No Second Sock Syndrome for Me

I finished the second Katwijker sock yesterday while watching FlossTube episodes. 

We got our first hard frost last night so they will be very cozy on my feet as the winter settles in. 

This time last year Skip and I were preparing to fly down to south Texas to spend a couple of weeks in the Rio Grande Valley and do some birding during the fall migration. The trip down took over 20 hours but once we were there we had a thoroughly wonderful time re-acquainting ourselves with the familiar places. We decided this should be an annual event (in addition to spending the winters down there) but that is not to be in 2020.

I've also been stitching the watermelon pincushion I ordered from mybobbin.com.

I couldn't iron it for the photo or the guide lines would disappear but this is what I've done so far.

When I'm done stitching I'll press it from the wrong side face down on a terry cloth towel and the black lines will disappear. Then the pieces will be cut out leaving a 3/8" margin.The oval part will be folded in half and the 'rind' will be attached along the edges. It will be stuffed for a 3D effect and then cording will be made and added along the edges. I haven't stitched anything on Aida cloth for quite a while but it's perfect for something like this that will be covered all over with stitches. The only drawback is the holes are too small to accommodate the doubled wool/acrylic thread. However it does pack the stitches in very well so it does work out after all.

I'm quite surprised when I read blog posts and watch peoples' YouTube channels that they seem to be carrying on with friends and family as if there wasn't a pandemic raging around them. Stitching retreats are still going on, people are meeting with friends at bars and restaurants and travelling with friends (in the same vehicle!) to visit shops, going out to large group social events and fund-raisers, and having people to their homes. It is hard to understand why people don't understand that those are the activities that are allowing the virus to transfer within communities. Then the virus is taken back to their homes to infect others who may be even more vulnerable. Yes, we are all tired of COVID-19 but it doesn't care about us and will continue raging regardless of who is leading the country or how upset people are that businesses and schools are not operating at full capacity.

It is also very disturbing to hear the out-and-out lies by politicians in their desperate attempts to sway voters to their side. 

We, in Canada, are dealing with a second wave right now as well, even though most of us have followed the recommended protocols. Our leaders have not given up on trying to get control of the virus as has the US president. We, too, are tired, but because more caution was exercised at an early juncture and things didn't get way out of control then (except for long-term care homes), we do have a hope that we will be able  to get our numbers down in this second wave. For the most part our leaders have modelled the appropriate garb and behaviour. Most of the outbreaks now are in schools and again in long-term care homes. But now is not the time to ignore health guidelines.

Skip and I got our flu shots last week. The high-dose vaccine recommended for seniors was not yet available at our doctor's office so we had to make do with the regular one. Preliminary reports indicate that between record numbers of people getting their flu shots and also living in much more isolation, the flu numbers will be way down this season. At least something good can come from all this.

I choose to focus on the positive. The negative stuff is there - I just choose not to spend time dwelling on it. 

• I am fortunate that Skip is a very agreeable person to spend months on end, 24/7, with. 
• I am fortunate that I have the technology to connect with several groups of friends online on a regular basis. 
• I am fortunate to have a vast stash of craft materials to keep myself productively occupied for months on end
• I am fortunate to have a cosy house to live in and good food to eat
• I am fortunate to have the time to do what I want 
• I am fortunate that I no longer have to work to support myself as I was fortunate enough to invest in a very well-managed pension plan
• I am fortunate that I am in relative good health and have a minimum of aches and pains
• I am fortunate that there's lots of good stuff to watch on TV, streaming, or on YouTube that I can always be learning new stuff
• Mostly, I am fortunate to have many good friends and family in my life.

Wow! That was quite a digression.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Feeding Frenzy

I was very pleased this morning to see some birds feeding at the new globe feeder. There were lots of red-breasted nuthatches flying in and out of the globe. One even tapped on the window while sitting on the ledge outside.

Goldfinches liked it too. They're not so gold when it's not breeding time.

"What is all the fuss about?"

