Thursday, December 3, 2020

My UFO for December is That Fairy Tale Quilt. I bought the pattern in 2018 when I was at Quilt Canada and I started it on a sewing week in 2019 with Stacia and Deloise. Although I knew I had made a mistake in putting Red Riding Hood together I thought I could live with her being so far away from the house.

But when it came up as the last of my UFO projects for the year I decided I needed to fix it. Although the fix was more challenging than I thought it would be I’m happier with the results. It still isn’t exactly like the pattern but, as we say in the Guild when we make a mistake, “the pattern is just a guideline”.

I set up the tree this afternoon and I have it decorated. I set out a few of our decorations and I’ll get out the Christmas linens this afternoon. I will still have a few more boxes to empty before I’m done but it is looking a bit festive.

I was too tired to embroider or knit last night; I just sat in my rocking chair and rocked while we watched a movie. Hopefully tonight I’ll be more productive.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Let me just say that the carrot/pineapple cake that I made yesterday (from Mum’s recipe book) is absolutely delicious. Pat occasionally (many months ago now) purchased a carrot cake from one of the local grocery stores; mine is better! As good as the cake is, I wonder if I made it just because of the cream cheese icing. On the downside, I only used one carrot from the huge bag we got from the store; there will be more carrot-themed items to come.

Today was a card making day even though all my December cards were done and the reminder for the January cards hasn’t come up but I got a head start. I have two cards ready for some hand stitching over the next few days. I pulled three tickets (for three January birthdays) from my tin and one of them was perfect for one of the January birthdays. One of the other ones is suitable for another of the birthdays and I made the third one to store away for another time.

I’ve seen a few samples of this block and I knew it was going to be a difficult one to get right. At one point I thought the pattern was wrong but I just cut more of the pieces that I needed. At another point I thought there was another pattern error but when I looked more closely I realized I had read the pattern wrong. It was a tricky one but I’m good with the way it turned out.

I’ve started the next card for January but I’m not sure I’ll get it finished today. There wasn’t anything that interested me on Netflix last night so I read my book. I might be in a different frame of mind tonight and if we find something I’ll continue with some knitting.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Since my iPad is of little use these days I bring my first cup of coffee upstairs to my computer. I paid some bills, sorted out my December UFO project and got my 2021 UFO list completed. Most of the projects came from my 2020 UFO list but I did complete a few tasks during the year.

I wanted particularly to go to the post office first thing but since I needed some pineapple for my carrot cake I did a little grocery shopping first. Apparently everyone else had the post office idea as when I got there at about 8:35 (after shopping) there was already a line-up outside. I’ll try again later this afternoon just before closing time.

I finished getting all my cards ready for the mail – no letters inside mind you but it is still a big task finished. I ended up with three extra cards and two extra stamps so my calculations were pretty good. I think it’s too early to mail them but Pat doesn’t so I’ll throw them in the letter box when I’m out.

My carrot cake is out of the oven and cooling. While I waited for it to bake I started taking apart one of Pat’s masks; he thought it was an old one but I hadn’t taken out many stitches before realizing that it was already three layers. I’ll have to stitch it closed again.

My next thought was that I would work on my Guild mystery quilt. The next clue comes out on Thursday but I’m working quite a bit ahead. The first seam I did was wrong so I’ll have to do some reverse stitching before moving forward. Pat has an online event tonight so I can spend some time sewing until he is finished.

I set my ripper and Pat’s mask down somewhere and once I find them I can start that reverse stitching.

November 30, 2020

Slowly, so very slowly, I am using up some of the yarn I have stashed in bins all over the house – and I must not forget the trunk full of it in the shed. I knit or crochet most evenings and whatever I make is usually donated to the Salvation Army in Mum’s memory. She made hundreds of mitts every year for donation.

Although I download a lot of hat patterns during the year I always go back to my favourite ribbed pattern. I can do it without having to read a pattern and I can even manage it while watching a movie with sub-titles.

Occasionally I will find a pattern or have enough yarn to make something specific. This small tote bag was a new crochet pattern that I made from yarn I couldn’t resist on a Michael’s trip. The poncho is one I’ve been making for years (Christy had a pink one) and if I think I have enough yarn in one colour I love to make it.

Scarves and cowls can be made without too much yarn and I’ve made a lot of them this year.

I usually give my shawls to the Church where the Guild meet; they run a Prayer Shawl ministry. But we haven’t been able to be in the Church for almost a year so I’ll donate these ones to the Salvation Army this time.