The Peace of Wild Things

That's the title of one of my favourite poems.  I recite it as well as I can, in my head, when I need to remind myself that there are peaceful places in the world.  Because of a recording of the poet reading it in his own voice, courtesy of On Being Studios, I can hear Wendell Berry's voice in my head as I recite.

Photo: a trio of daisies in vases, on a bench near my back door.

This morning, the day after a dictator-wannabe joined another dictator-wannabe in bringing the world to the brink of wide-spread war by bombing a nation run by an actual dictatorial regime, I needed that peace -- and so I headed outside to my garden.

Mug of hot, black coffee in hand, I did a "Garden Tour", pausing to compliment my fledgling wildflower buds and newbie cherry trees on their progress; doing the same with the 'bouquets' of fresh leaf lettuce, the sturdy green bush beans, the baby zuchini and the cherry tomato "shrub" in my raised beds.  I picked up some more fallen willow branches, deadheaded some dandelion seed-heads, propped up some heavy-headed peonies, and took the pruners to clip the dead heads on the irises and most of the lupines (one only needs so many lupines!)

The peace of the 'wild things' in my garden -- the bees buzzing in my raspberry patch, the mosquitoes trying to plague me without success, the birds chirping around the branches of the trees all 'round, and my elder cat rolling on the driveway in the sunshine, showing off her beautiful belly while scratching her back -- that did the trick.  I am at least a bit more peaceful now.  For the moment.

* I often wish I were a less complex person, someone capable of being oblivious to the Outside World, to the challenges of pain, illness, natural disaster, poverty and oppression that beset so many.  Alas, that's just not me.  My kids get tired of it, as I expect so do many of you, Gentle Readers.  But there it is.  I spend a great deal of time praying to be able to do only what I can to change what I can, and to ignore that over which I have no power.  So far...well, let's just say I'm thankful for garden tours.

I'm also thankful for all things fabric, fibre and floss -- and so it's time to share what I've been doing with those materials for the past month or so. 😊

*Tote in photo found at the Fibre Goddess booth at the Prairie Fibre Festival, Olds, Albert edition, June 14, 2025.  I couldn't resist it!

First, an update on the projects-in-progress from my last post.  

In knitting, I managed to finish the second "Garden Fence" sock, to complete the pair by month-end:

Love the colour and the fit!

On June 1 I cast on another pair of socks, hoping to have them finished this month but I've chosen a fine fingering-weight yarn, so that's not going to happen.  No matter; I'm enjoying this knit and they'll be finished when they're finished.

Pattern: "Andrew's Shepherd's Socks"
Designer: Debbie Zawinski
Source: her book, In the Footsteps of Sheep
Yarn: Jamieson's of Shetland 2-ply
Shetland Spindrift
in the colour #102 -  "Shaela"

Having finished a hat, I've cast on another for the give-away box.  This one is a new-to-me pattern, the Bosquet Hat, which I'll make without the pom-pom (I'm not fond of those):

Pattern linked above.
Designer: Audrey Borrego
Yarn: Peruvian Sierra (worsted)
from elann.com (discontinued)
in the colour #1525 - Wine

It's a darker red-brown than the photo shows, and it has a bit of a halo, given it's composition (alpaca and camel), but the stitch definition is quite nice.  There's lots of texture in this pattern, which means that while it's fairly easy to memorize, it's a bit slow going.

And work continues on the cardigan for the baby expected to arrive in October. I've finished the raglan shaping (it's top-down) and split for the sleeves, but alas, no photo to show you.  Maybe next month!

What about quilting?

With the comfort quilt given to the local house-fire victims, and with my son happily in receipt of his Big Birthday Quilt (Bonnie Hunter's "Old Town" 2024 mystery pattern), I turned my thoughts to the Celtic Knot Quilt.

