What? Two Weeks in a Row?

 Yes, Gentle Readers, a rare post only a week (or so) after the last one.  But next Friday is Good Friday...and then there's Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday (and my Jewish family marks Passover/Pesach starting Friday evening)...

So even though I'm going to be celebrating much of that all on my own, it will be a busy and thoughtful time.  I'm a lay minister in my local Anglican parish (that's Episcopalian for my US friends), and as our 1/2-time priest will be at his other parish on Easter Sunday, it's my turn to take Morning Prayer -- from selecting the hymns to writing the homily to preparing the Order of Service to...well, you get the idea.  

Plus I have a couple of days Out of the House before all that comes together.  Monday I travel to Calgary to see my dear dentist and my favourite dental hygeinist. She's retiring in the fall, which means that after Monday, I'll be looking for a new dental team -- closer to home (Calgary is 2 1/2 hours' drive southwest of here!).  Wednesday I have more "doctoring" -- my family doc (who's worried about my blood pressure) and my eye doc (who's worried about the fact my long-distance vision is improving.  Go figure!)  

Also on Wednesday I'm meeting up with a local rep for Blankets of Love, which is currently moving from its usual focus (comfort quilts for mental health patients) to supplying comfort quilts for expected Ukrainian refugees.***

I have 2 blue-and-yellow/gold quilts and 2 other small quilts for her to use for this purpose.  You saw the finished Double Irish Chain in my last post, and photos of the start of the Disappearing/Magic 4-patch.  The latter is now also finished, to whit:

Disappearing 4-Patch

Pieced back

Most of the back was pieced from the yardage that was left from making the top.  However, there was at least one other unrelated yellow fabric, and -- as you can see -- some assorted blue-and-white (with a hint of yellow) prints.  The binding was pieced too.  My top piecing wasn't 100% bang on (it was block-by-block BUT 'row-by-row'...not so easy!); still, it works and it will make someone comfy.  I quilted it in my typical linear fashion, in squares.

Now that those 2 pieces are finished there are scraps (of course!) -- strings -- and so I've started to work on a THIRD comfort quilt for Ukrainian refugees, using Bonnie Hunter's Hearts of Hope string-pieced quilt -- Part 3 (after the intro) of which was posted yesterday.   I've a way to go on this one, but the scraps I've collected thus far haven't disappointed, and I'm almost at 90 (of nearly 100) blue string-pieced blocks (almost 60 shown in the photo below):

Knitting and cross-stitch continue too.

On the knitting front, I'm slowly making progress on my April socks...

Pattern: Cornflower Socks
Designer: Karen Scott
Yarn: ONline Linie 3 Supersocke 100 in "Violet"

It's not a hard pattern (well, I've been knitting for over 60 years), but it is a dense one, which means a) it's all "k1tbl" -- through the back loop; b) the cables are 2-stitch cables, every other round; and c) there are 16 stitches per pattern repeat -- 16 sts per needle over 4 needles -- and 1 full repeat is 20 rounds.

So...I've finished the first 20 rounds on the first sock, and figure I have 1 more set of 20 plus...maybe 1/2 set (10 rounds) to get to the length I want before the heel.  

These will be finished, because I like the yarn and pattern too much to not finish them -- but for the end of April?! Well, your guess is as good as mine.  Too much quilting to do, and other knits (like the "Dissent Cowl", which I'm calling "Dissenting for Ukraine"...

The photo shows it from the top down; it's a 'mosaic' knit.  The top of the collar is a 'polka-dot' pattern (there's a mistake in mine; you might be able to see it. I decided to leave it alone.) Then there's a narrow band in a different pattern, followed by a "bib" -- an increase of stitches is involved -- identified where my hand is in the lower left.  (I've done several more rounds of this since this photo was taken.)

As mentioned in my last post, the yarn is beautiful Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL) in a 'sport' weight (almost a fingering, in my estimation) from Handmaiden/Fleece Artist yarns, based in Nova Scotia.

The cross-stitch continues in rotation.  I've made some progress on the April "bouquet" from Jeannette Douglas, and on the little needlebook from Just Nan.  I'm also working on "House of Cooking" for my friend who has a June birthday...but I've taken no photos. Sorry!

