Goodbye, Dear Friend

"Sometimes You Can Walk on Water"
(c) 2017

I'm just home from my two-day exhibit of quilted and hooked art at the annual Encore! Lacombe Art Show & Sale -- and I'm over the moon with the results.  Excluding 2023, when I was Featured Artist, it was my best weekend of sales since 2018, when another artist purchased my large piece, "Sometimes You Can Walk on Water", inspired by a photo my daughter took of herself, walking over the frozen Astotin Lake to Elk Island, here in Alberta.  

I was delighted to sell six of the eight 6" x 6" mini hooked art pieces I created in the last two weeks, as well as this larger hooked and framed piece, "Jewels in the Water", which I created last fall (shown below before final finishing:

It was purchased by an old friend with whom I used to sing harmonies at church.  She bought an art quilt of mine several years ago and now she has a new piece in a new-to-me textile art medium -- a real blessing, as our lives have diverged a bit and we've not sung together in several years.

But the Very Special Story of this weekend's success -- the story behind the title of this post -- came about, as such stories do, by serendipity.

A woman came to see my work, having dropped in to the art show -- unplanned -- after visiting the Mary C. Moore Library, just down the hall in the same building, the Lacombe Memorial Centre.

She has recently returned from living many years outside Canada.  She's bought a home in Lacombe (or area), from whence she came, and it's being renovated, so she is staying with her brother in the meanwhile.

In his guest room is a piece of mine, which I created many years ago.  I remember it well because it features power poles along a roadway, based on a photo I took almost 20 years ago at a quilting retreat at Northbow Lodge (no longer used for that purpose) in 2008.  I called it "Sentinels"...and it's the only piece of my textile art that I've ever sold to a man. (Most men look politely -- especially if they're artists themselves -- but then their eyes glaze over. I won't say anything more on that!)

Anyway...she saw it...and when she happened on the Art Show/Sale...she stopped in...and found my booth and said to me something to the effect of "I know your work! My brother has one of your pieces in his home!"  So we talked, and she found this dear piece of mine -- my final exam piece for my City & Guilds of London Level 2 Certificate in Creative Techniques: Quilting.  I acquired that certificate in 2012 after 3 years of online study with the wonderful artist Linda Kemshall of the UK.  

It's a piece I created using self-dyed fabric (sky), naturally-dyed fabric (tree trunks) from my friend arlee barr in Calgary, recycled sythetic fabric from an old, thrifted sweater, and commercial fabric, quilted and then embellished with contemporary hand embroidery.

"Trio" - (c) 2012

From this piece, based on aspen along a road near my home, I created a bed-sized quilt as a commission for a dear, very elderly friend -- a gift to herself, she told me, for her 99th birthday (2019). She made her request in June of that year; her birthday was in the third week of October.

Taking inspiration from the wonderful art quilter, Katie Pasquini Masopust, in her book "Artful Log Cabin Quilts" (which my daughter, conveniently, had just given me for Xmas!), I made it into "Prairie Quintet" -- five tree trunks -- so that it could be twin-bed sized.

"Prairie Quintet" -- finished, September 2019

Yes; she got it in time for her birthday. She put it on her bed -- a fact to which is testified by her nephew (he sent me photos) -- but she never slept under it.  An artist (painter) herself, she simply wanted a piece of art on her bed.  Every night she would fold it carefully and set it on a surface near her bed.  Every morning she would make her bed and cover it with the quilt.

Alas, she only did so for just over 8 months -- she died in May 2020 -- not of Covid, but of heart failure, about 5 months before her centenary.  Her elder son advised me of her passing, and I expressed to him hope that one of the younger generation in the family would become the new owner of that quilt.

Once I took up rug hooking as an art medium, with my fondness for aspen, I decided to see if I could recreate it in that format.  I chose a 12" x 12" size, and got it framed.  This time there are only two tree trunks, so I've entitled it "Duo" -- and I hung it with "Trio" this weekend at the art show.  Someday, I hope that it too will find a new loving home:

"Duo" (c) 2026
yarn and fabric strips hooked
into burlap, 12" x 12", framed

I don't think there'll be another 'iteration' of this idea, but I do rather have a fondness for aspen/birch...so who knows where the muse will take me?

