I Want to Make *All* the Things!

We had snow a few days ago.  It began as our usual "First Snowfall" does: with rain, then wet snow, then "regular" snow.  It's melted off the streets and sidewalks now, of course, but when it first fell, it decorated everything with a sparkling covering of white - including the trees.  The photo at left is of my double willow in the "Meadow" lot next to my house.  It lost many of its leaves before the snowfall, but had enough on its branches to look like it was wearing a fancy gown, on its way to a "Snow Ball"! 😉

The snow is off the trees now, too, but still all over the grass.  It's likely here to stay until spring, and will, of course, receive a fresh covering from time to time.

The computer craziness about which I wrote in my last post continues, with a faulty power port (in the computer, where you plug in the cord), and a need to retest the battery now that the port has been replaced.  It wasn't charging properly, even with the new cord.  It's still in the shop, so I'm here again on my old (2013) machie that's serving me rather well, actually, despite its age.  I will still be happy to have the newer (2021) model home again.  

I'd have given up on computers of any and all kinds by now, if they didn't provide me with such pleasure -- communications near and far, music (radio and otherwise) -- and the ability to share my making with whoever cares to see it.

And my making is what is keeping me from tipping into...well, as I've said before, creating beauty and texture, and making art for me and comfort for my friends, family and others -- that's what gives me a measure of peace, a dollop of joy, and helps me sleep at night.

With the coming of the colder weather this year, my usual Autumnal Startitis has ramped up several notches!  As the title of this post says, I want to make ALL the things!

BUT having a rather over-active conscience, I had to finish some things first.  On the knitting front, I finished the third of three Simple Gift Cowls for my son and his family:

Pattern: Simple Gift Cowl
Designer: Amy Curletto
Yarn: Schoeller & Stahl Limbo Mexiko Color
in "Mango" colour-way

I also knit up two pair of baby socks for a young neighbour and his partner, who are expecting their first baby a few days before Xmas.  In my last post, I'd just started the first sock of the first pair; now that pair is finished (newborn to 3-month size) and another larger pair (3 to 6 month size) too:

Pattern: "Baby Socks"
Designer: River City Yarns
Yarn: Knit Picks Sock Landscape
in the Rocky Mountain Dusk colour-way
Newborn - 3 months - shown with cuffs standing up

Same pattern, same designer
Yarn: Pro-Lana Golden Socks 4-fache
in the "Fashion R" colour-way
Three-to-six months size, shown with cuffs folded down

The remaining 'Christmas Knit' is the Back Bay Boomerang shawlette/scarf that I started some time ago.  It's simple garter stitch, but in a light fingering, it's been taking me a while.  It's my 'car knitting' -- for waiting at the train crossing, or for knitting while enjoying coffee with friends -- so it hasn't had quite the attention the other projects have, but rest assured, it will be finished in time to send away for Xmas!

Here's what it looked like when I last showed a photo:

And here's what it looked like as of last evening:

Pattern: "Back Bay Boomerang"
Designer: Susie von Reyn 
Yarn: Queensland Collection Perth
 in Colour #107 - "Tasmanian Bay"

I've only about 15 grams left of the 100 gram ball, and when it's finished, the shawlette will be too!

Three cowls for Xmas gifts and 2 pair of baby socks finished, plus one vest 2/3 of the way there ought to permit me to start a new knit, right? 😉

And what did I want to start?  Yes, I know; I have at least 3 two pair of socks, two shawls and at least 3 sweaters on the needles already, plus a vest.  But I've been watching assorted knitting podcasts, and have kitted up some new starts from my stash. 

The gals at The Woolly Thistle and at A Lovely Yarn have me hankering for a cardigan.  A colour-work cardigan.  Steeked, if possible.  So, yesterday I caked up 3 skeins with which to make a start on the "Stranded and Steeked Knit Cardigan" designed by Katherine Poole-Fournier for Patons Yarn and Yarnspirations.  It calls for a main colour and 4 others, but I'm using only a main colour and two others.  

