It took much longer than expected, but the first pair of Sanderson Felici socks are finally finished. I say first pair because I have two more full balls of this yarn. Plus I can get a pair of anklets (for my small feet) with the leftovers from this pair. So there will be more in my future… just not near future. I need to move onto something else.
To recap:
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Sanderson, with Regia in Black for cuff, heel and toe.
Pattern: None – just basic sock math over 64 stitches, with 3-1 rib for a little interest.
These will go into the gift basket for later in the year. And I need to go stash-diving for something new to put on the needles.
It was a pretty busy weekend so there wasn’t much time for stitching. When I did get a chance to sit still for a second, I had to deal with this…
Normally, I have no problem with him wanting a lap while I’m stitching. But this weekend… HE seemed to have a problem with anything I did that didn’t involve petting him. He just would not settle.
Happily, his ADHD meant he was in and OUT of my lap fairly frequently, so on those breaks, I managed to get some stitches in on block 17.
It’s about half done, so this one should be in the bag by the end of next weekend. If Lemmy allows, of course.
The fourth Blockhead block came out last week – it’s called Cat’s Cradle. And you know a certain someone was just thrilled about that
It involved the making of Half Rectangle Triangles. Which was a new skill for me. It seemed tricky at first, so I was pleased as punch when I ended up with eight lovely little pieces that looked just perfect.
That is, until I got them all together and on the block.
That orange is supposed to reach to the very edge of the centre block, making a perfect border. But.. it appears I skipped the whole section on how to trim them properly. I was supposed to leave more white on the bottom outside of each piece… but I treated them list Half Square Triangles and trimmed the right to perfect corners…. oops.
Hopefully I can find some time before the next block on Wednesday to rip it out and fix it.
Over in the edibles, we are still playing the waiting game mostly.
My spinach has bolted, but I did harvest the largest head of lettuce. I wanted to let it get a little bigger, but we’ve hit the hot humid days of summer already, so it could bolt at any time too. Dave ate it on his tacos the other night.
But for the rest of the garden… we wait.
The cucumbers and gourds (on the left) seem to be growing much slower than the squash and pumpkins (on the right.)
I had to cheat a little with the Sugar Baby Melons (left) and Zucchini (right). The seedlings I started weren’t doing great, so I stopped at a local grower and bought a few more mature plants.
While I was there, this spindly tomato plant hopped into my cart. The variety is called “Chocolate Cherry” and the tomatoes are a dark brown/red. It just sounded to fun.
That said, my Yellow Pear tomato that I started from seed is doing spectacular! I am so thrilled because I’ve struggled so much starting tomatoes from seed.
The Leeks and Green Onions look about the same.
I feel like the green beans are a little lack luster so far, but hopefully they will pick up.
The Cucamelons are finally starting sprout. They need a lot of heat so they are always a little slow to get going.
The carrots, however, are looking fabulous.
The Green Peppers are perky
And the potatoes are really looking amazing. I’ve already earthed them up once and I’ll probably have to do it again soon.
I finally got the string supports in for the snap peas, and they are the happier for it.
We’re probably only a few weeks away from harvesting garlic and shallots.
And there will be raspberries and blackberries to munch on if we can just be a little bit patient.
There’s going to be a bountiful harvest… just not yet.
We’ve marked the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. And the Solstice garden is one of abundance.
There are blooms EVERYWHERE
The Sundrops have absolutely taken over their corner of the catio.
My “At Last” rose is just a glory of stunning peach blooms. I’ve always considered myself more of a Tea Rose person, but this one, Bolero, and Prairie Princess are swaying me to the shrub roses. So much so, I bought another one…
I might also have been swayed by it’s lovely scent, and the fact that it was being cleared out at half price. Now I just have to find a spot for it….
Other roses in bloom include Garden Party, Quicksilver, Good As Gold and New Dawn.
And the Navy Lady Rose tree has really come into her Glory. I had the shrub version at the townhouse and it was just as fantastic as this one.
A couple of the mini-roses are blooming too, but sadly, I don’t know their names.
The peonies are pretty much done, but were lovely while we had them.
Taking their place are the Asian/Oriental lilies and the Day Lilies.. These two are just the start.
