Winter Sowing Experiment Started January 13, 2021, Update 3/28/21

1/13/21 I made a bunch of mini greenhouses using rectangularish lettuce containers. I used a drill to make holes in the top and bottom. Then put newspaper pots inside. Then I planted

• oregon giant peas, swiss chard, cilantro, mesclun, red orache ovation greens, cheap frills greens

1/15/21 I planted ovation greens and cheap frills greens in vinegar jugs. However vinegar jugs do not work as well as they keep blowing over. Plus it was hard to get the newspaper pots out when I took the sprouted plants out on 3/28/21 to plant under cloches.

1/28/21 Two seed packets came today. Claytonia and goldie ground cherry.

1/29/21 Planted claytonia (also known as miner's lettuce) in mini greenhouse. Garden cilantro weathered well under snow and is edible.

2/5/21- 2/16/21 Below zero weather 

2/20/21 Planted outside in mini greenhouses. Pretty heavy wet snow. 

• beets, carrots, elegant greens, easter egg radishes
• Sparrows? are enjoying the seeds from last years sunflower. 

2/27/21 Checking up on mini greenhouses. 

3/7/21 Planted some white clover along driveway edge near back garage. Winter sow grass seed on top of snow.

3/8/21 Moved mini greenhouses to snow by arbovitae trees. Cilantro that overwintered under snow looks good.

3/11/21 Moved mini greenhouses into mostly shady area by arbor vitaes that block the south sun. Walking onions are appearing.

3/13/21 Red Orache has sprouted in mini greenhouse so moved to garden under cloche. (Juice jug with holes drilled around top.) Birds are attracted to the seeds in the lone sunflower stalk left over from last year. Last year the birds and rabbits kept eating my sunflower and pea seedlings so only 1 sunflower survived in the back garden. This year they are going under cloches until they are too big to be pulled up by the birds. 

3/15/21 Got a little snow but everything is fine.

3/28/21 The following is sprouting in mini greenhouses so planted under cloches in garden.

• Claytonia, Elegance, Ovation, Frills, Radish, Mesclun

3/28/21 Sorrel is up but something, probably a rabbit, is eating it so I covered the 2 plants with cloches. Worms are moving sluggishly. Birds really like our garden and yard.

3/28/21 The following is not sprouting so left in mini greenhouses

• Carrots, peas, beets, cilantro, swiss chard

3/28/21 Planted

• Dill, Alyssum, Chamomile, Oregano, Thyme, garlic chives

3/28/21 Rhubarb is coming up. Last years grass and clover is greening up but no new clover and grass coming up.

3/28/21 Ancient pepper plants along with one Tabasco pepper plant have survived the winter indoors. Hopefully can put out in the garden in June. The average temperature in this room is 60F during winter and when it's really cold drops to 50F.

3/29/21 Still getting frost at night but plants are surviving under cloches. Chives are coming up. Also Daffodils and Tulips.

Notes: 

• Really would like to get potato onion/ multiplier onion/ I'toi, hill onion, mother onion, pregnant onion. They sound intriguing. Basically they are bulb onions that multiply under the ground.
• Might want to order fenugruk next year. This year they are only available as sprouts but I could plant them outside anyway.
• We are hardiness zone 5b

newspaper pots for sowing winter garden

Made quite a few pots. Pretty fast once you get going.

Learned from https://lovelygreens.com/quick-way-make-newspaper-plant-pots-origami-plant-pots/ video.

Here's my notes and pictures. Makes about a 3" pot from 1/2 sheet of newspaper about 22"x11".

Start out with a piece of newspaper about twice as tall as it is wide. (2h=w)

Fold in half bottom to top.

Then make crease down center and open.

Turn over and fold on other side.

Fold and tuck into pocket.

Next make creases for bottom of pot by folding tip (which turns into middle bottom) in both directions.

One more bottom of pot crease.

Open into pot shape.

It will be interesting to see how well these work.

Face Masks

I made The first set of shaped face masks with place to put insert & wire  by was following the patterns on this site.  https://www.craftpassion.com/face-mask-sewing-pattern/ . 

I also learned how to make t-shirt string/yarn https://www.craftpassion.com/recycle-tutorial-making-of-t-shirt-yarn/ .When I was making these masks there were a lot of shortages. I used an old tired sewing machine so my stitches aren't perfect. Broke 3 needles (luckily I had spares) until I figured out how to sew small seams through multiple layers of fabric.

Ready to go to work in Denver and not get the $1000 fine.

