cousin Kate by Gergette Heyer from Audible, darker than her usual, reminiscent of Jane Eyre. Finished reading Dead Center by Danielle Girard, not really into anything new yet.

What's my app of the week: Netflix. When I was too weak to read, I was able to watch movies on my iPad.

What's in my wine glass: Redwood Creek Pinot Noir, a delightful new find.

What's my tip of the week: Dried onions and garlic come in handy if health or weather don't permit getting out to the store. Extra bananas can be sliced and frozen on a cookie sheet to save for when fresh food is hard to come by.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Goodbyes

This was the week we said goodbye to visiting grandkids.

When I took Soren and his family to the airport I learned that he didn't have a hat that fit, so I dug through my stash when I got back and found some Swish DK in "Dusk." I CO immediately.

I'm using this easy pattern.

On New Year's Eve I came down with a respiratory flu, and was too weak to feel like knitting. I'm on the mend now, and I'm happy to make it into the new year. Many of our appliances didn't.

Here's a list of the appliances or devices that stopped working or needed repair in 2014:

Electric bobbin winder (I broke the foot pedal, still waiting to get it fixed)

Yøtul Stove (just needed cleaning)

Both CO2 detectors (had to be replaced)

'98 Subaru Legacy station wagon (after $1000 in repairs, DH replaced it with a 2011 Impreza)

Gas stove (oven, needed new igniter)

1982 Maytag gas dryer (lint build-up only, good as new)

1982 Maytag washer (new pump, motor and wire connector, now good as new) 

Microwave (replaced)

MacBook (was running out of memory, like its owner, now running well)

Garbage disposal (still waiting on repair or replacement)

Space heater (probably going to recycling)

Here's something that never stopped running, though:

We said goodbye to the future soccer star and his sister, Miss Daphne, on Saturday morning, as they climbed into the car for the trip home.

To end up the week we had a power failure on Sunday afternoon that lasted 12 hours. Totally missed Downton Abbey. Fortunately, we are set up to deal with power outages. Our Jøtul stove downstairs can heat the whole house if we take it off thermostat and open the door to the downstairs. Then we have the wood-burning fireplace upstairs in our living room for additional heat. We have a gas stove, and can light the burners with a match if we have to. Candles, kerosene lamps, warm pups = cozy!

What's on my needles: Still the Sandy Beach scarf, no progress this week. Several inches on Soren's new hat, almost ready to start the decreases.

What's on my Featherweight: Put away in its case.

What's on my loom: Some warp for another scarf, but still folded up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Dyeing Wishes by Molly MacRae from Audible. Reading Dead Center by Danielle Girard, a crime novel.

What's my app of the week: KSL Vortex weather app, which came in handy advising DD and DSIL on travel home.

What's in my wine glass: Gato Negro Malbec 2013, the last of the big bottle, a nice Argentinian wine.

What's my tip of the week: Sock knitters, here's a useful tool I just discovered. I'm going to order one.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.