Section 2 of the 2023 SAQA Benefit Auction is UP!

I adopted 2 new kitties a couple of weeks ago. My senior cat is not impressed...so she's pictured here taking an early morning moment to pray about her predicament!

Yes! Section 2 of the 2023 SAQA Benefit Auction is ON NOW and my piece is among the many beautiful and unique pieces up for purchase! Read all the details and how to bid here: https://www.saqa.com/auction

Morning Prayer (c) 2023 12" x 12" with hanging sleeve.

September Startitis

 We had a Frost Warning here the other night.  That said, the dreaded frost didn't show up -- at least, not in my yard.  The days are still warming up (eventually), even if daylight starts later in the morning, and retires early.

I've been retiring pretty early, too -- and going full tilt in between.  The air has been tense in Miss Pookie's Queendom, ever since these two Interlopers arrived two weeks ago.

On the left, Miss Sylvie; on the right, her brother, Master Smokie -- shown here "at rest", which (thankfully!) occurs every few hours.  (As I type, they're sleeping on my bed.  Miss Pookie is sleeping in her nest in the Indoor Studio.)

Note the sealed packet next to them.  It's just one of several sealed packages and project bags which, so far, have managed to keep prying paws at bay.  The baskets of yarn that used to decorate my living area are all now stored behind a closed door in the guest room, and the Indoor Studio door is closed completely while Miss Pooks and I are outside.  Otherwise it's open a wee crack, so she can get out.

For those of you, Gentle Readers, who don't follow me on Facebook, Miss Pookie had a medical emergency a week ago -- just to add to the excitement (and expense!)  She's doing fine now, but I've had to give her an antibiotic (teeny-tiny pill) twice a day for the past week.  We'll both be thankful after her last dose tomorrow morning!

So how does a Maker of Textile Things try to bring order to this chaos?!  She keeps on making, of course!  (At left: Order Out of Chaos -- or Chaos Can be Colourful (c) 2020.)

And it being September, when we move from the lassitude of summer into "Back to School" in these parts, my current chaos has been mitigated somewhat by a case of September Startitis -- which, when  you really think about it, is just a second round of the Startitis that takes hold every January!

Since my post three weeks ago (!), I've...

• Started and finished another little hat to give away:

Design: "Peggy's Cap"
Designer: YaYa LovestoKnit
Yarn: Patons North America Classic Wool Worsted
Colour 00210 - "Petal Pink" (shown before blocking)

• Started and finished a pair of baby socks for a friend's new grand-nephew:

Pattern: "Baby Socks"
Designer: Kate Atherley
Yarn: left-over sock yarn - all used up now!

•  And started a pair of larger socks for his 3-year old big brother (sorry, no photo).  The first sock of the pair is finished and I'm past the cuff on the second.
• I started a seed-stitch ribbed vest for myself.  It's a cotton/rayon blend that I've had for (probably) 20 years or so.  The vest is started flat for the hems.  Then you put it onto a circular needle and join to knit the body in the round.  I've done the front hem (1 1/2") and am now working on the back hem (shown below), which ends up at 3 1/2" before joining to the front.

Pattern: Waterrock Vest
Designer: Jennifer Kelley
Yarn: Nova Plus La Playa from deep stash
Colour - #9840

• On the quilting front, I dug out another almost-20-year-old project: the One Block Wonder quilt, from One-Block Wonders by Maxine Rosenthal (2006).  

Yes...I probably got the book shortly after it came out, and bought 3 metres of a stunning chrysanthemum print with which to make it.  And over time, two different triangular rulers, both of which were supposed to cut 60 degree triangles.  I decided earlier in the summer that it was time I made this quilt.  I knew I couldn't part with the beautiful fabric and didn't want to use it any other way, so I set to.  

The process of preparing the fabric is quite fussy, but I got it all done: found the pattern repeat I wanted to use; cut the sections; cut the sections (stacked) into strips.  Therein was my first error: I misread the pattern and cut them 3.25" wide, not 3.75" wide.  Ah well!  I'd adjust.  The hexies would simply be smaller.

