Those of you that guessed that I would cast on a sock before re-tackling the ribbing on the shrug were right.

This ball of yarn (Katia Bombay) has been sitting on my table since I picked it up at the thrift store a few weeks ago. The colours were so bright and cheerful… and I found a hole in yet another pair of socks..

I decided I would cast on – the shrug can wait another day or two.

As you can see, I made some decent progress. The colours were so Easter Egg like, I just had to make them in a pattern that rippled a little, so I’m using my Undine pattern.

The yarn is a cotton/wool/nylon mix, which isn’t my favourite to knit with, but it’s not too bad. I had another pair of socks with a similar mix, and they did wear well so I’m hoping these will be similar.

As you can see, I got quite a bit done – I’m only a few rows away from finishing the gusset. But… I do have to get back to the shrug, so these will be put down for a little bit.

But not too long… when Dave and I were out on Valeintines day, he bought me some yarn. The colourway is called Midnight Orchid… and I really can’t wait to see how they knit up!

I planned to get the Blockhead top out of the way on Saturday. But Dave really wanted to go out, and since it was Valentine’s Day… I couldn’t really say no to my Valentine.

So sewing got pushed to Sunday. By then, Burton was raring to go!

It was only 12 blocks, so it didn’t take too long to sew them together, and add a couple borders to build out the size a little.

I laid it out on the bed for the boys inspection and approval…

But… I’m not exactly sure that I got it, judging by those faces.

Whether or not they like it, I’m counting it as complete. It’s not huge, just 44″ x 55″ but it’s nice for a little lap quilt. I cut some more of that vine fabric from the border for the binding. I’ve got a back in mind for it, but I wasn’t in the mood to go digging through the boxes to find it.

Instead, I took some time to cut up the leftovers from the fat quarter bundle.

While I’m not totally in love with the Blockhead quilt – the prints are fabulous. And I’ve got a great idea for a baby blanket from the leftovers.

It was a rotating cast of snoopervisors this weekend.

And they all did a very goo job because not only did I get two rows of letters done

I was able to start on adding the spider web details to them.

So… technically finished the shrug…

But…. I’m not thrilled with the fit. The shrug is one-sized. I’m plus-sized. I knew it probably wouldn’t fit as loose as it does in the pattern. And I’m fine with that.

What I don’t love is the ribbing around the body opening.

As written, it ends up stretched out on my torso. It’s not terrible – I just don’t love it. There’s is a solution though. Rip out all that ribbing, and redo it – with a higher stitch count.

Which is what I’m going to do. Just maybe not right away. Part of me is really aching to cast on for a new pair of sock. Especially since I found a hole in my favourite pair of Felicis last week!

So… should I rip and reknit right away, or start a sock and save the ripping for another day?

While working on the Blockhead quilt last weekend, the postage stamp 8-patches really stacked up.

I put a really good dent in the basket of four patches.

And now the giant ziploc is filling up again.

That said, I really don’t think I have anywhere near enough. The eight patches will be sewn into 16 patches…

And those only add up to a 6 inch finished square. We are going to need A LOT of them to make a decent sized quilt. It’s a good thing mom’s been cutting more 2 inch scraps for me!

Lord Burton Bearbottom would like to wish all his fans a Happy Valentines Day!

May your day be filled with treats and snuggles!

Unlike those prognosticating rodents, Rupert doesn’t think we’ll get an early spring. And he’s staying wrapped up nice and warm until at least mid-April.

In other news… Louis is alive!!!! I was starting to get really worried, because while it’s not warm out there, it been up around the freezing mark all week with no sign of him – but other cats were out and about. But then, I checked the cameras Wednesday night and…

There he was coming up the steps. He stayed for about five minutes for a snack and went on his way. I’m hoping he starts coming around during the day time soon.

On Sunday, I did something I rarely do. I forced myself to work on a project I’m not in love with…. the Blockhead quilt. I explained why I fell out of love in a previous post. And, as much as I wanted to start something new – I knew if I didn’t work on this one now, I never would.

I was really hoping I could finish the whole top… but to be honest, that was a fruitless hope and I knew it. Top assembly alone usually takes all afternoon and I still had six blocks left to make. There was no way to do that AND assemble the top – even though I started at 10 am.

When last you saw the project, it looked like this.

The next step was to create six more of them, but with the colours mixed up a bit. I’d distracted myself a work one day last week by planning that out.

A very high-tech road map, as you can see.

So… I decided to start with the hardest block. The one with the Half-Square Rectangles. There is apparently a ruler that makes these much each to create, but I don’t have it. So I had to take it slow. Eventually, I managed them.

Thought they are far from perfect. But I’m operating on the theory that the cute skunk will distract your eye from the imperfections anyway. And with that block out of the way, the other five went as smoothly as could be.

It still took until dinner time, but I am thrilled to show you all 12 finished blocks together.

I may play with the layout before sewing them together, but as of this moment, this is the best arrangement for the colours/prints as made.

This weekend, I’ll sew them all together, add some borders and finally say goodbye to this project. At least until it’s time to quilt it – but that’s probably a month or two off.

I’ve made some very good progress on the shrug last week.

The sleeve really picks up as it’s decreasing every five rows. Of course, I’m still a fair ways from completion. Once the sleeve is done, I still have to pick up eleventy billion stitches around that body opening and knit miles of ribbing. If I can get this one off the needles by the end of the month, I’ll be a very happy girl.

It’s was Burton’s turn to oversee the tiny stitches this past weekend.

We’ve now moved on the the alphabet part of the sampler, and this weekend’s work went just swimmingly!

We completed the first row of letters (and some candle-holding meeces). Well mostly completed. They still need some orange and spider webs so they match the numbers lower down.

But I will wait and do another row or two. Then I’ll complete all that detail work before moving the hoop up.