by Kat | Mar 15, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Welcome to the “Beware the ides of March” edition of TGIF!
It has been a week and a half (or at least it certainly feels that way to me!) I guess a week with meetings, vet appointments, and an inordinate amount of phone calls will do that for you! But it is finally Friday and even though we had a huge slice of spring yesterday – we have that four-letter word in the forecast for this weekend. I am desperately hoping the weather persons are all wrong!
But, enough with the weather and way-to-long weeks… lets get this weekend started already!
Terrific, tremendous, and terribly wonderful!!
I have the front of Deschain completed! I love how it looks and I will get the back cast on this morning. I did one extra repeat of the pattern and I am very happy with the length. The only fiddly part of the back will be the short rows. I do have one question for you, Gentle Readers, what would you use to seam this up?
Game on –
The Madness begins on Sunday and I am really excited for this year’s tournaments. I will be filling out my brackets on Monday and spending some quality television time over the next couple of weeks! This also means quality knitting time!! The “First Four” games start on the 19th and the full tournament tips off on Thursday.
Ireland Forever (or Éirinn go Brách) –
That’s right, Sunday is also St. Paddy’s Day and my corned beef is all set to go! I am trying Andrew Zimmern’s recipe this year and, honestly?? My mouth is watering thinking about it! Steve has also been sending me links of things to make with the leftovers. Look for these Irish Nachos or these Brisket Nachos to occur sometime next week! We have plenty of Guinness on hand which will help me forget the predicted cold weather.
Fotography Friday –
Yes, I am joining kmkatt for her Friday Fun. The photo I have chosen is courtesy of timehop. I cannot believe that 10 years have passed since this photo was taken because in my mind it really seems like it was yesterday. It was a rare glorious March day which made it perfect to visit Lake Michigan! It was equally perfect and so amazing to meet the woman in the photo again. This woman holds a very special place in my heart and seeing her all grown up was truly a lovely gift.
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Mar 1, 2019 | General, Making
It seems that March is off to a roaring start! We got about 5 inches of snow overnight, with more in the forecast for the weekend. Although, all this snow has not hampered the bird’s enthusiasm as they were singing loud and long this morning!
I have not done a Fiber Friday post in some time, and the mood is striking me that this is just what I need to share today!
First up, it seems I am working on becoming a Mohair Silk Knitting Jedi. Yes, this year just might be the Year of Mohair Knitting! My second mohair project of 2019 is underway, and I am cruising along. There was a slight hiccup when 5 rounds in I discovered that yes, I have twisted the damned cast on and have a Möbius sweater started. Now, if you know anything you know there is no “ripping back and starting over” with mohair. My solution? I dropped the last stitch of the round down to the cast on, untwisted the twist, and carefully purled up the laddered yarn. It shows a bit now, but once I have the ends woven in, I think it will be barely visible!
Thank goodness for that Mohair Halo!! This project is bringing me unbelievable joy – the color and the fabric are wonders!! This is exactly what my Tegna wants to be!
Next, today I will be ironing all these fat quarters to begin the process of cutting out squares for assembly! Yes, I am beginning my 100-day project today and hopefully I will have a quilt top done by June 9th.
I also picked up more fabric to make another 1 Hour Top!
So, March will be full of sewing and fluffy knitting! And, hopefully soon, some spring-like weather!!
Happy Friday all! See you back here next week!
by Kat | Jan 20, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Greetings from a sunny but very cold wintry wonderland!
The weekend forecast was the stuff of a weatherperson’s dreams – all the weather in one day so, we braved the crazed “Armageddon” crowds at the grocery store to get a couple of things. Really not the most brilliant thing we’ve ever done, but we did manage to survive.
We thought that trip was a fool’s errand when all the predictions for Saturday just sort of fizzled out. No snow but yes, we got lots of rain and the temperatures stayed well above freezing all day. The rains finally turned to ice and then to snow as our temperatures plummeted to single digits overnight. The arctic blast is indeed upon us!
And, so what do you do with all the weather drama? Well, you make comfort foods (i.e. stuffed acorn squash), drink whiskey, and finish projects!
I did some sewing with really lovely results. I mentioned Fancy Tiger Crafts One-Hour Top a couple of weeks ago and I found some knit fabric on sale at JoAnn’s and in less than an hour I sewed up a muslin from the sale fabric to see how it would fit and what adjustments I might need to make. Yes, less than an hour – including cutting out the pattern in that time! There are just 4 seams and then stitch the neck, sleeves and hem with a double needle, which gives a really lovely and surprisingly easy finish! And, the fit is really wonderful so I have been looking online for more knit fabric to make a couple more shirts!
Steve’s mom loved her Christmas Cowl so much she asked if I could make one for Steve’s dad, which I was happy to do. I finished it on Saturday and delivered it early Sunday morning and just in time for the single digit weather we are going to be having this week!
I blocked Rachel’s Birthday Shawl and got the few ends woven in, and it is all ready to be shipped off to California!
I also finished a pair of handspun socks that were two years in the making! That’s right I bound them off on Sunday morning – I still have ends to weave in but at least they are off the needles!
Inspired by Mary, I cleaned up my Ravelry queue and frogged a few items that just are not going to ever be finished for a variety of reasons. It feels infinitely better looking at my queue now and I even feel energized to get these lingering projects finished! All this work deserved a reward so I cast on a new shawl with a skein of handspun yarn that I found in last weekends organization that I had earmarked for this project!
In the “late to the party” category (and thanks to pneumonia!) I have recently discovered how entirely enjoyable Doctor Who is! I am just starting Season 4 thanks to Sunday’s snow storms and wintry blast! I will just say this; The Doctor is a very good knitting companion!
Steve works tomorrow, no day off for him! But if you do have tomorrow off – I hope you spend a little time thinking about MLK!
What did your weekend hold?
by Kat | Dec 21, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Thanks to Susan Anderson and a very bad ABBA pun, I am on a bit of a Knit-All-The-Gnome’s spree! Well, at least 2 of them to put on the gifts for Steve’s mom! She is a bit of a Gnome-iac and has them everywhere in her yard. So, it is the most fitting gift! Ha!
As with all of Susan’s patterns this has brilliant construction and is a quick knit! Bonus… there are instructions on how to make a mini-pompoms on a fork!
The amaryllis watch is going well with significant growth this week! Plus, I now have a just-beginning-to-bloom paperwhite added into the mix (thanks to one of my Confirmation students!!)
But, perhaps the best thing of all this week was the success of Genevieve’s Carseat Poncho!! She LOVES it and, imo, looks just too cute in it! She would not take it off saying, “it’s my wings!!”
And, there you have it from me for the week! I will be back here on Monday! Have a great weekend!
by Kat | Dec 18, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Sometimes, last minute and entirely unexpected Christmas knitting are the best moments of the day.
A phone call with my son last night sparked this knitting and it warms my heart!
I think can get these done today so they can go in the mail tomorrow…at least that’s the plan!