"Oh, what the heck. We're goin' in".

The smaller birds now have a choice about which feeder they want to visit. The big birds (grackles) can't get at the seed in the globe feeder.

A housefinch visits the big feeder. This is the one that spins if too many big birds or squirrels try to feed on it. It's the Droll Yankee Flipper. 

Nuthatches like it, too.

Another Pair of Katwijker Socks

 I really like this textured sock pattern. This is the third or fourth pair I've knit with this pattern.

The yarn is Fleece Artist Kidazzle - 70% merino, 20% kid mohair, 10% nylon. I bought it at the first KnitEast in 2011 out in St. Andrew's-By-The-Sea, NB. I took a class with Cat Bordhi (RIP) on her Insouciant Socks where we created a cardboard template of our foot which served as a guide for custom knitting toe-up socks for our own feet. She was a brilliant designer and teacher. This was one of her favourite yarns.

I tend to wear out the bottoms of the heels of my socks. On this pair, I added reinforcing yarn - the kind that comes as a spool in some balls of sock yarn (e.g. Jawoll). I wasn't concerned that it didn't match the colour of the sock yarn.  Once I rounded the heel, I used this yarn to knit the short rows as well as continuing the 'eye of partridge' slipped stitch pattern on the bottom of the heel. As I was knitting in the round, I just cut the reinforcing yarn at the end of where I was using it and started another strand at the beginning of that part on the next round. 

The slipped stitches leave a strand on the wrong side which serves as a second layer of yarn. The reinforcing yarn doesn't match but who's going to see it while the sock is being worn?

 I believe with that and the reinforcing yarn, I won't be wearing a hole in the heel of these socks for a long while. Sock number #2 is almost finished.

Getting Stuff Done

I finally ordered new blinds for our living room and family room windows after living in this house for the last 24 years. I have refined procrastination to a very high level. Just by luck, the blinds were on sale - Buy One, Get One Half Price. That's a 25% discount for every pair of blinds. I bought 6 of them so felt like I got a good deals.

I dither so much when trying to make decisions about making major purchases for the house. Mistakes can be costly. But when Skip pulled one of the blinds and its bracket right out of where it was attached, I knew it was time to install the new ones. Today was the day as I'd picked up the blinds last week.

When I went to do the first ones, I thought I had measured wrong because the blind was way too big for the window. Well, crap. I then checked the other set of three and it turns out I had mixed the two sets. Phew!

In spite of measuring twice and screwing brackets in once, I made stupid arithmetic errors and had to reposition a couple of brackets. Once in place I realized I had to take them down to attach the valance clips. Then came the issue of attaching the stick that opens and closes the blinds. There were no instructions so I Googled "Blinds To Go attach opener" and clicked on the image that came up that looked like our opener wand. Amazon had the replacement pieces for sale so I clicked on that and there were several photos. I found one that showed how the piece came apart so I could attach it to the 'twirler' on the blind. Bingo! That was it for the family room blinds. 

On to the living room.

The brackets for the living room blinds were bigger and my drill bits were too short for the Phillips screws the bracket came with. Skip had a rusty, old, long bit for a Robertson (square head) screw so I rummaged through the container of random screws and found a bunch that would work perfectly. As luck would have it I had just reorganized the bunch of screws, nuts, and bolts on the shelves in the laundry room last week. As an aside, I discovered we have 4 or 5 different cans of lubricants - WD40, lithium grease, 3 in 1, etc - a couple of tubes of silicone caulk and peelable Draft Stop caulk, and several hammers, 3 tennis balls, all kinds of deck screws, many marrette wire connectors, a panoply of wall anchors, etc. But I digress.

Pleased that my organizing last week paid off so quickly, we, in much short order, were able to install the living room blinds with a minimum of bad language.

That was one big thing off our to do list. Skip spent an hour or so cutting up all the cardboard that the blinds came in. Recycling will be picked up tomorrow. 

