Cheaper Than Therapy

So, back in April, I shared pictures of the mud pit that was our backyard.   Well, this week, we put in the last of the plants, and I'm pleased to say that other than watering and weeding, the garden is done.  At least for now.  Just a reminder of how the yard looked back before we started.

Here is what it looked like after the demolition was finished.

And here's how things turned out.

These pictures were all pretty much taken from similar angles.  That first picture just cuts out the fence on the left.

As you can see, Bob is quite happy to be surrounded by vine maples and beauty berries.  Our summer has finally arrived.  Here in Portland, the weather doesn't really perk up until after July 4th, but we've been in the mid- to high-eighties for the last day or two.  I'm a terrible baby about the heat, so I've now been trying to figure out how to add air conditioning to the back yard so that I can spend more time outside.  Either that or I'll eventually acclimate.  I hope everyone's summer is going well.  Next?  More curtains, and I have a couple of dresses in the planning queue.

Red, White and Blueberry

Having a holiday in the middle of the week is always a little odd. I spent nearly all day yesterday thinking it was Sunday. And now, tomorrow is Friday. My whole work week is shot because of this. Does anyone else have this problem? And Mr. flyskim forgot to turn the alarm off, so I was up at dawn. It was for the best, though because I had enough time to bake scones. What could be more American than a British biscuit, right? 





 



These are a variation of a traditional current scone, but they have dried blueberries and lemon zest instead of currants and orange.  The also have butter in them.  Add in the heavy cream, and these aren't exactly health food, but they are delicious. 

Particularly with strawberry jam.  Good thing that we have lots. 

Piles and piles of piles and piles.

After breakfast, there was actually some curtain making.  These are the piles of cut panels and lining.  The fabric is just too thin on its own for curtains, especially since one of the purposes of these curtains is to block out the afternoon sun.  So, as of Wednesday morning, I had all the panels cut and the edges finished on the serger.  I only got one curtain completed because Mr. flyskim wanted to go see the Spiderman reboot, and that turned out to be for the best because my plan going in was only half-way thought out.  And even though I only got a single panel completed, I'm pleased, because there's been very little completion around here lately.  I'm hoping to make this a habit.  Mr. flyskim is checking out one of his dodgeball buddy's new cabin this weekend, so I'll have plenty of time to curtain.  I'll have a fuller report in a couple of days.



The Rule Is . . .

. . . Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today.

At least that's the way it works if you're listening to the White Queen.  It's jam only every other day, and since today isn't any other day, there's never jam today.  And that's what it feels like around here.

 
When I first started this venture at the farmer's market on Saturday morning, I hadn't realized that this was going to be a multi-day process.  Totally my fault for not actually reading the recipe and adding up the time for all the required steps.  I will definitely do that next time.  Which will be soon because, yikes, do I have a lot of berries in the fridge.

My little makeshift preserving center.

On Saturday, I washed and cut berries, but I didn't finish until the afternoon.  Since I didn't want to soak the berries in sugar for longer than the stated time, I didn't do that until Sunday.  And then after they were heated on Sunday, they needed to sit for 24 hours before processing.  That brings us to today.  Day 3.

Look at it go!

And now that the jars are processed, they can't be disturbed for another 12 to 24 hours.  So, no jam today.  But there will be jam tomorrow.

For My Next Trick

I will magically make this blog come back to life!  Okay, no so much life as more frequently updated.  And not so much magic as actual working on stuff.  Things are well here at chez flyskim (not that they were all that dire in the first place, what with most of our difficulties being solidly first-world problems).  The Toyota was recovered by the Portland police two weeks after it was stolen, a little dirty and without Mr. flyskim's backpack with his two pairs of spare glasses and his sunglasses, but none the worse for its adventure.  It even had half a tank of gas left.

This was the view from the back patio from of our room.  Seriously? If not for the humidity (91%, yikes!) I might never have come home.  Oh, yes, and the cats.  Too many sand fleas for them.

Mr. flyskim and I recently returned from a vacation in St. Thomas, and we're currently interviewing architects to expand our upstairs which means that I will get a dedicated sewing space back by the end of the year!  We are just filling in some last plants in our back yard, so other than a planned pergola that may go in next year, we're pretty much done except for the watering and the grilling.  Which means that I can get back to the sewing machine! 

Or at least the ironing board.

