First Attempt at Sashiko

I worked on the little sashiko project last night.

First, I did the crosses with the white thread. I stitched the white crosses through two layers so the long, white basting stitches are holding the two layers together. The hank of thread has 40m on it so will be good for many other projects. 

Then the first bunch of weaving with the blue thread. This was not without error, however. A couple of times I had to pull out the stitches because I had woven through the wrong part of the white cross.  

Easily remedied, though, and only a small amount of bad language was uttered. Then finished the weaving in the other direction.

Next came the small, yellow crosses to anchor the centres of the blue 'flowers'.

Proper technique involves stitching continuously in one direction then the other with long thread. Sashiko thread is different from perle cotton in that it's not twisted as tightly and has not been mercerized. The result is a dull finish, kinda like thin butcher's string.

I'm eager to start another project that also involves weaving.

While cleaning out the closet in my office, I found this Christmas stocking stitched with 6-ply cotton floss. It would have been done YEARS ago. I had completed the stitching and had stitched my name on the top. I unpicked my name and filled in the gaps and just now have wet blocked it, using the same wires and pins I use when blocking my knitting.

As the needlepoint stitch is on a slant, it really skews the fabric so a firm blocking is needed to straighten things out.

There are supposed to be silk ribbon flowers on her dress but the kit only had about 20cm of silk ribbon; not nearly enough to do French knits on all the flowers. Instead, I'll use big, pink HotFix jewels on them and little sparkly ones on all the white dots.

It will need a backing and lining, too.

Quilt Canada 2025

Yesterday, Jeanette chauffeured Jen1, Barb, and me to the International Centre for the Canadian Quilters Association event, Quilt Canada 2025. Taking the 407 made for a quick, traffic-free drive. Upon arrival, we met up with Jeanette's longtime friend, Patty, who had purchased our tickets. Then we all entered the hall.

We decided upon a meeting point and time for lunch and fanned out. I took a zillion photos of the quilt displays - too many to post and I didn't really get shots of information about the creators or patterns. 

I visited several booths of familiar businesses - including Pastime Pieces and Cotton Harvest and many others new to me. I really didn't need to enhance my fabric or pattern stash, however I was interested in buying some fabric suitable for doing Sashiko embroidery.

Kallisti Quilts  had an excellent selection of Sashiko supplies. They are an online business in Waterloo ON and receive shoppers by appointment. To avoid shipping, items can be ordered online and picked up by arrangement. I will be spending some time in Waterloo this summer so will keep that in mind. 

I purchased three fat quarters suitable for Sashiko embroidery.

One of the darker ones has a bit of a pattern.

The other has a somewhat gridded pattern.

I also bought a water-soluble pencil for transferring stitching lines

and a book that looked interesting. I'm particularly intrigued by the patterns that involve weaving threads under other threads like the centre and bottom items on the cover.

My two nieces were also in attendance but I only got to see them briefly as Ana was working at the event and Rosa had a punch needle class all afternoon. Since I had carpooled, I wasn't free to stay until they both were free for a decent visit. I will catch up with them this summer.

I went back to buy another book but the lineup was too big so I'll buy it through another source.

I like making useful items and there were a few interesting patterns and finishing ideas.

I may have mentioned it before but my dear stitcherly friend (and Iceland/Norway roomie), Poppy, brought me a nifty, beginner's sashiko kit from her epic Japanese textile tour last year.

When I saw her last weekend I had to ask her a couple of technical questions about it but now feel confident I can start it then hopefully segue to doing some of the projects in my new books, now that I have all the materials.

This is all part of a slow stitching movement, where embroidery is done in a somewhat meditative manner. I have done a little bit of surface embroidery and have really enjoyed it, as well as English Paper Piecing. All of which I'd like to get back to doing.

I got home in plenty of time to go to one of the Polish pavilions for Fiesta. I'd had Greek food the night before, and Ukrainian food the night before that. Yummo! I'm always up for a meal out that I don't have to cook for myself. 

Today I finished reading an excellent book by Kristen Hannah called, 'The Women'. It's the story about a young nurse who serves in the US Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War and adjusting to life back at home. I am not normally that interested in historical fiction but this book really grabbed me, probably because I lived through the era and could relate to some of her experiences and losses. I highly recommend it. Now I'll look for some others of her books. 

Getting There

I've never undertaken such an extensive renovation project before. This one is progressing slowly but we're getting there.

The honey oak cupboards were very stylish in 1983 when the house was built. The doors were solid wood but the MDF cabinets were dirty and showing their wear. I had to rebuild the cutlery drawer to the left of the fridge a couple of years ago.

In spite of the fact that there was going to be a full backsplash, I couldn't just leave the walls so dirty.

I washed them with TSP, rinsed them and repainted.

