"Startitis" or "Finishitis"?

The last few weeks it's been a bit of both!  Once I decided to just enjoy life, throwing productivity and predetermined purpose out the window, I've been having a jolly good time.

First, I decided I'd enroll in a beginner's rug hooking class during this year's Fibre Week at Olds College, and a week from tomorrow I'll head down the highway to do just that.

Next, I signed on to the Rookies group for the annual Ravelry "Tour de Fleece" and get back to spinning.  In preparation, I've been practicing almost every day, working away at a wool batt I was given some years ago.  I refer to it as my "Mystery Mauve" fibre because it looks like this:

It's mainly wool, I think, but there are strands of synthetic -- fine as hair -- in it, as well as a few 'neps' or bits that, if there were more of them, would make it tweedy.  It's great for a not-so-great spinner like me, because I can practice and it's not cost me anything for the materials.  It's definitely not precious!

I've really enjoyed the occasional cool morning, spinning out in the sunshine:

This all came about because a friend, having "rescued" two bags of roving from an estate, gave them to me!  They're very colourful batches, some of which was apparently milled at Custom Woollen Mills in Carstairs, according to a sales slip in with one of the packages.  I decided that if I were to be worthy of this new addition to my fibre stash, I'd best get some of the "old stuff" spun up!

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In my last post, re: my Cross Stitch Rabbit Hole, I reported on my "May-nia" progress.  I was working on each of 5 pieces, one at a time, for five days each.  By the end of the month, I'd had another finish -- "Take Whisks" from Hands On Design.  And...drum roll, please!...as of yesterday, I had it Fully Finished.  Ta DA!

Journal cover - front

Journal Cover - back

Journal cover outside, open flat

See? The journal fits!

I took the instructions from this great little YouTube video by Alanda Craft, which I found easier to follow than other instructions to date, and enjoyed every minute.  As you know, Gentle Readers, I dislike "fiddly" projects, which is why I don't make many pouches, bags, etc. -- but this is a finish I'll return to.  As for this particular item, I've got to get it into the mail today for a friend -- a keen baker of cakes and cookies -- whose birthday is approaching.

I also finished the Spanish reproduction sampler I was working on, from Birgit at The Wishing Thorn.  This photo isn't great because the piece is in pastel threads on white linen...but there it is.  The photos on the Wishing Thorn website are better!  I used the called-for DMC floss and (as I recall) a 32 count white linen -- 1 strand over 2, except for the commemoration at the bottom, and my signature, which are 1 strand over 1.  This sampler was made in memory of my late cousin, Margo Davison de Martinez, who died in 2022, aged 80.

At the end of my "May-nia" I returned to "Keziah Campbell 1796" designed by Needlemade Designs but purchased through Traditional Stitches in Calgary -- the package of pattern, fabric and flosses given to me by my friends Sha and Mary for my 70th birthday last fall.  I started it in the New Year, and it's been a bit slow-going, as it's on 40-count Vintage Sand Dune from Lakeside Linens.  This is my first attempt at 40-count and I must say, it's going better than expected.  

Having finished my 5x5 program in May, I thought for June I'd focus on a relatively new start -- "Barnabee's Quest, Part I" from Just Nan, which I'd had in stash for over a decade -- but no.  I returned to Keziah...and have fallen in love!  I finished the border at the end of May, shown horizontally just before the finish:

Since then, I've worked on it almost every day and here's where I am as of last evening:

The hand-dyed cotton for the red letters is 'Country Redwood' from Gentle Arts -- lucious!  The curliques around the alphabet letters are challenging but so worth the concentration!  Because this a Scottish-style sampler and not a reproduction, I am going to modify it to memorialize my immediate ancestors on my father's side.  Three brothers from the family came over to Quebec in the mid-eighteen-twenties and settled on farmland near the new community of Huntingdon, in the Chateauguay Valley.  There are farms out there that are still in the family, though my relation to the owners is very distant.  Anyway, I'm going to insert the initials for my grandfather, my grandmother and their children -- my father, my aunt and my uncle -- in the space for them underneath the wee row of crowns.  Stay tuned for progress!

