It just goes to show ...

... that when you don't know what the heck you are doing, ask someone who does and, miraculously, frustrations can melt away!  A few posts ago, I wrote about this quilt (on the left) that was giving me a very hard time.  I couldn't figure out how to get the points of the diamonds to line up.  Kristen's mother told her to tell me that there was a trick.  So off I went to my local quilt shop (Quilter's Garden Patch in Oakville) where I learned that, yes, there is a trick and it is really obvious.  It's one of those obvious things that I probably should have been able to come up with myself but I have an amazing inability to think when it comes to sewing.  I like quilting because the sewing is generally straight lines.  Throw something else at me and I require extensive hand holding.

Since I was distracted by Christmas knitting, I didn't get back to the quilt until this week.  I carefully pinned the corners the way Janet at the store told me to and, voila!, I'm finished.  From the half-finished version several posts ago to being done, done, done, in a few hours!!!

I really like the finished product.  There are still some uneven diamonds because I decided I could live with that.  The fabrics are busy enough that it isn't obvious unless you look really closely.  It's a twin-sized quilt which will be a great addition to my pile of quilts for snuggling on the couch.  Now I just have to decide how to quilt it.  In the ditch or stipple.  Or splurge and have it done.  It remains to be seen.  For now, I'm going to start working on another top and think about the quilting later.

And the bread baking went pretty well too.  The two flatter loaves at the top are made with oats, bran, wheat germ and I think will be great for toast.  I only have 3 loaf pans so decided to make them free form.  If I make them again, I'll go with the loaf pans.  On the second rise, they really just spread out.

The loaves at the front are a rye, whole wheat (because I didn't have enough rye), caraway seed combo that should be great for sandwiches.  I'll be trying some of one or both with dinner tonight.  The little crumbs of the oat/bran combo were pretty tasty and, of course, the house smells great!

I Love Winter!

Over the last few weeks, we've finally seen a decent amount of snow.  I'm one of those people who believe that if you are going to have winter, you need to have snow.  It doesn't have to be a lot ... I do need to get to work and the commuting is never smooth with lots of snow ... but we should have some.  I love shoveling the driveway.  I don't even mind wearing boots.  And the best thing, when I leave the house before the sun comes up, the snow makes the world seem less dark.

On the January austerity program front, I have actually finished a couple of projects.  I made these booties for a guy at work whose wife is having a baby any day, at the latest tomorrow according to the doctor.  I made them with leftover sock yarn and some of the 9 million buttons taking up space in my cupboards.  Button collecting was clearly a hobby of many generations of my family and I've inherited them all.  All very utilitarian but oh so many.  I feel quite excited when I use some but its like taking, in this case,  4 grains of sand from a very long beach!

Another finished project is the lovely Monkey Sock that everyone who knits socks and is on Ravelry has or is making.  It is actually quite a nice pattern (although not sure where Monkey comes from - the designer probably tells why in the intro but that would actually require me to read it) and knits up surprisingly fast.  The best thing, I made these a bit longer than suggested by the pattern and have an extremely small amount of yarn left.  Just enough to darn the heels if I pop through them someday.  Perfect!

I also finished a cowl/scarf thing from the winter Debbie Bliss magazine.

Right now, I'm waiting for 2 kinds of bread to rise.  I think one is ready to go in the oven.  In fact, there goes the timer now.

My Self Imposed Austerity Program

So I've got an austerity program in place for January.  I would say that it isn't really about saving money (although this is, of course, an excellent result) but more about using the food in the freezer and the pantry and finishing some projects of the knitting and quilting variety.  So I decided, $100 a week in discretionary spend (which includes groceries but obviously bills get paid and vet costs are covered).

So far, it is partially working.  The $100 goal has been dead easy.  Surprisingly easy.  I think this week will be a bit more challenging because we're starting to run out of staples but I have underspent in the first 2 weeks so it should be okay.  I'm emptying the freezer and using stuff in the pantry.  I'm baking bread and eating all of the veggies instead of having to toss because I bought too much.  All good.

The part that hasn't worked as well is project completion.  While I've made some progress, I have been distracted by the loan of a turntable that converts records to MP3s.  I have thrown myself into this project and it has completely overtaken my craft table.  So I might have to extend this ban on buying into February to meet the second half of the objective.

It is funny digging out old records.  I don't even remember some of the bands and singers.  Several were one-hit wonders, for sure.  I also can't believe some of the songs I remember thinking were so great in the 80s.  The project is taking a while but not as long as expected as I come to the realization that my teen music tastes were not as outstanding as I remember and I don't need to convert the entire record collection.   Some stuff is better left hidden in the basement.

People Who Expect Knitted Gifts

Don't you just love them?  My niece, who is 7, still expects to get a sweater for Christmas.  This made me so glad since I had raced to get this one, Morado, done in time to give it to her.  It was one of those - down-to-the-wire, will it fit, has she gotten to the point where she thinks I'm the crazy aunt who knits sweaters instead of buying those cool jeans that everyone at school is wearing - situations.