They days may start to get a little shorter, but the blooms will light up every hour.
Our recent thrifting adventures have resulted in a few…. childish…. acquisitions.
The first is this lovely lady.
She was only $5 and I just couldn’t resist her. When I was in my early teens, I talked Mom into getting a series of crochet patterns from Annie’s Attic. They were all elaborate Victorian Barbie dress – one for each month. She never did end up actually makin them (though I think she still has the patterns), but I was always enchanted by them. As soon as I saw this – I thought immediately of those patterns. I just had to bring her home.
This particular Barbie is actually Mrs. P.F.E. Albee – the first Avon Lady. I just love all the little details
Especially those shoes!
She now graces the top of Dave’s latest radio restoration (another thrift store find).
The radio is a 1932 RCA. It was just a shell – all the original electronics gone – so Dave put a modern system inside it (completely with blue tooth) that sounds amazing. I think Mis. Albee looks right at home there.
For the next thrift, we’ve gone even smaller.
Yep. A dollhouse. I have been fascinated by dollhouses since I was little. I had the Mattel Littles Dollhouse as a child, but I’d always admired the fancy wooden ones. I’ve wanted to have my own dollhouse for years now. And we actually almost bought a big one at the ReStore about six months ago. But it was way too big.
We came across this on Tuesday at the Goodwill in Sarnia. And the size is perfect. Not too big, not to small.
And… it’s was hard to argue with that price.
It’s around 3 feet tall, and as you can see, has a nice arrangement of rooms. Obviously it needs some work (Dave’s already pulled off all the broken gingerbread and is looking at replacements.), but we have to decide what style we want do do it in? Classic Victorian? Nature loving Bohemian? Full on Gothic Haunted? And then I have to find the time to actually do the renos!
Finally, I remembered to get my oriole feeder out in the yard. I’ve had it for a couple years and ALWAYS forget to get it out in time for the migration.
Last year, I managed to get some pics in July, so I figure it was better late than never. And at least one Oriole has been visiting regularly. Sadly, these are the best pics I’ve been able to get…
They were taken from the laundry room window, because every time I managed to sneak outside with the camera, he flies off. He loves to hang out in the neighbour’s tree where my lens can barely reach him,
I’ve tried waiting outside in a couple of my usual photography spots, but he just flies over the yard. While I have been waiting, others have come to visit.
This wee house wren stopped for a short spell on the fence.
And I’ve been able to watch the fledgling robins slowly mature. He’s lookin quite handsome on the right… though he’s not full grown yet.
I got to watch the sparrows feed their fledglings.
This particular baby was very hungry, loud and noisy!
And this little guy has been buzzing by me, teasing me for a couple weeks now. But the other day he came and sat on the clothesline right above me.
The light was fading fast so the pictures aren’t the best, but I was able to catch that gleaming ruby throat as he flashed it.
And then there was this strange hanging bird at the sunflower seed feeder…
I was plying a tiny needle this weekend, but it wasn’t for embroidery
With the help of Burton….
The Lemmy and Burton (it was a big quilt, needed two snoopervisors), I got the Leader/Ender Four-Patch on Point quilt done!
Isn’t she a beauty? And as I said – it’s a big one – 84″ square.
There are 900 scraps (2.5″ cut, 2″ finished) in those 225 four patches. It didn’t really feel like that much work as they were made as Leader/Enders. Putting them all together into the top.. .that was a bit of a slog, but not too bad.
The result is definitely worth it!
It has a lovely, calming blue swirl for the back, and a fun rainbow stripe binding. And… it could be yours. It’s in the shop now!
Another Blockhead Block was released on Wednesday, so Burton and I headed for the studio right after work that night, since I wouldn’t be doing any piecing over the weekend while I was at Mom’s.
It was another easy block, and we made it even easier by swapping out the centre four-patch for a fussy-cut solid block.
Zebras this time. So now we have a nice little group of three.
I was trying to figure out how Tula decided on these particular animals for the line (it’s called Sketchbook). Then I realized… Lemur, Panda, Zebra, they are all black and white. There’s a skunk print too I’ve yet use. I’ll probably use it for this week’s block… with a fourth accent colour – a nice bold coral.
Wandering Cat Studio 