What happened next wasn't an error; it was an experiment.  I had two triangular rulers for cutting the triangles from the strips.  I chose to begin with the blunt-tipped ruler and, per Ms. Rosenthal's instructions, adjusted the cut to allow for the blunt tip.  I cut one set of strips with this ruler, and then tried to assemble the hexagons, following the book.  The instructions were clear but the hexies weren't very pretty.  I couldn't make patterns with them as illustrated.

Hmmm....

I decided to try the second ruler -- the one with a pointed tip.  This was much better!  In the photo below you'll see what I mean.  Yes, the hexies on the top row all have a bit of a slant to them, along with being impossible to assemble into an appealing design:

Top row: blunt-tipped ruler = funky hexies
Bottom row: pointed ruler = pretty hexies

I now have a bundle of not-great triangles -- which have been set aside for later consideration -- and will proceed to cut out the remainder with the "right" ruler! 😆

My leaders/enders project continues to be the string blocks, and converting those squares into HST blocks, but I've done nothing more on that at present.  The OBW experiment happened on the first rainy day in weeks, when I couldn't work in the yard/garden or stitch in the Outdoor Studio.  Instead, I was stuck inside with 2 very lively kittens and one Very Grumpy Miss Pooks!

And stitching has been going well.  It's Sampler September, after all.  I've been working on the d*@!!n grass on the "Keziah Campbell" sampler (Needlemade Designs), and have nearly finished that fill in.  There'll be a photo once I've started working on the sheep!

I've spent some time with "Nevermore" (Lila's Studio design), and have finished the first row of motifs, as well the line "Once upon a midnight dreary".  Again, there'll be a photo when I finish more of the text.

• And as this week marks the first days of Autumn, I decided yesterday to start a wee autumnal piece.  It's one of the "Gingham Seasons" by Ruth A. Sparrow of Twisted threads -- appropriately entitled "Autumn Gingham" (2002).  Here's my little start:

The fabric came with the pattern years ago; I've just kitted it up as best I could with the called-for DMCC and other DMC from my stash.  It's a fun little stitch and should be finished quickly.  😊

 I've not done any hooked art for a bit, as I was waiting on a bit of wool fabric and some red yarn to arrive for "All the Pretty Poppies".  While I waited, I collected what reds I had on hand.  This has arrived now, and I hope to design the piece in the next week or so.  I began by turning the photo from my garden, into an "Impressionist" mode in my photo editting program (Artsoft Photo Studio 5):

Left: the photo I took; Right: "Impressionistic" version

I need to decide how large I want to make it -- and while it will be larger than the 10" x 10" piece I designed, it won't be much larger.  I'm not ready to take that plunge just yet!

• Last but not least comes the garden and yard.  This week I started to clear it away for the winter -- cutting back and dead-heading and weeding out grass that insinuated itself in and around the plants.  I mustered my courage and transplanted a baby peony -- purchased last spring -- that wasn't flourishing where I'd put it in the first place.  It turns out that spot, once the leaves of the nearby trees were full out, was too shady.  I've moved it to the east side of my house where it will have company with other peonies and hope that it "takes" enough to survive the winter so it can do better next year.

I also harvested my Early Girl tomatoes -- many of them a good size but still very green.  The ones that showed signs of ripening are in a basket together in the kitchen, doing just that.  

The others, so very green, I put in a pot with a goodly amount of my golden cherry tomatoes, adding raisins, currants, diced apples, diced lemon and orange, sugar, vinegar, a shot of scotch whisky, some ground cloves and allspice, and turned out almost 4 large jars of Green Tomato Relish, aka "Mock Mince Meat".  I gave a jar to my neighbour and have offered one to another friend.  I'll let the remaining two cure, and perhaps make at least one pie at Xmas -- even if I have to freeze it in slices to eat one at a time!

There are still more golden cherry tomatoes to harvest; I'll be eating them for a while yet!

And on that note...the sun is shining, the day is well on now (after 3 p.m.).  I've pruned my large old lilac (dead-headed the finished blossoms) and cleared the east flower bed for winter (except the peonies, which I'll do later).  It's time for some of that stitching and knitting in the Outside Studio, keeping Miss Pooks company while the wee ones, tummies full, have another nap.

I'll once again leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's show-casing the work of two young talents -- one in the world of Broadway theatre and another who's a new author (spoiler alert: it's her daughter!!)  Off you go to enjoy that and to make time for your own creative pursuits.

