Thursday, August 23, 2012

Pin Cushion


I found this counted cross stitch from long ago. I mean - like the late '80's. Wonder what was I going to make out of it?



I don't remember, but this is what it is now. At last, it's out of the drawer and being enjoyed. You can never have too many pin cushions.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

A Simple Pleasure



This picture makes me happy. I found it while thumbing through an old stack of knitting magazines. It seems like this sort of simple pleasure isn't enjoyed as often now.

I think maybe every generation harkens back to the previous generation, thinking 'those days' must've been so much calmer, slower, less hectic. But while that generation was living those years, they probably didn't feel calm. There were wars and rumors of wars...

This morning I took pictures of current works in progress with my (digital) camera. I wanted to download them to my computer, resize them with my graphics software and post them to my blog, so that my virtual friends could see them. But the memory card reader wouldn't plug in, the computer couldn't recognize it. I rebooted my computer. I tried to unplug and replug the card reader. That's when the soft metal connecting pins inside the adapter bent. The card reader was toast. 

So I moved to Plan B and got the cable that goes to my camera and tried to download the images using the on board software. My computer couldn't recognize the camera. I thought maybe the camera - being about six years old - was out dated for my Windows 7 operating system. So I went to the Canon site and downloaded the picture browser updates; installed those, of which there were six. The computer *still* couldn't see the camera. From there I got the original camera installation CD and installed the picture browser program, then reinstalled the updates... Still nothing.

This morning my husband shopped online for a new card reader. For 19.99 free shipping, no tax, it's worth it. 

Back to the pictures above. That's why I like knitting. I sit down with two sticks and some yarn... no additional tools needed - no software to install or updates to download. 

Simple.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Curved Piecing


Our guild offers monthly Skills Day workshops free to members. I recently took the curved piecing class. It wasn't hard, it just took time.


I finished it at home, learning what I was doing right and what I needed to do better. Maybe now I can get back to that Winding Ways UFO!

Off Set or Straight Set?


This red wall hanging is so RED! On the one hand I love working on it, on the other it's so bright and high contrast, I don't know if I like it. I don't know if it's going to be too much when it's done, but I can't stop working with the charming vintage reds and piecing the blocks. Is this a UFO in the making??

The larger blocks are pieced from four Split Sixteen patch blocks. These blocks can be laid out different ways. I don't know which one I like better.



So I asked DS2, who was an art major and is now working in graphic design. He thought about it a long time before he said, "What about adding another color to tone it down? That's a lot of red."

We'll see how this turns out in the end.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Free Light Show



We sat out in the backyard after dark and watched the meteor shower. After the heat of the day it was a comfortable 76 degrees. How wonderful to watch the sky darken and the stars come out. Eventually we could see the Milky Way directly overhead. We saw so many 'shooting stars' we lost count. It was fun to be talking along when all of a sudden one of us would cry out, "There's one!" Even though many of them lasted long enough to call the other's attention to it, I never remembered to make a wish.

Here's a link to the schedule if you don't happen to be in Northern California. Admission is free!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Hot August



This is in the shade. The small print says it 'feels' like 100, but really? Anything over 98 is just plain HOT! I'm hanging out in the living room where the AC is. Now that I'm finally starting to feel better, there's a lot going on in the sewing room these days, but it's not too cool in there just now.

I did finish a baby quilt.