Mid-November?!

 

Hello, Gentle Readers!  Where have the weeks gone?  

It's been unseasonably warm -- and very dry -- here this year. No snowsuits required for Hallowe'en.  And (believe it or not) -- our county is under a fire ban lest one want to start burning leaves or branches blown down by the winds.  This is distinctly odd for central Alberta in mid-November!

Still, it's been lovely for afternoon walks around the Hamlet, for venturing out to feed the birds or to chat with a neighbour on the sidewalk.  And as you can see from the photo above, my house plants and the over-wintering geraniums are enjoying my south window immensely!

Now that we're past Remembrance Day, the realization that Christmas is coming SOON is upon us, and I'm trying to get my gift-giving finalized.  

This year I bought four delightful mugs from the gift-ware section of Indigo/Chapters (Canada's version of Barnes and Noble) -- one for each of my kids and my honourary grandson (my HG).  They're substantial, simple, and all white -- each with a singular black initial suitable for the recipient.  

Into each one I'm putting a wee bit of something extra.  My HG will get an annual Indigo/Chapters gift card -- in the hopes he'll buy a Real Book -- but of course, that's up to him.  My son will get both his boot socks (as shown in my last post) and a gift card for one of his favourite 'games' (he already reads Real Books), and maybe something extra. 

My daughter will get some $$ towards her next trip/photography-related purchase or whatever.  

And my son's partner is getting a pair of socks -- the first I've made her.  These are the "Cock-a-hoop" socks from Nancy Wheeler, which I really enjoyed making, in a skein of yarn from my stash -- given to me years ago by a non-knitting friend.  It turns out that the colours in the yarn are some of P's favourites...

Other knitting continues to be focused on finishing up projects for my Warm Things Box, which will be taken to my parish church November 22 for a blessing before the Pastor takes them to be distributed.

I managed to finish a pair of fingerless mittens in a new-to-me pattern: "Simple Fingerless Mitts with Arched Gusset" -- a free pattern on Ravelry, designed by Tania Barley.

I confess I had trouble with the pattern and reached out to Tania for help. Turns out that she'd not knit a sample using DPNs (Double-Pointed Needles) -- only circular ones...so she sent me a drawing of how they were supposed to work out.  Well!  I did a bit of math and managed to finish the pair -- not quite as she'd shown them (and in a solid colour -- no colour-work, given the challenges of the thumb gusset!)...but I probably won't make these again. 

They're large -- knit in a worsted-weight acrylic from stash but still, as the Late Great Elizabeth Zimmerman used to say, "[They'll] fit somebody!"

My last project for the WT Box (this year) is going to be (yet another) simple hat -- the "Be Kind Hat" from designer Melissa Simpson.  It's a simple wide-ribbed hat, which I'm knitting in left-over Cascade 220 worsted (non-superwash).  If I run out, I have a bit of deep red "Peruvian Sierra" (elann.com) waiting in the wings to top it off!

Aside from knitting, I continue to quilt (of course!)  

I gave the "Jewels and Jumbles" (aka the Batik Stars quilt) mentioned in my last post to its recipient.  Her response was...well, she was blown away.  "A quilt! You made me a quilt!  I've never had a quilt!"  

That's all I'll say about that.  We were both in tears and she gave me a hug.  It's the best gift a maker can receive.

"Jewels and Jumbles"
from "Batik Beauties: 18 Stunning Quilts"
Designer: Laurie J. Shifrin

And in the past dozen days, I've finished the second one in my informal "queue": the Log Cabin version of the 2025 Block of the Month from A Quilting Life.  It will be going to an older fellow who's not well off and has just moved into a fixer-upper house because HE has the talent and skill to do the fixer-uppering (is that a word?!).  He'll pay for utilities and the rest will be done in exchange for rent.

Pastor Bev was sure he'd appreciate a quilt. She said he was of Mennonite background so when I showed her a few tops, she agreed that this one would be just right.  I took 2 photos to show the full set of blocks:

It was a biggie -- almost 60" x 70-odd.
I had to wrestle with it under the 
needle of my domestic machine!

