Still Knitting

 With furnace troubles and extreme cold, I find that I have spent most of the week, hiding under a quilt, knitting. 

My test knit piece is nearly done.

A closeup of the stitches.

The colour really provides a lift on our "Oh my goodness that is cold" days. 

No sewing got done. I had an idea for the Project Quilting Prompt 13.2. The prompt was silhouette and I think I will follow through with it, but it won't be done in time for the deadline of 2PM today.

Meanwhile, my plants are deciding to provide some cheer.

This orchid was a grocery store purchase, years ago. I only remember it flowering once before, after the original blooms were gone. I wonder what we did right this time.

The azalea was slated for trimming but it had other ideas.

Obviously, the secret to indoor flowers in Canada, in winter, is benign neglect. 

Winter Fun

 The topic of every conversation today in my part of the world is snow. Yesterday, the snow that we haven't really seen this winter, decided to drop in. Kind of like when all your relatives decide to arrive at once. 

I spent much of spring, summer, and fall, drinking tea and visiting with friends in these chairs. Not so inviting, right now. As you can see, we got wind to rearrange the snow for us, too.

Because a second exit from the house is necessary, in case of an emergency, My sweetie spent a bunch of time clearing a path to the front gate.  I think this was done in 3 parts, because there was so much. We shovel by hand because, years ago, the snowblower decided to quit in the middle of a storm like this. So now the driveway is cleared by a man with a Bobcat tractor. He came several times yesterday, and once today, to make sure we could get the car out, if we needed to.

I have really enjoyed my hibiscus tree.  Yesterday, while the blizzard was covering the outside with snow, it decided we needed some summer.

There are a total of 7 blooms on the tree, and more on the way. It was so delightful to wake up to this.

Now, I just need a fruity drink with an umbrella. 

Of course, in the midst of all this, our heating system decided to go on strike. We have some heat, but sweaters and woolies are advised. Of course, we have a very efficient system that heats our hot water, too, so the kettle is serving as both the source of endless cups of tea, and hot water for washing things. You don't really need to shower in winter, do you? Repair specialist is on the way, but arrival time is uncertain.

Last week, while I was ordering new ink cartridges for my printer, these fell into my online cart.

  

My writing needed some colourful gel pens. Of course, I need some place to store them, so, I started a new pen and marker case.

Now that it is cut and had its stabilizers fused, it should be a quick sew. 

The sewing room cleanup is continuing, and, as one might expect, some things are no longer required. I am donating some yarn to a teacher friend that can use it in her classroom. so, I grabbed a reusable shopping bag, that had been emptied. 

I found myself holding the handle, without the bag. So, not reusable, at all. I'm not sure how these are suppose to save the planet.

Brrrrrr! It's Cold!

It is currently -21C outside at my house.  A good day to stay in and stay warm.

This morning, the sun was warming my sewing room so I went in to do some tidying. It is surprising how quickly you can make a difference.

I try to tidy after each project, but sometimes, I don't manage and stuff gets placed on the serger table, so my goal was to find the serger table again.

 

So the table is looking much better. The black fabric on the serger is the scrap catcher for under the cutting blades.

I am thinking that I might make the pink and white bag at the back of the table, a carrier for my grandson's art and remote school supplies. Yes, we are back to remote school, at least for last week, and this week. The carrier looks like a good choice for markers, pencils, glue and scissors. I ordered some gel pens today, because I think we need gel pens.

In case you were wondering, the stuff did get sorted onto the cutting surface, but I cleared it all away, too.

A bit more work is needed on the cutting table, but that is for tomorrow (along with the ironing board.)

I saw a posting for a test knit for a designer whose patterns I enjoy, so I applied. I checked first to see if I had yarn. This is what I came up with.

Isn't the colour perfect for a -21 C day. It is so warm and spring or summery. The colourway is called Midsummer. I was afraid the pattern would show, but it is showing nicely.

Last Finish and a Sort of a Finish

 I was making pajama pants for my favourite little boy. Unfortunately, I failed to realize that I had not made a waistband, until I needed a waist band. So, he received the annual "I didn't quite finish this" gift. (His mother got the annual "I bought it but I don't know where I put it" gift.) However, I sat quietly the other day, and figured out what needed to be done to make the waistband, since I had only scraps of fabric left.

The pajama pants are finished and you can't see where I pieced that waistband. Success. Note to self, buy 1.5 yds of fabric for his PJ pants now. He is growing up.

I also decided to do the Project Quilting Mystery Quilt Along, again this year. I did it twice before, here and here.

