Polaris

The second "Quilt The North" subscription box made a FPP design by Karen Neary from Nova Scotia. I have made a couple of Karen's patterns, before, and they look fabulous when they are finished. 

This is my version of her Maritime Beauty Pattern.

i must admit that I am a little out of practice, so this one isn't perfect, but I still like it a lot.

I didn't get it balanced on the hanger, so it looks a bit drunken.

The kit included enough pink fabric for the back, but I saw this piece of fabric waving from my stash, so I used it for the back.

It is some fabric from 2024,  called Purely Canadian, Eh! Woodland animals looking up at the Northern lights.

In the Polaris quilt, the Northern Lights are represented by the flying geese. I deviated from the pattern, in my placement of the geese and in my colours.

Aurora come in all of these lovely colours. I usually see shades of green and purple, here, but my son, in Northern Alberta, has sent me pictures of red. I checked my stash and found a piece of red, from the same fabric line. So I added some red.

I also made my geese more chaotic.  Some years ago, I was flying to the west coast, on an evening flight. I looked out the window at the right moment, and the Northern Lights were all around the plane, dancing, swirling, changing colours. It was totally beautifully chaotic. I tried to add that feeling to my quilt.

Since Ursa Major and Ursa Minor point to the North Star (Polaris). I added them to the quilting.

Karen suggested a scrappy binding, and I happily used up my piecing leftovers to make a random, scrappy binding.

The quilt is 24" x 24" and I'm looking for a place to hang it.

I tried to finish this before the next Quilt the North box came, but I missed by one day. Not bad. I celebrated by enjoying my Peace by Chocolate bar that came with the Polaris box.

If you want to find out more about Auroras, you can look here.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26381685

Would You Like To See A Picture of My Puppy?

 Yes, I have turned into that kind of person. I just think Daisy is so cute!

It was warm yesterday, so we went for a walk. Daisy's Arctic ancestry is showing in her love of playing in the snow.

She also practices yoga, and tried out for the role of cat, by climbing into the cat tree. The cats are not amused.

My artistic activities have been progressing very slowly.

I quilted the Polaris quilt and added a binding. Karen suggested a scrappy binding, and it looks very good, although it does take time to sew all the pieces together. I am currently hand stitching the back side.

I expect to be able to show you the whole quilt later this week.

I have also been working on a sock.

A knitter on Mastodon was making this sock, and I just had to try it. 

I am currently this far along on the first sock. The pattern starts with the bottom of the heel, as a hexagon, until you seam it at the instep with a three needle bindoff. I'm currently knitting the foot out to the toe. The last step is to knit the leg. 

The pattern is  Hipsulaisen Karuselli and it is a free pattern on Ravelry.

https://ravel.me/hipsulaisen-karuselli

The indoor flowers have been putting on a show that we are missing much of the time. However, I caught this hibiscus flower the other day.

It is -13C today, but there looks like a promise of maple syrup weather soon. This was the view from my front door the other night.

The little Christmas trees are buried under about a metre of snow, it will be awhile before we can get them out, so we might as well enjoy the light they give until the snow melts.

New Projects

Polaris is currently on temporary hiatus as other projects have distracted me. I did get the batting and backing organized before I set it aside. 

First up, it is time for the winter Olympics. I live in a winter country so, yes, I watch. Snowboarding is my favourite sport, a long with free style skiing. I have actually never gone downhill on a board. I have done Xcountry skiing, but not in a long time. 

Olympics require a knitting project. It needs to be sufficiently interesting to fill the times between competitors' runs. So I chose a yarn that was waving at me from my stash, and cast on a shawl.

The yarn is from Fireweed Fibre in Winnipeg. It is Sweet Pea Sock, in the colourway "32 Is The New 23".

I am knitting another Through the Witch's Garden Shawl., by Melinda Measor.

I got this far, yesterday, watching Big Air.

My partner for watching the Olympics is my new puppy, Princess Daisy. 

She is about 10 weeks old, and arrived at our house on Saturday. She came a long way, from the North of Canada, North of Iqaluit. She took a plane from her community to Iqaluit and another plane from Iqaluit to Ottawa.

Northern communities often don't have health care providers for their animals, and might get a visiting vet once or twice a year. So they have a puppy problem. Daisy's mother and her entire litter came to Ottawa through a rescue organization. Mom has been spayed and returned to her loving family and the puppies are now up for adoption, here. 

I saw her on the website, and I knew she would be a good fit for our house. She loves snow and enjoys watching snowboarding with me. 

