Wyoming Breezes

Lately, it's been hard to get excited about doing anything. I spend my days reading. I can't find the motivation to knit or to sew.  Hopefully, I'll get something done this week to share with you.

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Baby Surprise Jacket September 2020 In the evenings, while watching NCIS on Netflix, I've been working on the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This will be a good sweater for a toddler when it's finished.  I am using Encore and Encore Dynamo yarns - both a blend of washable wool and acrylic.  The sweater is knit in one piece and folded into the sweater shape when finished. The shoulders are the only seams.  The pattern is available online (digital or print) at Schoolhouse Press

Women's size 10 September 2020 Sock blank dyed on Tuesday Knitting began on Wednesday Toes grafted on Friday unblocked sock Even though the yarn was knit directly from the sock blank and was kinky, the texture of the finished sock does not reflect it.  socks and remaining yarn Knit Picks Stroll bare yarn sock blank -- 100 grams of super wash wool/nylon Finished socks -- 59 grams Remaining yarn  -- 41 grams I ordered additional sock blanks and look forward to making more socks that are uniquely mine.

beginning the project September 2020 Last Tuesday, was snowy, windy, and generally nasty. It was time to work on a project that has been in the back of my mind for months. Truth be told, I purchased the sock blank and some other bare yarn in 2019 to dye with some of new friends. However, Tuesday's activity was a solo adventure.  triangles filled with color I used Wilton gel icing colors for the dye and dabbed the color into the areas with small foam brushes.  cooling after steaming in the microwave The yarn "burrito" was zapped in the microwave for a total of four minutes: I turned it over once. drying in the sunshine The water rinse was completely clear - no bleeding, but I gave it a squirt of dish soap and another rinse to make sure that all was well. I put the dyed sock blank in a mesh bag, ran it through a quick spin cycle, and hung it to dry. the beginning I couldn't resist casting on the socks and was pleased with the results. The sock blank was double knit, so ...

close-up of a vintage phone The Virginian Hotel Medicine Bow, WY My maternal grandfather had a hand crank wall phone similar to the one in these photos, but the first phone I remember in the farm house was a black, desk model, rotary dial phone.  .  What do you remember about the telephones in your lifetime?

HSTs ready to become pinwheels September 2020 I found some neutral fabrics in my stash that would work with the kit fabrics. I also managed to squeeze six more squares out of each of the kit fabric scraps which allows me to make twelve more blocks. Last week I searched my stash for Civil War reproduction fabrics that will work for making six additional blocks. eighteen Pinwheel Puzzle blocks September 2020 The HSTs in the basket shown above will add six blocks to the 18 blocks already finished. Hopefully, I can find enough fabrics in my stash to bring the block count up to thirty which should make a nice lap-sized quilt.  If the pattern hadn't had so many errors, and if I hadn't cut all the pieces before I discovered the errors, the quilt would have been larger. 

taking advantage of a warm summer afternoon September 2020 Last week, I made an effort to sit outside and knit for at least an hour each afternoon. I soaked up every bit of sunshine I could because I knew a winter storm system was headed this way and would bring a drastic end of summer.  For a change of pace, I cast on a Baby Surprise Jacket, using two skeins of Plymouth Encore. The variegated skein is Encore Dynamo (color 042 - Persian Empire) and the solid brown is Encore (color 1204 - Brownstone). Both skeins were purchased at a thrift store several years ago. 

The weather man (Don Day) has predicted a winter weather system will hit this area tonight and all day tomorrow. In a recent interview , Day recalled that Laramie got hit by a fluke snowstorm this year on June 8. That storm dumped 10 inches on the community . “Laramie will only go 90 days between snowstorms this year,” he said. “Talk about a short growing season. This is truly 2020.” Check out the temperature differences between today and tomorrow. It will be a good day to make a pot of soup and curl up with my knitting or a good book.  Laramie could receive 4 - 8 inches of snow. I just hope the trees can survive another onslaught of heavy, wet snow.  One good thing about this storm system - it should end the fire season for several Rocky Mountain states. 

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ten, knit dishcloths August 2020 I know that it seems crazy to knit a pile of dishcloths from a simple pattern, but the repetition helps keep my mind focused when I have no desire to do anything.   Who knows what I will do with the dishcloths, but I'm sure they will be useful to someone in the future. 

pinwheels ready for block assembly August 2020 A week ago, I sewed HSTs into pinwheels during the weekly FaceTime chat, and on Sunday, I worked used the pinwheels to sew quilt blocks. An earlier post revealed the errors in the pattern, but I decided to make the blocks with the fabric that I had cut even though quite a bit of fabric would be wasted.  During Sunday's call, I completed all seven blocks and prepped another set for future sewing sessions.