Ninety-five to go! #100moredaysknitorious2019

The photo above was taken Wednesday while I hung out in the cell phone lot at O'Hare for over an hour. I would have been really mad if I hadn't had something to do... though I did manage a pretty good nap, too.

The photos above are where I was on Sunday when I began. I've been stitching everyday and trying not to over-think it. I may have to bust out the beads pretty soon, though, just to get the visual/balance.

It was a beautiful day for a drive, and I began by driving my favorite route down the east side of the lake -- two lanes, farm country, great views.

Kate's back from the UK, but with a cold! Thankfully, she's not scheduled for work until tomorrow so has been able to rest and recover a little bit. She brought YARN!! I'll share that next week -- a hank for me and two for her. It must truly be autumn now because, like clockwork, Kate's got the urge to knit!

Last night, in addition to working on my jacket, I mended a shirt that's been out of commission for quite a few years. It's an all-time favorite, so it's been taking up space in my (very small) closet even though I haven't worn it. I went in search of matching thread on Tuesday and came home with two very excellent contenders. I'm glad I bought both because it's really all about the lighting (and they were 50% off, so it was basically 2-for-1).

In the photo at left, I've already repaired one very very tiny hole (can you see it? click for big), and one of the larger ones has been done in the photo at right. They're not perfect, but they'll do. Honestly, I've had to hunt down the similar repairs that I made in a black dress -- I think black is more forgiving, anyway, but still... I made those mends, you'd think I'd have no problem find them again!

Here, they're all finished. I used a hoop, which I never do, but it's how I was taught... and next time I'm going to try without because I feel like it almost made another hole (even though it wasn't stretched or clamped tightly at all). Anyway, this will be laundered today or tomorrow, then worn tomorrow night to a talk about The History of the Handkerchief, the closing event for the textile show SURFACING, which was also related to the Visible Mending Workshop that I attended earlier this month -- all blogged about here -- and where a few of my fellow workshop attendees will also be present and I can show off! (Haha. I'm not much of a show-off... too much... usually... this might be worthy.)

Anyway, that's what I've been doing all week: working, driving, sewing.

I present this, sent to me yesterday, to end on a high note:

Ali says, "This is baby's face when I say 'smile'!"

Have a great weekend!!

The Garden Room menagerie increased by one on Friday -- Miss November joined the chicken, duck, and kangaroo planters! I couldn't resist her.

They'll soon be displaced by plants. Maybe I'll move them down to the dye studio.

We had Packers fans in the house over the weekend. I've picked up a few things here and there in preparation for our guests (especially on sale/clearance because NFL licensing is no joke). I even picked up some rain ponchos, and they were needed yesterday! It's a gorgeous day today, though, and our guests are off for a tour of Lambeau Field before heading to Chicago to catch their flight back home to L.A.

Do not adjust your calendars! It's still September, and the kids had a visit with Santa on Saturday! It was part of a fundraiser for a local guy who goes all-out with his holiday display but needs to relocate it. Junah was totally into it... threw his arm around Santa's neck, and is obviously very animated in the discussion of his wish list.

We also stopped in at the Fall Market at 313 where I had the incredible good fortune to snap a photo of the girls at the exact right moment -- they last an approximate nano-second! Ali & I both went home with some lovely bouquets, too.

We were super happy to find a walking leaf-type bug in the back yard!

On Sunday, I puttered... I did some dyeing, finished popping out the cut pieces of my Large Paradise stencil and rolling it up for later, (mostly) reclaiming my worktable, washing some Alabama Chanin cotton jersey yardage and other laundry, chatting with my sis (no stitching with her yesterday, though, but I did fold some laundry), watching the football game, weaving in ends on some cowls, stitching, and ending with the Emmy Awards.

