A Mending Week

Arrow pointing to invisible thread loop of finger

I have company coming in a couple of weeks; it's prodding me to take care of some things I've been putting off, like making more repairs on the couch quilt. You might remember that a lot of the cotton bobbin threads had worn through leaving loops of the invisible thread my fingers kept catching on. These were mostly along the stitch in the ditch quilting and I decided to requilt all those lines, using a stronger polyester bobbin thread. I feared that the scallop quilting in the borders and setting triangles might also be at risk but was not up for requilting all those sections too. As I suspected, those areas started failing as well and I started tying yarn around the loops I ran into, dreading having to requilt those areas. I did realize one thing though as I noticed where these loops were popping up - almost all of them along the top border where strain would be put on the quilting as I'd pull the quilt up over me. Anyway, having a quilt with a lot of yarn ties decorating it would be embarrassing to have out for company to see, so this week my "creative" time has been working my way over these broken areas.

Right side of seaming

I finished the left front panel of the eyelet cardigan and discovered that the 3 needle cast off required was not only easy but a pretty nifty way to seam two pieces together.

Wrong side of seaming

The two sections are placed wrong sides together as you would any seaming, with those needles with "live" stitches held together. Then casting off proceeds as usual except for knitting together a stitch from each needle before moving the previous stitch on the right hand needle over this new stitch for a cast off. Makes for such a smooth seam on the wrong side as well as the right side. I'm about 4 inches up the right side panel and wishing this was going a little faster only because I have something else waiting in the wings that is for warmer weather like we've been having.

I realized that when I showed you the plantings of my deck garden, I didn't show you the plant I decided to put in the big pot out front. I was looking for something that would stick up higher than the pot rim and these flowers are doing just that.

Finally, I've been noting the progression of blooms along a stretch of my daily walk that includes a vacant house (where the lilac bush grows along with old fashioned roses and sweet peas) and an undeveloped lot next to it (just trees and brush). The roses from next door have spread into that area, and to my surprise, I spotted some honeysuckle as well. Seeing that honeysuckle brought to mind a specific image from my youth when dad liked to load up the camper and head over Thompson Pass into Montana to fish. We'd gotten over the pass and had pulled to the side of the road where mom spotted some syringa and honeysuckle just like these. I always marveled that mom knew all the names of the flowering plants and she always approached them like old friends.  

Quest Completed

I've been working on the orphan block tote bag in fits and starts, most sessions ending with "my head HURTS" from all the working out of dimensions and figuring out construction sequences. But it's all together now, my quest for a big bag for my knitting over. I said I wanted a big bag and it is BIG: 10 x 16 x 16 inches tall. 

The headaches were of my own making as I tried to be clever about hiding the seam allowances on the inside rather than just making a separate lining. My solution not only "encased" the seam allowance but eliminated additional seams on either side of the blocks. Not sure you can what's going on here but basically I pinned a piece of fabric on front and back of the blocks' sides and turned inside out after stitching - look ma, no exposed seam allowances.

 

The bag is so big because I decided on a two inch border all round the 12 inch blocks. I'd sewn a two inch strip to the bottom of each block before adding the side fabric that had an extra 2 inches on each end to form this border after pressing. I'd been mulling strap attachments when I noticed another bag of mine had straps that did not feed through a top seam of the bag but extended down the fronts. Aha! So I sewed a band along the top that when turned to the inside would provide that two inch border on the top of the blocks.

I'd considered some kind of stabilizer on this band but abandoned the idea since I'd not stabilized the sides, counting on the double layer of fabric to be enough. I turned under a seam allowance and pinned the turnover to the inside, attaching it with machine stitching in the ditch from the outside. The inside of the bag is on the left. I also ran some stitching along the folded edge to stabilize it.

I made some straps that would finish two inches wide to fit in that 2 inch border space on either side of the blocks, its raw edge ends to be caught in the bag bottom's seam. Again I'd wondered about using stabilizer inside the straps but was beyond being interested in fussing with that. (So ready to be done with this!)

I used the same narrow topstitching I'd used around the top of the bag to attach them and stabilize the parts becoming the handles.