And Mother Nature is taunting us here in this part of the Canadian prairie.  Some days we're at 20 C (68 F) and some days (like today) it's 8 C (nearly 50 F) but with the roaring wind, it "feels like 3 C" -- 37 F.  Sigh... 

At this time yesterday I was outside stitching on the new bench that I assembled for my Outdoor Studio:

Yes, that's the same bench on which I photographed the finished 'Disappearing 4-patch' (above).  But today?!  Yeah! "Feels like 3 C (37 F). 

Oh well...

Tomorrow's another day.  It's forecast to be rather chilly (indeed, much the same for the rest of the week).  It's Sunday, Palm Sunday (for those who observe it, as I do).  I'll be off  to church 'in town'; afterwards, I hope to spend some more time stitching...maybe knitting...maybe...maybe -- for a change -- I'll let whatever happens, happen.

***I've just found out from that dear lady -- the Blankets of Love rep I'm supposed to meet up with -- that her DH has tested +ve for That Which Shall Not Be Named, and she "has the sniffles" though her test was negative.  That means...no actual meet-up.  Nope.  It means a drop off at her doorstep and a wave from across the street.  And prayers for their speedy recovery.

This news shouldn't put a taint on the rest of this day, but it has.  It's so bluddy tiresome.  So tedious.  So everlastingly frustrating.  Even the simplest acts of outreach and caring are overshadowed, tainted and taunted by that damned virus.

Sorry.  Time to close this down, link with Nina-Marie over at Off the Wall Friday, and try to keep in mind the Rules of the Road she's posted this week, ones I read long ago when I first read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.

Wherever this week takes you, dear readers...whether it's to a Passover Seder or to the observance of Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Day or...to somewhere completely different...may you find less frustration, more holy peace and joy, and more creativity in the journey.

All for now. May you be blessed.

Back to the Garden II: A Reflection on Anger

I've been pondering my anger of recent days -- recent years, actually -- and have researched a bit of the causes of anger. A great deal of it can come back to experiences of trauma and/or deep grief, giving way to *fear*.

Fear. And what have I to fear, you might ask? I'm a relatively healthy older person with a cozy home, a variety of interests, the love of family and a few good friends. I have enough to live on; I'm not rich, but I lack for nothing.

What am I afraid of?

Simply put, the loss of this relatively quiet, creative life with which I've been blessed. This beautiful land, and the 'peace, order and good government' that's been my experience through most of my life. The loss of civility, humanity, and care-for-others that was fought for in the two great wars, and continues to be the source of peace -- and the root of much of the conflict around the globe now.

I've watched in horror ove the past 6 years as the United States has once again been torn apart by fear: the fear that fueled the War Between the States 150 years ago (give or take) -- fear bred largely in the minds and hearts of white men seeking to be in control not only of their own lives but of the lives of all others around them, "others" being the operative word -- others of different colour, creed, race, gender.

And this same fear seems to have taken root in Canada -- again.

Again? Yes. It's never really left, and is expressed differently in other provinces -- such as Quebec, with it's government's determination to be harshly secular and rigid, to preserve the French culture there at all costs.

When my late husband and I moved west to Alberta in the seventies, we found it here too: in pockets of what was then called the "Aryan Nation", shamed into silence after a teacher who attempted to teach that the Holocaust of WW II was a hoax, was arrested, convicted and jailed for his offences.

But I suspect it never disappeared. It had connections with groups in the western US, particularly in Idaho.

And I suspect that a great deal of the support for the truck blockade at this province's southern border, as well as the support of the convoys headed east to disrupt the work of government in Ontario and in the nation's Capital, is still coming from those connections. Hence the Nazi symbols and the other signs of 'white supremacy' in evidence in Ottawa this past week.

Hence the belligerence of the many truckers who are Angry White Men.

Troubling, too, is the apparent double standard in the way these "protestors" have been dealt with by police. Sure, they have large weapons (their trucks), but those truckers are, by and large, caucasian.

If these were indigenous people on foot or in pick-up trucks blocking a forestry road to protect old growth forest from decimation by large corporations...the Army would have been called in long ago.

Any way I look at it, it's frightening. My fear and anger may have cost me a friendship -- I don't know. But as was identified in a recent news article I read a few days ago (apologies; I can't track it down just now), these pandemic times have brought out the best -- and the worst -- in all of us. The attempts to cope with an invisible physiological danger, one that's been so deadly for so many, have been challenging, and have resulted in the fear of loss of control of our lives, our environment, and of all that's near and dear to us.