I started with the patching of a hole on my favorite PJs (very small hole, very large patch!). I continued with the first of the second 100 days of stitching (mostly) on my Alabama Chanin Car Jacket... it ended up being a bit of a false start, a half-hour of stitching that came right out. Today will be better!! #100moredaysknitorious2019

Tonight, we'll continue (with last night's episode) of Country Music | A film by Ken Burns on PBS. We are loving it! Neither of us would ordinarily be called "country music fans," but we are truly "fans of music"... all types of music! As with any other genre, there's good and bad, things you like and things you don't, things you listen to more or less... I don't really get it when people say "I hate {fill in the blank} music." It's all so fluid...

I hope you had a great weekend!

Poor kid!

Joining Kat & the Unravelers today, sharing what I'm knitting and reading.

KNITTING:

• My Ravelry Project Page: In Threes the Fourth
• Pattern: in threes:a baby cardigan by Kelly Herdrich
• Yarn: Malabrigo Washted, colorway 749 Selva Peruana
• Needles:  US 8 (or possibly 7... if I'm going to forget to record something in Ravelry, it's gonna be the needle size)
• Start to Finish:  August 29 - September 17, 2019

I found cute buttons at the same shop where I bought the yarn, my new LYS called Casting On -- and I sewed them on with the back side facing. I love the variations.

On the way home from dropping Kate at O'Hare last week, I stopped in Oshkosh at Oshkosh B'gosh and found some leggings to go with. I didn't intend to buy two pair, but GLITTERRRRR!!

I've been knitting other things, as well!

Tamarugo hasn't seen a ton of action in the past couple of weeks, but it keeps calling to me.

The yarn is in the most adorable "embroidered pot" that I picked up at Poppy Treffry in St. Ives when we were in Cornwall. It was the cutest shop!

Front and back of tag.  :)

But that's not all...

Technically, that's a finished Sunrise Cowl, but, as you shall see, I have another on the needles and plan at least one (if not two) more.

I am LOVING the colors of the Malabrigo Rasta! The more yellow skein I've had for quite a while... in fact, it was an almost-finished hat for a couple of years. Finally, I decided that it just didn't want to be that. Combined with some other hanks that I've picked up here and there (because I find it almost irresistible), it's all getting knit up into cowls. Possibly Christmas presents.

And I am over the moon in love with my 10-INCH SIZE 15 DPNs!!

READING:

I'm still listening to The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich. And on my nightstand is The Bright Hour, which I've been enjoying quite a bit... that's not the right word. It's a good book.

I'm always grateful for that lovely farm across the road, and this morning the birds were flying in and lining up... looking picturesque. (Full disclosure: I quickly edited out a car and a bunch of houses across the field... it looks so much nicer this way!)

A bunch of stuff has already been edited out of this photo... two trees (and two more that were on either side of where I'm standing), and a sad & sagging brick walkway... with much more to come. This is the street in front of the coffee shop. After a street party this weekend, it'll get torn up door-to-door... new street, new sidewalks, new parking arrangements. It's going to be a pain for the next several weeks, but nice & spiffy when it's finished. And hopefully that's the end of this kind of stuff for a long, long time.

This stencil is taking up almost my entire worktable! It's called "Large Paradise" and it is definitely large. I'm hoping to finish the cutting tomorrow and clear the deck... momentarily, anyway, I have things to do!!

Tomorrow's a day off, which means... oil change, lunch date, errands, laundry, book club (maybe).

OK. This is not my best work, but considering that it's taken with my phone at night through a thermopane window... not the worst.

I didn't plan on taking a photo of another spider, but when Rusty said that it's grown a couple of sizes...

I like the lighting in this one. (Whilst shivering a bit because, really, EW!)

In other news...

I was thrilled to find my new Zennis in the mailbox on Friday!

I'd lost my computer glasses on that busy Thursday during Auntie Camp when we went to Bay Beach and Titletown... I contacted both of them and Lambeau Field, too (because we'd parked there), and nothing. Almost immediately, I ordered some prescription readers (new lenses in some old frames) from my local optician, because I cannot live without them now, but didn't like/never got used to the single-vision thing. So then I asked Facebook for some recommendations and Zenni Optical was the clear favorite. Zenni offers two different versions of "computer glasses" and, including the special UV/blue light blocker, the entire pair was less than half the aforementioned lenses. And I love them!!