Now on to the last step, the dreaded setting in of the bottom. I really did think long and hard about this step from the beginning, but because of my other design choices, I couldn't opt for an easier way. And my "clever" way of encasing raw edges of the seams was not going to work here. I also had to trim the pieces I'd already cut for the bottom, the dimensions arrived at when I'd thought I could extend it like I had the sides to form the bottom border of the blocks. I made a bit of a mess of the 90 degree turns needed to set in the bottom section but close enough for my needs.

With the bag essentially sewn together, my speculation about needing to add a really stiff stabilizer between the inner and outer bottom pieces was spot on. And the easiest way to hide the bottom seam allowance might be to wrap the inner fabric piece around the stabilizer. Here I've used a Roxanne marking pencil which I'd found out does not easily erase as advertised. This was a good place to use it up where it will never show, marking the quarter inch seam allowance for a guide to placing the stabilizer.

I cut some Stiff Stuff interfacing left over from the Eisenberg Fountain quilt. It hadn't worked as I had hoped on that quilt but it worked perfectly for this bag bottom. I applied Heat and Bond to the fabric (normally I don't use this fusible except when making books but I didn't have large enough pieces of either Steam a Seam or Wonder Under on hand), centered the Stiff Stuff within the lines and carefully turned the edges over the Stiff Stuff and fused. Turned it over to complete the fusing to the Stiff Stuff. There, a nice stiff insert for my bag.

Oh how I wished that I could continue fusing but I decided it would be much easier just to run some glue over the seam allowances and plop my stiffener into place. I had a box that was the right width but not quite as long as the bag bottom but better than nothing for having something solid to turn the bag inside out over. I had a narrow strip of the Heat and Bond that I decided to use to at least partially fuse the two bag bottoms together. Here it is with its protective paper removed before adding the stiffener bottom.

Still a bit tricky but not as tricky as fusing would have been, I worked my way around the seam allowance applying some Fabri-Tac old enough to refuse to squeeze out of the nozzle so applied with a glue spatula and pressing the stiffener in place. To my relief, it fit and held. Turning the bag right side out, I could now make that final fuse of the inside and outside bottoms.

I loaded up the yarns and knitted sections of the eyelet cardigan and the bag is more than big enough. In fact, it might hold all the yarn I have waiting to be knitted up.

Knitting projects lined up - need another bag?

It really could have used either some stabilizer or extra padding in the sides, band around the top and straps, but on the other hand, I like that it so easily flops closed to keep the dust out since most big knitting projects take a lot of time. I'm satisfied and rather pleased to have these old blocks out where I can see them. And I'm reconsidering what I said about not needing more pillows . . . 

 

Planting on Memorial Day

Today turned out to be the perfect day to transfer the plants I bought into various pots and planters on my deck. Yesterday was too hot and muggy (we got into the 80's!) with little gnatty-like bugs fluttering about. And when I stopped on my walk later in the day when it had cooled a little to tighten a shoelace, I was immediately attacked by several mosquitos even though I was in the sun. I remember well most years having to fight off mosquitos while getting plants into my pots so what a relief to find today about ten degrees cooler and windy. No mosquitos except briefly when the breeze died down momentarily.

I still need to pick up, sweep and arrange the smaller pots but I am so relieved to get this done. My usual geraniums are in the big tub while the other pots hold a mix of new flowers to try along with a few that have done well in the past, like begonias and pansies. I usually stay away from marigolds because I don't like the smell, but I needed something yellow and that was all my store had. The purple one is Verbena and smells heavenly. The tall bloomless plants are ones that wintered over - the name escapes me at the moment - and they look particularly healthy. 

I even transplanted the Easter lily I'd enjoyed in the house into a big pot and we'll see how it does. I planted one once along the foundation when I lived in a place with a more moderate winter and was so pleased that it survived the winter and bloomed the next year. Not sure I'll have that sort of luck here. Oh, and one daisy-like plant went into the pot out front next to the stairs to the front door. I think I'm going to pick up some nasturtium seeds to fill in around them. Cleanup can wait until tomorrow . . .

More Blooms!

The next trees to open up their blooms are these decorative plum trees in the park behind the animal shelter.

Every year they look better and better!