The cabinets went in on the fresh walls except for a couple of pieces that needed to be remade. Then measurements were taken for the new countertop. Barb helped me load the cupboards back up from all their contents strewn all over the dining room. 

With more storage space and a lot of purging, I even have some empty shelves now!

The new, lightly veined, quartz countertop and new faucet were installed yesterday and measurements were taken for the backsplash.

There have been some bumps along the way - a few surprises - but I'm told by others who have been through the process that this is normal. 

There is a small list of things to be completed/reinstalled/connected but I am sure it will all get done. In the meantime, I'm still microwaving and doing dishes in the laundry room.

Before and after:

Stitch Days!

I totally indulged myself and signed up for both of Kimat Designs' stitch days that took place on Friday and yesterday.

Friday, I attended with Barb, who capably chauffeured us up to the Lemonville Community Centre (McGowan and Bloomington Rd area). Several from my guild were in attendance: Alda, Barb, Judy, Joanne, Joanne's daughter, Jennifer

but I had arranged to sit with my new stitchy friends, Blaire and Chris. I met them at this event last August, again at the Pastime Pieces retreat, and again at the Peel Stitch-In last November.

Yesterday, Poppy and I drove up and we sat with Nancy and MaryK.

Refreshments were available all day (tea, coffee, lemonade, scones, muffins) and lunch, dessert, and an afternoon snack was also provided.

It was a really fun way to spend a couple of days with stitcherly friends. I also met some stitchers from other guilds.

There was a 'brag table' in the adjacent room. I was really taken with this Long Dog Sampler piece, "The Quilted Bees" and asked Kim to order the chart for me.

The stitch count is 220 x 211. The solid bits are a LOT of stitching. It really is a stunner.

I finished one project on Friday. It had been in a UFO Ziploc bag since 2018 when I abandoned it. All I had to do was the three motifs on the bottom left (4 balls of yarn, WIP, and the six stitch markers). It's "A Knitter's Sampler" by Robin Sample. I used the DMC conversion given in the pattern. It's going to take a lot of pressing to get the creases out.

I put in some stitches on Clovis, including the last flower on his apron and some of the apron's background.

I realized yesterday I had stitched too much lace on one side of the apron so will have to pick out those stitches. The 'Putty' background shows where the lace should start going along the bottom.

I spent most of the day working on the clutch purse - the kit I bought in Bergen at the knitting show. It's a Pick and Mix canvaswork project. Basically, maintaining the semicircle designs you just pick a random colour from the bunch provided. The tangled mess of threads gives my OCD friends the 'willies' - LOL. It will measure 7 circles across and 5 high when finished. 

Only have 7.5 circles to do plus the centres and the background fill-in. This project was great for social stitching.

Last night I stitched a bunch more on it whilst watching 'The Accountant' on Prime Video. Poppy recommended it. I don't do well with long, drawn out series, particularly mysteries. I started watching 'The Residence' on Netflix and after about episode 3 got bored with all the red herrings. I didn't even bother jumping to Episode 8 to see the conclusion. Same with 'Sirens'. I bailed in episode 3 when it started getting really weird.  "The Accountant" held my interest and I plan to watch the second movie in the series tonight. Oh yeah, and also the latest episode of 'Clarkson's Farm' - a new episode comes out every Thursday.

Today, I exchanged my over-the-stove microwave oven for a new range hood which, of course, cost even more than the microwave. It turns out the previous range hood I had was not strong enough after all. With a gas stove a minimum of 600 CFM (cubic feet per minute of intake) is required. It will take a couple of weeks to come in but I can pick it up at the store rather than pay to have it delivered.

Back at home, I trimmed my shrubs out front. This is sweaty work involving use of the hedge trimmer, then raking up everything, and then blowing the remnants back into the garden. While I was putting stuff back in the garage, I finally replaced the burned out lighbulbs in the overhead units of the garage door openers. They'd been burned out for at least a couple of years. I did a bit of sweeping up in there, too. I really need to do a thorough cleaning of the floor, possibly with the leaf blower. When the guys were scribing and trimming my cupboard sides, they set up their saw in there so there's lots of sawdust mixed with all the other crud all over the floor. 

I finally planted the geraniums that I had put out on the deck a couple of weeks ago to harden off. I then remembered my neighbour, Pam, said I could have some of the bachelor buttons from her garden. The plants were surrounded by periwinkle or some kinds of creeping vegetation so it was a struggle to extricate the one plant I took. It is now planted in the garden and I hope it does OK there. I really wanted some blue as a change from only having red and yellow  flowers back there.

Next week will be very busy - at least one major event each day. I will have to pace myself.

