Pillow Cases (the tube method)

My SIL gave me the idea of making pillowcases for charity.  This thought then led me to the idea of sewing a few extra for Christmas gifts as well. They will make especially unique gifts for my five CASA (court appointed special advocate) kids.  Each child has something special about them that I can find a fabric theme to match with their pursuits (music, sports, tv characters, etc.).  There are many great fabrics geared to kids.  Here is something I found with the Dr. Seuss theme from Etsy:

If you give it some thought, there will be many people that will come to mind who might appreciate something made by you especially for them.  And who can't use a new pillowcase, especially if it makes them smile?

A very easy tutorial on sewing three color coordinating fabric cases can be found here on YouTube, sponsored by Missouri Quilt Company.  I watched the video several times, took notes, and started thinking about fabric choices that were on hand.  A quick trip to the fabric store, and I came up with more coordinating fabrics.

Then the fabric pieces above were cut.  But wait!  There was more fabric on hand that needed coordinating fabric edges.   And I needed some Mickey Mouse fabric, too, for a special little boy going through some hard times.

Another trip to Hobby Lobby, and behold!  Twelve pillowcases were on the way to being sewn.

YouTube and Missouri Quilt explains it all, and it is not difficult if you have average sewing skills.  Here are several pillowcase ready to be seamed that are on my machine shelf this morning, ready for finishing.

And here are a few already finished:

Thanks, Charlotte, for this neat gift idea.

Wintering Geraniums

Last month, I brought in over a dozen fairly good sized geraniums to spend the winter in the garage.

Past failed attempts at keeping geraniums alive over previous winters included hanging the roots upside down (a definite failure), wintering the pots in the outside garden shed (they all died within two weeks), and then last year, they spent the winter in the house near a west window (some lived, but did not thrive) and in the garage (they actually lived and and even put on new leaves!).

An inexpensive shelving unit was purchased and assembled by the husband so that more pots could benefit from the sunny east facing garage.  He even cleaned up his work bench to allow room for the shelves.  And he hardly grumbled; that was probably just as sweet of him as assembling the shelves.

The plants are close to an east window in the garage, and seem to be doing fairly well after about six weeks in their winter home.  I've been watering them about every three weeks. Some lovely  geranium art pictures from Barbara's blog: Caroline Lord (American artist, 1860-1927) Woman with Geranium Aristide Maillol (French artist, 1861-1944) Portrait de Lucien 1896 Alfred Stevens (Belgian Painter, 1823-1906) Still Life with Geraniums 1889 Paul Cezanne (French artist, 1839-1906) The Flower Pots 1883-87 Nancy McCarroll, Oil

Snakes Socks on a Plane

So I was sitting on an airplane, yarn in hand, needles ready, and a sock pattern that was mistyped.  Now what to do? I figured I'd just try to remember how I had knit a similar pair of socks a year ago.  So the darned things were cast on, and I just hoped that it would all turn out ok.  Magical thinking runs in the family.

This snaky pair of socks was what I came up with. Many mistakes, but I tried to hide them in the photo.

The heels and toes are a little wonky, but still wearable.

Take away: always bring the necessary well written instructions and leave nothing to memory.

Free Book for Kindle

Since it did not cost money and was purported to have 54 pattern instructions, why not get a free book for my Kindle app?  So I did.

But wait, there is even more juicy back content! It was first published in 1864 in Bath in the UK.

The drawbacks were that there were no illustrations, and most of the patterns were for chair covers, which I would not use.  The good thing about this book was that gave insight into how people (women, mostly) had to work hard just to keep some color in their lives.

Check it out for yourself here on Amazon if you want a free download, or pay money for it in paperback, which is probably not worth it unless you are a die hard history buff in the realm of needle art.

There were at least 40 more books available for free download related to knitting, crochet, embroider, tatting, lace making, hat making, cooking,  medicinal plants, tapestry weaving, gardening, dyeing of fibers and the list goes on.... so much information and so little time.