In my last post, the top was finished.  Since then, the backing fabric was purchased, sliced and respliced to create the right size of square top, and yesterday (June 21) the lot was taken up to Quilting From the Heart in Camrose. There I met with my daughter and the ever-helpful clerk who remeasured both, took notes, helped us select thread and a long-arm edge-to-edge pattern -- and that was that.  I expect it back by the end of July, so I can wrestle it to the ground (er -- the sewing table) and bind it.  

The darned thing -- if I didn't already say so -- measured at 116" square (that's approx 3 metres square) so the backing had to be at least 4" wider all 'round, for a whopping 124" square!!  Blessedly, the service includes trimming off that excess once it's quilted, and I expect I'll use that fabric for binding.

With that all done, on cooler, wetter days (we've had a few this month), I've returned to doing up comfort quilts, working on the Disappearing Four Patch project, all from stash.  I now have 30 blocks, each about 8 1/2" square, and have 12 more to go.

Having used up the lovely chocolate brown cotton I started with for this project, I've turned to some poly-cotton from stash.  The colour is perfect but it's a lighter fabric and tends to stretch a bit, so I may find I'll have to square all the blocks up to 8".  No matter; this is another "Keep It Out of the Landfill" project, so I'll simply make it work!

And then there's the 2025 Block of the Month (BOM) from Sheri at A Quilting Life -- I finally did the one for June:

And here's how the first six look together:

There are only 12 -- eventually finishing at 18" each in the quilt. I've struggled with the "proper" placement of the lights and darks (as pointed out by one of the AQL Facebook group members) but have no intention of undoing and re-doing any of them!  I'm working with what I have, and have run out of neutrals from the Thimbleberries line I've been using up, so am now adapting from the rest of my stash.  I've numbered these blocks so that when the time comes, I can sew them together in the order I've chosen...but of course, when I assemble the remaining 6 and see the end-of-year setting pattern, I reserve the right to change my mind! LOL!

In my 'land of cross-stitch' I continue to have bouts of 'startitis', but I justify this by the fact I've actually fully finished a few things!

I dug out two Hands On Design pieces, finished one, started and finished the other, and then fully finished them both!  Yes, they're small, and they were great fun to do.

Here they are, close up:

And

I bought the patterns from Traditional Stitches in Calgary, Alberta here in Canada, and the frames on a two-fer (!) from Michael's in Red Deer, Alberta -- about an hour's drive from my place.  The frames included glass but I left that off because otherwise, the pieces wouldn't have fit!

NOTE: the wee piece of round art between the two stitches is an encaustic painting entitled "Safe Haven II", by artist Donna Hanson of Camrose, Alberta, Canada.  I bought it from her at the Art in the Garden event last summer.  It's coming 'round again on July 12, and yes; I've bought my ticket!

Some months ago, a friend gave me a piece she'd started -- it was a kit -- and didn't want to finish, so I said I'd finish it for her.  Most of it was done, but the 'confetti' stitching of grass and flowers at the bottom needed finishing.  A couple of weeks ago, I got it finished and took it to her -- she was delighted!

Title: "Country Cottage"
Fabric - Aida, probably 18-count
DMC floss and frame included
Design Size: 6" W x 4" L

I didn't notice that I'd forgotten the back stitching -- until it was all framed.  Blessedly, my friend said she'd never have known if I hadn't told her! 😉

I assuaged my bit of 'startitis' by digging out a set of four little kits I'd bought 'way back in 2005 or 2006, from Traditional Stitches in Calgary: "My Garden Stitching Club" (c) 2005 from Elizabeth's Designs.  I chose to start the "Songbird Cottage" piece, and am about 1/2-way along.  

Fabric: 32-count Light Mocha Belfast
Linen (Zweigart)
Threads: DMC and Weeks Dye Works
Stitch Count: 97 x 61

I'm even enjoying the specialty stitches!

NOTE: Elizabeth states on her website that she's retired from designing but her business is still active.  You can still get some of her pieces through American sources.