Add in ignorance, a refusal to be educated and a fear of loss of cultural and personal identity, perceived threats to a certain way of life and livelihood and, well...there it is.

Anger, playing out in some of the ugliest ways: acts of destruction, desecration, bullying. And playing out more quietly in words misunderstood, or ignored, and in personal divisions. Values -- for good or ill -- run deep, and these pandemic times have tapped into them more deeply than has been seen for decades.

There will be no easy, painless way past this, for even after the Pandemic becomes endemic -- something we live with -- what most of us consider "normal" will have disappeared. There's no going back. There never has been.

May the Creator have mercy on us all.

"Frankenbatting" and Forgiveness

It's been a bit 'up and down' for me here since I last posted about my making (i.e., before the Gallery visit and the 'Follow' information -- which I hope, by the way, is working out for those who've chosen it).  

(Can I ask a favour?  This is a long post...but please don't skim.  Read it in bits, if you must; think of it as a short story that needs reading, even if read over time.  Thanks!)

I finished up the binding on "Grassy Creek", washed it and packed it to deliver to Susan, the intended recipient -- her mother, Joan, was my dear friend who died at 89 in January 2020 and gave me several tubs of fabric (!) -- most of which were the source for this quilt.

Here it is in the glorious late October sunshine -- front:

And back:

And a detail of the quilting on the back...

and on the front...

My long-arm quilter, Sylvia Sawyer of Woodwind Long-arm Quilting -- up Lakebend Road north of Mirror, Alberta, on the way to Bashaw* -- is simply the best!  Her prices are reasonable, and she's got an eye for thread colour and quilting patterns -- whether custom or pantograph.  She didn't bat an eye when I told her that there was a lot of polyester (including all of the back!!) and poly-cotton in this quilt.  Joan, it would appear, was the Queen of Polyester!  😉😆

I won't go into it here, but after no reply from the recipient to an e-mail and a voice mail, and finding her car at home but no-one there (not even the dog!) -- and a couple of panicky phone calls -- I found out she was in hospital -- not with COVID but something equally serious.  As of a couple of days ago, she is doing much better, and is expected home in the next week.  I've been checking her house, watering the plants and collecting her mail.  She'll get the quilt when she gets home.  

Just one of the Ups and Downs -- locally. 

Others? A friend who -- thank goodness! -- is finally getting much needed surgery this coming week (even consultations were previously postponed due to COVID Overwhelm!)  And...another whose surgery was postponed but will happen soon.  And...another whose son was in a major accident and is finally home -- but will need care for a significant period of time.  And...another whose cancer has returned for the ??th time and is not doing well.

In Canada, we marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (the first of what will be an annual Federal statutory holiday) at the end of September.  I've been taking an online course entitled Indigenous Canada -- through the University of Albert and Coursera.  It's not an easy road, and I've mixed feelings about it, coming from European ancestry -- but from farmers and green-grocers who settled in Quebec in the mid-eighteen-twenties (my father's family) and a good 70+ years later (my mother's family)...with no idea as to what was really going on.  They say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" and maybe that's true, but what I'm learning was that there were many whose "good intentions" weren't good at all.  That said, there was a great deal of misinterpretation, "fake news" in today's parlance -- and racism and much more re: faith, world-view, and misunderstanding...the toll it takes on the student learning this late in life is...hard.

On the World Stage, I've been taking in what's happening with COVID in the province, the country and around the globe -- for example: our Premier's refusal to send more than 2 delegates -- none directly from his government -- to the COP26 summit, even though our province is a major player in the oil & gas industry (the corporations involved *did* participate and are part of trying to find the best ways to create energy without fossil fuels)...

I've decided The Time Has Come for me to do two things.  The first is to acknowledge what my sampler, embroidered last year, says:

Designer: Lizzie Kate

And the second?  With the first in mind -- is to officially launch the "Out of the Landfill Project". 

Say what?

I've been working for some months now -- maybe since COVID appeared -- and maybe even before that -- with fabric and yarn scraps, buying less and less, except when specific gifts or commissions required it.  My piece for SAQA's "Season After Season" -- a rarely exhibited Global exhibit -- was made entirely from stash, as have most of the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts I've created. 

