Finish or Frog

I joined an online challenge for September (and maybe October) where we are challenged to find some unfinished projects and either finish them, or decided we are never going to finish them, and, in knitting terms, frog them. I found a few.

First, I had the three pairs of promised baby socks. These two pairs were finished.

While looking for some yarn to make one more pair, I found a nearly finished baby sock, so my first finish of the month was to complete the found pair.

Three pair, finished and delivered.

Next, I had started a Musselburg Hat. This had is hugely popular in the knitting community but I found it an incredible bore. So hat...

became a ball of yarn, No doubt it can be made into more baby socks.

Next was a pair of fingerless mitts, that I started in April, but only made one mitt.

Now there is a pair.

I'm currently working on a cowl, I started nearly a year ago.

You need to pay attention to the knitting, so this will take awhile, yet, but maybe in October, I'll have it finished.

I also finished my July/August socks. That is pair #6 for 2025.

I rewarded myself for all those finishes with some bright new socks for TV and meeting knitting.

Another batch of happy socks.

The cats have been leaping from my new cutting table to the window in the basement, so we made them a ladder from IKEA storage boxe.

I'm not sur they have the idea yet.

I will leave you with a picture I caught after supper recently. Sometimes, you look out at just the tight time.

Unboxing Quilt The North

On July 1, preorders began for a new Canadian subscription box. It promised to come every 3 months, and with most everything you need to make a small quilt from a Canadian designer. My first box came last week, so I thought I would do an "unboxing".

The box took a bit of a tour, travelling 800 km to get to me from a starting point about 40 km away. Let me show you.

The box is really nice, in bright red with white moose, maple leaves, maple keys and trillium. 

Custom printed tissue on the inside.

This month's pattern is by Leanne Parsons of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The fabric is from Northcott, a Canadian fabric company. There is enough to make the top, back and binding for a 30" quilt.

And there is more!

There is a bonus pattern for a quilt block, if you want to make a Canadian quilt, as you go along.

The bonus patterns are from Monika Henry of Penny Spool Quilts. Monika is also the curator of the subscription boxes.

We also got a couple of goodies from NL.

There is an artist card from Leanne with a pattern for a maple leaf block on the back, a larger card telling us about Leanne and her work.

I love the little art print of a puffin. The artist is Amber McLure Hutton. Someday I want to go to Newfoundland and see the puffins.

There is also a packet of Pineapple Crush drink mix, apparently popular in Newfoundland.

The quilt looks like lots of fun, and good practice. I need to do the cutting then I think I can start doing some leaders and enders. 

If you would like to try the box, you can check out the website.

https://www.pennyspoolquilts.com/collections/subscription-box

What's the Story, Morning Glory!

 

The morning glories on the fence have started to bloom.

We might get tomatoes soon. We are having a drought so the pots need to be watered.

Things are not as bushy as they were last year.

The two main men in my life left on an adventure, this morning. They are off exploring Vancouver Island. Meanwhile, I have the house to myself, and I can think of lots of things to do but too many of them sound like work.

I have finished 3 of the requested 6 baby socks. I also started the second sock of the July/August socks.

I made the smaller adventurer a pair of cargo shorts to take with him.

Four pockets!

It was the cats' Gotcha Day. They got their favourite chicken to celebrate their third year with us.

Mudd is looking for his chicken, while Emme is chilling under her chair in the sun room.

We said good bye to our Doug Dog . He has been my big goofy companion for nearly 11 years. The house feels very empty without him.

We're Having a Heat Wave

The current temperature, according to the thermometer in my kitchen window, is 35C. which is 95F if you don't speak Canadian. I sat outside for awhile, but I am now hiding in the A/C.  I'm a delicate little flower, who wilts when I get too warm.

Yesterday, I was doing some sewing prep in the basement'

I'm using my lovely big table to tape together a pattern for cargo shorts. The young man in my life likes lots of pockets in his shorts. The printer paper turned up during the great cleanup. so I figured I would use it to print my patterns. 

This is the fabric. It also turned up in the great cleanup.

I received requests for 3 pair of baby socks.  So my evening knitting has been the little socks.

I finished the red sock, but was having a hard time casting on the second sock in the late evening, so I cast on a blue one. They will all get done in the end.