Alison, a long-time blog reader, contacted me a couple of weeks ago when she realized that she & her husband would be passing through on a trip across Wisconsin. One thing led to another and, long-story-short:

We met up at the coffee shop, went out to dinner (with our husbands, too), and they were our guests in the apartment on Friday! It just happened to work out that our next Airbnb guests weren't arriving until Saturday afternoon. (If you ever find yourself in NE Wisconsin, hit me up! You never know...)

Pumpkin from the kids' pumpkin patch!!

Junah & Ginny arrived later Friday evening for a sleepover, and so we could get up & go -- it was the fall City-wide Rummage Sale on Saturday! We slept in a bit, though, and had breakfast... and our first (very good) stop was a block away! My neighbor, Nancy, who owns the antique mall downtown, was clearing out some stuff at home and we ALL found treasures there. I stopped the car maybe three more times and we were able to walk to a few sales at each stop... and soon enough they'd had enough, and were ready to go home and play with their new stuff.

One of the items we found was a Curious George DVD, which I popped into the DVD player in the apartment so they could watch/relax while I changed over for our Airbnb guests arriving from Texas later that day... our first for a Packer game at Lambeau Field!! (They were so excited... all of our guests for Packer games are positively giddy!)

This was the mood on Sunday:

Super-chill. That's Duncan on our bed (I love the outstretched paw) -- a place that he's usually not allowed to be -- but I let him snooze for as long as he liked.

Ann and I had our first virtual Craft Date on Sunday morning! It was already wine time for her, but still solidly coffee time for me (I attended in my PJs).

I can't believe it's taken us this many years to do this! She pulled out her long-languishing Alabama Chanin Swing Skirt and made good progress! I finished a little mending project and then worked on my Car Coat. We stitched and chatted for almost two hours! And we plan to do it weekly (as much as possible).

Beverly mentioned a few weeks ago on FB that on September 22nd there will be 100 days left to the end of the year! Since I've been thinking of launching another 100-day project, anyway, and I've brought some of "my stuff" out, I think that's an excellent time to start again. Between that (at least :15/day) and weekly craft time with Ann, I should make another pretty good dent in that project!

How was your weekend???

Rusty & I went to the Friday night opening of "Surfacing: a contemporary textile exhibition" featuring the work of Wisconsin artists Alison Gates, Patricia Filzen, and Heidi Parkes, curated by Cristian Andersson.

 “Through the historical perspective of craft and ‘women’s work,’ the pieces in the exhibition will at times speaks on feminism, environmentalism, and politics, while at other times pull back remembrances of home, comfort, and familiarity.”

Alison Gates is a professor of Art and Women's & Gender Studies at UW-Green Bay (also a knitter, among other things). I've known Pat Filzen for many years; she is pictured above wearing a vest made from one of her woven pieces. Heidi Parkes is a Milwaukee-based quilter; I've been following her on IG for quite some time.

I was very excited to learn that Heidi was also presenting an all-day Visible Mending Workshop on Saturday, and was quite possibly the first person to sign up!

I expected to learn a little... I wasn't expecting to learn A LOT!! It was a great workshop and I'm so happy that I attended.

This family-favorite Kantha Quilt belongs to Sarah, and was damaged a few years ago by her Husky puppy! The nature of this quilt makes is perfect for "visible mending" and, perhaps it doesn't seem like it would be very difficult... but one of the things we learned with this piece was how to make a repair to something like a quilt when fabric is actually missing (having been chewed). The rest will be all about choosing fabrics (the fun part!) -- though there are also lots and lots of small tears to mend, so hopefully not too tedious.

This is a repair that Lisa made on her husband's pajama pants. He's an accountant... so this "visible" mend was made... um, with subtlety. From Lisa, I learned about using tiny magnets on my work as a needle keeper!

