What? Two Weeks in a Row?

 Yes, Gentle Readers, a rare post only a week (or so) after the last one.  But next Friday is Good Friday...and then there's Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday (and my Jewish family marks Passover/Pesach starting Friday evening)...

So even though I'm going to be celebrating much of that all on my own, it will be a busy and thoughtful time.  I'm a lay minister in my local Anglican parish (that's Episcopalian for my US friends), and as our 1/2-time priest will be at his other parish on Easter Sunday, it's my turn to take Morning Prayer -- from selecting the hymns to writing the homily to preparing the Order of Service to...well, you get the idea.  

Plus I have a couple of days Out of the House before all that comes together.  Monday I travel to Calgary to see my dear dentist and my favourite dental hygeinist. She's retiring in the fall, which means that after Monday, I'll be looking for a new dental team -- closer to home (Calgary is 2 1/2 hours' drive southwest of here!).  Wednesday I have more "doctoring" -- my family doc (who's worried about my blood pressure) and my eye doc (who's worried about the fact my long-distance vision is improving.  Go figure!)  

Also on Wednesday I'm meeting up with a local rep for Blankets of Love, which is currently moving from its usual focus (comfort quilts for mental health patients) to supplying comfort quilts for expected Ukrainian refugees.***

I have 2 blue-and-yellow/gold quilts and 2 other small quilts for her to use for this purpose.  You saw the finished Double Irish Chain in my last post, and photos of the start of the Disappearing/Magic 4-patch.  The latter is now also finished, to whit:

Disappearing 4-Patch

Pieced back

Most of the back was pieced from the yardage that was left from making the top.  However, there was at least one other unrelated yellow fabric, and -- as you can see -- some assorted blue-and-white (with a hint of yellow) prints.  The binding was pieced too.  My top piecing wasn't 100% bang on (it was block-by-block BUT 'row-by-row'...not so easy!); still, it works and it will make someone comfy.  I quilted it in my typical linear fashion, in squares.

Now that those 2 pieces are finished there are scraps (of course!) -- strings -- and so I've started to work on a THIRD comfort quilt for Ukrainian refugees, using Bonnie Hunter's Hearts of Hope string-pieced quilt -- Part 3 (after the intro) of which was posted yesterday.   I've a way to go on this one, but the scraps I've collected thus far haven't disappointed, and I'm almost at 90 (of nearly 100) blue string-pieced blocks (almost 60 shown in the photo below):

Knitting and cross-stitch continue too.

On the knitting front, I'm slowly making progress on my April socks...

Pattern: Cornflower Socks
Designer: Karen Scott
Yarn: ONline Linie 3 Supersocke 100 in "Violet"

It's not a hard pattern (well, I've been knitting for over 60 years), but it is a dense one, which means a) it's all "k1tbl" -- through the back loop; b) the cables are 2-stitch cables, every other round; and c) there are 16 stitches per pattern repeat -- 16 sts per needle over 4 needles -- and 1 full repeat is 20 rounds.

So...I've finished the first 20 rounds on the first sock, and figure I have 1 more set of 20 plus...maybe 1/2 set (10 rounds) to get to the length I want before the heel.  

These will be finished, because I like the yarn and pattern too much to not finish them -- but for the end of April?! Well, your guess is as good as mine.  Too much quilting to do, and other knits (like the "Dissent Cowl", which I'm calling "Dissenting for Ukraine"...

The photo shows it from the top down; it's a 'mosaic' knit.  The top of the collar is a 'polka-dot' pattern (there's a mistake in mine; you might be able to see it. I decided to leave it alone.) Then there's a narrow band in a different pattern, followed by a "bib" -- an increase of stitches is involved -- identified where my hand is in the lower left.  (I've done several more rounds of this since this photo was taken.)

As mentioned in my last post, the yarn is beautiful Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL) in a 'sport' weight (almost a fingering, in my estimation) from Handmaiden/Fleece Artist yarns, based in Nova Scotia.

The cross-stitch continues in rotation.  I've made some progress on the April "bouquet" from Jeannette Douglas, and on the little needlebook from Just Nan.  I'm also working on "House of Cooking" for my friend who has a June birthday...but I've taken no photos. Sorry!

And Mother Nature is taunting us here in this part of the Canadian prairie.  Some days we're at 20 C (68 F) and some days (like today) it's 8 C (nearly 50 F) but with the roaring wind, it "feels like 3 C" -- 37 F.  Sigh... 

At this time yesterday I was outside stitching on the new bench that I assembled for my Outdoor Studio:

Yes, that's the same bench on which I photographed the finished 'Disappearing 4-patch' (above).  But today?!  Yeah! "Feels like 3 C (37 F). 

Oh well...

Tomorrow's another day.  It's forecast to be rather chilly (indeed, much the same for the rest of the week).  It's Sunday, Palm Sunday (for those who observe it, as I do).  I'll be off  to church 'in town'; afterwards, I hope to spend some more time stitching...maybe knitting...maybe...maybe -- for a change -- I'll let whatever happens, happen.

***I've just found out from that dear lady -- the Blankets of Love rep I'm supposed to meet up with -- that her DH has tested +ve for That Which Shall Not Be Named, and she "has the sniffles" though her test was negative.  That means...no actual meet-up.  Nope.  It means a drop off at her doorstep and a wave from across the street.  And prayers for their speedy recovery.

This news shouldn't put a taint on the rest of this day, but it has.  It's so bluddy tiresome.  So tedious.  So everlastingly frustrating.  Even the simplest acts of outreach and caring are overshadowed, tainted and taunted by that damned virus.

Sorry.  Time to close this down, link with Nina-Marie over at Off the Wall Friday, and try to keep in mind the Rules of the Road she's posted this week, ones I read long ago when I first read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.

Wherever this week takes you, dear readers...whether it's to a Passover Seder or to the observance of Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Day or...to somewhere completely different...may you find less frustration, more holy peace and joy, and more creativity in the journey.

All for now. May you be blessed.