Because we both don’t already have enough hobbies (apparently), Mom and I have embarked on another little adventure.
Now I don’t know what Mom’s excuse is… but I’m blaming a long-dead relation. When I was about seven years old, a great aunt died and my grandparents were tasked with cleaning her house out. This aunt was a bit of a pack rat… (maybe even hoarder)… and LOTS of amazing (to me) things came out of that house – including a pile of hand embroidered tablecloths, doilies and pillow cases.
I remember seven-year-old me being just enchanted with them! I used the pillow cases on my bed and felt like a princess.
And while I’ve cross-stitched since I was quite young, I never seemed to pick up embroidery, though I always wanted to.
Well… last week, before I went to Mom’s, I was browsing on Missouri Star Quilts website, where they were promoting a new kit…. called Ingrid’s wild flowers….*
I messaged Mom, sending her the link… and she started laughing. It was already in her cart, and her and Paisley were planning on doing them together. She put a second kit in her cart for me, and by the time I’d gotten to her house, it had already been delivered.
It comes in a beautiful tin…
With everything but the fabric inside (there’s a separate kit for the fabric, but it’s denim, and I don’t want to make it on denim)
That said I won’t be starting any time soon… I came home from Mom’s with a cough that has turned into a full blown chest cold. It’s knocked me right off my feet so much so that evening sewing binding is a chore.
I hope to be feeling better by the weekend – I’ve got a lot of sewing to catch up on.
* It looks like they sold out of the first run, but are now doing pre-order for delivery in July
Once again, I have no cross stitch to show you. I went to Mom’s on the weekend and put together a couple quilts.
So now I’m plying this tiny needle as I finish up the binding. I’m afraid I can’t show you much more of this one just yet. It’s a surprise, but as soon as I get it off to the recipient, and they receive it, I will share it in all its glory.
I do have another quilt to show you – but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
As mentioned, the Jupiter socks are done! And on the 29th, so within my self-imposed deadline.
The pattern is Vanilla Latte, and it’s a nice easy pattern, good for busy yarns like these speckles.
The yarn is Knit Picks Hawthorne in “Jupiter”. It’s my first time working with the yarn, and it’s a nice decent, soft, squishy yarn. If feels a little more substantial than their Stroll, and the yarn has a bit of a pronounced twist.
Other than the fact that is was on sale, I’m not 100 % sure why I bought it because they are definitely not my colours. And I’m not that fond of speckled yarns.
But it is perfect for someone on my Christmas list, so they will go into the gift box! It’s always nice to get a start on the big day early!
The Jupiter socks are finished (look for an FO post this week) and it’s time to get something new on the needles. And it just so happens that this little Lady
Is turning seven at the end of the month!!!
I found this cute, cheerful sun dress at Old Navy
And I thought it would look fabulous with a little blue shrug.
I’ve got two skeins of Fat Cat from the stash. The colour is Twilight and it was one of my favourite blue dyes. I’m going to make another Harriet Bolero, but this time with short sleeves. I’ve got it get it in the mail by the third week of March to get it to her in time so I’ve got to get knitting!
Mother Nature continues with her mood-swings. Tuesday the temps almost reached 20C/68F.
The cats were all out in the yard, sunning themselves and there were snowdrops coming up everywhere!
And look!
Crocuses! In February!
But then, Mother got moody, and Wednesday the temps began dropping. Thursday morning we woke up to snow again.
True, it was only a dusting, but the temps stayed around zero all day.
They are back on the rise again this weekend, AND I saw TWO robins in the tree outside my office Thursday morning. So Spring isn’t too far away… but sometimes those short waits are the hardest!
It’s March – and that means a change of decor for Burton’s chaise…
He looks so good in green! It really brings out his eyes.
He just squeaked into the Top 5. And if he doesn’t place 1st in his group in this next round, he’s out of the running. So please keep voting every day! We really appreciate it!
I was hoping to have an FO post for you today, but we’re not quite there.
We’ve got about two inches left on the foot, and then the toe to do on the Jupiter sock. So it will be finished tonight in time for my self-imposed deadline. Which is good, because I’ve got a new project for March I need to get started ASAP. More on that soon.
