Friday Fascination

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Piece of Mind

I made three major mistakes (requiring the services of Jack the Seam Ripper) in this block before I finished it. Before pressing, I noticed I'd made yet another mistake.

I was tempted to leave it as is because I'd already had to correct so many mistakes. Who would notice one goose flying in the wrong direction on the skirt of my dress? I stepped away for a few hours, then returned. The fixed booboo made ripping out four seams totally worth it. What a pretty block!

Now I just need to sew the three blocks together in a strip and then sew them into the front skirt panel. Maybe I can wear this dress to church on Sunday!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Barbed

I was shocked to see healthy rhubarb in my raised-bed garden last year, and I knew I'd probably get another crop this year. I had no idea I'd be able to delight Lizard in early April!

I made a full quart jar of strawberry rhubarb (with grocery store strawberries) Lizard enjoys with his plain, unsweetened yogurt each morning.

I was checking out the rhubarb plant again over the weekend; I'd cut the stalks I used, not knowing I was supposed to twist them off. The plant seems to still be going strong, but I also had six giant seed heads! And, there are three mature plants now, not just one. Plus a very young plant. I think there will be plenty of rhubarb to even freeze a bit later on!

One of my friends told me the stalks would mature faster and the plants would produce more leaves if I remove the seed heads. So I did. There were several baby stalks, about 7 inches long, on the seed stalks. I was going to run to the grocery store and buy some more strawberries, but I paused long enough to look up other rhubarb recipes. I found one for sweet and sour rhurbarb, which I adapted for our tastes. I added in one of my own (frozen) serrano peppers from last summer, and we tried the new concoction on wild rice. Oh, my heavens!!! We can't wait to drizzle this on our burritos!!! This stuff is AWESOME!!!

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Snowflake Monday

This is the final pattern from my forgotten collection of 2013 smiling snowflakes. Somehow, I'm not sure four is enough. I might have to craft a couple more. Maybe even three more. I need a whole week of smiling faces, right?!?

I made a mistake (or, as they say in quilting, design element) in the white snowflake. Can you see it?

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5.25 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Happy Flake Instructions

Special Stitches: fdc (foundation double crochet)

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 11 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Pull magic circle tight.

Round 2: Ch 4 (counts as 1 tr), 2 tr in same ch as sl st, ch 2, sk next dc, 2 tr in next dc, ch 2, sk next dc, 3 tr in next dc, 1 fdc in bottom of tr just worked, 1 dc in same fdc ch, [1 fdc, 1 dc in same fdc ch] 10 times, working last dc of final repeat by drawing up loop through 3rd and 4th chains of starting ch 4 for first 2 dc yo (creating a linked tr/dc as well as completing Round 2).

Round 3: 1 sc in each st around, increasing 2 sc in each eye space and 2 more times evenly spaced around, for a total of 42 sc; sl st in starting sc.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 8 (counts as 1 sc and [ch 7), sk next 6 sc, 1 sc in next sc] 5 times; ch 3, 1 trtr in 1st ch of starting ch 8 to form 6th ch 7 sp of Round.

Round 5: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc over post of trtr directly below, [(ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, in next ch 7 sp work (5 dc, ch 3, 5 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 5 dc and last 2 ch of final repeat; 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.

Round 6: Ch 13 (counts as 1 sc and [ch 12), in next ch 3 tip work (1 sc, ch 5, 1 sc)] 6 times; omitting last sc and last 3 ch of final repeat; 1 tr in 1st ch of starting ch 13 to form 6th ch 5 tip of Round.

Round 7: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc over post of tr directly below, [in next ch 12 sp work (6 dc, ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, 6 dc), in next ch 5 tip work (5 dc, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, 5 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 5 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Love One Another

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Sunday's Coming

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