A bit of back-tracking. A parcel arrived yesterday. It's a mixed seed globe feeder for small birds. (photo is from their catalogue. We haven't had snow - yet)

I will let the little birds (chickadees, nuthatches, American goldfinches, etc.) feed without being pestered by grackles and cardinals. I sure hope they're not to scared to go through the lines of longitude and latitude.

This morning a parcel arrived with the new sweep for under our glass shower door. The 'sweeps' on the other one wore out quite a while ago and I figured out how to order them online. I had to use a saw to cut the plastic part down to size; then was able to install it easily.

This afternoon, I bought a frame for another of the watercolours painted by my friend, the very talented Jan Pettafor. She is a brilliant artist who captures the images of animals beautifully. Today's frame was to match the one I bought quite a while ago for the oriole she painted from a snapshot I took in the back yard last spring.

I also purchased a painting of a sunflower with a bee. I'll pop it into the frame I got today and find a appropriate place to hang it. 

I love having original paintings by my gifted, artistic friends. Most of the artwork we display in our home falls in that category.

While enjoying a takeout coffee in a fast food parking lot this afternoon on the way home from Michaels, a young lady approached my car and asked if I had jumper cables to start her car. I did! So my good deed of the day was to help that damsel in distress. After we got her car started (my red to her red, her black to unpainted metal on my car), I told her "we don't need no raggedy old men to help us out". I'm sure she thought the senior citizen that helped her out was a bit loopy. It was also the first time I've jump started anyone with my 7 year-old car. Now I know where my battery is.

Which reminds me, I need to get an oil change. I tried 3 times last week and each time was told there would be a 90 minute wait to get in.

I'm pretty sure after all that activity, I'll conk out pretty quickly tonight - not that I ever have trouble sleeping.

PS Skip and I got our flu shots at our doctor's yesterday. She didn't have the high dose vaccine so I guess this will have to do. Word has it with all the isolating and mask wearing, our incidence of flu this season will be WAY down. At least something good can come from this annoying pandemic.

Exciting Mail

A couple of weeks ago I was watching a FlossTube video by MommaLovesYouGB where she was talking about ordering a Riolis chart from mybobbin.com. The charts are from Russia but have English instructions; big colour charts with symbols; and come with sorted threads on cards, the fabric (Aida), and a needle. Shipping is pretty fast, inexpensive ($5.99US) and the company takes PayPal.

A lot of them are what I consider old-fashioned 'cutesy' charts but one really appealed was one with a sea turtle so I ordered it and a couple of other things to fill out the order a bit.

It has 28 colours. Here's a wee sample of what the chart looks like and the colour legend. Finished size of the design area will be about 11.25" x 10".

Under each colour it shows how many threads to use. In these colours (19 - 28) you can see two threads are called for. There were some other colours with one thread. 

I will substitute a linen or evenweave fabric for the Aida cloth.

I also ordered this little watermelon pin cushion.

Its threads are a wool/acrylic blend and it's stitched with two threads.

As it will be all-over coverage, cut out, and sewn together, I'm using the Aida that it came with and drew the grid lines on with a heat erasable pen. The lines aren't really visible when covered up but with a warm iron on the back when I'm finished they'll definitely disappear. The grid lines sure make it easier to stitch the watermelon 'pips'. 

I also ordered a rectangular hoop.

It measures 7" x 6" and has a very good screw-tightening mechanism. 

There is a little groove on the inner piece that snugly fits into the tongue around the inside of the outer piece. Great for holding the fabric drum-tight, if required. It also will work  with the inner hoop rotated 180 degrees. 

My Bobbin dot com carries these hoops in many sizes as well as round and oval ones. 

The items arrived in 2 1/2 weeks after I ordered them. They were shipped from The Netherlands. The two kits and hoop totalled about $40US which I believe is a very good value. I wouldn't hesitate ordering from them again.

I also made some masks the other day. 

This fabric was an autumnal shirt I loved but no longer fit. Pumpkins and swirling leaves.

I made two of these masks. One for Skip and one for me. Spiderwebs and spiders - very scary.