Till we 'meet' again, a bientôt! 

SAQA's Benefit Auction 2023!

The Annual SAQA Benefit Auction kicks off tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (noon here in the Mountain Time Zone). September 14, 2023 is 'Diamond Day', when ALL pieces will be available for $1.000 each.

As of September 15, the auction will proceed in sections through October 8. My piece (if not sold tomorrow!) will be available in Section 2. For more information, visit the SAQA website here: https://www.saqa.com/auction

Here's my contribution to the cause:

"Morning Prayer" (c) 2023
12" x 12"
Commercial and self-dyed fabrics
Fused raw-edge applique, machine quilted

The Making Goes On

 Ah....September.  That's my deep inhale/exhale of the cooling air that you're "hearing".  While I look forward to spring every year -- especially if the winter has been longer and colder and deeper than ever -- September remains my favourite month (and not just because I was born in it!)

I'm not a hot-weather worshipper; I like to be able to handle gardening and working with textiles of all sorts without fainting from the heat.  I live in a part of the country which -- until recent years -- didn't require owning an air conditioner (I still don't own one, though there's one in my car).  So while in the last two summers I've found myself learning how to mitigate the effects of extreme heat and the smoke from wild fires to the north and west, I confess that I'm thankful that (hopefully) cooler days are ahead.

I've had to adjust my making to the weather even more than usual in the last few years, so I'm glad my work with textiles has so many different ways to do this!

When it rains (or snows), I stay indoors and knit and quilt.  In the last couple of weeks, an occasional day of much-longed-for rain arrived, enabling me to make a bit more progress in the Keep It Out of the Landfill Project (KIOOTLF).  Right now my focus is on hats and mittens that are likely going to be needed by wildfire victims if or when they're able to return home -- particularly to the NWT (NorthWest Territories).  I'm on my fourth wool hat and have begun the decreases at the top:

Pattern: Morning Coffee 
Designer: YaYa Loves to Knit
Yarn: Patons North America Classic Wool Worsted
Colour-way: #308 - Wisteria

                                                            

In the "knits pour moi" category, I finishe my 'Crayon Box Millie' and am enjoying wearing it in the cooler weather:

Pattern: Millie by Nice and Knit
Yarn: Sirdar Silky Look DK (discontinued)
Colour-way #0974 (Rainbow)

And in preparation for even cooler weather, I'm gradually closing in on a finish for my Sock Knitter's Pullover.  It's made from assorted odd bits of fingering-weight sock yarn, so those sleeves seem to go on forever!

Pattern: Sock Knitter's Pullover
Designer: Merri Fromm

I've also managed a bit of spinning in the early morning sunshine.  In an effort to do more spinning, I've been participating a bit in the "Summer Spin-In" from the Two Ewes -- podcasters who also have a Ravelry group by that name.

Having finished my goal for the "Tour de Fleece" back in July, I began to spin up some wool top given me by a friend.  No idea the breed (not labelled), but it was very colourfully dyed by someone, somewhere along the way.  (I wrote a bit about it back in July.)

So I took some of this:

And spun enough of it to fill a spindle, thus:

This week I've been spinning with some black fibre which was in a bag labelled 'alpaca' -- a lovely thing to spin, and the first time I've done so!  I've got a bobbin that's nearly full, and when finished, will ply it with the multi-coloured singles (above) to make a marl.  I know it's two different animal fibres -- alpaca and sheep -- but that should give me interesting results, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Now to quilting. This week I (finally!) finished the 80 Butter Churn blocks I needed for a throw-sized quilt top.  I slapped on some plain borders and called the top *done* -- 51 1/2" x 63 1/2" -- but it now needs quilting, of course!

Scrappy Butter Churn throw quilt top
Block pattern from Bonnie Hunter's 
"Addicted to Scraps" column, 
Quiltmaker Magazine, Mar/Apr 2023

As I've been working on this, I've continued to stitch up crumbs and strings.  Yesterday I finished the 60th no-paper, straight strings block in my stack thereof, and decided to turn them into half-square triangles for another throw-sized top:

This meant, of course, that I'd need enough neutral fabric to cut 60 plain blocks.  Hmmm...

