September TUSAL

Greetings, folks.  Here we are at another new moon.  And, once again, I really don't have much to show for it in my TUSAL bottle.

Even Jack looks a bit perplexed that there's nothing new in there.  Sorry, but knitting doesn't generate the amount of ortage that embroidery does.

Yes, I'm still knitting.  And, yes, I'm still working on big squares.  One day I hope to have them all done and then I can sew them all together and have a great lap rug to show for it.  Perhaps my stitching mojo will return by then.

I've been telling an online friend about all the birds in my backyard.  Here's a shot out my kitchen window of many of the feeders in the backyard and a good showing of the different birds that visit the feeders.  We once tried to count up all the species of birds we've seen in the backyard and I believe we came up with 18.

 And, then there are the squirrels.  They enjoy the sunflower seeds and peanuts we put in the feeder box.  Sometimes they hit the jackpot and get a stale bread bowl.

Click on any of the pictures for a bit larger view.

TUSAL: August 2011

Here we are at the New Moon for August.  I'm still not stitching so there's no new floss in the jar. There are a few yarn snippets, but not from anything specific.  The blue blob is from a working swatch where I was trying to figure out the stockinette stitch. 

Here's anothe view of the TUSAL bottle.  The nosy kitty is Tabby; she's part of the local cat colony.  It's not quite fair to call her feral as she clearly belonged to someone once upon a time.  I have no idea who or why she's not with them now.  Too bad the kittehs can't tell their stories to us.

My dear friend PP read my last post about stitching a scarf and a hat for the coming winter.  PP is an accomplished knitter (and fiber woman in general) and she made me some truly awesome fingerless gloves from the same yarn I used. Aren't the gloves beautiful?  Thank you so much, PP, for these awesome gloves.  You rocked my world!  When the cold weather hits, I'm going to be so ready for it! 

Here's another shot of these oh so comfortable gloves!

What I've been knitting lately are squares.  This is the pattern I used for the wash cloth that was my second (and third) projects.  The yarn came from Mama's stash.  Just your run of the mill cotton yarn.  It may be Peaches 'n Cream, or it may be just something similar.  I had the crazy idea to use this blocks like quilting blocks and use them to make a lap rug/throw/Afghan/whatever.  I've got some ideas for constuction but will keep that to myself until I'm further along on the project.

When I ran out of Mama's yarn (after three squares) I bought a new cone of yarn.  Wouldn't you know it they didn't have the same color, close but not the same.  Oh, well, it's not like anyone else will see this.  The smaller squares pictured above are 50 stitches wide at their widest.  The big boy above is at 86.5 stitches when the picture was taken and will ultimately be 100.  I want to knit at least four (or maybe six) of these jumbo squares for the center of the lap rug.

The odometer on the ol' Subaru is still spinning. And yes, it just took about 2.5 gallons of gas to get the 85 miles on the tripmeter.  The old gal will be 17 years old in just a couple of weeks.  We sure got our money's worth out of this car.  Rock on, Suby!

TUSAL: July 2011, Second of Two

Greetings, everyone, from the last day of July, 2011.  My goodness, how time has flown by!

I did a bit of research and found that the second new moon in a given month is referred to as either a black moon (according to this article) or a dark moon.  This list of moon folklore said that two new moons in one month predicted a month's bad weather.  Taken along with another tidbit from the same list (a new moon on a Saturday (as it was yesterday) supposedly brings 20 days of wind and rain) and we should be in for some lousy weather.  Believe if you wish, but I don't think that will be the case.

What are all the bits of colored fluffiness?

I've been a knittin' fool this month and the little bits of color are the trimming from the pom-pom that went on the hat I knitted.  Yes, you read that right: I knitted a hat!  And a scarf to go with it.  I've learned to knit in the round on cables and also on double pointed needles.  Both of those were an interesting experience.  The double pointed needles were difficult to maneuver when completing the crown of the hat.  I'm not sure I want to go through that again.  Perhaps it would be easier with smaller needles.  I used Size 10us.