Photo: Diane Melms
My piece is the cruciform star in the centre of the photo.
Title: Incarnation to Resurrection: Reflections on the 
Colours of the Church Year

But now...I'm taking this up in earnest.  I'm not only making more Socks from Stash, but also using stash to make other knitted gifts and quilted throws and comfort blankets.

I'm even recycling my batting.  I've spent a few hours this week creating what I call "Frankenbatting".  Here are some pieces lying out on my ironing board in the studio:

In addition to those (which may still have more added to make them workable), I've finished one that's going to be sandwiched into a comfort quilt -- the top of which I made a while back, from scraps, of course!  (God bless Bonnie Hunter's "Scrap Users' System"!)

I washed the backing fabric earlier today and will be quilting it up soon -- adding it to the stack I hope to send to an organization in Lacombe that looks after youth -- including young single moms.

Some of the pieces are smaller, of course, and will be 'frankenbatted' together and used behind art quilts.

Speaking of which...

When you beat yourself up about what you "coulda, shoulda, woulda" done to try to Make the World a Better Place, it's reassuring to know that there is a source of forgiveness. 

Well, let's just say, that's the case in my particular faith practice -- acknowledging that it may not be in yours, and that some of you, dear Gentle Readers, may have a completely different view, and discount "faith practice" as so much poppycock! 😉

Regardless...I created this piece out of the shards of pieced crumbs from "Incarnation" (see above).  It needs to be mounted on a painted stretched canvas, which has just been purchased, but for now:

A quilt on a quilt: Forgiveness (C) 2021
Commercial fabrics, machine pieced,
machine quilted; 
mounted on quilted
hand-dyed synthetic fabric.

Quilting detail #1

Quilting detail #2

I was gratified to have it appreciated by a Facebook group to which I belong -- Artists in Canada Art -- gosh, I hope that link works I checked -- and fixed it, so it works now!!  I'm hopeful it will bring someone joy, somewhere, sometime.

I think that's enough for now...and so will link up with Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, wherein she is celebrating piecing which, if you've read this far, you know I very much love!  

A note to the knitters:  knitting continues. You know it keeps me sane.  There will be more about knitted items in the next post --  I promise!  

*I told you, I live in the Middle of Nowhere in central Alberta! 😉

Hunkering Down

Tulips planted near the house, covered with 
leaf mulch and up-turned open-weave trays,
weighed down, to protect them from critters!

In these parts, one can tell that we're moving ever closer to winter, especially as it's now past mid-October.  We often get snow around Hallowe'en.  There are fewer and fewer leaves on the trees, and the wind is brisk.  Time to hunker down.  

Yesterday, I put the last of the yard and garden to bed, covering the purple trunk (a home for pots of flowers in the summer) and the storage bench, both of which are too large and/or heavy to move into my limited shed space.  The other bench is in the garden shed, along with the outdoor tables.  

The last of the pruning has been done, the pruners cleaned, sharpened, oiled and stored.  The long hose has been drained and is in the shed; the water valve to the outdoor tap, shut off.  The snow shovel and the cord (for plugging in the car's battery in very cold weather) are within easy reach.

The baby Saskatoon bushes have been ringed by and covered with chicken wire and netting to keep the deer from snacking on their remaining leaves and branches. There's only one job left: to cover my apple saplings with burlap, as they are very young and susceptible to a variety of winter hazzards. 

Indoors, all my hands want to do is knit.  This is, in part, a sign of how emotionally wobbly I've been for the last 20 months (at least).  The last time I was in this state -- with hands that refused to do much but knit -- was when my DH died in the summer of 2006.  Now, kntting's long had a reputation for helping with emotional angst and stress -- as has other repetitive handwork, such as cross-stitch, piecing and quilting.  Those of you who've followed this blog for it's almost-18-years journey will know that it's title started as "The Lady Who Knits on the Bus".  Knitting was the first craft I learned, and the one I've never stopped practicing.  It's immensely helpful now, even as I wobble along, sometimes muffing a joint on a circular needle, or misunderstanding a pattern.  

