Changing season

The other sewing project I was able to wrap up on the weekend was the Eternal Autumn quilt

Well, it's not completely wrapped up. It still needs to be quilted, but the top is done. As you can see, this one isn't huge - it just covers the top of my bed. But it's as big as it needs to be. This one is for me.  I think I've mentioned before that Dave and I don't share blankets. He likes one thin one (he's using the Woodland Ballet quilt now), and I prefer a stack (generally three, though I've been known to use more). And I find if my blankets are too big, they get weighed down and slip off the bed and onto the floor in the middle of the night. So this size is just perfect!

 

I told you that you;d see that red floral again! I used it instead of the purple/brown paisley I'd bought. I think the brighter red provides a nice contrast to the more sedate  colours, while still tying in through the gold and green of the flowers.  I bought so much of it, that even after using it for the back of Woodland, and in the borders here, I still have about a yard left. It will definitely make another appearance!

I should have enough batting left for this, and I've had the backing (the striped fabric above) in my stash for a while. I'd bought it for Woodland before I realized exactly how much I'd need for a queen size quilt. There wasn't enough for that quilt, but there should be just enough for this one. I'm going to quilt it myself, but I probably won't tackle it until the weekend.

An interesting tidbit... one I didn't realize until it was all together... all the fabrics, with the exception of the red floral, are Moda fabrics... The charm packs were bought from MSQ, and the borders and backing from the clearance bins at Lens... so it was pure chance! But no wonder they go so well together.

And now, with this together, and the little hooter done - I have TWO empty project boxes! Stay tuned for more fabricy fun!

Mellow yellow

I'm afraid this is going to be the only knitting-related post this week.

I should be able to show you some projects on Carbethigan, though despite my plan to put two rows a night on her, I haven't even picked her up. (Though Kate Davies finished her caridgan version and it's more or less how I expected mine to look.)

I should be able to show you a finished Wildflower cardigan - but I've barely touched it. I managed to finish the second sleeve edge but that's it.

And this sad bit of knitting

Is all I have to show of the second Aldershot sock. I'm definitely not going to finish it by the end of the month.

I don't really have an excuse either. Now that I'm sewing, I usually save knitting for the evening. But come the evening, I pick up my phone and play games more often than I knit lately. I think my knitting is just feeling very stale... I need to clear out some WIPs so I can start fresh! But of course, I actually have to knit to do that!!!!

Hopefully this week will be more productive.

FO: What a hoot!

First - thank you for your concern and good thoughts for Relic. He's doing well. The abscess burst early yesterday afternoon, and after I got him cleaned up and some antibiotic ointment on it, he seemed much happier. It's probably a lot less pressure in that area. It's pretty small, so as long as I can keep clean, it should heal nicely. He's stuck inside for at least a week, I think - but he'll survive.

Now, onto the good stuff...

In between vet visits, med administering, and warm compresses, I managed to get a couple projects wrapped up on the weekend. The first is my SIL's patchwork owl...

Now I know what you're thinking.... wasn't he  suppose to be a wall hanging? Well that was the plan... but once I got him all together, I decided he was just screaming to be made into a pillow. I also knew he needed a touch of blue. Mom agreed - but specified something wedgewood like... and didn't we fine the perfect piece in the clearance bin at Lens?

Now if this fabric seems familiar, it's because I used the green version in the Spearmint Sticks quilt.

While I am happy with him, were I to make him again, I'd change a couple of things. I do his belly with a less busy fabric. I wanted to use this one because it had owls (and is from the project bag I made her a few years ago), but I think something plainer would work better.

I'd also try to use browns that were closer in shade - mine are all over the spectrum, and I think it's a little hard for the eye to focus. But the purpose was to use scraps, and I've done just that.

Hopefully he'll help make for a very happy birthday!

Cat-ventures

I did plan to have a nice relaxing weekend of sewing and knitting... but a certain kitty threw a bit of a wrench into my plans...

It started on Tuesday. Relic had gone out for his usual morning jaunt and came back about an hour later, looking a little wild-eyed. It was pouring rain, so I figured that's why he was upset. He came in dried off, and everything seemed fine.

But the next day, I noticed he was moving a little slower. And when he went outside, he was laying in the garden, up against the house - instead of in his usual chair. I brought him in, and noticed he was moving oddly - not quite limping. I though maybe he'd had a bad jump and jarred or twisted the joint a bit. So I decided to let him rest and see if things improved.

Later that night, when I was giving him some cuddles, I noticed a patch of fur that was stuck down on his back leg. I got a warm, wet cloth, soaked the area a bit, and sure enough... there was a small bite wound. It didn't seem too bad, so I cleaned it up and put some antibiotic ointment on it, and let him be.

By Thursday morning he was noticeably limping. The wound still didn't seem infected, so I decided to play wait and see a bit longer.

