Still on Vacation...Giggle, Giggle

Good morning and happy Monday from the rancho!  I can't even say that without giggling.  LOL  To be sitting at home, drinking coffee, not going to work...NICE!  This is my last week of vacation, so I'll be fitting in as much "stuff" as I can. 

Finished my baby quilt.  Yay!  I really like the colors in this.

Spent a few days up in Sacramento with a dear friend.  We did handwork and shopped.  Then more handwork and more shopping.  LOL  She does amazing counted canvas and cross stitch.  And honestly, she has more threads than most shops I've visited.  We finished-finished a few projects for her and then she decided that I just NEEDED to learn counted canvas.  Hmmmm...Sounds good, but when you have the memory retention of a squirrel, there is no guarantee of success.  She has the patience of a saint and managed to teach me a few stitches.  She also gave me the instruction sheet that should keep me on track, but I've got her on speed dial.  LOL

Here is my first project.  It will be a scissor holder when I'm done.

My wrap is coming along quite well.  I've knitted four skeins.  I started with six total, but decided it just wasn't going to be long enough.  Picked up another four skeins. If it's still not long enough, my friend gave me two more skeins that she found in her closet.  I'll see how it goes...

I was sucked in invited to participate in the Facebook Black and White Challenge last week.  You post one black and white photo each day, no people, no explanation.  I tried to use pictures that meant something to me.  It was more fun that I expected.

Day One-Moto the Kitty

Day Two-Ceramic Bunny  He lives on my craft cabinet.

Day Three- Leftover Halloween Candy.  Not much left. LOL

Day Four-Hanging Succulent  Hangs on my front porch.  About 15 years old.

                                                      

Day Five-Scissors  Love the love.  

Day Six-Thermal Cup More dots.  LOL

Day Seven-Ice Cream  In the bowl made by my son.  SMILE

Finished with my extra large cup of coffee and ready to get the day started.  Wishing each of you a day filled with lots of happy.  

Be kind to one another.

How MANY Projects??? And a Family Wedding...

Good morning and happy Sunday from the rancho! Lots of pictures, so grab a beverage and settle down in your chair.

I have been enjoying vacation WAY more than I should be.  LOL  I drink a huge cup of coffee in the morning and ease into the day.  Maybe I'm out of my jammies by 9 am, maybe I'm not.  But, since the sewing machine doesn't care how I'm dressed, it's all good.

I feel like a crazy squirrel collecting nuts.  I go from one project to the next, sometimes working on two at the same time.  Stitch this, sew that, glue those, paint that.  I had to be very careful to not get them mixed up. LOL 

Here are a few of my latest creations.

This little box has been painted for a while.  It was time to give it a life.  Had the fabric in my stash, chose the stitching.  The pattern is part of an ornament in the Christmas Edition of JCS 2017.

Thought the back stitch would be a nice touch.  NOPE.  Once I got it stitched, it was too tight on the box top.  So, new plan.  Let's make it into an ornament.  Added some beads on the stitching, ruched some sheer ribbon, added a hanger.  Not bad for a second choice.

                               

Across the room at the knitting and stitching couch, LOL, I'm working on this:

I'm on the second skein.  The salesperson said that this particular yarn would coordinate even though I chose five different colorways.  So far, so good.

I finished all the small pieces for the baby quilt.  Now, putting together the big blocks.  The fabric is perfect together if I may say so myself.  LOL LOL LOL

Hubby took Friday off to hang out with me.  Seriously cut into my project time.  We went to an estate sale (his favorite hobby) but found nothing for me.  That was okay.  I had grabbed my knitting as I walked out the door "just in case".  Got in an hour of knitting while he dug around in piles of tools.  LOL

Saturday was spent attending my nephew's wedding.  He married an absolutely lovely lady!  They live in Seattle but wanted to get married closer to his family.  Her family made the trip from China to attend the wedding.  Her father and mother were so cool!  Neither speak English well, but their daughter had a friend to translate for them, so we were all able to chat with them and make sure that they were included.  Perfect!  By the end of the reception, her father had invited all of us to visit in China.  Why?  Because we are family.  How amazing is that!

Exchanging of rings:

Mr. and Mrs.!!

Outside, so may plants!  Perfect backdrop for taking pictures. Can you tell that I really liked the plants?  LOL

I am off like a herd of turtles.  I can hear my projects calling from the other end of the house.  LOL  Hubby is off on his own today, so I will be plopping my behind at my craft table and go wild!

Have an amazing day.  Be kind to one another.

Happy First Day of Vacation...To ME!

Good morning to all my peeps and peepettes!  And, happy first day of vacation to ME!!  I can already feel the stress starting to go.  Nothing like more than six hours of sleep to help fix my attitude...

