Day: February 26, 2013

Turkey Tracks: New Purse

Turkey Tracks:  February 26, 2013

New Purse

 I really needed a new purse all fall.

Here’s what the handles on the old one looked like by mid-December.

Purse handles

Can you believe that?

So, sometime around Christmas I rummaged through my fabric stash and assembled the ingredients for a new purse.

I got as far as getting all the parts ready to be sewn together.

And, then, John got really sick.

After he died, after everyone left, putting together the purse was a very soothing thing to do.

Here it is finished.  See the chicken fabric?

chicken purse 2

Here is the inside, with its egg fabric:

Chicken Purse inside

Here’s a view of the pocket:

Chicken purse

If you follow this blog at all, you know that there are MANY versions of this purse pictured.  When one wears out, I make a new one.  And I’ve helped a lot of people make one.  The pattern is Bow Tucks Tote by Penny Sturges, No. PS008.  And I love everything about how this purse is organized and how it wears.

This new one, though, is about the tackiest thing I’ve ever seen.

And, I love it.

Turkey Tracks: Nancy’s Red Socks

Turkey Tracks:  February 26, 2013

Nancy’s Red Socks

My niece Nancy Howser Gardner offered a barter some months back:  a pair of hand-knitted red socks for a hand-knitted scarf.  She would make the scarf, and I would make the socks.

It actually took me some time to find a nice red yarn.  The one I found had some cotton in it, which I thought would be good for the climate in Atlanta, Georgia.

Here are Nancy’s socks a few weeks back.  I use five double-pointed needles to make socks, that way, the sock is divided over four needles, which are easier to handle than three needles.  I also move stitches around the needles as I go since I have never been able to NOT ladder the work if I keep the same stitches on the same needles.

New Project

Nice red, huh?

Here are the finished socks.  You can see the little blue slub in the red yarn, like a tweed.  The yarn band is next to the socks.

Nancy's red socks

Nan posted this picture  on Facebook after the arrived at her home:

Nancy's socks

I like them with her dark jeans…

The pattern is from Charlene Schurch’s SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS, page 33.  This four-stitch pattern is called “garter rib.”

Turkey Tracks: Reflections

Turkey Tracks:  February 26, 2013

Reflections

We are getting another big snow over the next few days.

I don’t mind.  I like the quiet and the time to work on projects.

But, I think it’s fun to think about the warm half of the year in the middle of winter.  And, visa versa in July or August.

Here’s a picture John took last summer.  I found it in the picture card of his camera the other day:

102_0152

And here’s one I took of the first, ripe Sun Gold tomato of the summer crop last summer:

First Sun Gold August 2012

There’s lots to enjoy  in February in Maine.  Gorgeous light effects at sunrise and sunset and at dusk, with what we call the “blue light.”  And, flowers from “away” that remind us that spring will come around again.  Like these gorgeous roses, with the “blue light” of dusk in the background.

Roses, Feb. 2013

I will have February for only two more days.