"Why so wobbly?" you might ask.  It's the times...still.  And since my break-through case of COVID in late August, I seem to be even more wary, feeling a bit more vulnerable.   At the Post Office here in town, at the hardware store in a nearby village...there continue to be folks (mainly men) who show up unmasked, with young clerks seemingly unable to enforce the store's requirement for customers to wear masks as our Province battles a 'fourth wave' of the virus, a wave so large that the Canadian Army and Red Cross and personnel from other provinces have had to come in and help in our hospitals.  All but the most essential surgeries have been postponed.  As of last Thursday (Oct. 14), while things were easing a bit, without extra surge beds and staff, our ICUs would have been at 163% capacity!  

The respected realtor who helped me buy my "East Lawn" a couple of years ago was hospitalized this week with COVID-caused pneumonia; he's in his late fifties.  His wife is at home, also sick with it.  I've no idea of their vaccination status, given his line of work but still, it's a sad situation.  Case numbers in the County are so high that our parish church is closed again.  I'm back to recording hymns for it every other week -- but my voice is not the same since my COVID experience, and I still have a periodic harsh cough.  I don't have the range or timbre of voice I used to have -- and only hope it's temporary!

Everyone's on edge; the nearby public school is on alert/breakout status -- and tomorrow, when our Province's Chief Medical Officer of Health gives her next update, we may get a glimpse of the impact of our recent Thanksgiving holiday (October 10-11)...given that folks in these parts are still largely unvaccinated and very family-celebration oriented.

Blessedly, as winter moves in, I'm mindful that Christmas is coming; I'm immersed in projects.  I finished the toque for my son mentioned in my last post -- the "Ribbed Cuff Toque" from Sylvia Olsen's book, Knitting Stories  -- and I confess I'm not thrilled with it.  Even though I 'got gauge' for the 22" size, the thing seems awfully large! That said, the pattern is fine, and not hard to follow.  Rather, I'm thinking my "problem" might be the yarn.  The original pattern calls for wool, which I know wouldn't work for my son, given his schedule and the nature of his household.  One laundry "accident" and it would shrink to doll-sized!!  So...I chose a lovely acrylic -- Cascade Yarns "Anthem".  It's soft and squishy...perhaps a bit too squishy.  Certainly, it's not as firm and sturdy as a woolly wool would be!  

What to do?!  I decided I'd give him the hat -- and another as well.  I dug out a "vintage" acrylic (some black Baycrest Sayelle given me by a neighbour who's down-sizing and clearing out this sort of thing) and cast on the Bankhead toque -- another pattern that calls for a crisp, sturdy wool.  But this time, being a "vintage" acrylic means that it's also 'crisper' and 'sturdier' than the soft, squish Anthem.  I'm again doing the 22" size, and have just finished the 3" twisted ribbing.  On to the hat body.  I think it's going to be much better -- but he'll have both and can wear what he wants!

While I finished the Xmas socks for my daughter at the end of August, I now have another pair to knit for her -- at her expense, as she's asked for them for a friend for Xmas.  The request was for autumnal colours, in the same pattern I'd used for a pair for my daughter a few years ago.  The yarn, I have to say, is glorious!  It's another from Gathering Yarn -- a company that specializes in limited batches of yarn that's hand-dyed in B.C.  This time it's "The Harvest is Here Stock Lot/Mill End -- The Basics Sock", a wool/nylon blend:

The pattern is "Hummingbird", designed by Sandi Rosner, and found in Clara Parkes' The Knitters Book of Socks. I've made it before, but...this time there's a new wrinkle.  The pattern's written for feet that are quite a bit smaller than those of the intended recipient!  

I decided to go with 2.75 mm needles (instead of the 2.5 mm called for), and to cast on 72 stitches rather than the called-for 64.  That was fine for the ribbing but...the lace pattern in the socks is based on a 32-stitch repeat.  Um...right.  What to do with the extra 8 stitches?!  I decided at first to isolate them on the back of the sock, and decrease them once I'd knit the first 12 pattern rounds.  The recipient's desired leg length is 11" from the cast-on to the bottom of the heel, so I thought I could decrease two stitches every four rows but...

See that rather ugly bulge (circled)?  The result of too many decreases too close together!  Aaargh.  Back to the drawing board!  I frogged back to the cuff and started again.  It took me quite a while to get the math down in a way that my brain could manage it, because of the way the pattern is written, thus:

• Knit rows 1-12 once; then
• Knit rows 13-24 four times.

