Good Weather

When I was in second grade, many moons ago, we learned about the 50 states and weather they might be particularly noticed for. I learned that Washington state is the wettest, raining almost constantly and my 7 year old heart fell in love and decided I'd like to live there someday. I never made it to Washington but instead have set down my roots in the beautiful mountains in East TN. Tony says if I want to move to Washington he sure will miss me! Living in TN is not really a compromise; I love it here, but it is in a way that 1/3rd of the year it's weather I like, 1/3 of the year it's weather Tony likes (90+ and SUNNY 14 hrs a day) and 1/3 of the year it's cold and neither sunny, rainy or snowing so we're both unhappy LOL!

This week we have been having my very favorite kind of weather: rain. And not just any old rainy weather. Beautiful rainy weather. The kind where it's overcast and dark and very peaceful. It rains or drizzles not continually but enough during the day that even when it's not raining it is damp. As if a billion little raindrops are too small to be heavy enough to fall and so instead linger around playing in the air. The clouds forget their boundaries and settle in the tops of the trees just above your head and some even float amongst the trees looking like smoke--ghosts of past fires. The sky is all different, beautiful shades of gray. Everything that should be is green. Impossibly green with so many shades of the color that your eyes can't take in or understand them all. Everything has more texture too; leaves turn over on trees making them look fuller and different than they usually do.

I love it. Especially driving around in the car and coming over the rise of a hill where you can see a valley and mountains in the distance. It is hard to tell where the mountains end and the sky begins. Truly breath taking.

I am so in awe of God's beautiful creation all around me, even if most everyone else would think it was dreary!

A Mini How to Log Cabin

The Log Cabin is one of my favorite (and is my husband's favorite) quilt block pattern. Traditionally it uses a red center square. This was a popular pattern during the civil war period but still today is beautiful and easy and a great way to use up strips leftover from other projects! I am using all 2" wide cut strips (and 2.5" cut center squares) but you can use any and all sizes of strips you'd like. If you use different sized strips in the same block you'll end up with a sort of wonky log cabin that is visually a lot of fun!!


You will need both dark and light fabrics since one side of the block is comprised of light fabrics and the other dark fabrics.
Start by sewing your square to the end of a strip. Then trim it even and open it flat. I always start with darks but it's up to you. And I always put the strip that I just sewed toward me when I go to sew the next strip. This way I don't get confused going around and around the block. I've now completed one "round" of the log cabin. Now, start again at the beginning (which is my piece with the red flower on the green fabric) and sew a dark strip to that side, then again to the next side, etc, etc going around the block. I typically do 3 "logs" (strips) on each side of the block because I get bored easy. Also, I'm pretty obsessive and I usually square up the block after each round--not necessarily for size but to make sure that it's evenly square so that my next round of strips goes on nice and straight. And there you have it! Now go crazy, cut strips and have fun!

Once you've made enough of these blocks for a quilt top (whatever size you're wanting, baby sized, lap sized, twin, etc) there are many different ways you can *set* the blocks. Do a google image search on Log Cabin Quilts and then also "Barn Raising," "Streak of Lightning," "Straight Furrows"--as these are all names of ways to set log cabin blocks!

Knitted Pinafore

I got a skein of handspun yarn from Fluff4Ewe off etsy. The proceeds were a 100% charity donation which I thought was nice and the yarn was such a beautiful color, mostly black and blue but with a periwinkle color with just a little gold in it. And a lot of glitz! The wrapper said it was 117 yards of mohair/rambouilet mix.

I though it would be so cute knitted up as a jumper/pinafore for my daughter for next winter. I didn't have a pattern so I cast on 100 stitches and decreased slightly (and evenly) as I felt like it. I knit eyelets evenly down both edges so that it could lace up the back with some black satin ribbon. When I ran out of that handspun I substituted black 100% merino that I spun to do the bodice and straps.