I finished the first sock of my July/ Aug. pair.

I broke my usual rule and didn't immediately cast on the second sock. However, it is up next, after the baby socks.

In my buy Canadian effort, I found this yarn. It is actually from a very local hand dyer, and the yarn is from Ontario sheep and goats, and spun in Ontario.

They look like they might like to become mosaic socks or gloves or?

The heat is suppose to continue into the week. If you are looking for me, I'll be in the basement.

The Big Reveal!

 Not such a big reveal, just the bag I finished last weekend, and sent off to it's new home. I received confirmation that the parcel arrived, so I will reveal it to the world.

This is the Heidi Clutch by Swoon.  It started out as a scrap of fabric, that was asking to become a bag. This was further confirmed by the fact that I had everything I needed in my stash. If I needed more confirmation, I had the perfect cork fabric to match.

This is the back of the bag.

The phone pocket on the back, and the cute charm on the zipper.

The bag opens out.

The inside is open. Not my usual pockets on the inside.

Of course, this is the strap I showed you last time.

The strap is my own design, the pattern has a wrist strap, but a crossbody strap is so much more convenient.

Meanwhile, my 8 YO helper learned how to wind yarn into cakes this week, and a new pair of socks have been  started.

And we turned last week's jam into Strawberry JamJam muffins. (JamJams are a cookie popular cookie from the Newfoundland.)

The muffins have a dollop of jam in the middle. The recipe can be found here.

https://dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/canadian-goodness/recipes/yogurt-strawberry-jam-jam-muffins

Hot Times

 We have a heat warning and an air quality warning, today. The sky has a grey haze, so  I am hiding in the house.

Sewing has been hit and miss, but I got another bag finished. It is on its way to its new owner, so let me show you the strap.

The bag is entirely from my stash, so it was free, right?

Meanwhile, our garden is blooming.

We have a bell pepper plant. I'm not sure what has happened to the first pepper, but, we have a pepper.

I started a pair of top up socks, and it was going well, until I got to the heel. I now remember that it is the heels that give me problems in toe up socks.

This is before I started the heel, and things went wrong. Last night, I decided I wasn't having fun, and the yarn is now wound into a ball, and will have to be something else.

Yesterday, I visited a new-to-me quilt group. They have a lovely room, with big windows, and air conditioning.  I was asked to join, and  of course, I agreed. It seems that quilt groups need a computer support person, so apparently I already have a new job.

This week, we are going to swimming lessons. Our not so little guy goes every morning, at the public pool near our house. It brings back memories of when his dad did the same thing.

Some of the starts are now finished !

 I am not a fan of hot weather. My sewing space is the hottest in the house, so sewing is done in brief sprints. However, progress is being made.

The socks I showed you in the last blog have been finished.

Nice warm boot socks knit in 30C temperatures.

The slipper I had started last time was suppose to be a preview knit for a designer. The preview knitters found some problems that the designer realized were bigger than she first thought, so that knit is now on hold. I am glad there are designers who test patterns with a wide range of knitters, so the pattern problems are ironed out before the pattern is put into the designers shop. In this case the problem only showed up when the pattern was knit with a variety of yarns.

Since I had some spare knitting time, I made a pair of baby socks from the leftovers of my May socks.

Because I was using the leftovers, it wasn't possible to make them match, but I bet the baby won't mind.

I made a bag. This is the Emmaline Retreat Bag, in size small. It has a metal frame to keep it open when in use. I filled it with tools and gave it as a graduation gift to my young friend who just graduated in Computer Engineering. She likes the fabric. 

I used a rainbow zipper because it suited the bright colours. I no longer try to match my zippers to the fabric, exactly and instead try for something that compliments the fabric. The zipper pull is a Baby Yoda.

Once I got started on the big sort of the basement, I just can't stop. This week, I sorted through all the hats, mittens, and scarves. I found this treasure.

These are "courting mittens". I saw a set in a store, when I was a university student. I decided to try and make them, since the ones in the store were out of my price range. I gave them to my then boyfriend, and I still have the mitts, and married the boyfriend.

I need to go and plan tomorrow's program at "Camp Nana". I think we are making strawberry freezer jam.