Randomday

This is actually Sunday morning before church, but I spent Saturday taking Tertia shopping for dresses for Life Skills Prom next week, doing a bit of gardening, getting my Duolingo Swedish tree entirely golden (I'm switching languages to Dutch now because it's too depressing how fast trees get ungolden, and I'm declaring victory), fighting Charlemagne in the Holy Roman Empire in a Civ4 game, and watching SPECTRE.

Plumbing update: the estimator came out with a scope and determined the location of the part of the sewer line that needs to be replaced. Apparently at some time in the past, the PVC pipe was broken and someone patched it by putting a half-round of a larger PVC pipe over it, thus leaving a golden opportunity for tree roots to find the gap. It is 2 feet deep, slightly under the AC pad. We had the AC installed 10 years ago but no one told us of a problem then. So otherwise it would have been something in the time before we owned the house. Anyway, that part is a relatively easy and not-too-terribly expensive fix. We're still not sure about the flooring inside the house. That will probably depend on whether insurance would cover it at all.

 Another quilt top finished! This is a low-tone Burgoyne Surrounded, the APQquiltalong from 2014. I was on that bandwagon for awhile and then it fell into the black hole for awhile, and now it's ready to add to the quilting pipeline. Very pleased with the fun scrappy mix of colors.

 This block features Olivia the pig.

 New quilt project: Frugal Patch. Speaking of long-dormant quilting projects, I printed off  this from the Quilter's Cache in 2006. I have been cutting 1.5"x 2.5" rectangles and sorting them into color families, off and on, ever since. Mostly off. My concept for this quilt was to make it a massive rainbow-gradation color study, as you can see from my sketch above. Because, while I like scrappy quilts, I like "planned scrappy" quilts better. I've started finally just sewing some units together and seeing how they look.

 Some square-in-square blocks will have a dark neutral background, and some will have a light-neutral background. Originally I was going to use just one patch of each color in my stash, but I think that might drive me insane.

So far I have pieced a lot of the already-cut rectangles together. I've decided it's possible to use 2.5" strips to cut the triangles for the square-in-square pieces, but I will have to piece them very carefully.  I'm envisioning a twin-size quilt when I'm all done. Definitely a workout for my design wall.

Thursday and Friday I sub-taught Latin to 3rd-5th grades, and will again tomorrow. It is a fun reminder of how little minds learn. And wears me out completely, even just a half day!

Randomness by the Bucket

I really like doing my "randomday" posts on Saturdays. Trouble is, that hasn't been happening regularly enough to keep up with all the randomness. We get it Costco super-sized around here, and I haven't been keeping up. But in the blogging world, you kind of have to keep up. so here's my try.

Quarta, 14, played Anne of Green Gables in the matinee performance a little over a week ago. This was the before picture, taken the Friday before the performance.

And the after picture. It's a semi-permanent color, which means it will (probably, on a blonde) gradually fade. I'm unfamiliar with this whole world of hair coloring, but judging from the reactions of complete strangers as well as those who know her, she makes a stunning redhead and should consider being a redhead longer. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I might have to try being a redhead myself, since I have the same skin coloring. Also, the performance went very well. She had worked very hard on all her lines, but seeing the performance, she also nailed the vulnerability and sensitivity that Anne needs to have. And of course I'm not biased or anything! I was sad there was only the one performance for her (another cast was involved in the two evening performances. But it was also a relief to have the play and all the time requirements over.

This Mexico pic of the "3 monkeys" also features Quarta. Too fun!

A day or two after Easter I discovered this orchid for $3.99 at Grocery Outlet. I have since been mildly obsessing over orchid care, and I went back twice to buy more. There's a white one and 4 others that have been damaged and I am trying to nurse back to health.

There ends the positive randomness of the past few weeks. Last Tuesday evening we experienced a plumbing catastrophe when water suddenly started cascading out of the downstairs toilet. It was warm water, from the upstairs shower. Eventually as Steve and I were bailing and plunging and collecting every rag in the house to mop up the mess, it occurred to us that this was bigger than a plunger problem. And sure enough, thanks to Mr. Rooter 24-7 emergency plumbing service, it was confirmed: some as-yet-unidentified tree root had likely obstructed our sewer line. So no flushing or using drains all Tuesday night and most of Wednesday, and they had the rooter trucks with their high-powered jets at work.

We were really happy to discover (which we couldn't find at 10:00 Tuesday night) that there was an exterior clean-out access for the sewer line. It had been hidden beneath some landscaping fabric and behind bushes. There appears to be only one section of pipe that will need to be replaced. That is another appointment with another evaluator this coming Wednesday. We are at least functional in the meantime. Water damage experts highly recommend tearing out all the flooring, subflooring and some of the drywall in the bathroom to get rid of bacteria growth. We're kind of waiting to see how much we're in for on the pipe replacement, and since it's a tree root, there's little chance that homeowners' insurance will cover it.

