Still Knitting

 I seem to have abandoned my sewing lately. I have been busy trying to get my Christmas knitting done. Since some has to go in the mail, I have only a couple of weeks left.

The church is collecting baby things for a local Family Centre that serves families new to Canada. So yesterday, I made a little hat.

I think it is toddler sized and in a worsted weight machine washable yarn, I expect it will keep some little person warm.

I continue to work on socks but I don't have any other finishes.

The weather has turned wintery cold. So, all the plants we hope to save for next summer are now moved into the dining room/ conservatory.

The new pink hibiscus rewarded us with some bright flowers.

The Christmas cactus says it will be ready soon.

I don't remember how long we have had this but it gives us lots of flowers, as long as we remember to water it.

Okay, I need to get back to my knitting!

November, Already

 I have been busy but it hasn't been a lot of crafty things. Last week was nearly entirely focused on sorting out some family  paperwork, that we have been ignoring for too long. It is amazing how much time that can take.

At the end of October, I made some more dog bandanas. Here is Doug modelling his. He wore it as his Halloween costume.

It is Paw Patrol, appropriate for his western cousins, who have a first responder for a dog dad.

I also made some masks for a young friend who wanted some cloth masks.

 I think that cat fabric is nearly all gone now. 

There has been knitting done.

Big socks.

The yarn is from TurtlePurl yarns in New Brunswick. It is called "Bog Goes Camping" as a tribute to Bob Ross, the painter. I missed slightly on making them perfectly matched.

And little socks.

These are for the great granddaughter of a friend of mine. The yarn is left over from a long ago project.

The Christmas fruitcake has been made, and probably needs to be sprinkled with rum again.

Mudd has decided he is a Mountain Lion and we keep finding him up high.

One must check when closing the frig, in case he is reaching in with his paw from overhead.

The weather has been highly variable, with temperatures from +15 to -10 in just the past week. The trees have been variable, too.. I was out for a walk, recently and there are trees still holding on to their leaves, and bare trees.

A really interesting tree is the Tamarack. also called the Larch. It is Ontario's only native deciduous conifer. They look like this, before they drop their needles. The green tree in the middle is a cedar.

I have Nana duty this week, so I think we might start baking Christmas cookies, to send to family in Western Canada.

Halloween

My partner-in-all-things has been away for a few days, leaving me to herd pets and look after things. So, I didn't manage to get into my sewing room, since the pets get too anxious if I disappear, and they aren't to be trusted if I let them in. Instead, I got a lot of knitting finished.

The spider mitts are finished, just as the weather gets cold, and they will be needed. The spider is knit using slip stitches, so I was only using one colour of yarn at a time.  I made the mistake of showing the pattern to my little guy and he decided I should knit them. So, the socks went on hold.

Last night, I made some cookies to help celebrate with my favourite little guy. He is coming for a sleepover, later.

They look especially gruesome because the gel icing had split and I kept getting liquid icing instead of gel. The recipe is from a Canadian Living cookbook from when my kids were young, however the recipe is still available. 

https://www.canadianliving.com/food/baking-and-desserts/recipe/creepy-witch-s-finger-cookies

Linking to Sandra's DrEAMi linkup. Spiders can be squirrels, too.

https://www.mmmquilts.com/2023/10/dreami-76.html

Insanity

This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. It is early this year, and we just had an unseasonable heat wave. So my usual Autumn Colours post will be delayed.

Instead I will show you how the circular knitting has gotten out of hand.

Back in early September, I started the Unicorn socks. They are a wide rib. I finished the first sock, knit the cuff for the second, and met a knot in the skein. The yarn after the knot didn't follow in the colour sequence so I cut the yarn and started again. I am nearly finished the leg of the second sock.

A couple of weeks ago I realized that Christmas was on its way and I needed to do my Christmas gift socks. So I started this plain vanilla sock. The first sock is nearly done.

In between those two starts, I cast on the first sock for a pair of Utsubo Socks. The pattern looked interesting and the top was done in an unfamiliar style that I wanted to try. I finished the toe and now these seem to be on hold.

On Friday, I was grandparenting, and this pattern popped up.  It is the Aranea Fingerless Gloves and the little guy looking over my shoulder thought that someone in Grade Two needed a pair. I happened to have suitable yarn in my stash, so the spider is now progressing nicely. 

This afternoon, I realized that I have more than my normal quota of circular knitting projects going. I am not sure what form of insanity hit me, but they are all progressing, each in their own time. I plan to finish the mitts quickly since they are kind of Halloween themed. The Christmas socks next since they have to travel. The other two pairs have no urgency.