I spent some time last weekend cutting out the panels for our kitchen curtains, which is the last kitchen project save painting the woodwork.  (I would have taken care of this a couple of weeks ago before Mr. flyskim's parents visited, but did you know that paint can mold?  I didn't, but it can, and it put a damper in my painting plans).

Oooh, wrinkly.

Anyway, curtains.  We have two large expanses of windows in our kitchen, one over the sink and one in the nook.  I like seeing all the wood trim, so I'm just making simple lined panels that will be hung using tension rods on the inside of the window frame.  This will also help with making my fabric go as far as possible because I underestimated how much I need for all the windows.  I'm using fabric from Dwell Studio called Botany Flora in taupe.  I'm hoping that this silhouetted nature pattern will give our kitchen a touch of whimsy.  Here's a slightly less distorted view.

I know that the colorway says taupe, but it looks like a warm silver to me.

Because the kitchen gets a lot of afternoon sun, I'm using a blackout liner (also, our old windows provide little insulating against the cold in winter) which means double the fabric and double the cutting.  I'd show more pictures, but the big pile of panels that are currently draped over the back of the dining room chair isn't really all that interesting to look at.  My next step is to break out the serger and finish all of the edges, and then I can put them together.  I'm hoping to get a couple of the panels done before the end of the week.  I'll post more about it then.

Um, I bought way too many.  We're going to be so sick of strawberries, that we won't even want to eat the jam.

Also on board for this weekend?  Lots of strawberries!  I'm going to try my hand at making some jam.  If that goes well, I'm going to try ketchup.  How big a nerd am I?  I've wanted to try making ketchup ever since I first saw Meet Me In St. Louis.


"Too sour?"

I was young enough when I first saw it that until I saw it as an adult, I didn't have a clear recollection of the film, but I clearly remembered the scene where various members of the family argue over the bubbling ketchup pot about whether it was too sweet or too sour.  This was the moment that I first realized that you couldn't always just run down to the market for a bottle of whatever.  If you wanted something exotic (like ketchup), you made it.  I've wanted to make ketchup ever since.  Also, Mr. flyskim and I felt that it wouldn't be a bad idea to develop some skills that would be useful in the impending apocalypse  (I've been reading The Stand again). 

Anyway, jam.  I've got the berries masticating (don't you love that word?) in sugar with some lavender from our garden.  I don't get to process it until I get home from work tomorrow night.  I'll keep you posted on how this goes.  The jam, not the zombies.  Curtains, too.

Dude, Where's My Car?

This is not the post that I planned for today.  I   was going to update about the landscaping, but instead, I have bad news.  My beloved senior-citizen-of-the-road Camry was stolen today at approximately 11:30 a.m. from the Mall 205 Home Depot parking lot.  That's right.  The 25-year-old car that I cram Christmas trees into was the object of someone's desire.  No, seriously. 

I'm so glad that I photographed the last great Christmas tree experiment.

I have had one car stolen previously, and we found that eight hours later, a block and a half from the house.  I hold out no hope that the same thing will happen.  I fear that this will end far more like when my sister-in-law V's Jetta was taken and was later found stripped of all parts, abandoned in a dry riverbed.  (Side note:  The insurance company all but accused her of stealing her own car when she filed the claim.  Then, when she set them straight on that one, they turned their focus on Mr. flyskim because she mentioned that he had driven it once or twice.  True story.)

I loved that car.  My dad gave it to me after my little Sentra died in 2004, and now it's gone.  The police say that people target these older cars because they're easier to steal than newer ones. That may be, but I'm still baffled as to what kind of value there is in a 25-year-old car.  The only thing new on it were the tires, which Mr. flyskim had just had replaced this morning.

Well, to the scum who made off with my little car, I hope you die.  Slowly.  And painfully.  I wish I could be all zen about it, but now that we have the police report done and the insurance claim filed, the numbness has worn off, and I feel helpless and angry. 

So, goodbye little car.  You were a good car.  We'll miss you very much.

This Is How It Starts

Well, that disappearance was longer than expected.  I have had a serious lack of motivation after my last post.  I have worked on Lady Gray, but I've encountered a few problems which I will detail later this week, and it's thrown me for a real loop.  Combine that with no longer having a dedicated sewing space and the desktop computer dying, and I haven't been very productive.  But now it's spring, and with the new season, comes new projects. 

You see the green worm?  That's one of the little suckers who eats all my strawberries.