We had water running through the floorboards into the basement as well: less worry there, but we did dispose of several decades' worth of National Geographics that suddenly became a whole lot less appealing to keep storing. Daniel's wine bottles were also near the line of fire, but the only damage there was to some of the labels.

Actually, looking back at nearly 18 years in this house, it's pretty amazing we haven't had a serious plumbing setback before this. I just wish money grew on some of those trees with the roots. Because I made a list of all the other things we need to spend money on before this plumbing incident happened, and we're nowhere near the halfway point yet. New washer and dryer are definitely looming.

Ah well. On Saturday I went to a Special Mom's breakfast which was a great experience and we are hoping to meet more regularly to strategize as to how to support our children as they become adults. Then I went on to Cedar Tree, where the Latin Olympika was being held. I was able to be scorekeeper for the very exciting final rounds (and I had written the Level 1 Certamen, and had to run out to the car to fetch some extra bonus questions at the very end!) Tertia spent Saturday with the Horticulture class, working at their plant sale. She was rewarded with "plant bucks" and so our garden will be the richer for her experience. Peter also made a fly-by visit home this weekend, before his finals and summer job.

I'm making some progress on sock knitting -- still no sweater knitting going on -- and quilting. The APQquiltalong from years back, the low-tone Burgoyne Surrounded, is almost a complete top, and I have started a quilt I have been planning for even longer than that, but no pictures yet. And the Farmer's Wife quilt is on my bed and is being enjoyed.

I'm thinking of writing a story about a post-apocalyptic world, where the plumbers rule. It would be totally believable. I already have the Latin short-short story version of our current situation: cloaca obstructa, pecunia maxima. (Blocked sewer, big money).

Farmer's Wife - Finished

 I started working on the Farmer's Wife Quilt in July of 2011. That makes this almost a six-year project. Of course, I didn't know it would be when I started. Back then, I was just having a blast piecing little 6" blocks. I set myself a goal: use scrappy fabrics, and try to have something vintage or thrifted or upcycled in every block. I had a lot of little scraps and remnants from sewing projects, and I had a lot of worn/outgrown clothing that could be repurposed, and I had bags and bags of scraps... some my own, some given to me, some purchased at thrift stores or estate sales or quilt stores. It's hard to believe that when I started quilting I had very little in the way of stash. This quilt was the beginning of my realization that I need to be more intentional about acquiring fabric.

Almost exactly five years ago I finished the top, and styled it in a very similar photo-shoot.

Three and a half years ago I started the process of machine-quilting it, with the Megaquilter. I didn't force myself to work on it after the first few rows, and it sat almost entirely neglected for a full three years. This reflects my deep-seated anxiety about machine quilting and inner perfectionism, or something. Also that I was busy and stressed during those three years. But this year, as a kind of New Year's resolution, I began again, and rediscovered how amazing the progress is that you make when you work steadily!

From the back of the fence, this is the very first bit that I quilted. The feathers, Oh the feathers! I think they are lovely... but each individual feather is so very imperfect. Look at the big picture, though. When you put them together and step back just a little bit, I am very happy with the feathers. I did have to take the side and bottom borders off and resew them by hand, before machine quilting the feathers on them. I would have had major puckers and waves otherwise. I'm glad I did that, and the quilt lies flat!

Just because I have the sycamore tree in back and it has the branch that is perfect for quilt pictures, I took another batch of shots there. You can see the plum tree in bloom behind the garage roof.

I love these two blocks that ended up next to each other: "Gentleman's Fancy" with pirate and map fabric, both scraps from boxer shorts sewing projects: and "WCTU" (Women's Christian Temperance Union), with scraps from my WCTU-member grandmother's apron and her scrap bag. I love how the individual blocks have so many different colors, but "that blue" ties them all together. I love how, without really trying to, I incorporated many of the scraps from the Mom memorial quilt project (where I made a quilt for each one of us siblings with her clothing and scrap-bag scraps), so I've infused the quilt with memories of her. And it pays homage to my midwestern upbringing and the many farming ancestors who also passed along their thrift, their skill with their hands, and their love of family.

All that's really left is to make a label and put it on my bed.

Quilting update and Stash Report

So yes, I have not been blogging as frequently as in years gone by. But this year I have recovered a bit of the will to stitch, and I am modestly proud of progress made in both quilting and knitting.