Melissa Clark's Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

Here is a keeper, along with complete recipe and instructions, found at the Amateur Gourmet's Website:

The Amateur Gourmet says:

Think Christmas. Think Thanksgiving (at least, the cranberry sauce). Spicy, fragrant, gingery, wintery, this gingerbread is remarkable not only for the way it makes your whole apartment smell like the holidays, it’s also remarkable because the texture is just dry enough to lift up a piece with your hands, but wet enough to be incredibly, notably moist. I suppose that’s why “sticky” is in the title. It’s that kind of gingerbread.

It's coming out of my oven soon!

Urban Sketcher

Photo taken on Halloween in Dublin at Madigan's Pub:

A group of us waited here for our hotel to accept our reservations on October 31.  It was a lively crowd, and grew larger by the half hour.  We sat, and I caught this picture on a camera.  While sitting at a booth, I sketched this scene quickly.  Here is my rendition of this fun time:

3 minutes of Ireland, a Quick Click

Of Castles, Views, Pubs and Blarney

Back from southern Ireland with pictures to boot.

Castles and Cathedrals:

(Adare Abbey)

(Cashel Castle)

(Dublin Castle)

Trinity College:

MUSIC and PUBS:

at Hapenny Bar

(Madigan's Pub)

(Saints & Scholars Pub)

(Irish Stew)

(Tea and Scones, of course)

QUAINT VIEWS:

(Rugged Western Coast of Ireland near Blasket Islands)

(Cliffs of Moehr)

RUINS:

(Farmhouse on Adare Manor)

It was a great time in hospitable Ireland.

Bag with Crocheted Hexagons

Loosely based on this pattern for making a shopping bag, and borrowing from this pattern on Ravelry for a hexagon blanket, a new project bag was born.

See the toy ferret and bunny rabbit?  Those belong to The Amazing Therapy Dog Libby, but I actually plan on filling it with a sweater project and swapping yarn for the toys.  Its strap is a knitted icord, and the bag itself is two pieces of coordinating fabrics sewn back to back, folded in half, and seamed together.

Several weeks ago, I was making hexagons from sock yarn, but did not have enough sock yarn scraps to make an actual blanket.   Instead of chucking the project, I used the 20 multi-colored hexagons as decoration for the bag front.  Bling was added in the form of buttons and charms.

The little sheep buttons in the middle of a couple of hexagons make me smile.

Going to Ireland in Two Days!

Sixty-four travelers from the western slope of Colorado will be visiting Ireland next week, and I will be on the tour bus, too.  We will arrive in Dublin on October 25 and coach over to Adare, about and hour and a half west of Dublin by coach.  Here is where we will be staying -- the Adare Castle in Limerick, Ireland:


This photo of Adare Castle is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This site says:

The castle was probably begun in the 1190s and initially comprised a large square tower and an enclosing D-shaped fosse, together with a hall block to the south in an outer ward.

Villas surround the 650 acre castle property, each with three bedrooms to a villa.  Our group will share these modern villas with all the comforts of a 5 star hotel.  There is a posh restaurant inside the castle, a clubhouse and bar. Golfing is one of the highlights of Ireland, and this property contains the Adare Golf Club championship golf course commissioned by the Earl of Dunraven in the 1890's, but Linda and I will likely be searching for yarn in the little town of Adare during our "off hours."

We will make day trips, and Linda and I will extend our stay for three days, ending our journey in Dublin.   We will be there on Halloween night, staying at the Wynn Hotel in the Temple Bar area, which is apparently a real party place.

Day trips include visiting the cliffs of Moehr;

and a visit to a woolen mill!!

Also included on the docket is a trip to Kilkenny and Bunratty with a medieval-style dinner in the Bunratty Castle in the evening.

Then there is Dingle, and  a tour of the Dingle Peninsula on the way to the Blasket Island Center. Dingle was the setting for the movie "Ryan's Daughter" and is a market town and fishing port.

And of course we are going to Blarney and the Blarney Castle where the magic stone gives the gift of eloquence.  I don't think that we'll be allowed to kiss that stone because of new sanitary regulations.  But here is a picture of me kissing it in 2005, when it was still allowed:

(at Blarney Castle, Nancy with guide in 2005)

Kissing that old stone was not for the faint of heart, so my Scrabble buddy Darlene took this picture because she had no desire to stand in the line, kiss that stone, or get that mythical gift of the gab.

Enough for now, but more pictures upon our return from this trip sponsored by Chamber Discoveries.