I think it will look great over some tights and a long sleeved onesie. The mixed fiber yarn was a little scratchy in places (the glitz added to that) but the merino is silky smooth. I thought of lining it with some posh lining fabric but messed that up so it's getting picked out. I tried it on Hannah this afternoon and it took quite a bit to get some decent pics, LoL! I tied it as tighky as it would go and it fits her now (she's 18 mo size), so by winter I will be able to loosen the ties and it will still fit her wonderfully! Wven though she tried it on with no clothing as a barrier between the wool and her skin it seemed to be fine, her skin wasn't irritated at all when I took it off and I am so glad! The last thin I wanted to do was knit her something she couldn't wear!

Log Cabin

I've been cutting strips for days. Actually I've been putting off cutting strips today, making myself a martyr about what should be a labor of love--a quilt for my dear friend's wedding. So today I decided to suck it up and cut the 36 strips and 16 squares I needed LOL! Yes, that is all... I've been whining about that! Probably I will need to cut more strips as I go but didn't want to cut extra. I cut the strips 2" and the squares for the centers 2.5" and will be making Log Cabin quilt blocks out of them. I am using all civil war repros in "sunflower" colors, or at least colors along those lines.

I got one of these blocks done today. It is rainy, dark and miserable today and although this is usually my type of weather today the gloom is making me slower moving than my children who have trashed my house while I knit (earlier) and cut out strips.

What I am knitting is a jumper or pinafore (take your pick) for my Darling Hannah (who puled it off the needles this morning) to wear this coming winter. I am working without a pattern and I assure you it will look much cuter once it is finished and I can model it on a body. I am knitting eyelets down each edge so that it will lace down the back and tie shut with a black velvet ribbon. The blue/purple/sparkly/black yarn at the bottom is handspun. One of those 100% charity yarns my sister Diantha has listed in her Etsy shop he solid black at the top is black merino spun by me and it looks like I need to spin a little more to do the straps. Awww, might have to spin something! I have decided to line the bottom when I am done with a black satiny lining just because that yarn is a little rough in some places, the merino I am not going to line because it is wonderful soft and I plan on putting this on her over a long sleeved onesie and tights anyway.

And I'm back!

I don't stay down for long. It's too depressing. LoL! I woke up this morning to find that my darling, wonderful husband had gotten off work at 2:30 am and made a trip to the walmart in town to pick up some little presents because he knew I'd had a bad day and wanted to do something extra to make me smile. Hanging on the fridge door I found 2 cute little sun dresses for Hannah, in her size (he's so good!) one of which she immediately wanted to put on. On the counter was a playstation game for Jeremiah since we are nixing computer games due to the recent virus/spyware fiasco. A dozen roses! and book for me, the Catcher in the Rye. I've never actually read it but have always wanted to and he remembered that! And a HUGE Toblerone bar. Milk chocolate, honey and almonds...yum. Those Swiss man, they know what they are doing.

When he woke up he tried to help me put my nose ring back in which involved a lot of crying on my part and wanting to hold my nose still with tweezers on his part. Didn't work too well so I called the tattoo parlor and threw myself on their mercy. They said to come over, no big deal so after lunch the kids and I drove to Knoxville where Diantha sat in the car with the little kiddos and I went in. The girl that pierced it was there and is TOTALLY cool and very graceous. Apparently 5 other people in the last 2 days have come to her with the same problem. She thinks it's the time of year, allergies causing swelling, etc which makes a lot of sense since I know my allergies are out to kill me.


Before our little road trip I made Diantha, Josiah and Jeremiah help clean Jeremiah's room. It was SUCH a pig sty I wasn't brave enough to take a "before" picture but here are some after pics. I guess my "Tackle Tuesday" turned into a "Tackle Thursday" this week. You can't be on top of everything all the time. Tony and I want to rearrange his room because his air vent blows right on his bed and makes him cold, which is one reason we think he keeps coming to get in bed with us since he won't sleep with covers on. But we haven't figured out how to do it so clean is better than arranged for now.