That said, I still have my "Disagree" and "Ruskin's Penguins" to work on, and my Sunday stitch, "Proverbs 31".  I've done nothing on those first two since my last post, but on the last, I'm slowly working on the text, which requires 1 strand of floss being stitched over 1 linen thread.  Again, apologies for the lack of photo. Stay tuned!

Cross-stitch plans in July include working more on those three, and returning to a Canadian sampler, "Emeline Hotchkiss - Lacolle, 1846".  Although reproduced by an American designer, Emeline grew up in southwest Quebec, very close to the border with NY State, and in the same area as I grew up, so she has a special place in my heart.  July 1 is Canada Day, marking 158 years as a nation, so it's only fitting I return to stitching her then!

And yes, there's more!

Deanne Fitzpatrick Studios challenges those of us who hook rugs to a 10-minute-a-day challenge in the summer, and I've joined it.  I've also worked through her "Playful, Joyful Rug-hooking" course, and having fun with my new (April) Cheticamp frame.

My first piece on the frame -- my own design, using the '3-line landscape' technique from the Studio -- finished at 20" W x 8" L.  I call it "Jewels in the Water":

Once it's off the frame I plan to mount it on a shallow stretched canvas, and perhaps have it framed.

For the "Challenge" I rolled that piece under, and drew two 8" squares on my burlap.  I've been doing a monochromatic abstract on the first square.

I started like this:

It progressed to this:

And by Friday evening, it looked like this -- nearly finished!

The challenge is fun, and yet another way to keep the noise of the world at bay.

Last but not least, I've been doing a bit of spinning, which I especially like to do outside:

I finished spinning singles from a merino batt (Nomad Fibres) that I bought over a year ago at the Rose City Fibre Festival, and then plied it into 2-ply yarn:

Given that I'm a 'periodic' spinner, it's a bit thick-thin, but will likely knit up into a decent hat.

I had some of the merino singles left after I plied a very full bobbin, so I finished it up by plying it with remnant singles on two other bobbins.  One was left-over Falklands spun last summer, but I have no idea what the other one was!  They made two mini skeins that will likely get put into my scrappy mitred square blanket -- an ongoing project!

Merino and Falkland mini 2-ply

Merino and ??? mini
two-ply

I've moved on now -- as part of the Summer Spin-in from Two Ewes Fiber Adventures (podcast and Ravelry group) -- returning to the remainder of the Falkland braid I'd split up last year.  I had two sections left: one yellow-to-peach and one shades of grey.  I've started with the former, and will end up with a fairly small amount, so will figure out later what to ply it with:

Of course, this time of year also calls for fibre festivals -- and I went to the Rose City FF in Camrose in May, and more recently, the Prairie FF (Olds, Alberta Edition) on June 14.

At Rose City, I bought 3 skeins of Corriedale from a local spinner -- "Handspun by Kristi" (Kristi Lacey from Camrose) -- who has rescued a clip from an American shepherd (in Colorado, I believe) who is retiring:

Natural dark grey 

Natural beige

Natural creamy white

I'm going to turn the dark grey into a pair of gloves for my son for Xmas (his request) but have no plans yet for the other two skeins. 

At the Prairie FF in Olds, I bought some other hand-dyed, locally produced yarn from "All Wound Up" of Castor, Alberta:

Left: "Smoke n Sky" DK
Right: "Aqua Seas" sport/boucle

These blues will be perfect for hooking into skies!

And I bought another skein with hooked landscape potential from SLAM Fiber Co. (all the way from Lethbridge area in southern Alberta):

Brown-grey, thick-thin
merino-alpaca blend
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"

Well!  This has been a looooonnnng catch-up post.  Thank you for hanging in there, if you have.  I was simply following Nina-Marie's exhortation this week: to share and talk about one's work!  Here's the link to her Off the Wall Friday post, where others are talking about their work too.

I hope and pray for all of you, Gentle Readers, that you be safe, know love, experience joy, and find peace in the work of your hands...until we meet again.

A bientot!