When it appeared that my sister in Colorado would need more face masks, I made these pleated, one size fits most, masks from Instructables that also had a place to put insert & wire.  https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Face-Mask-With-Filter-Pocket/ . I like putting t-shirt string in so the loop is behind the neck. I like this pattern because you just cut one piece and 2 edge pieces. However it's more of a general mask and is not fitted.

Then I noticed on my youtube feed a video from fabric patch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbqkLcPHhcQ

Here is a sheet explaining material used to makes masks for nurses so they wouldn't need to keep reusing the same N95 mask multiples times https://media.rainpos.com/220/fp95s.pdf

Here's a link to their website where you can get a fitted pattern for your face and watch more videos.

http://www.fabricpatch.net/face-masks-for-covid-19-relief.htm

I haven't gotten around to making any masks from this site yet. However I am intrigued that the mask is lower under the eyes which may provide a better fit and prevent steaming up glasses.

The tie from coffee bag will probably be more comfortable than floral wire. Pipe cleaners aren't strong enough to keep the mask shaped around my beaky nose and minimize steaming up my glasses. I'd like to try cutting up a thin disposable metal pan, folding it, then taping sharp edges.

I think I would prefer to have a removable nose wire piece. I don't think that I will ever use a filter pocket. 2 layers of cloth is enough.

4 strand slippers

Quick made up slippers for us since our old ones have holes in them and our feet were cold.
These work up pretty quickly using 4 strands.

Men's size 11

Ran out of brown so only did 3 strands around the ankle. Did not rib the ankle. Just kept going around. A lot quicker. Plus easier to tell our slippers apart besides size.

Women's size 8-9

Really swamped. Haven't finished cousin's plarn rug yet. Just had to put these up so can use pattern another year.

Plarn Rug

My largest hook which I think is a S. The hook is not labeled so I'm not sure.
A lot of plastic bags. Each color change is a plastic bag.
I cut 2" loops.
A spiral of mostly single crochet and 3 stitch increase at corners except towards end where I changed to 2 stitch increases because the rug was starting to ripple.
Picture was taken at an angle so it's actually more square than the picture shows.

I'll be real curious to see how well it wears. I wanted a crocheted rug because the dirt falls through and is easily swept up while the plastic should hopefully stay cleaner than cloth.

Quick Crocheted slippers 4/9/16

Made these a while ago using a big hook and 4 strands of yarn I think. The slippers are nice and cushy but use up a lot of yarn fast.

Curtain Patterns

Windows up north needed cafe curtains for privacy so I sewed up some curtains but not valences. We'll see if they need that once we hang the curtains. Used 2 king sheets, have some left over for valences if I want them. Large picture window has shelf right on top of it so probably no space for valence anyway.

Here's the patterns.

Rods are l/8" and 5/8". Curtains are pretty light so should be fine. I made a 2" rod pocket with a 2" ruffle on top.

I measured to extend below window by adding 4 extra inches. Ended up using sewed edge of sheets for bottom of all curtains to minimize sewing time.





Measure and cut trying to take advantage of already sewn seams and hems.

Iron and sew up side seams

• Mark 1 inch, fold over to mark and iron, then fold over again and iron, then sew

Rod pocket & ruffle

• Mark 1" and 5" from raw edge
• Iron a 1 inch hem folded over like side seam
• Then fold over and iron on 5" mark
• Mark 2" from fold for ruffle
• Sew over 1" hem
• Sew along 2" mark to create ruffle

Materials:
sheets
sewing machine and thread
rotary cutter, plastic T-square, and cutting pad
ruler, pencil or marking pen,
pins
ripper if you sew rod pocket and ruffle before side seams

Note: Sew up side seams before making rod pockets and ruffles.

Note: Even though I haven't been posting I have been creating. Sometimes it's hard to get to the computer. Crocheted slippers and knitted a scarf. When I find the pictures, I'll post them.

Kids summer hats

Made these hats for the kids while they were riding in the car with us and during quiet times while we were up north. Wrote down the pattern, sort of, when I was making them but lost it.

Crown

• I measured their heads. They were about 19 inches in circumference.
• I started with a magic ring and 6 SC, then worked in a round spiral until it reached about 18" in circumference. 
• Basic increasing: R1 6 sc, R2 12 sc, etc. more or less. I had interruptions so lost count. I just basically made sure that the circle stayed flat.

Sides: just crocheted SC without increasing for about 8-10 rows

Brim: Increased SC as needed to keep flattish. The girl's hats curled up but looked really cute. To curl down probably would have had to work from inside so the other side of SC was out.

Notes: Used 4 play yarn I had laying around. Probably could get 2 hats out of one skein. Worked in spiral so didn't really have to keep track of beginning and ending of rows. Wished I had some stiff string to try or pliable straw.