Uh, yeah.  I had 8 stitches to "lose" while, at the same time, building in some extra length by knitting an extrat "rows 13-24" set.  It meant I'd be spreading the decreases (four of them at 2 sts each) over 72 rounds -- one pair every 18th round.  It sounds straight-forward enough but with most of the rounds being repeats of rows 13 to 24...I ended up putting together a table.

I've now completed three of the four pair of decreases, and it's looking much better:

Yes, there's still a bit of a 'bulge' -- but it should block out and disappear when the socks are worn, in a way that wouldn't have happened if I'd gone with my earlier attempt.  Phew!  Onward!

And yes...I have done a bit of work on quilts.  "Grassy Creek" has its label and binding on two sides -- now needing to be hand-stitched on the back -- and my commissioned Rail Fence is finished.  It will be delivered on Wednesday, when my neighbour visits her sister, who is my client.  My neighbour really liked it, so she photographed it for my client -- and she's equally pleased.  Another "Phew!"...

"Rail Fence Variation" - quilted
(shown on my neighbour's bed)

Here's the wide backing!  All one piece of fabric!

And now, Gentle Readers, though I'm late to the party again, I'm linking this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  She took a painting class recently -- something outside the box for her -- and had great fun.  Sometimes 'tried and true' soothes the restless soul; sometimes 'something new' works equally well.  Whatever you're trying your hand at, hunker down and have a great week!

"Time it was, and what a time it was it was..."

 The content of this post references "Bookends" from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel...but only in a very general way.

On August 24, shortly after my last post, I had a test for COVID -- and the next day it came back "+ve", as I pretty much suspected it would.  I hinted as much then...and I was right.  (I have my suspicions as to where it invaded...i.e. the hardware store in a nearby village, where at the time I and 1 other customer were the only ones wearing masks, and I let my guard down briefly...just long enough for the delta -- suspected because I was fully vaccinated x 5 weeks -- to grab hold.)

There followed a couple of Very Miserable Days, with incessant coughing, nose-blowing, fever and chills.  That said, by the evening of August 24 I was feeling much better -- and paid for the privilege by having my senses of taste and smell disappear!

There's something really weird about not being able to taste the toothpaste when you're brushing your teeth!  Just sayin'!

I recovered gradually over the course of the next week-and-a-bit, so by the time I'd finished my designated isolation period -- the morning of Sept. 3 -- I was well enough to go into town to run some errands.  

By Labour Day Monday (Sept. 6) I was ready to go-go-go -- and in that week mowed all my lawns (east and west) and dug sod for a modest 'wildflower island' bed.

But in between and every day...as I recovered and past that...there's been a wide assortment of quiet crafting going on.  I'm going to try to summarize it, because it's easier that way...

Starting with the yard/garden -- a few "autumn approaches" photos.  

I ordered some seeds for native (that would be Alberta) wild flowers (see wildaboutflowers.ca if you're interested) -- and I chose the "Wildflowers for Bees" mix, because the mix for birds and the one for butterflies, and the one for all three at once didn't quite suit my purpose or my plan for a gradual approach. 

At the same time, I knew that these seeds would have to be planted this month, because they need to over-winter to get started in their germination, so I created this wee bed at the base of the Big Old Willow(s) -- part sun, part shade, depending on the time of day:

Wildflower bed created around a two-trunk old willow

I also researched online for options re: dealing with the sod, and found that my instinct to pile it up -- upside down -- was pretty good...so I added to the "bed" you see behind the "island" in the above photo, and then put down a new "bed" (sod upside down) at the base of the small Mountain Ash (Rowan in the UK) across the way.  It needs to be covered with newspaper and mulch over the winter; in the spring I'll remove the mulch, put a good layer of topsoil over it and go from there!  

I bought a special pack of wildflower seed for this bed -- the "Wildflowers for Kids" mix (😉) because it includes some "instant gratification" seeds that should flower next summer.  The mix for bees is for perennials which -- with respect to wildflowers -- can mean several years before anything much appears.  I knew that I'm just enough of a "kid" to want to have some "immediate" results in order to be encouraged and motivated to continue this project!

