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.

It took no time at all to put together the pieces I cut of all my undersea fabric. Add a couple borders and voila… a top for another baby quilt

Most of the fabrics are leftovers from the Fish Called Rhonda quilt…

But I added a couple new things into the mix – namely some pretty blue sharks and some adorable crabby crabs!

Both were pieces from the remnant bin, and I’ve been waiting for something to use them in.

As usual, I’ve got a nice piece of flannel for the back, and more of those crabs (I just love them!) will be the binding.

I’m debating on straight line quilting it… but I’ve also got an idea for some neat quilted waves… and that means waiting until I can get up to Mom’s to use hte long arm….

I thought I had used up all the the leftover Biggo with the owl hat, but i was digging around in the stash and I found another full skein. This yarn is lovely, and oh so soft, so I thought it would be a nice choice for a cowl.

A rummage around Ravely came up with Strangling Vines. (It’s a freebie too!) It’s written for fingering, but it wasn’t hard to adapt it to a chunky knit. A few more mods, and a scarf easily becomes a cowl.

The buttons are for looks only – I sewed the two ends together so it looks like it’s buttoned, but there’s no chance of it coming apart.

The pattern is just a simple vine lace – four row repeat, and two of those are plain. The Biggo blocks out beautifully and all that lace opened up making this a wonderfully light knit, despite the fact that it’s chunky yarn.

It’s long enough to wrap twice so it’s tucked up nice and cozy around the neck, but it also looks lovely worn long and loose – and is still a nice bit of warmth around the neck.

It was a fun, fast knit (thanks to the yarn!), and it’s another item for Natalie’s fundraiser!

But… I was once again digging through the stash looking for yarn for a new project… and I found yet ANOTHER skein of Biggo!!! Gah! Is this yarn multiplying in the stash???

With the Royal Stars top done and put in the to-quilt pile, it was time to pay some attention to another neglected project – Walk Like A Dinosaur.

I hadn’t touched it since I put that first set of toes together way back in February. I only had a few hours the other afternoon, but I managed to complete three more pairs.

The plan is to have three columns of tracks like this, each with six pairs of prints. The middle column will probably go in the other direction.

I’m still debating if the columns will butt up against each other, or haves some sort of sashing in between them.

Before all this dreadful COVID business, I was able to get the two fabrics on the left from Lens – they will be some sort of sashing/borders when I get to that point.

The fabric on the right came from Mom’s stash – and adorable chunk of flannel that just feels like it was made for this quilt!

But… I’ve got 14 more pairs of prints to make before I even worry about backing it!

Ages and ages ago, when I was planning a big full-blown wedding for Dave and I (as you know we ended up going with something much smaller), I was having a heck of a time finding wedding cake toppers that represented us properly. Finding a bride that looked somewhat like me was easy…. finding a long-haired groom…. well that was a heck of a lot trickier if I didn’t want to pay more for a topper than I paid for my dress (which was under $100…I was a very thrifty bride).

Anyway, the big wedding idea went out the window, and there was no longer a need for a topper.

Many, many moons later (sometime in late 2018), I was out on a shopping trip with neighbour Krista and I came across a Barbie doll that looked just like me!

Complete with cat-themed outfit! It was only $10 so you know I had to buy it. But as cute as she is, I was a little sad knowing I’d never find the perfect Ken/Dave to go with her.

That is until this January, when Mattel released this long-haired hunk…

Can you believe it??? I couldn’t. I had to pre-order him on Amazon, but you can bet your bottom dollar I didn’t hesitate. Sadly, his wardrobe wasn’t very Dave-like. Dave is too much of a rockstar to ever be caught in a tie-dyed tank top, and shorts…. well let’s just say in 17.5 years, I’ve seen Dave in shorts exactly once…. when I took him to Mexico a few years ago.

Now, I could have probably made him another outfit myself, but it was much easier (Barbie clothes are crazy fiddly!) to order him something off ebay. It took a few weeks, but finally, Ken/Dave is dressed for success!

No – it’s not fancy, but it’s much more suited to my guy that the original outfit.

And don’t we make the cutest couple? I just need to get some doll stands and our dopplebarbies can join our lego copies on the shelf!

 

While Burton is definitely my little lovebug, he’s actually not much of a snuggler since he outgrew kittenhood.  Not with the other cats, and not with me. He’s usually not far from me, but he prefers to lay on the opposite end of the couch (usually upside-down), or drape himself across the back of it behind my head

So imagine my surprise when the other night, I stretched out, and he came and made himself comfortable between my knees.

Of course, when I’m stretched out like that, Rupert has to get in on the action, as he loves nothing more than curling up between my knees. Yet that space was already occupied…

I guess there’s always room for one more…

One of the things I love about the internet is that it’s full of inspiration. On my last post on  Royal stars, I mentioned that I had an amazing plan for the final layout

I can’t take credit for it. The idea came from a post from another quilter in the Blockhead Facebook group:

Turn your cornerstones into stars! You all know how much I love stars… so it’s got to be even better with MORE stars!

And turning those cornerstones into stars is not that difficult. It just means a few extra steps: First, you get everything cut

Small squares for star points, big squares for cornerstones (or star centres), and long rectangles for sashing strips.

Then, you snowball the ends of your sashing strips

In the layout I chose, some needed both ends snowballed, some needed only one end done, so it took a little bit of forethought and attention.

Then, you build your top just as you normally would and voila! Stars EVERYWHERE!

The sashing stars are  a few inches smaller than the main blocks, so it adds a nice bit of interest to the quilt.

For those sashing stars, I used fabric leftover from the back of Sewing on my Back Porch.

I’m so happy I was able to use it here, because it’s a gorgeous fabric. It was the perfect shade of purple, with just the  right amount of reds and browns to work with this quilt.

Another small thin border of white, then a wider border of the purple floral and this top is complete!

And it’s a wonderful lap size at about 54″ x 62″.

Sadly, you won’t see this one quilted anytime soon. Because of COVID, we’re sticking close to home, so that means no quilting at Mom’s. But also, I don’t have fabric that will work for a back on this one.

Lens has closed until further notice (thankfully Mom and I stocked up on essentials… solid fabrics and threads), and I won’t be ordering anything because our dollar has tanked, and all my favourite online fabric places are south of the border.

Still it gives me something to look forward to when all the dust from the virus mess has settled. And I’ve got plenty of other projects to keep me occupied in the mean time.