But...by Friday, that poor foot from the ankle joint down was swollen to twice the size of the other foot... so we called the vet.

Saturday morning we were up there bright and early,getting him checked over. In the end, he got an injection of long-lasting antibiotics, and five days of oral ant-inflammatory (lucky me!). I've already noticed some improvement so I'm sure he'll be right as rain in no time.

And hopefully he's learned not to tangle with some of the nastier neighbourhood denizens!

And not to worry - I did manage to get some work done on my projects, though I lost a good part of Saturday morning. Of course, looking at that face... it was totally worth it!

FO: Woodland Ballet

Earlier this week, Mom stopped by with the almost completed Woodland Ballet quilt. I'd sent if off to her for quilting and it was finally done. All I had to do was sew down the binding.

I put on a movie, got comfy on the couch and under the watchful eye of my snoopervisor, I got to it. By bedtime, it was done and on the bed.

It's hard to get a decent picture of the whole thing right now - it's far too muddy out for an outdoor photoshoot. But this really is the quilt that started it all. It was a couple years ago and Mom was just getting back into quilting. I'd done a few small tied baby quilts, and there was a fat quarter pack of all the fabrics you see in the bear paws. I bought it, knowing nothing more than I wanted to make bear paws. It's been a long road from here to there.

I collected fabrics from the clearance bin and used up scraps from Mom to to the borders.

Mom did a fantastic free-motion free-hand leaf pattern all over the quilt. It's just perfect! (though she's asked me to give her a bit of a break from my quilting so she can work on her own projects for a bit).

I got lucky and got this gorgeous floral fabric for the backing on clearance too. I still have a couple yards left, so I think some of it may end up in the Eternal Autumn quilt.

Finishing this one is really motivating me to finish more!

Friday Felines

 

 

February dyes

As I mentioned yesterday, February is fading fast, so it was time to get down in the studio and dye up this month's batch of yarn.  I went in with  a plan, a few colourways I've been thinking about for a while. Unfortunately, nothing was working out like it looked in my head. So I decided to throw my plans to the wind and just wing it!

It worked out in the end. These are all Barn Cat - clockwise from top left, we have Spring's Promise, Bamboo Shoots, Lady Orchid and Bird on a Wire.

Hopefully it won't be too long until they get to the shop. It might not be by the end of the month, but it won't be long afterwards.

Half aboard at Aldershot

The first Aldershot sock is done!

I really couldn't be more pleased with it. I love everything - the cables, the colour... the yarn...

I've mentioned before that I'm using our Jungle Cat. It's a merino/bamboo blend and it's so lovely to work with. It's soft and squooshy and the bamboo gives it just a touch of silkiness. It's so nice to knit with, and even nicer to wear.

I've just cast on for the second one, and I'm challenging myself to see if I can get the second one done by the end of the month.  A week to go (how did February fly by so fast???) but I think I can do it.

Anything you're hoping to wrap up before the month is out?

Starburst

It's time to show you that pretty purple quilt I mentioned the other day.

Way back in autumn of last year, I got this lovely collection of 10 inch squares...

...and I picked up a chunk of dark grey floral for contrast. Mom very kindly cut it into 10 inch squares for me. The plan was to turn it into a Starburst Quilt.

While the quilt is easy to assemble, it does take a little work to get going. I worked in stages. One day I sewed all my blocks. The next day I cut them into HSTs. The day after that I pressed them all open.

I'll leave assembling for another day, but I did take some time to settle on the layout.

I think this one is going to be just stunning!

Among the wildflowers

Thank you for all your ideas and advice for Carbeth. I think I'm going to take a page from Araignee's book and try to put two rows on it every night. That should help it progress without killing my hands.

For the rest of the time, I'm finally getting back to some WIPs.

It's been a long time since I've played with this one. It's a design of my own, and the last time you saw it, it only had part of the bottom lace edge complete.

A few nights of steady work saw it complete, as well as one of the sleeve edges. It's rolled up right now, so it doesn't look very impressive. This is definitely a knit that will benefit miles from blocking!

Just one more sleeve edge, and the the fronts and neck edges.  It will be nice to have this one wrapped up!

No where to go

As I've mentioned before, in order to keep my quilting projects from getting out of hand, I've got five boxes that hold projects in progress.

Currrently, those boxes contain

• Deep Sea Stars quilt
• Happy Little Hooter wall hanging
• Eternal Autumn quilt
• Tuxie Love quilt
• A pretty purple project I haven't shown you yet

But I suddenly found myself in a bit of a holding pattern. Deep Sea Stars is awaiting a few more yards of batiks so I can finish the borders. Happy Little Hooter was together, but needed borders and I had nothing in the stash that was working for me. Eternal Autumn quilt needed borders, but I had nothing for it. I've been surrounding the Tuxie Love blocks with plain white, but I ran out. And the purple project was awaiting some squares Mom was cutting for me.