As Nina-Marie opines this week, over at "Off the Wall Friday", "every finished piece is proof that courage is stitched one seam at a time."  Or -- I might add -- one stitch, one hooked loop, one brush stroke, one thrown bit of clay, one turn on the lathe, one step at a time.

Where will your memories and your dreams take you this week? Perhaps one teeny, tiny bit more -- as you Create Beauty Every Day.  Remember, Gentle Readers, there is Light in the Making.

Until next time, eh?  A bientot!

Makers Meeting Up -- and More!

 

In my last post -- about 3 weeks ago now -- I wrote of Mother Nature's indecision, of how she was uncertain whether or not to evict Old Man Winter and allow Ms. Spring to move in.  She's taken all this time to muster her courage -- and OMW is still hanging out on the fringes, surrounded by brown grass and semi-frozen piles of dwindling old snow.

The good news is, the Canada geese have been spotted flying their V-formations overhead, and the robins are here!  The robins are here!

To celebrate, I've been stitching on the piece of that same name: "The Robins are Here" from Brenda Gervais:

It's a tiny piece and will become a little pillow for my spring bowl collection, right there with Jeannette Douglas' "Chubby Bird" and "Chubby Ewe" and other such delights.  I'll post a photo when that's ready.

I am also stitching along with two Stitch-Alongs this month -- both from Jacob of Modern Folk Embroidery.  First, the year-long "Little Acorns" SAL, with very slow progress since my last post:

Fabric: 40 count "Platinum"
Floss: "Pippy"
Both from Roxy Floss/Evertote

And the new one -- just for April -- that he created to celebrate 15 years of designing as Modern Folk Embroidery: the "Quick Quaker SAL".   I'm really enjoying this little piece -- not as complex as "Little Acorns", and very soothing, especially when I stitch along to the short videos Jacob has been posting daily on his YouTube channel to accompany the project:

Fabric: 36-count "Bramble" from
Picture This Plus
Floss: DMC #824 -- both from stash

I still have my Sunday Stitch ("Cattle on a Thousand Hills" from Plum Street) and have made a new start -- "There is Always Room" from Maximum Cross Stitch -- but there's nothing much to show you at present.  Stay tuned!

I am still knitting away, a little bit every day, usually with morning coffee.  Through Lent, I participated in a Mystery KAL from Joy Jannotti.  It's now finished, washed and blocked, and set aside for my Warm Things Box:

Yarn: Condon's Yarn 2-ply fine (the
brown) and 2-ply medium (the orange)

The yarn is a bit rustic, but not unpleasant in this little shawlette.  It's 100% wool, from a long-closed Canadian company that operated in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, from 1931 to 1989.  I received it as part of a Christmas gift from my daughter in 2022 -- and she rescued it from a colleague whose elderly relative had passed on.

My other favourite knits these days are the bodies of two top-down pullovers and one new start -- a cardigan.  I mentioned the Sea Haven pullover in my last post.  While I've no photo to share at the moment, I've finished the beautiful yoke, split for the sleeves, and am about 1/2" along on the body.  

The other pullover is the Bustleton Tee, which I started about a year ago -- and I've not taken a photo of it since! LOL! I'm really only using the pattern as a guideline for the process -- size and construction.  It's one with definitive stripes, but I've ignored that and am making it out of assorted shades of pinky red/purple left-over fingering-weight yarn.  It's a plain, simple raglan, very soothing to knit but slow going with the fine yarn.  At the moment, I'm about 1 inch from the point where I have to switch to the ribbing for the bottom hem.  After that, all I have to do is finish the sleeves, which won't be 'tee-shirt short' but full length if I have enough yarn left!

As for the cardigan -- that's a new start, inspired solely by the fact I've had both yarn and pattern for well over a decade, and it's now time to make it up!  It's the "Shades of Spring Cardigan" -- a pattern from 2011 that I saved from an issue of "Love of Knitting" magazine and I'm making it with a bright variegated yarn, "Tajmahal" from Le Fibre Nobili -- long discontinued -- which I bought well over 20 years ago:

The yarn is referred to as sport-weight, but it's almost a fingering, and very soft because it's a blend of merino wool, silk and cashmere!!  I didn't buy it specifically for this project, but decided that it's just the pop of cheerful colour I need this year!

