We are in the hot part of the summer. Yard work is hot, miserable drudgery, but bicycling has been delightful, thanks to my awesome new 7-speed cruiser bike. (Should have switched to this style of bike ages ago, but more on that later.)
Indoors, I’m chipping away at a couple of sewing projects. This is one of the Liberty prints I acquired last month. Was it last month already that I was in London? I’m dying to go back for another visit.
It wasn’t feasible for me to post Juneathon updates from June 18 on, but boy did I get a lot of exercise. It was the usual activity associated with travel–lots of walking; lots of stairs; lots of carrying luggage. When I got home and weighed myself, I had lost 3+ pounds. So, aside from my inability to update my fitness log daily, I’m pronouncing Juneathon ’15 a success. Now to keep up the progress as we head into the incredibly hot and muggy weeks of July. So far I’ve done two bicycle commutes.
Shameless Brighton Beach foot selfie.
My trip was 10 super-enjoyable days in England and Amsterdam. Finally toured Westminster Abbey, and then went back for Sunday church service the next day. Wow. What an incredible place.
And, I finally shopped at Liberty of London. Wow again! I bought two pieces of their famous cotton prints. I’m going to attempt to make a summer dress out of each.
Okay, where the heck did the weekend go? For my Juneathon report–Saturday, day 12, I bicycled to the store for groceries. Yesterday (Sunday) on day 13, I did a 1.2 mile run on my regular neighborhood loop.
The rest of my weekend I was consumed with preparing for an upcoming trip. Holy moly it takes a lot of time to prepare to be gone. It will be ten days away, with only carry-on luggage. Yikes. I’ve never been forced to pack so light. It is a learning process. I’m determined to succeed.
Part of my travel preparation was to finish sewing a skirt with poppies on it. Today was Flag Day in the US, so dedicating myself to finishing the poppy skirt was my acknowledgment of the meaning of the day. My plan is to wear it in the UK for Armed Forces Day. Which means making sure it will fit in my carry on luggage. Eeek. 
Well, I broke my Juneathon streak this weekend. I had an excellent streak going…for me, anyway. But the blisters on the bottom of my foot, and a sore back caused by the heavy lifting while camping, caught up with me. I felt it was best to do nothing for a couple of days. I think it did help. I did 15 minutes of yoga stretches this morning, and my mile run loop, and everything felt normal again.
This weekend is our every-other-year quilt show. Eight-hundred-plus gorgeous quilts made by our local quilters.
Last month while stuck indoors during one of our winter storms, I cleaned out my stash of yarn, needles, patterns, and pieces. The knitting muse struck. It was time to use some things up.
My inspiration piece was the lower back of a sweater that my grandma had started knitting in some prior decade, but never finished. I had several balls of the main color yarn, but none of the accent colors. I cut her piece in half vertically (after using the sewing machine to zig-zag on each side of the cutting line). This made two lower sleeve pieces.
Then I started knitting the body. The needles were Size 15. I used 3 or 4 yarns at a time, and worked in a k2-p2 checkerboard pattern. That made the sweater extra-bulky. When it was time to connect the sleeves and form the shoulders and neck, I adapted to this crochet pattern.
The crochet pattern is a free download from here, once you’ve registered (for free) with Lionbrand.com.
I used a crochet shell stitch in Grandma’s main color, to bind the center front edges and make the sleeve seams. The plastic buttons were my only purchase for the project. They came in multi-colored sets of six for under $2.
The sweater is heavy enough to be a light coat. It will be just right for some of our upcoming Spring days.
The sweater still needs to be steamed and blocked, particularly the waistline and edging. There are a few loose ends to tuck in.
My grandma was my life’s example of using what you have. I can hear her laughing now, at how I “finished” her sweater. I think she would approve.
Much of this project was knitted and crocheted on Sunday nights, while I watched this season of Downton Abbey. My grandma would have been the age of Downton babies, Sybil and George. And now a glimpse of what their grandma, the Countess of Grantham does in the off-season:
Over a foot of snow fell here last week. One day we got 9 inches, then a few mornings later, we woke to 4 more inches on top of that. The temp has been in the deep freeze until today. The streets are a mess; the sidewalks much worse. I’ve managed to get out for some snow walk/runs, but I’m really ready for an actual run. Hopefully this weekend.