I took out a couple of options from my quilting cottons, but neither was a large enough piece to do the job (each block had to be 6 1/2" square).  Then I remembered my daughter's contribution to my "KIOOTLF" Project -- bedsheets!  She decided to replace a set of twin-sized poly-cotton (50-50) plain off-white bedsheets, and gave that old set to me to use as I saw fit.  I dug out the flat top sheet, trimmed off the top double-fold hem, and set to cutting out my neutral squares.  Perfect!

Look at the puddle of fabric on the floor!

Once the HSTs are made, I hope to turn them into large pin-wheel blocks.  Sixty 6 1/2" string blocks plus 60 plain blocks of the same size = 120 HST blocks measuring 60" square, and four of them in a pinwheel = 30 pinwheel blocks measuring 11" square before putting them in the quilt.  They'd finish at 10 1/2" square, so six rows of 5 blocks each should measure 50" x 60" (give or take), before borders.  Ta-da!

In other textile work, I finished hooking my little prairie landscape.  In my last post I talked about needing courage to tackle that stormy sky.  Well, I finally bit the bullet and did it -- and I'm rather pleased with the results!  Here it is, sitting in a wee wooden stand, propped up by a square of mat board:

Something's Brewing! (c) 2023

When I finished this I realized I'd need more blue chunky yarn for skies.  While I was able to dye more golds and browns, I don't have the supplies (yarn or dye) to do blues, so I tracked some down from my friend and former employer, Lori of The Crafty Lady.  They've arrived; now to figure out what I want to do next.  

I'm thinking about a small landscape based on the flowers I've enoyed this summer: all those pretty poppies.  Not a scrap of blue in sight, but one must be prepared! 😉

And on the stitching front, things are moving along as well.  I received my floss order from Embroidery Market Place, and have moved on with "Nevermore" -- a design by Lila's Studio that I'm stitching as a gift for my nephew George and his new bride, Chey.  Lest you think it an odd wedding gift, well...let's just say it suits what I know of their esthetic.  The colours are luscious, and I'm enjoying this stitch immensely!

Progress - Aug. 30, 2023

Motif close-up
Floss: #0980 - "Lagoon" from Gentle Arts

Today, of course, is the start of Sampler September.  In that vein, I'll not be forgetting Keziah Campbell 1796 from Needlemade Designs, the kit for which was given me last year for my Big Birthday, from two friends who knew it was on my Traditional Stitches wish list.  I'm nearing the bottom now, having finished the house:

And while I have another sampler languishing from last year, I also have a new start planned for my birthday:  Memories of the Past from Hands Across the Sea designs.  I'm torn between starting it today or waiting till my birthday date.  I had it on my wish list for some time before I invested in it, and once finished, it will be the largest piece I've stitched to date.  The colours are glorious, and I love the verse and the border.  Stay tuned!

I think that's all the news that's fit to print -- for this post, anyway.  And I have a homily to write for the Morning Prayer service on Sunday (I'm a Lay Minister in my local Anglican parish and take a service once a month, when our priest is off at the other parish he shepherds).

So...best away, so I can get my work done and still have lots of stitching time before bed!

As usual, I leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's "geeking out" about thread -- of the sewing variety.  If thinking about thread -- its composition, its colours, its weight, its role in your sewing and quilting life -- her post's for you!

Here's wishing you all, Gentle Readers, a safe, sunny, super September, wherever life may take you.  For the moment, a bientôt! 

All the Pretty Poppies

 The majority of my time in recent weeks has been spent here:

Pookie in the Outdoor Studio West

Or here...

Outdoor Studio East -- in "The Grove"

And sometimes, here...

Yet another stitchy spot - moving with the sun

We've had a pretty nice summer -- though, truth be told, it's been far too dry, and often, far too hot, resulting in an inordinate number of wildfires all over the country, and precipitating an agricultural crisis here on the prairies.

Today it's chilly, damp and grey, with overcast skies that have yet to make good on their threat to drop much-longed-for rain.

A perfect day to catch up in a blog post!

As the title of this post implies, once they recovered from the frying, drying heat wave we had in June, my gardens have been coming along nicely.  Under the big double willow in The Meadow, I scattered poppy seeds -- a gift from my neighbour -- with abandon in the spring, and they've not disappointed:

First double poppy under the willows

All the pretty baby poppies under the willow

My first bird-planted daylily in the Grove

As a result I've been doing well with my stitching endeavours, making good progress since my last post.

