Hanging in there

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Don’t mistake my lack of posting for lack of interest in or work on my Fair items. I’m still plugging away. I was sick for a week and a half, and the kid was sick for a few days, and that really put a crimp in my…well, in pretty much everything. I still managed to complete three items since I last posted.

105 | Needlework | Crocheting | Table Linens: Completed

The first item is kinda freaky, but I am very happy with it. It is the first crocheted item I’ve made probably ever. If you can’t tell, it’s a place mat. The pattern is based on Scotty’s Place dish mat pattern. I needed an extremely simple pattern to get started with crochet, and this fit the bill. It took me forever to get through the first few rows, and then I got the hang of it. Special thanks to my Mom, who gave me several crochet lessons.

108 | Needlework | Knitting | Infant’s Set: Completed

I spent way too much money on the yarn for this item because I was caught up in the school’s Local Gifts program. I got a sticker every time I bought something from participating local stores. I NEEDED a sticker from the local yarn store, so I spent way too much on Really Expensive Yarn for this item. I didn’t have enough Really Expensive Yarn to do the hat, so I bought some Really Inexpensive Yarn. To tie the pieces together, I did a little embroidery on the sweater and shoes using the Really Inexpensive Yarn. The patterns are from Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss. I learned quite a few things with these pieces. The neatest one…weighing yarn! I read a trick on Yarn Harlot. When you are working on a pair of something (baby shoes in this case), and you finish one and don’t know if you’ll have enough yarn for the second, weigh the finished piece and weigh the yarn you have…and presto, you’ll know! One of these shoes weighed about 11 grams, and I had 14 grams of yarn left for the second. Yay! I also practiced several methods for stitching knitted pieces together. Oh! And I made a sweater!! It’s my first sweater ever. It is super simple and super small, but it is a sweater! This still needs to be blocked, but since it’s getting shoved in a box for a few months, I’ll wait for a while to do that.

119 | Needlework | Embroidery | Needlepoint: Completed

Hands down my favorite project I’ve made for the Fair so far, this pin cushion. While most of the projects I’ve made are destined to be gifts, no one is getting this pin cushion but me. I really, really like it. (The picture doesn’t do it justice. All these photos are a bit blurry.) The needlepoint part has been done for a while, but I avoided finishing it because just thinking about making a cord and tassel scared me. Turns out, it’s pretty easy to do both. The pattern is from Medieval Needlepoint: Twenty-Four Easy-To-Make Projects for the Home by Debby Robinson. (I love the library.)

102 | Needlework | Crocheting | Afghan: Started

My next item is underway. It’s a crocheted afghan using a Lion Brand pattern where the afghan is created on a diagonal. I am crocheting a triangle right now, and supposedly it will end up as a rectangle. I have my doubts, but I keep working while I chant my Fair mantra, “I don’t have to win, I just have to enter.” Is there a rule somewhere that says an afghan can’t be a giant diamond?


Fair semantics

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What exactly is an “infant’s set” in the context of being something I have to knit for the fair? It makes me think of an entire outfit: dress, booties, hat. But what about boys who aren’t dressed in dresses. How about a sweater, booties, hat? Or would that need some sort of pants, too? What about a more summery dress that you wouldn’t want to wear a knitted hat with? And how big is an infant? Would that only be a size 0-3 months? Could it go up to 6 months. 9? Related, how big is a child’s sweater? Is a baby sweater a child sweater? And what is a sweater anyhow? Can it have short sleeves? Is a bolero a sweater?

Who knew this fair stuff would be so complicated.

I started 119 | Needlework | Embroidery | Needlepoint. I am making a really cool pin cushion based on a medieval design. Needlepoint kicks cross-stitch’s bootie.

I also plan to cast on tonight for something that will either be a knitted child’s sweater or part of an infant’s set. I am leaning towards the latter because I think I’d like to make a cool sweater for Anya.


I can show you anything on my belly belly belly screen

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Things I’ve Learned in My Fair Quest – Months 1 and 2:

  1. Wing it.
  2. Read (and follow) the directions.
  3. As much as you want to cut the darned infernal ties off the baby bib you are cross-stitching, resist. It’s possible they may be needed at some point.
  4. Joann’s has better stitchy stuff than Michael’s.
  5. I cannot resist sparkly paper that is on sale even if I already have lots of sparkly paper and even if sparkly paper doesn’t really have anything to do with Fair stuff.
  6. Plastic mesh canvas crafts don’t have to look like the ugly kleenex box covers you remember from your youth.
  7. Just because you finish the cross-stitching doesn’t mean the item is done. You absolutely may not mark it off your list until you sew on the back and add the hanger.
  8. Apple jelly requires patience. And a thermometer.
  9. Canning apples in Virginia is more difficult than in Michigan.
  10. Apple leather should be on the Fair list. I’ll make it even if it isn’t.
  11. Chik-fil-A beverage carriers make great craft caddies.
  12. Don’t casually toss your stitching floss into your great craft caddy unless you like to either (1) keep buying new floss or (b) spend precious Fair crafting time unraveling tangles your kid’s hair would be scared of.
  13. Stitching floss is really cheap. At least the cheap kind.