I got 4 strips of fabric cut today and that's it for quilting. Bah! Maybe more tomorrow? Tony's working (praise God!!) so we won't be running everywhere.

After the visit to Alter Ego I took D and Josiah home to Mom's where we painted "kindles" (kiddie spindles) and buttons for her to use at a spindle demonstration for a local schools' Heritage Day tomorrow.

I made a spindle and a button look like a blood shot eye. Mom let me keep the spindle. On that note my CD spindle is A Perfect Circle cd so I'm taking spindling in a punk direction!

I am Eeyore

I am Eeyore today. You know, the chubby, gray, morose and downtrodden pessimistic donkey from Winnie the Pooh?

I am obviously not as strong a person as I originally thought. There is a reason I am not a military wife; I have no emotional stamina. When Tony worked 3rd shift for those almost 3 months I suffered from chronic migraines and panic attacks. He has worked 12 hour shifts every day this week, leaving before (or just as) the kids and I wake up and returning at bedtime. My kids have not slept the last 3 nights either. I am going to have a nervous breakdown. I have an emergency ciggy hidden in the cupboard but can't sneak away long enough to smoke it.--(As a side note here I quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant with Jeremiah and though it will be 4 years in October I still feel the need for an occasional smoke. I miss my soothing delicious habit, even if I only indulge about 3 times a year. I keep an "emergency" cigarette just because KNOWING it is there makes me feel better. I don't think I've smoked one of mine in 3 years cause Tony keeps finding them and smoking them for me.)

I took my nose ring out today. It came right out. I have spent 3 hours trying to get it back in. Now my nose is swollen and bleeding and I am sitting around with a small silver hooped earring in my face looking like Lenny Kravitz. I called my dear husband crying about it. He said he'd help me in the morning. I feel so stupid, how HARD is it to put a corkscrew nose ring in your face?? Apparently for all my other skills, this is one I don't posses. My sister says "Go to the tattoo parlor and have them put it back in for you." As if I don't feel stupid enough already, LoL!

I have been away from keyboard for 2 days because Spyware invaded my computer and I couldn't get to any websites except for the Panda software site which Mom pays for and let me use her ID to clean out my computer. I had 44 infected files. Thankfully now I am back, with a newly cleaned out, defragged and diskcleaned computer that is working much better than before.

I did manage to find ONE sewing machine needle but haven't had the chance to put it in the machine because I'm too busy being Eeyore and trying to put my nose ring back in. I made great progress on my mittens getting one of them totally finished (it is beautiful!) and the other finished all but the tip of the fingers/hand and the thumb and I ran out of yarn. Thankfully I have 60 yards of the yarn I spun as a single, so I can ply it with itself and have enough yarn to finish the mitten! I just haven't done it yet. Jeremiah informed me that he wants mittens--blue. It is 90 degrees outside and bugs are hitting my sliding glass door at an alarming rate as I type.

I pulled fabrics to make my dear friend Kelli a wedding quilt, but again haven't cut them up. Although my 3 yr old son thought they were a beautiful arrangement of fabric and started playing with one FQ. He kept telling me he was making a quilt for his secret pal. I told him not to cut up anything. SO he took my rotary cutter to it while I was in the bathroom. Then brought me the fabric and said "This ripped." So we got to have a lesson about disobeying and lying and breaking Mama's heart when she's having a bad day. : (

On another happier note my dear MIL picked me and the kiddos up this morning and took us to get Hannah's pictures taken. I had Jeremiah's done as a baby and again at 1 and 2 and so far haven't had Hannah's done at all. So we dressed her purdy and had them taken by Elvira Mistress of the Dark who apparently HAS NO TROUBLE CHANGING HER NOSE RING. Hannah refused to smile for all but 2 pictures (the lady must have taken 12) and kept looking at her with a "You are stupid." look that I get a lot. Pretty funny if you ask me.