I'm all set for the rare occasions I ever leave the house.

Quaker Sampler

I did some therapeutic stitching last night after hearing some very upsetting news about one of my favourite YouTube couples and finished my Quaker alphabet sampler.

It's 'Willie's Quaker Square #7" from the June 2008 Issue #27 of 'The Gift of Stitching' magazine. I used the variegated red DMC 115, 1 over 2, and 40ct Platinum linen. 

It measures 6" x 6.25". I will be in search of a square frame that will work - possibly 8" x 8".

As I mentioned in a previous post, I 'fussy cut' the thread to exclude the brightest red and stayed with the darker colours. 

I really enjoy stitching with one colour and really like this particular variegated thread. 

I have SO many projects to FFO (Finally Finish). Right now I just feel like stitching, though. And that is what I'll do. 

About The Gift of Stitching Magazine. It is available for .pdf download in various formats, complete 72 issue set; set of Christmas issues; historic countries set; and year by year. 

The complete 72 issue series is only $39.99 US which, I believe, is a great value. I have earmarked about 15 patterns that greatly interest me.

Skip and I have been playing 'furnace chicken' - each waiting the other out to turn it on. I've been wearing my winter woolies (my hand knit sweaters and socks) and he's been piling extra duvets on the bed. Our new t-shirt sheets went on last week. I finally broke down this morning and turned the heat on after Skip had intentionally used the oven to prepare his breakfast so he could leave the door open to let the heat into the kitchen. We may be living during a pandemic but we're not freaking Dickens characters. LOL.

The house was down to 17C and the sun hadn't really come out yet so I broke down and programmed the furnace for 22C. It's nice and toasty in the house now.

Sneak Peek at Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine 2020 Winter - Christmas Issue

I have no affiliation with Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine but I find it to be a very good value. There are at least a couple of patterns in each one that I would love to do. With the digital subscription, It makes it very affordable and I don't have to find a place to store the magazine.

The Christmas issue is always a big one. The upcoming one has 31 cross stitch and punch needle patterns. 

Here are several that I really liked:

Merry Christmas by Ezster Marjanovic

                                                        Comfort and Joy by Misty Pursel

Christmas Boughs by Ryann Mack

The Friendly Beasts by Abby Johns

Winter Cardinal Etching by Cecilia Turner

Polar Bear Abode by Stephanie Webb

Woodland Deer by Tara Guernsey

 Ginger Cookies by Lela Mae Designs

I'm really looking forward to this issue's release the first week of November.

An Exciting Week - So Far

Teresa Kogut displayed her fall releases yesterday on her FlossTube channel.  Finally 'Above All' can be officially revealed.

This was the piece that took 7 weeks for the fabric, threads, and pattern to get to me from Michigan last April and May. I believe I got it finished for her by the end of June (or maybe it was July) as I knew she wanted it for her fall release and wanted to give her lots of time to get it framed and the pattern written up and ready for publishing.

She is shipping to stitchery shops this week and will then offer them for sale on her etsy shop in a while after that.

Here are some of her other new fall releases:

Then this evening, I saw something on Facebook that the sneak preview of the 2020 Winter - Christmas issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine was posted on their website. I had a hunch a piece I had stitched for Teresa back in February was going to be in this issue and I was right!

I stitched this one last February while I was in Texas and had no trouble mailing it back to her in Michigan.

The magazine should be out the first week of November. A print subscription is only available in the us. Digital subscriptions are available everywhere else. 

There are 31 designs for both cross stitch and punch needle. The images are all in a slide show on the website so have a look. I've already found several of the designs I want to stitch.

To add to the excitement this week, I had a flat tire yesterday. A couple of weeks ago I noticed my tire was low. I was inspired to buy an AirHawk at Canadian Tire so I could pump my tires up anywhere. It has a chargeable battery pack as well can be operated with a long cord that connects to the cigarette lighter input. I checked the tire a couple of times after that and it seems to be holding air so I promptly forgot about getting it checked at a tire shop.