"Here Be Dragons" from Modern Folk Embroidery, is finished -- and needs a frame:

A Dragon in the Sunshine! 😉

I've just finished a little red sampler from Thames Path Samplers on Etsy.  Note: I got this as a PDF download; I'm not certain, however, that it's still available.  Sorry.

Modification: replaced part of the bottom border
with my initials and the year.

I really enjoy monochromatic stitching; I've kitted up a few more of these -- and the next one, I think, will be done in variegated blues on a tan or caramel-coloured background.  I set aside Thursdays for these, so stay tuned...

My current Sunday Stitch is "Keziah Campbell 1796", which I'm personalizing to memorialize my father's family, descended from the Rennies of Kilsyth, Scotland.  I've moved down to the house and lawn, full of -- as Brenda of Brenda and the Serial Starter would say -- "the damned grass!" 😉😆

Given the adjustments I had to make to fit in the initials of my father's immediate family, there have been more tweaks made in the spacing but it's all working out.  And yes, that's a cat you see next to the lady in red, as befitting my status as a Certified Cat Person!

In other progress, "Shalom" -- a Hanukkah/anniversary gift for friends -- is coming along nicely (though I haven't an updated photo to show you!)  And I made some progress on "Nevermore" -- but am now waiting for more floss.  That's what happens when you fail to read that you need two skeins of something and order only one...sigh...

Since this photo was taken, I've finished that second motif, and have found a third that I can do with the floss I have on hand...but it will require serious counting and concentration, so I've left it for now.

In my July 2nd post, I showed my progress on "Barnabee's Quest - Part I" -- a 22-year old pattern from Just Nan Designs.  I've now finished it, except for the beads and charm, and have dug out Part II, which I want to stitch on the same piece of fabric.  (These are teeny-tiny!)  I erred and did the verse in black instead of bright purple, but I like the effect so I'm going to be consistent and use black for the verse in each of the three pieces:

Last week I spent a few days with friends south of Calgary -- both very fond of textile arts.  One's current focus is hooking rugs and art "mats" and the other's current love is black work so we spent some time sorting their stash and sharing supplies.  I made some progress on my canola scene which is my first attempt at my own design:

I began by updating the colour of the grain bins to a more accurate silvery-grey, and the fence posts to a more solid brown.  I then finished the grass in the foreground.  Now I need to tackle the sky, for which I'm using this photo I took locally some years ago:

I'm procrastinating a bit...so I must take courage and just get on with it! LOL!

On the knitting front, I finished the Balvraid hap and gave it to my friend Anne, who loves it!  Here she is modelling it...

You can tell by her outfit that the hap suits her colours!

I also finished a simple hat for the giving box...and have put the last bit of this green yarn into my rug hooking stash (it's also in the grass in the landscape shown above).

With all the wildfires going on here -- the latest being the evacuations in the NWT (Northwest Territories) and B.C. (especially Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley) -- I've started another hat, the fourth in this batch, and am determined to also add to my pile of comfort quilt tops, in the hopes of getting them finished and sent to where they're likely to be needed as the fall and winter approach. So many people have lost everything.  I have more stash than cash, so am doing what I can and live in hope that it will be of use.  

I was horrified by the wildfire that took most of Maui, but am unable to manage to send fully quilted quilts that far away, so have decided to try to help those closer to home.

This new hat is the "Morning Coffee" pattern, free on Ravelry; I'm making it from more Paton's Classic Wool Worsted, and have omitted the rolled brim:

As today is rather cold and gloomy -- still no rain and now the air is smelling smoky -- it's just right for heading into the Indoor Studio for some time working on my scrappy Butter Churn blocks.  I've finished 69 of a desired 80, and that would make -- with borders -- a perfect comfort quilt to add to the pile.  These are small enough I can sandwich, baste and quilt them myself, and so make them available when needed.

I continue to have an art quilt idea percolating...but am not "there" yet -- that point at which it wants to be brought into the world.  Time will tell!

I'll leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- wherein this week she's reminiscing about publications and blogs gone by.  Do you have favourite blogs that you miss?  Favourite websites that are now a thing of the past?  Check out what she misses, and take a walk down memory lane.

