Good Morrow, Good Friends!

Hope you are staying warm. I feel like the StayPuft Marshmallow Man in my bulky jacket. Just reaching around for and fastening my seat belt qualifies for exercise in my book.

And speaking of books—-WOW, a transition!——we visited the Dawn Treader Used Book Store in downtown Ann Arbor. You can’t go wrong with naming a book store after a book! And we found some goodies while there. Jes found two volumes of Julia Child’s cookbook—–we think it’s the first one that was featured in the movie, Julia and Me.  I scored some really good crafting books on needle felting, hand appliqueing  and French Knot pictures.

But the book that made me laugh right out loud in the hush hush of the book stacks was At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much, by Stephanie Pearl McPhee, otherwise known as the Yarn Harlot.  I decided that I would disregard the subtitle because no woman can knit too much.  and then, I opened up the book and started to read.

It is set up like any other meditation book with an inspirational quote at the top of the page, Next is the paragraph or two of meditation followed by a final summary sentence to remember. And usually the purpose is to provide the reader with a quiet moment or two of  intentional thought about a subject.

And here I am giggling.

So I  thought I would share her thoughts here from time to time.

This is one of those times. From page 45:

Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.~~~~Anna Freud

There is no wrong way to knit.  The debate between throwing the yarn or picking it, using circulars or straights, choosing Fair Isle or intarsia . . . it’s all a moot point.  If you get something knitted at the end of it, you are doing it right. We should all agree to stop correcting each other and deal with the more important issue.

How wrong crochet is.

I will resist the temptation to correct another knitter.

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Yesterday’s first quilt class was fabulous, but I was so tired from the class and from driving home during rush hour through  deer country, that I chose not to write last night.

But it sure wasn’t because I didn’t have anything to tell you! Check out this picture:

Ta Da!!!  We concentrated on how to sew an accurate 1/4 inch seam which is the sample on the left. Some of us had to adjust our machines and one of us had to change feet.(me) It is essential that the 1/4 inch be exact because the seams that are sewn in the blocks can change the size of said blocks. We were even counting in the width of the thread we sewed with! Yep!

And the little square on the right I have dubbed the Magic Square. That little one will have other brothers and sisters by the end of today’s sewing.  Easy enough to make out of scraps.

And this is what it’s for: for every seam, you start the machine sewing on the square and continue on the parts you’re piecing. You’re putting the wonky get started stitches on the Magic Square instead of on your quilt seams.  Makes for better seams.  How cool is that?!

We learned how to square up a fat quarter using two square templates. And there’s now a company that puts a few rough spots on the backside of the plastic template so it doesn’t slide on the fabric as you’re cutting it!

And get this: you don’t use the gridlines on the cutting mat to measure anything for squaring. “You only use the mat to cut on.”

Oh boy, I learned a lot about basics! And I wasn’t slow in class!!!!!!!  WooHoo!!!!!!!!

Now I’m going to go practice what I learned. I do have homework for next Monday.

Absolutely No Transition#########  None###########

I am grateful for the solid poop that Katya had this morning. We had to change her diet a bit while we were gone and then again when we returned. Her poor tummy! But when I saw that little squiggle in the litter box, I whooped with joy.

Sometimes it’s the little things.

And sometimes it’s the little poops.

May you whoop with joy today and have a terrific Tuesday!

Hugs,

Janet