How Quickly They Grow

 When we were told that our puppies adoption was approved, we did a quick trip to the pet store to get a few things. One of the things we bought was a harness, to tether her in the car.  She was tiny, so it was tiny. Mudd seems to be checking out the whole thing.

It was the same size as my tea mug, so I decided she was a Teacup Husky.

That was nearly 2 months ago, and she outgrew that one in about 6 weeks, so I figured I could make her a new one from my stash. 

It turned out that the only thing I was missing was a side release buckle. So I ordered some online, and started to make the harness.

The buckles arrived this morning, so the harness is finished. Yes, there are Daisies on the fabric. 

It seems the hardest part was putting the buckle on.

It took me about 6 tries to get everything the correct way around. I realized the when I do these on purse straps they don't have an up or down. These ones are curved. so  I kept putting it on the wrong way round. I'll save the picture for the next time.

I tried it on Daisy, and she did her version of the fashion runway strut.

Adorable, though not quite what I was going for.

The good news is that it does fit. It will do for a new car harness.

I am going to try to figure out a larger version of the first one she had. It will make a better harness for walks.

After the sock that didn't work, last week, I am back to a trusted pattern.

Kate Atherley's Baby Sock pattern, at the baby bird stage.

Hotumn

 I saw the term Hotumn on social media and thought that defined it. Our weather has been going up and down. Today it is 13C, while on the weekend it was 31C. However, it still looks like autumn.

The flowers are still doing their thing.

Meanwhile, I've been knitting, and frogging.

This baby sweater will never be finished, so I got real and turned it into yarn I can make hats and mitts from.

My September socks got finished, 4 days into October. Mudd helped with the photos.

I was helping a friend learn how to quilt on her machine, so we made Hemmingway style bags. These are our first ones (a pair of fat quarters makes 2 bags.)

It was a lot of fun to sew together.

I actually got a start on a new bag. I have the card pocket panel finished.

One should always check to make sure that a credit card actually fits in the pocket. I once sewed a bag together without checking and one side was just a tiny bit too small, and the cards didn't fit on one side. Lesson learned.

I made a quick project bag for a friend, and added a ball of yarn and a pattern for mittens. I thought she needed a project bag for waiting rooms and the like.

The epic clear out continues. It is amazing how many things you realize you just don't need. We took a car load of stuff to the church flea market. Hopefully it all sold and raised some money for the church. 

It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. No big excitement, no turkey, just a quiet weekend, with nothing that needs to be done. Hope you all have a peaceful weekend.

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.

Snow, Cold, and Now a Thaw

 It started to snow after my last post. In a 4 day period, we ended up with 80 cm of snow.  If you don't speak metric, that is a lot of snow! It has also been cold.

The snow on the road got plowed out fairly quickly, but the snow contractor for Canada Post got lost, and didn't manage to plow out our community mailbox.

The carrier couldn't put any mail into the box, because he couldn't get the doors open. We were three days without mail. Because that carrier didn't want the parcels to pile up (parcels go into the big boxes at the bottom that you can't see) he went door to door delivering them.  This meant that I didn't have to wait for some beautiful yarn I had ordered.

I couldn't resist these colours. It is from a hand dyer in Regina, SK, Area 51. 

https://area51fibres.com/

Yesterday and today the temperatures have been above zero, so some of the snow is melting. I looked out this morning and saw this on my neighbour's shed.

It looks like someone has piled quilt batting on the roof of the shed.  All ready for 5 or 6 beautiful quilts.

We had Valentine's Day, in the middle of the snow, so I made a heart shaped pizza. If one has a heart shaped pan, one should use it at least once a year.

My February socks are coming along nicely.

I'm just turning the heel, then it is straight to the toe! I have 4 days to finish.

I was looking for a fat quarter for a new pouch pattern I wanted to try. I opened my drawer, where I keep my fat quarters, and it was a mess. So, I spent much of today sorting and folding everything, again.

I still have a few more to refold, but I think they look very good. I probably should have sorted them by colour, but this is so much more fun to look at. I found lots of things I'd forgotten about.

Here is Doug, playing in the snow. He buries his ball and digs it up again. He really enjoys playing in the snow.

A New Year and A Look Back

We have entered a new year, a quarter way through the century. 

I am reminded of the New Year's Eve party I attended 25 years ago. The press was all about the Y2K bug. In order to ease people's minds, a lot of big companies paid IT staff overtime to be available to fix any problems that might arise. We were invited to a Y2K party. It was a small gathering, 6 adults and 6 young teens. Three of the adults were being paid to be available to go into their offices, if required. Three of the adults were just there for the fun, along with the teens. It was an old fashioned, low tech party. We had lots of food, mulled unfermented cider, a Y2K cake, board games, sing songs. At midnight, the teens were sent outside to bang pots and shout loudly to welcome the new year. The dark haired man (First Footer) went out the back door, and entered the front door, with a basket of symbols of good luck and prosperity for the coming year. 

