Irish Moss Stitch – Lazy Saturday Quilts

Us two weeks ago: Enjoying 70+ degree days with lots of walks around the neighborhood, traveling north and south to add new miles to our North Country Trail miles in Michigan, opening windows to let the fresh breeze in and the stagnant winter air out, wearing short sleeves and tank tops, going slipper- and sock-less inside, getting out the flip-flops, eating lunch on the deck, listening to the peep frogs peeping in the swamp…

Mother Nature last Monday: I’m sorry. Your 7-day free trial of summer has expired. How about some snow?

Ah, she’s a fickle sort, that Mother Nature. And knowing this, we have to take advantage when good weather comes our way. Indoor projects take a jump back on our to-do lists, and outdoor fun moves to the top of the list. (Notice I didn’t say “outdoor work.” When blessed with a week of wonderful weather in a month that is typically not filled with wonderful weather, we don’t squander those glorious days doing work. There will always be time for work later.)

But with winter, or at least a slightly more spring-ish version of winter, making a reappearance last week, it was time to once again focus on indoor activities. I spent several evenings adding to my current knitted afghan project and, just two nights ago, transitioned to color #3. I’m loving how this Irish Moss pattern is looking.

Also, this past weekend, as we were stuck mostly inside (except for a short walk around our property) due to rainy weather and Hubby being under the weather, I enjoyed nearly two full days at the sewing machine.

*A cool gnarly tree on the channel between the pond and the swamp that we just discovered on our property* *after living here for nearly 22 years.*

My goal for April was to finish one project. I had hopes of finishing another scrap quilt–if not the entire thing, then at least the quilt top. After two days in the sewing room (and crawling around the living room floor), I not only had the top completed, but the backing sewed, large scraps of batting pieced together, and the entire quilt pinned and ready to be quilted!

*I sewed together strips measuring 1″ to 2-1/4″ wide then trimmed blocks to 5.” Finished quilt size was approximately 73″x73.”*

I do not enjoy piecing backings together or sewing together scraps of batting. This is usually the part of the project where I drag my feet for a LONG time and start something new. But I forced myself to get on with it. I spent one evening picking out backing material. As I didn’t have more than a yard or two of each piece and refused to buy anything new, I had to come up with several pieces that worked well together from my stash. I initially settled on some dark red and brownish-toned fabrics. After sleeping on this decision, I went back to my stash and pulled out some yellow, blue, and brighter red fabrics to use instead, as I felt like those worked better with the brighter quilt top. As for the batting, I had large bits left over from other projects and knew I could cobble together a large enough piece for this project. Not having to buy anything new is a total WIN, especially as this was a scrap project.

Now, will someone please explain to me why my scrap pile has not gotten smaller after 5 scrap quilts?

Knitted socks complete, it was time for a new knitting project! I could have chosen to knit up the rest of the sock yarn in my stash first, but I’ve had three skeins of Caron One Pound yarn calling to me from my knitting basket for months. They were just begging to be knitted up into a cozy blanket.

I love making quilts and love having them draped over the back of the couches, arms of chairs, and the quilt rack we found at a garage sale for cheap and hanging on the walls of our home but our kids have always preferred snuggling up under knitted afghans. And, I must admit, so do I.

Having made several afghans in the past, I knew making one would be quite a time commitment. I also knew that any pattern utilizing the moss stitch would be an even bigger time commitment. Knit. Purl. Knit. Purl. Knit. Purl. Repeat over 200+ stitches. UGH!

So I was definitely not choosing any pattern that involved moss stitch.

Except that’s exactly the kind of pattern I chose.

And not just a row or chunk of rows of moss stitch amid chunks of all knit rows or all purl rows as I’d done in the past. Nope. Here’s me, a glutton for punishment apparently, doing the ENTIRE thing in Irish Moss stitch because I liked how it looked.

Heaven help me. I’ll be still working on this thing when I’m 80.

I’ve chosen blue, cream, and rose pink for my colors. (Not the blue you see above. Those are just markers so I know if I flub up the pattern.)

Also, may I present, as our daughter calls them, our pervert-proof curtains, another project I worked on this week:

There’s quite a story there.

You see, for the past 21 years, we’ve lived in the middle of nowhere. Except it’s the middle of nowhere with neighbors. We have one neighbor to the north and a neighbor across the pond. Now I’m fairly certain that the people who live across the pond cannot, unless they have superior eyesight and an amazing set of binoculars, see into our upstairs bathroom, and, up until a few years ago, we never worried about the next door neighbors being in their backyard. Then a, shall we say more mobile (as in younger) person purchased that house. I still wasn’t worried.

It wasn’t until this past week, as I was heading toward the bathtub au natural, that I got worried. As I went to step into the tub, I spotted a flashlight beam bobbing around in the dark next door. It was our neighbor. He was taking his puppy out to go potty.

I immediately ducked down below window level. Then I peered over the edge and watched as he headed toward his basement door. I’m sure my cheeks were flaming with embarrassment. Probably ALL my cheeks, if you get what I’m saying.

Could he see anything? I don’t know. I sure hope not, because that will make things very awkward when I next run into him when we’re out walking our dogs.

Did I, almost immediately, head to the store for some curtains? Yes, I did. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anything the right length. We did, however, find a nice pair of sheers at Walmart for less than $20 that I could shorten.

It’s never dull out here in the middle of nowhere.