Mud? What mud?

(I'm refusing to see it.)

Everything here is green. See?
















Green things poking up thru the ground.





















Green thread on red and green quilts.
















A few green blocks among the kitty-cats.
(click on the photo to enlarge and see the paw prints)

















... and a few green triangles on this one.
I really just added this one because it's finished.
(see the flowers quilted on it? I love flowers. And green stuff.)

We found yet another new lamb in the sheep pen today. This HAS to be the last one for the year! Maybe I'll get his photo tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll not talk about the truck stuck up to its hubcaps in the stuff I am not seeing here today. I won't allow it.

A New Voice ...

It always amazes me how, in spite of the cacaphony in the barn at chore time, a tiny little voice can be heard above all others. The heifers are bellowing until I think I'll go deaf from it, the 40-plus sheep are all blatting "mee-eee-ee first! me-eee-ee first!" at the same time when they hear me coming with grain, and yet ... what's that? The sound of a new lamb's cry out back? Maybe it's a Mommy thing one never gets over, no matter how long your own little ones have been gone from the nest ... or maybe I have superhuman hearing ... who knows? But sure enough, look who I found at the end of that little baaa-aaa-aa ...














I think I'll call her Abundance.

Lambs have an uncanny ability to get into trouble, from day one. For lack of anything more creative at that age, they'll crawl through the slats in a hay feeder and get themselves stuck in there. That's where this little gal was, and her Mom was grateful when I came to the rescue.

And before I forget, meet Tiny:
















He's two days old now, and got his name because compared to Rudie, he's minuscule. Granted, she's one honkin' big calf; but even Kelly LaVoleuse is way bigger. (Kelly suggested I name THAT calf after her because it was born on her birthday; the last name is French for 'The Thief' -- I caught her suckling from Tiny's mom before he was even born -- thieving milk from the wrong mom.)

Not much progress in the knitting department, I'm afraid. Here's all I've got done so far:


















(The red fabric background only because it never got put away from making quilt blocks.)

Yesterday the quilt guild I belong to celebrated National Quilting Day (a few days early) by making quilts to donate to raise funds for local animal shelters. Members brought blocks ready to assemble. We had enough to make four large quilts, and got a lot accomplished. When they're ready, I'll be quilting them in the studio. Many of us also made little quilts to donate to Quilts 4 Kids -- they're so cute it's hard to part with them. But part with them we will. Quilt guild day is one I look forward to every month. The best part: Show and Tell! -- always inspiring. I come home with my head full of ideas of what I'd like to do next. As IF!

Speaking of doing next, I'd better get to work on my To Do list. It's Friday, already. Ugh.

Frittering Day

I've done very little productive so far today ... been just sort of frittering the time away, doing a little of this, a little of that. I thought I'd clean out a bookcase in my office, but stumbled upon an album of antique post cards I'd forgotten I put there. I don't know whether it belonged to my grandmother or HER mother -- the cards seem to be mostly addressed to one or the other of them. Maybe GGM Lucy started it and then it was passed along to GM Jessie ... just not sure. None of my grandparents were alive by the time I was born, so I never got to know them. But there are some pretty cards and I enjoyed looking at them again.

For those of you familiar with the area, here's one sent from Sayre, PA in 1908:
(click on photo to enlarge it)














The caption at the top reads, "Lehigh Valley Railroad and Yard, Sayre, PA." I found this one particularly intriguing for this reason -- I have a recurring dream of a place and time long ago. In the dream, I am very young -- in fact, in my father's arms. And he is dashing across what seems to me to be an endless sea of railroad tracks, with trains coming and going. Every time I have that dream, I wake up all nervous. I've always wondered where that place could be, if it in fact is a real place and not just stuff of my dreams. Could this be the answer? I think maybe it is! My parents lived in this county when I was an infant, and moved away before I was two. We often returned to visit family in the area when I was a child at home. My own family moved here after we had all our children -- my parents laughingly called me a homing pigeon.

Many Happy Returns Of The (Frittering) Day!




















(another from 1908)

Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home!

