The picture quality isn’t great – I had to take it through the glass so I wouldn’t disturb him…

But doesn’t he just look so content? Now that the weather’s finally a little nicer, it’s not unusual to find him on my garden cart.  He doesn’t want to hang out in the house, and is happy to sleep outside when it’s sunny.

We haven’t put the patio chairs out yet, or that’s where he’d be sleeping. He’s going to have to give up that spot next month, because that’s where my house plants spend the summer!

With Woodland Walk off the needles, I needed a new pair of socks on them.

Natalie’s not sure if she’s going to be able to hold her open house this year, so I’ve put making stuff for it on hold until we have a better idea of how the summer is going to play out. So I’ve turned my attention to gift knitting for the interim.

Rowan’s birthday is fast approaching at the start of June. As we likely won’t be able to go see them (they live three hours away). I’d like to have her present done in time to mail it if I have to.

I’ve got a few things planned for her, but one of them was a pair of socks. The Yinyang Kitty Ankle socks to be exact.

And they pretty much fell off the needles, as you can see! I used leftover Alley Cat in Strawberry Yogurt, and leftover Barn Cat in Canary.  I made a few mods:

1. I knit them top down instead of toe up, That’s just a personal preference thing.
2. I am not great at intarsia, so the ears, eyes and nose were all done after thev fact
3. For the ears, I pick up stitches, knit a triangle, and then cast off. I stitched the two sides of the triangle to the sock, and it gives a bit of a 3D look.

Eyes and nose were duplicate stitch, which I’m not fabulous at. But I managed. Yellow kitty has a slightly different nose because I counted wrong, but it works!This is a pattern I’ve wanted to knit for a long time, and I’m so glad I finally have! It’s such a cute result that took no time at all!

And now I need yet another pair of socks on the needles!

Well, here’s one more Calico Star for the pile…

Now I know what you’re thinking…. “But Valerie, I thought you said you make these blocks two at a time? Where’s the other one?”

You’re right, I said that. And I do, because these are made using the eight-at-a-time HST method, which gives you enough for two blocks.

Because it’s a lot of HSTs at once (72 in total), I break the making up over two sessions. In the first session, I make all the HSTS – sew, cut and iron. In the second, I trim, and then sew the blocks together.

So this round of blocks started out as usual… I sewed all my 10″ squares with big double Xs. My machine was being fussy (tension issues), so it took a little longer than normal. Burton was also being a pain… getting in the way left and right. But I got through it, and piled my squares up for cutting. I worked through them all with no issues, until the last one… I don’t know if I got complacent, was day-dreaming, or what happened – but the ruler slipped and…

I didn’t cut through the stitching, but it still wasn’t going to be enough seam allowance – one good tug and that seam would split right open. And I couldn’t resew it. The eight-at-a-time method leaves very little room for error.

I was already in a foul mood from the earlier issues, so I threw my rotary cutter up in the air (don’t worry, I retracted the blade first), and stormed out (after I unplugged the iron). If there’s one thing my mama taught me, it’s know when to walk away.

I let the HSTs sit in a time out for a few days, as I mulled what to do. I could cut another 10″ square of a different fabric, and sub it in. But then it hit me… the quilt only has nine stars. But I was going to end up with 10, by virtue of the way I was making them. I wasn’t planning on making the 10th star, I was just going to throw the HSTs in the orphan block bucket and use them in another quilt. I wasn’t planning on making the single block until the first eight blocks were done, but there was no reason I couldn’t make it right now.

So that’s what I did. The other day, I got back in the sewing room and trimmed up the remaining 71 HSTs. I tossed 35 of them in the orphan bucket, and the other 36 got sewn into the above star.

Crisis averted! Just four more blocks to go!

 

With COVID putting a stop to what little traveling we did do, the poor Woodland Walk socks were being terribly neglected.

I decided to put them into regular rotation (the only other thing on the needles is the Minerva cowl) and before I knew it, they were done.

This was a really fun pattern (and free too!) and it was surprisingly easy to memorize the lace chart. Because the lace is worked across just 16 stitches of the sock, it also goes surprisingly fast.

And it’s such an elegant result. My phone camera is really not doing it justice – the colour differences in the yarn are much more subtle and show off those leaves so well.

The only modification I made was to work the leaf pattern down the toe (re-working the decreases so they worked with the normal decreasing on the toe.

