Refresh the Knitting Palate

I have a new skein of yarn for sock knitting.

 Valerie goes the extra mile and sends a kitty paw stitch holder with every order!

The skein is all 'caked' up and ready for knitting!

I think this will be for a grand daughter or two!

Life and Death

 I have the second little kitten finished.   He is called Wylie.

I made him in the round for all the parts except the chest because of the white belly.  (which the grey floats show through and that bugs me)

It certainly went together easier than the first, as things always do,

but sewing it together is still not the most fun in the world.

I will make some more but I need a break or now.

 The yarn is used up and the second pair of shorty socks are finished!

These are for another daughter in law.

 We had a tragedy in the wren family.

I don't know if this is father or mother (father, I believe)

but he had a collision with the overhead fan on his way to feed the babies.

Mother is carrying on the vigil and the babies are all thriving.

She never gets a rest but she does still sing!

The babies are getting their feathers and losing the down.

It is a good example of doing a job well!

Quilted Jars of Food!

 Just unrolled from the frame is this quilt by Millie, my neighbor.  We collected food fabric last summer when we did a shop hop.  (Sorry for the bad angle, but there was no floor space or husband to hold it up!)

 Here is  a close-up of a few blocks...

 ,,,it is a neat idea for a quilt!

I collected fabric for bugs and such for a kids quilt but it is still an idea only!

 I did finish this scrap quilt.

The backing needs a bit of length so I will add a pieced section to make it long enough.  Just a block and some strips and I will be loading it on the frame!

In the mean time, 

I cut up this charm pack

 and made a muted rainbow version of a tumbler block quilt.

I have an idea for the border 

but it hasn't come together yet!

Crazy Week....

 When you are gone almost every day....it is hard to find time to post!

I have done a little knitting on kitty #2, this one for E named Wylie.

 Slow mornings look like this.....playdough after breakfast!

 It's something we all enjoy!

I Oh! and Ah! while catching up on my laptop between them.

 I finished the rest of the blocks I started on Monday's sewing time and it took all week for the layout to grow on me.

I am using up scraps, I remind myself.

 Bill cut down a tree while E was sleeping so I could be out there to help.

 Timber we sang!

 First a bit of play....

 ...and then some work.

Grandpa cut it up while we loaded up the brush on the tractor.

 Time to go and dump it all!

If I really want to creep out Will,  all I have to do is wave this disembodied head!

It makes him half squeal and half dry heave! lol

Stripes

A pair of socks.

Completed one stitch at a time, 

one minute at a time

 for hours.

Mental health every stitch of the way!

Toe up socks on 2.5mm needles over 56 stitches.

Women's size 8

An old skein and half of KnitPicks superwash in the Paradise colorway

Snippets of Life

 Little Nemo is now styling in his new pair of shorts!

"No shirt required!" says the lord of the manor.

 I am cranking out a pair of socks;  

it is a dream to just knit round in circles

 instead of just running like that!

 Caleb and Cassandra came to give some cousin time Saturday.

Will and Ella cried and cried to have to say goodbye.

I know the feeling!

 I moved my African Violet outside to the plant stand on the porch.

I worried it wouldn't be happy.

Boy, am I glad to be wrong-this plant has never been so prolific!

(I started this one from a leaf so we are bonded! lol)

 The wrens build nests in a dozen of my porch plants but never DO anything with the piles of sticks.

Until this year!

I went to water the plant a few weeks ago and had the mother fly into my face!

I checked it out and could feel four eggs.

And look at the four little babies!

Both parents are flying in and out all day trying to keep up with their demands.

I feel a kinship to their activities!

Finishes...

 Meet 'Nemo' the cat.

Will has a cat named this and since they are both orange, 

he stuck with this name.

I will make another for Ethan at least.

It wasn't a horrible knit to make all the pieces 

and I think the second one will go more quickly.

 I did not like all the seaming....

I might try knitting in the round and see what happens.

But it is a very well written pattern 

and I could see what needed to be done each step of the way!

 After I looked at the first blog pic of the two Hunter Star squares, 

I could see I pieced the second block wrong-it was in the reverse.

I ripped it out and finished the other two blocks!

Now you can see the secondary pattern these blocks create.

Since there is no more fabric in the stash,

 I have chosen some similar prints and will make a small medallion quilt 

out of this central theme.  

More to come.

 I pieced all the squares together for this little lap quilt-

see how pretty the kitty blocks are?!

 Happy me;  Millie brought over a finished top for quilting!

The frame is so much happier with a quilt on board.

I will be using a pantograph to finish this one.

And since the needles were empty....I cast on a sock to clear the palate!

It was like coming home after a long trip........!

Releasing the Color!

 It's that time of year when the new fruit are starting on the prickly pear cactus

 so I harvest last year's fruit!

 I give them a good drive through the food processor-not too fine

but enough to release all the soft insides from the heavy skin!

 I put the slurry into the big pickling jar and add a bit of water.

I give it a good stir and then take it outside....

...so it can ferment for a week!

(I am making a prickly pear cactus dye pot

so next week I will be dyeing some yarn or roving for spinning!)

Hampshire Sheep Breed

 This little sample skein 

came off the wheel recently.

It is part of my Down Breed study, Hampshire wool.

 I purchased this as roving from Dyed in the Wool.

 It was a nice wool for long draw so the yarn is woolen spun.

It is springy and sweet.

I like the sample in natural.

I will be spinning the other 3.5 oz in color.

On to the dye pot next!

A bit of Piecing!

 I went off the the quilting group on Monday and managed to

piece a new Accuquilt die, Hunter Star.

I've had the die a long time,

  just haven't been able to find the time to sew them!

The blocks are pretty alone but looks what happens when you sew them together!

This will be another lap quilt!

 I played with a charm pack on the design wall

during nap time.

What do you think!

Nice blend of pretty and modern prints by

Moda called Meow or Never!

Bit by Bit!

 The head is complete for the first kitten!

The body is knit but waiting for its appendages before I do the stuffing.

And for good, country fun Grandpa got his tractor stuck so we were watching him try to shovel his way out.

It didn't work;  he had to call our neighbor for help!

(It is still so dry here so technically the tractor isn't stuck,   instead Bill has the tractor wedged in the ditch he dredged a long time ago while trying today to extend the opening into what used to be a large pond!)