I took this picture in a park nearby, the other day, in 31° weather. My hands were too sweaty to knit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Some Sewing is Done

 I have actually done some some sewing. My sweetie is travelling soon and his new tablet needed a case to protect it in his backpack. So, I looked through my scraps for something suitable. 

I think I've described my method before. I add an inch to the width of the tablet, and measure all the way around the length, then add about 2 inches for a flap. Then I check the size of the scraps and choose an appropriate scrap.

On a good day, I even have a binding scrap that matches. It was a good day.

I looked through those lovely threads that have been coming in my Aurifil Thread Labs, and chose a suitable one. Then I used my Hera marker to mark quilting lines, and quilted the outer fabric to a batting scrap.

This is Aurifil 28 wt in the needle and a very similar colour 50 wt in the bobbin. I like how it stands out and matches the cats' eyes.

Then I added a flannel lining, to protect the screen, and a piece of velcro to close the flap.

Blue Jays are very popular at my house, so I thought the Blue Jay fabric was a good choice. Finally, I added a binding, and had a very suitable scrap in my binding bin. Getting my sewing room organized has really helped make projects like this fast and easy.

The finished case, ready to hit the road. The tablet fits perfectly, and its new owner is pleased. We joke that I make cases like this for his electronics because they scream "My wife is a quilter, and I'll be in big trouble if I lose my device."

I had help taking these pictures.

Mudd is always so helpful. I think he has no idea how big he is now.

I have made good progress on last week's sock. We are now at the Muppet stage, when the heel is turned and the sock looks like a hand puppet.

I am linking to Sandra's DrEAMi link up.  Drop over and see what others have been doing.

The Shawl That Never Ends

 I am reminded of a campfire song: "This is the song that never ends, It just goes on and on my friends". At the end of July, 2021, I started a shawl. It was a kit for a Knit Along, and I fell in love with the yarns.

This was the first picture I posted. Somehow, I just decided that I should knit a shawl, in mohair and a very loosely spun merino, that was going to end up over 2metres long, entirely in garter stitch. By the time I figured out that it was not really going to be my thing, I had knitted enough stripes that I couldn't have salvaged that very expensive yarn. It seemed like a better idea just to ignore it. 

I finally told myself I couldn't start another shawl until this one was finished. And then, I just knit a lot of socks, and a couple of baby hats, but no shawls. September came, and along with it, a Fall Finish Along. So I did...Finish! 

As you can see, it is very long. It still needs to be blocked and have 40 or so ends woven in, but all those rows of garter stitch are done.

In celebration, I cast on a pair of socks, of course.

This is the first pair of Christmas socks. There are members of my family who love to get new hand knit socks for Christmas. I like the bright colours, and socks always seem to go faster if the yarn is striped.

Meanwhile, Mudd says he hasn't appeared on the blog, lately, so here he is, helping me knit, with a stolen package of pot scrubbers.

A Month of Contractors

 For the past three summers, we have avoided having contractors to the house. In addition, contractors were hard to get. So this spring, we decided it was time to get a couple of projects finished. You can try to schedule contactors but they still come when they come. Wet weather delayed some of the work. That said, we ended up with three contactors, all arriving in the same couple of weeks. 

Last year, we had to get the foundation fixed and the subsidence from that needed to be fixed. It looked like this before the landscaper.

Now it looks like this.

Last week, the temperatures decided to remind us that it is still summer (even if we aren't suppose to wear white shoes.) Temperatures were in the mid 30C range and the humidity was awful. My sewing room was like an oven, so I sewed from about 7:15 to 8:30 in the morning. I did manage to finish the shorts I was making my little guy for back to school.

I suspect they will not be needed for daywear in a couple more weeks, but they can become pajama pants next.

I joined a Fall Finish Along, and have been trying to do a few rows of a shawl I've been working on for 2 years now. However, I got caught by a shiny new thing.

It will become a toe up slipper sock if all goes well. I also have another sock on needles. Wonder if I can get all three done before the end of the month?

Meanwhile, I didn't play with my August Thread Lab from Aurifil, and now September has arrived.

The green spools are 40 wt. and the grey spools are 24 wt. The project for this month is applique and I don't know if I have suitable fabric for the projects. So, I might try something else. I have two purses promised so I need to get to those.

As summer continues a bit longer, I will add a flower picture from my patio to the bottom of this post.