And the lilacs too are in full bloom, as usual just in time for the Lilac Festival over in Spokane WA (a little more than an hour away). I've been enjoying this tree along my walking route since I moved to Ponderay.

The Torchlight Parade is this evening and unfortunately for the kids, rain is predicted to start about when the parade does. It's a long parade, honoring our Armed Forces as well as the lilacs. I have fond memories of marching in this parade when I was in junior high (playing sax in the band) and high school (out front with the twirlers).

I'm getting tired of looking at the empty pots on my deck but have been waiting for the weather to warm a bit. My store put their pony packs on sale this week though so I picked out the usual 3 geraniums for the big copper tub and a variety of plants for the other planters. Weather is supposed to be a bit better next week so I'm hoping to get motivated to make the transfers.

Nature and Knitting

Spring really is here with trees along my walking route finally showing blooms. These are on a tree in front of the animal shelter. Have no idea what kind of tree.

Bees are back and busy.

And this gave me a chuckle - pretty much it, except in drier parts of the world, my friends in Arizona remind me!

I haven't seen a moose in several years, even though I know they are wandering about the area, so I was quite pleased to run into this one as I started down my street at the end of my walk. 

And I DID nearly run into him because he came out from behind a trailer parked at the side of the road only a few yards ahead of me. I slowly backed up and and ducked around to the far side of said trailer.

You can see I peeked around the trailer to see if he'd moved on. No. He stared my way for a very long time before ambling into the trees to browse. I made my escape when a car passed by creating a suitable shield. These babies are big (although this one is actually a bit small) and can be surly so giving them a wide berth is the best option. Not the first time I've nearly walked into a moose since I moved back to Idaho. Still waiting to see one sporting his rack.

I've only worked a little on the tote bag, getting the blocks quilted and still mulling piecing sequence as well as cutting a few more pieces - trying to hide seams and create more heft without making a separate lining, I really am making this harder than it should be. However, the cardigan is coming along with completion of the back - note at the top stitches that are on stitch holders that will be joined to similar stitches on the front panels with a 3 needle bind-off, something I'd not heard of so cross fingers I can find instructions for that. As I start knitting the left front panel, it has dawned on me that this is a bigger project than I realized what with it being longer than the sweater I just knit and the two front panels having turn backs requiring more stitches. I don't know why I thought this would be a quick project . . .

Maybe they're not all humility blocks?

I knew I had one row near the bottom left where my stitching got off because I messed up with the yarn overs. But when I laid it out for the photo shoot, I spotted another row farther up on the right side where stitches are off as well. Sigh . . . NOT going to try to fix it, in fact trying to fix a missing yarn over may be partly why it is off. Instead, just thinking of it like a "humble or humility" block in a quilt. Orrrrr . . . maybe some of those blocks and any knitting errors aren't intentionally humble ones but the result of tippling while working?

On A Quest . . .

I'm sure most quilters could knock out a tote bag in a few hours but not me. Apparently I'm on a quest for the perfect knitting tote bag. I've spent days and days and days thinking about how to put together one using those two blue and muslin orphan blocks. It occurred to me that a nearly worn out reusable grocery tote was about the size I was thinking of, and I spent some time studying its construction to come up with a game plan.

Then I spent more time mentally going through fabric on hand that would be suitable for a tote. On one of those many nights when my mind was too busy to fall asleep, I suddenly remembered some fabric I'd gotten from my late friend's stash, a heavier cotton fabric she had dyed up to make into table drop covers when vending at quilt shows. I'd not even folded them up after washing when I got the big pieces home but hung them over a hanger. Perfect!

Ok, I sort of had a plan, and I had the fabric. Time to do some figuring and get to cutting.

I'd also been thinking about how to handle the blocks, remembering times when I was sorry that I hadn't quilted a block before adding to a pillow top. I flipped each over to remover stray threads (boy were there stray threads from the muslin!) and discovered that each had a piece of paper with my name pinned to it. Ahhh - now I vaguely remembered why I made these blocks: they were for a block contest held for the Sun Prairie quilt show one year. I don't remember the contest parameters but I think it had something to do with the Temperance Movement - I'm sure I've got that info somewhere in my documentation files. I also realized that the center of one block had been paper pieced and the center paper not removed - oops!