No huge projects completed so far, but I have done several smaller ones. I’ve also been busy working on the bags of apples that have been living in our dining room for far too long. I made 10 or so quarts of canned apples, a ton of apple leather, and a batch of dried apple rings. The leather seems to be the winner. So, in case you’ve been eagerly hitting “refresh” on this blog to see what work I’ve done for the Fair…wait no more.

113 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Christmas Item: Completed
141 | Craft | Handicraft | Plastic Canvas Item: Completed

112 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Baby Item: Completed

64 | Food | Jelly | Misc. Jelly (Apple): Completed (No picture. Jelly is shy.)


Moving right along

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Last night I finished the dread number 114. I am relieved. I am lighter and free and full of joy and song and dance. Or that could be the candy corn.

This is a piece called “Dragonfly Duo” by Dimensions Crafts. It’s a kit I got 50% off at AC Moore. I think the 50% I didn’t get had my sanity in it. I think it should be renamed, “Damned Dragonflies Bleepity Bleep Bleep.” I sent my suggestion to the manufactures, but I haven’t heard back from them yet.

Being the sadistic crafter I am, I started on my next project this afternoon: 113 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Christmas Item. For this piece I am using a pattern I found online called “Shades of Christmas,” from Crossing Montana. I chose this pattern because (1) it was free, (2) it only had 3 colors in it, and (3) it is small. Do you remember Unhelpful Store Lady from a month ago when I went to the local craft store to find cross-stitch supplies? I said, “Hey, I’m a cross-stitch newbie and I want to make this –show lady pattern–. Could you help me get what I need?” And Unhelpful Store Lady grumbled and led me directly to the 32 count Aida cloth and never once said, “This is not really for newbies,” or “You need magnifying glasses to stitch on this,” or “Whatever you do, do not try and stitch on this when you are in a car being driven by your crazy-driver husband going along wavy, windy, hilly roads with your whining pre-schooler in the backseat.” Not one word about any of that.

Strangely, once I had the magnifying glasses and a chair on solid ground and peace and quiet and a bowl of candy corn, this piece became not only much easier but actually pleasant. I think I can dig 32 count Aida. It’s more like real fabric, and the finished product doesn’t look like it is stitched on a piece of graph paper. And I definitely can dig the simple, small, three-color pattern that lacks half stitches, back stitches, and the insidious french knot.


Olive (1997ish to 2011)

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Olive was the last kitty to join our family before we realized we had enough kitties. Andy was in school in California, and for some reason he decided it would be good to browse the humane society web site in Michigan. One day he told me about a little gray kitty who needed a family. I don’t remember if he was about to come for a visit or if he was on his way home for good, but he came home and the little gray kitty was still at the shelter. She was already grown up, and her info card said she came from a house with lots of other cats. Her tail was just a little stub that waggled when she was happy. We figured if she was used to lots of other cats, she’d do well as a ninth cat at our place. We took her home and named her Olive.

Olive was always pretty quiet. She didn’t get into trouble or do any neat tricks. She did like to sleep in the bed with us, but for the most part she stayed to herself.

Back in January she began to slow down. She started to lose weight and we took her to the vet. We hoped she’d perk up after the vet removed a bad tooth, but she didn’t really. She stopped going downstairs. Eventually she spent most of her time snoozing on the couch, walking to the kitchen for water, and hanging out in the bathroom hoping for food time. We finally realized she had gone blind and was almost deaf, too. She kept getting thinner and thinner. Her body started to shut down a few weeks ago when we noticed her drinking large amounts of water and leaving many puddles about. We decided yesterday that it was time, so this afternoon we all took her to the vet and gave her hugs and kisses and said goodbye. Andy made her a spot in our pet garden and found a nice rock to mark her place.

Night, night Ollie.


10 Down, 180ish to go

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Days 31-35: Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 36: Completed 161 | Craft | Holiday Decorations | Fall; Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 37 (today): Completed 21 | Food | Canned Fruit | Apples.