If I was smart, I would have mirrored the lace on the second sock, but still , it works well enough.

This pair is a touch too big for me, so it’s now tucked away safely in the gifting box. And I need a new pair of socks on the needles!

Happy Monday! Although I haven’t been a commuter for about a year, and not many people are driving these days, there’s still a Traffic Jam to content with!
My Leader and Ender Traffic Jam blocks are starting to coming together:

The look like a bit of a mish-mash in this picture. But the final layout will have a nice cohesive sashing, as well as coordinating cornerstones, which will help to break up all that busy-ness.

There’s eight blocks done already, and only 12 more to go. I’m going to have to start pondering a new L&E project soon.

Here’s where all my other quilts are at:

• Walk Like a Dinosaur: Still building dino toes
  
• Calico Garden: Still building giant stars
• Blockhead: Patiently awaiting Wednesday
• Dog Logs II: Building cabins, log by dog
• Leader and Ender quilt – As above, the traffic jam is building up!

Oh Relic….

Rejoice! Rejoice! At long last Winter is behind us and Spring is officially here! The first flowers have bloomed!

I actually didn’t think this crocus was going to show this year. I hadn’t seen it on any of my others checks of the gardens. But I went out on Wednesday, and suddenly there it was. By the next day, it had fully opened up.

I’ve actually planted lots of crocuses over the last couple of years, but for some reason, this is the only one that blooms. It is a stunner though.

And the mini daffies unveiled their full glory a  day later

Relic can’t wait for the rest of the garden to fill in.

And neither can I!

As fellow crafters, you’ll understand how nice it is to see your hard work appreciated. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when Wren’s momma, Krista, sent me these pictures from her third birthday last month.

Remember that dress? I made it back in 2018. I intentionally made it a little big, so she wouldn’t grow out of it too fast. But I guess I made it a little too big, because she’s only just now fitting to it.

But that’s okay. It looks like it’s still a little too wide, so with any luck, she’ll get a few years wear out of it. Krista says she’s having trouble getting it off of her to give it a wash.

And seeing those pictures has me wanting to go dive in the stash to see if I have something to make her another one!

Paws in the air like you just don’t care!

I’ve got another quilt commission. When Sam’s Mom saw Dog Logs, she immediately wanted to snap it up for a mom-to-be she knows. She was upset to find out it had already been claimed.

It was a little on the small side anyway, so I agreed to make another one. I didn’t have enough fabric left to make it exactly the same, but she said she was happy with something similar – dog fabrics and log cabin blocks.

I’d gotten the previous dog fabrics from Walmat, so I hopped on the website (because there was no way I was going to the store if I could help it) to see if I could get more. They didn’t have the exact same ones, but they did have some fat quarters in some pretty cute dog prints.

Once  they arrived, as cute as they were, I realized they were a little heavy on the blue, and a touch dull. She had asked for something gender neutral, as well as bright and cheery.

Luckily, our last trip to Lens before it closed yielded up some brighter pieces I could mix in. I also went through my own stash and pulled out any leftovers that would work.

I had a free hour or so the other day, so I fussy cut some cute puppers for the centre block on each cabin (there will be 12 blocks in all)

Then I got to cutting strips for the logs in both light fabrics

… and darks/colours

Now everything is ready for any moment I have some time to build some cabins! (or in this case… dog houses?)

And for bonus points… LOOK!!!1

Spring is almost here!!!! (I am doing a happy dance right now.)

I needed a new project for the needles, and PDXKnitterati came along with the perfect KAL at just the right time!

I’ve wanted to try entrelac pretty much since I started knitting. Why I haven’t until now is beyond me. But as soon as she posted about the Minerva KAL, I knew it was time.

I didn’t really  have any gradients in the stash, but I did have a lot of Mom’s handspun efforts… since they tend to knit up stripey, I wondered if they would work. I ran the idea by Mom and she said they should be perfect for entrelac.

She was not wrong! It almost looks like I’ve knit with a different yarn on each one of those little squares!

The pattenr calls for Worsted, but Mom likes to spin thin, so I had to adjust a little. This skein is about a sport weight, so I added a few extra beginning triangles on and so far, it seems to be just the right size.  I’ve got about 315 yards, so hopefully its enough to make a decent-sized cowl. If I do, it will likely end up in the Christmas box.