Humourously, about 9:30 PM one of the cell phones rang. It seemed the one of the people on overtime at the workplace had plugged in the electric kettle to make tea, and blew the breaker. They were calling to ask where the breaker panel was, because they were sitting in the dark. A problem quickly solved over the phone. 

This year, it was just us. Two people, two cats, and a dog. We broke out the Christmas goodies and watched an old movie.

I also did my tally of creative projects finished this year. 

My proudest achievement was my Celosia Bags. I made the pattern twice, once to figure it out and once to make it in waxed canvas and waterproof nylon.

I am using the bag with the Caticorns as a day bag when I am going out for longer that a couple of hours.

I also set a goal of knitting a pair of socks per month for the year. I didn't quite manage, but I came close.

2024 Finishes

Knitting

Baby Socks           6

Mittens                  3

Adult Socks           8 1/2

Hats                       4

Shawls                   1

Double Mitts         2

In case you are wondering, this is the half pair of socks.

This sock was finished and the next one started on December 30.

Sewing

Pouches                          5

Bags                               2

Dog Bandanas              16

Receiving Blankets        2

Pillowcase                      3

Reading Pillow               1

I don't like to make any promises about the future. I'd rather see where my creativity leads me. The last few years have show that life gets in the way of making plans. I will keep blogging, because it keeps me moving forward. 

Happy New Year!

Kate

Time to Start Planning

 I seem to have gotten lost for awhile. First, if I commented on your blog lately, Google has decided that I am now a noreply-comments blogger. I am trying to find a solution but I haven't found one yet. Oddly, it shows my name on my comment but not my email. My email is on my profile so I can be found if you want to reply to me.

Edit: Google posted something about the no reply. Not sure how it will work. We will have to wait and see. 

https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/307556668/blogger-has-changed-where-all-of-my-blogger-s-comment-coming-in-email-notifications-are-now-no-reply?hl=en

I have been knitting, and not blogging lately. I have also been doing more things outside the house than I had been doing. Let's look at my best outing of the month.

Engineers in Canada have a ceremony when they finish their course work and become working engineers. At that time, they take their obligation to be moral and ethical in all their activities, and are presented with an Iron Ring by a previously "obligated" engineer. When I got my ring, there were only 4 women in my class. Of course, my ring was presented by a man. I always hoped to present a ring to another woman, and this fall, I did just that. My young friend was my knitting student some years ago, and is about to graduate as a Computer Engineer. We made sure our nail polish coordinated. 

My sewing activities have been restricted to dog bandanas. However, the Northern Lights ones are really cute.

I am starting to plan some Christmas gifts, and I need to get sewing. I was asked for some pillow cases, and I have a purse to finish. I also want to make some new knitting project bags. Add to that the mending that is piling up, I have sewing to do,

My cowl is progressing. It takes a lot of counting. It isn't TV knitting.

I have finished a pair of Double Mitts. They are wool on the outside and alpaca on the inside.

I did a stash dive looking for colourful yarn for the next pair.

I chose the skein at the top of the picture. The colourway is "Vegas, Baby". The liner will be grey.

Mudd found himself an excellent box, just the right size.  I wonder how soon before he finds a new one.

Aurora Watching

For a few days, around October 10, the Aurora Borealis created a glorious light show that was seen in most of North America (and Europe). 

I live on the edge of a major Canadian city, where light pollution makes it so the sky isn't really ever dark, but this is what we saw.

 I want a nail polish in that colour!

My son, in Northern Alberta, sent his sky at the same time.

Much further north and away from any big cities.

So, I got some fabric that help my granddogs remember the lights.

I am making them bandanas.

I am also making them Halloween bandanas.

This is called Little Tricksters.

Fall is here, but last week, I got one last treat of late raspberries at the farm stand. 

My last summer breakfast until spring, raspberries, granola and Greek yogourt.

It was a chilly morning, so I added a DIY Cafe Mocha.

I just add milk free hot cocoa powder to brewed coffee and add some "squirty" cream.

The trees are at their best. winter will be here soon. It is already snowing in the north.

So I started a winter cowl in the same colours. This is a really mindful project, requiring a lot of concentration.

I am actually further along than this, but it will be and interesting knit. The yarn is called "French River- PEI" from Ancient Arts Yarn. The pattern is called Shocktopus and is by Kim O'Brien Evans.

I am continuing to sort through my craft supplies. I have a bag for the garbage, today, as well as 4 bags of donations to groups and friends. I saw somebody refer it it as Swedish "I Will Have To Move, Someday" Cleaning, and I think that is a great description.