First, Mr. flyskim and I are trying to wrap up some home projects.  What does that mean for me?  Curtains.  I hardly ever do any utility sewing, but I've got some great fabric and a three-day weekend coming up.  And then it's onto a swimsuit coverup for later this year.  


Speaking of strawberries, they're already coming in.

So what's with the caution tape, then?  One of the bigger home projects that Mr. flyskim and I have been planning is landscaping our backyard.  This project actually started last summer, but what with everything going on last fall, we just didn't have the time or the energy to move any further than the planning stages.  Well, that all ended yesterday when we finally broke ground.  When I say "we," I speak very figuratively because other than taking pictures, I haven't actually gotten my hands dirty.  That would be our excellent crew from Dennis' 7 Dees.

This is what our yard looked like on Sunday afternoon before all the work started.  See?  All  nice and weedy.

And here's what we have as of Monday.  A big, muddy pit.  It's hard to visualize now, but it's going to be really pretty back here in a few weeks.  

Here's another angle.  The trenches are for the sprinklers that are going in.  That raised bed along the fence is going to be packed up and saved for later.  We'll be putting in permanent beds as a part of the work.

And we're finally going to have a walkway from our back door to the patio behind the garage.  So that's what's been going on here recently.  Oh, and I got a fantastic deal on a toilet today, but that's another story for another day.

Bob the dragon is very lonely without the weeds.

The Grey and the Blue

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm picking up Lady Grey again, and not a moment too soon because the wind around here is frigid (at least from my perspective; I mean, I know that I don't live on the frozen tundra...or, you know, someplace actually cold), and I would like a new coat to greet what I'm hoping will be snow in February.  I'm currently coming down off a stress-induced shopping high from before Christmas, so I'm not buying anything for a month or two (we'll see how long that lasts), so the only way I'm getting that new coat is to work on something I already have.  Lady Grey is by far the furthest along, so it's the winner by default. 

When we last left Lady Grey, I had just finished pad-stitching the front lapels and was working on fusing interfacing to the back pieces when I messed up.  I forgot to trim the hem from the interfacing on one of the pieces and fused it anyway.  Luckily, I had plenty of extra fabric, but I had no interfacing left.  And that's where we stand today.  Except that I got some interfacing (one of the allowable exceptions to the shopping ban), so I'm ready to go again. 

So, the big question now is, where do I pick up again?  With tailoring the coat back.  Because I'm a little lost at this point (as well as the fact that I've never made a coat before) I'm going to rely on Gertie's tutorial and hope for the best.  Mr. flyskim is playing dodgeball tomorrow, so I've got the whole uninterrupted evening to cut my new back piece and finish interfacing everything.  Maybe I can even get the back stay cut out.  I'll be back with pictures because this is likely to be a learning experience on my end, and pictures will help me remember what not to do next time. 

How's everybody's January shaping up? 

So, This Was Christmas

Wow, is it just me, or did this holiday season just fly by?  We've taken down all of our Christmas finery, but I thought I'd share some of it here before going back to business as usual.

Remember that 9-foot tree?  Well, here's what it looked like all dressed up.

I never quite seemed to get the whole tree in any photo I took.  That's a capiz-shell star at the top.

And here's how many ornaments it takes to fill a tree that large (large-to-us, anyway).

I didn't even bother counting.  This doesn't include the garland or the 1,500+ lights.

I've been collecting ornaments for well over 20 years, and I'm going to have to stop because I've got way more than can fit on any tree that we can squeeze into our house.

I thought my Christmas Eve dinner table turned out really nicely.

Here's the little boy hanging out with the Christmas toys.  He would burrow himself into them for naps, and you could barely tell the difference between him and the stuffed animals.

Anyway, thanks for indulging me in this little detour.  Now, I also made something.  I know, finally.

Please forgive the wonky posing.  This is the picture where the color of the yarn turned out most accurately.

This is the Ruffled Scarf (I don't actually think that's the name) from Sadie & Oliver, and about 1/3 of the way into it, I realized that it was the perfect Christmas gift for my sister-in-law V.  The pattern is simple.  Stockinette stitch with increases and decreases along one side for the shaping.  Here's what the shape of the scarf looks like without the ruffle.

This is the unruffled version that I made for niece A1.

The ruffle is picked up and knitted along the shaped edge and is a plain garter stitch.  This really helps control the edge rolling that stockinette is prone to.  Another thing that helps?  A really soft yarn.  I used Malabrigo Silky Merino, and it's beautifully soft. 