Blessings for the waning days of summer and until we meet again here on this page... a bientôt! 

Cultivating Contentment...a Little Bit Every Day

 It seems to me that most of my life I've been seeking contentment.  I don't mean that I've not experienced happiness or moments of great joy.  No.  I mean living in an atmosphere of peace and having a relaxed state of mind.  It's certainly not come naturally.

It may have been that very early in life I was content -- but in our household, if memory serves me, the focus was on service to others, duty, responsibility, study and developing a sense of purpose.  Contented was what cows were in the Carnation milk commercials. 

Living with those key concepts in mind didn't mean we couldn't have fun -- we certainly did!  Ice skating -- first on a backyard rink our father fashioned, and later on the indoor but real ice rink at the local Arena.  And dancing!  Dad built a false floor down in our unfinished basement and made sure there was an outlet in which to plug our portable record player, so we could go down there with our friends of a Saturday night and dance, dance, dance.  

But as we got older and shaped by our parents, teachers and the Culture of Accomplishment and Possibilities in the nineteen-sixties...well...you were expected to have a purpose for your life.  A reason for being.  You had to contribute to the society around you.'

Later, given all the American television to which we were exposed, added to this was earning and consuming -- and if you weren't working at something 'useful', what were you doing?

So...after the dust cleared in 2006, when my husband had died and my children were living and working on their own, I decided to move to the country and become an artist -- something that would have horrified my parents, growing up as they did through the Great Depression and WWII and the 'let's make up for all that!' fifties.

It's been almost 17 years since I found myself alone and wondering, "What's next?  What's my purpose?"

It's taken turning 70 last fall to cause me to really question my outlook.  My "need" for a "purpose".  I began to ask myself, can't I just live my life, doing the best I can, making things for others, yes, and contributing to my  immediate community and my faith community, without specific goals or purpose?

Six+ months into this year, I'm getting closer to a "YES!" answer to this question.

I've decided that "one day at a time" isn't a bad idea.  I want to keep learning, but no longer need to do so to prove anything to anyone.  I might answer an artistic Call for Entry -- but not worry if I'm not accepted, or if I change my mind and don't enter after all.

My "Purpose in Life"?  Leave my tiny spot in the universe a bit better because I was in it.  That's it; that's all.

To that end, I'm feeling more contented this summer than I have ever felt -- and I've stopped punishing myself for having delightful days in which I took my time, walked around my garden, didn't bother with formal exercise, didn't meet any deadlines, and simply did things I love to do.

A Little Bit Every Day.

Here are some of the examples since my last post:  I made more jam -- from my own raspberries.  I gave some of those berries away, and rest assured; there are more to pick!  

Every morning I take what I call the "Morning Tour" of the yard and garden -- coffee in hand, of course.  I've been using that time to check for bugs where there shouldn't be any, to remove the heads of finished dandelions so that the population is reduced somewhat next year, and to check on what might need watering.  

A couple of weeks ago I received my order of 20 wildflower 'plugs' from Wild About Flowers (south of Calgary) -- from the Prairie Meadow selection of plants.  With information I provided about my location, sun exposure and current wildflower population, plus the note about Lacombe County's verboten list.  I planted them and they are making themselves at home.  Each comes with a label stick that includes the plant's name, potential size (width and height) and ideal sun/shade exposure.  Most will grow to at least 12" tall -- eventually.  

Some days that's all there is to do. Other days I need to mow the 'non-meadow' -- aka the 'West Lawn'.  Sometimes I need to water everything -- I use rain water collected in barrels and water only beds and pots.  I never water my grass.  Sometimes a tree branch goes down in the wind -- like it did Tuesday -- and I have to cut it up and prepare it for burning, whether here or in a firepit belonging to my sister or my daughter.

But I do all that in the very early morning when it's coolest.

After that, it's time to do whatever I want to do with fabric, fibre and floss.  In the summer I save rainy days for quilt work; I've now amassed 62 'Butter Churn' blocks -- only 18 more to go to reach 80, which will make a 48" x 60" top -- before borders.

