I’m not sure if other crafters have this problem (and I’m not sure if it’s really a problem), but it seems to Mom and I that as soon as they find out we do a particular craft (ie, knitting, sewing, etc), they try to give us stuff.

“Oh you knit? Here’s all my grandma’s old needles. We didn’t know what to do with them after she died.”

Admittedly, this isn’t near as bad as the people who ask you to make stuff for them for the price they can get it at Walmart.

And we’ve been given some very nice things, including a few of Mom’s vintage machines.

But the other day, one of Mom’s coworkers asked if she wanted a some fabric for quilting. His father was in the process of cleaning out the house and had a whole box full.

Mom said yes, and the next day,  he brought it to work. But it wasn’t a box of mixed fabrics, like Mom expected. And it wasn’t really for quilting…

It was yards and yards (and YARDS!!!) of this pretty floral jacquard. And I mean yards… I don’t know exactly how many, but I’m thinking it was enough to recover a couch, loveseat, and armchair… with fabric leftover.

Mom had no idea what it was originally intended for, or even what she could do with it. She brought it by my house, and I quickly realized it would be a good match for my living room, and I was in need of new curtains for the sliding glass door. The cats are notoriously hard on curtains, so I usually just stick with $10 panels from Giant Tiger.

I had some time on the weekend, so I set to work.

And after removing the cat several times, I had two big pieces cut and ready to sew. I didn’t do anything fancy, just hemmed the edges and made a big rod casing on top. In no time, they were done and on the back door

Within a minute, Rupert was testing out their tenting capabilities (they passed with flying colours.

I still have to decide what I want to do for tie-backs (I’m leaning toward the metal ones that you just hook the fabric behind), but I’m very pleased with the nice, simple result.

The only problem…. there’s still scads and scads of fabric of left… and I have no idea what to do with it all!

 

As you know, I’m under the gun to finish the Burlington sock. While this project started because I was commuting several hours, three days a week, in the last two years, I’ve slowly weaned myself off the office, and hardly go in at all any more.

But, last Thursday I had to go in to pick up a new work laptop. So I figured it was a good time to make some headway on the second sock.

It started off well enough. I got through the ribbing and the first pattern by one station before my final stop. I was admiring it before starting the next pattern, when I noticed something.

I’d completely forgotten the purl ridge between the ribbing and the pattern. (In my defense, I’d gotten up at 5:30 a.m., and been groggily traveling for two hours already.

If the sock had been just for me, and not for pattern photos, I’d have just carried on. Instead, I heaved a big sigh, got off the train at Long Branch, and sat down to await the shuttle that would take me the final few kilometres to the office. It was a half and hour wait, so I figured I might as well start ripping.

By the time the shuttle arrived, everything was back on the needles, and I was back on track. By the time  I got to the office, I was almost back to where I stopped and ripped.

Thankfully, the trip home was uneventful, and I had the next pattern complete by the time I got home.

I’m aiming to finish these up by the weekend, so look for an FO post sometime after. Then I have to get my photographer booked before it gets to cold to play in socks outside!

 

The other day, contractors came to put in new posts for the new fence we are getting. They used a great big noisy auger machine to dig the holes, and in the process pulled up a few big rocks.

After they left for the day, you can bet your bottom I ran out and rolled those rocks over to my patio

The big one is about the size of a volleyball, the smaller about the size of a grapefruit. The need to be cleaned up, but aren’t they just oozing potential for garden decor? I’m going to leave them outside for the winter, the elements can do the cleaning for a season, and come spring Ill decide exactly how I want to use them. I think that big one is going to be painted up and put in the sidewalk garden.

Speaking of gardens, despite the cooler weather, there’s still flowers (beyond the roses) hanging in there.

Both the sage and the lavender are having one last gasp and putting up a few small blooms

The various blanketflowers will bloom right to the first strong frost.

The chrysanthemums are looking fabulous, and the pincushion plants are still popping out flowers too

And last, but definitely not least – another toad lily has bloomed! Oh how I love these little flowers.

It’s hard to say how much longer the blooms will hang in for. The weather is definitely turning. If it weren’t for my collection of warm woolies, there would have been several days where I’d have had to turn on the heat! I’m trying to hold out to November though…

It was a tough year for my roses this year. First, late winter was harsh and I lost both Queen Elizabeth and Tournament of Roses.

I thought I lost Blue Girl and Chicago Peace too, but they both pulled through. But this summer was very hot and humid, and though Chicago Peace is normally a prolific bloomer in June and July, I only got a handful of blooms.

She always shines in October though. Making the most of the waning sunshine, she’s really in her glory now – popping out blooms everywhere.

It won’t last much longer. The frost will hit any time now. But I’ll enjoy every single bloom until it does.

About a year or so ago, I bought a special piece of pet furniture. It was bought specifically for Peno, as she likes to sit beside Dave as he stretches out on the futon, but there’s not really enough room for both of them.

He keeps the Cube beside the futon, and every night Peno joins him as he settles in for some TV watching. And while she does enjoy curling up on the top bed, she’s surprised us by also taking over the “cave” inside.

This is a cat who would never enter a hole unless she was sure there was another exit. We’ve had countless piece of cat furniture with caves and she’s never bothered with one until now.

Pretty much every afternoon I can find her snoozing in there now. And obviously, I’ve disturbed her! Such a bundle of tortitude!!!

It’s taking me a little longer than planned, but I’m finally getting the top of Sam’s quilt together.  The rows are assembled, but I still have to add the sashing between them, and sew them all together. It was a little tricky to keep everything straight in my mind, so I decided it would be best to stop, and do the rest another day.

I’m loving the look of it. The black sashing and bright colours make it almost look like stained glass. It will also get a border or two, to make it a little bit bigger. I’ll have to start looking for something for the backing soon.

While we only made it “official” in 2015, it was 16 years ago that he stole my heart and gave me his. No relationship is perfect, but over all, it’s been a rather sweet sixteen years.