Sod bed created at the base of 
a young Mountain Ash

The seeds arrived Friday in the mail, and yesterday (Saturday) I was able to get them planted.  I have yet to prepare the sod bed, but that should happen later today.  Then there's cutting back the spent perennials and so on and so on and so on...

But is there stitching?? (I can hear you asking.)

Yes!  When I was recovering and in isolation -- but before I had my full energy back -- we were blessed with abundant pleasant, not too hot, not too windy weather.  

• I added more motifs and borders to "What Remains is Love" -- but took no photos.  Sorry!  
• I got Serious September Startitis: Knitting Edition.  This means I...
• Finished my Socks from Stash August socks, mentioned in my last post, which will be a gift to my daughter for Xmas (yarn colour approved);
• Decided Sweater Weather was approaching and started -- not one but TWO -- pullovers:
• "Turtle Dove II" from L'espace Tricot, in Gathering Yarn's "Haynes Creek Heathers Aran" in a glorious teal -- purchased at The Crafty Lady in Lacombe before she took her show on the road.  (NOTE: Lori -- TCL -- still carries Gathering Yarn products, which can be ordered online at her shop HERE.); and
• "Ranunculus", designed by Midori Hirose -- yes, I fell down a rabbit hole!  I've been pondering this pattern for months -- ever since I heard a fleeting mention of it on a YouTube 'cast from The Woolly Thistle.  

When I went to Edmonton to visit my daughter (more about that another time), I stopped in at The Fibre Nook (a favourite shop of mine there) -- by appointment due to COVID.  I was the only customer, and boy! Was I treated well!  I had a wonderful hour with the young man who was serving me -- and I bought 3 skeins of the most beautiful yarn -- BC Garn 'Bio Shetland' GOTS (now discontinued) -- in a dark navy, the last 3 skeins available.  In the shop there was a Ranunculus pullover made of yarn in a similar weight, which confirmed that I had enough in the 3 skeins to make one of my own. 

 About 10 days -- or so -- ago, I stumbled onto Selma and her Little Big Knits 'cast on YouTube.  She's Canadian -- from Ottawa, a place that has many special memories and meanings for me.  And she's made multiples of this sweater...and has been running a Knit-ALong (KAL) on the "Little Big Knits" group on Ravelry.  Well, then.  That's when I fell.  Hook, line and sinker.  So...I'm on the yoke now.  Fingering-weight yarn on 6 mm needles...with a top-down pattern that's simple but challenges the mind.  It definitely rivals the "Turtle Dove II" for a spot in my current affections...

 

The start of my Ranunculus pullover

It doesn't look like much -- yet -- but I'm having fun with it and it's going to be great!  😊

Of course, there are always socks!  This month's theme at the Socks from Stash group on Ravelry is "Food and Drink"; I'm making "Lollipop" socks in a self-striping, marled yarn in shades of purple and blue, with a bit of grey:

Pattern: "Lollipop"
Designer: ela m.
Yarn: Queensland Collection "Perth" in "Royal Blubell"
(yes, that's how 'bluebell' is spelled on the ball band!)

One finished September Sock

And...in yet another "Startitis" knit...I'm making a pair of fingerless mittens for a cousin of mine (late DH's family) who had a bad fall a good 18 months or so ago.  She sustained nerve damage that particularly affects her right arm, and her right hand is always cold.  A while back, when I still worked part time at The Crafty Lady (who still stocks the Queensland sock yarn, above), I was given a sample skein to bring home.  It's lovely stuff, and there's just enough of it to make these mitts, with perhaps a bit left over.  The first one is finished now:

Pattern: "Reciprocation"
Designer: Michelle Hunter
Yarn: Mirasol Sulka Legato in colour #13
- "Purple" -- for obvious reasons! 😉

The cable pattern is really cool -- and will be the mirror image on the right hand!  The yarn is 60% wool, 20% alpaca and 20% cashmere, so I think my cousin-in-law will love these as much as I love 'em.  (I have another ball -- a different but equally lovely yarn -- so I think I just might have to make myself a pair too!)

