Meema's 100th cache Mystery Cache

The cache is not located at the posted coordinates. Permission was granted to place the cache from the property manager near the actual cache location.

The mini-stings wanted to do something special for their Meema's 100th find. We decided on a puzzle that would celebrate some of the things that make Meema, aka desertjean, so special.

Before she retired to sunny Arizona, desertjean used to be an electrical engineer, to teach High School Physics, was a seamstress, and dabbled in commercial real estate. She spends her retirement volunteering her time and donating her hand-made creations to several organizations. In her free time, she enjoys some of the crafting activities that are part of the puzzle below. Her family and friends are the lucky enough to have received some of these creations as gifts. My favorite is my wedding dress - a one of a kind.

A. If you are knitting in a stockinette stitch and you just finished a knit row, what is the stitch for your next row?

• 1 = dc
• 2 = kll
• 3 = p
• 4 = ch

B. How many strands are in standard cross-stitching floss?

• 1
• 3
• 6
• 9

C. What does in-the-ditch quilting refer to?

• 0 = where a cacher winds up on their backside if they are not paying attention to their feet
• 3 = stitching that is made alongside a seam or an appliqué edge
• 6 = stitching that is made 1/4" away from the previous line
• 9 = small, running stitches made through the layers of a quilt to form decorative patterns on the surface of the quilt and to hold the layers together

D. In ceramics, the stipple painting technique is defined as:

• 0 = with a dry brush slightly dipped in paint, use an up and down "pouncing" motion to apply the color to the piece
• 3 = the small stroke of color placed below the pupil in the iris of an eye
• 6 = very lightly dry brush indicated color product to create a very slight coloring effect
• 9 = creating "streaks" of color on the indicated areas, by applying color in random strokes

E. Scrapbooking materials should be lignin-free. What is lignin?

• 2 = acid-free
• 4 = natural bonding element which holds wood fibers together
• 6 = buffering agent such as calcium carbonate or magnesium bicarbonate
• 8 = pH neutral

F. What is a Jean-A-Ma-Jig?

• 0 = a small plastic device for jumping over thick seams with the sewing machine
• 3 = the happy dance desertjean does when she finds a cache
• 6 = the "teeth" under the plate on the sewing machine that move fabric as it is sewn
• 9 = protective devices for your middle finger when doing hand sewing