Whenever I’ve had a chance to sew, my focus has been on the Night Sky quilt. The deadline is looming, and although Sam is ok with it not being done in time, I’d really like to come through for her.

I make these blocks two at a time, and they are stacking up. In fact, I have them half done.

As you can see, with Relic and my bed for scale, it’s going to be a nice-sized quilt. It will have an outer border as well, just to make sure it’s big enough.

Still, even with these blocks done, I’m not as far as I would like to be. This week should be quiet workwise, but I can’t count on that. I also have a French exam on Thursday, so I have to make sure I spend some time studying.

But I’ll keep at it…

 

We interrupt this Friday Feline post to bring you a special canine announcement.

Please welcome Chevy to the Wandering Cat extended family!

He’s a six-year-old Black Lab/King Shepherd cross. Due to circumstances out of his control, his owner could no longer keep him, so Mom stepped up to the plate to give this handsome boy a new home.

I haven’t met him in person, but he’s a big boy – very tall. Due to an infection when he was young, he only has half a tail.

Jem is enjoying having a new sibling, and the pair get along great. She loves having someone to chase around the yard again.

Pups are always better in pairs!

It took a little stealth near the end, but Celtic Dreams is complete!

It’s actually been quilted since last Friday, but I had to wait until Dave wasn’t around to do the binding.  He doesn’t pay much attention to what I’m working on when I’m up in my studio, but the binding I do on the couch in front of the TV.

And this big beast would definitely catch his eye. I managed to get it all bound on Tuesday afternoon when he left for work.  Finished size is 70″ x 90″, so I won’t have to listen to him complain that none of the quilts are long enough any more.

I normally only show you a glimpse of the backing fabric, but on this one you need to see the whole thing.

It’s from the Stonehenge Solstice line, and it was so gorgeous, I just had to splurge. No clearance bin find for this one, but Dave is worth it.

 

For the binding, I ended up using the same print I used for the sashing. By an accident of math, I cut way more than I needed for the sashing, but the leftover worked out to a little more than the right amount for the binding… it was obviously meant to be, even though you lose the celtic pattern when the binding folds over to the back. It does create a neat little scallop though.

And now the quilt is packed safely away for the big day… but not before it got the seal of approval from not one, but TWO snoopervisors.

It’s a good thing Dave won’t notice a little more cat hair…

This past weekend I did a HUGE clean-out on two places in the house that were in desperate need of it. In the kitchen got rid of anything we didn’t use (why were we hanging onto a sushi dining set when there’s only two of us, and only Dave eats it, and is quite content to do so from the plastic tray it comes in?), had too many of (again, there’s only two of us, but we literally had about 40 coffee mugs).

Next up was the bedroom, where I not only got rid of redundant bedding (store bought blankets just aren’t as exciting when you start quilting…), and anything in my closet that didn’t fit, or I just wasn’t wearing (like why do I have SIX white t-shirts when I don’t even wear t-shirts except to bed? And especially when the t-shirt drawer is already overflowing.)

And last, I cleaned out the hat/mitt basket. It was filled with old knits, single mittens, holey (not intentionally) hats… and other bits of knitterly detritus that build up from a decade of improving your knitting skills. Lone mittens and holey (unintentional) knits got tossed. Anything I wasn’t going to wear, but had hung onto because I loved the yarn or put so much time into making it, when into the donation bin. It was left with a couple good sets, but there was a notable absence of hand-warmers. I had plenty of fingerless pairs, but no mitts or gloves.

I had no travel knitting on the go, just the never-ending poncho, so it must have been a sign. I went stash diving and came up with a lovely skein of Twinkle Cat in “Spice”.

The pattern is Knotty. I’ve knit it before (sadly that pair was one of the ones that got purged due to holes). It’s a nice pattern with a great result, even though I actually hate knitting gloves. (Those individual fingers drive me batty). I’d knit myself some mitts, but they just aren’t as practical as a good, sturdy pair of gloves.

Anyway… I had a long wait for Dave at the dentist earlier this week, so I’ve made some good progress. The cables really require some attention, but it’s totally worth it.

As I mentioned the other day, Sam has commissioned me to make another quilt. This one is for a young lady in her circle who loves the colour blue.

We picked out this lovely collection of jewel-tones, and paired it with with a soft, warm grey for contrast.