I stayed home all weekend.  Spent Saturday doing house chores and taking care of Dad.  My ultimate plan was to have Sunday as a "me" day.  It worked!  I started Sunday with a long sleep in.  That extra hour really helped.  LOL  Between taking care of Dad and napping, I starting digging through my craft area.  I was looking for something, but honestly, I cannot remember what it was.  LOL  I did find a stitched project from 2011.  I decided that it was well-aged and needed to move to the top of the pile for finishing.  Picked out some lovely hand dyed silk and found the perfect fabric in my stash.  Started by ruching the ribbon...Grubby Jack from Lady Dots Creates...

This is one of the most time-intensive finishing techniques I use, but it is so beautiful when it's done...

Picked out some shiny black beads.  A little larger than I usually use, but this pillow turned out a little larger than I planned.  I used only one bead at a time.  This is a butter pat plate that I found at a thrift store in Iowa.  Perfect for holding beads.  LOL

Three hours later (yes, three hours!) finished the last bead and tied off.

I know how we all love close-ups.  LOL

I am very pleased with this finish.  Of course, I woke up this morning with aching hands, but we do what we must for our art.  LOL

Have an amazing day, filled with laughter and miracles.

Be kind to one another.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Howdy from the rancho. 

A day late and a dollar short.  My dad used to say this when someone wasn't keeping up with the program.  We heard it a lot when we were teenagers.  LOL

But really...I'm two days late and I can't even keep track of my dollars.  I have direct deposit and pay bills on-line.  It goes in.  It goes out.  If I get $20 cash for my allowance, I feel pretty darn rich.

I got some weird stitching bug on Saturday.  Just felt like I HAD to do something for October.  You would have thought I would have considered that before October 28th.  LOL

First, I stitched up this tiny pumpkin.  Since I was on a roll, I finished it off with crushed walnuts and a tiny bow.  I felt pretty darn efficient.

Still feeling autumn-ish, so started on a tiny scissor fob.  These are only 2 inches by 2 inches.  I will ladder stitch up the sides, add a cord, and other project finished!

Pay no attention to the fabric in the background.  It has no relationship with my fob.  It was just laying on my work table.  LOL

Still working on my Blackbird Designs.  My house now has a roof.  This is a horrible picture, but you get the idea.  

Practicing on the circulars.  Found this yarn at my favorite shop in Cambria...Ball and Skein and More.  A bit scratchy, but better now that it's being worked.  I picked up six different skeins, only two the same, but all the colors should coordinate when I'm done.  It will be a wide scarf or skinny throw.  LOL.  

Off to finish my night.  Work is okay, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I start vacation at 2 pm on Friday.  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am.  I really, really, really need to let go of some stress.  Since home isn't going to change, I'm willing to take a vacation.  LOL

I wish all of you a week filled with love and miracles.  Be kind to one another.

Making Strides And The Three Rs

Good morning from the rancho!!!

To all the peeps out there, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Have you had your yearly mammogram?  As uncomfortable or embarrassing as it may be, the girls will love you for it...

I have several friends that are breast cancer survivors.  One is so kind and invites me to walk with her family at out the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.

In the car and ready to go...

At the mission in San Luis Obispo...

My walking buddy...

I had a wonderful time.  It's only two miles and with the way that I chat, I don't even notice the distance.  LOL

Recycle.  Reduce.  Reuse.

I've been hitting the thrift stores the last couple of weeks, looking for items to use with my cross stitch. I found a couple of cute wire baskets, cute, but no bottoms.  Well, cardboard, a little batting, some fabric, and BOOM, the perfect place for my smalls. 

I try to save original art work.  I'm pretty sure I will never find a priceless Picasso, or a Van Gogh, but I love the idea of giving a piece of art a second life.

Found these at a thrift store.  Not very pretty, but I could see the potential. The first picture is a watercolor...stunning colors, but not loving the matting.  Second picture is a print, #5 out of 50.  The original price tag was still on the back.  Forty dollars.  I paid $1.75.

Framed and ready to hang.  Much better.

Still working on my Blackbird Designs house, but not much to show.  I also started a knitted throw.  I've only finished an inch...pictures next time.  LOL

Work is not quite back to normal.  Monday will be the first day of full movement.  We'll see how that goes...

Have an amazing Sunday, a wonderful week.  Be kind to one another.

A Peek Into My Week...

Good morning peeps and happy Sunday!  Up nice and early this morning.  I'm on weekend time, but the animals are on their own schedule.  Guess who was up at 5 am to feed the herd?  LOL

Work is still controlled chaos.  Custody hopes to be on regular program by Wednesday.  Hmmmm...It's been three weeks, but no one is really sure if the timeout has worked.  Rumors are that the inmates are not finished. Retirement is looking better and better every day...

