Knit/Weaving with wool

I learned something new in 2018.  I've had a knitting machine for a few years. But now I have learned how to blend acrylic and wool together i. A woven design.

It was challenging to get and keep the correct tension on the working threads as well as the project.  If the project isn't weighted down, it will get caught in the needles.

I carefully and methodically removed the stitches in the last row. The first and last rows take the longest. 

Periodically, the woven threads catch on the posts between the needles. No worries! I just weave them back into the work.

I also made a 20 stitch wide, 2 pattern tall swatch. I washed and dried the swatch. There was no shrinkage and the wool felted beautifully.  I will give the swatch to the mother so that she will know what to expect when she washes the baby's blanket. 

Ta da! I'm done.  All I need to do is catch up with the little cutie and give him his new blankie!

New quilt

Last fall, I finished making dale a tumbling block quilt. A friend of ours who is a veteran asked how much it would cost to complete one for him. Dale offered to help by cutting the pieces. We finished 12/31/2018.

You need a light, medium and dark fabric each cut into a diamond shape to make the block. Dale didn't cut the pieces. Instead he ironed the seam at the Chevron stage.

I choose to sew the usung the Y stitch.  Ot makes it look l I'll ke a 3-D block.

The problem is at one intersection there is a 6-point star created. It is challenging to sew and get all of the points lined up.

Here is an update of a few rows completed.  Depending on the view, it looks like the blocks are rolling across the quilt. 

How much was done? The top (by the headboard) is complete and the width (sitting on the white roll) is also complete.  I was working steps across so that I could sew as many as possible before needing to stop and iron the seems open.

Squaring the edges is the most difficult portion of putting the pieces together. It is a different fraction of total square. 

To make sure that all the side pieces are in place, I put it on Dale's Kingsize bed.

The veteran that this is being made for has a brother and sister of Skyler.  So Skyler needed to try it out.

Dog tested and approved! Now to send it out for quilting. 🤩

The Melting Pot

November 13th. Another catch up post.

Now this was a different type of restaurant.  It was a fondue restaurant.  

We started by choosing a cheese blend. They brought breads and veggies for dipping. 

Okay, we didn't fondue the salad.

But we were able to select a variety of meats.

They were served with veggies and dips.

It took a long time to eat but it was delicious. 

Another clean pot was brought infor dessert.  They mixed dark chocolate,  caramel and nuts as a base. (There were other options.)

They served up food appropriate for dipping into chocolate. 

Everything is better in chocolate!

We asked the waiter if they ever get sued by people burning themselves.  He said they did once in the beginning. They won the case on the grounds that a pot of liquid on a burner for cooking was hot. 

Sushi!

November 6th. Still catching up!

Yes my favorite meal starts with sushi.

Then I get a nice bowl of Udon.  YUM!

How do I say this?

November 5th. Still catching up.

In any variation that I come up with it doesn't sound good.

I had never been to a Caribbean Grill. I had a difficult time ordering ... bell peppers were in many dishes and not listed on the menu. 

Every place out East seems to serve warm rolls.

I ordered a Ceasar salad it is a safe bell pepper free choice. 

I had ordered a surf and turf. They needed to swap out the veggies. 

The best part of the meal was dessert because it had 3 dobbs of whipped cream. I remember that I was craving dairy that day.

On the way out, I took a photo of their cool sign. This restaurant didn't make my return list.

Longhorn Steakhouse

November 4th! Oh wow! I seem to be forever catching up. This was part of a 2 week stay out East for a client's go-live.  Longhorn Steakhouse is one of my favorite travel restaurants. 

Fresh baked wheat bread, stuffed mushrooms and a ceasar salad was served while I worked on my story. 

My steak was served up with a delicious sweet potato. 

I decided to splurge with a small dessert. It was very delicious!

My wool

This year Jeannie and I decided to take our wool to a different mill and have it spun directly into yarn.

I had the pure wool spun into a bulky yarn. The white comes from some Icelandic sheep. I bought two fleeces from a friend.

This grey is from by sheep. I know, i expected lighter too.  I decided to make a purse to match my new jacket. I started knitting 39 stitches for 8 rows. Then I made use of the circular needles and brought up the sides.

I bought a pastel fun yarn to blend with for about 12 rows.

My intention was to felt the purse. Felting shrinks the size of the purse.  Duchess helped me show the before size.

I washed it in soapy hot water with a cold rinse twice to felt it. Below you can see how the top and bottom pulled in a lot while the colorful section pulled in just a little bit.

Here is Duchess modeling the new purse. It might take 2 years to make the jacket but the purse is ready!

Here is a closeup of the felted purse. The knitting stitches blend together making it look like it was created with a heavy piece of felt.

Les follies again 10/10/2018

This is a better picture of my Frech Onion soup.  

They place bread chunks on the top and the cheese over that. It's so good!

Yes, my boss ordered snails again. Id like to see how they cook these.  Like I said there is more garlic butter and seasonings than meat in each shell. But it is delicious (I've been told when cooked right which this restaurant does.)

Basic meat and potatoes. If I remember correctly, this was a cooked tomato and not a red pepper. 

Yes, when the creme brulee is good, you order it again for dessert. 

And there is that feisty dalmatian. It is ready for Oktoberfest!