More of This and That

I don't know about you, but I'm rather glad to see the back end of March this year!  In these parts it roared in like a lion, taking over Leap Day with a snowstorm -- and another the next week -- and COVID-19 cancellations the following week -- and then more snow.  As I write on this sunny-blue-sky April a.m., it's still in the minus-double-digits Celsius, and more snow is forecast for tomorrow!

Sheesh!

To make it even crazier, yesterday my laptop played an April Fool's prank -- or would have, if it actually had a brain.  I dunno; after yesterday, I'm beginning to wonder.  Perhaps it does!  I got up early as usual, turned on the laptop while I heated my coffee, and went to sign in.  I couldn't.  No matter how I tried, it would take only 2 digits of my 4-digit PIN.  I restarted it at least three times -- to no avail.

My son is a techy, but it was far too early to phone him (6:40 a.m.)  Hmmmph!  So...I called Dell, the maker of my aging machine (bought in 2013).  This is my fourth or fifth Dell PC; I love the brand.  Anyway, as my warranty had long expired, I was instructed to purchase a "single event" plan so I could talk to a techy and see if it could be resolved online -- a software/driver issue with the keyboard, perhaps.

$135.00 CAD later, I had an appointment with a techy; he called right on time (9 a.m. my time) and we were on the phone for over an hour trying to sort it out.  Finally he let me go and continue to work on the machine remotely.

While he was doing that, I distracted myself with some sewing.  On Tuesday I'd started the first section of Bonnie Hunter's "Unity" Sew-in-Place Quilt-Along, which I mentioned in my last post. 

Here's my selected colour palette:

Hard to tell, but there's a chunk of off-white neutral
fabric on the far left!

The first section is the centre medallion,
seen here starting to take shape on my design wall.

While the techy worked away, I added some more units:

A 4-patch of 4-patches!
BKH loves to construct in sets of units!

I really like how it's shaping up.

The techy called me back (as promised) and said...sorry...try as he might, he couldn't seem to fix the problem; it looked like it was a hardware problem.  He would be refunding my $135.00 -- Dell's policy for this plan because it couldn't be resolved online.  We talked about options and, in true Canadian Anglican fashion (😉) I chose the via media -- the middle way:

1. Purchase an external hard drive so I can back up my data in the event the aging PC should give out altogether;
2. Limp along using the on-screen keyboard OR purchase a wireless keyboard;
3. Prepare to replace the laptop as soon as I am able/ready/willing.

Staples had both the external drive and the keyboard...they should be delivered later today or tomorrow (free delivery too!)

What to do?  I needed groceries, and a break, and my LQS owner had my batting ready for pick-up at her door...so off to Stettler I went.  Got the batting, got the groceries...and stopped in at a dollar store and a hardware store, where I found potting soil and packets of veggie and flower seeds.  We may still have drifted snow a foot deep around here but ##@@!!!** it, I'm going to plant some seeds!  (If the shed door isn't frozen and I can get my starter pots out!)

By the time I got home and unloaded everything, it was after 4 p.m. -- and my PC had been asleep for over 3 hours.

I woke it up and signed in with the on-screen keyboard.  Then I went to FB Messenger to type a note to my son, and by force of habit, forgot the on-screen board and began to type on the laptop's own keyboard.  

Here's the spooky, weird thing: it was working again! 😲

I have no idea why -- but I have a theory.  After I put it to sleep and went away for a long while (3 hours at least)...it likely turned off altogether, or was in a state something like that...and the "reboot" it had when I returned to use it might have been sufficient to trigger success based on whatever the techy had done with it.  That's the only explanation I can hold in my mind...assuming gremlins aren't living inside my laptop!

No, I didn't cancel my Staples order.  I figure it's a good idea to have my own external hard drive and a back up of my data -- up-dated periodically -- and the wireless keyboard may come in handy eventually.  Neither were terribly expensive, and with the refund of the repair fee, I'm not out as much money as all that.

I finished off the day with a wee dram, casting on and knitting 15 rows of the first of the pair of socks I've chosen for the April Challenge in Ravelry's  "Socks From Stash" group:

Yarn: Bouquet Sock & Sweater (discontinued)
Pattern: "Canon" from Caoua Coffee***

This morning I shared this cast-on photo with the group on Ravelry, and discovered I'd won a door-prize following the March Challenge!  Whoo-hoo!  I'm to receive a free pattern ($8 USD value) from one of the group's designers!  😊  This made my day -- and made up for the grief from yesterday. 