Speaking of pacing myself, I registered for the Lakefield Adult Music Camp this summer! Former UWO Faculty of Music classmate, Rifka, as been enthusiastically recommending it to me for the past few years. My oboe chops are so out of shape but I did sign up for Concert Band, Choir for All, Ukulele, Vocal Jazz, and Celtic singing. It should be fun but I need to start training so my lip and fingers won't give out during the intense week of playing. On Rifka's recommendation, I did take a 'spare' in the 4th of the 6th daily sessions. I hoping my excitement will help me have enough stamina to get through the day and the nightly recitals/performances.

It'll be great to get back to playing my oboe again.

Instant Gratification

Yesterday my kitchen cupboards were removed in preparation for the new ones which will be installed on Monday and Tuesday.

Yuk! The brown area on the floor is the original, hideous vinyl flooring. The ceramic tile was installed later and just cut around the existing lower cabinets. Last night I washed the walls with TSP and rinsed them off. 

That room must have been so dark before the ceramic tile was installed.

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning to get a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics to deal with a puncture wound in my leg that occurred last Tuesday (from a garden implement) and is now infected.  Then I went to my guild’s stitch day. By 2pm, I was feeling really tired so I headed out and stopped off at the Salvation Army donation centre to unload the 4 bags and boxes of surplus kitchen stuff and clothing that have been rattling around in my trunk for a couple of days. Then I headed to Home Depot to pick up paint for the kitchen. 

I had a can of the leftover kitchen paint in the basement but the can was all rusty and I didn’t feel like straining the paint so I could use it. I had taken a photo of the can and the sticker on the top with the colour formula.

Back at home, with my new gallon of paint, I suddenly had enough energy to start painting. I rummaged through my painting supplies and found a big roller and a small foam roller, cut-in paint brush, paint tray and liner, then set to work. 

Two coats, some touch-ups and a few hours later, it’s all clean and fresh again! I really wanted to get rid of the green paint on the bulkheads - which is really what motivated me to paint.

I located the box of spare ceramic tiles in the basement that the previous owners (pre 1996 when we bought the house) had left. So repairs and patching can be done if necessary. 

It was very sweaty work but I am so pleased with the fresh palette - all ready for the cupboard installation. Tuesday afternoon, with the installation completed, measurements will be taken for the countertop. It will take 2+ weeks to manufacture and install. The stove, fridge, and dishwasher will be back in place and hooked up on Tuesday so I can start putting all my kitchen stuff away.

This paint colour is also used in my foyer so I ran around and touched up bashed corners and other marred spots on the walls. Painting is such an easy way to transform and freshen up a room’s décor. 

It was physically challenging to climb up and down the step stool for all the cut-in and bulkhead painting, but only doing a couple of walls was manageable. Rest assured, any major painting in the future will be done by a professional.

Had to Start Again

 I wasn’t liking the feel of my green handspun in the crocheted linen stitch scarf. I found some Malabrigo sock yarn in the same colour (Lettuce 37) and ripped back to the beginning of the green and switched yarns. After crocheting about a dozen sts in the new colour, I noted the Malabrigo yarn was much thinner and making the fabric curve because of the smaller gauge. I ripped back to the beginning of the row again and did ch2 between single crochet stitches. That made things flatten out nicely. The hook is a size larger than the pattern calls for. I usually use a larger hook so the drape of the fabric will be a bit looser.

Adjusting chain stitches between single crochet stitches is a great modification allowing this pattern to be done with two different weights of yarn. The 'feel' of the fabric is much softer and nicer.

The demolition/removal of my kitchen cupboards will happen this Friday. I have most of the contents of my cupboards strewn all over my dining room table and on the floor around the periphery of my dining room.

About half the contents were placed there at the end of April but a couple of days before the anticipated demo, I learned that there would be a delay until the end of the first week in June. I piled the rest of the stuff in there today.

I got most of the cupboards emptied. I wiped the shelves clean, too. They're headed for a dumpster but I couldn't leave them dirty. 

The previous owner had used MacTac shelf lining. When I tried to remove it years ago, the MDF peeled up with it in places so I cleaned it the best I could and left it.

For the past month, I've done fine managing with only a couple of plates, bowls, etc. These last bits will just be put onto the kitchen table tomorrow. I'm setting up the microwave oven on the washing machine as my main floor laundry room is only steps away from the kitchen. I'll wash the dishes in the laundry tubs.

These were all the dishes I've needed this past month.

I've been getting by with minimal kitchen utensils. 

Geraniums were under these grow lights all winter. They got put out on the deck yesterday to harden off and am using the space for some small appliances.

After breakfast tomorrow, these cupboards will be cleared out. 

The plastic containers on the right are all from leftovers I've been eating out of the freezer. I'll move the fridge over to the opposite wall before the demo and installation. It won't be in the way there and can still be used. 