The maroon is Briggs & Little Regal; the white/cream is Briggs & Little Heritage 2-ply and the teal blue is Gathering Yarn Haynes Creek Heathers Aran.

All have been set aside for a bit, because having read the pattern, I realize I've got to finish at least one mind-bending project before starting another.

The current "mind-bender" is the aforementioned "Presto Vesto" I've been constructing for my daughter for Xmas/her January 2025 birthday.  In my last post I showed you the finished back and right front (the two-thirds accounted for above).  The final third -- the left front -- is now on the needles, its ribbed hem finished, and I've split for the pocket.  You can see that in this photo if you look slightly right of centre and notice the second ball of yarn attached there.  

It remains a project that is anything but "presto" to knit!

To fulfill my hankering for new sweater starts, and for something a bit less challenging than multiple cables or colour-work with steeks, in the past two days I've cast on the following:

• The "Basic Pullover" by Sally Melville from her book, The Knitting Experience. Book 2: The Purl Stitch which I've had in my library since 2004.  Again I'm using yarn from stash: Gedifra Ombretta  in the colour-way #4402: "Midnight Wine".  Here's my start:

It's all wines and deep blue-purples -- yummy!  And perfectly mindless to knit.

• In the slightly less mindless but still simple category, yesterday I cast on the "Crayon Etching" pullover from Natsuko Iida for NORO yarns.  I'm knitting it in Noro Kureyon in colour #40 -- a blue/green/purple colour-way.  It's knit top-down (simple enough) in Linen Stitch, which is simple enough but I'd never used it before and the first dozen rounds of the neckline included short rows.  Riiiiight. Linen Stitch while doing short rows. That's why I consider it "slightly less mindless".  Blessedly the short rows are finished and I'm simply on the body/raglan increases...!!!

Yes, there's still quilting, stitching and art-mat hooking, too.  I've sandwiched and pin-basted the Pink Pinwheels top as that little blankie will go with the baby socks to the new parents.  The new parents-to-be are experiencing some financial challenges as the business the prospective father was working at is...um...not doing well, and in the last week he's either been temporarily or permanently laid off (I'm not sure which).

As I finished the twelve blocks for my son's birthday quilt, I began the sashing -- which is pieced.  Quarter-square triangles (QSTs), that is.  Pieced.  To make enough to go between the blocks, between the rows of blocks and around the outside as an inner border -- per the pattern -- I've had to cut 206 squares, put them in random pairs and create QSTs. 

QSTs under construction

QST sashing - 6 block units per sash
to go between the blocks in each row

Not quite as complex as the "Presto Vesto" project, but still a labour of love.  The things we do for our kids! 😉 💗😊

My stitching in the last part of October was focused on Christmas gifts too.  I started -- and finished -- a couple of small items.  One was autumn/Hallowe'en themed, for a friend of mine who loves both coffee and holiday decor and has been having a bit of a rough time lately:

Pattern: "Brew Haha"
Designer: Plum Street Designs
Done 2 threads over 2, in 28-count Cashel linen
from Zweigart in "Light Mocha" -- a scrap, really
Cotton floss - over-dyed and DMC, some called for,
some subsitutes, all from stash

The next one is finished -- but not fully.  I want to put it into a 7" wooden embroidery hoop, but have yet to do that:

Pattern: "Precious Friend"
Designer: Bent Creek
Done 2 threads over 2, on 28-count even-weave
or perhaps Lugana (no label) -- a scrap
Cotton floss - some over-dyed and some DMC,
some called-for, some substitutes, all from stash

The spacing for that one is a bit 'off' (it is for "Brew Haha" too) but I fudged it (per usual) as I refuse to let Perfect be the enemy of Good!  I enjoyed both of these stitches.

