Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

    Not much to report this week.  I didn't do much crafting.  I finished the swap, got it packaged up and mailed out.  It should have arrived to my recipient yesterday.  I'll share what I made.  The theme was Favorite Things.  She likes the colors pale yellow and deep dark red and dragons, so I went all out with the dragons.  I chose  Dragon Scale Mitts  for the handmade item.  I used Madeline Tosh Sport in the Tart colorway.   My camera doesn't really do this colorway justice.  It has more depth in real life.  I think they came out nicely though. I was able to find dragon fabric at The Quilt Shop.  I made a reversible project bag. I paired each dragon fabric with one of her favorite colors.  Liara really liked the dragon fabric as well.  I'm probably going to get some more when I go again.  I also sent some stationary items and a bunch of Swedish Fish, which were also things she had req...

     I did some crafting this week, but it was all for the swap.  I was nearly out of interfacing so I ran over to The Quilt Shop in Watertown.  I'd been there once a couple of years ago and thought their prices were very good considering they are independent and Joanne and Hobby Lobby were both in Watertown at the time.  They have really expanded and have a tremendous selection.  They have more novelty type fabrics now, which is what I prefer for my bags, so I will be going there much more often.... probably too much.  I got interfacing and I found two prints that were perfect for my swapee.  I really wasn't expecting to find what I did.  I sewed a bag with those two prints and two of the fabrics I picked up from Walmart.  The Walmart fabric was acceptable.  Not groundbreaking, but decent enough that if I find cute prints I'll probably grab them.  I finished the handknit earlier today.  I want to steam block it yet, ...

    I didn't do a whole lot of crafting this past week.  Its been very busy at work and very hot outside, so I've had little motivation.  I'm working on a project for the current swap I'm in so I can't show pictures yet of that project.  I did sew up a project bag for my "work daughter" whose last day with us was Friday. She's a knitter with cats so I went with cat prints and her favorite color green for the fabrics and stitch markers.     I pulled quite a haul from my garden yesterday.  I've been blanching and freezing green beans every couple of days and this is what I picked yesterday: The peas are really coming to an end.  The beans are out of control at this point.  We've gotten a few cucumbers, they tend to be odd shaped but taste good according to my husband.  Pictured is my one and only eggplant.  I'm going to make eggplant parm tomorrow.  The cherry tomato plant in the topsy turvey is nearly done now and pictured ...

    We spent a week in Virginia.  My closest cousin lives down there with her husband and their two girls.  Their youngest has a medical condition that makes traveling difficult so its been several years since they've been home for a visit.  We decided to go to them.  While we visiting we took in a few local attractions and just spent time together and caught up.  It was a very nice trip.  We visited the Luray Caverns. The formations were spectacular.  The kids even enjoyed it and it was nice and cool inside the cavern.  We also toured the Heritage Village, Car and Carriage Museum and the Toy Museum.  The Car and Carriage Museum had a steam powered fire engine that was built for the Watertown NY fire department.   We had to travel all the way to Virginia to see something that had previously been in "our own back yard."  I had read about the steam fire engine before our trip but had no idea it had come from Watertown t...

    I finished the tote bag for my co-worker.  It turned out awesome.  I seriously thought about giving her the original one I made for myself and keeping this second one.   I had shown Nancy a selection of fabrics and let her pick which ones she wanted with the alpaca print.  I think her combo came out so nicely.  I finished everything up late in the evening, so the pictures are dark.  I also neglected to take a nice closeup of my fancy new tags.  I have two or three more bags planned out to do in the next couple weeks so hopefully I'll get a little better pictures. I finished the dishcloth I was working on yesterday and started another.   Revenge of Dish Rag Lizard Ridge I'm changing colors for each short row section.  I'm going for a rainbow.  I need to find more black for the ridges in between.      I have another project I should really be doing instead.  I need to dig around and find the yarn...