Sorry for going on so, if you skimmed this post I don't blame you and I promise to pull myself together and try to have something interesting to share pictures of tomorrow! : ) Have a great night!

New listing and Mother's Day special

Not a lot going on today; today was a lay around (while Hannah TRASHED the house) and recover from the weekend day.

I did finally give in and join Twitter. Now what the heck is it? I'm told it's a good marketting tool. So there, I joined. You can follow me by clicking here: http://twitter.com/Hamncheezr or by clicking on the link in the sidebar on the right.

I also took new pics and relisted this beautiful Ruby Red handbag! Red isn't just for valentine's day! Spice up your summer wardrobe with a POP of color! This bag would look wonderful with a white outfit to keep you cool in the summer sun. It is the perfect size for toting all your essentials shopping, to the beach/pool, or anywhere you might go enjoying them beautiful warmer weather. Weather not warm where you are yet? Well by all means, thumb your nose at all that snow and carry it anyway!

Also from now until May 5th I am offering free shipping with an upgrade to priority mail--just in time for Mother's Day! Any of my purses or totes would make a wonderful, one of a kind gift for Mom (one she actually doesn't have yet!!). Check out all my items in my etsy shop: http://hamncheezr.etsy.com/

Four Roses

When I saw this block on my block a day calender I knew I had to make it for my Ellen Plum (Stephanie Plum's Mom) quilt! It's called Four Roses and was really easy to copy and applique, though I haven't done the machine zigzag stitch yet 'cause I JUST got home for the day. I think this totally fits her though because the books are always talking about her getting nervous or overwhelmed and going into the kitchen to knock back a tumbler of Four Roses.

I thought I had messed up the pattern for these mittens and it turns out that I had just skipped a page and was reading the wrong part of the pattern. At least I didn't keep on knitting. I put it down and waiting for Mom to take a look to see what I was missing. In the meantime I knitted some soft black merino around the opening on my shrug and finished it! Yay! It is DONE! Of course I was sitting around in the house without the a/c on when it was 90 degrees with a heavy knitted sweater on my lap. Then I had to try it on. Ooh, I can only imagine hot flashes LoL! I was wearing the wrong clothes to try this on and my blue bulky tank top totally clashed but I just had to see. Diantha snapped this one pic of me while I was rolling me eyes; really I'm not demented, just bad timing. I smiled for the next pic and she cut my head off. Ah well, ya win some, ya lose some.

I had made more progress on my mitten last night before I got the pattern confused. I'm almost up to the thumb. This yarn is making such a wonderful cloth, with the stitches being just slightly varied because the yarn is almost thick and thin in places. I tried to spin it very evenly and it paid off!

Tony finally got Mom's bike rewired and able to start! Now it just needs a new clutch assembly and a headlight and she'll be ready to ride. Over a year ago my brother Allen rode to work one very cold morning and took a curve too quickly, over a railroad track. Condensation from the weather caused the track to be slippery and the bike slid out from under him, turning the handle bars and breaking all the wiring. They have a small bike, a 250 that they use to "practice on" and Tony used it this afternoon to give Jeremiah his first ever motorcycle ride--around the yard. It's not legal to take him out on the road until his feet reach the back pegs.

After a day of playing in the yard with motorcycles we gave Jeremiah a buzz cut tonight, cutting off his very large mass of curls. I couldn't believe how much hair that kid had and how much cooler he instantly was! Tony got one too and now they match. : )

I just had to snap this picture of my very sleepy babies in the car on the way home.

Dam!

So we had the craft show today, which actually was a yard sale in the parking lot and inside the "community center" 10 vendors set up shop. 3 of us had handbags/totes and while none were like mine, mine barely registered a glance from the 30 people who stopped buy. 6 people sold jewelry, one couple had 1000lbs of fudge, another lotions and things. Mom sold NO yarn, felted or knitted items. But we did sell about $50 worth of my Dad's goat's nilk soaps and it was good practice setting up our booth so I supposed while a disappointment, not a total waste.

