What the heck???

I've been sewing a bit here and there on my Snowflake quilt as it is my One Monthly Goal for October, to have the top completed.

It's a pretty easy pattern and is going together rather quickly. It's put together in panels of squares and HSTs...

 Here was the the first row of panels up on the design wall...

...and here are a few of that row's panels sewn together...so far, so good...

Last year at a retreat I learned a method of taking all of the pieces of the panel to the sewing machine in one, nice organised pile to sew together. It was similar to what I've previously done, with a wonderful tweak. 

On to the second row of panels...

This is when I say, "What the heck???" (although I may have actually said something else, lol)

Something is just not right! How on earth did I do that???

I guess at some point in the sewing-together method my little pile of squares and HSTs got turned around somehow. It's too big a mistake to ignore....so a date with the seam ripper is in the cards today.

Something new I wanted to try the other day was dyeing a skein of yarn.

I soaked the yarn in some water and a bit of vinegar like I saw on YouTube. I wanted to try the method using the little Kool-aid packets for dye.

I went into my small town where we do have 2 grocery stores...no Kool-aid to be found. I haven't looked for it for probably 2 decades, so I don't even know if you can buy it any more.

I looked for food dye....both stores don't carry it.

I was a little peeved because I had already started the process by soaking my yarn. I don't know how it came to me, but I decided to use some spices I have in the house...I remember the first time I did something with turmeric and had yellow hands for a couple of days!...so why not!

I used turmeric, dry mustard, paprika, and powdered bay leaf. Coincidentally I was cooking beets in the Instant Pot that day and saved some beet water to use also, which is what you see in this picture...

After the yarn was dry, I did find that I had food dye tucked way back in the corner of my baking cupboard, so I wet the yarn again and sprinkled a bit of the red dye randomly.

Here is my result, I'm quite happy with it. I'll let it dry even longer before I wind it into a ball...it feels dry, but I want to be sure...

I want to start knitting with it right away, but there are Christmas gifts that need to be knitted first.

I did do some knitting this week. I've had a pattern for Mermaid socks for a while now and finally had to try it. I finished the first sock this morning...

I really like the picot edge, and I like the stitch that is used. I'm really going to like the asymmetry of the pair of socks. 

I used a yarn by West Highland Spinners which I've never used before....I liked it so much that I've gone online and ordered some more!

I will share with you that this has been a particularly difficult week. I'm sure I'm not alone in this....feeling like it's a bit hard to cope after all these months of Covid. 

Yesterday I took some time to get out into nature for a nice long walk. Man, did that ever improve my mood! I encourage anyone who is feeling blue, weepy, anxious, to get some fresh air....it really does work wonders. Even if it means just sitting outside on your front stoop. 

Mother Nature makes good medicine!

Today I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?