Neighbour Krista does not need surgery for her broken foot. She saw the specialist early in the week and was told no surgery, and she got switched to a walking boot!
And while it is wonderful, she no longer has a need for the giant sock I made to cover the cast. (She literally found out the day after I finished!)
Still… I realized I’ve never made her any socks, so I frogged the giant one, and started a normal sized pair.
There’s no rush for them, but I’m aiming to have them off the needles by next weekend. Just because.
.… which cats don’t like to get their pawsies-wasies wet???
Our weather has been up and down lately. When it’s really cold, everything is frozen and these two won’t even go outside. But as soon as it gets above freezing, the catio is mudhole, and they just hang out on the garden cart.
As soon as spring comes, the catio green space is getting a revamp. I’ll have to be sure to include some areas that stay high and dry!
Back at the end of the year, I signed up for a little challenge. Along with cross-stitching, drawing and painting was a HUGE part of my youth. It’s really where all my craftiness started. Up until I started knitting in my 20s, I was most likely to be found with a pencil and a sketchbook. You’ve seen a little of my artistic talents here, but it’s something I’d like to bring back into my life on a more regular basis.
So, when a facebook friend posted about the 30-Day Sketchbook Challenge, I though it would be an ideal way to polish up my rather rusty skills, without having to commit masses of time to it each day. It’s much like Inktober (for those of you who participate) – you get a prompt each day, and you can interpret it any way you wish, spending as much or as little time on it as you want.
I set myself some simple rules. I’d be working in pencil only, and spending no more than 15-minutes on each sketch. I want to get back into the habit of drawing, but I don’t want it to become a chore. It’s not about being a da Vinci – these are just quick practice sketches. Like warming up before a marathon.
We are 13 days in, and so far, I’m enjoying it.
I’ve had to get creative with a few. As I’m sketching in only pencil – “Pink” was a challenge. But I figured it would be obvious that Rupert’s little beans are pink. And I didn’t have any feathers, or cake in the house, so I had to use internet photos for those. And trying to get a few pebbles from the frozen ground… harder than you think!
I’m looking forward to finishing out the month – then finding way to bring a little artwork into my daily routine afterwards.
The other day, I went back to those naughty unicorn blocks and finished up the other five.
With everything prepped and ready to go, it didn’t take long. Since I’d messed up on the cutting, I only had enough for six blocks total. I needed more blocks to go with them . I came up with some fun rainbow fabric that had a very similar colour scheme.
I got everything cut and prepped, and of course couldn’t resist putting just one together.
The other five will wait for another session. Before I packed up for the day, I thought I should get Burton’s opinion…
He immediately pointed out that those “unicorns” have wings… therefore they are pegacorns!
Last week I showed you my little dragonfly. All I had left to do was the outline. I used to dread doing the outlining. I’m not sure why. I think it’s because I have a very short attention span. By the time I’d get to the outline stage, I was already bored with the project!
For this one, I decided to start with the frame outline, because it was simpler.
And it went pretty well. The outline of the dragonfly took a little more time…
But that wasn’t too bad. And it really does make a difference to the final project. In cross stitch, outlining is rarely a step you can skip!
And now it’s framed and ready to join its butterfly mate on Mom’s bathroom wall!
And I’ve got some blue aida cloth on order, so I can start my next tiny needle project!
P.S. … after a little digging, I discovered that it was me (not Mom) who started this project. Way back in 2009!!!!
The very same day that neighbour Krists heroically rescued my mis-delivered yarn package, she went out to groom some parrots, stepped of a stool badly, and broke a few bones.
On her left foot, she broke on of her toes. Which while painful, is manageable. But on her right foot… she fractured one of the long bones that run up to the ankle. It’s going to take a lot longer to heel, and she may need surgery.
She reached out to me with a plea. “Can you make me a sock big enough to go over my cast? My toes are freezing!!!”
After she swooped in to help me out with my parcel, how could I possibly say no.
