Startitis and a Finish

I will start with the finish. A couple of years ago, I made two Lemonza Phone Wallets and started a third. The third got set aside for other things. I recently decided that it needed to be finished for my DIL's birthday, which is this week. 

Tada! It is late for her past two birthdays, but just in time for this one.

The fabric is Tula Pink, with some pink cork. The lining is dottie but you can't see it in the pictures. 

I also had a run of knitting starts.

I saw a pattern for a narrow scarf and decided that I needed to make it (because it was 30C so of course it is time to knit a scarf).

The yarn is more teal green, but the camera thinks it is blue.

I started my June Socks.

These are DK weight yarn, so they are quicker than fingering. I'm about to turn the heel.

This odd thing is the start of a slipper. We will see how it goes. 

Meanwhile, my garden is growing. My spirea bloomed, right on schedule.

The contractors are gone, and the house is mostly quiet again. I have a bunch of bags I plan to make over the next few months, including one for me.

Finishes

We had over a week of cold, wet, rainy weather. So I settled into my sewing and finished the quilt top.

 The sun came out, as I finished, so I had to take a picture. I made the backing, and dropped it with the long arm quilting lady, yesterday. The binding is made, so the end is in sight.

I also finished my happy socks. 

I tried them on, and they are a perfect fit, so I think they are going into my drawer!

The pattern is A Collection of Columns by Nancy Wheeler. You can find it here on Ravelry:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/collection-of-columns

This is my fourth pair of adult socks in 2024.

The renovations are progressing. 

The flooring is going down this week, then I think we get a break for a few weeks to figure out what we still need.

My Sweetie brought me a puzzle, yesterday.

We have these two plants in the yard, that look nearly the same, but not quite. After some research, the top one is Bugleweed (Ajura reptans). The bottom one is ground ivy or creeping Charlie.  At first glance you would think they were the same plant.

The ducks are still enjoying the neighbour's pool. I saw them again the other day. 

I have some bags I want to make. Some many things, I need to get organized. I keep telling myself, do some every day and things get done.

Another Week

This weekend was the first long weekend of the summer, and, of course, it started hot, had thunderstorms,  then turned cold, rained and was generally un-summery. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I finished my first sock, of the May socks.

 I immediately cast on the second one, to make sure they get finished.

I have been working on finishing up the blocks for a quilt the church ladies stated in 2019. I got the blocks finished and started putting the top together.

The first three rows are finished. It is currently on my "design bed" . My goal is to finish it in the next couple of days. The pattern is Hidden Pinwheel.

I continue to empty boxes and bins. I was sorting through one on the weekend, and after deciding the papers could all go to the blue bin, I was left with this.

Two antique hymn books, an Anglican Service book, and a container that was suppose to hold 4 Nirvana CD's but instead had 3 different CD's. I'm sure that is some kind of meaning to this, but I really have no idea where any of it came from.

Finally, this week, while sitting at my sewing machine, I saw this.

A pair of mallard ducks were swimming in the neighbour's pool.  

So, how was your week?

Spring

 The weather has turned warm, and sunny, finally. Today, it is 23C. The flowers are blooming everywhere in the yard.

Some are native plants. Some are bulbs we planted. It is tulip time in Ottawa. The Tulip Festival began on the weekend, and continues for the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, I have been knitting on my May socks. This yarn is from a new to me dyer, Area 51 Yarns. She is in Regina, Saskatchewan, and has some great striping yarn.

This is one of my silly googly eye heel turn pictures. Now I am on the home stretch of the first sock. 

Spring means it is time to sew purses. I started one yesterday. It is going to be a hybrid design. based on two patterns I have. We will see how it goes.

I'm using some leftovers to make my concept bag. These cats were asking to become bag, again. The cork is leftover from another bag. They look good together.

The reno continues. It always takes much longer that the 60 minutes they show on TV. 

Decisions

 I have been missing because the contractors arrived and the reno began. We are still sorting through "stuff" and deciding what should go where, and if there is a way to give stuff to people who can use it.

We have made 2 trips to drop off Ewaste, 5 bags of books have gone to the annual church book sale, fabric and patterns have gone to be freecycled, along with kitchen items, toys, and other useful things. Sadly, some of the "stuff" just has to be thrown away. No one wants old textbooks, broken plastic items, and other such treasures. Some days I feel like my head might explode from all the decisions.

When the workers get too noisy, I have been hiding, either knitting in the sunroom with the pets, or spending time organizing my sewing stuff. 

These are my very alert guardians.

I have gotten some knitting finished.

These are my April socks.

And a pair of  baby socks.

I finished one fingerless mitt, but then spring arrived. I must finish the second one.

Easter came, and I made a family favourite, Easter cupcakes. 

This year is the 100th anniversary of the forming of the United Church of Canada. The local region decided to make a quilt to commemorate the occasion, with one block for each "pastoral charge".  I don't know who is going to put the blocks together, but I was asked to make the block for our congregation. (What were they thinking?)