Tomorrow marks the beginning of GE Designs' "Strip-Along 2020"...and I'm in.  Clearly I have a need for the repetitive, soothing work of cutting and piecing fabric, and knitting simple lace.  My brain relaxes and my hands are happy.

As Melanie Falick writes in her new book, Making a Life: Making by Hand..., I have been looking at my hands...and discovering the life I am meant to live -- need  to live -- right now.

So...I leave you with wishes for a safe, healthy, creative, blessed day wherever you are, Gentle Readers.  I'm linking this to WIP Wednesday over at the Needle and Thread Network, and to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

***Editted:  "Canon" was frogged last night (April 2) when I found myself floundering to follow the lace pattern (lots of yarn overs and ktbl -- Knit Through Back Loop -- in quick succession).  Clearly my concentration isn't spot on these days.  I'm using the same yarn, but have switched to a simpler pattern I've made before that will fill the requirements of the Challenge:  Hermione's Everyday Socks, designed by Erica Lueder -- another free pattern on Ravelry.

Nina Marie is talking about the comfort of routines in a time like this.  I'm happy to oblige.  How about you?

Do take care, Gentle Readers.

Find a rhythm and routine in your daily round,

and may the work of your hands be blessed.

This, That and the Other

Well now.  The fact that just over two weeks have disappeared since my last post has caught me up short.  With up-dates every day about the state of the world as it tries to cope with the COVID-19 virus, one day seems to run into another, and what was only a weeks ago seems either as if it were only yesterday -- or as if it were weeks or months ago -- depending on the timing.

It's rather like living in a state of suspended animation.  There's dawn and dusk; morning, afternoon and evening; wakefulness and sleep.  The time gets filled -- sometimes quite productively -- and the hours pass, one day melting into another.  It's a good thing I have hard-copy calendars as well as my computer to remind me of the day, date and time!

It seems I've been in closer touch with friends and family than ever before.  Everyone is checking on those they care about far more frequently -- or so it seems -- and while that is a Very Good Thing, it also is a bit...overwhelming.  That's not a very good description; it doesn't really identify what I'm getting at -- but if you are the least but introverted, perhaps you know what I mean.

March 19 through 21 I was involved with the adventure that was the SAQA Virtual Conference.  And what an adventure it was!  I've never spent as much time in front of a screen as I did during those days. 

It was exhilarating, informative, inspiring -- and exhausting! 

I had to give myself permission to tune out and go for walks on Friday and Saturday, because I noticed wierd things happening to my body -- tension through my shoulders and neck, and a bit of elevation in my blood pressure.  The release of that tension as I moved out in the fresh air on a long, empty country road leading out of town -- I can't adequately describe that either.  Suffice to say it did wonders!

While I was watching the conference, I was knitting -- focusing on 'growing' the Darlena shawl I'd started last fall and set aside for a few months.  I managed to finish all but the last five inches.  What you see below is the top garter stitch section (speckled yarn) and about 1/2 the centre lacy section.  That means that during the conference I managed to knit the rest of the lacy section -- a depth of 8 inches in total -- and to move into the final section, which is also garter stitch.  The piece gets larger with every right side row, as 4 stitches are added on each time, so you can imagine how wide it will be when I finish 5 more inches of garter stitch!

Pattern: Darlena; Designer: Mouton Rouge Designs
Yarns: Estelle Yarns Lumiere in "Jazz N Berry"
and Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering in "Breathless"

A few days before the conference I finished the "Bonjour/Hi" cowl which I absolutely love!  It was easy to knit, fits beautifully and is very cozy!  And yes...it sits right down over my shoulders.

Pattern: Bonjour/Hi; Designer: Espace Tricot
Yarns: Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine in "Prune Mix"
and JaggerSpun 2/18 in "Mahogany

I mentioned in that last post that the cowl is designed for two fine yarns to be held together.  Though the Berocco I chose was a brown/blue sort of mix, and the JaggerSpun was a deep wine colour, I think the resulting fabric is beautiful.  The photo doesn't do it justice:

The day after the marathon (aka the Virtual Conference), I plunged into an online "Quarantine Quilt-Along" produced by Gudrun of GE Designs.  I stumbled over this online somehow, and realized it was just the thing to clear my head and clear some stash at the same time!  