She gave me some measurements, and I got knitting.
The yarn is ICE yarns Glamor Sock. Mom bought it a few years back for her sock machine. But she didn’t realize it was sport weight. As it was too heavy for the machine, she gave it to me. I though it would be idea for this project. I made the socks to the measurements Krista gave me… but it still looks HUGE to me. I won’t get down to deliver it until the weekend, so I’m going to try to knit a smaller back-up sock, just in case. This one only took me a few evenings, so I should be able to get one done in time.
I have a sunny little story for you on this fine Sunday… (at least I hope it’s fine where you are).
Dave and I have a bad habit of grabbing fast food whenever we run into town (which before Christmas seemed like every other day). One particular day, he really wanted a burger from Harvey’s, but I wasn’t terribly hungry, so I decided I’d just get a kid’s meal.
I completely forgot that kid’s meals come with toys! In this case it wasn’t a toy, but an “Activity Pot” – a little compressed soil disc, and some sunflower seeds.
You totally know I wasn’t going to just toss it! As soon as we got home, I soaked the disc in water, planted the seeds, and put it on my kitchen window.
There were five seeds, but only two sprouted. I’ve been diligently caring for them for a few weeks now, and the other day I decided I better get them in a bigger pot with some better soil soon, or they were going to wither.
I wasn’t wrong – those little roots were trying hard to escape the little pot.
Now they are repotted and happily hanging out with Baby Groot and the other plants under the grow light. Hopefully in a few more weeks, I’ll have to upgrade them to an even bigger pot!
When I showed you my last Oh My Stars quilt top, I mentioned that it’s a great pattern for leftovers. So much so, that I cut up the left over of my space prints to make another one.
I had two helpers with the layout this time! Once the fabrics were in place in the design bed, Rupert left to go do other cat things, but Burton was committed.
He stuck it out through the whole assembly.
And I think he’s pretty pleased with the result!
I’ve got some fun rocketship flannel for the back, and tiny stars for the binding. I’m hoping to head to Mom’s at the end of the month for a little quilt-a-thon. But that will all depend on COVID case counts. Omicron is just raging right now.
When I wrote my Christmas post, I completely forgot to share the gift I got for Mr. Relic.
Of course… it begins with a story.
Before we finished the living room, Relic would sit beside me on the futon every night. When the living room was finished, I switched to the road recliner. You’ve seen how that works out with all the cats.
And while Relic will occasionally put up with the other cats in his space, more often than not, he gets up and leaves. Then he lays on the floor and gives me sad face.
He really needed his own piece of furniture. I really want to get him something like this.
… but I can’t justify spending a few hundred dollars on a couch for the cat, when I have never spent that on a human couch (we’ve actually gotten all our living room furniture for free, or close to it… but that’s another story).
So instead, I got in an inexpensive dog bed from Walmart.
At first, it was hard to tell if he really liked it much or not. But eventually….
I still don’t have the needle for Hemlock Ring. I was a complete idiot and didn’t notice that it was being sent to my old address until it was delivered on tracking, and I realized it was delivered to the wrong house! Happily, former neighbour Krista came to the rescue and retrieved it for me! She’s holding on it until I can get down that way.
And it’s not like I don’t have enough projects to keep me busy….
I was so close to finishing the Koi Pond socks that it didn’t take long to get them on the blockers
Of all the people I make socks for… I think making socks for myself is my favourite. Not only do I get to keep the socks at the end of it… but I prefer shorter socks, and I have small, narrow feet. So making socks for myself is just so quick compared to making them for others!
This pair is nothing fancy – just a 2-2 rib. I let the yarn do all the work. And it’s such a great colour combo, it really doesn’t need anything complicated to shine.
And as much as I like making socks for myself, this will probably be the last pair I make for me for quite a while. My sock drawer is getting really hard to close – and I even tossed out some worn out pairs at the start of the year.
Wandering Cat Studio 