At least we were done by 1:30 and on the way back from Maryville got to cross a huge dam (I don't know the name of it) built across Watsbar Lake. Or maybe is seperates Watsbar from Tellico? I don't know, anyway it is huge. Mom drove around so I could take pics of the lake and the dam and this big propellor thing. I don't know if it is like the ones they use in the dam or if they unearthed it from the lake, but it was big and therefore photo worthy.

See this beautiful picture I took of a tree and grass, overlooking the lake. Look VERY closely and you can see a little bitty sail boat in the picture. The SECOND I snapped the pic, the sail boat which had been lazily sailing around the lake for a while suddenly capsized. Seriously, we watched it. It just went "plink," right over. I just have that kind of luck.

So we went back to Mom's to meet up with my dear hubby and son who were trying to rewire one of Mom's motorcycles. It was very warm today, mid 80s but the breeze was lovely and since the air wasn't on in Mom's house we kids threw down some coverlets in the yard and hung out. I started knitting my mittens with the gray yarn I spun. I am editing the pattern just a little, or at least I am planning on it. I added 4 extra stitches around to make it bigger and it looks as if I may have to add 1" to the length of the hand because I have big hands. This yarn is making the SOFTEST and FLUFFIEST mitten you have ever felt. I can't wait for winter to be able to wear them, LoL!

The kids laid around in their shorts and diapers and played well together, even managing not to eat grass! Afterward we all went over to church and now we are finally home having had a very long, and tiring--though nice day. I am going to sit here and watch the Smoking Gun Presents World's Dummest Daredevils on TV and knit some more on my mittens. Tomorrow I will take some blocks to Mom's to square up as we are going back to finish working on the bike. BUT probably I won't be able to share pics since they are for a secret. : )

Dollywood

No quilting today to report, except I square up 4 6" blocks this morning and I played with a bunch of fabric, just looking at it and putting it back in a box.

No, today my dear husband was off and we took a day trip to Dollywood! For those of you who don't know, Dollywood is an amusement park here East TN owned by Dolly Parton (I just love 9 to 5!). My grandparents bought us day passes for Christmas, which we turned in and upgraded to season passes and it cost us LESS for that than the original day passes. Go figure. Anyway, now we can go whenever we want for just the gas since I got a gold pass and parking is free. Jeremiah thinks we go just to ride the coal-powered old fashioned train they have that circles the park.

Jeremiah was finally tall enough today to ride all the water rides, which we'd never gotten to do before because he was too small or I was too pregnant or it was too cold. Actually he and Tony rode them while I waited around to take pictures with Hannah. This pic of Jeremiah is blurry because he was dancing about having just gone on the white-water rafting ride.

Then we all went down into the kiddie section they have where they even have rides Hannah can ride, but as a nervous Mama I rode behind them. How cool am I crammed into the duckies??? THAT cool! Jeremiah and I rode the kiddies rollercoaster which is actually pretty neat and then he said he wanted to go ride the big roller coasters. That's my boy! Sadly we didn't ride any big coasters today even thoug they have a superb wooden one, I hate going on rides by myself and one of us always has to sit with the kids. Next time we will take Diantha or Artemas and make them babysit, LOL!

When we had had as much fun as we could stand we headed over to Great American buffet which it turns out has been renamed Woodgrill Buffet so we were momentarily confused. But the food was good, even if a Wayne Newton wannabe had set up shop er, microphone in the middle of the resteraunt and they set us 2 tables away. Tony took a pic of me chowing down on some ribs; humor him, he thinks he's funny LOL! Gotta love a buffet with steak, bbq AND ribs on it.

Tomorrow is probably going to be a long day too with the craft show and probably church. Lord willing I will have lots of sales and maybe something quilty to report on!