SPOUTING OFF

It was the first thing that came to my mind when I thought about writing this post : )

I finished my bulky sweater the other day. I soaked it in some no rinse solution, and it took 2 days to dry.  It smells so lovely and feels very soft.

I started with a very basic top down cardigan pattern and made some changes. For one, the yarn is Cascade Magnum and it's knit on a 10mm needle. This yarn is meant to behave like the buffalo wool we used to see sweaters made from. Then, I googled 'whale chart patterns' and got a whole page full. Once I had an idea,  I drew up a chart to fit my number of stitches.

The rolled collar with be extra cozy in winter.  I haven't had a baby to try this on, but I'm thinking it will fit about a 2 year old

The wooden buttons are from my stash. I just knew they would come in handy some day

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and would definitely make another.  We will see if someone wants one or not.  Next up -- a hat!

Happy stitching and thanks for stopping by.

FINISHES !

How is your summer going?  My most recent finishes won't come in useful until winter, but I feel good about being ahead of the game.
I made another 'Gellatly' hat. This time I used yarn from Lichen & Lace from Sackville New Brunswick. Ohhhhh it feels wonderful.

My daughter gets this one.

These socks.  How cute are they?  I can just imagine my little grand babe having toasty toes. The yarn is Zauberball from Germany.

Not to forget the rest of my family, I canned peaches this year! I never crack open a jar until the snow flies.  So worth the wait  : )

I finished my bee blocks I was re-doing.  Now you can see how the first time I made the 'yellow' block, the white wasn't quite white. I feel much better about sending the block now.  Sally, is for another member

Last weekend we had a big birthday bash to celebrate all the family birthday's from the past 3 months.  I'll just show you a few of the littlest people in the family

This precious little guy turned 1 and it called for lots of whipped cream and berries!!

Trying to decide how to best tackle it........

Oh. My. Heart.

His little cousin crawled over to give him a hand  : )

and then it was time to get cleaned up.  Too cute!

Enjoy your week.  Thank you for stopping by.
Hello to Alison who reads from New Zealand, and to Kim who reads in Tasmania, and Susan who reads in Australia!  So fun to connect with people with just the click of a button.

WHEN BEE BLOCKS GO BAD...

.....they can go really bad.  I was running behind last month because it seems someone took out a few of the days.  Last time I checked, it was June : )

This block is (was) for Simone.  She asked for coloured words pieced in different colours.  I pieced this one in a dark purple as requested, and with a white background. Or so I thought.

When I went digging through my whites to piece another block, I discovered that the white I used wasn't really the stark white she had wanted. It's slightly off.  Back to the drawing board : (

Remember these blocks?  I was so happy with how they turned out. Especially my 'e'. They never arrived in Australia.  In all the years I have been swapping bee blocks I don't think that's ever happened.

Susan has been so patient. I have started making them again.

I love me some log cabin blocks. I'm late with these.  These were fun. Fun enough that I made some for myself too. It seemed easier to make blocks than to clean up my scraps. True story

Lastly these blocks are for this month. Yay!  Mary wanted watery colours with a 'white' background.
I think I got these right

I've got to say, running a business takes ALL the time.  I don't have much time for anything else. It's still fun though and I'm glad I took the plunge : )

Happy stitching!

Carla

THE FINAL BLOCKS

This is it.  Together we have pieced 75 blocks.  Lots of templates, cutting and a little ripping brings us to the end of our year.  Here are the last two sets of blocks

We had a holiday here so I actually had time to sew.  I started sewing the blocks into rows and I got this far

excuse the clutter---the other side is worse : /
Two more rows of blocks and then borders. Yay!

I had the most gorgeous order of yarn come in last week, and ever since I have been craving cheesecake.  This is Lichen and Lace from Sackville New Brunswick.  I drooled for 3 days, and then I caved in.  It was worth it.

............and this picture is for Karen lol!

Summer!!!!

Happy stitching,
Carla