Glove and poncho knitting were set aside the last couple of days while I whipped out another knitted scrunchie.

It’s more yarn dyed by Rowan (Her Wacky Watermelon colourway) – but this one matches a pair of socks for her sister (whipped up by Mom on her circular sock machine)

I made this one a little less wide than the first, and it’s just about perfect.  And it was a nice little diversion but it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled knitting.

I’m back to making individual geese, because I’ve matched up all the ones I had done…

And I definitely want more.  I’ve decided that I want this one to be really big – at least Queen sized. I’ve got lots of scraps, so making more geese is not a problem!

The other day, I was flipping through the grocery flyer and saw that my store had lovely festive hanging baskets filled with pine and birch branches.

There’s no denying, my hanging  baskets out front were looking a little lack lustre, to say the least…

However, I was loathe to pay the price the store was asking…  But I knew a man who could help me out.

It’s deer season, so Dad already some spare pine branches leftover from their hunting blind. And he very kindly cut me off a few chunks of his favourite birch tree on his front lawn.

The other day, we had a brief warm spell (just above freezing) so Relic and I took advantage of the sunshine

And I got to trimming, sawing, tying and arranging. In no time, they were back out front.

And looking so much better. Here’s a close up view.

The berries and pine cones came from the dollar store, as did the ribbon for the bows. They aren’t the fanciest bows – bow-making has never been skill of mine – but they get the job done.

The dollar store also yielded up these cute ornaments, which I strung to the bottom, so when the  wind blows, we can enjoy the tinkling of Christmas bells!

 

I did it!

I completed the top by December 6, and with any luck, as you’re reading this, I’m up at Mom’s quilting it.

The star block was pretty easy to put together, though I did get quite bored sewing nothing but stars day in, day out.  I’m definitely not meant to be a monogamous quilter!

To get a little more size out of it, I added a couple borders from stash fabric. The end result is a quilt top that’s about 75″ square. A nice, decent size.

“No doggo could possibly be more handsome than me…”

I was hoping to have more to show on the poncho by now but…

…sigh… I’m not  even half way yet. It probably doesn’t look much different from the last picture, but I promise, I’m working on it every chance I get

So…. to distract you from another boring poncho pic….

… here’s another picture of Chevy, making himself right at home.

And then Jem… who’s not to be outdone!

As mentioned earlier, I took some time out to quilt Pinkerville parade.

Isn’t she pretty? It took almost all day to quilt her, because she’s a biggie – about 78″ square. I made this purely because I loved the fabrics and wanted to make something with them – though I do have a potential buyer interested in it, which is kind of cool.

And while it looks pretty crazy with all those colours and prints, it’s actually pretty simple: Just nine big blocks with some sashing and a handful of cornerstones.

The binding was leftover from one of Sam’s commissions and the backing was a super clearance steal. I also have enough left for a smaller lap quilt – and coincidentally, I have enough of the Pinkerville prints left for a small quilt too!

And to add one last bit of magic, for the quilting, I used a variegated rainbow thread. It adds just a little pop on all that black fabric.

When I showed you the pics of Chevy yesterday, you might have noticed the bare ground. All the snow we’d gotten in mid-November was long gone, and while not warm, the days were pretty tolerable.

All that changed Sunday. The freezing rain blew in and fell all day. I didn’t manage to get any pictures, but it was pretty,  everything sparkling and encased in ice.

But it also had its downside

That’s Mom’s backyard. A Manitoba Maple (very soft, weak tree) growing in the neighbour’s yard decided the weight was just too much, and came down with a crash. Thankfully, no one was outside, and it narrowly missed my parent’s roof and bedroom window. The only casualty was a small corner of the porch roof, which can be repaired easily enough.

And the neighbour has finally agreed that the whole tree has to come down, so Dad will get more sun in his backyard, and is looking into investing in a small green house. (Something he’s wanted for a few years)

Eventually, the freezing rain stopped and yesterday morning the snow started to fall. I woke up to a winter wonderland.

Unlike me, Dad couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the view.

He had a lot of clean-up to do. Luckily, he had helpers…

The puppers just love the snow.

Back home, the cold and snow has reminded me that I need to get a wiggle on with my new gloves (especially when I was scraping the ice off Dory).

I’ve made it past the thumb gusset and I’m working my way to the fingers. But this is still only the first glove. I better keep at it!

On the weekend, I went up to Mom’s to do some quilting, and of course, acquaint myself with my new adopted brother…

Isn’t he handsome? As I mentioned on Friday, he’s a Shepherd/Lab cross. While the Lab is obvious, the Shepherd in him is more subtle. Pointier (if still floppy) ears, a pointier nose, a bit of a ruff, and slimmer hind quarters.

He was a little wary of me at first, but I soon won him over with a new toy, and some cookies. Okay, maybe lots of cookies. At one point in the day, both Mom and Dad were out, so I was on puppy-sitting duty. And the only way I could get him to come back inside the house was with the promise of a cookie.

If there’s one thing this boy loves, it’s being outside. He had a yard in his previous home, But Mom’s is about 10 times bigger, and Chevy loves to run. Unfortunately, he’s got a bad knee, so he’s not really supposed to be doing much running, but good luck stopping him, especially with Jem out there with him.

Speaking of Jem, she is just thrilled to have a 24/7 playmate. There were several times my quilting got interrupted because I had to come upstairs and check on the ruckus the pair were making.

Mr. Tibbi has also adjusted well to Chevy’s presence.  He just ignores him like he’s ignored every other animal (cat or dog) that’s been brought into his house over his 15 years.

This little beauty, however, was not at all happy with the new interloper. Winnie hid for the first few day, and Mom was getting pretty worried she wouldn’t adjust. I told her to give her some more time, and sure enough…

In just a few days she was back to being the tiny Queen of her territory.

With all my focus on Night Sky right now, the only other thing in the sewing room seeing any progress* is the Leaders and Enders. For the moment, I’ve stopped making geese, and I’ve started pairing them up, then pairing those pairs.

It’s such a fun block, perfect for scraps! The finished size is about 8.5 inches, so once I’ve sewn up all the geese I’ve done so far, I’ll decide if I need to make more.

Here’s where the rest of my projects are at:

• Night Sky – Blocks are half done – all my focus is on getting this top done by this Friday
• Meow-lky Way – Six blocks down, 10 to go!
• Royal Stars – Buildings stars, two at a time
• Pins and Paws – Kitty by kitty, this one is growing
• Leader and Ender quilt – Pairing geese!

* I did take some time out to quilt Pinkerville…. you’ll see her in a day or two.