After trimming and a good press, I decided to layer the blocks with Thermore batting and the same fabric for backing as for the tote itself. Ready to lightly quilt these with some stitching in the ditch.

Still going over sequence of sewing all the pieces together in my head, hoping my figures are correct but knowing that if they are off a bit, I can fudge things.

A Very Old Thought

I'd mentioned that I had some very old ideas for art journaling pages that I hoped to get to soon. When I said very old, I meant VERY old. It seems to be quite the habit of mine, not just for journal pages but for quilts and other creative ventures as well. I have to say it feels good to get this off my chest and onto the page - another one in a Sketchbook Revival sketchbook that went unused during those sessions and got some expended paint applied.

Here's the story behind it: I donate money to a different charity every month, so it is not unusual for me to get follow-up requests from those hopeful I will donate again and soon. I wish there was some way to assure them this was a one-time deal until next year, but I don't think that would stop them from constantly checking in case I'd changed my mind. But I have to say, when the pandemic hit and things started shutting down, the number of donation requests exploded, and all I could think of was "money grab!"; it made me not want to donate to any of them. I had this vision in my head of a stack of money surrounded by grasping hands.

I went searching for that stack of money but google searches came up pretty flat. This dog holding a sheaf of dollars in its mouth was the best I could find so I printed it out. Then for those outstretched hands: I'd used one on a different journal page and didn't think it would be so hard to find more, but it was. I kept setting this aside for easier things. Now I wanted to just finish it up so it would be off my mind and went searching through my bin of ephemera for appropriate hands. Again, surprised that I could find so few but eventually put enough together for my circle of grasping hands. 

I used green watercolor paint for a border around the edges as well as over the bills and around the dog after I'd inked in words. Alas, I was too impatient and the ink wasn't fully dry so it smudged a bit. I dug out a green gel pen to trace around the hands/arms and add a few dollar signs. The lettering is all done with a Pigma NP pen. I think that pinkish background paint is gouache used on the previous page of the sketchbook.

As for last week's art journal page, I was a bit worried that I might offend some of my readers with its sentiment. I so appreciate you who commented that you understood my preference for dogs and took no offense that I'd take them over babies. Whew!

Warming Up

While dithering over what the next sewing/quilting project will be, I've also had multi-media/art journal subjects enticing me. Some of the ideas I have are literally years old, while the one I worked on today is only a few weeks on my mind. I'd come across that photo of the Labrador in a magazine and couldn't resist tearing it out to put on a journal page. I knew I wouldn't have to add much as I intended to use a page in an old Sketchbook Revival sketchbook that had empty pages I'd expended paint on. I've often said I want to get better at collage, and this is no masterpiece for sure, but one has to start somewhere, and it got me going through my bin of ephemera and thinking about how to put pieces together to tell a story, or at least make a coherent scene.

As for the sentiment at the top, I have always been drawn to dogs; babies not so much. Puppies melt my heart, young dogs with their loose limbs make me laugh, adult dogs can always depend on a smile and head scratch from me if the owner agrees. But I've never been comfortable around babies, have never found pictures of them appealing, have resisted mothers who offer to let me hold one because past experience tells me said baby is going to start wailing as soon as it's in my arms. Guess it's a good thing I never had kids!

I had more bad news last week that kept me hunkering down and stepping back from the world and anything creative other than my knitting but thankfully, I've turned a corner on that these last few days. Working on this page felt good; more soon to come I think. How have you all been?

A Little Uplifting Please

I have to admit that the craziness we are living through is starting to wear me down. I don't have Democratic representation which makes it even worse and don't have much faith that my e-mails will break through the Trump loyalty that does represent me. But we persevere, and it was rather helpful to run across the above a few days ago. Helen Hallows who is in the UK included it in her recent substack post on Slow Growth, not referencing anything political but her own energy drain as a business owner and artist and subsequent creative block, saying "I’m accepting that maybe encouragement isn’t always a ‘you can do it’ pep talk. Perhaps like me you’re not in your best place right now. Perhaps the encouragement is to stay small and curled up for a while longer." Yeah, that's the point I have reached in general, and a death in the family is also contributing to the feeling this past week so this was just the kind of encouragement I needed. I think this link will get you to the free part of her post.

