Goodness gracious! My mother was right; she told me decades ago (she's been gone for 21 years) that "Once you reach (age) 21, time disappears."Yep; she was pretty much right.
So here we are nearly at the end of the Longest Month of the Winter (because it doesn't have 10 days of holiday in it). I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, as most of you probably know by now, so it's been a very January January. Snow. Blowing snow. Freezing rain followed by snow. More blowing snow.
The good news about that?! I get to stay inside and make things!
And the good news about that?! Making things helps me cope with all the STUFF going on in the Outside World.
So...what have I been up to since my last post?
First, a bit of "housekeeping". Full disclosure: after I wrote that I used my Indigo/Chapters gift card to pre-order the paperback version of Deanne Fitzpatrick's Making a Life: Twenty-five Years of Hooking Rugs, I found it when I was sorting the bookshelf on the headboard of my bed. And yes, I'd read it -- in 2023!! (See what I mean about time?!) Sigh. Well here's what I did: first, I cancelled the pre-order and got a full refund (a new gift-card) from Indigo/Chapters; second, I took down the hard-cover copy I had and began to read it again. And yes; I thanked Indigo/Chapters profusely for their understanding.
Don't tell me that's never happened to you. Just sayin'! 😉
Now then...back to our regularly scheduled Blog Posting...
As we're talking about hooked rugs as art...I've managed to finish that new piece I showed on my last post, when it was still in the early stages. I've called it "Restless Sky" and now need to take it to be framed:
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"Restless Sky" (c) 2025 17" W x 10 " L before framing Hooked yarn and wool fabric
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There is a word hidden in the sky. Can you find it?
I've now answered a Call for Entry for a fundraising Art Auction to benefit the Lacombe Performing Arts Centre (the folks who run the Under $100 Art Auction in late November)...and I await the results.
And the call for artists for the annual Encore! Lacombe Art Show and Sale is up. I was last there in 2023 -- as Featured Artist. I took 2024 off, but am gearing up to enter again, with new work that is hooked -- and some art quilts that really need a new home.
The other making continues, of course.
I spend a great deal of my morning time knitting. I've just finished another hat to give away (sorry, no photo; the ends aren't sewn in yet!), and am working on another pair of simple mittens -- that would be the third since I last posted, for I've finished these:
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Once again...The World's Simplest Mittens Designer: Tin Can Knits Size: child. Yarn: red wool/synthetic blend - no label Machine wash, hang to dry |
I also finished the socks I started in December for the Advent Mystery KAL -- the "Christmas Smorgasbord Socks":
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Pattern: Christmas Smorgasbord Designer: Becky Greene Yarn: Patons Kroy FX in "Clay Colors" |
I know they look like they're not the same size but please note: due to the nature of the "smorgasbord" of stitch patterns used in the Mystery KAL, each sock has different textured stitch patterns in it. This means that unless I photograph them on my feet or using a sock blocker (I don't own blockers), they look oddly mis-shapen in different. They've been washed now, though, and I can attest to the fact that they are the same size! LOL!
I'm really focusing this winter on two kinds of knits: those to give away to folks who need them, and WIPs (Works In Progress) that have been lingering for far too long. Finishing three projects has left me time to return to these items:
1. A pair of cabled socks I first cast on in 2009. Yes; you read that correctly: 2009. I finished one sock and then...well, all I can say is, I must have been visited by the Squirrel! 😃
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Second sock on the needles. Progress as of January 22, 2025. |
Please note: the colour of the yarn in the second photo is much closer to real life -- probably because I took the photo against a clean white background. It's a lovely deep blue-green. One ball had a label -- Regia 3-fadig.