Both Sam and I love star blocks, so we settled on Big Sky for the pattern. It’s another easier-than-it looks pattern, and in the two colours it has a stunning result.

Once you get the hang of them, they go quite quick. I can now complete two in just over an hour.

I have 12 more to make.

I’m going to see Sam on December 14th, and I’m hoping to have this finished by then. To do that, I need to have the top completed by December 6. It’s doable, as long as work doesn’t get too crazy.

Here’s hoping…

With Skullduggery done and out of the way, I’ve turned my attention back to the never-ending poncho…

Or at least I tried. I had to do a bit of an extraction first… I wouldn’t mind so much except our snow has melted and led to a rise in dirty paws…

When Relic has been letting me work on it, I’ve made some decent  headway.

It’s definitely growing, but I still have quite a way to go.

The front needs to be at least 25″ long, and I am tempted to make it longer. So I’m keeping to my original plan… at least 4 rows a night (more if I can manage it)

After that, Rupert gets to keep it warm for me.

Christmas is getting closer, and I have to say, I’m really getting into the spirit this year. I’m not sure why, but I’m rolling with it.

It started with this little guy…

A couple of weeks ago, he popped up in my facebook feed, the creation of the crafty lady who made my adorable couch sloth. After I bought the sloth, I started following her on FB because her creations are just so darn adorable.  And as soon as I saw this little Grinch, I just had to have him. Luckily, she had a craft show not far from Mom’s, so he now lives with me!

Then this week, I met up with the lovely Aneesha for dinner

And afterwards we did a little shopping. Since I have all my Christmas gifts taken care of, it was mostly shopping for me!

And that means plants!

It’s just another Christmas cactus, but have you ever seen a colour like it? All pinky-peachy-yellow? It reminds me of my Chicago Peace rose.

And last… before we left the mall, we stopped in at the Lego store, just to marvel at all the amazing creations. But right in the middle of the store, they have bins filled with body parts (sounds terrible, I know), so you can make your own lego men. I just HAD to make me and Dave.

I was going to wrap them up and give them to him for Christmas… but I just couldn’t wait!

What little things are making you smile?

 

 

Okay… while I was hoping to finish Pinkerville by the end of the month, I was expecting it to be MUCH closer to the end. But here we are.

Part of that is because Sam has commissioned me for another quilt, so I needed and empty project box.

Pinkerville was the one closest to being done, so I got to it. It was also a relatively nice day outside, so I was able to do without any interference from Relic. It was nice to be able to use the bed as a staging ground completely cat-fr…

Okay… well not completely. But at least Burton waited to the end to get in my business.

That’s better. As you can see, it’s a good size – about 78″ square.

I still had some of the green dotty fabric cut from the cornerstones on Forest Stroll and they made good cornerstones for this one too.

Happily, I have a back for it already – that lovely chevron-like fabric was snatched up when Lens was doing a big clear out about a month ago. I bought it with Pinkerville Parade in mind. The purple is leftover from the back of Kitty in the Sky with Diamonds, and will make excellent binding for this one! I love it when a fabric plan comes together!

Mercury has finally moved out of retrograde, but not before inflicting some last humiliations on Chez Wandering Cat.

It started Saturday.  Both Rupert and Burton had their annual check up at the vet bright and early Saturday morning. Our vet is fantastic, but she’s also a 30 minute drive away in the same town Mom lives in. But she’s so fantastic, it’s totally worth the drive.

And since she’s just around the corner from Mom’s, I asked Dave to drive us up, then drop me off at Mom’s so I could do some quilting. This was a big ask. Dave has been a daily commuter  (min. 1.5 hours each way) for the last decade, so he doesn’t like drive if he doesn’t have to. Having two wailing cats in the car just makes driving that much more fun. The appointment was also first thing in the morning, so it meant no sleeping in for him either. But he dutifully agreed.

We were up with the sun, got the boys all packed and off we went without too much hassle (other than the caterwauling from the back seat.). We finally arrive at the vet, and go to sign in with the receptionist… except our appointment isn’t on Saturday… it’s TUESDAY!!!

I got both a reminder phone call and email, so how I managed to screw that up, I don’t know… except to say that is classic Mercury in retrograde. Unfortunately, they were booked right up with no room to sneak the boys in. And since it was most definitely MY mistake, I wasn’t going to insist.

