Jamming, Sewing, Knitting

Hi Everyone,

I had a lot of comments on yesterday's post. And why not? The most wonderful topics, Fall, making Christmas gifts, sewing, knitting, making jam...ah maybe this is the most wonderful time of the year!

My peaches were on sale at Aldi for $.25 each. I bought a case. I worked up half of them this morning. I decided to make regular peach jam this time. I just followed the instructions on the Sure-Gel package. I thought of making the second batch without pectin according to the Ball Blue Book recipe. After reading it, I found it took quite a bit longer to cook. I was ready to get off my feet; so, I took the quick and easy route of powdered pectin again. I've still got half a case of peaches. I'm thinking about whether I'd like to make more Harvest Peach Jam or whether I'd like to try making peach butter. It will be a question for tomorrow morning.  Harvest Peach is just as easy as regular jam.

The dresses were pretty easy to make. The hardest part was finding time to work on them when Amy wasn't around! I finally went in my bedroom and threatened the kids not to come in. ~smile~ They know that if they find out about a gift ahead of time, they won't get it. It keeps them from sneaking and peeking. I truly believe it does. That and the fact that I never ever want to know about my gifts ahead of time. I love surprises and so do they. The Vision Forum pattern was a bit pricey; however, I've already made three gifts and will make more dresses from the same pattern. Do you know how to save your patterns to make them last?  I traced the pattern pieces on a piece of regular dress interfacing. I then transferred the markings to the interfacing and cut the pieces out. This way I didn't have to cut my pattern at all. You can do it with any pattern if you have a big enough piece of interfacing or other tracing paper.

 

I started the Fuzzy Feet Saturday. They are basically giant socks that are felted (shrunk) down to the wearer's size. I knit them on circular needles from Knit Picks. I like them because I can work two socks on two different cables and use just one set of needles. The needles are interchangeable; so, they can be moved from one cable to another. Here's how I do it.

This pair is being worked from the top cuff down; so, I knit the cuff on the first sock. Then, I removed the needles and put caps on the ends of the first sock's cable. I then used the same needles with another cable to knit the cuff on the second sock. Continuing on the second sock, I knit the heel flap. Back to the first sock, I knit the heel flap and turned the heel. Returning to the second sock, I turned the heel and picked up the stitches along the side. Back and forth between socks. Get the idea? Two socks on two different cables. Working each part of the sock on both socks before going on to the next sock. Why? I find I can keep it straight in my mind better if I work all of one type of knitting at a time. I also finish both socks at about the same time.

I also am taking advantage of spare moments to take a stitch here or there. For instance, I've been knitting while I'm blogging. I knit while I wait for pages to load. Busy as a bee!

Well, you're probably tired of reading. Enough for now. Greetings to my friends who commented. It's been awhile since I've heard from some of you. Thank you for caring enough to write to me. It means so much to me.

May God bless you as you gather your harvest whether from garden, field, farmer's market, friends, or the grocery store.

Laura

So thankful to be in the service of my King and my family

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May I suggest?

Kitten Mitten Update

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