On the quilting front, I'm a bit between projects.  I still have to make up the April Block of the Month from A Quilting Life, and I've planned out and started a pinwheel baby quilt to give to friends of mine for the new granddaughter they've been told will arrive in mid-June.

But I did finish the "Lupines and Laughter" quilt top -- the 2025/2026 Bonnie Hunter Mystery:

I think it's one of the prettiest yet!  I made it 75% of the size, and it's turned out to be just shy of 70" square.  I now need to get it quilted -- I'm debating doing it myself, though it's rather pushing the limits of my abilities on my domestic machine.

All those projects aside, my focus for the last few weeks has been on designing and hooking a series of eight miniature landscapes -- 6" square -- for the Lacombe Encore! Art Show at which I'll have a booth again this year.  It runs April 17 and 18 -- a week from now!!!  

Yesterday I finished the last of them, and took the lot off the Cheticamp frame:

Each of these originated as "matted minis" in my art quilting days; I've now reprised them as hooked art.  Here are some close-ups:

"By the Slough" (c) 2026
Yarn, fabric strips hooked into burlap

(L) "Canola Fields"; (R) "Autumn at
the Slough" (c) 2026
Yarn, fabric strips in burlap

"The Old Barn: Elgin, Quebec" (c) 2026
Yarn, roving, fabric strips hooked into burlap

'St. Monica's, Mirror, AB' (c) 2026
Yarn, fabric strips hooked into burlap

"Vespers - Reprise" (c) 2026
Yarn, fabric strips, hooked into
burlap; embroidered accent

"Wide Alberta Sky" (c) 2026
Yarn, fabric strips hooked into burlap

And last but not least...

"Wintry Moon" (c) 2026
Yarn, fabric strips hooked into burlap

All now need to be cut out of the burlap, blocked, bound and mounted.  I'm experimenting a bit there -- planning to back them with wool fabric, and either leave them as such, or see if I can mount them on black foamcore as 'stand-ups'.  Time will tell...

Now then, about Makers Meeting Up -- the title of this post.  In March, as I mentioned, I was part of the "March is for Makers" group created by Deanne Fitzpatrick Studios of Amherst, Nova Scotia.

It was so popular that many of us didn't want it to end.  So...listening to her customers, her rug-hooking-lovin' audience -- Deanne and her team decided to make it a monthly subscription -- Monday through Friday (and maybe the last Saturday) -- and to see how it goes.  There are almost 3 dozen of us subscribed so far, and it has been a complete delight.  It's certainly brought me joy every day to be part of this online community, and it motivated me to get all those minis hooked.  It will continue to motivate me through the next several days as I put the finishing touches on them and get everything ready for my booth at the show.

Participants are international -- mainly Canada and US -- and we are learning a great deal about each other, our families, our joy in crafts -- hooking rugs, knitting, quilting, cross-stitch and spinning have been topics of discussion among us.  We've been learning each other's geography, and history, and travel experiences, and art-making experiences, and what it takes to run an art gallery, and how to blend yarns and fabric strips to create colour and depth and texture in our work.  It's just plain FUN!

The best part of it is the flexibility to 'unsubscribe' for a while -- this might happen with several of us over the summer -- and return when we are able.  Each session starts with a bit of fun as the whole group, with Deanne and/or her staff popping by, and then we break into small groups for an hour or so of hooking and talking, sharing and learning from each other.  Every month we participate, we'll have access to a free online pdf pattern, and able to view some of the videos from Deanne's inspiring teaching archive.

And it only costs $31 CAD per month -- a dollar a day.  Some folks spend more than that on a coffee at Timmy's or Starbucks...

So if you love to hook rugs -- as wall art or floor art or cushion art or just plain sources of colour and calm -- you might want to check it out.  For more information...HERE.  (And NO, I'm not being paid to entice you!)

I'll leave you now with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she gives us a list of what she learned from the dear "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip.  Some of those lessons can be practiced when you meet up with other makers, to whit:

• Take risks;
• Keep exploring!
• Enjoy the present;
• Spend time with friends;
• Life is about the little joys; and this...
• Sometimes you have to take a plunge to see the magic happen.

Whether you hook, stitch, knit, crochet, quilt, weave, spin, paint, dance, sing, write, make music...all of it is better shared with others, especially in times like these.

So until next time, Gentle Readers, soothe your souls and Make On!

A bientot!

