Housekeeping - Overcoming the Photo Block

 In my effort to revive the blog, I have to be honest. One of the reasons I tend to fall into long stretches of non-blogging is my utter lack of technical skills. Specifically, my lack of technical skills and confidence in the management of photos.

When I started blogging... ten years ago... I managed somehow to upload the photos I wanted to use, and then there came a time when the format of the photos had to change. The photo-hosting service I used to use I can't even remember the name of. And there was limited storage, and I had to learn how to transfer the photos from the camera to the computer, and then I had to crunch them down using photoscape. I'm not sure if I still have to do that, but I've been dutifully crunching my photos down in size using that program for years. But then I got an iPhone, and taking photos did become a lot easier. But getting them from the iCloud to my photo files on my computer is a pain, and by the time I download the ones I want I'm out of mental energy to process them and archive them properly. Surely, it is easier for some people, but I end up with zip files that I don't know how to deal with... am I sounding pathetic yet? 

As the technology for photo sharing has improved, I noticed I was sharing things on Facebook and Instagram because it was just plain easy. But of course, there are increasingly negative tradeoffs when that's the only format you use. 

Anyway, long story short, managing photos is a headache for me. I need to break the mental block and blog about the things I like. So here are some that I just snagged as representative of the year so far, and maybe I can skip the downsizing this time. In the interest of keeping blogging, with the occasional photo.

This is the Frolic quilt that was the 2019 Mystery quilt from Bonnie K. Hunter. I blogged about it a little while I was working on it. It became a wedding gift for my firstborn last May! Now, of course, I am still working on the Grassy Creek quilt and the Unity Quilt that Bonnie shared. They aren't finished yet. And the 2021 mystery will be starting up really soon. So, looking on the bright side, I will have plenty of pictures to share as I work through those.

This is the Frugal Patch quilt variation I've been envisioning for many years and working on sporadically. It's the kind of thing I have to pack away between sessions because it's too big to leave on the design wall. But I'm excited about the possibility.

A couple of the baby quilts I've been making during the pandemic. Basic 4" or 5" squares, no batting, backed with flannel that can be folded to the front and topstitched for a binding. All the babies of my acquaintance (or at least the firstborns) are starting to get them, and I can turn one out in a day or two.

Three or four years ago I bought a bunch of mini orchids at Grocery Outlet. I managed to keep most of them alive, and they even rebloom occasionally. This makes me quite happy, and I take pictures of them.

Cleverly Practical, the "Hermione" socks from the Harry Potter collection by Lisa Ross. I really like them.

So, it does seem I can share photos again, even though my blogging interface looks a bit different than it did over a year ago. And you can have a taste of what my social media circle has already seen that I've been doing lately, but I can write about it in my preferred conversational blog format.

I'll settle for that as progress.

Back-Blogging: Camp Socks

It occurs to me that I have been neglecting the blog yet again. I have several projects to share, and even a few photos to accompany them. So here goes.

 A cross-country plane trip is a good time to get some knitting finished. No trouble with the sock needles. These are the Sara Elin Socks by Vicki Bird that I started during the Lots of Socks KAL back in February. I finished the first sock, but not during the challenge time; then the second sock sat for a long time. It's a lace sock on size 0 needles, that's why.

 But they are quite pretty, even with the occasional hiccup in the lace. Glad they are done though. Finished them at the hotel after arrival in Virginia, before leaving for camp. Tertia and I had a wonderful time on Friday before leaving for camp, touring D.C. Here are some pictures from that:

 At the Metro station learning a different kind of public transit than she is used to. She thinks the name "Foggy Bottom" for a Metro station is hilarious!

 We went to the National Archives, where no photography is allowed inside, but we admired the patriotic flower beds outside! Seeing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was exciting for her. I loved the Magna Carta and would have stayed longer, but we wanted to check out the National Portrait Gallery (and American Art Museum).

 Crossing Constitution was the only real shot we had of the Capitol, so I took this while crossing. We looked at all the presidents' portraits in order, and she read the dates and is working on memorizing a few details on each one. Maybe we can convince her that memorizing facts about the presidents is better than Harry Potter trivia?

 This is in honor of Eisenhower Elementary School.

 This is in honor of Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

This one is just because she shares two names with the subject, and read it as we passed by. Her feet were getting tired by then, and when her feet get tired, we need to quit and go back to the hotel.

 This is The Puritan by Augustus St. Gaudens. I've been doing enough genealogy lately to have come across a lot of Puritan Great Migration ancestors, so why not? It's cool.

So, after that interlude of art and history...

