Sewing and Knitting and Cats and Dogs–oh my!

The dreaded month of February is finally over.  It was a year ago at this time that I entered hell hospital and it’s been a tough time to get through.  Being in hospital for so long, especially in ICU, really did a number on my mind and I’m still trying to recover from that.  Keeping busy helps, so I’ve been doing a lot of sewing.

I got my Broken Star quilted and it’s added to the pile of quilts I have no idea what to do with. 

 

I quilted it with a clam shell pattern which you can just barely see on the border above.  A certain little kitty seems to like it – in fact, she blends right in.

I also got my vest blocked with the help of my friend Diane.  She took a finishing class (which I need to take) so came over and blocked it all for me.  It’s a little bit wide on the shoulders, but other than that, I’m happy with it.  The pattern is called Deb and can be found here.

It took me forever to knit this – it was all garter stitch which was really boring and I didn’t particularly like knitting with the wool – it was Berroco Blacstone Tweed and is a lot thicker than I’m used to.  I like knitting with fine wool and small needles.

I also finished this bow scarf for my girly girl daughter Sandra.  As soon as I saw the pattern I knew it had her name written all over it. 

This was knit in Blue Sky’s “Brushed Suri” which I found out is baby alpaca.  It’s 67% brushed baby suri, 22% merino and 11% bamboo and it is sooooo soft.

Just before I got sick, Lee and I had one of those what on earth were we thinking about moments and both bought Edyta Sitar’s Spring Bouquet kit. 

I think this is the first time I’ve ever lied to Leo about the cost of fabric.  When he saw the amount on the Mastercard, I told him that was for Lee’s and mine   Not that he’d care, but even I felt guilty about this one!

The Aurifil thread was included with the kit, but after we had done most of one block, we were in a local quilt store and saw a lot of Edyta’s quilts done with invisible thread and we liked it much better.  So……home we came and started frogging.  I’ve got the top 2 blocks finished and the two on the bottom are fused.  Invisible thread has come a long way since the days it was nylon but it’s still hard on the eyes and a bit of a bitch to work with.  I’ve got 60 wt. thread in the bobbin and so far, so good.

I need to work on something else in between doing all this applique though or I’ll go blind.  I think I have enough other projects to pick from

We actually got above freezing on Friday for the first day in what seems like months.  It seems it’s all we can talk about – this awful winter weather.  10 more days until spring – let’s just hope that spring like weather comes with it!  My poor baby hasn’t been on his regular walk for months as it’s just too icy and apart from my fears of falling, his little paws get frozen and he refuses to wear anything on his feet.  He doesn’t even like you touching his feet!  He does like the snow though….

Here he is, face down, about to roll and get covered in snow.