So  I couldn't work on anything without starting something new. It was time for drastic measures! A trip to Lens!

I got some pretty blue floral cotton to set off this cute little Hooter. I've decided he's going to be a pillow instead of a wall hanging.

 The clearance bin yielded up three pretty fabrics that will frame the Eternal Autumn quilt quite nicely.

And Tuxie Love got more plain white cotton so I can finish surrounding those blocks. Once that's done, the black and pink fabrics will become sashing.

And while I was there, I picked up some fabric for another project, though I can't start it until I empty a box.

Mom had three blocks leftover from a quilt she made last year. When I was working on the Bear Paws, she gave me her leftovers, along with the blocks. My cousin is pregnant with her fourth boy and due this spring. I thought the blocks would make a lovely little quilt for the new guy, but there wasn't enough leftovers to make a full quilt with the blocks.  So while I was on my little spree, I grabbed a chunk of solid green, and that funky mosaic for the backing.

So now that I'm fully supplied, I better get sewing!

FO: Blaster

It took me much longer than planned, but I finally got buttons for Blaster.

I'm sorry there's no modeled shots. I haven't been able to make a date with my favourite photographer.

For some reason, my neckline ended up a fair bit more open than the pattern appears to be, but I don't mind. It will still work well with my dresses.

For buttons I went with a simple, black wooden button, which just a touch of open-work - much like the cardigan.

I used four skeins of String Theory Dye Works' Merino DK in Blue Spruce. It's much like our Fat Cat and was absolutely lovely  to work with. Because it was hand-dyed, I worked with two skein at a time, alternating every other row. It helped to give a nice uniform use of the colours.

Hopefully it won't be too long before I can get modeled shots. I see this one getting a lot of wear.

Friday Felines

My lovely little sun-bunny

Cranky Carbeth

The Carbethigan is in a time out...

This is as far as I got before I remembered that I really don't like knitting with cotton. Especially after just coming of Blaster and her amazingly luscious merino.

I'm not ripping her out just yet. But I'm letting her simmer for a while.  I'm going to go work on a UFO and hope that some time apart makes things a little more clearer for me and poor Carbethigan.

Christmas is coming!

I know today is Valentine's day... but my thoughts are on Christmas.

My family loves to tease me about it, but I'm one of those people who starts on Christmas early. REALLY early!  Sometimes the week AFTER Christmas. I'm always thinking ahead, and if I'm out shopping in June and see something for my brother that's just perfect, and a great price, you can bet I'll buy it!

Believe me... shopping and crafting throughout the year makes the silly season a lot more enjoyable. It also makes it much more affordable.*

So when Love Knitting had a 70% off sale at the end of January, it's no surprise that was browsing with Christmas on my mind.

Actually, it's not just Christmas, but Father's Day, and and birthdays too! It's all aran weight striping yarn (with few solid for heels and toes), perfect for nice thick socks. Dad absolutely loves them, and they knit up nice and quick, so I would have been foolish to let the sale pass me by.

Sadly, the "print yarns" (the stripers with the exception of the greens) don't have nylon in them. But the solids do, and heels and toes are where you need nylon the most so they should be ok. Dad mostly wears his thick ones around the house anyway, so they get fairly light wear.

I won't be casting on for a while, but it's nice to know the yarn is ready for me when I do!

 
* The trick to this is to keep track. It's very easy to over-buy or misplace things if you're not careful. I collect everything in a large box, and I keep an excel sheet on my computer, where I track what I've got and for whom.  I check in every month or so, and come October, I make a list of who  I still need gifts for and try to finish things up before the end of November.

Aldershot moves

The plan to devote at least five hours a week to Aldershot is paying off.

As you can see, I've made some great progress. I'm through the leg, around the heel and onto the gusset.

And I have to say, I love the way those  cables are stacking up.

I've said before that, which I love the look of cables, I usually don't enjoy executing them. But  I'm really loving working on this pair.  I think it's because the cables are every six rows or more (I don't count the twisted stitches on either side of the big cables, because they are easy to execute).

And the yellow is definitely helping to brighten up this dreary February. The snow has finally stopped and the sun has finally come out, but it's still a dreary world out there.

Happy Little Hooter

Well you knew I couldn't resist sewing startitis forever....

Now that we're almost halfway through February, it was time to start thinking about a birthday present for my Sister-in-Law. She likes owls, and you may recall, I've made her several owl-themed gifts over the years.

So naturally, this year, I went looking for an owl quilt block.

Pinterest came to the rescue with this cute  little hooter. It's made with squares and HSTs, just like Relic's  paw mat. It's well within my skill-level, and I thought it would make the sweetest little wall hanging.

So I printed out some graph paper, sketched him out, and calculated the squares I would need.