Deb bought this antique Double Wedding Ring Quilt at an estate sale, and there are a number of fabrics in various states of... disintegration. (Oh, how I wish I'd taken more photos!) She'd made one little repair in class, a brighter pink square on the left just below center (above a red square and between pink-ish squares on either side). She'd observed the most obvious fabrics needing repair/replacement, but discovered in class that there are many others.

I wish I'd taken photos of the jean jacket that Cristian was repairing... it's his favorite! (Kate's known him for a few years and she knew exactly which jacket I was talking about!) Heidi had previously worked on it for him and, by continuing that work, Cristian was pleased to be making it a collaborative project.

One of my projects was Kate's laptop case. She bought it from a maker on Etsy several years ago, and would have likely purchased a replacement if he could have been found. It was a great project for class! I repaired two damaged corners, noticing and proactively patching another small tear in the process!

I left the workshop with a start and/or guidance for a couple of other projects that I'd brought... and ideas for several others at home!

Sunday was a bit dreary, but I went downstairs and cleaned up my dye studio a bit and even threw a few hanks into the pot.

This view is usually full of hydrangeas in the foreground, but they suffered from house painters and electricians over the summer. Storms didn't help, either. Among all the greenery, you might make out a young catalpa tree (the more distant one with huge leaves) missing some branches and listing quite to the left... a big box elder had fallen onto it.

I first saw this guy when just three legs were visible in the crack between the window and sill. To be honest, I tried to "get" him, but I missed. Then I got busy doing other stuff and he came out... and kept his distance. We'll see how long this "relationship" lasts... I'm not a "spider person" in the least!! That's going to count as my Macro Monday photo because Ali thought it was as big as a tarantula when she saw my photo on IG! (He's sorta big but not THAT big.)

Lastly, it was the 111th anniversary of my maternal grandmother's birth yesterday.

Marcella -- or Marstella ("Mary of the Stars") (pronounced Mar-SHTEL-la by her German-speaking mother, according to my mother) -- died at age 57, when I was 8. She was into needlework of all types, and I wish she'd lived long enough to have shared that with her... so I could have proudly shown how neat my needlework was on the back! Haha. One of my treasures is an embroidered pillow top that she'd partially completed, and that I eventually mustered the nerve to finish -- it took a few years! I have very few photos of her, but my favorites are the wedding photos. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Joining Kat & the Unravelers today, sharing what I'm knitting and reading.

KNITTING:

This is my fourth In Threes Baby Cardigan! I'm knitting it for the lady who lives across the street... well, more accurately, I'm knitting it for her first great grandchild who is due in November. She was so very sure that it was going to be a boy, but turns out, IT'S A GIRL! I keep thinking that this isn't "girly" enough for her, but I'll pair it with a onesie and some leggings and it'll be AWESOME FOR A GIRL in a way that doesn't assault you with the "girly."

I cast on some years-old gradient yarn (dyed-in-the-ball) for some socks the other day, but decided that they'd look stupid, so I ripped that out last night and cast on for a hat! Tamarugo (a free pattern), inspired by this one, but it's pretty great in a bunch of yarns/colorways.

READING:

I finished The Summer Walkers last night! I enjoyed the appendices as much as the stories. It's a pretty fascinating history, and I was delighted to recognize some of the Highland Travellers' and Pearl-Fishers' locations and places in the book, and have even visited to a few of them.

I've been listening to The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich.

An Oral History of Russian Women in World War II... which I found via recommendation by Lauren on Instagram (but I can't find the post right now). Influenced by my mother's interest in Russia -- she even visited as a college student (in addition to being the mother of five) in 1974 -- I was also fascinated as a high schooler, mostly by Russian women, but also completely frustrated in the lack of any useful factual information (any information, please) given the times. What were their lives like?? I remember wanting to write a report, but there just wasn't anything to go on... One of the weird random (rare) tidbits I could find (and that stuck with me) was that physicians in Russia were much more likely to be women than men. Anyway, I think I went directly from Lauren's IG post to Audible and have been listening on my way to work most mornings.