Maggie, the supervisor

Oh dear blog, how I have missed you! It has been a crazy two weeks since I've been able to have a free moment to sit down with a cup of coffee and visit with you. And while I have told myself I'm taking a day off from everything, who am I kidding? It is currently 10:30am as I post this, and I'm still sitting in my nightie, worrying that I need to get up, get showered and head out the door for an appointment. Our Snicks the cat is way years overdue for vaccinations and a check up. I'm embarrassed to say that he has been neglected, but dang it, if only he weren't so feral. It's going to be very tricky just getting him in the crate to transport him to the vet this afternoon. I know it's going to stress him, and probably me too, but we owe him at least that much to make sure he remains in good health. Anyway, I have loads to share with you, so onto the next topic....

After going up and down stairs to retrieve my holiday decorations this past Christmas, because one thing I don't have is patience when it comes to that sort of thing, I declared we would be storing them in a shed by Spring! And so it has come to pass. The first thing we had to have done though was the removal of a sweetgum tree (dang those spikey ball devils that fall from it..be gone with you!!!). They are beautiful in the Fall, but their root system will take over your entire yard and sneak under the foundation of your house. Fortunately for us, it hadn't found our house yet, but our yard was becoming a giant sponge. Exactly how it feels when you walk on the ground because the roots sit just below the sod. So, two weeks ago, the tree was taken out, and then it was time for my cousin, the landscaper, to come in and level the site where our new building would be built. It wasn't easy, but he had it done in a weekend and part of Monday. As you can see, Maggie felt it was her job to make sure it was all being done to code. She does the same thing when I'm knitting and spinning. Or anything, really. Silly dog!

Poor guy must have taken at least 35 wheelbarrow loads out of the site. Then gravel was brought in and leveled, and things were well on their way. Tuff Shed called us on Friday of this past week and said delivery and install would happen on Thursday (yesterday), and so it began. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have an extra 120 square feet of storage space. Mine, all mine! Scooter is so excited to be getting his garage back since I also took over the third bay of it for craft supply storage. Haha I have big plans for my new "cave".

The steel beam foundation and floor being installed

 

And things progressed from there...

 

I chose a window on each side of the door, a four foot wide door to make it easier to get things in and out of, two wall vents on each side so it can breathe, and a turbine vent as well, that will be installed on the roof tomorrow. It's hard to tell from the light, but in the lower right corner of the picture, is the color of green I chose for the trim. Eventually, Scooter wants to build a sort of little front porch, but for now, I think we're going to make a pathway to the patio and perhaps some window boxes with flowers. We will also run power to it just in case later on down the road, I decide I want electrical for a/c or heat. I am loving these projects we are finally taking on! I had almost decided to put our little pool back up (remember that one from last year?) for the grandkids, but we live so close to an aquatic center (where Olympic champs work out!), that we're thinking of just getting them passes for the summer. Scooter thinks we will finally put in our hot tub instead. One step at a time though.

In between these home projects, I have been spinning, knitting, and quilting as well. I'm so excited to be quilting again!!! Unfortunately, my sewing machine still isn't working properly even after having it in for service twice now! I'm so frustrated about that, especially since the place I took it to is a very reputable dealer in our area and they refuse to refund me my money. I've let it go, but not before giving them a glowing review...NOT...all over social media. I will not be purchasing my new machine from them either. Meantime, because I just wanted to get busy sewing, I remembered I had been bequeathed my mother's sewing machine and it was sitting in our garage. How well it would work, I had no clue. I lugged the "vintage" Montgomery Ward all metal machine into the house, gave it a dusting off, made a few minor adjustments to the tension, threaded it, and off it went. It sews beautifully!!! There is just something about those classics, you know? My goal over the next few days is hopefully to take it apart, clean up its innards, give it a good oiling, and Scooter won't hear another complaint out of me. It was good enough for my mom to sew on, and it will be good enough for me too! I'm actually pretty excited to sew my first 'pieced' quilt on my mom's machine. I have all of my pieces cut out, and have sewn a few of them to start my blocks, and get a feel for it, and then a knit along happened that I just couldn't resist. One in a group I belong to in Ravelry, and then other through the guild I belong to. First, here's some pics of the beginning of a quilt...

Mom's behemoth. I gave the cabinet to my granddaughter for her machine. 

 

Pieces all cut out and a few have been sewn. More on that later.

 

One of the knit-alongs was with Christina Wall's group on Ravelry, called A Knitter's Life. I just love her video podcast! She's so talented and such a sweet, sweet person!! She came to know a woman named Vanessa Cabban thru her blog, Do You Mind if I Knit? Vanessa was such a talented woman, who loved color and art. Her life tragically ended this past December when she was hit and killed by a train where she lived in England. To honor her friend, Christina designed a beautiful, stunning cowl, and I feel so honored that she has shared it for free to anyone who wants to knit it. It's called Remembering Vanessa and I am enjoying knitting it so much. She just published the third chapter for it last night, so I will be printing it out sometime today and working on it. I'm making the one loop cowl, so this will be the end of it for me, and then I will be doing a three needle bind off to join the ends. Christina has included a bit of the story on the project page where you can download the pattern, so take a look if you get a moment. Vanessa was a very inspirational, lovely woman!

My cowl so far

I was going to do a Stitches recap, because as usual, I had an amazing weekend there, but I've run out of time for now. I will have to share it with you in my next post, along with some other knitting and spinning projects I've been working on. I'll leave you for now with a finished object, which leaves me with an empty project bag to fill back up, which brings me so much happiness!!!

I finished my brother in law's socks!!! I think I already shared with you my sister's pair, but just in case, here's pictures of both of them, and now I need to get them delivered to them.

His

Hers

Both of them are knit out of Paton's Kroy Sock yarn. 64 stitch on size 1 1/2 needles. Hers are plain vanilla socks with an afterthought heel, and his are a waffle stitch pattern. Three rows of knit, one row of purl, with a heel flap style heel and stockinette sole. Pretty basic socks, but they love them!!

 

Have a wonderful weekend!!