The scrap strip bin yielded up plenty of fabrics to work with. And after an hour or so of cutting, and a few HSTs sewn and trimmed...

My scrappy little owl is ready to assemble! But we'll save that for another day!

Better days ahead

Curse that blasted groundhog!!!!

 It's been almost non-stop snow since Wednesday, and as you can see, Relic is not happy either.

I am so ready for spring, but it's feeling a long way off. Thankfully, I've got a few things to look forward to.  Last week work informed me that I get to join the high-flying sales team on an all inclusive trip to the Mayan Riviera at the end of March - a thank-you for all my hard work last year.

And this arrived in the mail!

The exhibitor book for this year's fair! While the snow's been falling, it's been nice to curl up on the couch and read through it, planning out what I'm going to enter this year. A lot of the categories are the same as last year, though there are a few new ones.

And with more time to prepare, I'm tempted to enter a few other areas of the exhibits... mainly, photography and art.

But looking at all that snow.... fair weather seem so far away...

Eternal autumn

While I have had a bad case of startitis with my knitting, the same can't be said for my sewing. Instead of starting a new project this week, I focused on one I had on the go - albeit one you haven't seen yet.

I've mentioned before that I'm changing the colours in my bedroom. They were pale green, pale pink, and cream. But a few years back (when I bought the fabric for the bear paw quilt), I thought Dave might appreciate something a little more masculine. Or at least not so darn feminine. He insists he doesn't care... but I decided to go ahead anyway and settled on the idea of rich browns and reds.

Now Dave and I don't share blankets. Aside from fights over who is hogging them... Dave prefers just one thin blanket, while I like heavy layers, piled high. I currently sleep with a sheet, two quilts and a thick, heavy faux fur blankie.

The Bear Paws (which Mom is almost done quilting!!!) will be for Dave. But that means I need to make myself at least two quilts.

So back when I first started buying fabric from MSQ, I grab a pretty little charm pack of gorgeous autumn-coloured fabrics. 

I wanted to make an Around the World quilt. But I didn't actually pay attention to the tutorial - I just looked at the pretty quilt. And naively, I thought one charm pack would be enough to make a decent size centre. Then I could just make it the size I wanted with a few borders.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Back in September, I merrily sewed away, turning the charm pack into HSTs.  It wasn't until I started laying them out that I realized I'd made a terrible miscalculation. It wasn't even going to be big enough for a baby blanket.

And of course, when I went to order another charm pack - it was "Sold out forever!" Luckily, Moda, the company who put it out, tends to make different collections with similar shades, and there was one that was close.

Almost as soon as it arrived, I turned it into HSTs too. But I didn't get around to piecing all those HSTs together until this week. 

I had planned to do it all in one day. But since sewing all those HSTs, I've learned a few things. The most important of which is "Square up your blocks!"  So that slowed down progress. Thanks to my back, I can't do much more than two hours a day, so in the end, it took me about three days.

The first day went fine. The second day gave me fits. I don't know what was going on but I just couldn't sew anything the right way. I think I ripped more than I sewed. The third day went much better and you can see the final result here.

When making my HSTs, I did my best to split the charm packs into light and dark. But some colours were right in the middle. I arbitrarily labeled them one or another... but with the medium green, it looks like I forgot my own system...

And it got to play both light and dark. I probably wouldn't have noticed, except that these ones got put side by side.

This layout, while simple to assemble, is one that will give anyone with even mild OCD fits if you do it with charm packs like I did. (an easier way to do it is a solid colour for one half of all the HSTs) I did my best to mix up the colours, but you could literally spend weeks moving blocks around trying to get things just right.

I am pretty far from a perfectionist, so I didn't have too much trouble just letting the blocks fall where they may....

And you can tell when you see all these dark green blocks together! Oh well.

Since it's only two charm packs, it's still pretty small. It will need quite a few borders to make a decent size quilt. And right now I don't have any fabric that will work for it... so I don't expect to see this one finished for a while.

Though Relic thinks it will go just lovely with his fur coat when it is....

Friday Felines

"No one will throw my sparkle ball for me... I am the saddest cat ever..."

Well... maybe if you'd STOP putting it the water fountain, and bringing it to me all cold and soggy and dripping and gross...

Think Spring

With Oakville off the needles, it was time to start another pair of On the GO socks. Since I won't be commuting until at least May, I've decided that I'm going to commit at least five hours a week to working on the new designs. That should get them knit at about the same rate as if I was commuting.

For the next design, I chose Aldershot... the second to last stop on my way home, and the station where I make a transfer to a different train.

To reflect that, I've designed a sock with simple cables twisting in different routes. The yarn is Jungle Cat - and although it looks pretty pale here, it's a nice bright yellow. When I dyed it at the height of last summer, I called it Banana Popsicle. But now that it's cold dreary February, it makes me think of warm spring days and cheery daffodils.

It's the perfect knit for this time of year!