The original pattern for the scarf called for three skeins and for it to be 65 inches long.  Well, I used all three skeins and mine turned out to be 78 inches (2 m) long.  It's alright, though, since I'm tall and like having extra length to wrap around the neck and over the face, if necessary.

The bright sunshine really brings out the beautiful colors in the yarn.  (It's Lion Brand Amazing yarn in colorway Mauna Loa.)  Hard to believe I'm taking pictures of knitwear when it's 100 degrees outside.  Ugh.  C'mon winter!

Ready for cold weather!

This is Ginger.  She's been a member of my feral cat colony for three years now.  Ginger showed up when she was just a tiny kitten, but already too wild to tame.  She has been spayed, though, so she's not adding to the cat population.  This was such a great picture of her, I just had to share it.

Here's Jack on the run.  (He really does have all four legs.)  And Bob looking a bit grumpy.  Pardon his rumpled fur but he got a bath on Friday and can't do a thing with it.

TUSAL for June



Here it is, my friends, my TUSAL bottle for June.  Not a lot, well, nothing actually, different from last month.  Still in a stitching slump.   :(

Lately, I've been trying knitting when I feel the need to do something with my hands.  Back and forth on the same 20 stitches.  The owner of the LNS showed me this could actually be turned into some thing useful:  Stitch a long-ish narrow piece.  Stitch two short ends together.  Do a running stitch around the top and bottom of the tube.  Gather and sew it shut on both sides.  Ta-da!  A dish scrubbie.

If I get around to makeing one of these I'll post some pictures and label it a tutorial.

TUSAL: May 2011

Here's my TUSAL bottle for May's new moon.  If it look suspiciously like the shot from April, there's a reason.  Due to being very busy at work and allergies and a sinus infect yada yada yada I've been in a crafting slump lately.  Here's hoping this is just a temporary thing and I'll be feeling crafty and productive again in May.

TUSAL: April 2011

A half-gallon size Ball jar stepped up to become the new TUSAL bottle after the minor disaster that claimed the original apothecary jar. This one should be a bit more forgiving if it slips from my hands, but I'd best be quick to get toes out of the way since this jar is rather hefty.

Friend SU had a birthday recently. I made a book safe and a tin and scissor fob set for her. The book safe, at first, didn't go over well; I believe she really would have rather had the single volume from the 1957 edition children's encyclopedia. When I explained the original condition of the book (dirty, sooty, broken spine, pages tearing from spine etc), I think she understood why I did what I did with it. I promise I do not destroy any books of value when I make book safes. SU really loved the repurposed Altoids tin with the cute sheep on the front. The tiny scissors made her happy too since they are too small to use for anything other than snipping yarn or embroidery threads. She said she's infamous for ruining scissors by using them as screwdrivers or cutting up paper or tough fabrics like denim.

TUSAL: March 2011

Looking down on TUSAL for March's new moon.

Lots of orts of all sorts added during February.

Moments later... uh-oh. And, yes. The bottom part landed right side up.

The lid survived but the orts are currently in a one quart zippy bag.

More later. I've got a Randy Rogers Band concert to go to.

TUSAL: February 2011

Greetings. Here we are Groundhog's Day as well as another new moon, which means it's time for another picture for the TUSAL hosted by It'sDaffycat. There is a lot more to show this time than last.



During the last month, I made nine scissor fobs, took a needle work class in Florida and worked on several smalls for a project that's still in the works. In addition to orts from stitching, there's also the label and empty spool from a ball of #12 black perle cotton, an empty spool of Krienik #4 very fine braid, scraps of handmade cording and various and sundry scraps of linens and felts and velvets from finishing projects. Yes, it's been a busy month!



The needlework class I attended is an annual event taught by Susan Greening Davis. The attendees lovingly refer to it as Pirate Camp since it is held in the St. Augustine area - and they've had more than their fair share of pirates in the day. The beaches are beautiful in this area.