I confess, Winter is getting old. I’m ready for Spring; the wind, the rain, the tornado warnings. Okay, not the tornado warnings.
A couple of weeks ago, while stuck indoors, I started cleaning out my yarn stash, and boom. The knitting muse struck. I got this sudden urge to use up as many yarn scraps as I could. I also wanted to get some more use out of those ridiculously expensive size-35 circular knitting needles I had to special order for the Katniss cowl project. So, voila. An unusual neck scarf.
I’ve worn the scarf on errands a couple of times, over my red down coat. It gets noticed, and I’ve gotten some compliments on it.
And here’s a sneak preview of the cardigan I’m working on. I need to finish the front closure and the sleeves. Then I’ll post more views.
And, when this free download pattern for knitted USA mittens came in the weekly Lionbrand newsletter, I couldn’t resist. I’m working on the mittens while watching sports on TV. One mitten is done; I’m about halfway through the cuff on the second one.
The pattern can be downloaded from here. (You might first need to register with Lionbrand which is free.)
Have a lovely, lovely Valentine’s Day!
With 14+ days to spare, the Hunger Games-inspired cowl I was knitting for a Valentine’s gift for my Little Sis is complete.
The project was quick and fun. The pattern was well-written and easy to follow. However, I’m glad I tapered the body/wrap portion, because I think it more closely resembles the original from the movie.
To taper it, I cast on 40 stitches instead of the 85 prescribed in the pattern. Then, I increased one stitch with every row. I used the 3rd stitch in each row for the increase stitch. By the end, I had 87 total stitches, which worked out great for the shape and size. As an added bonus, that bit of tapering eliminated one entire skein of yarn from the project. I have an unused skein to return to the store for exchange or refund.
I think I will order one of these Mockingjay pins to go with the gift.
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On the topic of running, with Janathon rapidly coming to a close, I’m trying to decide what kind of training program to begin. I’m looking at a 3-runs-per-week program again, that I never really got off the ground last time. I think it is the best option for my training level and working lifestyle.
After spending six consecutive days in enclosed classrooms, airplanes, crowded museums, restaurants and a trolley, wouldn’t you know, I’ve started feeling head cold symptoms. What bothers me most is that I did not run for those six days. I’ve long believed that my consistent running staves off the bad germs. I rarely get colds and other illnesses. I did do a 1.2 mile run tonight, bundled up more than the weather required. I’ll try to do that each day to see if I can hold off the worst of the symptoms.
Meanwhile, I started this knitting project–a Katniss cowl for my teenage Little Sis for Valentine’s Day.
She loves the Hunger Games books and movies. I’ve followed the pattern exactly, except that I’m tapering the body segment to make it more fitted under the arm. So far, the project has been easy and fun. Finding the yarn color and the Size 35 circular needles for the cowl part wasn’t so easy. The free-download pattern has been popular this year for Lion Brand, which may have led to shortages in that yarn color. I found one skein of the Thick and Quick Grey Marble in town, but had to mail order the rest, along with the big needles. Thankfully, Hancock’s was having a sale on the yarn, and had all of the skeins I needed. *grin*
Mosaic artists have covered a lot of different objects in their tile work, right? But I’ve always heard you should never mosaic tile a sink. I got this design idea from all of the pictures of watercolor quilts I’d been admiring. I knew I’d never get one of the quilts made, so this took its place. This sink was old and damaged, so I decided to give the mosaic a try. If it didn’t work out, no big deal, because the sink would have to be replaced anyway. After nearly finishing the project, I realized I’d used unsanded grout when I should have used sanded. So I tore the mosaic off and redid it with sanded grout. That was about 12 years ago. Today was the first ‘major’ repair. I replaced a little tile that popped out of place. Is it good for another 12 years? We’ll see.
To clean it I use spray liquid cleaner, baking soda, and a brush, then pat it dry with a terry cloth.
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For Janathon, I did my mile run and 15 minutes of yoga, focusing on Achilles stretches. The ankle is still tender when I take my first few running steps. Then it loosens up and all is good. Weather is getting back to normal January temperatures, thank goodness. The polar vortex has moved on.
run | sew | read 