Once these were finished I started another Christmas gift stitch -- one of Jeannette Douglas' smalls, which I fell in love with when Caroline of Evertote.ca announced them.  Jeannette collaborated with Evertote/Roxy Floss on these projects: two small wooden spools, one which was designed to hang as an ornament and the other, to be used as a scissor holder, covered in motifs from Jeannette's reproduction of the Margreat Meadows sampler.  I chose the latter, and I'm stitching this up for a stitchy friend.  Although tiny -- I'm using 1 thread over 1 on 36-count Doubloon from Picture this Plus.  It's a mottled (but not splotchy) caramel linen, and this photo of my start doesn't do it justice, really, as it has more character than that:

I'm working from left to right; what you see above is the first two sets of motifs -- out of a total of five.  Yes, it's really tiny: about 2 1/4" high and about 4 1/4" long on this fabric.  That tells you how small the spool is that will be wrapped with it!  I had the fabric at home, but bought the kitted pattern and Roxy Floss threads -- yummy!  And Evertote's "Floss Boss", Hannah, gives the floss colours such wonderfully punny names.  I smile when I pick up each one!

For November, my focus will be on finishing the Margreat Meadows spool cover, and fully finishing it along with the "Precious Friends" piece.  For other stitching, though, I've dug out a 'black sampler' -- a Vierlande-style sampler from Jacob at Modern Folk Embroidery: "When This You See, Remember Me".  

I began it on Good Friday this year (in March), not long after it was first published, and posted about it then, but set it aside as I knew I'd want to work on it again this November.  I'm working it 2 threads over 2 on 32-count Vintage Smoky White (a printed linen) from Zweigart, using Roxy Floss hand-dyed cotton floss in the 'Vierlande' colour-way especially commissioned by Jacob for his Vierlandese designs.

Here's what it looked like when I set it aside:

Stay tuned for progress towards month-end!

And yes...there's hooked art!  In September, I joined the Inspirations Sessions at Deanne Fitzpatrick Studio, for a year only, and am enjoying them immensely.  They've really been a source of encouragement as I've been preparing new work to put into the 2024 "Under $100 Art Market" in Lacombe at the end of this month.  To date I've finished five miniature landscapes, each 6" square, and mounted the first one on painted stretched canvas, which I showed in my last post:

"Turning" (c) 2024
6" square, hooked, mounted on canvas

Here are the latest additions to the "collection", also 6" square, which have yet to be mounted:

"Little Shed on the Prairie" (c) 2024

"All That Blue, Green & Gold!" (c) 2024

"Harvest Hills" (c) 2024

"Winter Sunrise" (c) 2024

The ideas for these came in part from current scenes around me and in part from pieces I'd made as "matted minis" (small art quilts) some years ago.  I was pleased to see that I could translate them from fused applique, thread-painted and quilted fabric, to hooked wool yarn, and wool or silk fabric strips.

I'm now in the process of painting some canvases and some wooden panels (shallow boxes, really, which I'll use "upside down") for mounting, and should have that work done in the next week or so.  I have to wire them for hanging, so picked up some more small 'D' rings and some more picture wire at the hardware store yesterday.  And I have to deliver them to the exhibit venue in the last week of the month, priced and ready to hang -- so I'd best get going!

So, Gentle Readers, you're now all caught up with my exploits, and I'm about ready to take a brisk walk in the wintry sunshine that I can see out my window.  As usual, I'll leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  When she posted her linky party, she admitted that she was handing out Hallowe'en candy that evening -- getting a dose of creativity in the costumes being worn by her little neighbours.  I hope you all had a happy time of it that night -- if you observe those festivities -- and I wish you more creative delights until we meet again.  A bientot!

The Blue and the Gold: for Ukraine

 

"War can leave us feeling powerlessness. We want to do things but we usually don’t know where to start." -- Jacob De Graaf, Modern Folk Embroidery blog

I venture to say that's what many (most?) of us over here (i.e. far from Ukraine and its efforts to keep Russia from stealing its democracy) are feeling right now.  I know that's where my mind and heart are: reeling at the thought of another world-involved, European-centred conflict that both my father and step-father fought in hopes it would never happen again.

