E-2 Corn and Beans and knitting progress

One more SBS block done, E-2 Corn and Beans. I ended up using the Marti Michell templates for this. I have quite a few now, and rather than pawing through them willy-nilly, I put together a spreadsheet (one of my favorite things to do) with all the pieces (almost all, still have a few to add, like the Feathered Star…) and what the finished size was. Then I sorted by type and size and put an illustration next to the type so I can find things easily. The actual templates are in different tins, one with the 4” block bits, one with the 3”, and one with 8-pointed Stars and Feathered Stars. Somewhere I have the sunburst too, I think, need to get more organized. Anyway, doing that made it easy to see if I had the right pieces for Corn and Beans, and I did, so I used them.
Started another dishcloth this weekend, and finished it last night. I am much better at keeping an even tension now. Cotton is very unforgiving, no stretch or easing like wool that hides that unevenness a bit. So, I had to get better, and I did. I now hold my yarn a bit differently, more like the pictures I have seen, with the double wind around my finger, instead of just one, holds better, thus better tension. So this morning I started another swatch for my socks, using US size 1 needles, and with my new improved technique, actually got 7 stitches per inch, which is what I was shooting for! So now I can figure out how many stitches to cast on and start my first pair of socks, Woo hoo!
Made Russian Cabbage Borscht from the Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen, last night, using mostly Farm share produce (beets, cabbage, carrots, celery), along with some staples (onion and potato). Tonight will be either lamb stew or Ham, yams and apples.

SBS block update

M-9 King Davids Crown - this weeks BOW

E-10 Hunter's Star - the last BOW of January
E-5 Handy Andy - last week's BOW

The February challenge is to do nine blocks from the second column. I have already done several, so will add a few blocks from elsewhere to get to nine blocks.

A-2 Shoo Fly

G2 - Oklahoma Dogwood - February challenge block - redid it once, finished is better than perfect

I-2 Winding ways - done with John Flynn's templates, made it pretty easy.

L-2 Mother's Favorite


M-2 Wild Goose Chase

L-1 Friendship Quilt - another block with the same name...

Happy Valentine's Day

I got rose red yarn for Valentine's Day, along with a sweet card, from my DH. I told him I didn't want flowers, and this is much better. So soft, and enough for a pair of socks, maybe even two, if I knit them like I like to wear them. He also discovered a new to me yarn source, and showed me where it was!

What I've been doing

It has been a while since I have blogged, so to catch up with what I have been doing:

Knitting – I made a wool scarf using a Paton’s light and medium tan (two strands twisted together) and sent it to my son. Then I started trying to knit some socks. Trying is the operative word here, I knit three swatches trying to find the right needle size, well twice was the same needle, just a skinnier swatch, I cast on way to many the first time, still not happy and need to get skinnier needles. So that got set aside for a bit. Then I started a shawl for me, using a variegated black Lion Brand Homespun. So far I have one skein (of four) knit up, and I am getting bored with it. But committed to finishing it too. I have looked for a different pattern to use for the next one, one that will teach me something. So far, this one has taught me how to purl faster. That is a good thing too. The current one is stockinette with a garter stitch border, boring, but it will be useful when done. Since the other patterns also use US size 13 needles, need to finish this one or get more needles to start a new one. And I want to bring this one on the cruise, so want to get it done. So there you go.

Sewing – been making more SBS blocks, have four done this month, although one of them needs to be unstitched a bit, and then redone so I am happy with it. I got 11 or 12 done in January, so have 85 or 86 done right now. Getting there.

Dear Jane has been marked. Still not totally happy with that last corner, but it will do for now while I stitch the triangles.

Cooking – I have a ton (OK, not a ton, but a lot!) of apples from the farm share which I need to process.
I have not been cooking as much as I should, but did last night, and actually cooked Kale where I liked it. Mostly I boiled it for a long time (between 10 and 20 minutes), let the water come to a boil then added the leaves without the stems to the water and let it cook while I prepared the meat. Pan fried pork tenderloin cut 3/8” thick and sprinkled with lemon seasoning in olive oil, removed to a pan, added more oil and a bit of butter to sauté a few sliced mushrooms, then added 1 T water, 1 T Worcestershire sauce, 2 T Jack Daniel’s Old #7 mustard, and the juice of one lemon, let it reduce a bit, added the cooked Kale and the browned pork slices, let everything get warmed back up and serve. I served it with brown rice.

Catching Up

I seem to be pulled this way and that lately. Too many things I would like to be working on, Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler, Dear Jane, two new quilts (both designed by Sue Garmon, one pieced, one appliqué), Patchwork Party using the Prairie Paisley line, knitting, reading, cooking. And of course, a big chunk of my day is actually working my day job. Retirement is a way off. So what have I actually been doing? Working on SBS blocks, got the January challenge done (list of 14, 4 done previously, so I did the other 10) and all of the Blocks of the Week, so far this year, another 3, so that is lucky 13 done this month. No new challenges for a few days on that quilt, so I need to get back to Dear Jane marking (yuck!). Will I do that tonight or read and knit, only time will tell. Hopefully all three.

54-40 or Fight – last of the January challenge blocks

Another Knitting Needle Case

Somehow quick and easy knitting needle cases are not in my repertoire. Again, I used up leftovers, this time from my High Country Garden/Cube Lattice quilts. I still have a few more fat quarter-ish sized pieces, but I think they will just go into the stash at this point. Most of these are pseudo-solids, the one fireworks print was the backing for HCG. I cut out one side of a shopping bag from the fireworks fabric, so that could be the tote that goes along with this set. The first knitting accessory zippered bag was from this same group of fabrics, more or less . It is about 22" wide and 18" tall. At this point, all of my needles fit in these two cases, so I can hold off on making anymore and actually knit. I am still working on the wool scarf for the troops, and a shawl (or two) for me. Along with sewing of course.

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler - January challenge

After a bit of a hiatus, I gotten back into the groove making Sylvia's Bridal Sampler blocks, the BOW and the SBS offline challenge. The challenge this month was to do nine blocks from a list of 14, of which I had already done 4. I am trying to do the other 10, so far have done six from that list, plus 2 of the BOW (I had already done one of them, which also happened to be on the challenge list, ah well, done is good).