      I didn't have a very eventful crafting week.  My time was limited and I think the weather is affecting my knitting mojo.  I had to work last weekend so my husband picked up the items from the fair along with the help of our daughter.  It looks as though she was supposed to get a first place ribbon for her earrings but they forgot to attach the ribbon, or it was attached and fell off.  I'll get an official notification in the mail with our winnings in a few weeks.       My garden was looking really good, the peppers and carrots had almost completely regrown.  I made the comment to myself Saturday evening when I was watering everything that "oh wow its all looking really good."  My parents came over for lunch Sunday so I took my mom over to see the garden.  We've been busy so they haven't been over since we put in the raised beds.  Well, the joke was on me.  The deer or whatever it is came back and decim...

    The fair was a success.  My items did well and Liara got some ribbons as well.  We went to the parade on Tuesday, then down to the grounds once it was over.  We stopped by one local vender to grab some jewelry, grabbed some donuts from the Donut Diner then went to see how we placed.  Liara entered earrings that she hand-made with clay.  They did not place.  She entered a beaded bracelet that got first. She also entered three of her drawings.  A Pegasus, a bunny and a magical worm.  The bunny and the worm received third and the Pegasus received second.   The bunny is my personal favorite of all the drawings she's done.  There is always a really good turn out in the drawing and photography categories, so she was up against some stiff competition.  I'm really happy she received some ribbons. My items are as follows: Rotini Beanie; First Enchantress MKAL; First. Sunburst Potholder; Second.  Cow and Hen Dishcloth set; ...

      I've had a busy couple weeks of getting ready for the Lewis County Fair.  I dropped off my items this morning.  I got a better picture of the  Hollyhock Mittens . Mal Rios in Sunset I started and finished the  Rotini Beanie : Mal Rios in English Rose This was a fun pattern; not difficult but still engaging and easy to memorize.  The inside looks nice too.  I need to remember to take a picture of it.  I also made a Sunburst Potholder . Peaches & Creme cotton I also sewed a tote bag:  I used fabric from my stash, all stuff I'd gotten from Joann Fabric over the years.  I have a box bag in this alpaca/llama fabric and I tried to use a similar batik for the inside pockets so they'll "match" since this tote bag is for me.  I used the same pattern that my swap partner used to make me a bag in that last swap I participated in.  I use that bag all the time.  The bag construction was not too difficult and the pat...

     I finished my Hollyhock Mittens .  I wove in the ends and got them washed and blocked. This was a fun, easily memorized pattern and bonus, it was free.  I'd be more than willing to do this one again.  I used Malabrigo Rios in the Sunset colorway. Pre-Blocking Next up, I want to do a hat.  I've had Rotini Beanie on my radar for some time.  It'll look amazing in a more variegated skein of Mal Rios English Rose. I used some more Rhubarb from my garden.  I found a nice easy muffin recipe.  They were delicious and my coworkers really liked them.  Both my children liked the muffins as well and I promised my son we'd make another batch.  (He was a little disappointed that I took all but one to work.)  I'm going to double the recipe next time we do it, which will hopefully be soon. That's about it for me.  Work has already been absolutely nuts this week and its only Tuesday.  I would have posted this yesterday but...

      I haven't accomplished much this week.  I was sent home from work Monday and didn't go to my second job Tuesday because of the pesky cold.  But rest and lots of cough medicine is what I needed.       I ripped back on the mitten I had started.  I decided to use the cuff even though it was two stitches larger than the cuff called for in the new pattern I'm using.  I simply decreased stitches on my first plain round.  I finished that mitten except for the thumb.  The pattern is  Hollyhock Mittens  and its free.  Its a pretty simple pattern and I like it.  I'm using Malabrigo Rios.  I'm meeting gauge for the pattern, but I like my mitten fabric a bit more dense than this, so if I ever knit this pattern again, I'll probably go down a needle size or two and knit a larger size.        I finished the dishcloth I started two weeks ago.  It was just a quick round  Pet...