What to do?  What can one do -- especially as an older (pushing 70) female half a world away?

My prayer this morning went something like this: 

Dear God, what are you doing up there?  You are doing nothing!  Why don't you try stopping a war or something?!  (paraphrasing Helene Hanff's letter to Frank Doel in the film 84 Charing Cross Road.)

So...what to do?

Well, for one thing, I've donated $$ to the Primate's World Development and Relief Fund (PWRDF) -- the arm of the Anglican Church of Canada that partners internationally to bring funds and supplies to places in need.  The PWRDF is currently partnered with ACT Alliance Appeal/Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) to help those fleeing Russia's war-mongering in Ukraine, and has recently increased its support from $20K to $50K.  Because I trust PWRDF and it keeps its admin costs low, I am assured that my wee donation, with that of so many others, will go where it's most needed in that quarter.

And...I'm stitching.  

On the cross-stitch front, last evening I downloaded the afore-mentioned Jacob De Graaf's free pattern, "MYR" -- the Ukrainian word for 'peace'.  

The blue and gold -- DMC floss #444 (yellow) and #322 (blue) are the colours of the Ukrainian flag.  The lettering is in the Cyrillic alphabet, which is used in Ukraine.  I began my stitch early this morning, and am 1/2-way along the outer blue border.  It's a small piece, which I'm doing on "mystery fabric" that's estimated at 32-count; I'm using 2 threads of floss over 2 threads of fabric.

On the page linked above, Mr. De Graaf has inserted another link -- one that will take viewers to a list of places and ways to help for those of us living all around the world -- so that we might contribute in some small way, with actions, words and/or funds.

Stitchers might also wish to join a 'solidarity Stitch-ALong' (SAL), with another free pattern created by Linda of At the Point Studio.  In her post, Linda explains the meaning behind the colours she selected, and the design itself.  It's a beautiful, colourful piece to be stitched with intention, thought and (if you wish) prayer.  She includes a link to a Facebook group for the SAL, should you wish to join there as well.

As for quilters...Bonnie Hunter is creating a pattern to be constructed with blue and yellow string pieces, which she is calling "Hearts of Hope" -- and you can read more about that HERE.  The pattern will be given out in pieces (no pun intended!) starting March 25; meanwhile, y'all can dig into your stash for blue, yellow and neutral strings!

In Canada, Karen Chase of Sugar-free Quilts (based in Nova Scotia) is offering a free pattern for a Sunflower Throw Quilt in the 'pixelated' style, as the sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine.  She's been posting about it on her Facebook page.  

For those of us who knit/crochet, on her FB page Karen also references a friend who is collecting hand-knit hats, mitts and/or socks for Ukrainian refugees, and asks crafters to get busy, but stay tuned for further information re: where/when to donate!

I'm making a lap quilt that Karen says she'll find a home for in her efforts to support Ukrainian refugees -- but it's not the pattern she offers.  Instead, I've dug out more fabric from my "inheritance" -- poly-cotton solids in 2 shades of blue and one of very pale yellow, and I'm making a Double Irish Chain from a pattern in a book I bought long ago: Quilts From the Quiltmaker's Gift, written by Joanne Larson Line and published in 2001 (I also have The Quiltmaker's Gift itself...)  

All the strip sets are cut, and the first two are assembled; the third will be sewn and cut today.

Strip set #1 before slicing. 
I had to manipulate this photo so you could see
that the centre strip really is a very pale yellow!
My ironing board cover is really blue and white,
not mauve and pink! LOL!

Strip set #2 being sliced

By now, with all this, you might feel less helpless and/or hopeless...but you might also be breathless! Take heart, Gentle Readers, for I'm leaving you with the link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday post, wherein she provides Rules for a Busy Quilter (and/or knitter and/or stitcher).  Off you go, now...and have a helpful, hopeful, heart-full week!  😊