Today I decided to work on some canning since the canning stuff is still spread out all over the kitchen. I need to redo the apple jelly and work on a mixed fruit jelly, but jelly sucks. I don’t even eat jelly often. Darn jelly. Last week I used the last of our canned apples from 2005 (Anya, these apples are older than you!!), so I decided I would can more apples today. I peeled, cored, and quartered 18 pounds of apples (Andy helped peel about half). [After making cider, dealing with only 18 pounds of apples seems like sewing doll clothes.] Although it took forever to get everything boiling and assembled and into the processor, I was pleasantly pleased with the jars when they came out of the canner. I went and had dinner and came back to oogle, and I noticed that two of the jars (including the one I planned to enter into the fair) were half empty. The lids didn’t seal, and all the liquid was gone gone gone. I had lots of liquid left over, so I filled the jars back up, put on fresh lids, and popped them back in the canner. Hopefully they behave this time around.

With less than 330 days to go, I have only completed 10 items for next year’s fair. I thought it was more. Surely it was more?? Darn cross-stitch sucking my life away. Stitch, stitch, stitch, that was 20 days of my life sucked away. At least the end is in sight for 114. I think 115 | Needlework | Cross-stitch | Afghan is going to be the last thing I work on. Whoever heard of cross-stitching on an afghan?!? I think that would not only suck a few months of my life away, but it would probably also suck out my soul and put it in a jar and make it into jelly.

Look, we got rid of our windows!


Beautiful Bee Barf

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Day 26 (wednesday): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 27 (thursday): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 28 (friday): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 29 (saturday): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 30 (today): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging; Completed 194 | Honey | Jar of Strained Amber Honey.

I’ve been feeling rather homesteady this weekend. Yesterday we went back to Andy’s chiropractor’s assistant’s house and picked another 360 pounds of apples, and then we spent about 7 hours making about 9 gallons of cider. Today, Andy started 5 of those gallons on the journey to being hard cider, and he bottled his blackberry wine. I worked on cleaning out the garden and replanted some strawberry runners. Our garlic order came in, and I was cleaning the garden spot for that…then I found all these runners that needed new homes. Maybe I can put the garlic in between the strawberry runners? We also collected four frames from our beehive and began the painfully tedious and sticky process of harvesting the honey without a honey extractor. We scraped the goop, comb and honey together, off the frames and then strained them into jars through cheesecloth. Not ideal, but it works.

The honey has a nice, but minty (?), flavor. It looks like we’ll get about a quart and a half. Not a lot, but since we haven’t had any honey since we moved here, it’s a step in the right direction.

Work on 114 continues.


If only apple caramel were on the list…

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Day 21 (friday): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.
Day 22 (saturday): Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging [UNSTITCHING].
Day 23 (sunday): Attempted 64 | Food | Jelly | Misc. Jelly [FAILURE]; Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging [UNSTITCHING].
Day 24 (monday): Sanity knitting.
Day 25 (today): Sleep.

Saturday, we spent all day making apple cider. Sunday, I decided to whip up 64 | Food | Jelly | Misc. Jelly — apple jelly. I figured the hardest part was getting the juice out of the fruit, and that was already done the day before. What could go wrong? My recipe didn’t include pectin because apples are so pectiny, so I had to get the gel setty part on my own. I pulled out my thermometer and brought the liquid up to “jelling” point and then some. It didn’t pass the “sheeting” test with a spoon, but I had faith it would jell. I filled the jars and processed them. When they came out, they were about as liquidy as water. I let them set for several hours, but they were still fluid. Thinking I hadn’t cooked them enough, I popped the lids, poured the stuff back into the pot, and started cooking again. Things were looking okay until I started listening to Andy and his internet apply jelly research. I added some pectin. The extra cooking or the pectin alone would probably have been fine. Together, I got The Blob. Still, I put the goop in jars and processed it thinking it would make everything better. I’m still not sure why. Reminds me of a post from the Yarn Harlot where she was knitting something and she knew the gauge/size was way off, but she kept knitting and knitting, like sticking with it will make it turn out right.

In the end, I spent a couple of hours and four cups of precious apple juice, and all I had to show for it was two and a half tiny jars of what sorta seems like apple caramel. It’s tasty, but don’t try and heat it up and pour over ice cream unless you like apple caramel plastic. Which it turns out I do.


Abracadabra

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Day 20: Continued 114 | Needlework | Cross-Stitch | Wall Hanging.

I finished a dragonfly today. Its body is a bit of a mess. If I had magical powers that made the things I cross-stitched become real, this poor dragonfly would keel over pretty much immediately after coming to life. Of course, if I did have those powers, I wouldn’t be stitching dragonflies. I bet it would be fairly complex to cross-stitch a hundred dollar bill accurately, though. At least for me. I’d end up arrested for counterfeiting. Do you think they’d give me cross-stitch supplies in jail? I would practice and practice until I had the craft perfected and then stitch a real dragon who would knock a hole in the wall of the jail cell and carry me away to freedom and not eat me for lunch.

“Let me out! Where is my dragon!!”