You all know that, in addition to my fairly extensive outdoor gardens… I have a rather ridiculous indoor garden with all my houseplants. Last count, which was a couple months ago, I had 153. I have plants in every room, in the house with the exception of the downstairs bathroom, the laundry room, Dave’s studio, and Dave’s workout room.
And with that many plants, you’d think I’d be content… but nooooooo I’ve brought several more home on our various adventures since then.
Walmart is a particularly tricky place – as they almost always adorable inexpensive plants. I already have a conical snake plant (like the one on the right) but not one that’s braided like that! And those two little cacti…. well height difference between the two reminded me of the height difference between me and Dave. They had to come home too!
I also already have a Swiss Cheese plant…. but not one in a cat pot!!!!
So Thanks Walmart – that one came home too.
I can’t remember exactly where this moon cactus came from…
I’ve killed several moon cacti over the years… but I’m a slow learned so I’m going to keep trying.
The pickle plant is another plant I killed (last summer in fact!)
But it’s not a plant I’ve seen for sale often, so when I found it at my fave nursery, I snapped it up. Those little pickles look sharp and pokey… but they are actually soft and fuzzy. That said, it still likes to be treated like a cactus (I killed mine with over watering.
My pink Arrowhead plant also died last year… but it wasn’t my fault. I had a pretty bad infestation of mealy bugs and I did a pretty big purge on the plants to get rid of it. The Arrowhead was one that sadly got purged.
But now I happily have a replacement. Arrowheads are one of my fave houseplants. They grow so well with minimal care. And of course, I adore plants that have pink in them.
Which brings me to this next exciting find. Back at the start of the Pandemic, the world got crazy into house plants. And some “rare” plants were going for CRAZY prices (think like $100-$500 a plant!). Well naturally growers took notice, and many of those “rare” plants can be found all over the place now and have really come down in price. One such is “Pink Princess” Philodendron.
She’s fairly small, but I pick this one up for $20. A far cry from what the prices were. $20 is also about the top of the range I’ll pay for a house plant… and only for special, unique things, like my Lifesaver Cactus, or my Bat Flower. Oh – and my orchids.
Another cool plant is the ZZ plant.
I do have a “regular” mid-green ZZ plant. But this one is a dark cultivar (there are several – this one is “Obscura” – but they all look more or less the same). The leaves are a deep dark green – almost black. If you like house plants, but have trouble keeping them alive – the ZZ is a great plant to try. They will take a lot of neglect, including low light.
Now.. on the unique front… I picked up this little Aeonium…
Now this may look like a Sempervivum (Hens and Chick Family)… but it’s not! instead of staying tight to the ground, it grows up like a tree. I learned about them from Gardener’s World… they come mostly from the Canary Islands, and are apparently a pretty common house plant in Britain. Here though… well honestly this is the first time I’ve ever seen them in the nurseries. It will be fun to see if I can keep this one going.
Same with this next one…
It’s called a China Doll plant… and I had no idea what it was until I brought it home. It was only $4 and I didn’t have one… so that’s why I bought it (cheap and not already in my collection is a reason I’ve bought a lot of plants!). Apparently its a bit of a fussy one…. so we’ll just have to wait and see how I do with it. As many plants as I have… I don’t really have any special knowledge or talent – I’m just keeping them alive on the fly! And I’ve murdered more than my fair share over the years!
And last…. this one doesn’t really count as a houseplant on a couple fronts…
It was completely dried out and clearly unloved so I had to rescue it (it was at Home Depot).
It’s going to go in the garden as soon as it’s warm enough.
It’s a Dianthan – just a tiny version different to the ones I have in the garden. It looks like Home Depot got them in for Valentine’s day. I’m not 100% that it’s hardy (the tag on the pot was useless) but it’s worth a try. It was going to die if I didn’t bring it home anyway!
There’s no cross stitch to show this week. Instead, I picked up tiny knitting needles and worked away on the second Jupiter sock instead.
Burton helped keep me on task, and as a result, I’m through the leg AND gusset! I might just be able to finish this pair out before the end of the month!
Wandering Cat Studio 