I haven't been driving much and the last time I took the car out was early last week. So yesterday I was backing out of the garage to meet my stitching friends for another outdoor get-together and the car handled really strangely. I hopped out to check on the suspect tire and sure enough, it was completely flat. I hooked up the AirHawk and the tire wouldn't hold any air.

So back into the house I went and asked to borrow Skip's car and suggested it would be great if, during my absence, he would call CAA and have them come and put the spare tire (donut) on the car. Then off I drove to the park.

When I got home, the spare was installed. THANK YOU, SKIP! YOU'RE THE BEST HUSBAND EVER! It took the CAA guy about 10 minutes to swap out the tires. They noticed that there was a finishing nail creating the leak. 

I went to the tire shop this afternoon. I asked them to have a look at the tire and see if it could be repaired or replaced. I also told them I thought the tires might be original to the 2014 car and for them to check the treads for wear.

He came back and said the tires were from 2013. Evidently that is stamped (embossed?) on them. So I quickly made the decision to replace them all and with all-weather tires. I have never had snow tires as we have spent most of the last 13 winters in the sunny south and when I'm home, I don't do that much driving anyway - especially during a pandemic. 

So tomorrow when the tires arrive at the shop, I'll get them installed and I'll be on my way, ready for somewhat snowy winter conditions.

This evening Kim did an embroidery tutorial with those of us from the Trillium Embroidery Guild who are working on the stitchery alphabet project. 

I learned how to do an Interlaced Band. It starts with a herringbone stitch. Then a contrasting thread is woven into it. 

I tried a sample on some Aida cloth to practice before trying it on the good fabric. 

My first attempt was not successful. The floss was too thin on the herringbone part and too close to the colour of the interlaced part. I also made some errors with the over/under weaving of both the herringbone and the interlacing. I tried it again with two, thicker contrasting threads and it worked!

I thought I'd better try it right away on the good piece before I forgot how to do it. I had the sparkly blue floss - DMC Etoile for the Interlaced part. The herringbone was done with white #8 perle cotton.

Success!

Our next stitch is the Jacquard stitch. I will have to decide what contrasting threads to use for that. I have the hardest time picking colours but I will soldier on.

This week has gone by so fast. It will be November before we know it - our 8th month dealing with the pandemic. 

A Rotation

I finished the model I was stitching for Teresa Kogut. I will check it over and mail it back to her this week. I think it's for her Market release next spring. I assume Market will be virtual this year if things (the pandemic) keep going they way they have been in the US.

I've been hoping to see her fall release when Above All and some other charts will become available to her devotees.

I got a lot done on the Hardanger pouch piece. I just need to do the flower in the middle of the bottom piece plus my initials and the date. Then comes the hunt for the lining fabric.

Oh yeah, and there are some threads to cut and bars to weave in the middle of those two squares on the outer flap. The pattern calls for cross stitches in each Kloster square but I'm going to use beads there on  the outer flap.

I have also resumed work on the Quaker alphabet piece.

I really like stitching with one colour. Also, stitching with one thread doesn't require 'railroading' to make the stitches lie flat. I'm a 'sewer' rather than a 'darner' so I can move along pretty quickly.

I'm still fussy cutting the bright red parts of the variegated DMC 115. 

No one would ever accuse me of having OCD but I do love the clean, simplicity and symmetry of the Quaker motifs.

I have several other projects from the CD of Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly that I would love to do. I have gone through most of the 80 issues and printed a lot of the projects in the first 50 or so that I have on my 'to do' list. 

Something else I want to do is to get some of my stitched pieces FFOd in some way. I'm hoping to use some of them on project bags and also have an idea to put some on hinged boxes.

We have had some spectacular weather so far this fall. A bunch of us are going to meet on Tuesday at a local public park with our chairs, TV trays, lunches and beverages for some socially-distanced stitching and gabbing. It's so nice to spend time in person with my stitching friends.