These are the socks I started after the Sara Elin socks were finished. Thankfully on size 1 needles, and a simple pattern so the knitting went faster. It's Patons Kroy sock yarn, the first time I've tried it, and the pattern is Non-Euclidian by Sarah Jordan, another pattern I bought during the KAL in February. This is the second pair I've made from that pattern. I'm calling them Camp Socks because I worked on them over the two camps I attended this summer. They will probably be a Christmas gift...shh! I may want to buy more Patons Kroy sock yarn, because I liked this. It's a little heavier gauge than most sock yarns, and unfortunately lower yardage per skein, but a better price point. So that's the news on the sock knitting front. Next time: quilting.

Spring Break Recap

Spring Break had a different feel to it this year. Steve kept working, Quarta went to Mexico on a work trip with Cedar Tree, and Emma stayed home with me. We did a few small things around the house, went swimming at the community center once and signed her up for her pass card to swim more for free, but were mostly pretty lazy. I did go to the Quiltfest Northwest, put on by the Clark County Quilters, held at the fairgrounds.

There is a Vancouver Tapestry, which is really long so it isn't displayed that often. I had never seen it before, but it depicts in beautiful wool-on-linen embroidery the history of Clark County.

This was probably my favorite of the quilts displayed, and I could imagine being able to make it myself. One of the themes was blue and white quilts.

This one went wild with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

The work on this was stunning. It reminded me a little of my tree quilt, but the little flying geese circles in the middle border would be incredibly difficult.

 Another one with a strong Kaffe influence.

 There were several city and traffic-themed quilts, which I captured for my civil engineer husband. This one is "roundabout."

 the London metro

 abstract traffic control

and an actual intersection in Portland.

The show was very nicely organized and I enjoyed it a great deal. One of these years I should finish all my unquilted tops.

The three of us who were home went one day to the Oregon Historical Society museum. It depicts the history of the Northwest but mostly Oregon, from a woke intersectional perspective. So you learn about the history of the Northwest from the perspective of all the people who might have felt marginalized by their treatment at the time: early African-American settlers, gays, women, Native Americans, Hispanics, and immigrants. But the Whitman missionaries were, it is strongly implied, probably responsible for their own massacre because of their insensitivity, or something.

I finished the second sock of Grellow Love by Clare Devine. The first counted toward the Lots Of Socks knitalong for World Down Syndrome Day, but the second did not. It is a fun and easy pattern to knit and I will probably use this heel in other socks.

Likewise I finished the second sock of Flower Shock by Anna Friberg.  I discovered that the mystery green yarn is Hazel Knits; the contrasting color bands are all different segments of two colorways of Knit Picks Chroma fingering. They are very pretty socks, although I wonder how practical because of the Chroma, which is not going to be very hard wearing. And it was Anna, known as Yarnesty, who informed me I had won two free patterns from her collection as a prize in the knitalong! So I checked her patterns on Ravelry and chose the Fergus socks and the Bjorko shawl. I look forward to knitting them soon... and maybe going shopping for more yarn! I'm adding to my queue faster than I'm getting projects done, but I've always enjoyed having an extensive queue.

Quarta returned from Mexico with an injured knee which required a doctor visit today and will need an orthopedist check tomorrow. The kneecap briefly dislocated and then popped back in place, which she may just be more prone to because it happened once to her other knee. This time there is more swelling but we don't think any permanent damage. We'll see. Spring is really getting into gear and we have lots of pretty flowers, which I may share next time I blog.

World Down Syndrome Day, and Lots of Socks

So, World Down Syndrome Day, 3-21, was Thursday, and so was the meeting of Young Life Capernaum. I've been taking Tertia there in recent months, and she really enjoys it. It was Disney Day for the theme, so naturally she dressed as Belle. They had a "dance or dare" contest and of course she chose dance! Improvising moves to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, I think she was a hit! Even when her tiara needed adjusting.

 The Lots of Socks knitalong hosted by Lisa K. Ross is over and drawings for prizes will be held next week. I finished a total of 10 socks, including this one of Flower Shock by Anna Friberg. This is the first time I've ever purchased a pattern (or anything for that matter) in Swedish Kronor. It's a lovely lace pattern that is more fun for me to knit than most lace, and I'm excited to make the other sock soon. I used a mystery yarn from my friend Joyce and color segments from two different half-balls of Chroma. The heel is an afterthought, which is the first time I think I've ever done one. You knit with provisional yarn, and then you go back and knit with your regular yarn, and then you have to put pick up stitches and knit them from both sides of the provisional yarn, then decrease the heel, then Kitchener it together.

This is what it looked like after picking up the stitches on both sides. Kind of cool!

 Grellow Love by Clare Devine. I'm calling mine "Grumpkin." It uses a "fleegle" heel, which is pretty similar to my standard toe-up gusset heel, but in a contrast color. I've already started the gusset on the second, so this will be a pair soon, hopefully next week.