These last few days of unseasonable warmth have brought out the ladybugs. Out of hiding in the cracks of walls, that is. Every time I go into the bathroom, there are about a dozen more of them that seem to have come from nowhere. When I find one that is alive, I give it a ride to the nearest plant I can find in hopes of rescuing it from death. Yeah, I know ... but I'm a firm believer in the thought that SPIDERS are our friends, so what do you expect me to do -- squash a ladybug?!? Ugh.

Speaking of ladybugs ... look at this happy little quilt I got to play with yesterday. Why do I love this little thing? Is it because of the happy colors (and ladybugs) on the front? because the dragonfly pattern I used to quilt it is just so stinkin' cute? or the fact that it's green on the back? Probably all of the above. (click on the photo to enlarge if you want to see detail)
































Nope ... I DON'T kill snakes in the yard or garden. But I've got to agree with Adtrid Alauda's sentiments, quoted here: Cockroaches really put my "all creatures great and small" creed to the test. Glad I don't live where I'd have to share quarters with THOSE nasty-looking things!

All that glitters ...

Gold metallic thread, done on the HQ16, creates no tension issues (in case you're a quilter and are wondering).
















Sherry P's Lone Star is finished (corner detail above).

News from the barn ...

While I did the morning chores, I tried to comfort the gal in labor. Her moaning was making me nuts! How do nurses, doctors and midwives STAND it? It just makes me so nervous, I want to reach in there and yank that baby out to get it over with. On second thought, maybe not.

End result:

















She still needs a name. Looks just like the last one, doesn't she? Maybe lighter in color.

Berrypicking Postponed Till Spring

I've been working on a knitted sweater. It's been one thing after another with this project. First, I found a pattern I wanted to try, went thru the yarn stash and decided upon a nice wool in a color named "Berry" -- a sort of deep purple. The pattern called for 15 balls; I had ten. I knit a swatch to be sure it could work, and thought I'd just order more of the same thing, if I could find it online. What luck! My favorite online yarn supplier had it and even in the same dye lot. Perfect! So I ordered the 6 balls they said they had in stock. To qualify for a discount, I added some other stuff to my order -- not that I needed it. I'm just such an impulse shopper it stinks! Just dangle that little "discount" carrot in front of me and I'm hooked.

Okay. Yarn needed is on it's way, so I'll just begin with the sleeves to get a head start while I wait for the rest of the yarn to arrive. Two sleeves into this thing, I get my package, sans the Berry yarn, with a note that says it is no longer available. Discontinued. What?!? What happened? It was listed as "in stock" when I ordered. Did the person who had to package it up for shipment decide (s)he wanted it, and leave me high and dry? or what? And now I have this other junk I didn't really want or need to add to the stash I'm supposedly on a campaign to reduce. Tsk!

So I did some math (always makes me woozy), and discovered that because I was using a yarn with more yardage than the knitted sample in the magazine, I would have enough in my ten balls, if yardage estimates and/or math can be trusted. Woo-hoo ... I'm good to go.

I cast on the required stitches (a LOT!), and began the body of the sweater. On the third row, I decided something was amiss. I must've messed up, so I tore it out and started over. Got to the third row and again, it's not looking right. Hmmmm ... I'd better stop trying to knit and watch TV at the same time. Picked it back to the first row and tried again. Once again I knit to the third row -- now for the third time, and whoa! Something is really wrong here. Can I be such a dolt that I can make the same mistake three times in a row? Probably.

I know I am not alone in giving my knitting projects names (just ask any knitter you know if it isn't so). I've picked this one out so many times, it just HAS to be called The Berrypicker. Get it?

So I picked it all back again, and while I'm doing this I started thinking I'd better check the math on the pattern just to be sure. Well, I'm never quite sure about my math skills, so even though I think I've discovered an error here, I have no confidence that I am correct and began again. This time I'm putting markers for every repeat of the pattern, thinking I must be losing count somewhere along the 15-stitch repeat and it only becomes apparent when I get to the third row. Once again, I make it to the third row. Can you believe it? It's still messed up.

