More Knitting: Toddler Socks

 Our great-grandson turned one year old recently. I wanted to knit him some socks so I did.  I had to search Ravelry to find a pattern which was a bit of a picnic, but one pattern came up!

 These socks were fun to knit.  I did the "two socks on two circs" method of knitting socks.  They turned out just fine.

One note is that these were cuff down socks.  When I got to the first heel flap, since that was a back and forth project, I had to knit the first heel flap then switch the socks on the needles so I could knit the second heel flap.  No problem.  Just took a bit of thinking.

These were not ready for his birthday due to too much other stuff to do, but we "sweetened the late deal" by also sending him a few Richard Scarry books which our children (his grandfather) loved.  I expect he will love them, too.  He already loves books.

Newest Knitting Completion: Diana Sullivan Citrus Washcloth/Dishcloth

 Knitting a dishcloth or washcloth is very enjoyable.  The projects are usually one or two days in the making.  They are very useful.  They look pretty nice.

Diana Sullivan has just published a book with 11 knitted dishcloths.   I have been greatly blessed by Diana's YouTube videos covering many machine knitting projects.  I like to give back when I can and this time I could.  

This is her Citrus cloth.  I really like the pattern and I like the way it turned out in this variegated cotton yarn.

Some Things Just Make You Happy!

 Today just a short message to say that some things just make you and me happy!  Some time ago a good friend gave us an azalea plant that did not suit her garden plan.  After a couple of weeks I did get it into the ground.  Now it is blooming!!!  Such a joy.  I am so grateful for friends who share so many things with me.  In this case it was a beautiful plant.

You can see it is just beginning to bloom and has many buds just waiting to grow a little more. I am so happy today!  I hope you find things to make you happy today, too.

Munchie Monday: Green Juice!

 This morning a small miracle took place.  Hopefully the beginning of bigger miracles!  When I went to bed last night I had in mind to wake up by 6:00 so I could go to Piggly Wiggly grocery store to get some spinach and a few other items to make green juice as a wake-up-begin-a-new-and-healthier-lifestyle-forever plan.  Plus I needed some mushrooms to use in Creamy Wild Rice Soup.  Then I went to bed.  I was pretty bushed after an 8:30 meeting before church, church, rushing around after church to make lunch for Dear One before going to a funeral, etc etc etc. I was tired.  So I set the alarm for 7:30 which would give me just time to get up and get to the doctor appointment at 8:30.

So the small miracle?  Heavenly Father woke me up at 5:54!  And I leaped/crawled out of bed, did the regular routine, showered, and hopped into the car.  Went to the Pig, purchased some other things, too, and came home.

#LifeIsNoYoke Green Juice is now made and partly consumed.  Dear One drank his right down.  He is not a real fan but it is not nasty so he did drink it. He wants to be healthier, too.

Here is the Vitamix with water, apple, orange, banana, ginger thumb, chia seeds, spinach, and ice.  (Go to LifeIsNoYoke for the specific recipe. It is easy.  It is mild.  Even babies love it.) It blends for 90 seconds so you have a nice smooth drink.  No chance for spinach leaves to get caught between your teeth and embarrass you!

Here is the green juice in my Yeti travel mug ready to go to the doctor with me. I meant to eat my usual oatmeal breakfast as well, but did not get it done.  Because it is uncooked it takes a little longer to chew up than cooked oatmeal. I like cooked oatmeal which apples, raisins, walnuts, flax meal, and cinnamon but that takes even more time.

So I am feeling happy. And virtuous on several fronts: getting out of bed when I woke up, performing my morning ritual which today included listening to a General Conference talk on Miracles by Elder Howard W. Hunter, actually getting through Piggly Wiggly without stopping at their hot deli to collect some freshly cooked sausages which I am trying to avoid at all costs, making the green juice, and all this in time to head out for the doctor appointment ON TIME!  What a great day!  I hope it continues in like fashion.