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On the quilting front, there's a bit more progress, but with this heatwave, it's hot in my south-facing studio, and there's no room for a fan.  Still, I've managed to make 33 Butter Churn blocks, such that I've had to move them to the "design bed" in the guest room:

The quilt under the blocks is an old Bear's Paw quilt made for me by my late Aunt Alice Rennie -- one of the aforementioned relatives whose initials will be on the Scottish sampler.  The fabrics are, in large part, scraps I sent to her after making garments for me and my then-little daughter, back in the mid-to-late eighties.  It always makes me smile to see them in that quilt!

And yes...I've returned to some knitting!

When I was in Toronto, I took with me a pullover I was working on out of a bright synthetic -- the now-discontinued Sirdar "Silky Look" Double Knitting.  By the time I returned at the beginning of May, I was ready to start the bottom ribbing -- 4" deep -- and this is now finished:

Pattern: "Millie"
Designer: Nice and Knit
Yarn: Sirdar "Silky Look" DK in "Brights" colour-way

Since I took that photo -- at the end of May -- I've finished one sleeve and put a few rounds into the second.  

In the aforementioned stash of roving my friend gave me, was a 'plate' of long-discontinued "Chinook" single-ply yarn -- which appears to be a precursor to the now-popular Plotulopi, though it's not from Iceland; it's from Australia!  I've not done anything with it yet, but it inspired me to get back to a simple shawl I'm making with a similarly-fragile Noro "Rainbow Roll".  

I've not taken an up-dated photo, but it's the "Rainbow Roll Shawl" from Benjamin Matthews Designs, and I'm using a colourway in blues and browns, with some pale pinks and creams (#1015).  I have to knit with care, as it's easily broken, but I think it will be pretty and cozy in the end.

Picking up that project again motivated me to return to another knitting UFO -- a Mystery Stole that originated in 2006!

It's the Swan Lake Mystery Stole 3 designed by Melanie Gibbons, which I'm knitting in JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 in "Vanilla" (off-white).  I'd managed to finish the main body of the shawl, leaving off at the point where I'd have to decide how I wished to continue -- with a mirror image of the first part, or with the 'wing' of the swan.  I've chosen the latter, and after a short consultation with the designer about the chart in question, I've begun in earnest.  I've told Melanie that she's been a great help and I promised her it wouldn't be another 15 years before I finished it -- so stay tuned!

Again, with the current heat wave, I've reserved my knitting and spinning for early in the day, and turn to stitching in the afternoons, in my living room, blinds drawn against the sun, and fans going.  The heat is supposed to break over the weekend -- thunderstorms very likely on Sunday -- and more rain may come later next week, which is a Very Good Thing, and the fires, while they've eased, continue to burn up north, in B.C. and in Eastern Canada, with smoke and haze impacting those of us who live to the south of them, including our friends in the Eastern US.

I'll leave you now, as usual, with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week, while I've been dusting off what's old, starting assorted finishes, she's been exploring what's new -- in a technique, in assorted gadgets, and in audio books.  

Whatever you're up to, from wherever you're reading, may you have some time to lose yourself in creativity.  A bientot!

Sew Day

I couldn't face calling today what it is: a snow day...but that's what it is.  I was due to go out to the library in the next village (Alix) to pick up a book I'd requested, and to go on from there into Lacombe for a bridal shower at the church.

Yes...that bride.  Blessedly, I took photos of the finished piece outdoors yesterday:

I also got a shot of my forsythia in full bloom for the first time since I pruned it back a few years ago:

This is what my back garden -- and Outdoor Studio -- look like this morning.  You can see the slumping cotoneaster in the background...and the forsythia is behind that...

It could be worse.  My next-door neighbour's large front yard tree has lost a big branch -- currently hanging by a thread at the trunk of the tree, and spread out over the public sidewalk.

It could be even worse...thinking of those poor people in Nepal in the aftermath of this morning's earthquake...So much pain, loss and challenging days ahead, sorting and sifting, and trying to adjust to life again...

On a cheerier note, I "finished" my two miniatures in the 'colour' theme for this month's EBMC -- at least for the moment.  I'm out of Framer's Tape -- it's now on order from the gallery that cuts my mats and shows some of my work -- so the photos below were taken with the pieces lying flat, and the mats simply placed on top.  It's interesting how the colour of the mat influences each piece:

Sunset by the Slough I (C) 2015

Sunset by the Slough II (C) 2015

As I explained to EB, I'm not entirely satisfied with these.  I played with the fence in the first one -- moving it from left to right and back again, trying 5 posts and settling on three as in the original.   As for the second, it seems as if perhaps there should be some texture added to the foreground by way of seed stitch.  I may go back into both of these before I call them truly finished.  EB's feedback will undoubtedly help!