• 
  

All the Things

Well, Friends...My annual bout of New Year's Startitis is still in high pitch.  I've been trying to tame the Beast by sticking to a certain routine - Making My Bed, as it were -- and so far, I'm Getting Things Done and Holding the Fort -- to use a variety of time-worn cliches! 😉

So here's the gist of it, with my loosey-goosey "goals-that-aren't-carved-in-stone":

Hooked Art

As I mentioned in my last post, I've applied for a spot at the local art show/sale again this year (won't know for about a month), and I've been working toward that a bit with a new hooked landscape or two.  

I finished the first -- 12" square -- which is the one I think I'll donate to the silent auction fundraiser at the local performing arts centre:

"Under a January Moon" (c)
Finished Feb. 2026

I have to thank my cyber-friend, artist Holly Maclean of New Brunswick, for permission to use her painting of a deciduous tree as inspiration for mine. 😊

On the same piece of burlap, I drew out another 12" square piece, modelled after a long-finished art quilt from 2012.  This hooked piece will be the third iteration of this idea.  The first was "Trio" -- the art quilt I made as my final exam piece for my London City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate in 'Creative Techniques: Quilting' (with everlasting thanks to my tutor, the great Linda Kemshall):

Trio - (c) 2012

The second iteration: in June 2019 a long-time friend commissioned me to turn this piece into a bed-sized quilt -- she wanted to buy it for herself for her 99th birthday in October!  I agreed, gave her a price, and proceeded to get to work, creating this, with the help of Katie Pasquini Masopust's book, "Artful Log Cabins":

"Prairie Quintet" (c) 2019

I had to add 2 trees to make it the right size!  I finished it in time, and can still here her voice mail message of thanks.  She used it for several months -- never sleeping under it.  She put it on her bed only when it was made up, and took it off each night!  Alas, she died of heart failure in May 2020, a few months shy of her centenary. I miss her still.  I only hope someone in her family has kept that quilt.

So now...a third iteration: as a hooked piece!  I'm now working on the last bit of it -- that blue sky:

"Duo" in progress - Feb. 6, 2026

It's only 12" x 12", so I've put in only 2 trees, and gave them a slightly different look.  I'll show you the finish in the next post.

Quilting

I'm still moving right along on the 2026 Bonnie Hunter mystery, "Lupines and Laughter".  It's so darned pretty!  

In my last post, I'd just started Clue 6.  Now I've only a few units left to make for that clue, before I move on to Clue 7 (more units!!)  Here's a progress photo:

Stacks and stacks!

And of course I couldn't miss the BOM for February, from "A Quilting Life" -- which I'm doing in "Canadiana" colours:

Something tells me I'm going to be very good at making those stars when this is finished! 😉

As a sort of "leaders and enders" project at the moment, I've returned to making crumb "sections" and scrappy, wonky log cabin blocks, which will end up going to those in need -- eventually.

Knitting

This is where starts and finishes line up for me at the moment.  I've finished a hat, and started a pair of socks, and am nearing a finish on a blanket.

First, the hat -- the "Melt the ICE" hat -- from Needle and Skein via Ravelry.  YES, I paid for it in CAD, even at the 30% exchange rate. It's a worthy cause!

I used an unlabelled stash yarn, which the 'match test' revealed was mostly -- if not 100% -- wool. I enjoyed the knit, but could have done without the tassel. Full disclosure: I don't like tassels, pom-poms or bobbles on the things I knit!  I used only 100 sts, but it fit my small-medium (22") head just fine.  However, if I make it again, I'll go up to 108 sts, and leave off the tassel.  This one -- and future ones -- will end up in my Warm Things box, for indeed they would be Warm Things.

As for socks, I'm trying again to revive my sock mojo.  This month it's with a pair of textured socks from a vintage pattern (1947), which satisfies the criterion for the February 2026 challenge in the Socks from Stash group on Ravelry -- something they're calling "Ultra-unappreciated patterns".  In other words, patterns with very few projects recorded on Ravelry.  Mine is #3! 

Yes...this is the source -- and I have the book. It was my mother's -- or maybe her mother's! -- and it's in a page protector in my collection of knitting patterns.  I've made other socks from it, but not recently.