In betwixt and between, I've been sifting and sorting yarn and fabric.  This has resulted in a purge (pretty much 100%) of anything "bulky" in my yarn stash -- i.e., anything requiring needles larger than 6 mm...and even some of those.  A bag-full went to the local charity Thrift Store earlier this week.  Photos were taken of yarns being kept in my stash, and stash quantities have been up-dated.  To ensure I kept on track with Things I Want to Make, I put yarn(s) and patterns together in storage, so that I can grab a "kit" and immediately cast on a project.  I also ensured that WIPs/UFOs also had the patterns and notes that I'll need when I come to finish those projects.  A couple of "I'll never finish this!" projects were frogged!!

A labour of love, to be sure -- but at least now I know where I stand!

With respect to fabric...

I've cut up a batch of bits-and-bobs into squares and rectangles a la Bonnie Hunter -- i.e. her Scrap Saver's System -- and bagged them.  I found I had a batch of left-over half-square triangles (HSTs) from "Frolic!", so I turned them into this year's "Leader and Ender" challenge -- "Fish School".  Of course (Murphy's Law of Left-over Quilt Materials) I don't have enough to make anything significant, but at least there's an idea started...

My "Grassy Creek" top went to Sylvia-the-local-long-arm-quilter this week, to be quilted.  Here's my version -- before quilting.  Miss Pookie approves!

And here's the back -- mostly polyester, from my "inheritance", clinging to the rails on the back stoop (it was starting to rain and there was a breeze!)  My late friend Joan, who supplied most of the fabric in this quilt, was the "Queen of Polyester"!

There's been a bit of artful play, too.  While I was recovering, I dug through my magazines, and found an article in Quilting Arts -- April/May 2018 issue -- featuring the practice of Canadian Maggie Vanderweit of Ontario.  I decided to play with plant and rust 'bundling', and so created a couple of bundles from two old white tea cloths.  

• I soaked one in the water from cooking purple cabbage (I ate the cabbage; it was from a friend's garden and it was delicious!).  I'd added a bit of powdered milk to the soak as a mordant.  
• I soaked the second in the milk solution only.
• Then I bundled the "cabbage" one with outer leaves (removed from the cabbage before cooking and saves for this purpose), some 'rusty bits' (I have a collection) and some assorted red and yellow onion skins (ditto).
• And I bundled the "plain" one with more 'rusty bits' and more onion skins.
• I steamed them for several hours, and then put the pot aside in my back room to cool; I left it there for 3 days.
• Then I unbundled everything, threw out the leaves/skins, put away the 'rusty bits', rinsed the cloths and hung them to dry:

I think the one on the right had the cabbage soak.

These are now dry and ironed lightly, set aside for the moment when I'm inspired to work with them.  I expect they'll be cut up into smaller pieces and worked by hand, but one never knows.  It'll be up to them and the Muse!  

To wind up the past month* (!), yesterday I joined Joe Cunningham for another "Quilt Freedom Workshop".  This session, the topic was "Secondary Patterns" -- how the use of colour, block placement and other design elements can create movement and interest by leading the eye to more than one pattern in the same piece.   I dug out 3 fabrics from my stash, none of which I'd used nor had any idea what to do with, and came up with this:

 I call it "Secondary Rhythm"
and no, it's not perfectly rectangular; it's
a bit wonky!

I'll quilt it and face the edges, put a sleeve on it and see where it takes me.  The process has given me an idea for my strings...

And there you have it.  *I counted, and yes, it was really four weeks since my last post.  No wonder there's been so much to share in this one!  If you've read all this way, then I thank you, Gentle Readers -- you are more than patient with me!

If you want to read more, you can follow this link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday blog, where I'll be sharing this post, too.

Here in Alberta we're in a Public Health State of Emergency because of a Comedy of Errors and Egos (too much to go into here!), so we're all trying to cope with a return of public health protocols, dealing with Rebellious Nay-sayers, Vaccine Refusers and others, and just trying to manage with as much patience, kindness and civility as we can muster.  Our health care personnel are exhausted, overworked and underpaid.  So...it's good to work with one's hands out in the yard and garden, and inside in the studio -- and to be able to share it with you.

Take care, stay safe, remember your manners and healthy practices -- and I hope to connect again soon!

P.S. One more thing!  My SAQA Benefit Auction piece comes up for bid in Section 3 -- you can see it and all the wonderful pieces available by going HERE.  You need to have a (free) account to bid, but you can look and enjoy without one.  Thanks!

Always Be Humble and Kind
(C) 2016