Friday Finishing : Some Stuff

You might think in light of the last post I have backed down on the crafting. Apparently, I am amped enough to stay on track with some of the knitting and a few other endeavors. I have enjoyed some parts of the accomplishing but I might be a little too lacking of sleep to properly present them.

I had a bit of fun and a bit of frustration with this jam. It is made from the plums from our backyard, they were chopped up and frozen as it was too hot mid summer to even entertain the idea of jam making.

I pulled the fruit out a few days ago and then had to make the stuff as I would have hated to waste so much wonderful fruit. It was a relatively easy process (my first solo canning) but I am a tad worried about the results.

I know I need to wait to see if the jars totally set, right now they are so pretty but a bit loose looking. This is jam my Mama made for years when we were growing up and the smell and the taste brought back such good memories. One of my brothers was home while I was making the jam and he could not stop licking a spoon as we taste tested.

So, crossing fingers and hoping that the 6 huge Mason jars and a few small gifty ones gel up and are ready to be eaten sooner than later.

I made a hat too. I think I am calling it the Failed Fair Isle (Rav).

I tried the pattern from Brooklyntweed, but after the first motif I just could not feel the pattern. I also knew I would not have enough on the Main color to finish. So, it became a striped hat with a nice little pattern in the middle. It is really soft and warm due to a nice lined hem of baby alpaca. And it is modeled by my brother, home from college.

He looks so grown up and he has only been gone since September. They grow so fast. It is a Christmas gift so another check on the list.

And I have no pictures (yet) of my last sewing attempt. I tried to sew up a little Thanksgiving quilty thing and it is okay but unphotographed (and possibly should stay that way). I had a really rough time with machine embroidery on some felt letters. I think I like it, but I will pass judgment later when I am a little sharper. Instead I will leave you with a picture of something I found myself knitting...by accident.

This is the Shalom (Rav) cardigan. Not seeing much here yet, but I think it is going to work. I substitutued a stash yarn.

I figured out the numbers and so far it seems like it is going to fit. I should not be knitting this but I cannot seem to stop. I think it is really fast so maybe I can stick with it and get it done and then start a few other Christmas gifts.


Black is really hard to photograph. With a broken (well, jammed, no pun intended) lens. Have to send the lens in again, just in time for the holiday. Arg.

I am a looking forward to next week and the holidays. We are heading up to the Sierras and there may be some snow. So holiday appropriate and a welcome change from the balmy and unusually dry/windy days. Hope you weekend ushers in a great start to your holiday.