Anyway, the one I selected is called "Fancy Rib Socks", and I've been thankful for another Ravelry member -- a Canuck living in B.C., to boot! -- for the notes she made when she knit these.  It's not every day you try a pattern that someone else has knit, and you become cyber-friends with that person! 

I've only recently cast them on, and adapted the pattern (with the above-mentioned help) to 64 sts (from 80 as called for) -- so this is what they look like as of this morning:

Yarn: Estelle Highland Alpaca Fine
Colour: "Lagoon"

I think I'm going to enjoy knitting these, but whether or not they'll be enough to restore my lack-lustre sock mojo remains to be seen!

While the Sylph Cowl is still in the queue, it's become my 'train knitting' -- carried with me in the car in the event I'm stopped at the local train crossing, which is not just for trains passing through. It's a switch-point for CN Rail, which means I can sit there for 15-20 minutes, depending on the day and my timing!

However, I'm working hard on my January Blanket, started in 2024...and closing in on a finish. This was a photo taken a month ago; it's now longer -- I've finished 24 of a called-for 35 pattern repeats, and am on the 8th of 10 balls of yarn.  I thought I might try to use up all 10, but that would make it far longer than called for, so I'm just going to stick with the pattern as written!

I've done nothing more on my red-and-white cowl, or on my Bernie sweater -- just focusing on the above-mentioned projects for now.

And then there's Cross-stitch

I'm pleased to say that I finished the (recommended by Jacob) January section of the "Little Acorns" SAL from Modern Folk Embroidery -- at 8:30 p.m. on January 31! 

I then took a few days "off" but yesterday evening I started the February section (again, recommended by Jacob in his pattern notes).  Here's how it looked at the end of the evening:

NOTE: the border on the left isn't really skewed; it's just that the linen in the hoop has been pulled off grain!! It's really a straight line, and would look that way if I took it out of the hoop!!

Of course, I've been distracted by other things, as one is.  I've not done any more on the Elsa Williams "Winter" piece, or on "Disagree" by Rebel Stitcher, but I did have a new start.

Being February -- the month in which I was engaged in 1975 -- I've returned to "A Quilter's Dream" (also Modern Folk Embroidery) and have made a bit more progress on that:

Yes, it's only one teen motif, but each one is a mini-accomplishment, eh?! 😁

As for my "squirrel" moment? Well...again, given what's still going on in the world, I downloaded this new free pattern from Ellen Reid of Maximum Cross Stitch, and made a start:

It's entitled "Go Show Love", and is available in both Canadian and American versions re: the -- ahem! -- spelling of "neighboUr". 😉 

I found a large piece of 22-count white evenweave in my stash (I believe I inherited it from a dear friend who died in 2020 -- heart, not Covid) and I'm using the called-for DMC, 2 strands over 2 fabric threads.  Because I messed up on the colour instructions, I'm using black for both the 1st and 2nd inner borders, but I'm okay with that.  It's the perfect counter-part to stitching 1 strand over 2 on 40-count as I'm doing with "Little Acorns" and "A Quilter's Dream".

That's really all the news that's fit to print for this post, Gentle Readers.  My heart goes out to those in Eastern Canada, the Maritimes and all down the east coast of the US into places not as used to snow as we are, as they experience really overwhelming dumps of the stuff.  We out here on the Canadian prairies could use some more, as without it we're likely to remain in drought territory this spring and summer...not good.  Sigh...

And I continue to hope and pray for better days for all my US readers...

So I leave you with those wishes, and my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week, she has the Great Reveal of her Studio Reset -- it's a WOW!  

And until next time...a bientot!

Homebodies Unite!

 

A few weeks ago, when I last wrote, we'd had a snow storm and more seemed to be on the way.  Yes, Gentle Readers, and it came.  There was no going anywhere on the Sunday after that post.  

Since then, we've had some more snow -- though nothing like the 60" that Nina-Marie describes, living near the Lakehead out East.  Whoa!  I'm 60.5" tall...so I can figure out the impact of that!

Instead, we've been treated to a smorgasbord of precipitation: snow, "mixed", rain and freezing rain.  I managed to get to the local Home Hardware (about 18 km south) for a load of eco-friendly ice melter...just in time!

All that said, it's been great for those of us who are Certified Homebodies -- who like to stay in our own homes, yards and gardens, doing...whatever we do!  Are any of you with me? 

