I don't really sit very well, but luckily, my hobbies can be tailored to sitting. Yesterday, I "sat" and finished this afghan for Linus. Unfortunately, it didn't make nearly as much of a dent in my yarn stash as I was hoping for.
There is enough yarn out there for at least two more afghans. I want to make another scrappy one like this one...I still have small balls of yarn. I quickly learned that I didn't really want to just go until I ran out. I like a bit more of a pattern than that. You can see it in the center of this one, and if you look, you can see when I decided I didn't like that. So, I ended up with smaller balls, but almost as many as I had before. To get to a good size, I made the two granny squares and used them as the center. I saw this in a book I have from the 70's. When I got to the width I liked, I just added rows to the two long ends to make it longer. I added about eight inches that way, then went all the way around with a red border. It's very cute and if the scale of whether it's a good donation is "would I like to keep it?", then this one is another success.
I changed out machines in the studio this weekend. I'd been sewing on my Grandmother's 15-91 for over a year. I'd used other machines, but that was the one set up as my go-to. I have a lot of machines...enough that my husband is starting to make comments to our friends...and I like to use them. It's not enough to collect them if they just sit and rust. So, I keep them in good working order, repaired, oiled, and ready to use. I brought in the Kenmore Rotary.
This is another powerful machine and it's by far the most masculine machine I own, with it's sharp edges and flat planes.
It has a detached motor that connects through a friction pulley. Lots of people don't like these because if you don't use it, the pulley, which is rubber, gets a flat spot and that flat spot makes a terrible roaring noise when you use the machine. I just make sure the pulley and the handwheel don't come in contact when not in use. I usually just slip a bobbin between the motor and the machine. The pulley is held against the handwheel by a spring, so don't go crazy and wedge a piece of lumber in there, but something small that just keeps them from making contact is perfect. It keeps the flat spot from developing when the machine is stored and I can easily take it out when I want to sew.
I had some trouble with this one when I moved it out last time. The needle bar wasn't lined up and I kept breaking needles. So, first thing I did was fix that...somehow, I just knew how this time even though I didn't know how when I was using the machine last. My mind works like that. But, I could not get the machine to make a stitch. Everything looked perfect. So, I checked out the hook to see if the timing had gotten messed up.
Nope. The handwheel on this one turns backward. D'oh!
The barbecue went well on Friday. It was rough to watch...four teenage girls...like animals, circling one another, but never making contact. You could almost feel the hackles up in the room. The other Mom kept trying to do something about it. And, it likely helped as sort of an ice breaker. But, it was very awkward and after they'd do something, like tour the house, they'd come back to the kitchen and into their corners. I stayed out of it. If I had tried anything, Syd would have dug her heels in and that would have been the end of that. So, I talked to her and drew her into the conversation a little. Then, I watched as Syd started to talk to the other adults. She sort of came out of her shell with the other adults first, then, that gave the girls a chance to see her and then they all got in the pool together and the adults went in the house and I think there are plans for a daytime event this week.
Sometimes, things just have to take their course.
I made a remarkable amount of progress on the Double Wedding Ring. I'm almost 3/4 done with the melons. I did all of them in one direction first, and now I'm going in the other direction. I've drawn each one with a blue washout pen first, then quilted them in. Both jobs together take about 15 minutes a melon. I do that until I get bored. There's a whole bunch of melons. I'm trying to decide whether to quilt something in the rings or just leave them plain. And, what to do with the border.
Decisions, decisions. Believe me, making decision is much easier than getting up and doing anything right now.
Lane
1 comment:
The afghan looks very cozy.
The sizing up that the girls did reminds me of when our family used to visit relatives back east; we'd sit quietly, all the cousins, staring at each other, then within the first hour we'd start talking and playing, and when we left two weeks later we'd all cry as we were leaving because we were going to miss each other so much.
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