I was ready to let the cucumber vines go for the summer, they were getting crispy in the intense heat and the cucumbers strangely shaped, and as I collected the watering bags, a large American Bumblebee visited the remaining flowers. Ok. I’ll keep the watering bags coming.
The whip stitch is very useful for putting hems on finely knit items like t-shirts or soft pants. Because fine knits are difficult to unravel, you don’t need to fold over the edge twice, you can stitch over the cut edge, which also gives the hem a lower profile. If you are hemming a ribbed knit, lining up the ribs helps keep the fabric even and gives a nice gauge for stitch size!
I started at a seam, and hid the thread knot in the seam fold. Then I put the needle through the pearl side (indent) stripe on the inner layer, and just picked up a couple loops on the next rib of the outer layer. To keep the stitches at the right tension, after stitching a few I pulled open the ribbing to draw in the thread. This leaves the stitches loose so they won’t show and are less likely to snap when the fabric stretches. Pulling the stitches tight would result in a visible stitch line that would break the first time the fabric stretched.
We do still get deer through our back woods, as evidenced by pictures from the trail cam.
I’m going to wait for a while before I harvest the corn-looking protuberance. I did not plant it; the most likely culprit is a squirrel.
I bought an “incredible sweater machine” (as seen on TV) on the FB marketplace, because I read that it was an easy beginner’s machine. These were being produced in the 1990s, and production stopped in England in 2015. It is a very basic setup, but I wanted it to make custom pieces for my youngest, who has a hard time with off-the-rack clothing.
I decided to use the Singer treadle table to set up the machine because the solid wood top was the right thickness and the narrow depth looked like the tables in the demonstration videos. Someone kindly transferred the VHS to YouTube, so I was able to watch it (90s flashback, wow).
Reading the manual and watching the video helped me get started quite quickly. I made the first square in about a half hour, including backstitching the live edges.
I later did weave in the ends, but was quite impressed with how well the simple machine works.
And how did I not know about backstitching the final row of knitting?!? I need to try it with ribbing next. So stretchy and neat.