I'm very pleased how it turned out with "relatively" straight-line quilting, and hope he'll find comfort in it.

Now I've moved on to another throw-sized quilt -- Bonnie Hunter's "Fun with Bricks" (from her Leaders and Enders series -- free on her website).

I believe I mentioned this project last in September.  I've been working on it for a while, but now I'm nearing a finish.  My objective: give this to my neighbour W. as a 'thankyou' for Xmas -- for all of his help to me over this past year.  He's blown the snow out of my driveway several times and this summer helped me do some Very Serious Pruning of a pair of gigantic willows on the east side of my property.  Plus ALL of my cats love him, he's funny, articulate and intelligent.  So...this throw quilt is for him. 

He's a Big Guy but knowing my abilities, I'm making it only throw sized -- and hope it will cover more than his toes and knees!  

Here it is on my 'design bed' this afternoon:

Here's a close-up:

I'm doing 5 rows x 4 blocks per row.  Each block is 12" finished so it'll be 48" W x 60" L PLUS two borders: an inner one about 1" finished and and outer one that will be wider -- maybe as wide as 3" finished.  That would make it 56" W x 68" L.  That's about as much as I can manage at the moment -- and I think that will work, even for a fellow his size.

And then there's...cross-stitch:

I've been participating in the "Blackbird Academy" group on Facebook, as I mentioned last month.  I managed to finish the "pumpkin" assignment, if not the entire piece:

This month, the assignment is for a "basket", so I've returned to the September assignment, because that particular piece includes a large basket of flowers.  I'm still plugging away at it, but you can see that I've the "bones" of the basket done:

My other focus this month -- with an eye toward Christmas -- is the gift for my cousins' 50th wedding anniversary, belated though it may be: "The Swans at River House" from Ellen Reid, aka "Maximum Cross-stitch" designs.  It involves a great deal of stitching on rather dark fabric, with a soft drape to it, so I've done lots of stitching and 'un-stitching' and 're-stitching'...but it is coming along...

I'm about to start the swans themselves, but want to ensure that first, I have the left side of the border done all the way to the bottom, so that everything will match up at the end (fingers crossed!)

There will be a 'pause' near month-end, stitching-wise, to remember my dear late hubby, whose birthday is November 29th. He would have turned 74 that day, and so I will focus that Sunday -- the First Sunday of Advent in my Anglican faith tradition -- on the piece I currently dedicate to him: "A Quilter's Dream" from Modern Folk Embroidery, with materials from Roxy Floss.  I last worked on it in August, the anniversary of our marriage and of his passing...

Although this is a long post, I'd be remiss if I left out the bit of rug-hooking I've been doing.  It's a lot of fun being part of the "Inspiration Sessions" -- formerly known as the Makers's Meet-up -- on regular Zoom sessions online from Deanne Fitzpatrick's Studio.

In September, I'd just finished "Singing to the Choir" -- a kit I'd won from DFS at the end of March.  I've now fully finished it and gave it to my dear friend A., with whom I used to sing at church. Neither of us attend that parish now, but we have fond memories of our years there.  She kindly sent me a photo of it on the wall in its new home:

And now I'm working on a new gift, a pattern from Beverly Carlaw, a rug-hooker and designer from Prince Edward Island.  Her company is "Hooked by the Sea Rugs" on Etsy.  This piece is entitled "Baby, It's Cold Outside" -- and I'm going to turn it into a cushion for a yarny friend for Xmas:

I just finished the woolly coat for the right-hand sheep; the other two are up next -- and then, the background!

I think that's all the news that's fit to print, this go 'round...

I continue to hope and pray for the light in and of the world to continue to beat away at those who'd shut it out.  Creating beauty every day, being of service (no matter how small), giving and sharing and teaching and loving, including and enjoying...this will be our gift to the world as it ticks along.

I wish blessings for those Gentle Readers who will be observing Thanksgiivng in the US in a couple of weeks...and continue to hope for every one of you that you are finding light, beauty and peace in your making.  Linking as always to dear Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, wherein she (as I) encourages you -- all of us -- to "Get Creating!"

A bientot, mes amis!