It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. So I thought as a little thanks to all of you, I’d offer 30% all yarn in the shop. Just use the code THANKS30 at check-out. Today and Monday only! Treat yourself!

www.wanderingcatyarns.etsy.com

Fall is marching on, but the weather has been mostly good and the garden is hanging in there.

Clockwise from top Left:

1. The Peach Dalmation Foxglove is having a last gasp. I really hope it comes back.
2. The Beard Tongue is such a neat looking plant. It blooms with both pink and purple flowers… I think this bunch looks like a troupe of trumpeters.
3. You  know I have snapdragons throughout my garden, but I think these pinkish white ones are my favourite. I’ve saved some seeds in the hope of having them again next year.
4. Sedum… the staple of the fall garden. I’ve got this dark pink beauty throughout the gardens thanks to Samantha.
5. The colour-change Coneflowers are still blooming. I think I like them best at this in-between colour.
6. I have the pincushion plant in two colours – purple, and this pale pink here. I love them both. Such a unique plant that blooms from spring to fall.
7. Ah, catnip. I’ve got tonnes of it, and it just keeps blooming!

And speaking of hanging around….

Thanks to mom, I’m the proud owner of an antique bird cage… and two little quartz doves. I’ve wanted one of these for a while… they can be quite expensive, so I asked Mom to keep her eyes out for one at a good price… and as always… Mom delivered. It’s on the small size, but it’s just perfect for a garden project I’ve been wanting for a very long time. Now I just have to decide… flowers or succulents?

Of course, I have until spring to make a decision…. but what do you think?

Play with ME!!!

I did it!

The first sleeve of the Empire Line Cardigan is complete! Now I know what you’re thinking… “gee Valerie… that sleeve looks a mite short…”

I was looking at it thinking the same thing. But, I followed the pattern instructions exactly. I even double checked. I think the issue lies in the yarn… the original is done in an alpaca/silk blend. If you know anything about those two fibres, you’ll know neither has memory, and they grow a lot. (I made the mistake of making Dave a ribbed sweater in that yarn, and it just kept getting bigger…). The yarn I am using is a merino/cashmere/acrylic blend – it’s just not going to have the same growth. This picture is pre-blocking, so i with the lace, it will open up and lengthen some more, but I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to end up with 3/4 sleeves on mine.

I can live with that. I generally prefer a shorter sleeve anyway because I like to wear bracelets. I could, in theory, rip back and add  a few extra repeats to the sleeve before decreasing for the cap, but:

a) I really don’t want to rip back, and;

b) I am perilously close to running out of yarn. Now that I’ve finished one sleeve, I know I have enough for the second, but there is also a small decorative edging around the neckline. If I add length to the sleeves, I definitely won’t have enough left for that.

I’m on vacation next week, so I’m setting myself the tentative goal of completing the whole cardigan by the end of it. Of course, I’ve also go plans for sewing quilts, an tutus, and a dress for Wren… and maybe even a visit with Mrs. Samantha… so I probably shouldn’t get too ambitious… A week goes by really fast.

 

 

 

Yes. I’ve finally named the Disappearing Hourglass quilt. And just in time to…

As the top is complete. For those of you that don’t speak French, Des Étoiles Rouges simply means these red stars… but it sounds so much prettier en francais. Plus, the print fabrics are part of the French General line by Moda, so a French name is apropos.

I am sooooo happy to have this top done. I was really dreading putting it together. Partly because I hate assembling tops. (I also hate cutting, and sandwiching, and quilting… really the only thing  I love about quilting is making individual blocks). You may have noticed that most of the quilts I do have sashing between the blocks. That’s because my blocks are so wonky, that putting them side by side just really shows their errors. But this pattern  wouldn’t look  as good with sashing… so I just had to suck it up.

Also, there’s something to be said for the old-fashioned way of cutting all your pieces first (instead of the sew/cut/turn/sew of this one). Doing it this new-fangled way means you’ve got a lot of biases in play (for non-sewers, that means stretch). I hope this doesn’t provide too many problems for Mom in the quilting stage.

Despite all my worry, the top went together pretty easy… but it’s far from perfect.

Pretty much all of those little corner diamonds are wonky. That’s  probably because quite a few of my stars are wonky too.

But oh well. I’d rather have it on it’s way to being quilted, and one step closer to being on my bed, than still in the sewing room trying to get every intersection lined up.

I had a chunk of plain cream in the stash, and it was just enough for a nice wide 6″ border. The stash also yielded up a print with the exact right shade of red and grey/beige for another 4″ border which brought the quilt up to the perfect size.

That circle print was actually bought, but never used, for the Bear Paw quilt, so it just goes to show that fabric purchases are never wasted!

I still have to pick up something for the binding, but in the meantime, this one is packed in a bag and joining the others in the quilting queue at Mom’s. But you know what that means…. I’m back down to five project boxes! Woohoo!

Here they are!

And I love them!

I love the lace, I love the colour, I love the fit!

And I love that there’s only one more design to make for the e-book!

Stay tuned!

As you may recall, I donated a baby quilt to Natalie of Bee Meadow Farm to help raise money for her foster kittens.

If you follow her on facebook, you’ll know she’s spent a lot of time at the vet with these kittens, so funds are sorely needed.

Well I’m happy to say, she’s raffling off the quilt, and as she’s willing to ship it (winner pays postage/taxes/duties), you can get in on the action

That’s right, this beautiful baby/lap quilt measuring 36″ x 36″ featuring adorable pirouetting pigs could be yours!

You don’t really think of roses as cool weather plants, but while they enjoy the sun, they don’t like the sweltering heat.

This summer was hard on them (as it was on me), but now that the humidity as abated, the days are sunny, the nights are crisp, and the roses are showing off again. And I am so happy for it! Just one more thing to love about fall.

 

We’ve had a few new visitors to the yard this month

This guy, with the fantastic antennae is a Gladiator Katydid. And he’s a biggie! He is easily the length of my middle finger, if not a little longer. He was hanging out on the Hollyhock leaves and I almost missed him – he blended in so well.

While I was photographing this fantastic yard monster, I caught some movement below out of the corner of my eye…

This little Red-Legged Grasshopper hopped over to the Liatris at my feet, as if to say… I want my picture taken too.

And he posed so nicely! He was only about half the size of Mr. Katydid… but he’s just as impressive.

It’s been a while since Mom has had a kitten in the house (like 14 years…) and so  I get daily texts and messages from her about all the things Winnie is getting into.

The latest was interrupting Mom’s yarn photoshoot…

I told her it’s not interrupting… it’s SNOOPERVISING!

Winnie agrees!