While we only made it “official” in 2015, it was 16 years ago that he stole my heart and gave me his. No relationship is perfect, but over all, it’s been a rather sweet sixteen years.

Back in August, when I was visiting Krista at the Festival of Friends, she was eyeing up a booth full of tutus, and thinking of buying one for Wren.

I told her not to bother, I had tulle at home, and I was an experienced tutu maker.

Of course, it took me months to finally get around to actually making one, but as my vacation was nearing the end, I got the tulle all cut into strips.

I put on a good movie, settled in with the waistband wrapped around my knee, and started tying.

Wren is still small, so this one went much quicker than the one I made for myself in 2015. Before my movie was even over, the tutu was finished.

Krista has promised some pics of Wren modelling it soon – and when she does, I’ll share them with you!

Well, I didn’t accomplish everything I’d hoped to while I was on vacation, but I’m happy to say…

I got the first Burlington sock done, at the very least! The new stitch pattern worked perfectly. Knitting the leg just flew, and it was easy breezy down the plain vanilla foot.

Now If I can get the other one done by the end of the month, and set a date to get all my pattern photos, I’ll be well on my way to having the ebook ready by the en of the year. But before I get ahead of myself, here’s a closer look at that leg pattern.

It’s a take on the traditional guernsey style, but updated with a fresh bold colour. It will look even better once it’s had a little time to block. These pics were taken when it was fresh off the needles.

Now excuse me, I better get that second one cast on before second sock syndrome has a chance to set in.

Random thing #1:

While on vacation, Krista (Wren’s Mom) and I headed to check out a craft festival a few towns over. One of the vendors makes amazing handmade stuffies. I saw this sloth and fell in love. I couldn’t leave without him. Of course, as soon as I got home, Burton claimed him for his own.

Random thing #2:

The temps have been quite cool, and I thought all the butterflies were gone until spring. But the other week, I went out and discovered one last Monarch lingering on the Butterfly Bush. I hope it gave him enough nectar to finish his journey!

The main reason I take this week off every year, is that it’s usually an ideal time to put my gardens to bed for the winter.

Unfortunately, this year, I’ve not only had to contend with a bunch of other commitments, but also the weather. It’s been terribly grey and gloomy here, with a fair bit of rain.

But on Thursday, I finally got my break – a sunny day with weather just warm enough to work outside comfortably.

So with the help of my snoopervisors…

I got to it.

Normally, I remove all the dead stuff, cut everything back, and apply a nice thick layer of mulch. But with the warm weather going so late this year, there wasn’t much dead stuff to deal with. In fact, the gardens looked more like a tropical jungle.

So this time around, I settled for just tidying and trimming a few things back. I’ll save the mulch for when things have died back a little more and it’s easier to get in and around the plants. I also got my spring bulbs planted, and as long as Mr. Squirrel doesn’t find them all, we should have some real beauty come spring.

And while the gardens are getting ready for winter in their own way, there’s still much magic to be found.

 

My Home and Family rose has bloomed around. These beautiful tight buds open fully within a day. And they smell wonderful. I love all my roses, but I really have a soft spot for white ones.

The Chrysanthemum I planted in August is blooming again. I really hope it makes it through the winter.

If course the Sedum is still going strong. I have this Sedum everywhere – Samantha gave me a big clump four years ago. I broke it up and each piece is going strong. I’ve even given some away as it’s grown and spread.

Another Toad Lily as bloomed, and I have more set to open any day. They have tiny little flowers, but they are definitely my favourite fall flower.

This wild Common Chicory popped up by the walkway. These were everywhere where  I grew up in the country. It’s nice to see them in the suburbs.

And all that rain and gloom we’ve had has provided ideal conditions for mushroom growing. I don’t know if this one is edible, and I hate the taste of mushrooms anyway, but I do love it when they pop up unexpectedly!

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a full year since Relic became an official member of the Wandering Cat Clan.

This is how he looked when he first showed up at our door in spring 2017

A little rough around the edges, with fleas, an upper respiratory infection and something wrong with his mouth. While it was always my plan to win his trust enough to get him to a vet, it was the sweet wiles he worked on Dave that made him a permanent member of the family.

Now he’s happy, healthy, and flea-free! But I’m afraid in the last year, we’ve made him a little too happy. When we had him neutered, he was a hefty (but appropriate for his size) 17 lbs. At his vet visit last week, he was an eye popping 21.5 lbs.

All that steady feed and all those comfy, safe naps have made him a little too rotund. It’s amazing how much can happen in a year!

I did as I said I would and went back to the drawing board with the Burlington sock. I changed my stitches up to some beefier patterns and it’s looking so much better.

I’m using some nice smooth House Cat  in Turquoise for this pair. If it looks a little familiar, it’s because I used it to make a coworker a shawl last year. Before I picked a pattern, I’d dyed up two skeins. So after the shawl was finished, I still had a full skein left. And it’s just perfect for a textured pattern like this.