The added benefit is that it's coming on to Christmas and the Holiday Season, and I've had gifts to make.  Now...yes... those of you who are in Canada are rolling your eyes a bit, because you know that, like you, I have some gifts that might not make it in time for December 25 due to our over-4-weeks-now postal strike.  That said, I live in hope, because a) the government is getting back into the fray; and b) "Little Christmas" -- Epiphany -- the Twelfth Day of Christmas -- Orthodox Church Christmas -- is January 6.  So...there's an alternative!  And who do you know doesn't like a gift when they least expect it?! 😉😊😃😄

So I forge ahead!  

Since my last post, I finished the tiny wrap-around spool project from Jeannette Douglas Designs (a collaboration with Evertote and Roxy Floss), and because the recipient lived nearby, I was able to find One Perfect Driving Day this week -- and deliver it to her:

Those are my scissors in the photo, taken in my living room.  She had her own pair, and promptly inserted them where they belonged, to the delight of both of us!

I've also finished the "Downton Gloves" (Downton Abbey-themed fingerless gloves) from stash yarn, and given them to my neighbour and friend, Claire, when we had lunch last week:

The yarn is a Malabrigo merino and silk blend, soft-soft-soft-soft.  She's a non-knitter and not fond of wool, but I was right; she couldn't resist these!

For my very-good-to-me neighbours, I've finished the 2024 Block of the Month from Sheri at A Quilting Life.  The last block came out December 2nd and I surprised myself by finishing mine that very day.  I've been making two per month in the smaller (8" finished) size, and here they are for December:

Because I knew time of the essence, I immediately began to plot out the rows and sashing:

In doing so, I exhausted the supply of the gold fabric corner-stone squares, and have only scraps left of the brown sashing print -- a win-win on the 'stash reduction' front!

Here's what it looked like once I got all the rows together, plus the inner border -- which I made twice as wide as called for -- and the outer border, a solid red-brown poly-cotton:

I found a couple of pieces of deep wine-coloured poly-cotton for a pieced backing, and had to add only a strip of additional batting to one side of a package of new Quilters' Dream 'Select' to make the batting.

I then decided that, given the flavour of the quilt and the colours used, I'd hand quilt it with a 'big stitch' format, using #12 perle cotton (DMC colour #640) -- also from stash.  I've made my way around the inner border and am now working on the blocks, with shadow quilting that I don't need to mark.  I simply echo the lines of the block pieces, or go from point to point:

If I can manage 3 (or 4) blocks a day, I should have it bound and ready to give by Xmas Eve (or the 23rd at the earliest).

Meanwhile, if the weather behaves, I'll be driving up to Edmonton to spend Christmas with my children and household.  Hooray!  So...

As you probably noticed in my last post, the knitted gifts for my son and his family are finished -- and gift cards are purchased.  That said, a 'squirrel' caught my eye last week in the guise of a 'reading pillow' -- and I just knew such a thing would be a great addition to the gift for my son's partner's teen son, who has a 15th birthday in January.  So I picked up a 16" pillow form (on sale!) at one of my LQS (Wild Flower Creations in Lacombe), dug in my stash for fabric, and made this:

Front -- showing the wide pocket
Free Pattern: Shabby Fabrics

And back, with a flap for removing the pillow form

The fabric was left over from the Canada 150 line of fabrics (2017).  Back in the day, I bought a quantity to make a table runner, which I still use.  

I liked the project so much that when at Michael's on Thursday this week, I bought another 16" square pillow form -- also on sale!

As for my daughter's Xmas/B'day Jan 2025 gift -- the [Not So] Presto Vesto -- there is light at the end of the tunnel!  Since my last post, I've done the twisted-rib trim on each pocket, made the inside of each pocket, and attached said pocket linings to the vest.

One of the pockets - outside view

One of the pockets - inside view.

What the front looks like with 2 finished inset pockets

All that's left is the zipper (28", already purchased -- from Wild Flower Creations in Lacombe), adding a strip of woven ribbon on the inside over the zipper (purchased at Michael's in Red Deer) and sewing down the collar.  Yes -- it's already been washed and blocked.

This thing has been a Labour of Love from start to finish...so I've been knitting intermittently on smaller projects as 'palate cleansers'!