This time, I was not as happy with the results as my previous two tries. The end product is Project Quilting written in braille, as a wall hanging. I decided not to turn it into a wall hanging, that wasn't really my style, but after some thought, I decided it could easily become a tote bag. 

So this will be one side:

And this will be the other side:

I have enough of the blue to make the sides and bottom of the bag, and enough of the pink to make straps. I have kitted the blocks with the fabric, all ready to become a bag, 

I tallied my finishes for this past year. I feel as though I did nothing but make masks, but I seem to have done a lot more.

SEWING

Masks         Too many to count (I lost track but >100)

PJ Pants         1

Christmas Stockings 2

Bindings         1

Zippered Pouches 5

Mask Pouches         3

Purses         2

Wallets         2

Antependium         1

Quilts 2

Laptop sleeve         1

KNITTING

Hats         3

Cowl 1

Shawl 3

Socks         2

Baby Socks 3

We also hosted 4 foster cats.

This is Dean, our current guest.

I also read a lot more than I did in 2020. My favourite book of the year had to be "The Rose Code" by Kate Quinn. 

I worked a lot on organizing my sewing supplies. I'm not finished yet, but things are looking much better and I am having an easier time finding what I have. I highly recommend comic book boards for turning fabric into mini bolts. This year, my office will also be receiving an overhaul.

Twas the Night...

 So, we are once again entering a very quiet Christmas celebration. The Covid cases in our area are again soaring, and I'm hiding! 

The church will be closed until the new year, and knowing this, last Sunday there was some tidying of things that won't be required when the building reopens. So, a friend brought me a wreath that had been hanging on the door. With no one using the door, she thought I would enjoy it, and I do.

It now graces the wall on the other side of my front door, where it can be seen from the street.

The Christmas tree is up and decorated, though there is only us to enjoy it.

My entirely cat friendly tree. It is just lacking garlands.

I made Christmas masks for people I want to keep safe. These are the grown up ones. There were kid ones as well.

I keep seeing advice to ditch your cloth masks. If you are following the rules for social distancing and your mask has three layers including a filter and provides a good close fit to your face, then go ahead and keep using it. The environment will thank you. 

I finished another Sesame Street hat. This one is Elmo.

I modified the pattern that came with the kit because apparently my favourite five year old has a bigger head then the pattern suggests. This is a much better fit.

When my kids were younger, I often made them pajamas for Christmas. I decided that I should make some pajama pants for the next generation.

When I bought the fabric, I forgot to add an extra fabric allowance for the fact that the fabric is one way and I can't turn one pattern piece around. Obviously, it has been awhile since I did this. However, I managed to squeak out a pair of pants out of my yard of fabric. The second pair isn't a one way design so it should be easier.

Holly Jolly Stockings

 Our Hibiscus spends the cold weather in the dining room and the warm weather either in the sun room, or out on the patio. It has moved back to the dining room, and continues to bloom. 

I think it has now been flowering for 10 months without a break. I smile every time I see it with a new bloom.

Meanwhile, my Christmas cactus decided to flower for Christmas, this year (it can be widely variable.)

I was asked to make two Christmas stockings. The request was for fun fabric, not Christmas. So I opened up the Laurel Burch vault and found two half yard pieces that seemed to fit the description.

Similar but enough different that they can be told apart. I made the labels inside into pockets for small items that might get lost in a big stocking. The pattern is "Holly Jolly Stocking" by Lindsay Connor. It was free a few years ago but is now available as a paid pattern.

My Laurel Burch stash is nearly gone. It is good it is being used up, but a little sad that there won't be new designs down the road.

I finished knitting my Joy cowl. 

Needs a bit of blocking to smooth out the stitches, I think.

A Squirrel or Two

 I have gotten a few things done this month, including a quilt I planned to bind. And then there were the things that popped up.

The kit for Oscar arrived and was just begging to be knit, so I dropped everything and made an Oscar hat. It is going to a fundraiser coming soon.

Then I was told that my favourite little boy didn't have enough masks for school. So, of course, Nana had to drop everything and make 10 more masks.

I despair of every being free of mask making, however, his teacher said that they must be good masks because he doesn't try to take it off in class, like some do. Oddly, after being told it was an emergency, they are still at my house. Does it count as a Squirrel if it's a request from a dear one?

Meanwhile in my WIPs Be Gone, I made a back and binding for a quilt that I started a long time ago.

I remember trying very hard to make sure that the same fabric wasn't touching and I see that I failed. Oh, well, it will be done and the new owner will love it.

I also pulled out this UFO from the start of the pandemic.

I think I decided that the zipper was a bit wonky, but I think I'll leave it wonky. It can be a design feature, right?

I am going to link up with Sandra for her DrEAMi #58 linkup.