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.

Monday, November 30, 2020

I’m a bit at loose ends today. I wanted to drop off my donations to the Salvation Army after lunch but that left a morning to fill. I wrapped a couple of gifts and got them ready for the mail even though I have no intention of mailing them until later in the week.

After dropping the donations and putting some face masks in the mail for the kids I had the afternoon ahead of me. My schedule said I should be quilting but I put my UFO project away in anticipation of next month’s announcement tomorrow. All the birthday cards were quilted and in the mail.

So I started wrapping up a few more gifts that won’t go into the mail until next week and then I started getting my cards ready. As I printed labels and got the cards ready for the mail I kept coming back to my labels and printing out ones I had forgotten on the first round; the names came into my mind as I was working and I hadn’t printed a label for them. Now I’m worried I might not have enough cards for all the people I want to send them to.

Thank you so much for everyone who said they enjoyed my ramblings even when they weren’t very exciting. I appreciate your support.