I got the "advent" (non-liturgical) bug -- but I didn't invest in a series of yarny or stitchy gifts.   No.  I found a couple of patterns on Ravelry that were set up as "Advent" Knit-Alongs (KALs), and joined in.

One is for a pair of socks in a series of different stitch patterns.  Some are knitting each daily pattern offering in a different colour, but I opted for using up a couple of balls of Patons Kroy FX that I had in my stash (in the colour "Clay"):

Above is a photo through Day 2, but I'm now well past that, having done a heel flap, turned the heel and finished the gusset -- making my way through Day 9.  I've decided one repeat of Day 10 and I'll be ready for the toe of the first sock.  (This is a free pattern KAL.)

The other is for a colour-work cowl, which I've been using to practice my colour-work skills. (My plan is to try more colour-work in 2025).  I chose two fingering-weight yarns: Julie Asselin 'Fino' -- my daughter gave me a skein a few years ago, in the colour-way "Trench" and some very old wool 4-ply given me from a yarn cull, from The Bay (The Hudson's Bay Company) -- in a lovely pearl grey.  I'm about to start Clue 6 with is the last one in this particular KAL, and am very pleased that the motifs I've knit actually look like they're suppose to! 😆 (NOTE: This pattern was free for a limited time but is no longer so.)

I just might be able to do this stranded colour-work thing after all!

As for stitchery...aside from the spool, which I finished and gave to its recipient, I've finished two little pieces that may or may not arrive at their respective destinations on time:

Designer: The Sweetheart Tree
Kit: 28-count "Ray of Light" Cashel Linen
DMC floss, Mill Hill beads & a charm (not shown)
1 or 2 floss threads over 1 or 2 fabric threads
Some back-stitching and a Rhodes stitch butterfly

Designer: Lizzie Kate
Pattern included the little button
Done on 35-count "Royal Icing" from
Access Commodities
1 thread of floss over 2 fabric threads
DMC floss from stash

"Don't Bug Me" will be made into a small hanging sign for the studio of some friends, while "You Can Touch the Dust" will be made into a flat-fold for a friend of mine -- we have a mutual understanding of the insufferability of dust!  😉😄

I have a stitching plan for January 2025 too.  Recently I bought a pair of "Gatherings" samplers from Hands on Design, through Traditional Stitches, my LNS: "Gather Blessings" and "Gather Memories".  I got them -- and the called-for fabric -- early enough that they arrived before Canada Post went on strike a month ago.  I've kitted them up so they are ready to go, and I hope to finish one, if not both, as 'blessings' samplers for 2025.  I figure with the state of the world right now, we could use all the blessings we can get in the next year!

On the art front, the Under $100 Art Market in Lacombe at the end of November was a modest success for me.  I sold only one piece (of seven on show), but on the Saturday afternoon when I volunteered as a 'floater' on the floor of the exhibit, I had some interesting and lovely conversations with folks for whom this work was new as an art form -- but who remembered ancestors who'd done it to make utilitarian pieces for the floor.  I am hopeful that if I enter the largert Art Show and Sale in the spring, I might sell more of these pieces.

To that end, I've been pondering a larger piece.  I picked up some burlap from Michael's in Red Deer to try it out (shipping from Deanne Fitzgerald Studios in Nova Scotia or even from Legacy Studios in Cochrane, west of Calgary, is pricy and awkward at the momen).  So we shall see.  I got a 2 yard piece, 44" wide, and have cut it to fill the larger of my stretcher bars, so once I get that quilt quilted I'll be ready to make a start.  I'm leaning toward a sky-inspired intuitive piece...Stay tuned!

Once ironed and zig-zagged, it'll go on the frame...

And so, Gentle Readers, that's all the news that's fit to print for now.  As I close, I see out my windows in the early winter dark, that my 3 closest neighbours have joined me in turning on their Christmas lights, bringing delight to all who pass by, and reminding us all that there is still a light that shines in this world, whether or not we can see it.

I'll be linking you to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, where this week she gives you ideas for gifts for your favourite quilting family and/or friends.  I have all I need, really, and that includes those of you who've stuck with me on this little blog all these years.  I'll mark 22 years as a Blogger in February.  Whodd'a thunk it?!

Till next time -- holiday blessings, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah...and may the next year bring us ever closer to a world that's more hopeful, more peaceful, more civil, more just, more understanding, and more loving.  A bientot!