First Beans

Look at the lovely first beans from the garden.  In the picture, they hardly know that they have been picked. 

This jacket has a sad story.  Apparently the pattern was not accurately sized.  It was my size when I started it but was just a little tight; as a result it hung unfinished in my closet until I decided to see if a friend wanted it.  It fit her and she wanted it but by that time, I could not find the scraps.  I needed the scraps to make new button loops.  I can hardly believe that I made the loops the way I did; I knew better.  The result was that the  jacket hung in my closet a couple more years while wrinkles set in more firmly. 

Last week I decided that I wanted yarn that I knew was in one of two boxes.  I looked in both boxes and found the yarn and discovered that there was fabric in the other box.  At the bottom were the scraps.  I made the covered cording for the button loops, opened the front seam and stitched in the new loops.  Yesterday I stitched in the hems and today I gave it a thorough pressing.  It looks good to me and I hope it still looks good to my friend tomorrow. 

Here is the pie I made yesterday.  It is a good thing I took a picture of it yesterday because today it does not look nearly a nice.  We ate a quarter of it.  Today it is not quite as good as it was yesterday but then we all know pie is best right after it is out of the oven and has cooled a little.     :-) 

I heard last week that pie is supposed to replace cupcakes as the "in" food item.  I am way ahead of the curve there. 

Yes, I did finish the left front yesterday.  I tucked all the ends under it so you cannot see how many I have to weave in.  It is almost too discouraging to think about.  Sometime after the middle of the month, I plan to work on the right front since I can finish it in less than a week. 

It is so early the flag is still in the shadows.  There is just the slightest hint of a breeze.  It is the Fourth of July. 

 
Quincey saw the camera and decided he needed to leave the room immediately.  I tried to reassure him that I did not need him for the picture but he thought it best to leave immediately. 

I have finished the shaping for both the armhole and the front neckline.  There are about 20 more rows left.  Potentially I could finish this front piece today. 

I have resumed work on my little Quaker motif.  It will become the front of a needlebook.  It does seem fitting to work on it during the Fourth of  July. 


Another project for the day is a cherry pie for dinner.  We picked the cherries from the tree and assumed there would only be enough for a cobbler.  After I had pitted them, I was surprised to discover that we had a little over five cups.  That is definitely a pie. 

The Latest Hat As Modeled by Quincey - - -

Mooch said that he was not interested in doing it.  Considering the fact that I had just woken up Quincey, he looks fairly alert and reasonably sociable.  This yarn worked into a rather small hat.  It should be alright because we do have some smaller babies. 

Chevron Vest - Left Front - - -

I began working on it on Friday; my intention had been to finish the left front in July and the right front in August.  It is working up so quickly that I could easily make both fronts in July.  It is not as if this is the only project I have so I might have to wait until August to make the right front.  I will just have to see how everything else goes. 

Silent but still busy

I cannot share with you my most current large project.  It has not yet been published.  Since I finished it near the end of May, I have been busy with a couple small projects. 

The first is a small birth sampler based on Friends in Stitches from Victoria Sampler. 

I am also working on a wedding sampler; it is based on Heart to Heart also from Victoria Sampler.  I am almost finished with it but I want to change one of the bands.  The colors reflect the bride's colors.  The floral segments reflect the bride's flowers. 

I am working on a small Quaker like design in red, white, and blue.  I do not work in these three colors together very often; I am finding it a fun little treat. 

I continue to make the occasional baby hat but Mooch is not very thrilled with the idea of modeling one for you to see.  In addition. I picked up the sweater-tunic I started toward the end of last year.  I have a modest beginning on one of the front sections.  Perhaps I should let you see it. 

Eeeewe

The corpse flower in the local zoo conservatory is blooming.  The conservatory has extended hours to allow people to see it, maybe that is more accurately to smell it, during its short life span.  I think I will pass on that one. 

Our yard is teeming with wildlife.  Chipmunks are living in the garden shed or maybe the wood pile.  They run around in the backyard and are extremely cute.  Humming birds are occasional visitors to the feeder. 

Last week we discovered a set of four little squirrels that were sheltering in a gap between the brick facade and concrete blocks on the front of our garage.  We called them the Downspout Quads because they sat on the downspout and ran up and down the brick front.  Today we discovered that there are a minimum of eight little squirrels.  Yes, we saw them all at one time scampering back and forth between the ash tree and the downspout, the downspout and the neighbor's evergreen tree and sunning themselves on the grassy bank. 

This afternoon, I took this picture lying on my stomach.  Only one member of the Downspout Gang put in an appearance. The squirrels are less than 6 inches long and are so very cute.  We just hope that they do not make nuisances of themselves. 

MIA

First I had to concentrate on the model I was stitching .  I finished it just in time to leave for a few days.  I have been home trying to catch up on everything that was not done.  I missed picture time with the iris and now the peonies.  We just picked up a couple annual packs and a fair number of individual perennials at clearance prices. 

While we were gone the garden was growing including the weeds.    ;-D