New Home

I haven't posted in awhile, we have been moving and it has been a bit crazy. However I am putting together the sewing room of my dreams! I have taken some pics but cannot post them because I can't find the cord for the camera. As soon as I find it I'll post pics. I'm anxious to get back to sewing. I have been crocheting a bit here and there in odd moments, trying to get the doily done.

There is a mulberry tree here and while I don't have any time to dye right now I am thinking of picking them and throwing them in the freezer. I don't know if it will affect the color or not, but it's worth experimenting with. I also have quite a few marigolds in the vegetable garden and I have a feeling I'll be playing with those too!

We had our first barbeque here this past Sunday and I have to say it was a lot of fun. Carl was in so he,Chris, Gary, Sio and her Chris, Irene's friend Ruth and Mom came. Irene bought a new grill and we cooked chicken and brats.

We are doing a mystery quilt at work, I bought it last night and am going to see what I have in my stash this afternoon. I should be able to find at least one fabric I like.

First Raspberries

Sio and I went out day before yesterday and found a handful of raspberries and they were very good. We picked all we could find, but we didn't have much time so we couldn't check all the spots. I went this morning and there were half a cup or so of ripe ones, which are now in a freezer bag on the counter. I'm going to have John drop them at his mom's rather than freeze them here. The only ripe ones were the bushes that got full sun. There is a huge patch that is in partial shade and none of them were ripe yet, but the berries are really big. We need to walk along the prarie path and along the tracks, especially along the tracks; there are always tons there. I don't work tomorrow so maybe after my chiropractor appt. I can get John to stop so I can take a look. I want to make jam plus have enough berries to freeze for cobblers and stuff.

The move is going pretty well, but I will be sad to leave here. We got most of the furniture out last weekend. We'll get the rest out this weekend and clean the carpets and then maybe next week we can get all the rest of the stuff out of the basement early on. Irene's house is much more isolated than ours, it will be hard for me to get places, I'll have to wait til John comes home with the car. But there is good stuff, too; my sewing area will be huge and I already have my garden over there. There are strawberries, they are small and green but I'll have some. Plus the cucumbers, zuchinni, and tomatoes all have blossoms, and the lettuce is getting big. If this goes well then I'll have a bigger one next year.

more crocheting

The edging went very quickly and turned out very nice. I made enough for a towel, I just haven't sewn it on. I am going to buy a hand towel and make some for it too. In the meantime I started this doily: http://www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/Doublepine.html I like pineapple doilies and this one doesn't see too complicated. I am making it a bit bigger though, I'm using size 10 crochet cotton and a size 7 hook. I saw a set of placemats I'd like to make made with owrsted weight cotton and a size H hook, but I packed all my other hooks already, I only have 2 thread hooks, a 7 and a 10.
I finally am finished with the patchwork top I was making as a custom order; I'll post pics later.

Miscellaneous stuff

I have a lot of the edging done, I still don't know what to use it for. Maybe edging on my sheets. Or maybe on the bottom of a skirt.
I have had a lot of pain in my hip and shoulder, to the point where it was getting harder and harder to walk to work; I finally went to a chiropractor and after just 3 visits I'm already feeling a difference. It still hurts some, but not as bad. I only woke up once last night and that's a huge accomplishment for me. I usually wake up in pain a few times. Last night it didn't hurt a lot, and it wasn't what woke me up. I had to pee, and I went right back to sleep again. I walked to Salvation Army and back, and it didn't start to hurt til I was almost home again.
I went looking for wool today and I got some nice pieces. I got a red pleated skirt that will give me a lot of fabric. I drew up a copy of an antique rug that I saw online and I think I may do it next. I also am tempted to order a pattern I saw on Deanne Fitzpatricks site. It is of a Nfld. village on the bay. It has houses and hills and water, and the whole thing is bordered by a pattern of fish and flowers. It's really big though, 60 inches x 38 inches. I need a rug frame, my big hoop finally broke. I have seen them made with just 2 by 4's, and no gripper strips; you can just stretch the burlap and hold it with tacks. I want Chris or John, or maybe Sio's Chris to make me one.
I also got a bunch of vintage patterns that date from the 50's through the 70's. Some of them I can use, some of them I might see if I can sell. Carla might want some for costuming. She's coming over tomorrow and we are going to take Rich out for his birthday.

crocheting

I haven't crocheted with thread in years, but I decided to as I was looking for something to take with me in the car. My grandmothers flower garden got packed accidentally and so I can't work on it til we get over to Irene's. At least I hope that's where it is, if it was thrown out I will be very upset. I had to apologize to Chris the other day, I accused him and John of throwing out my 2 bags of vintage pillows when I just didn't see them in Irene's basement. Anyway, the thread crocheting is easier to just pick up and take. The quilt top was starting to get a bit too big. At first I was thinking of doing motifs and joining them for a bedspread, but honestly, that would end up being a multi-generational project. I would never finish it even if I lived to be a 100, so instead I found this edging which goes pretty quickly. The original pattern was from 1915, but I'm making this from an updated version I found here: http://crochet.about.com/library/nedgfast.htm It is 2 and a half inches wide, I'm using a size 7 hook and size 10 thread. It can come in the car, or to work or fishing. This little bit took about half an hour, but now that I have it down I think it will go much faster. I have a tote for Melissa that I was thinking of adding it to at the top, but she might not like it, so I might put it on the bottom of a t-shirt. It would look nice on towels, too.

I also found this embroidered piece that I have almost finished. I copied it from a vintage linen I saw somewhere. Unfortunately I didn't leave the floss with it, so I will have to go through my floss and look for matching colors. I was going to make a pillow with it, I'll wait and finish it later after we've moved. I might make a tote instead.

I almost have my custom order finished, I'll post pics of that later in the week.