A few years ago I'd made a Magic Tiles quilt using "Red Hatter" fabric, for a friend of mine who's a "Red Hatter".  I had all sorts of the fabric left over, so I dug it out and have managed to make a throw-sized quilt top (50" x 62") plus a pieced back -- and I still have fabric enough for binding and some to spare!  I'm aiming to quilt it myself -- IF I can get my hands on enough batting.  My art pieces are generally small, and I rarely buy more than a craft-sized package of Quilter's Dream.  I've sent an e-mail to one LQS in the hopes she can help me -- with a pay-over-the-phone and a pick-up at the door of her shop, which is "open for business" but only by pick-up or delivery.  We'll see...

The pattern is "Elvira" and was available for free only during last weekend.  It's relatively simple and the blocks are large, so the size I chose took up a fair bit of my fabric:

"Elvira Wears a Red Hat!" -- Top
Pattern: "Elvira" from GE Designs

To make the backing wide enough, I echoed some of the blocks and inserted them.  This is what Karen of Just Get It Done Quilts refers to as an "after-quilt" -- though the ones she makes are far more elegant!

"Elvira..." - Pieced Backing

I've still not finished the fourth of four 'quiltlets' (each 29" or 30" W x 30" L) but I finally have photos of the second...

And the third...

I know they look alike, but in fact, if you look closely you'll see that the only similarities are the backing and borders.  Both key in around blues, but one has more greens and browns.  Both -- before borders -- were created as a colour study in a Craftsy class I took a few years ago. 😊

Remember the socks I'd just started for the Socks From Stash March Challenge?   They're finished now...

Pattern: "Longing for Spring"
Designer: Caoua Coffee
Yarn: a mystery -- no label! 😳

And here's a close-up of the wee flower pattern...

The theme for April is "Well-loved Pattern" -- which means participants need to pick a pattern that has been made more than 500 times.  I've decided on another from Caoua Coffee, in this very old stash yarn.

It's a bit heavier than a fingering, and I'm not sure I have enough of it, but I'm going to take a stab at it anyway, with the pattern entitled "Canon".  I might leave out a pattern set, if this doesn't interfere with how long in the leg they have to be to qualify for the Challenge -- they have to be full-sized socks.

What's up next?  

In quilting: assembling the blocks from Bonnie Hunter's last mystery quilt -- "Frolic!" -- and checking out her new project -- a "sew in place" quilt-along that starts Monday.  If you're inerested, you can find more info HERE.  I've just had a peek there myself and have no idea if I have any fabric that will work, but it's to be a medallion-style project, which means you can alter the size easily -- just add fewer borders!   If in the end I don't have enough of anything to play along, I'll just work on "Frolic!" and my knitting -- and maybe a 12" x 12" piece for the SAQA Benefit Auction.  It's all good.

In knitting: besides the aforementioned April SFS Challenge and the aforementioned Darlena shawl, I have yet another pair of socks on the go.  This was a pair I abandoned a while back and when I last stumbled over it, I was part-way down the leg of the second sock!  As of yesterday, I finished the heel and I'm now making my way down the foot, so they'll be finished in a day or two.  Maybe earlier!

Pattern: Hummingbird
Designer: Sandi Rosner
Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks FX - in Camelot Colors

And the "startitis" I was suffering in January has resurfaced, now that I'm spending even more time at home than usual...so when the good folks at Shetland Wool Week sent along the SWW 2020 hat pattern, I had a look -- and fell in love!  I've collected these hat patterns for several years now but this is the first one I think I'm actually going to make.  I've even auditioned the yarn for the colourway I want.  There are four on offer.  I could buy a kit, but I decided to shop my stash instead, and came up with this for something close to Colourway #3:

Yarn audition for "Katie's Kep"
Designer: Wilma Malcolmson
Shetland Wool Week 2020

More about that project after I've acually cast on, okay?

I'll close this missive with a photo of "Green Pot", which was delivered by my framer on Friday.  It's now nestled in plenty of packing material inside a sturdy box, and will be on its way to its new home on Ontario on Monday...

Green Pot (C) 2020
10" x 10", floater frame
commercial cottons, self-dyed cotton,
synthetic fabric, fabric pen
fused applique, machine quilted
applied to stretched canvas

I'm linking this (late as usual!) to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and sending you all, Gentle Readers, a hope and a prayer that you are well, keeping calm and creative, taking care of yourself as well as those you love, and remembering that we're One World, and we're all in this together.