The Farmer's Wife Quilt (of many years' duration) is now off the frame, and I chose to put Allietare on, of my backlog of tops needing quilting. Rather than the fussy feathers and custom-quilting each block I used for the Farmer's Wife, I am doing my standard, very do-able "squiggle-loop-star" quilting pattern, which goes quite fast.

In fact, if I hadn't broken off for spring break I would probably be finished by now. It's a good thing I'm not, because I'm still stitching the binding down on the Farmer's Wife. Tonight we watched two episodes of Man in the High Castle and it's close. 

 Another hour of tv watching will probably do it. I'm going to go ahead and count the yardage for the backing of Allietare, and the binding of Farmer's wife, in my ongoing tally of fabric used, to keep myself accountable for using things up rather than buying new. I'm guesstimating 8 yards total for backing one, and adding binding and hanging sleeve to the other.

 I haven't tallied any yarn yet this year, and it's time to start, since I bought some recently, and finished these three projects.

Stash Report:

Fabric tallied this week: 8 yards
Fabric used year to date: 16 yards
Fabric added year to date: 0 yards
Net fabric used: 16 yards

Yarn used year to date: 900 yards
Yarn purchased year to date: 1700 yards
I'm in the red with net 800 yards added, but I hope to finish an old UFO soon to change that.

Let's see if I can keep up with the creative energy I've rediscovered so far this year. It feels very good to be making crafts again and I have at least the desire to de-stash, organize and have fun in the process.

Spring Break Photos

Spring Break, that wonderful American tradition, has been subtly changing in our family over the past few years. This year Daniel is officially independent and living on the other side of the country. Peter is a sophomore at WSU and his break already happened. This past week we saw Quarta off with a group from Cedar Tree, bound to Baja California, Mexico, to build a house for a needy family and paint some local schools. That left Steve, Tertia and me to have a trip up to Seattle, where we took in the Kubota Japanese Garden, and attended a concert of the Baltimore Consort based on the music of Shakespeare. Then we took a leisurely drive to WSU, stopping at Cashmere to tour the Liberty Orchards candy factory and at Dry Falls, where the river currently known as Columbia once poured over perhaps the largest waterfall in the Ice Age world. At WSU they have some grizzly bears who can't live in the wild in an enclosure. We stayed at an Air BnB within walking distance of the campus and we walked all over on Tuesday. Ice cream and cheese purchase at Ferdinand's and eating out at some nice restaurants made it a really fun trip to see parts of Washington (and Moscow Idaho) that I hadn't spent much time in before. We were back by Wednesday evening and Quarta will be home tonight, then it's back to the school grind on Monday for the girls. As for me, I continue to be relieved every time I think about not having to teach school daily. I miss the kids, but not the constant stress that left no margin around the edges of my life. In some of those margins, while riding the miles of highways around the state, I finished two knitting projects. 

Randomday, with Latin Quote Detection

"Men are most apt to believe what they least understand." -a quote by Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD

Or was it?

This quote came up today on cryptograms.org, where I can frequently be found. I love it when the quotes are classical, not so much when the quotes are by Jack Handey, Justin Bieber or Homer Simpson. In fact, because I'm weird this way, I have taken it on myself to be a bit of a quote detective for any quotes that come up as English translations of Latin authors. I will google and try to find the Latin source quote, and then paste it into the "comments" box that the site provides for the entertainment of its users. In this way I feel I am contributing a bit to the sum total of human knowledge, and not just wasting hours trying to once again reclaim my position on the top 100 solvers of all time (get distracted for a month or two, and the world passes you by. Story of my life).

So I opened another few tabs on my browser and started googling. The English came up quite easily, but many quote sites are inaccurate and just paste other quote sites... you really have to verify. (Quote research is on my mind lately because the Kindle First book I chose this month was on just this subject). This quote was a little more interesting than many I've done because it is also attributed to Michel de Montaigne. I tried translating through Google and did a search for Pliny and words like "aptissimi intelligere minime credere." I googled Naturalis Historia (Pliny the Elder's magnum opus) and some of these keywords and still found nothing. Eventually I found a fuller version of the original: "Men are most apt to believe what they least understand, and through the lust of human wit obscure things are credited." However this traced more likely to Michel de Montaigne, and eventually I found HIS Latin version: Majorem fidem homines adhibent iis quae non intelligunt. Cupidine humani ingenii libentius obscura creduntur.

At this point I figured I was home free and would soon find the quote and its source in Pliny. I assumed Montaigne had borrowed the quote verbatim from Pliny, so I searched those Latin words. It was quite confusing, but turns out that the second half came not from Pliny but from Tacitus, the Histories. And the first half, the one that cryptograms had as Pliny? Well, I finally found the original Pliny, not exactly as Montaigne had given it: "minus credunt, quae ad salutem suam pertinent, si intelligunt." Or, people believe less, in things that pertain to their health, if they understand them. This turned up in several treatises on ancient medicine written in the last hundred years. Montaigne had crafted his take on it himself, not using Pliny's Latin words at all and with the sentiment turned around.

