Wooo! We made it to April! The weather can only get better from here on out! Furby has been out and about and taking advantage of every moment of sun he can.

And he’s frequently joined by Fryburger who lives across the road. As you can see… they are best buds. Its fun to watch them pal about throughout the neighbourhood.

I hope things can get to that point with the cats inside.

Though I think Rupert and Furby might be getting there.

With the witchy sampler done, I had to find a new project for TNT. I wasn’t really in the mood to jump into another big cross stitch just yet. (though I have one in mind I really want to do). I do have another embroidered quilt kit, but I don’t have the fabric for it. So that was a no go.

I did however, have these:

I’d picked them up at Michaels ages ago, because they were small, cute and cheap. They come with everything you need, including the needles. I decided to start with the bee.

I started it after dinner on Sunday. And by bedtime…

It was done! I do still need to trim it up, but it went way quicker than I expected. I guess I’ll be doing the moth next weekend. And then after that, maybe I’ll start that big cross stitch project!

As predicted, I got the Kroy socks done in short order.

I finished up the toe while watching my favourite gardening show Saturday morning. I took some quick pics and they they were right on my feet because it was a frosty day! The were perfectly toasty and pretty

To recap:

Yarn is Patons Kroy in Midnight Orchid. I knit them over 56 stitches on 2.75 mm needles. And I think that’s the way I’m going to knit Kroy from now on! I think I’ve got a few more skeins in other colours still in the stash, so I’ll have to do another pair soon!

The second set of snails has started to sprout!

There’s still three snails in this batch that have yet to germinate, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing something soon. It’s only been a week since I rolled them up.

And yesterday, I stopped by the dollar store to get some more roasters…

Because I’ve got more seeds to start! The top row were ordered from a place on the East Coast that carries a lot of unusual seeds. I got mostly foxgloves, but also some more poppies. I really hope my poppy experiment works out this year!

The bottom row is from a place I ordered from last year. I was planning on doing another order from them next week, but then I discovered I could get their seeds from one of the local nurseries! I got almost everything I had in my cart, but I forgot the mini watermelons, so I may have to do an order anyway (I don’t recall seeing them at the nursery)

So…while you’re reading this, I’m probably rolling up more snails! And maybe even planting a dahlia or two!

Mother Nature is slowly coming around. We had a couple “warmer” days, and the sun even peeked out just a little. It was enough to open up those crocuses!

And the pink Hellebores are really starting to stand tall

The Glory of the snow is still take it’s time

But the new irises in the front box are starting to open

And while things aren’t moving as fast as I’d like outdoors, it’s okay, because I’ve got flowers indoors.

My mystery orchid finally bloomed. And a you can see, it’s a beautiful rich, deep pink. I’ll have to label this one so I know what it is when it’s not blooming.

And that round little cactus continues to push up new flowers all the time. He’s almost got a full crown! This is the first cactus I’ve ever had that’s bloomed so I have no idea how long it will do this for. I’m going to enjoy it thoroughly while it lasts.

Poor Rupert, He just doesn’t get much of a chance to enjoy the Hello Kitty bed. Even Lemmy has discovered it’s delights! It really is the most popular spot in the house! Though clearly, Lemmy is not thrilled with me interrupting his nap!

I think I was still shaking off the effects of the cold on the weekend. I didn’t have a lot of energy… but I managed to get my butt out of the chair and up to the sewing studio.

Over the course of the afternoon, I completed 28 more arrows. They aren’t difficult – just some rectangle units and some flying geese. But I do find them a little tedious… of course, that could be the remnants of the cold too.

I still have 24 left to make. I should be able to bang them out this weekend. Then comes the fun of putting them all together. That’s when this one is really going to shine!

The Kroy Stripe socks really are flying! The first sock is done, and the second… I’m just about ready to start the heel. At this rate, they will be done by the weekend!

Yes… you read that right… FO. Finished. Object.

I finished up the last stitches over the weekend, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Here’s the details.

I started this project after getting inspiration from a few of you who were working on Quaker style samplers. I loved the look of them, done in all one colour so I went looking. When this turned up in my Google search, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. Was it Quaker? Not quite… but it was a sampler, it was monochrome (mostly – there is some orange), and it spoke to my witchy heart.

Though the pattern calls for 14 ct aida, I did it on 18 ct – I just prefer the smaller stitches.

I put the first stitch down at the beginning of August. I thought I’d probably be able to finish it up by Hallowe’en. Clearly, that was not to be. But I never once got bored with it – even though it was mostly one colour. Stitching the witches was a little sloggy, but not too bad.

Surprisingly, I didn’t have any problems stitching with the black floss If my fabric was darker, it might have been an issue, but this natural beige provided plenty of contrast. I think I went through about six skeins of floss, but I didn’t actually keep count.

There are a few mistakes in there… but nothing you can notice without sitting down and counting stitches.

Now some of you might be uber observant, and notice something a little different from the actual pattern:

Yep. I left out a WHOLE section. While I liked the haunted house… those silly looking ghosts just weren’t doing it for me. Short of redesigning that whole section – which I could have done but wasn’t up to – I couldn’t see a way around them. Other than leaving the whole thing out. I did have to add a couple rows to make sure checkerboard border still worked out. I was able to add them easily to the sky above the witches – so again, not noticeable unless your counting!

I think it works quite well without it! Now… it just needs a frame!

Mother Nature hasn’t been playing very nice with us. While we haven’t had any more snow, it hasn’t been very warm. And the skies have been mostly grey.

That means the crocuses have mostly remained tightly closed, awaiting warmer days when the bees are flying. But that doesn’t mean nothing else is happening in the garden.

The Hellebores are continuing to do their thing.

Some Glory of the Snow getting ready to show off all it’s glory.

There’s even some daffodils pushing up buds. The full beauty of spring is only moments away!

The lilacs are putting on buds.

And the peonies are starting to push through!

The sky may be grey, but the ground is getting real green.

To celebrate, I pulled all the pine and willow cuttings from the front boxes and gave them a dose of spring.

Giant Tiger had a whole load of potted spring bulbs. Usually the stores just have daffodils, tulips and hyacinths. But this time found giant crocuses and iris reticulata – a small, early spring blooming iris. They will handle the early cold much better than the other bulbs which naturally bloom a little later.

The two plants are a little tricky to tell apart when not blooming, but I think they are going to look fabulous together when those flowers pop! And of course, once these blooms are done, and I change the boxes over for summer, these bulbs will go in the other gardens!