But when she opened it, she had a huge smile and put it on immediately without any prompting from anyone.  Her mother told me that my niece said before we got together to celebrate the holidays that she was hoping I had made her a sweater!  It really doesn't get any better than that.

The cat with the kidney problem continues to provide fun and excitement.  She now needs intravenous fluids twice a week that we give her at home.  Our first go at it was successful in the end but resulted in further mental trauma to the cat and to us.  Did she squirm or yell at the vet when he was giving us the lesson ... no.  Did the needle go in first try at the vet ... of course.  After squirming, yelling and several jabs with the needle, fluid leaking all over her fur, we managed to make it happen.  She was not happy.  I immediately called my sister-in-law, a nurse, and bribed her with dinner to help us the second time.  A much smoother event.  Hopefully we and the cat will get comfortable with this soon or we are going to have to be feeding a lot of nurses who like cats!

And the Vet said that it would be soooo easy

Our cat has a kidney problem - losing weight and had bad scores on her test.  Since we've had 2 cats with kidney issues in the past, we pretty much know how it goes and are sad.

The vet does want to rule out an infection though so we had to get a urine sample.  A clean, not in the regular litter box, urine sample.  It's easy, the vet said, just lock her in a bathroom and show her the box like you would a kitten - no problem.  Well that didn't work.  She just waited until we let her out to eat and then snuck down to the regular box.

This morning, I followed her downstairs when she was headed that way and put the sample box inside the regular one.  This was a brilliant plan, I thought.  Not so the cat, who clearly had to use the litter box but crossed her legs and left in disgust.

Next brilliant plan, let her go in the regular litter box but hold something under her butt and collect the sample.  Excellent.  Dropped her in the box for this process and again, she crossed her legs and left in disgust.

So the better half suggests locking her in the bathroom again with the sample box.  Obviously she has to go and we will have success this time.  After an hour, we go check and .... not a chance.

Finally, after stalking her around the house,  I used brilliant plan #2 and got a sample.  The ladies at the vet were impressed by my method.  They said I did it the hard way - yeah right.  I'm just hoping the cat doesn't have bathroom issues now.  I'm pretty sure she won't use the litter box when I'm in the room anymore!

Confessions of a Ravelry Addict

I'm addicted to Ravelry.  I know I'm not alone but feel the need to confess it.  Not only do I add projects that I've finished since joining, as I discover older projects in my cupboard, I add those too.  Today I added 2 more.  Both have been completed for at least 2 years.  The first, a Wavy Scarf from Handmaiden was a little kit with one of the patterns they attach to the yarn.  It was a really fast knit and I get tons of compliments when I wear it.  It looks lovely with a nice blouse.

The other is a sweater from the first Mirasol Collection which I didn't really like at first but I have been wearing it this winter and I really like it now.  It's comfortable, cozy and very soft.  Just like a favourite sweatshirt.

I love reading the Ravelry forums and probably my favourite part is the people section where Ravelry finds other people who have projects in common.  I love looking through their projects to see what else I might like to make.

Ravelry also spurs me on to complete projects (most of the time).  The addiction to putting projects up means I have to complete them.  This is a very positive side effect and should result in lower stash but, alas, all the yarn stores would have to close for that to actually work.

I'm almost ready for Christmas, just one or two small things left to buy.  I did abandon 2 Christmas knitting projects.  I probably could have gotten them done ... two small sweaters for my nephews ... but that is all I would have been doing for about 3 weeks and I decided to give myself a break.  They have birthdays.

We had our first family Christmas get-together last night.  My job was to make cookies which I love to do.  I made about 7 different kinds and I think they all turned out really well.   I would love to bake all the time but don't seem to be able to eat just one!

Still Gardening!

I did my last bit of 2010 gardening yesterday.  I have been watching for the foliage on my 2 Jerusalem Artichoke (JA) plants to die in the frost so I could harvest.  I think they have been ready under the above definition for a couple of weeks but I finally managed to get out there with a shovel.

And what a harvest.  Now the research begins on what to do with all of them.  I've eaten them before but only in small quantities with other roasted veggies.  I've been over to epicurious.com and found several recipes.  I also learned that they can be eaten raw.  There is an arugula salad with shaved JA's that could work but I need something that uses a big quantity so I'm thinking soup.  The small problem there is that my freezer is packed.

The reason for the full freezer is partly due to a trip a friend and I took to Supperworks yesterday.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  It is a meal preparation company and I've known of their existence for a few years but didn't think it would be the thing for me.  But as I understood more about it, I thought I'd give it a try.  Essentially, they have a number of recipes a month with all of the ingredients prepped on site.  We went in, threw all of the components together and took them home.  I liken it to cooking with a sous chef.  You save all of the shopping and chopping time but still get real ingredients and recipes like the ones I would generally make for myself anyway.  And it was pretty fun.  A social engagement while getting ourselves set up for weeknight cooking help.