So, armed with this fruit of over an hour of painstaking research, I clicked on the tab of my browser for the Cryptograms quote that started it all... and I missed it by that much. In other words, I ended up collapsing that tab altogether. I was going to note the original Latin by Montaigne and suggest that it should be credited to him rather than Pliny, and also give Pliny's Latin for comparison. But once you collapse a Cryptogram solve screen, it's gone forever, or at least until the next time you get that exact quote out of the randomized umpty-thousand quotes on that site. So here I am, pouring out my Randomday woes to the blog. Such is my life: I am drawn to arcane disciplines that require inordinate amounts of time and painstaking attention to detail, and that nobody else really cares that much about.

What would Donald Trump say? "Sad!"

Maybe I'll just go knit something.

WIP Wednesday and Yarn-along

That's what I used to call it, right? WIP for works-in-progress, and there used to be a little linky-up thing? Wow, blogs are just so five years ago. Everybody else has probably switched to Instagram. But here I am, still plugging away. It's easier this year, not teaching. I am not regretting not teaching. My house is cleaner than it's been for a long time. Which is not to say it's, you know, CLEAN or anything. I have a series of pictures to share today.

 Here is my friendly nemesis, the Megaquilter. I have finished quilting all the blocks in the main section of my Farmer's Wife Quilt. This is the first time MQ has been bare of the FWQ since 2013, when I started off with quilting this epic project.

Seriously I don't know why I waited so long. I finished the bulk of the quilting (about 80%) in the last month, just by working half an hour at a time, 3 days a week. Though not perfect, it's some of the prettiest machine quilting I've ever done, with lots of free-form vines and feathers. I had a method for those little sashing strips and just kept at it. Everything else went much faster and I learned not to sweat the minor imperfections.

 But now we come to the part I couldn't figure out. The borders are wavy. Not so much the top border, which I quilted long ago and it stayed rolled up on the take-up bar for 3 years (below). It's okay, I think. But the other three borders are wonky, too wonky to lie flat and be machine quilted. I was going to try it with the bottom border (and take off the quilt and remount it so I could do the side borders in one pass at a time), but that bottom border was going to have so many little unintentional pintucks quilted into it it would have been a disaster.

 See, here's the (slightly compressed) upper border, next to the unquilted side border, which just had too much ease, just like the bottom border. So I took the whole thing off the frame. and I am in the process of unpicking and resewing those long side seams.

 Again, it's not perfect, but rather than struggle with feeding all this bulk and keeping the batting out of the seams on my machine, I decided to hand-stitch those long seams. It's not so bad. I got one long seam done today while watching 2 1/2 episodes of Call the Midwife and blinking away tears. I remember piecing my first ever quilt by hand, and I actually liked that a lot. I can ease in the fabric better as I go this way. And by sitting at the dining room table I can distribute the weight of all that bulk fairly well, and it looks like it will be lying much flatter when I re-load it back onto the MQ. It will need to have the white setting triangles quilted on the long sides, and the big feather border on the three borders that are being re-sewn. I'm okay with the occasional pucker on the white triangles, but I am optimistic that this will fix the problems with the blue borders and make quilting so much easier.

Wow, this shot came out blurry. But stitching by hand wasn't so bad at all. Memories of Ohio Star, my first quilt.

My most recently finished project in knitting is this pair of socks for Steve, from almost all of the "Bog Fritillary" Skinny Bugga yarn I bought at Sock Summit years ago. Fun fact: the last 8 knitting projects I have finished (in almost 2 years) have been socks. I'm glad the socks are popular, with the family, but I want to knit something fun for me now.

So, my solution is 4 skeins of Madeline Tosh Merino Light in "Cardinal" and a pattern for Manu, which I've wanted to knit for a long time, like, ever since it came out. I should really finish up my long-hibernating Mint Chocolate sweater to clear up some room in my knitting bag first. There's only the buttonhole band and some finishing to do. But if I get tired of hand-sewing long quilt borders, tomorrow I might find an excuse to wind yarn and make a swatch. 

I'm linking up to Ginny's yarn-along, where many other knitting projects can be seen. And I should talk about the books I've been reading lately: finished Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance... highly recommended. I've been reading the Penderwicks series of children's books, which are delightful and I keep asking myself why I never discovered these earlier, and then realizing they haven't really been around that long, they just seem like sweet vintage books about wholesome kids.