2. And I've gone back to the "January Blanket" I started a year ago. When I picked it up again on December 24, 2024, here's what it looked like:
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Photo taken January 10, 2024 |
Here's my progress as of January 15 (I've knit another 2 1/2 pattern repeats since then, for a total of 10 repeats, 8 rows each):
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Pattern: January Blanket Designer: Leslie Weber FREE on Ravelry Yarn: Diamond Select 'Stonewash' in the colour "Chalk"
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The yarn is a nice blend of acrylic (not my fave option but...), wool and cotton. It's chunky, so I'm using 5.5 mm (US 9) on a nice long cord. And even though the inter-changeable tips I'm using are wooden (from Knit Picks), the stitches move nicely along and don't stick to them. (That's probably due to the plastic and wool in the yarn blend, off-setting the cotton, which can be hard to knit on wooden needles.) I got it in 2016 at the LYS I worked at part-time -- the long-missed Crafty Lady in Lacombe, Alberta, which closed in February 2020, because the owner went online and on the road. She's now retired altogether.) Sigh. I still miss that place!
I'm focusing on those for the moment, but there are several more items in project bags that are lined up...just waiting to be worked on (or may finished) -- not to mention the bags of projects that are on the "Start Me, Please!" list, kitted up with yarn and patterns, waiting for time and needles to be available to start them!
On the quilting front, I've made or prepped all the units for the "Old Town" Mystery 2024/5 from Bonnie Hunter. I've only enough of the fabric for 20 of the called-for 25 blocks, which is fine; it'll make a nice-sized throw, or perhaps something a bit bigger.
So...I've made 5 blocks thus far, and they all look something like this:

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I'm using "dusty" turquoise, red-brown or rust, pale grey or grey-white, and very pale peachy fabric. The photos of some of the units might show this better:
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Flying Geese for the inner star |
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Fabric for the central square-in-a-square |
I really like the blocks - but the sashing and the borders are too "busy" for my taste, so I'll be simplifying those accordingly. To each her own, eh? 😉
While constructing these blocks, I continue to make small "Easy Breezy" blocks as my leaders-and-enders project. I've got 154 finished and plan to do another 14, so I can make a throw that's 12 blocks wide and 14 long. Each block being 4" finished, that'll produce a top -- before borders -- that's 48" x 56" long, and borders will take it up to a nice throw size -- 54" or so by 62" or so.
Although this has been my focus this month, next month I've vowed to the Quilting Gods that I'll return to the Celtic Knot project and get those last 7 blocks made -- ones that are extras to "up-size" the top from queen to king-sized, as requested.
Quilting takes up a good chunk of the afternoon -- and then I usually head out for a walk, depending on the weather. On my return, and on into the evening, it's time for cross-stitch.
I'm still working on The Swan Sampler which, as I mentioned in my last post has been a very enjoyable stitch -- but it wasn't a good choice for a Blessing Sampler, one that is to be started and finished in January, in order to "bless the year ahead". Ah well -- I'm still enjoying it and have made steady progress, even if it's not close to being finished!
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Pattern: "The Swan Sampler" Designer - Birgit of The Wishing Thorn Using the called-for threads (DMC & Kreinik) 2 over 2 on 30-count mystery linen |
As a palate cleanser of sorts, I finished two small pieces. The first, "Winter Gingham", I started a year ago (January is a month of "startitis" after all!):
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"Winter Gingham" Designer: Ruth Sparrow Gendron Publisher: "Twisted Threads" Kit fabric - 28-count Cream/Natural Gingham 2 over 2 with DMC floss from stash
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This is the last of a trio that included "Fall Gingham" and "Summer Gingham". Why there was no "Spring", I've no idea. I bought them -- with the fabric -- on sale from Traditional Stitches in Calgary a good twenty years ago -- it's not even in their online inventory any more! I haven't finished them, but they might make cute pillows, or an insert in a journal cover or something. They were just fun to stitch. 😊
Then there's this little piece that I started in December as a possible Xmas gift (changed my mind). Some days it really suits my mood! LOL!
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"Say You Have" Designer: Brenda Gervais 2 over 2 on 28-count Antique White lugana Floss from stash |
Next month I'll be taking up a new start, to honour the fact that in February, fifty years ago, my love and I announced our engagement. More on that later, so stay tuned!
That's really all my news for now -- at least, in this space. I remain closely attuned to what's happening in the Wider World, and may speak on that here some other time. Meanwhile, I take refuge in fabric, fibre, floss and colour -- trying to live out Deanne Fitzgerald's recommendation -- to create beauty every day.
Till next time...a bientot!