However, there's the cardigan sweater waiting for me during various parts of the day when I take a seat and watch a little TV. I've nearly used up the first skein of yarn as I've knit about 8 inches up the back. It's a good distraction. And I've been organizing and straightening things up here and there, post tax preparation and post last studio project. Still thinking about those orphan blocks and have just about talked myself into making a really big tote bag with those two blue and muslin blocks. The many skeins of yarn needed for that sweater are hanging out in the brown paper bag I brought them home in. As pieces of the sweater are finished, they'll need to wait somewhere and I don't like the idea of them going back in that bag, yet all my cloth totes are actually a little small to hold them. Looks like I have a project to attend to.

New Project and a Little Local Art

I saw a sample of this cardigan pattern hanging in my local yarn shop and was immediately smitten by it, couldn't take my eyes off it. The owner took pity on me and printed off the directions from an on-line site. I envisioned wearing it around the house when I needed a little extra warmth and those eyelet stitch panels really caught my eye. I almost immediately went over to my other local yarn shop to buy yarn for it - that same inexpensive mill end wool/mohair yarn by Brown Sheep Company that I made the lavender sweater with, that comes in the worsted weight that this pattern requires. I've been itching to start on it but wouldn't allow myself until The Simple Thing scarf was done which, frankly, I was getting a little bored with as it only required using the knit stitch on every row. This cardigan would be more of a challenge and require more of my attention which I was ready for.

I've knit lace patterns before where you do yarn overs between decreases to create the openwork and I was kind of expecting the same here. But no, it is called Eyelet Cardigan and it does indeed create eyelets while staying very firm. Also of interest, you might notice that the knit stitches angle across the panels on either side of a central seed stitch panel - the left side angling to the left, the right side angling to the right. I hadn't seen anything but the front of the sample cardigan and didn't notice this detail which surely was on the front panels as well. I do have to pay attention while I knit but can still watch tv while I do it as long as the program doesn't require me to do constant watching. I'm pleased.

As for the local art, on a recent trip to the library, I was greeted by a new display in the foyer, some pretty impressive gradeschool art. This signage explains the van Gogh inspirations. What a cool idea! Click on the pic for a readable size.

The same applies to these pics, where clicking on any of them will give you a larger picture so you can see which grade is responsible. This first group is kindergarten through 3rd grade.

I was so impressed with what those kindergarten kids did with those sunflowers. On close inspection I spotted some pencil lines outlining petals so this may have been more like a coloring book exercise but with paint but boy, they seemed to have done a great job.

And here are the fourth through sixth grade efforts. Apologies for the reflections on the glass case, could not get an angle that would not show them. These kids must be so excited to have their work displayed here. Bravo!

It's Done!

Gosh, I had no idea The Simple Thing scarf would take so long to knit, especially since I thought I was knitting pretty consistently on it. Granted, the yarn itself is a much thinner yarn than the worsted weight yarn used in the sweater, so yes, progress would be slower. Still, it took forever to get to the halfway point where I'd start decreasing stitches. I even started the decreases before I'd reached the length of the pattern's sample, both because I was concerned I wouldn't have enough yarn if I kept going and because I'd already exceeded the width at the center as suggested in the pattern example. The pattern does make suggestions for altering the pattern for narrower or wider finishes so I went for it.

I'd had some of this yarn left after knitting that first cowl that I ended up unraveling to make this scarf. I initially didn't think I'd need it but I sure did. You can just see in the upper left of the top photo how little of the "extra"" yarn is left. When you unravel yarn, its memory leaves kinks in the strands, and there are ways to relax the yarn back to straight, but I hoped just leaving it wound in a ball for awhile would be enough. It certainly was better than when first unraveled, but you can sure see the difference between the unraveled yarn and the unused yarn in the photo above. The knitting on the left is tight and flat while the knitting on the right is less defined and a bit fluffy. I will be soaking and blocking this so I'm hoping that helps make the two sides look more the same. If not, the join of the two is far enough off center that it won't show when it is worn.

And this is the coat I will be wearing it with - the colors such a perfect match.