I like to make favors for my table-mates and hosts of the class and, this year, decided to make scissor fobs.



A little piece of needle work from JE's late mother inspired the black-on-black stitching on the front. The fabric is 22 count Hardanger stitched with #12 perle cotton.



In keeping with the pirate theme, I found a cute Jolly Roger rubber stamp and used it to make emblossed velvet for the back of the fob.



Joining the two pieces was a bit of a challenge. The velvet was crawly and evil and didn't want to stay put to be sewn together with the stitched piece. There was a lot of cussing involved. I made the tassels from #12 perle cotton, and the cording was made with #5 perle cotton and red #4 Krienik braid.

I'd been to St. Augustine several times but had never visited the lighthouse. Right before taking our afternoon break, one of the ladies at the class asked who was going to be climbing to the top of the lighthouse. At the time I thought to myself, "Not me!" But a while latter, driving down A1A, there was the lighthouse.



I turned off the main road to get some pictures of it and one thing lead to another. Oh, did I mention my mom was with me? Yuppers, she'd come to the stitching class and here we were at the lighthouse.



Now, understand, I'm afraid of heights and Mama had a total hip replacement a year ago last Christmas. Neither of us were great candidates for doing this, but I knew we could. All 219 stairs up to the top.



I kept my eyes on the wall when going up the stairs; the holes made into the stairs offered too much of a view to look down. Mama, on the other hand, was watching the stairs to make sure she didn't make a misstep. We'd rest on the landings, and Mama wanted to quit a few times, but I kept egging her on.



And we made it to the top! It was a glorious view and I wish I'd been able to step away from the safety of the brick wall to look around more, but I was terrified. Going down was a lot faster than going up for Mama. It took me a bit longer because I had a death-grip on wall mounted handrail (with both hands) and had to hand-over-hand my way down - looking at the wall not the steps. I was very happy to reach the bottom but could now brag I'd actually made it to the top. Three cheers for me and Mama!

Pookie had also made the trip, but we left him in Jacksonville with our friends B and TM and their bird, Gus.



Here's a book safe I made for B for her hospitality:



It's the best book safe I've made to date and she appeared to be please by it.



While there, I saw the scissor fob I'd made for her last year. It's a Lori Birmingham design. Don't you love them? They're all so delicate and beautifully feminine



I'll leave you with a shot of the good ship Bob sailing along the carpet.

TUSAL: January 2011

Happy 2011, everyone! Hope all got though it safe and sound and are back in the swing of things.


Along with the new year, we've got a New Moon and that means a TUSAL post. Being so early in the year, I haven't much in the way of orts to show off. The strange picture above is shooting down the apothecary jar that will be my TUSAL container for the year. Yes, that's three waste knots and three pieces of #12 perle cotton. Wooo! What a stitching session that was. :P

Here's a more recognizable shot of the jar.

And a close-up pointing out the tiny bits.

Here are the 2010 TUSAL that I continued to use, though I fell off on posting pictures toward the end of the summer. The 2009 bottle is also in the picture, but that only accounted for May through December, as I started late.

Many, many thanks to Daffycat for continuing the TUSAL project started by Yoyo (who I miss bunches). If you want to join in the 2011 TUSAL with Daffycat click here to sign up on her blog. It really is loads of fun!


I didn't do very much in the way of creations for Christmas this year, and some of what I did managed to get away from me without pictures. Oh, well. The covered matches (there were two additional boxes with different designs that got away sans picture) made a nice gift paired with nice candles.


Friend SU does tiny knitting and has had some problems keeping with her tiny needles, so I made a needle book for her so they wouldn't go astray so easily.

The interior was finished with leftovers from the fabric I used to cover her stitching basket. She really loved this and it made my heart happy to delight her so.


Happy stitching, everyone. I'll leave you with a picture of Bob sleeping. Notice all the paws curled up. Isn't he adorable? Ok, I'm biased.