A Little Yarn On The Side

....and I need to use up another 15.6 yards of fabric before the end of the year to reach my goal of 100 yards for the year.  The part of me that isn't stressing is trying to figure out really big projects. I've been down with a cold for the last week, so I haven't really done any sewing--or knitting--until yesterday, when I did manage to finish up two new table runners: and have two more like it in progress.  Not a lot of yardage, but I had a new embroidery design set to play with (another one).  One of them is being delivered tonight as a 45th wedding anniversary gift, which I hope they'll like.  I think I'll try black thread on one of the new ones to see how it looks--these don't stand out as much as I had hoped.  And when those are done, that will give me about another 1.2 yards--again, not much fabric, but something.  AND, I am twelve days away from not having bought fabric in a year.  These arrived yesterday, so I think Joanns is miss...

The good news is that we really only have one super-busy week this holiday season.  And since it's been more than a week, you might easily guess that it was THIS week.  My hip/back is still really sore from visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, but we've still managed to see the Carole King musical, Beautiful, with my mother on Wednesday, then "helped" some friends bottle their wine yesterday during the day, then went to a holiday house concert last night (I even performed), and then tonight we have a dinner to go to.  I'm pretty worn out, but it's all fun--and tomorrow I can rest.  There has been some crafting since my last update.  I did a new bowl,  and, what's really exciting, is that I sliced up ALL the remaining fabric from the Spicy Spiral runner    for Andy's parents' 60th wedding anniversary last year.  This is a big thing for me, because I really loved how it turned out and the fabric, and using up the last of it will tr...

So, that was a fast almost-2-weeks.  I did remember Me Made Mondays, though neither of them count for "new" items.  I need to pick up the pace on those a bit as it's almost December..  Speaking of timing issues, this arrived last week. I can only assume this has been bouncing around in the mail for 3 months or that "pre-order now" refers to Christmas 2017.  Okay, yes, every crafter I know DOES actually have insanely unrealistic expectations of how fast we can make Christmas gifts, but I think most of us at least expect stores to have more sense than we do.  That's what they're there for.  Last weekend Andy and I popped down to Twin Falls for the weekend to get Emma fixed, and Larry was able to replace the part while we were there, so I have two working Husqvarnas!  And, a new quilting foot to play with.  The one I have for the Bernina has a guide, and I really like it, but the feed dogs pull very hard and there's no changing foot ...

 It's a pretty tense time in America right now, in case anyone just woke up from a coma or something.  Yesterday I spent some time with a very old friend, which was wonderful, and last week I started doing some VERY part-time/temporary work with one of my oldest friends, which has been great.  There are people who bring pain to your life and people who bring joy.  I hope I am always the latter in the lives I touch, and I am really thankful I have so many of you in mine.  It was time for a little beauty today.  Jeeves is working beautifully, which is really fun.  With nothing positive happening on the job front, it's nice to not have to even think about replacing him just yet.  The other machine I took down--Emma--worked okay for a while, then flipped out again, but behaved beautifully today.  Larry, of course, warranties his work, so I've emailed him to let him know there's still a problem and he's already ordered the replacement pa...

Jellyrolls are the sock yarn of the quilting world--tempting, take up relatively a small amount of space but can take a surprisingly long time to use up.  As I prefer to prewash fabric before sewing with it, I thought it would be brilliant to throw--not one, but TWO--jellyrolls into a lingerie bag and wash them.   And in case you're wondering what happens to 84 strips of cotton fabric sent through several various washer & dryer cycles involving spinning, the word you're looking for would be "snarl."  A big one.  This is only the part I ironed this evening.   I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with either of them, but I still have a LOT of ironing to finish before having to decide.  Another wild Friday night around here........

Two nations woke up today--both hurt and angry and wondering how the other could treat them this way.  It may be that this wall is bigger and wider than we had ever imagined, and I'm honestly not sure we'll find a gateway.  For my friends who voted for Trump, I know the protests outrage you, but my question is:  Did the protests over Obama's election upset you?  They happened--both in 2008 and in 2012.  And did you speak out against them?  There was a lot of racial imagery in those and in the Tea Party protests, and again I ask:  did you speak out against them?  Because here's the thing: very shortly after Obama was elected, lots of my Republican friends circulated a "joke" about praying for Obama's death.  Was it racist or just because he wasn't their candidate, and how is it okay to joke about it either way?  If you saw it, did you laugh?  Did you pass it on?  Did you tell the person who sent it that it was inappropriate?...

I didn't post that picture yesterday to imply that our country is unified in any way.  We're definitely not, and I heard sentiments in this election that people 50 years ago would at least have hid under sheets to say.  But I wanted to let my friends know that whatever the color of your skin, whomever you have found to love, I am with you and I will fight for your equality. I will stand up to those who think it's okay to mock disabled people or to bully anyone.  We all have to decide who we are, and this is who I am .  And we will NEVER go back.  That's a promise.