This is my block. It is a six inch block, and I was asked for 4 sections about the church. Just try to do four ideas as 3 inch triangles. Everyone seems happy with it, so it is off the join the rest.

While I have been organizing my sewing room, I have been rewarding myself with a few minutes of sewing. Just a small project I can work on in small bursts. Today, I finished this little bag from 2 1/2" squares of Shweshwe fabric. I discovered I had been gifted with a bag of scrap strips from someone else's quilt. I don't remember who gave it to me.

Spring is finally here, so I have some pictures of our gardens.

I saw a cute couple looking for a new home, the other day. They were checking out our backyard.

I think they decided that there were too many dogs in our block, so they have gone elsewhere.

Snow?

 Yesterday, we woke up to this.

Doug looks a bit bewildered. The snowdrops were up and we were seeing green shoots. Then we had a total of 15 cm of snow yesterday.

This looks like some angels from a Christmas pageant partied too hard and left their halos behind.

The birds weren't going near the feeder.

 Fortunately, we were prepared.

It's a Canadian thing. Snow storms often cause power outages, so you need to stock up on snacks to munch on while you are waiting for the power to come back. This is four bags in one. Ketchup, Sweet BBQ, Salt and Vinegar, and Sour Cream and Dill, all in a convenient oversize bag. The chips are from a company in New Brunswick and use local potatoes.

I have been sorting, and clearing stuff out. I gave away about 60 patterns, that I hadn't ever used. I shared fabric with several people, many of them beginners. I have put a number of magazines in the recycling (I get my sewing and quilting magazines on my tablet as digital downloads from the library, these days.)

Now if we can keep our momentum going, we will have a very organized household.

My first April sock is finished and the second one is well on its way. I had some fun with the first one the other day.

 I think that socks look like Muppets when the heel is freshly turned. The stripes make it cuter. 

Today, I finished entering all the information for the income tax. I will wait another day, to see if I think of anything I've forgotten. then I will send it on its way. Not bad, I'm 3 weeks early.

The Clearout Continues

 I have spent most of my time clearing out the sewing stuff in my basement. Some has been claimed by friends. Some will be going to the local "Buy Nothing" group. A lovely piece of wool fabric had an encounter with moths, so is sadly gone into the garbage. I kept a small amount of the things stored in the basement. Hopefully they will appear here soon, as newly finished projects.

This week, we started to have hope that spring was coming.

Snowdrops appeared in a sunny spot in the side yard, as the snow was melting. Of course, yesterday, we got another 5 cm. of snow and today we have freezing rain. Tomorrow we might get +16C, unless the weather forecasts are just teasing us. This is spring in my area.

I finished the purple shawl, making two UFO finishes in March. As a reward, I cast on my April socks, a few days early.

I see I have cat hair on my pants (no surprise) but that yarn is such happy yarn. Who doesn't like a rainbow, symbol of hope!  They are going quickly. They should be done in no time.

This week will have more basement clearing. I hope I might get a little bit of sewing time.

The Great Clearout of 2025

 We have a new project to keep us busy. We have been planning to fix up the basement, for a number of years. We finally got to a point where we had a clear idea of what we would like to do, found a contractor that saw our vision (sweet and simple), and decided to go ahead. Then we heard the horrifying words: "I can start in two weeks." So now we have a deadline to sort through the many years of "stuff" that has been stored down there, doing the toss, donate, keep process. 

This was my giveaway piles of fabric on Thursday night. I found 5 Beaver neckerchiefs, brand new, which is odd because I only have 2 kids.

I mentioned on Friday morning to my church handwork group that I had some fabric and craft supplies to giveaway. They all stopped in on the way home, and took at least half of the stuff there. Of course, I have found more. My DIL, a goddess at posting on the local Buy Nothing group has volunteered to post the stuff for me, and handle the pickups.

It is surprisingly easy to let stuff go, when most of it hasn't seen the light for many years. My sewing space used to be in the basement, and when I moved upstairs, some of the supplies didn't get moved. There are also the hobbies I don't do any more. So very little is staying.

Of my current hobbies, my March goal of finishing a couple of WIP's is going well. 

The Boublay scarf is finished, and just needs blocking.

The bobbles along the cast off are beaded.

I am on to my next WIP. It is called Sobriquet, and the pattern is by Romi Hill. I started it in Feb. 2024.

It should be finished next week. I am just working on the border.

I also started a Musselburgh Hat. 

It is a top down hat and from here it is about 14" of straight knitting. Great project for meetings and waiting rooms.

In an effort to have a bit of spring, I forced some Forsythia branches.

The yellow is bright and cheerful. In a few short weeks, the whole bush will be covered in yellow.

Meanwhile, my Christmas cactus is having an identity crisis. It bloomed the end of November, and then decided to bloom again this week.

More pretty flowers to enjoy.

So, tomorrow is back to the clear out.  We can actually see progress, as more bags and boxes leave the house. I'll report back on the progress.