Another Christmas present has been ticked off the Christmas list!

This one is the aptly named Moose Hat. I love making hats as presents because they are practical, almost everyone can use a good winter hat, and they knit up pretty darn quick.

I had this one done in a couple of evenings, though I could have finished it in one, I just kept getting distracted by other things (I’m looking at you facebook games!)

I normally take pictures of hats on my mannequin head, Roxy…. but I seemed to have misplaced her (she’s not exactly small, so I’m not sure how I did that…). I had to model this one myself.

It’s a little big on me, which means it should fit the recipient perfectly! Now to see what else I can mark off my list quickly…

As you know, I frequently snap up random remnants from the sale bin at Lens. (Or at least I did, before COVID… it’s very slim pickings now). One of those finds was this pretty chunk of flannel.

I love that peachy coral fabric and it reminded me quite a bit of the colours in the Rosey Posey quilt I just made. Since that quilt only used 16 of the 42 squares in the layer cake, I still had enough to make a second baby quilt.

So I got to sewing…. the dizzy daisy blocks are perfect for chain piecing. It took me no time at all to get them together.

Those stripes took a little extra care to make sure they were headed in the right direction, but they were worth it! I want to make MORE striped flowers now.

But that can wait. For now I have 16 pretty blossoms (there are two of each print)…

…all ready to be turned into a top!

Here it is… that stinky, smelly, itchy hunk of cardigan….

After a good long soak in some water and Euclan, it smells marginally better. You would not believe the colour of the water when I pulled it out – pure mud puddle. I’m starting to think the fleece wasn’t washed at all before being spun – I’ve never had soak water look like that… EVER!

Anyway, you all know how I feel about the yarn… it’s probably a good thing I don’t know where it came from – it wouldn’t be good advertising for the yarn company. The pattern however, is the East Hale cardigan. It’s a decent pattern, and just a plain, simple, grandpa style cardigan. The only mod I made was to add a button band, as the pattern is written for a zipper.

It’s hard to get a decent shot without a model, and Dave refuses to put it on (can’t say I blame him). It doesn’t look great on the hanger, so I decided to lay it out flat, and within seconds…

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It’s no secret that this has been a favourite of every single cat in this house. There’s still several skeins of yarn left, so I may give them a really long bath, and make my furry overlords a little blanket or something.

Here’s a better look without a giant cat butt in the way

One thing is for sure, regardless of itch and smell, it’s going to be a warm garment.

Because of COVID, we won’t be seeing this friend for a while (he lives in one of the major COVID hotspots in our province), so I’ve packed it up and put it in the mail for him. It should arrive any day now.

It’s November first, so you wouldn’t expect to see much by way of garden stuff would you…. but I’ve been saving these little late-blooming beauties for you….

Long-time readers will recognize these as my Toad Lilies. I first discovered them a few years ago, and they quickly became a favourite of mine.

They are small, the blooms aren’t much bigger than a nickel. They are late-blooming – they don’t start blooming until mid-October, but keep going until we get a good frost (about the beginning of November). And they love shade! The front garden is mostly shade, so they are a nice little bit of cheer in a garden that’s tough to plant.

I’m supposed to have three varieties, but one has never bloomed. Still. The two I have are pretty enough, and always something to look forward to this time of year.

And for extra credit:

My Passion Flower was brought inside before things got too cold out, and she’s been showing her appreciation by popping out flower every other day or so!

Who says November has to be dreary?

Good day, ghouls and goblins! It’s the most wonderful day of the year.

I’ve always loved dressing up and getting candy, and giving candy out (usually while dressed up) is almost as fun. Sadly, this year we’re not around to cater to the trick-or-treaters. I’m not too upset, I’ve put together a few packages for our favourite neighbourhood kids, and I’ll give it to them the next time I see them.

Miss Wren is one of those kids. A few days before Hallowe’en, she and her mom were doing a little dry run of her costume to make sure everything fit, and she just had to come over and show me.

In truth, I think she really wanted to show Dave – she turned him into a frozen frog with her wand the minute she saw him. Her spell is”Bibbity-bobbity-boo – I froze you!”, just incase you have occasion to turn someone into a frozen frog.

While Dave was thawing, and regrowing human features, Krista and I were chatting and we noticed that the sleeves on her Magical Majesty’s gown were pretty thin! Perhaps she was the real frozen one!

I ran upstairs to my closet to see if I had something that would complement her royal wardrobe.

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Some of you may recognize that as my Eostre shawl. Isn’t it just the perfect thing? Krista refused to take it at first, especially after I told her it was alpaca and silk. But it’s been sitting in my closet doing nothing for years. Obviously it was made for this moment!

Forget diamonds…

Kitties are a girls best friends! Especially this kitty!

Another quilt finished this weekend was the Christmas kittens quilt which will be raffled off to support Bee Meadow Farm.

Isn’t it sweet. It turned out just how I expected, and I love it when that happens.

It’s not a huge quilt, about 52″ square, but it’s a nice size for curling up with on a frosty night.

And it’s full of cute, festive kitties!

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The back is a nice, soft chunk of mottled green flannel.

As soon as Natalie announces the raffle details, I’ll let you all know. You won’t want to miss out on a chance to win it!

As mentioned earlier this week, with the Barnyard Cardigan done and dusted (It’s STILL drying), I was ready to start something new. Something COMPLETELY opposite than that big, bulky, stinky, drab grey pile of itch.

So I give you the Bogatell cardigan! I’ve planned to knit this one for Rowan for Christmas for ages, and because it’s fingering weight, I really should have started sooner than this, but we all know how this year has gone.

Still, I’ve picked out my colours…

It’s all Alley Cat – the main colour is the green (Gecko Toes), with Pink (Rosie), and Blue (Sea Spray) for the stripes. I’ve only been working on it for a couple evenings…

But I’ve gotten through a full stripe sequence on the yoke. I’m increasing right now, so its slow going. There’s also a pretty little twisted rib detail at the raglans, which takes a little more time…

But it’s worth it.

Hopefully once I’m through the yoke, these cheery colours will help this one just fly!

The bolt of black fabric Mom and I ordered still hasn’t arrived. Apparently it’s on backorder (I really hate it when places sell things they don’t actually have in stock).

I’ve been itching to get Rosey Posey quilted, but I really wanted to bind it in black. Luckily, Mom still had some of the subtle grey-on-black print I used to bind Rainbow in the Dark. So on the weekend I got down to quilting and binding and voila!

Isn’t it just the sweetest? The Dizzy Daisy is such a fun, easy block. I’ll definitely make many of of them.

This is just a wee quilt – only 36″square, as I had just over a yard of flannel that was too perfect for the back

Still, babies need blankies of all sizes, and this one is just perfect to pop in a bag and go visiting with!

It’s now in the shop and hopefully will find a new home soon!

I am happy to say that the barnyard cardigan is DONE!!!! It’s blocking now, but you probably won’t see it until some time next week – it’s big and thick and it’s going to take a while to dry.

In celebration, I’ve cast on several new things. First is a pair of socks for Dave for Christmas.

They are nothing fancy, just 100% vanilla in a Kroy self-striper. I was in the mood for something seasonal, and while they may not seen autumn at first glance, to me they are the perfect reflection of this time of year. It’s almost always grey and drab with pops of colour in unexpected places.

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I don’t expect to whip through this pair like I have the last few. They are mostly going to be a background project with my main focus on other things. Stay tuned for more colourful knits!