My creating area has been a disaster for a really long time (YEARS).  Hubby had a nice cabinet out in the barn that he had offered a while back for storage in the house.  I hemmed and hawed for a bit, so he put boxes of tools in it.  Well, I changed my mind.  He very nicely emptied it out and brought it in the house for me.  I finally got rid of the boxes and stacks of stuff and created a tidy area for me to work.  You will notice that I still need to move all the pictures.  The cabinet looks big, but I've got too much stash.  Ha ha ha...I almost said that with a straight face.  You know that you can never have too much stash  LOL  My fabric is still on the shelf that my son found for me on Freecycle and my yarn is in plastic containers.  At least I can find my cutting board. 

There is now enough room to set up my Featherweight.  It is such a beautiful machine and to be honest, has a better seam that my Viking.  LOL Considering that it was made in 1958, not too bad.  

All that's left on my washcloth is to bind off.  I am on the last couple of feet of yarn, but as you can see, I got carried away with my cast on.  This will definitely be a rectangle, not a square.  LOL  Oh well, it will wash my face the same.

My breast cancer fundraising piece came in the mail this week.  It is a collaboration between Lady Dot Creates and Paula Stewart of Plum Street Samplers.  Lois is a 20 year survivor and does special pieces each year with a different designer.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Pink, grey, and burgundy on grey fabric.  This picture is from Lady Dot Creates FB page:

Lois includes all the finishing information needed, but to be honest, I've done retreats with her the last three years and I think I got this! I have all of the Plum Street Samplers hare pieces, so just had to have this one.  Plus, it's for a great cause...

Okay, off like a herd of turtles.  Didn't do much yesterday, so plenty of chores left for me today. 

Have a wonderful week and be kind to one another.

Well, I Guess I Am a Continental Knitter!

Good morning and happy Sunday from the rancho.

I have a few pictures and lots of words to share, so fill up that cup and settle down in your chair...

Last week was better at work, but we are still on lock down.  I keep buying more box lunches and they keep eating them.  What little money I had left in my budget is pretty much gone.  Between lunches and paper goods, I spent more than $15,000 in the last two week.  I see I'll be doing some begging at the end of this fiscal year.  LOL

Took an hour and half off early on Friday.  Just totally burnt.  Stopped at several thrift stores on my way home.  Of course, had to get a couple of hat pictures!! 

Boy, do I take horrible selfies.  LOL

I spent yesterday taking care of Dad and taking naps.  I managed to get in some craft time, but it was grueling!  I was flipping through Facebook and found a video that promised to make me the world's fastest knitter.  Now that's something I'm interested in!  I'm still practicing on the circulars and seemed to have found my rhythm while knitting.  HOWEVER, since I hold my yarn in my left hand, it is harder to purl.  Well, the presenter had the answer.  Except, no matter how many times I watched the video, I just couldn't get it.  I felt like I was back in junior high, trying to learn algebra.  Not a good time for me.  The first time in my school career that I didn't get an A.  LOL

After twenty times of watching the video, I went to Youtube on the computer to watch it in full screen.  Nope, still not helping.  Though I did learn that I was a continental knitter.  LOL 

Since Youtube is your friend and wants to help, it loaded another video for me.  Nope, still not making sense.  BUT, number three was a winner!!  It was like the light came on, a 5000 watt light.  LOL  The presenter was a crocheter, so it made sense to hold the yarn in the back, make a few twists of your fingers, and BAM, a purl.  Here is the link... Knitting Technique for Crocheters

I picked a pattern from my trusty old book...

This is a knit/purl pattern.  Perfect for practicing.  Since it is a washcloth, no problem if I miss a stitch!

Note that the copyright is 1968.  When I said old, I meant old.  And no, I didn't steal this book from the library... LOL

I knitted until my hands hurt, then moved on to my baby quilt.  Finally picked the colors and pattern.  Decided on a rail fence.  Got started on putting it together.  This is the first time that I've used my 1958 Featherweight and it sure is a nice machine!!  A little louder than my Viking, but not a single missed stitch and straight as an arrow.  There is something about using a machine that is older than you are that brings you closer to your craft.  How many women have used this machine?  How many quilts were sewn?  How many dresses for their little girl?  It makes me smile to think of these things...

The parents want to be surprised, so no reveal party.  They both like traditional colors and shabby chic.  I think this will work just fine.  

Okay peeps, I am finished with my second cup of coffee and it is time to get moving.  I hope that each of you have an amazing day.  

Be kind to one another.