So we have snow.............

We did get quite a lot of snow on Saturday and it's cold. However, I don't think we can even complain one little bit about it. We maybe got 15 cm of snow - Newfoundland got 75 cm. The temperature this morning is -14 C while Calgary and other parts of Western Canada were at -40 C last week with NO wind chill.

This is Canada. I love it! I was up at a ridiculous hour this morning to scrape the snow and ice off my car so I could get to the gym to do my miles. Totally insane. When you're on a mission, nothing is out of the question!

We had a great day at UFO yesterday. I had sent a message that if people didn't feel like venturing out with the roads, that was OK and they could send me a picture. I think I might still be missing one or two pictures so hopefully will get those all in later today and then I'll be posting. But the five of us that did show up had a great conversation. It's so exciting to see these UFOs resurrected and getting completed. I can't wait to see everything we all work on this year. I am almost done the Stitcher's Garden quilt - well - more on that another day.

I'm having fun with a new software package which I'll share with you next week. Nothing like trial by fire! I love learning software and wish I could get to the point where I know it inside and out. Focus - focus - focus!!!

I'm madly trying to listen to the rest of The Huntress by Kate Quinn before it's going to be automatically returned. So I tried sitting down and listening. Mistake. I fell asleep - even though I was trying to crochet!

Yep - I thought it would be a nice afternoon to listen to the audiobook and get started on my Swifter cloths.

Hmmm - do I even have the right crochet hook? I knew exactly where the crochet hooks are stored and it didn't take long to find the right one! I don't have a lot, however, I did have a 5 mm.

A small stash of crochet hooks

I don't even remember how I learned to crochet. My mother? My grandmother? It was probably one of them, but I've known how to crochet forever. I just don't do much of it. And so like a duck to water, I sat down and read the TWO LINES of instructions for the Swifter cloths. Oh - chain the stitches and then double crochet. That's easy.

I got this much done before I was nodding off. I'm liking the color I choose - it won't show the dust bunnies. The pattern called for doing the double crochet in the back loops or maybe the front loops. I chose not to do that. However, that would have created more ridges to collect dust. I might try that on the next one since I have a huge ball of crochet cotton. I'll be making more than one.

The start of my Swifter cloth

And I did take that quilt off the long arm. It's HUGE!! It just needs to be trimmed. I've got a lot of quilts that need to be trimmed.

Customer quilt

I ended up doing a private embroidery class yesterday. No problem. We did have an embroidery class scheduled for the afternoon, but with the dicey weather, I didn't want people venturing out. That left the afternoon free so someone took advantage.

There's always so much to learn. I happened upon this video about threads from Superior Threads. I know they have a ton of information on their website. If we could all spend some time every day learning - that would be awesome.

Speaking of learning, I found out some more information about needles. Terri (waving as I pass through on my Walk across Canada), informed me that vintage sewing machines require the flat part of the needle in different positions depending on the sewing machine. The flat part can be required on the left, the right or the back. Hmmm - now I'm wondering - what kind of needles does she use? Can she use modern needles in her machines? What about the eye? I know some machines (I think my Mom's old Singer - you had to thread the eye from left to right or could have been right to left). OK -- this has opened up a whole lot more questions.

If you're a vintage sewing machine user - I guess you have to know your stuff a wee bit more than users of modern sewing machines. Terri uses washi tape on the back of each machine to remind her of the needle position. Thankfully, the modern sewing machines are pretty consistent - flat to the back.

Would I be correct in saying that the groove along the needle should always be in line with the way the machine is threaded? In other words, the thread has to follow the groove and into the eye to work. I think all the needles are like that. But now I want to know more about the needles for Terri's vintage machines.

I'm curious.

On that note, I'm about to brave our "cold" temperatures to take the girls for their walk. I need miles!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!