After receiving Sylvia's photo and consulting with my stitchy friends, I decided to start another needlebook. I just happened to have some 28ct white linen in my stash.
I kept the blue Sulky thread and the acid green thread and swapped out the yellow Sulky for a deep blue DMC thread.
I changed the 4-sided stitches to over 2 threads and used the darker blue. The green looks like yellow in this photo but it's really acid/neon green. The tussock sts are the blue Sulky.
Our big concern is that we have enough room between the three wavy rows at the top and bottom for the 'outram' stitches.
I received the cushioned crochet hook set from Amazon the other day. To my dismay there was no 4.25mm hook which I was using for my ripple blanket. I should have looked closer at the description. Oh well, I'm using the 4.5mm needle instead. So what if it's slightly larger? The other hooks are standard sizes so I'm happy with them.
This project is great for doing while TV watching. Even better, I can drape the finished part over myself to keep warm while I'm crocheting.
It's about 75cm (30") long so far. The red strips are 5" high and the black ones, 4". If I do 6 red strips and 5 black strips it will be about 125cm (50") long which is close enough to the desired 140cm (55") length.
I finished knitting the Hydrangea cowl and just need to block it.
It's really cold today -4C with bone-chilling winds. Glad I don't have to be out in it.
I also made some firestarters from some pinecones, tealights, and muffin papers. It was a thing I saw on some website or other -
similar to this one. Seeing as I have several essential oil scents on hand I added a drop of peppermint oil to each of the muffin cups.
My tea lights had really short wicks so I had to stick them to the tops of the muffin cup. The pinecones were collected years ago and had been hanging in the garage in my mom's old string shopping bag since then. They were perfect for this project because they had flat bottoms. To provide an alternative to the very short wick I stuck a match with the striking side up into the side of each muffin cup. That can be easily lit with the lighter as well as the little wick. Between them, it should ignite the pinecone and get the fire started.
Skip and I have been putting on the fireplace every one of these really cold evenings. It makes the family room very toasty and comfortable - very conducive to crocheting and knitting.
Speaking of essential oils, I have been interested in trying some just for something different while indoors all winter. At our local Healthy Planet store I found
a 4-pack sampler for only $19.99 CAD.
My pack had sweet orange instead of the eucalyptus pictured above as well as the other three: lavender, peppermint, and tea tree (melaleuca). I subsequently bought a little bottle of eucalyptus oil and may procure some others like lemon, bergamot, or rosemary.
I agonized over what diffuser to buy and if I needed a carrier oil like almond oil but decided to just put a couple of drops on a folded tissue instead and not bring another appliance into the house. I've been using lavender in the bedroom, sweet orange in the kitchen, and eucalyptus in the powder room. Skip even likes the aromas so that is a bonus. Had he not liked the smells I would have limited my 'aromatherapy' to my office and also the dining room where I seem to have established a workroom.
So for a very small investment, we're enjoying having nice aromas in the house on these days when we're feeling like shut-ins.
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