When I get home I think I will address the kitchen a little bit, the workroom a lot, and even get the Cream Wild Rice Soup made for supper.  This will make the whole day a day of miracles.  Here is hoping....

Food Friday: First Strawberries of the Year

 On Sunday S and I went to Columbia for the annual Relief Society Presidency Training.  It was a glorious day for a drive and the training was just plain fabulous.  On the way to the meeting there were signs for the Cottle Strawberry Farm, saying they were "Now Open"!  I was so very thrilled.

So on Wednesday when we drove away from the temple we stopped in. I suggested to Dear One that we purchase a quart.  He, on the other hand, said we needed a large box!  That is what we did.  It turns out the large box is a gallon.  Lots of nice strawberries.  They are pretty good but will be much juicier in a couple of weeks.

Today when I was out doing some errands I noticed that the table and tent that Cottle Strawberry Farm sets up in our town is already in evidence, though they did not have any berries there yet.

Nature's Beauty

 Earlier this week we were at the temple. As we passed the garden in front of the sacred edifice the daylight shown onto some drops of water on some of the plants.

One of the things I really love is to see either dewdrops or raindrops on plants.  I do not know what this is but I love to see them.  A great start to the day!

Wednesday Wildlife: Cardinal

 It always makes me happy to see birds come to the window feeder we stock.  Today I walked into the dining room and found Pierre, the cardinal, in the feeder!  I call him Pierre in memory of my mother-in-law who had a beautiful male cardinal come to her feeder in Barre, Vermont.  She called him Pierre, thus Pierre is our cardinal's name.

This is not an ideal photo but I think Pierre is clearly visible.  He makes me happy.

Deck Garden 2022

A dear friend showed me the chopped of ends of various vegetables that grow really well. I have done green onions often (in a glass of water) for a long time.  This time I tried with the bottom of a bunch of celery.

Here it is:

You can see some very healthy green!!  Right beside the celery is a tiny little green plant. I think it is a self-seeded basil plant from last year.  We shall see.  That would make me very happy!  I love basil.

Munchie Monday: Pasta Burgers

A few weeks ago a friend sent me a note about making BBQ Pasta Burgers.  I made them and we found them very edible!

BBQ Pasta Burger-Vegan

Cook up some whole grain pasta.  Let it cool completely, even put it in the refrigerator to make it cold.

In the bowl of a food processor place 4 cups of cold cooked pasta.  

Add one 15-ounce can black beans,  drained and rinsed (or about 1 1/2 cups black beans you have previously cooked.)

Add 1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes-if possible without oil in them

1/3 cup your favorite barbecue sauce

1 chopped sweet onions

3 chopped garlic cloves

Pulse in the food processor until it has a nice somewhat smushy consistency.

Form into 1/3 to 1/2 cup burgers and place on parchment paper-lined half-sheet pan.  Feel free to make them prettier than the ones in the photo.

Bake them at 350 degrees F. oven for 30-60 minutes or until they are the firmness you like.

Treat them like any other burger and stack them in a bun with lettuce, pickles, onion slices, tomatoes.

These are really pretty good!

Finish February Morphed Into Finish It Friday!

While this project was actually finished in February, I am just now getting to show it.

Years ago I knitted this vest parts on the Incredible Bond Sweater machine.  It was in three parts that I sewed together then used hand knitting to finish. (I did garter stitch "ribbing" up the front, at the bottom and around the armholes.)  During this winter I put on the vest and realized I did not like the top of the vest rubbing on my neck so I decided to fix it in February.

What I did was to use sewing shears and cut a V-neck in the vest.  No, the stitches did not run or fall out!  I was very happy that this worked! At that point I picked up stitches for button bands and buttonhole bands.  Also, because I felt like the vest was too short, I picked up and knitted a ribbing along the bottom.  The final thing I did was pick up and knit ribbing around the armholes since I was not happy with the way they looked and looked.