I hung my head in shame and apologized both to Dave and the cats for the unnecessary car ride. Dave dropped me off at Mom’s as planned (if a little early), and headed home with the boys.

About an hour later, I texted him to check on them all.

Me: “How was the drive home?”

Him: “Not great. Burton dropped a bomb about half-way there. Stank me right out of the car. I was gagging the rest of the way home.”

Me: “Oh no… I’m so sorry. I hope it wasn’t too messy to clean up.”

Him: “It was solid enough… but he sat in it. I just finished cleaning him up. I think I got it all, but it’s hard to tell with all that fur.”

Now for those who don’t know Dave, that is a HUGE thing for him. He’s one of those people who do not do well with bodily fluids of any sort. I.E., he’s been known to throw a pile of paper towels on an accident and leave it for me because he just can’t stand to clean it up.

Anyway, when I got home,  Burton still needed a little clean-up (though Dave did a pretty decent job). It was pretty dry, so I figured a bath would be the easiest route to go. Burton did NOT agree, and I have a few new holes to prove it. So I gave up, and got the scissors…

Poor Burt.

Finally, Tuesday comes. I wrangled the boys by myself (Dave was working), and we arrived at the vet on time, on the right day, with NO problems! (and nary a caterwaul either).

Their check-ups went well thought Burton is too “robust” and needs to lose a little weight. I told the vet all about his poopy adventure the Saturday before, and said I was thinking of keeping his pantaloons trimmed, as it’s not the first time we’ve had to clean up his posterior. She offered to give him a trim with the clippers, thinking it would be easier than with my scissors…

Once again Burton did not agree. No holes this time but….

There wasn’t much pantaloon trimming… and now he looks a little like a baboon from behind! Lol.

At least fur grows back…

“Oh the indignity… I hate you all…”

 

Earlier this summer, Dave got a text from a friend who was visiting P.E.I at the time. The text read: “How much yarn do you need to knit a sweater?”

Now all the knitters I know out there are groaning. Because that’s not an easy answer. It depends on weight of the yarn, the style of the sweater, and the size of the sweater. Which is pretty much what we texted the friend. Then we heard no more. I foolishly assumed they’d realize they shouldn’t be buying yarn without a knitter present (or at least a little more information under their belt.)

Silly me…

We recently went to visit said friend (first time we’ve seen them since the summer) and while chatting he dropped the bomb. “I have a big ask. I know it’s a big ask, so if the answer is no, that’s totally cool… but….. could you knit me a cardigan?”

And then he brought out this:

A giant bag of the sheepiest yarn I have ever seen in my life. Like this stuff is right off the sheep’s back. The lanolin is so thick, you can feel it immediately. As soon as you open the bag, the aroma is instantly barnyard. And lets not talk about veggie matter… I think I’ll have enough to feed a sheep by the time I’m done knitting.

I felt up the yarn and said to him “You know this is going to be itchy? Like REALLY itchy???”

Yep… he’s cool with that.

I took a closer look at the bag – there’s not a yarn label in site.

Me: “Any chance you know the weight of the yarn?”

Him: “Ummm. I think we bought three pounds”

Me: “No I mean like, thickness of the strand… like-”

Him: “Oh – it’s three plies, I think they said!”

Me: “Yeah… unfortunately, not helpful…”

Me: “Do you happen to know yardage… the length of yarn in each skein?”

Him: “No… sorry…. but it looks like enough, right?”

Me: “Possibly…?”

Then we started talking about the style of sweater he wanted. Slim sleeves, mostly plain… just a basic grandpa-like cardigan.

So, I toted the bag home with me and the adventure began. Luckily, because of Mom and her gadget collecting ways, she had all the things needed to determine how much yarn there was (a yardage counter, swift, winder, and scale). It turns out there more than 3,000 yards – more than enough most likely (The friend is not a huge guy). We’re pretty sure it’s a chunky weight, though a swatch will tell me that.

Right now, I’m waiting to hear back from said friend on his measurements, and pattern choice:

And despite that fact that it is not the nicest yarn, I am kind of looking forward to it. Dave is not even a sweater guy (he gets too warm), let alone cardigan guy (he wouldn’t be caught dead in a cardigan). All I can make him are socks and hats (and he has too many of both).

So once I get the specifics from our friend, I’ll be embarking on a very sheepy adventure!