I wouldn't have any problems wearing this next to my skin, but if you're really sensitive to itch, then there could be a problem with the wool content.  I did not block this scarf because reviews of this yarn have said that it grows a lot during blocking due to the silk.  This yarn was lovely to work with and produces a fabric with a soft drape.  It's kind of rough spun and varies slightly in its thickness throughout the hank; however, I also have this yarn in one of the variegated colorways, and there was a big problem with the spinning.  The thickness of the yarn was wildly uneven, and I couldn't knit more than a row or two before I'd either be working with totally unspun fiber or fiber that was spun so tightly, it was barely lace weight.  So really check the hanks out for quality issues before you buy. 

I also need to work on my white balance.  Everything's a little too yellow.

I really enjoyed working on this scarf, so much so, that I'm making one for myself in a light gray.  The increases and decreases on the stockinette make the pattern more interesting than just knitting a rectangle, but it's still so simple that you can plop down with your needles in front of the television.  The ruffle is a pretty detail that isn't too fussy.  This is still in its gift bag waiting for the intended recipient to get back into town, but my brother-in-law assures me that she'll love it.

Anyway, I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday season and New Year and that 2012 brings you all good things.

Oh, and for my next trick?  I'm picking up Lady Grey again after a substantially long break.  Gosh, I hope I remember how to tailor.

Dear 2011:

Well, that happened.

I'm sure that you thought you were a pretty good year, and for some people, you may very well have been.  But as far as I'm concerned, we're just going to have to agree to disagree on that particular issue.  We'll leave it at that because I'm also pretty sure that you took last year's letter to 2010 as a personal challenge even though I was as nice as pie (I don't actually think pie is easy at all, but it sure is nice, especially served warm with vanilla ice cream).

And 2012?  Your reputation has been preceding you for quite some time, so you don't need any additional pressure from me.  You just go and be whatever kind of year you're going to be.  I'll be in my basement if you need me, stockpiling emergency provisions.  And weapons.  Lots of weapons.

Everybody's Waiting For the Man With the Bag

So here at Chez flyskim, we've been feasting on roast beast (ham, this year) and toasting the season as we do every Christmas Eve.  But we wanted to take some time out to wish you a very merry holiday, and may your new year surpass every good expectation that you have for it.  Merry Christmas!

"He knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one!"

Is the Worst Gift Fruitcake?

Or is it possibly a hand-knit scarf in a novelty yarn?  Let's hope not, because my niece has been breathlessly waiting for me to cough up with one since she saw me knitting a baby blanket last Thanksgiving and asked if she could have something, too.  My sister-in-law told me that she spent the first couple of months of this year waiting for the mail.  In my defense, I never gave her a timeline, but I don't think that gets me very far.  After all, she's only seven.  So, earlier this month, I buckled down, and this is what I came up with.

The yarn is Bernat Baby Jacquard Florals in the Rosebud colorway.  I picked it specifically to match A's new Build-A-Bear that she was proudly showing off at Thanksgiving.  I think it's really cool how the yarn creates not only a striped effect but also the tapestry-like sections.  Here's a detail:

The pattern is the body portion of Sadie & Oliver's A Little Ruffle scarf.   The pattern is simple, and clearly written.  Just what I needed when working on a deadline.  The main body of the scarf is stockinette stitch with increases on one side to get the shaped effect.  The ruffle, had I added it, is picked up and knit from one end, down the shaped side and across the other end.  I left off the ruffle because not only is the yarn particularly girlie and I feared that the ruffle would throw it over the top but it's not really A's style.  I also made the scarf smaller and shorter than called for in the pattern so that it's better sized for a little girl.  I also made a little garter-stitch scarf for Berry.

Teddy bear scarf as modeled by Manda, who is still very well-loved.

I mentioned A is seven, so I wanted to make sure that the yarn I used was machine washable and dry-able.  The only problem is that it's acrylic, and I have no idea how to block acrylic, so I most definitely did it wrong.  As you can see from the picture above, the scarf is still doing that annoying curl thing that stockinette stitch does.  These are one their way to California as we speak to be opened, and hopefully enjoyed, on Christmas morning.  Personally, I think the teddy bear scarf is the best part. 

I'm also making the full-sized version of the scarf as a gift for my sister-in-law, so I'll have a fuller report on the pattern as written in a day or two.