fabric therapy

Lately, the sunsets...

...and sunrises...

...have been gorgeous!  It's one of the benefits of getting up at 5 a.m. and getting my day started.  By the time my workout is over, the sun is coming up!  I still like to get in at least one good hike with Todd every week...rain or shine. 

There's a lot of standing water left over from the recent flooding, and these ducks are taking full advantage of it!

I love seeing mating pairs.  It means that soon we'll be seeing...ducklings!!  I am definitely missing our "goz" this year and am looking forward to seeing the local 'littles' a bit later this spring.  Meanwhile, we saw signs of other creatures around.  Lots of beaver activity around the water.  They're loving it! 

I'm thinking about relocation more than hikes and pretty sunrises, though.  Our temporary stay in an apartment has stretched on for many months, since we haven't yet found the right property.  Being in such a small space is tough, and being without my 'extras' is even tougher.  One thing that's extraordinarily hard is not sewing and quilting.  My fabric - and machine - are in storage, and I'm starting to feel a little surly about it.  Buying new fabric helps. 

Recent favorites include May Belle fabric from Penny Rose...

...Guest Room by Moda (the pinks are not nearly as bright as they appear here!)...

...and Garden Variety, also by Moda.

Check out this amazing quilt made with Garden Variety!

Not only have I been purchasing bundles, but I've been picking up random fat quarters at a steady pace.

More than any other color, I have accumulated a lot of mint.  But I've also been drawn to reds and navys, which will make an amazing quilt someday.

Our apartment is so full that I'm resting my feet on sacks of fabric while I work at my computer, so I'm trying not to buy too much more until we move...but I can't resist a thrift store, and I definitely have a fondness for strawberries.  This bone china cake plate was MINE for $3.

I think it's so cheerful for spring and even early summer.  I can't wait to put it in my (future) kitchen!  That day cannot get here soon enough!

The cats don't mind our cozy quarters one bit.  They always seem to find room to stretch out, usually in my lap.

Every day, Tabitha snuggles in for "biscuits and gravy" - kneading and sucking - usually on my arm.  She hasn't changed much.  The photo on the left is from her kitten days...the one on the right is from last week.  ;)   

My sweaters all have little yarn snarls at the inside elbow bend, because she kneads vigorously there for sometimes 10 minutes at a time.  I don't mind, though.  Totally worth it.

Have a great week! 

rough cuff

One of the great things about our new location is that there are always little unexplored hiking areas within a 30-minute drive.  On Valentine's Day, we drove out to Lake Monroe, which is about 11 miles from our temporary apartment.  Blue skies...

...big water.

Borga was not a fan.

It's mid-February, but I'm definitely noticing signs of spring.  Even on dark, 20 degree mornings, birds are starting to sing around 6:30 a.m.  The winter palettes of morning sunrises continue to be amazing.

And I'm seeing some green on the trails.

Still plenty of earth tones and fall leftovers...

...but I'm loving the slow changes.  As the weather warms, we'll be out on the trails several times a week.  I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm still working on my watercolors...

...and knitting.  I've finished one arm and cuff and am working on the final side panel.  The cuff construction is pretty remarkable.  You cast on several stitches with a spare needle and knit the stitches, picking up another stitch from the sleeve end each time you make a round.  Although it looks strange at first...

...the cuff emerges, sideways, and first-row slipped stitches create a tidy "braid" that separates the cuff from the sleeve.

It's unblocked, but I'm really pleased with the finished piece.

There's a little 'V' where the cuff gaps open.  I think it's a really cute detail.

I'll keep working on it and hopefully will finish up in the next few weeks!

Todd asked me to create a "We've Moved!" picture for our website, which hasn't been updated in a while.  I made a few silly ones...

...but to me, this really epitomizes my feeling about those horrible sleepless weeks preceding our trip.

We love living in Bloomington and have slowly started looking for properties again.  Moves are always tough, and we have about 8 storage units crammed full that will be a pain to relocate, but it won't be anything like our move from South Carolina.  I'm so excited about finally setting up a hobby farm and slowly adding animals to it, to establishing a large garden, and to customizing our house to our specific needs.  Hopefully I'll have some news in the next month or so.

Have a great week! 

the humble crumble

It's been a whirl of weather weirdness here over the past week.  We've gone from warmer temps and heavy morning fog...

...to torrential rain and flooding.

These photos were taken by residents all around town earlier this week.  The water level came up, the water level went down, and then...snow.

It's pretty typical for a late Indiana weather, but it's kept us inside for the past week or so.  When 'regular' work is done, I've been working on puzzles...aided by the cats.

They are wonderful 'helpers,' at least in their own minds!  When not trampling on puzzles and dragging pieces all over the living room, they've been fighting to get into my lap.  Having clingy cats is pretty amazing. 

They're pretty spoiled, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Another indoor activity I've been getting into a little bit more lately is knitting.  I'm working on replicating a sweater I knitted for my sister-in-law a few years ago.  Here is hers...

I'm making mine a little differently, mainly by shortening the cardigan a little bit (I prefer a 22" length) and leaving out the pockets.  Knitted fabric is already so stretchy, and it seems like thrusting hands in knitted pockets, in a knitted garment, is just asking for the garment to be stretched out of shape.  I've also moved the arm cables.  In the original, they are off-center, more on the back of the arm.  I've relocated them to come over the top of the shoulder.

I only knit for a few minutes a day, but I'm trying to be more disciplined about it.

I've also started an (online) watercolor class!  I fell in love with watercolor-illustrated nature journals years ago and always wanted to make my own, but I have a complete and total lack of natural talent.  Turns out that watercolor is incredibly forgiving and that using a light board allows you to trace a photograph, relieving the awkward sketcher of the need to do a reasonable replication. 

My light board is in storage, but I'm going to work on the basics when I have a few free minutes.  I'm really enjoying it.

I've also been doing a little bit of baking, a rarity for me in this really cramped space.  Todd brought home a massive bag of frozen blueberries from Costco and I wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  Then I thought:  blueberry crumble!  I found an amazing "crumble for two" recipe and I've made it several times.  Any small dish will do.  I just used the 6" x 4" dish that I've been using for a spoon rest on the stove.  It's not too sweet, and I've substituted whole wheat flour for all-purpose and raw honey for part of the sugar without sacrificing taste.

Hopefully the weather will moderate soon and we can get back on the trails again, but these indoor activities are a pretty pleasant way to fill a little free time.

Have a great week!