Join me for a little stroll around the garden…

The weather remains hot and sticky, but the roses are still trying their best. This one is Scentimental. The flowers are quite small – almost mini rose size. It will be interesting to see if they get larger as the plant matures.

Garden Party put up another bloom too. It’s such a classic creamy colour, I love it.

But Navy Lady is the one that’s really showing off. Look at these huge red clusters!

The Black-Eyed Susans are putting on their seasonal show. These ones are out back, but next year, I’m going to put some out front. They are such a lovely bit of late summer colour.

The Crimson Dwarf Sunflowers are neither Crimson, nor really dwarf (they are about four feet now), but oh well. They are pretty none-the-less.

After it’s near death experience this spring, the Butterfly bush has bounced back beautifully. It’s so nice to see blooms on it.

And last, these pretty two-toned Snap Dragons make me smile every time I step out the door.

I love my little garden land!

 

My favourite apron is on so it’s time to get messy!

It’s jam time!

My blackberry bush yielded just enough fruit for one batch of blackberry jam.

Seven cups of sugar….

And some stirring and boiling later….

Seven and a half jars of blackberry heaven – perfect for spreading on toast!

Another FO for the fair (I love small projects)

This time around, a Kitty Cat Hat (for the child’s hat category). You can read about the history of these hats  in our family here.

This one is for a child of about six years, and luckily, Roxy has a small enough head to model it.  I used Patons Classic wool in “Commotion” and the colours remind me of a nice, vibrant sunset.

With this, I have 10 projects done and ready for the fair. I entered 11 last year, so I’m pleased with my progress. There’s still about three and a half weeks left to complete a few more!

I am closing in on the end of the chenille baby blanket. There’s decreasing at each end of every other row now, so as long as I keep at it, this one will be off the needles soon. I’m trying to do a row or four every night, but it doesn’t always happen.

But with any luck, you’ll see an FO post sometime next week!

I’ve shown you plenty of weird things that happen in my garden, but I’ve got a new one for you.

Remember those pretty orange Coneflowers that bloomed a month or so ago…

A nice pretty orange right?

Well a few days went by and they got a little darker orange…

…that’s not totally abnormal… and they were still orange.

But then a few weeks later…

….um… okay… still a little orange around the centre, but those petals are looking suspiciously pink…

and then later still…… definitely pink. Dark pink.

And yes, those are all the same flowers – coneflower blooms last a very long time.

And if you needed more proof…

Here’s the same plant with the old flowers and a new orange bloom…

What a wonderful weird world we live in.

 

 

Mom had the munchkins this past week (though they aren’t really munchkins and more… one is 10 and one is 15… how did that happen?).

They, of course, hit the sewing machines.

Miss Paisley made this rather complicated clutch wallet.

When they showed me the pattern, I was dubious. It looked crazy difficult. But I should know better. Miss Paisley is exceedingly bright and excels at anything she puts her mind to.

Miss Rowan rummaged through Mom’s charm pack collection and made this very fashionable tiered skirt.

It’s from this MSQ tutorial, and you won’t be surprised to know that Miss Rowan did mostly  by herself. She had a little help from Mom on the gathering and waist band, but otherwise it’s all her own work.

The talent runs strong in this pair!

Because every girl is crazy about a sharp-dressed cat…

I got Relic a handsome red bowtie.

He’s microchipped, and his rabies tag has my info connected to the QR code, but I’ve been wanting to get a tag with his name and phone number for a while. It’s just a little extra protection… plus he looks so darn handsome!

Yes… another FO. I love small projects – they just fly off the needles (also, I haven’t sewn all week!)

For the Adult hat category, I whipped up my Wildwood beret. It’s a fun lacy beret that just about flew off the needles. I used our Stray Cat in Avocado for a nice, vibrant green.

Sadly, I don’t have any modeled pics -mostly because I was too lazy to trudge all the way upstairs and get my mannequin. So the best I can do is this one of it hung over my fence post.

 

 

 

Despite the weekend troubles, it’s been a productive week. The Dora cardigan is finished.

Once I got the sleeves joined to the body and started on the decreases, this little thing flew.

While the pattern is decent, were I to make it again, I’d change a few things. I’d knit the sleeves in the round – then there’s just a tiny armpit hole to seam, instead of the whole sleeve too. I’d also make the button bands two stitches wider. It doesn’t seem like much, but I think it would make them lie a little flatter, and would be a little better for the size of the button.

Speaking of those buttons – I used these little vintage crystal ones from my stash. They have just a hint of blue, which is a nice little nod to the blueberry tones in the yarn.

I love the lace pattern in the bottom – it creates a pretty little scallop, and once you get going, it’s easy to work (only four row repeat, two of which are all purl).

All in all it was a nice little knit. And while that vintage leaf/lace baby cardi may still take first prize at the fair… I think this one is good for a solid second!

 

 

Mom is rocking her new long arm machine, and just blasting through my quilt tops!

I find this quilt has a nice modern feel, which is odd, because I’m usually drawn toward more traditional patterns. But really, this pattern was the best way to showcase the charm pack. It would have been a shame to cut those pretty dragonflies up.

The charm pack was paired with a jelly roll of batiks, and a honey bun of plain “Nile” green. A bit of purple/blue batik yardage for the border finished it all off.

I found this fabulous green patterned fabric for the back at Missouri Star Quilt Co (and on clearance).

But this quilt has something a little extra. What you can’t see in the pictures is that the charm squares have little sparkly gold highlights, here and there. So when it came time for quilting…

I talked Mom into using a metallic rainbow thread. (She had some leftover from a quilt she made Miss Paisley). She used the same loop-dee-loop she used on the piggy quilt, and here it made the perfect dragonfly trails!

It’s so nice to see another one finished. I really need to go complete another top!