Ideally,  I’d like to finish the first sock by the end of Sunday. It’s doable.. other than a day spent in the garden at some point, I don’t have any other commitments on my time for the rest of vacation.

And only the leg will have patterning. The foot will be plain, so once I round the heel, I should breeze through it!

I was so proud of myself, getting my quilting projects back in order…. but then… something happened…

As I mentioned yesterday,  I spent Saturday afternoon with Mom. You see, Relic had a vet appointment that morning (just vaccinations – no worries), and since the vet was right around the corner from her house, I told her I’d get Dave to drop me off afterwards. Mom’s been trying to get her sewing room closet under control for a while, and sometimes it helps to have a helping hand.

But when I got there, Mom told me she hadn’t had a chance to get bins for organization yet, so we decided to have a sewing day instead. Luckily, I’d brought some fabric with me. I’d just bought a new  batik charm pack and was excited to show her.

You see, back when I made my brother the Deep Sea Star quilt, I’d pulled all the blue and teal out of it to make stars. I was left with a pile of autumny batiks, and when I saw this charm pack on Craftsy, I knew it would pair well with the leftovers.

I was planning on making a small Disappearing Nine-Patch with them. While Mom worked away on her sewing project…

(a new top for Dad’s Argo), I sat at a machine beside her (a definite advantage of her vintage machine collection!) and started assembling the nine patches.

After a couple hours of sewing, she had the Argo top done, and I had all my nine patches together and ready for cutting

I absolutely love the colours, and how well all these beautiful batiks look together. I think it’s going to look even more amazing once it gets all chopped up and reassembled.

Of course, that’s going to have to wait until I get at least one of my other quilt tops together. I had a good excuse for starting this one… but I can’t let things get out of hand!

Here we are, almost half way through the week, and I’ve decided to take a step back…

You may recall that I boasted about possibly being able to finish the Empire Line Cardigan by the end of my vacation.

It seemed totally doable last Thursday, but here we are at Tuesday, and… well.. I grossly over estimated the time I would have to work on it this week.

Saturday, Relic had a vet visit in the morning, and I spent the rest of the day sewing with Mom. Sunday, I was out on an adventure with Wren and her Mom. Monday was Thanksgiving – Dave and I spent it at home, but a good chunk of the day was taken up with  cleaning and doing all the things I didn’t get done on the weekend. And today, I have company.

Now, all that aside, I did manage to get about four repeats done on the last sleeve around all those events… but last night I noticed I’d made some huge, obvious errors, so all that work got ripped out.

I managed to get about a third of it redone, but it was still a pretty big set back.

Now… I could still finish that last sleeve this week if I really focus on it. But you may remember that I’ve got another knitting project with a bit of a deadline… The last pair of On the GO socks.

If I want to release the e-book this year, I need to get the last pair done by the end of October. With my other committments (work, class, sleep, etc) it realistically takes me about two weeks to finish a pair of socks. And while we’re not quite at the middle of the month, we’re getting close. Every minute I spend on the cardigan, is a minute closer to not getting the e-book out this year.

And to top it all off…

I have to go back to the drawing board with my planned design. It was suppose to be a Guernsey-like pattern… but what I’ve charted out is just to small and it’s not showing up as well as I would like. So all this is getting ripped out, and I have to go spend so time with my design program.

I’m afraid finishing poor Empire is just going to have to wait a week or two…

I only had 10 squares left on the Log Cabin quilt. I had an afternoon free, and it was pouring rain – it seemed like the perfect time to bang them out…

And bang them out I did! I still have to sew them all together to finish the top, but that will have to wait for another free afternoon. Once again, I’m so pleased with how these came together.  I’ve always loved the log cabin block, and I love this rainbow layout.

Despite all the scraps I used up in the quilt, I still have a substantial pile of 2.5 strips and squares, so there will be another scrappy quilt in my future. I’m thinking something like this one. But for now it will have to wait – I’ve still got my five project boxes full:

• Autumn in the Country: Craftsy was having a good sale, so I sucked it up and bought some coordinating yardage for this one. I’ll finish off the top in a weekend or so.
• Cabins at Rainbow Camp: As noted above, I just need to trim and assemble the blocks into the top. I’ll have to scrounge up a backing for this one, but there’s no rush.
• Scrappage Patch. Still awaiting sashing fabric. I just haven’t got out to the fabric store yet.
• Kitty in the Sky with Diamonds: Four patches are done. Awaiting  a free weekend to assemble the top.
• Leader and Ender project  (Many HSTs): The HSTs are piling up. I need to get trimming and squaring the ones I’ve done so far, so I don’t have to do the whole lot at once. I’m not sure exactly how many I’ll make. I’ve still got quite a few 4″ squares for sewing them, so I probably won’t be stopping any time soon.