This week ...

Progress on the bird quilt: Only three more blocks to construct before sewing them together. I've laid out 6 of the blocks in this picture so you can see how it's going to shape up. This quilt makes me happy.

Mind you, I'm sewing the whole kit and caboodle on the antique pedal sewing machine--and loving every minute of it!

I've got quite a routine worked out whereby I can piece a block together and get some exercise at the same time. If you've ever done piece work you'll know that there's pressing to do after almost every seam. So the sewing machine is upstairs but my iron is set up downstairs. You get the picture: I'm up and down stairs continually. A clever way to get exercises if I do say so myself. Honestly, it feels much better than sitting still for a couple hours.

A new knitting project: My first ever brioche knitting. I purchased a class on Craftsy--my first one there--and it's going well. The class was on special for ~$20 and it comes with a downloadable pdf of abbreviations, explanations, and 2 patterns: A single color brioche scarf and a two-color scarf. I'm starting with the single-color, of course. Also included is a pausable video with clear, detailed instructions. Two nice features of the video is the ability to run 30-second replays, and the ability to put bookmarks anywhere in the video for quick and easy referencing. There's also a chat feature. A good system. The brioche stitch itself isn't so bad, but the Italian cast-on was a bit of a struggle. It took me four attempts to get a good one! I can't wait to try the 2-color scarf pattern, but first I'm doing this one called Jacki Scarf.

That fiber is an unspun pencil roving. It was a gift and I'm pretty sure it's Icelandic wool. Truly love the color, but it does add a slight level of difficulty: It can be hard to distinguish stitches sometimes. Need really good light when I'm working this. Feels ever so lovely though, especially knit-up in this brioche stitch.

I joined up with a knitting group at Artistic Roots in Plymouth this afternoon. It felt really great to knit in a group again. There is something to be said for knitting socially.

The SNAP challenge is on hold for a week.

Stash accumulation: Fabric. Is it not bad enough to have acquired a reasonable stash of yarn, but now I'm acquiring fabrics?