I have a yarn problem. This is the back wall of my walk-in closet. There are 30 1-square-foot cubbies on the back wall. There are another 26 cubbies below the clothes along the sides of the closet. Most of those 56 cubbies are packed full of yarn. And there is a shelf above the clothes with more yarn.
When I leave the house, I always have a yarn project with me in case I end up with a few free minutes. At school pick-up the other week I found myself with 10 minutes and a ball of yarn and no crochet hook or knitting needles. Oops. It started me thinking, and I decided to see whether I could make my own knitting needles. They are just pointed bits of wood. It couldn’t be too tough.
I is for Inchworm
J is for Jay
M is for Moose. This moose is from a photograph of a moose I took on my honeymoon in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was the first moose my husband ever saw. We saw another half dozen later that evening, but this one was enormous.
N is for Newt. The fabric really made this one. It is a Red Eft (juvenile Eastern Newt) and they are bright orange with spots
and S is for Skunk
I have started skipping around a little bit to be more efficient. If I have black thread in the machine, I might as well so a bunch of black areas on a bunch of pages.
G is for Garter Snake
H is for (Great Blue) Heron!
I was planning to get a few more done today, but then I realized it would be much more efficient to stitch around all of the words and letters first, so I get the layering correct and have to change thread fewer times.
The younger kids failed to nap at the same time on Friday, so I didn’t get any sewing done. I finished my ironing on Monday. Now to start sewing, if I can get the naps right today!
Okay, so they aren’t done, but they are halfway there! And I remembered that I had G and H halfway done already, too. So only six more pages to iron before I start sewing! S, T, U, V, W, and X hopefully coming tomorrow.
It’s the new year, and that means I get to plan my new garden!
I like the heirloom mini varieties of tomatoes and peppers. I just ordered seeds from Baker Creek and Totally Tomatoes. I kind of went overboard and have to find room for 12 varieties of mini peppers (two of which are hot at my husband’s request) and 13-15 varieties of cherry/grape/currant tomatoes. It’s about comparable to the number of plants we grew last year, but I have more varieties this year. Fortunately, I’m also planning to double the size of the garden, although the new area won’t quite get full sun.
The last week was a nice little post-holiday crafting break. I finished up a couple baby blankets and knitted a few preemie hats. But I didn’t do any big projects. Now it’s a new year, and Miss C turns one this month! I really have to finish my Alphabet Book.
Five Monkeys Menagerie 