Given that I'm not going anywhere today, I'll finish stitching down the facing on "Yellow Tree"  -- my piece for the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction -- and attach the sleeve, and then see how far I can get on the gusset and heel of the second sock for this month's Socks from Stash challenge which -- ideally -- will also be finished before I leave for Portland on Wednesday!

As I stitch, I'll be reading through the link-up at Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

But first...time to dig the shovel out of the back shed, and get the heavy snow off my cedar and junipers!

Facing & Finishing

Confession: putting the finishing touches on a project is my least favourite part of the process.   This probably accounts for why I love to knit socks.  There are no seams to sew save the wee bit of grafting at the toe, and there are very few ends to sew in -- most of the time.

However, if one is going to donate pieces to benefit auctions, put pieces on show and/or offer them for sale, one has to finish them, and do so properly and well.

Facing & Finishing - (Back) "Uphill to Mirror" (2014)
(Front) "Yellow Tree" (2015)

Next week I'm sending six of my "15 x 15" pieces to Ontario, where they'll be given to my colleague Chantal.  She will take them back to France and from there, to Maastricht, The Netherlands, for the Open European Quilt Championships competition and exhibition, which runs from October 29 through November 1, 2015.  Yes!  Our group is but one of several which have been accepted as a Guest Collection for the show!  Each of us is sending 6 to 8 pieces, so it will be a great collection of our work over the past three years.  

Then there's "Yellow Tree", my piece for the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction, which has to be ready to go to Portland with me next week so I can deliver it to the curator of the Auction, Gale O-P.

Today I sewed down the facing and applied the sleeve to "Uphill to Mirror", the 15 x 15 piece, and started to sew down the facing on "Yellow Tree".  The sleeves for all of the 15 x 15 Group's pieces are 2" deep (finished) and mounted 1" from the top and 1" in from each side.  For each I include a tiny pleat (see photo at left) to facilitate hanging.

The sleeve for "Yellow Tree" will be similar, but made of the same fabric as the backing and facing.  I like to have them all match and blend in if possible, so they are rather...um...unobtrusive...and don't take away from the "main event", which is the front!

Speaking of finishing...I am closing in on the end of the Wedding Prayer Shawl too.   Turns out the women in our parish decided to hold a shower for our young bride...on Saturday (April 26)!
This is a good month before I'd planned to finish the shawl, and I'm not prepared to go to the Shower with a different gift...so I'm trying to finish early.  As of this writing, I'm at 23 1/2 of 25 pattern repeats...with 20 rows of garter stitch edging to follow, plus washing and blocking...!

It may or may not be 'on the needles' when presented to the bride-to-be...

At about 21 pattern repeats...

Lace detail
Pattern: "Kimono Shawl"
from
Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle

Blessedly I was able to do most of this handwork in the Outdoor Studio, which I opened this afternoon for the 2015 season!

Opening Day 2015 at my Outdoor Studio 

Being here makes facing and finishing so much more enjoyable -- don't you agree?

Linking this up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network.  What have you been working on lately?

A Shawl and a Sock











I've decided I need another pair of hands to do all of the knitting I want to do. I've finished the first of my pair of Guernsey Socks from Clara Parke's Knitter's Book of Yarn (pattern by Amy King) and have cast on my first toe-up sock -- a Little Shells sock, also from KBOY, designed by Shelia January. So far, the toe is proceeding as directed. It's been great to have a wee bit of hand-holding by the designer, courtesy of Ravelry!

As for the shawl-in-progress, it looked like this after I finished Clue #3:










I am now almost 3/4 through Clue 4 (on the third of 4 pattern repeats), and it's even lacier and lovelier than I could have imagined -- particularly for a pattern that's amazingly easy. I say 'easy' because the repeats are regular, and it's quite easy to see what you are trying to accomplish with each pattern grouping. That takes some of the mystery out of its creation. As I go along, too, I've been enjoying the inspiring photos of those in the "Celebrate Spring" group on Ravelry, and the benefit of their experience and tips. Thanks to all!

Speaking of spring, it was warm enough yesterday to vacuum out my car in the driveway, and to nap later on in the sunshine on my lounge chair in my back yard! My tomato seedlings have a second set of leaves and are working on thirds. If it's less breezy tomorrow, I'll bring out the rake and start on the back lawn.