I love to spin yarn outside in the summer, so for inspiration and motivation, I signed on to two Ravelry events for spinners: the "Tour de Fleece", which models itself on the Tour de France and will end on Sunday, the last day of the French event; and the Summer Spin-in from Two Ewes Fibre Adventures  (I 💓 their podcast).  It should come as no surprise that I'm on the "Rookies" team on the Tour -- I'm not a die-hard spinner who wants to stick to a schedule!  The Summer Spin-in is much more laid back and the moderators more encouraging.  Works for me!

My self-challenge for both was to spin up most (if not all) of a bag of what I'm calling "Mystery Mauve" -- a wool batt I was given years ago and have taken forever to turn into yarn.  I set a mini-goal of filling 4 bobbins with singles, and turning those into two-ply yarn that might actually be usable.  Well...I did it!

Here are the skeins:

All in all, with some of this spun before this year, I have about 350 grams of usable yarn -- and about 75 grams of Mystery Mauve fibre yet to spin up.  As a Very Casual Spinner (contented, remember?), I've  yet to measure how may metres/yards I have, or its thickness in wpi (wraps per inch) but...it looks rather like a 'DK' (double-knit) weight to me (#3 for American knitters).  It'll probably end up in a shawl.

My next spinning attempt: bright, colourful roving.  I got a bag from my friend Anne earlier this spring; it included both wool (breed not identified) and alpaca roving:

I've chosen that bright red-orange bit there on the right side of the photo.  Who knows where this will lead?!  Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, speaking of shawls...I finished the Balvraid Hap that I was making from somewhat 'rustic' Condon's Yarn (from PEI, now discontinued).  As I type, it's been washed and is now blocking -- with wires and all!

Depending on how firm the top edge is after blocking, I may add a crocheted edge; it was rather "loosey-goosey" before I washed it.

On the art front, I'm learning something new: rug hooking. Well, rather, decorative hooked mats -- for the wall.  I'm looking at it as a way to a) use up more of my yarn stash; and b) get me enthused about landscapes again.

I've decided to explore this at the urging of a friend who is very keen on the process.  I got a few freebies online from Deanne Fitzpatrick Studios (Amhurst, Nova Scotia, doncha know) -- and I realized the possibilities.  Said friend had given me Ms. Fitzpatrick's book, Sunday Letters (signed, no less!) for Xmas...and I just loved her reflections.  Then...the clincher: I heard an interview with Ms. Fitzpatrick by Mary Hynes -- her CBC podcast, to which I subscribe.  That clinched it.  I think I've listened to that interview four or five times now.

THAT'S IT!

It's about creating beauty, with no other reason but to do just that.

That's my purpose!  Bingo!  

And that -- being part of my 'fabric, fibre and floss' esthetic -- is my greatest source of contentment.   That and the inspiration of my yard and garden.

And so...

I bought a wee kit and finished it save for the binding and mounting:

"Country Moon" (with modifications)
Designer: Deanne Fitzpatrick

I've now ordered some burlap and an online class from her, so I can translate my skills of landscapes in fabric to landscapes in wool/fabric slices.

And I've dyed some natural-coloured wool I'd been given eons ago -- a bit chunky -- into 3 shades I can use in a variety of ways.  I'd not played with my acid dyes for a few years, so this was another source of fun!

And yes...creating beauty continues in the stitching realm too.  "Keziah Campbell 1796" is getting her garden, a tree, a house etc. -- and a bit of Robbie Burns' poetry:

Yes, that text is one over one!

Setting Keziah aside for a wee bit, currently I'm working on "Christmas (Gifts) in July" with a return to the Modern Folk Embroidery piece for my son, Here Be Dragons.  Not much left to do now!

And there are two new starts -- one an anniversary/Hanukkah gift for old friends, and another, an Xmas gift for my soon-to-be married nephew and his fiancée. 

First, the Hanukkah gift -- "Shalom", one of the Jewish pillows from Mani di Donna:

Next, the Xmas gift for the soon-to-be-newlyweds -- "Nevermore" from Lila's Studio (I know...unusual...but it suits their esthetic...)

I'll be focusing on these "starts" this weekend, and will go back to the 'Dragons' next week.

So...now, for today, I've been inside long enough.  I'm going to go outside with my stitching and keep on adding a little beauty to my world -- and hopefully, to that of others.

Linking this to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's been stretching her brain, her artistic skills and her ability to create her own contribution to the beauty around her; she needs a bit of a break, doncha think?

Hugs and blessings... a bientôt!