So here's the gist of it, with my loosey-goosey "goals-that-aren't-carved-in-stone":
Hooked Art
As I mentioned in my last post, I've applied for a spot at the local art show/sale again this year (won't know for about a month), and I've been working toward that a bit with a new hooked landscape or two.
I finished the first -- 12" square -- which is the one I think I'll donate to the silent auction fundraiser at the local performing arts centre:
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| "Under a January Moon" (c) Finished Feb. 2026 |
I have to thank my cyber-friend, artist Holly Maclean of New Brunswick, for permission to use her painting of a deciduous tree as inspiration for mine. 😊
On the same piece of burlap, I drew out another 12" square piece, modelled after a long-finished art quilt from 2012. This hooked piece will be the third iteration of this idea. The first was "Trio" -- the art quilt I made as my final exam piece for my London City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate in 'Creative Techniques: Quilting' (with everlasting thanks to my tutor, the great Linda Kemshall):
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| Trio - (c) 2012 |
The second iteration: in June 2019 a long-time friend commissioned me to turn this piece into a bed-sized quilt -- she wanted to buy it for herself for her 99th birthday in October! I agreed, gave her a price, and proceeded to get to work, creating this, with the help of Katie Pasquini Masopust's book, "Artful Log Cabins":
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| "Prairie Quintet" (c) 2019 |
I had to add 2 trees to make it the right size! I finished it in time, and can still here her voice mail message of thanks. She used it for several months -- never sleeping under it. She put it on her bed only when it was made up, and took it off each night! Alas, she died of heart failure in May 2020, a few months shy of her centenary. I miss her still. I only hope someone in her family has kept that quilt.
So now...a third iteration: as a hooked piece! I'm now working on the last bit of it -- that blue sky:
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| "Duo" in progress - Feb. 6, 2026 |
It's only 12" x 12", so I've put in only 2 trees, and gave them a slightly different look. I'll show you the finish in the next post.
Quilting
I'm still moving right along on the 2026 Bonnie Hunter mystery, "Lupines and Laughter". It's so darned pretty!
In my last post, I'd just started Clue 6. Now I've only a few units left to make for that clue, before I move on to Clue 7 (more units!!) Here's a progress photo:
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| Stacks and stacks! |
And of course I couldn't miss the BOM for February, from "A Quilting Life" -- which I'm doing in "Canadiana" colours:
Something tells me I'm going to be very good at making those stars when this is finished! 😉
As a sort of "leaders and enders" project at the moment, I've returned to making crumb "sections" and scrappy, wonky log cabin blocks, which will end up going to those in need -- eventually.
Knitting
This is where starts and finishes line up for me at the moment. I've finished a hat, and started a pair of socks, and am nearing a finish on a blanket.
First, the hat -- the "Melt the ICE" hat -- from Needle and Skein via Ravelry. YES, I paid for it in CAD, even at the 30% exchange rate. It's a worthy cause!
I used an unlabelled stash yarn, which the 'match test' revealed was mostly -- if not 100% -- wool. I enjoyed the knit, but could have done without the tassel. Full disclosure: I don't like tassels, pom-poms or bobbles on the things I knit! I used only 100 sts, but it fit my small-medium (22") head just fine. However, if I make it again, I'll go up to 108 sts, and leave off the tassel. This one -- and future ones -- will end up in my Warm Things box, for indeed they would be Warm Things.
Yes...this is the source -- and I have the book. It was my mother's -- or maybe her mother's! -- and it's in a page protector in my collection of knitting patterns. I've made other socks from it, but not recently.
Anyway, the one I selected is called "Fancy Rib Socks", and I've been thankful for another Ravelry member -- a Canuck living in B.C., to boot! -- for the notes she made when she knit these. It's not every day you try a pattern that someone else has knit, and you become cyber-friends with that person!
I've only recently cast them on, and adapted the pattern (with the above-mentioned help) to 64 sts (from 80 as called for) -- so this is what they look like as of this morning:
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| Yarn: Estelle Highland Alpaca Fine Colour: "Lagoon" |
I think I'm going to enjoy knitting these, but whether or not they'll be enough to restore my lack-lustre sock mojo remains to be seen!
While the Sylph Cowl is still in the queue, it's become my 'train knitting' -- carried with me in the car in the event I'm stopped at the local train crossing, which is not just for trains passing through. It's a switch-point for CN Rail, which means I can sit there for 15-20 minutes, depending on the day and my timing!
However, I'm working hard on my January Blanket, started in 2024...and closing in on a finish. This was a photo taken a month ago; it's now longer -- I've finished 24 of a called-for 35 pattern repeats, and am on the 8th of 10 balls of yarn. I thought I might try to use up all 10, but that would make it far longer than called for, so I'm just going to stick with the pattern as written!
I've done nothing more on my red-and-white cowl, or on my Bernie sweater -- just focusing on the above-mentioned projects for now.
And then there's Cross-stitch
I'm pleased to say that I finished the (recommended by Jacob) January section of the "Little Acorns" SAL from Modern Folk Embroidery -- at 8:30 p.m. on January 31!
I then took a few days "off" but yesterday evening I started the February section (again, recommended by Jacob in his pattern notes). Here's how it looked at the end of the evening:
NOTE: the border on the left isn't really skewed; it's just that the linen in the hoop has been pulled off grain!! It's really a straight line, and would look that way if I took it out of the hoop!!
Of course, I've been distracted by other things, as one is. I've not done any more on the Elsa Williams "Winter" piece, or on "Disagree" by Rebel Stitcher, but I did have a new start.
Being February -- the month in which I was engaged in 1975 -- I've returned to "A Quilter's Dream" (also Modern Folk Embroidery) and have made a bit more progress on that:
Yes, it's only one teen motif, but each one is a mini-accomplishment, eh?! 😁
As for my "squirrel" moment? Well...again, given what's still going on in the world, I downloaded this new free pattern from Ellen Reid of Maximum Cross Stitch, and made a start:
It's entitled "Go Show Love", and is available in both Canadian and American versions re: the -- ahem! -- spelling of "neighboUr". 😉
I found a large piece of 22-count white evenweave in my stash (I believe I inherited it from a dear friend who died in 2020 -- heart, not Covid) and I'm using the called-for DMC, 2 strands over 2 fabric threads. Because I messed up on the colour instructions, I'm using black for both the 1st and 2nd inner borders, but I'm okay with that. It's the perfect counter-part to stitching 1 strand over 2 on 40-count as I'm doing with "Little Acorns" and "A Quilter's Dream".
That's really all the news that's fit to print for this post, Gentle Readers. My heart goes out to those in Eastern Canada, the Maritimes and all down the east coast of the US into places not as used to snow as we are, as they experience really overwhelming dumps of the stuff. We out here on the Canadian prairies could use some more, as without it we're likely to remain in drought territory this spring and summer...not good. Sigh...
And I continue to hope and pray for better days for all my US readers...
So I leave you with those wishes, and my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday. This week, she has the Great Reveal of her Studio Reset -- it's a WOW!
And until next time...a bientot!
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