It has really been a good exercise in getting rid of stuff I haven't used in years, especially things with best before or expiry dates. I'm also getting rid of at least 20 mugs - only keeping ones with top-level sentimental value. 

The tall cupboard to the right of the fridge is being eliminated, and the fridge will be moved over to that place. I'll gain a bank of drawers which should eliminate having my big utensils in containers on the counter.

After the cupboard install, measurements for the new quartz countertop will be taken. It will be manufactured then installed along with the new sink and faucet set in a couple of weeks. So I have a couple of weeks without a fully functioning kitchen coming up.

This renovation is something I have wanted to do for about 20 years and for one reason or another (finances, timing, life events, illnesses, COVID, etc.) we never 'pulled the trigger' on the project. It'll be great to get it all done and everything in place.

Bye, bye honey oak from the 80s. Hello fresh, clean, modified Shaker style cupboards.

In the meantime, I'll be doing a lot of dining out and bringing home takeout. Two of my favourite activities. 

Clovis Update

 I haven't been stitching during the week other than with the Monday morning stitchers and any stitch days with the gang.

The only project I've been working on is Clovis, the cross-dressing badger:

I'm compensating for the extra stitch I added between the eyes. This involves the entire column. It's been easy to do this on the apron, I just stitch the flowers out from the sides of the lace trim and fill in during social stitching.

There's a LOT of stitching on these Animal Cracker pieces. Ideally, I'll finish them as stand-ups. There are so many other stitched pieces that need to be FFOd. And I'm OK with that.

A Rough Week - Better Now

Last Friday was the one year anniversary of Skip's death. The whole week was really difficult for me emotionally. My friends took great care of me: sending messages, bringing food and gifts, inviting me for lunch visits and extra stitchy time. 

My neighbour's husband died 2 years to the day before Skip so I took her out for dinner to honour our husbands over some nice food and bevvies. Getting out of the house that evening was really good for my mental health. I will avoid wallowing in my grief over such an extended time in the future.

I'm working away on the second 3 x 1 ribbed sock with the Austermann Step yarn. 

Wait! What! How did I get identical twin socks after all?

Rather than try to pull the yarn and start in the right place in the middle of a colour band from the first sock, I just knit right into the yellow band. Then I snipped the yarn and unravelled it a row before where the first sock started. Then I unravelled all of what I had done on the second sock, cast on where I had snipped and re-started the second sock. 

I'll hold on to the piece I cut off for some scrappy sock yarn project.

I'm only a few rounds from starting the heel.

Then, inspired by a video I saw online two days ago, I started crocheting a linen stitch scarf, designed by Heidi Cantway. It's a free pattern on Ravelry. Here's one of her photos from the design page:

I crocheted a swatch with about 46 stitches. then measured to determine the gauge. It is knit lengthways so to get a 72" scarf I needed to chain 450 sts. I stopped at 400 so my scarf will measure about 68" when completed. The fringe is added afterwards. 

I'm using a mystery skein of sock yarn alternating with a skein of my handspun (green)for contrast.

and a 3.75mm crochet hook.

It's a really easy stitch pattern and looks the same on both sides. Once the foundation chain is completed, turn and (sc1, ch 1) all the way across. In the next row, ch2, then sc1 in the hole created by the ch 1 from the previous row and ch1. Continue the sc1, ch1 pattern for the rest of the scar. Easy! I'm alternating colours every other row until it's about 4.5 wide. The fringe is added afterwards. Do download the pattern for more specific and accurate details.

This would be an excellent pattern for any random yarns of the same weight. Once I got past the tedious foundation chain and first row, I really started to enjoy this project.

I've been watching the new season of  'Clarkson's Farm'. Hilarious in spots. This season he's hoping to open a pub in a nearby village with a shop attached where local items will be sold. The hope is to divert  some of the traffic from the Diddly Squat shop that the council keeps complaining about.

And finally, last night Alexa and I ventured up to Betty's farm to try to see the Northern Lights. It wasn't dark enough and probably not late enough. A drive farther out into the countryside would probably be more successful on a cloudless night.  Here's how to photograph the Northern Lights with your iPhone.

You do have to be in the dark to get the slider to go to 10 seconds. Then, when you're photographing, stay still and keep the cross-hairs on top of each other. There are probably other, clearer instructions online.

Aurora is a cool, free app that shows were the Northern Lights are seen anywhere in the world in real time. 

Another cool night-time, star-gazing app is Sky View Lite (free for the basic version) 

and Stellarium. 

The latter one was recommended by the astronomer from our cruise. For the latter two apps, you basically hold your camera up to the sky and even through clouds, the app will identify any celestial bodies and then superimpose drawings of the constellations.