TNT: Meet Betty Boo

 

There is now a squirrel on the branch I stitched last week. I also finished the fancy border. I've got one more side to go and this will be a done deal-again. You might remember this is a complete re-stitch of Patchwork Automne after I cut the first one wrong while trimming it up. It was not my finest moment.

Meet Betty Boo. That's the actual name of the pattern that I'm working on for Halloween this year. I didn't get very far and most likely won't this October because although it's a small project it's all fill. It will probably take me the entire month just to fill in the orange background on BOO.

Dear Jane is still on hiatus due to the sewing room being an unholy mess thanks to some terribly naughty flying geese that I've been wrestling with all week. I did find a new stitching rhythm with the Patchwork using my small oval hoop. I've finished one side of the border and will be starting the second this week.

The border is taking care of itself but I still have a lot of those smaller Xs to stitch that are in the middle of the quilt. I could get to some of them when I had the big blocks in the big hoop but not all. I bought myself a smaller hoop last week for when that time comes. I've got quite the collection of hoops now. I guess I should be planning another hand quilting project. I'll have to go look through Dad's paper piecing box and see what I can come up with. 

Punchy

 

The latest Knit Picks catalog came on Saturday and look what they carry now. A punch needle just like the one I have. 

I've been putting mine to good use. I finished another coaster last week. 

Up next is the project that started it all. I bought this kit off Etsy but I didn't have the skills to make it work. It's time to try it again. It was meant to be a Christmas gift for The Mister and maybe this year it might happen. 

The little vegetables that are punched with the teeny tiny needle and embroidery floss are almost done. One more sit down session and then I'll have to figure out what to do with them. 

Duck, Duck, Goose

 

Look what I did. I was unbelievably proud of myself. I've made a lot of quilts but I usually stick to simpler blocks. I had to keep looking at this one all night to make sure it was really there. Then it was time to move onto the second part of the pattern and well, things didn't go so well.

My flying geese's beaks were missing. After watching a lot of tutorials I realized what I had done wrong so it was rip, rip, rip and try it again. 

After I had the geese lined up better, I discovered that the strip doesn't match up with the center piece the way they should. The whole line of them was about 1/2" too long. Normally I would cheat this by taking in a few seams here and there to even it out but you can't do this with the geese or they will lose their beaks again. 

What I had to do was take the strip apart, shave a bit off the bottoms of some of the geese and then sew them all back together again.

The second strip went on without a problem except for the part where I forgot to tension the bobbin thread after I re-loaded and it was all sewn on wonky. I had to rip some of it out and sew it all back together again.  The third strip is having the same issue as the first strip. It's too long so I'll be taking it apart today and giving those geese a haircut. I don't think I'm a fan of this particular block-especially as a border. 

And a big thank you to Sandflies who every fall sends me a care package of coffee and other goodies. This year it was maple cookies which I absolutely love but can never find. It was very generous and very, very much appreciated!

A Change of Plans

 

Remember all that pretty yarn I was going to use for the Mystery Shawl KAL? I couldn't use it. You needed 8 different colors that had at least 191 yards each. My baby skeins were only 90 so at 5 am Thursday morning, after the first clue came out, I was digging through my stash like a madwoman. After seeing the color layout and watching the first video installment I realized I also needed pairs of light and dark. This is the best I could do. I'm telling myself it will have an autumn vibe and that it's been a great stash buster. That's seven balls that won't have to be socks. 

That first beige yarn is not actually from the stash. I took it out of the Stroll Pi Shawl's bag. It's been slowly growing but it's going into hibernation for a while while I tackle this new challenge. 

So how is the knitting coming along? Like this. I had to learn the icord cast on. I had to learn it several times. Now I'm dealing with short rows. It's going to be a series of triangles which I should have figured given that it's called the Color Kaleidoscope Mystery Shawl. I've had to take many deep breaths and trust the process. Thankfully, via video, Stephen West has been holding my hand through the hard parts so far. I have to say I'm very impressed with the level of support $8 gets you. 

A Friday Finish

 

I finished winding my latest warp so that means.....

...the towel that was on the loom could be cut off. It's been sitting there finished for a while but I didn't want to take it off until I had something to put back on the loom.

And there it is. Another one of the Caribbean Plaid Huck Towels. This time in fall colors that make sense.

Not that I don't love this scrappy towel. It really grew on me.

After it's hemmed it gets unceremoniously dumped in the laundry with the other dirty kitchen towels for its wet blocking. It will look a lot different when it comes out. It's always an anxious moment. 

It made it through its first wash. It's all waffley and squishy now.  After a few more washes it will tighten it up even more. 

Since I've determined it to be a summer towel, right now it's resting with all my other towels. You can see why The Mister rolls his eyes when I tell him I'm making another one. It's like socks. I don't need anymore but I can't stop making them.

                                                 

You Don't Know Jack

 

Or maybe you do. If you've been around here long enough you've seen me trot him out every October. I could have finished him last year tbh but I wanted a reason to get him out again. I don't think I can get away with it this year. He needs to be done. 

Also in the spirit of the spooky season is a new stitching project. I got out my Halloween grime catcher and my ouija planchette needle minder then pulled out this little Halloween chart that one of you sent me a while ago. It will make its official debut on Tuesday. 

I've also done something really stupid. I paid to join this KAL that starts today. 

Every morning I do my back exercises on my big ball while watching YouTube videos on the TV and I got totally sucked into this year's mystery shawl KAL. When he (Stephen West) started pulling out all the recommended colorways I remembered I had all of this sitting on a shelf. I'm past the point where I need to collect yarn. I need to use it so I'm giving it my best shot. Will I keep up? Nope. Will I finish? Maybe. What I do know for sure is that it will take me more than the allotted month to finish. A shawl in a month? That's crazy talk.

Wednesday WIPs: A Love/Hate Relationship

 

I'm in love with those socks on the left. I hate the ones on the right. I have no idea what the people at Knit Picks were thinking when they came up with that odd striping pattern but it's awful. The Arne and Carlos socks on the left are supposed to be reminiscent of their trip to Africa but they are screaming Halloween to me. I see black cats and bats. 

Another Hue Shift row is finished. I'm moving onto yellow next. I love this project. I can't believe I let it sit in my stash for years before I picked it up out of guilt. 

The Chestnut sleeve is growing slower than I'd like. It's mainly because I have so many other things I'm really enjoying working on right now. It's hard to choose which project to pick up when I have a spare moment. 

I'm happy to say I met my September goal with the Doodle Cowl. I think I'll sit out October because it's getting soooo long. The pattern calls for it to be 34" and it's already 26" so that doesn't leave me much room for holiday knitting. I want to work on it during Arne and Carlos' Christmas stocking KAL podcasts in November since I don't need another stocking.  My goal is to wear it to the town Christmas parade on December 5th so I should be able to finish it up by then. 

And a big thank you to Dee who sent me this beautiful yarn and adorable stitch markers.  This is a new-to-me yarn brand that is incredibly soft.  Right now it's on my "pet me" shelf until it tells me what it wants to be.