Now I'm getting worried that all this picking-out and re-knitting is going to wear the yarn out before I even get the thing knitted. Bad enough to have socks that look dirty before they're off the needles (recall my post from a few weeks ago), but a sweater that looks tattered from day one?!? No thanks.

I figured out that the pattern calls for the wrong number of cast on stitches. Ohhhhh ... THAT must be the problem. Start over. Once again, this thing is just not working out the way it is supposed to. Good thing the grandkids are not around -- this thing is making me sputter very unseemly phrases.

I have now unraveled the whole shebang and put it in a bag. It will have to wait until I can catch up with my sister who knits better than I do, and get her to help me with this stupid thing. Berrypicking Postponed Till Spring. I'm really annoyed with this project and have decided to abandon it for something new and more to my liking and abilities.)
















Green. Silky Wool. I love this stuff. Not only is green my favorite color, but this thinner yarn knits up fast like a worsted weight. What's not to love here?

Leftie? Rightie?

Truth is, I really don't know. I'm certainly a leftie when it comes to the important things like eating or writing, but I never am sure when it comes to other things. It always depends upon somebody else. Yeah, I KNOW! Crazy. However, if the person who teaches me to bowl does it right-handed, so will I. If The person who teaches me to use a tool does it one way, I will just do the same. Then there are the times when I'm left to decide for myself. Seems like it should be easy enough. But more times than I can say, I've spent way too much time trying to decide whether to be a leftie or a rightie when the task is as hand. Example: recent class with Deb Tucker to learn her method of making a Hunter Star quilt top.

Deb is a great teacher -- very lively, well-organized, and so thorough that in her hand-outs, she provides very clear instructions for doing things either left- or right-handed. First, she gave a walk-through in front of the group by way of demonstrating the method. Right-handed. Then we each went to our work stations and, following the printed instructions, were to begin the project. Deb made her way around the room, spending time with each student to be sure they understood. When she came to me, she asked if I was leftie or rightie. My natural instinct is to say "leftie" when asked. So she proceeded to show me how to follow the lefties' instructions. Okay ... that was all it took to set my head in a spin. I watched HER do it right-handed, then tried to follow the left-handed instruction she provided -- and I was all confused. Should I turn it this way or that? Am I leftie, or rightie? I don't know any more! (This has happened to me before.) So how to proceed? First I try one way, then the other. Anybody watching me will certainly think I am "challenged," as one teacher put it after observing my first attempt at using a rotary cutter. (I was trying to decide if it would be more comfortable in one hand or the other, but the teacher concluded I was a total dim-wit who seemed to be content to pass the tool from one hand to the other instead of using it to cut fabric.)
















So anyway, I eventually decided it didn't matter which way I did it, as long as I was consistent. I got enough blocks completed in the class to make a wall-hanging. That was the intended goal for the class, so I gave myself an A+ for my efforts. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to go on and make it a bed-sized quilt, and congratulated myself for having had the foresight to purchase enough fabric in the first place to do just that. So, at home, I proceeded to whack out the little trapezoids and triangles I needed to turn this thing into a major production. Then my personal little cloud moved in overhead, and rained on my parade. Turns out I was short just about a quarter-yard of one fabric. How? I just KNOW I asked for equal amounts of the two colors needed when I shopped. If I lived in town, it wouldn't be such a pain. I could just dash over to the quilt shop and get what I need. But no. I live nearly an hour away. And the weather was the sort that keeps even the brave hearts off the roads for quite a stretch.

Eventually, I got out, got the fabric and would continue as soon as I could get some time and energy (and these two ingredients HAD to come together -- won't do to have one without the other). It took about two weeks for that to happen due to unfortunate timing involving sudden and severe illness and an overload of work here. But last night, I played with it, all the while visions of a beautifully quilted masterpiece danced in my head. (They always look fantastic in my head; in real life, not so much. But that's okay -- I still love doing it.)



I think I like the traditional setting best:
















Bottom line: if you've ever wanted to do a Hunter Star, I recommend Deb Tucker's method. If you get a chance to take a class with her, you won't be disappointed.