The above is the completed sweater. I am happy with it.  I do think I will try again to make a sweater on the knitting machine but this time it will be the Brother KX 350 knitting machine.  And it will be a while until that sweater makes it to the top of the queue!

For now I am going to work on Finish It Friday.  It might not always be knitting projects that I finish...!

Busy Days and Test Knit Completed: Step In Socks

So much goes on each day.  Some things are so en-JOY-able and others are concerning.  We have had a string of both of these options in life lately.

One good thing that has transpired since last I wrote was that I finished the sock test knit.  Sadly, the socks did not fit me well so I gave them to our son for his 48th birthday.  I hope they will fit him.  The toes were a little floppy, the fabric of the socks themselves was so very nice:  firm and thick and comfy.  I chose to use up the whole balls of Gentry Grey yarn which had the effect of making the sock legs go further up my leg than the pattern called for.  The sad thing is that my legs did not match the  socks so I need to make another pair with wider ribbing. 

After making these socks I was all souped up to go to Michaels to find that lovely Patons Kroy Socks Gentry Grey yarn when I was convicted by the thought that I have a very large bag of sock yarn that needs to be used up before buying more yarn.  This may be the year when I do a lot of sock knitting...May Be...

This is the sock on Dear One's leg.  They fit him well but he thought they should go to Son #1, so they did.

When I make socks again, I will probably not put in the colorful toes, heels, and ribbing as the designer planned but will just do plain vanilla socks, knitting every stitch.  I have a book called Custom Socks by Kate Atherley which will make it possible to knit socks that actually fit one's feet. I must now re-read that book, take the needed measurements, and cast on another pair.  I think I will use up the colorful yarn that was used here for the toes, etc.  Hopefully there is enough to get the socks through the foot and up at least a little way above the heel.

If you click on the "finished" link above you can read about the sock project on my Ravelry page.

The Ocean Outside Our Window!

 Dear One has always (since we purchased a time share on our trip to Mexico with very dear friends0 taken care of our vacation needs.  While we were on our mission there were no vacations so he "banked" our vacation weeks.  We have been using up those weeks that schedule to expire. I think there may still be more weeks to use up.  Nice thought.

This week we are in Myrtle Beach at a very nice facility.  One of the happiest things for me is that we are on the first floor so our balcony does NOT give me the willies.  Here is a picture off our balcony:

It is so great to be here.  Also wonderful that my sister and her husband will join us later in the week.

So far it has been a busy week.

We left after church on Sunday and moved in around 6:00 PM.

Monday morning we went to the town library where we obtained the paperwork we needed to support our  AARP tax appointment later in the day.  While there I signed up for a local library card.  I love libraries and especially love library cards so I can enjoy their online collections.  Every library has access to different collections of materials.  A new app I learned of here is Hoopla.  I have downloaded that one now but have downloaded a book from Libby which I am listening to while knitting the Step In Socks test knit.

The tax appointment went well.  Since we did not have a phone call last evening it looks like our paperwork went through,  Good news.

This morning we had a Zoom presidency meeting which went well with next to no issues with us all being far away from each other.

When that meeting was over I called Knit n Purl knitting shop to see if they had the final set of knitting needles I need to comfortably work on the test knit. THEY DID!!  There are about 6 sections for the pattern for these socks.  Only three more rounds to finish Section Three. This is so exciting to me.  There is the slightest possibility that I will complete the socks while here on vacation.   If not, I will still have a few more days after we return home. Anyway, I zipped over and purchased their last set of needles. It was good that I called because they set aside those needles.  When I arrived I found MANY people buying yarn and needles...the same needles that had been set aside for me so they were not available for sale to someone else...

So far we have been eating here in the apartment with food we brought from home that I could not bear to have waste.  Tomorrow we will have breakfast out.  Also a nice things to do.

There is nothing like ocean air to help lift one's heart and to cure any health issues!  Love it here.