 These are my single socks that still need a mate.

 And these are the socks I wore on Thursday; Lots of Socks and Non-Euclidian.

All told, the Lots of Socks knitalong raised more than $18,000 for Down Syndrome International, which will help support people with Down syndrome in various countries of the developing world.

The plum tree is quite happy for the arrival of spring.

I am quite happy too; we have daffodils, forsythia, Daphne and camellias blooming now.

Speaking of spring; I was surprised that we had the Equinox and then a full moon in the sky, but this Sunday is not Easter. (Because my mother taught me, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring). Steve figured it out for me with some googling: the exact moment of the full moon was actually a little before the exact moment of the vernal Equinox. So although I was quite prepared to channel Bede and complain about the improper observation of Easter, I bow to the astronomers who have these pesky technical details all figured out. Unlike me... I still have a difficult time with editing my photos for the blog; probably one of the reasons I haven't been blogging as much.

Speaking of the blog, I reverted to my original dandelions blowing in the wind theme. I never quite enjoyed the clean-cut blues I have had. Maybe that will spur me on to blog more. And yes, today is Randomday, so by my own blog rules, I can blog about whatever I want. Since I was blogging about a specific subject today, I'll save most randomness for a future date.

Knitting Lots of Socks, and Taking Stock

Since the beginning of February, I have been knitting socks. Lots of Socks for the #LotsofSocksKAL hosted on Ravelry by Paper Daisy Creations. Together, we have raised a good bit of money for Down Syndrome International to use in providing support and advocacy for people with Down syndrome in developing countries. We have until May 21, World Down Syndrome Day, to knit our socks and enter them in the prize drawings. Personally, I have bought 11 patterns (I think) from 7 different designers, finished three matching pairs and two individual socks, and am working on socks 9, 10, and 11, for a total of 8 different patterns attempted. I want to knit more, but there are only so many hours a day to knit and binge-watch Marie Kondo, West Wing, Designated Survivor, and NCIS.

 Lots of Socks by Lisa K. Ross is the title featured pattern designed by the hostess of the knitalong. It was immediately a pattern I just had to buy... mind you, until this knitalong I had never bought a sock pattern, just a few books in the past and free patterns from the early days of Ravelry. Truthfully, I was kind of in a rut when it came to socks, just doing toe-up socks for Steve and the boys mostly. I had to learn a special cast-on by "Tillybuddy" which is stretchy like the Twisted German (or is it Old Norwegian?) but is done two stitches at a time, so goes kind of quickly. I also loved knitting the mosaic pattern on these... it is fun and fast with color-changing yarns in the same way that I find knitting my diamond lattice dishcloths entertaining.

The resulting sock fabric is warm and very squooshy. I used Knit Picks Chroma for the color gradient, which is a single yarn, but it hasn't disintegrated yet after two wearings. I knit these socks one at a time, so though it was the first sock cast on in February, it was not the first finished pair.

 Here is my first completed pair: Non-Euclidian by Sarah Jordan.

These socks feature a clever diamond/triangle heel shaping designed to not break up self-striping yarns. This is some Knit-Picks Hawthorne and doesn't have stripes, but it's a great vanilla sock recipe I will definitely return to again. I used Tillybuddy's cast-on again for its stretchiness, and once again had the chance to practice Kitchener stitch to close the toes. I don't have it memorized yet, it's on a 3x5 card, but with these two techniques there's no reason to fear top-down socks anymore. I definitely would like to knit these first two patterns again.

 Short Attention Span by Shannon Squire. These toe-up socks knitted up rather quickly because they were in Socks that Rock mediumweight, but the first sock was a little harder because I had a hard time memorizing the flying geese pattern and doing the heel at the same time. This heel used the W&T (wrap and turn) short row technique, which I had to research with you-tube videos before I attempted it. Every time I do wraps, I get very confused. I think I did them differently on the second heel, but I can't tell.

 And on to the single socks. This is Rough Waters by Lisa K. Ross again, from her collection of 4 sock patterns inspired by Narnia. It is toe-up and features a dropped stitch pattern and the thing I had to learn with this sock pattern was how to do German short row heels with something called a double stitch. This was completely new to me, but I'm glad I struggled through it. It was a struggle -- Emma had a nasty stomach bug while I was working on this and I was sleep-deprived, so very little made sense when I was trying to figure it out.

In the end, it is a very neat way of doing short rows and I will probably try to use it instead of the wrap and turn method in future socks. I look forward to completing the other sock in this pair.