Finishing Up

 When I make socks or hats, I don't normally block them. The socks get blocked into the shape of your feet as you wear them. The hats are much the same, and a lot of the hats are acrylic anyway.

However, scarves and shawls are a different story.

Yesterday, I took 3 scarves/shawls and soaked them to block them. It turned into a bit of an adventure. After the water cooled, I saw that the water in the sink was bright turquoise. After 9 more rinses, this is what the water looked like.

Better, but still blue. My hands were also blue by this time. Hopefully it is surface dye, and it is all out now.

This is the culprit. 

It is a long skinny scarf, in a merino cashmere silk yarn. Lovely yarn to knit with. The pattern is called Valiant, by Clare Slade. I started it last May and finished the knitting yesterday. It's about 2 m long. This is the lace.

I also blocked Boublay. I started it in February of last year and finished the knitting in March.

its a little neckerchief with bobbles and a beaded edge. The yarn is Uneek Sock. I have the second ball from the sock set, so I can knit another.

The most neglected shawl is Sobriquet. I started it in February of 2024, and finished the knitting the end of March 2025. Since it is the same yarn as the hat I made 2 weeks ago, I thought I should block it to make a set,

This bear was a big help in modelling the shawls. She is a fashionista from a department store in Chicago. My sweetie saw her when he was there on business, and knew I would like her. Her head is the wrong size for hats, but shawls are her thing.

Time to pick a new project to cast on.

Snow Day

The members of my quilt groups got an email last night, telling us to stay home and sew, since today was suppose to be a snow day. The snow was not bad as advertised, with most of it passing south of here. However, I did follow directions, and had a sew day. By the end of the day, I had this.

My Polaris quilt top is finished. I was pleased with how well it went together. It still needs a backing and some quilting, as well as a binding. That will come. I have to finish it, so I can try the blueberry chocolate bar that came with the the quilt kit.

I finished another hat.

This is the Martine Hat, a free pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal which has been languishing in my stash for several years.

I have gone back to working on a scarf I started about 6 months ago. I am down to 3 knitting WIPs. I am working hard to finish those before I accidentally cast on something else.

I had helpers this afternoon, while I was trying to take pictures.

After a very cold weekend, the basement is the warmest place to hang out. It is suppose to warm up and snow some more. I'm tired of boots and mitts, and scarves, already and there is still at least two more months of winter. Sigh...At least I have warm hobbies.

Flying Geese

 The next blocks for the Polaris quilt are curved flying geese units. I started my first one and realized I was doing it entirely wrong, so pulled out Karen Neary's book "Quilting Beauties for a brief review. After an aha experience, I was off a the correct track.

I now have half the geese sewn and the fabric cut for the rest.

I think they are looking pretty good.

I decided that their was something wrong with my purple hat, that I was knotting. I checked the pattern again, and realized I was using the wrong size needles. So the hat was completely frogged and restarted. Looks much better now, though I haven't taken a new picture.

Many of our patio plants spend the winter in the dining room. This morning, I stepped in to see this.

The azalea has decided to brighten my January morning. The bright pop of colour is appreciated, since it is snowing again today. We have had lots of snow lately. This was the bird feeder on Friday, after over 20 cm of snow.

Another snowy week ahead, so more time to sew.

Trust the Process

 The Quilt the North project for the second box is foundation paper piecing. It has been awhile since I did any FPP. So, I started my new year off, trying to remember how I do it. Because the fabric is supplied, I need to be careful not to make a mistake, because I don't have extra. 

Yesterday, I finished the star in the middle. After a bit of a rocky start, I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Karen suggests that you use freezer paper for the foundations, but I don't have any in my stash that fits in my printer, so I used foundation paper, since I did have that.

Our grey, snowy weather has invited knitting by the fire. So my first finish of 2026 is a hat, to match a new coat.

It is my usual Bankhead hat, in my fast dwindling Knit Picks Brava. The colour is Wasabi.

Bear says he just likes modelling baby hats, and I need to find some other way to display my hats.

I started another hat, with purple fingering from my stash.

January seems to be hat month. This is the Martine Hat. I think it will need some blocking.  Winter coats come in such dull colours that a bright hat is an essential accessory to add warmth and a bright splash of contrast to your "Michelin Man" look.

Last April, during the "Great Clear Out", all of the Christmas decoration boxes moved into the living room. They sat there for the rest of the year. When December rolled around, I was able to find a new home for a bunch of the decorations that weren't being used. I am now pleased to report that the rest of the decorations now are back in their refurbished storage area.