 This is Epitome of Me by Megan Williams. They are toe-up also and feature a twist on either side going up the foot. I had to relearn twisted stitches, and the heel is something called an OMG (one-needle mock-gusset) heel that also uses German short rows with double stitch. So it was a great opportunity to practice that kind of short row in a very different configuration.

One done - these may be for Emma when they are finished. Also in progress but not pictured yet because it took me long enough to blog the socks so far -- Sara Elin by Vikki Bird, Grellow Love by Clare Devine, Flower Shock by Anna Friberg. I might just be able to get one of each of those socks done by March 21. I bought some beautiful Madeline Tosh Twist Light sock yarn and am thinking of buying yet another pattern by one of the featured designers, Coffee Talk by Traci Millar, and I really also want to cast on Voyage from the Narnia E-book by Lisa K. Ross. That's a lot of socks!

So, on to the "taking stock" part of the blog. I didn't finish any of my UFO goals for February (they were finishing quilting Celtic Solstice, and finishing my Rosalind sweater, as well as cleaning my craft area thoroughly and making a few baby quilts). But time marches on, and the UFO challenge # for March is 8. That means, for fiber arts, "spinner's choice" (I could theoretically justify ordering fiber), or I could just work on last month's neglected project. And for quilting it's the 1996 Piecemaker's calendar quilt, which needs quite a bit of applique before assembly. Or I could just knock out the machine quilting and baby quilts that need to be finished up from last month. Truth be told, I will be content with a lot of socks finished and new techniques learned, but I will definitely try to do some cleanup and organization in the process.

Here's to averaging more than two blog posts this month! Cheers!

January Finishes and February Plans

As I gradually make my way back into the world of blogging, I am comforted that, even with all the cultural craziness and political rancor, I still have the ability to make beautiful things with my hands, and this is relatively uncontroversial.

January was a productive month for me. I finished up the Good Fortune Quilt top from Bonnie Hunter's seasonal mystery.

 I changed up the color scheme from Bonnie's, leaving out the orange and bringing in yellow, and switching the colors around. I was a little unsure at first but I really like the way my version played out.

 I had to wait for a dry and clear day to hang the quilt out on the tree for this picture session!

 I especially love the green/blue outer border. Those colors together always make me think of Grandma Maffett.

The red chain blocks really stand out. But after you get through looking at them, you notice the cheerful yellow/green pinwheel blocks, and they make me happy too.

Overall, a very successful mystery quilt. I hope I can get in gear and crank out the quilting on the many quilts I need to work on. I enjoyed every single clue of the mystery, and had less than usual trouble in matching the corners when I was sewing the whole top together. Or maybe I've just loosened up on my perfectionism a bit. Either way, it's a win!

 I randomly chose "3" as my number for UFO work in January. I was supposed to spin this roving from Dicentra Designs, and I did.  No idea what I will make with it yet. I was also supposed to sew a knitting bag pattern that has been on my queue for several years and my countertop for several months. No, that went untouched. Instead, I have nearly completed my sewing-room cleanup and organization campaign, and I'm happy with that. That could be another blog post in itself.

 I finished the first of the Bovary socks while Quarta was at orientation for St. Jude Leadership society, and forged ahead with Kitchener stitch to close the toes. However, my memory was not so great. I vastly prefer toe-up socks for this reason. By the way, if you are looking for a worthy cause, there's hardly any one worthier than St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Quarta's donation page is here. I was able to remember the Old Norwegian cast on for the next sock just from muscle memory, so the second sock is about 2/3 done. I'm okay with that pace of knitting but I would prefer to get it off the needles because...

There is a "Lots of Socks" knitalong on Ravelry that is in support of International Down Syndrome. The idea is to knit socks from the 15 participating designers, and post them by Down Syndrome day (March 21). A different designer's pattern will be promoted each day for 15 days. Today is the first day and I bought the "Lots of Socks" pattern by Paper Daisy Creations, because it is really stunning. Here is my plan for main and contrasting colors. I am not sure about the Chroma yarn, a single that is prone to felting and pilling, but it is what I have to work with and I have already cast on the first sock, using a rather clever You-tube video by Tillybuddy for an extra-stretchy cast-on. I somehow doubt I will finish LOTS of socks in the next month and a half, but maybe one pair? But if all the designers have such pretty patterns, I may have a hard time picking. Plus Bovary, of course, just to get it off the needles.

So plans for February already include knitting socks and finishing the cleanup of my sewing area. Also I have some quickie baby quilts already half pieced. I am going to have to finish quilting Celtic Solstice, already on the frame, very soon or I will not be able to get anything else done. Also, the APQ UFO challenge picked "6" as the random number for February, so that means (she runs and checks her list)...

A machine quilting finish (good, I was already planning on that) and
Rosalind (a really pretty summer sweater that has been languishing for far too long). It's all good.