Hare-brained Scheme

It might have been a hare-brained scheme to make four bunnies, but I finished the third boy bunny, this one for Johan.


Here's what he looks like without his little kimono. He's wearing garter-stitch booties and soaker, actually knitted as part of the legs and body.


I made the girl bunny a sweater using the same pattern as the baby kimono, the Ballerina Wrap Cardigan. out of the same Stroll fingering yarn as I used in the dress and tights.

All of the yarn used came from scraps left over from other projects. In fact, the only yarn I bought was the white for the baby bunny and the Cascade Ultra Pima for the boys' outfits and the baby's kimono, so it was an inexpensive project. Now that I have finished knitting the bunnies, there's a KAL for making any of the Little Cotton Rabbits projects for holiday gifts, but you had to CO and finish between November 8, and December 25th. Too late for me, but I'll be happy to watch from the sidelines.

After finishing the last bunny, I got back to hand-quilting my Spring Flowers quilt.


I have the second of the four appliqué blocks partly quilted. I'm quilting around all the appliqué motifs and quilting inside each of the diamond shapes as well as in the ditch on the diamonds. The background will have diagonal quilting lines from corner to corner, except for the strips of partial LeMoyne stars heading in the N-S-E-W directions, where the quilting goes orthogonally (horizontal and vertical) from the center to the border. I finished that quilting first, so I don't make a mistake and accidentally quilt on the diagonal where it's supposed to be horizontal or vertical, if that makes sense.

Common Threads met this week at Margareth's.


Evidence of Margareth's weaving were found everywhere. She showed us some new projects, but I can't show them, because she plans on entering them in a show. After the show, I'll bless you with a small, mini-Margareth-weavings show. That will be in January. However, Karan was willing to show off her shawl.


Margareth was working on a hat, made from two strands of yarn held together:


Lynda had finished this baby sweater, similar to another one she made earlier. Here's the front:


Here's the back. I like the sheep in the middle, watching where Baby has been.


She used the fiber from her angora bunny for the sheep.

In other news this week, the oven in our gas stove went out, so we had the appliance repair man come and fix it and have a look at our dryer. The problem with the stove was the igniter, which he replaced. The dryer just had some lint clogging the inside, and it worked fine after he removed it. Now the clothes dry much faster, and the dial advances as it should. I mentioned the sound the washer makes, and he thought it sounded like the motor is getting ready to go out. I hope it doesn't go out while all the babies are here for Christmas! (We bought our Maytag washer and dryer in 1982.)

The Wisconsin grandkids had a visit from their other grandparents over Halloween. Here's Zachary giving his fork a little help, photo courtesy of Bubbye.

We're into the second week of the time change, and I'm still waiting for my "extra hour of sleep." Sunny and I are waking up an hour too early every morning. [Sigh!]

Special Note: If you don't read the text of my blog posts, you may have the impression that I'm some kind of super woman. Most, of the projects shown in my blog are produced by friends. Of course, if you don't read my blog text, you won't be reading this.

What's on my needles: The Johan socks and Mr. F's clothes. Back to hand-quilting my Spring Flowers quilt, working on the second of four appliqué blocks.

What's on my Featherweight: Silently waiting for the next sewing project.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Reading The Long Way Home by Karen McQuestion, which was one of Audible's Daily Deals. Good story, and it makes ghosts and psychic abilities seem everyday. I would like to read other books by the same author. Still reading Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, from Book Bub.

What's my app of the week: Craftsy...again! They recently gave me a choice of any class not in my primary category. (I could only choose one, so I picked knitting, since there was more for me to learn, I thought.) I picked Peggy Martin's "Quick-Strip Paper Piecing." Then they had a surprise sale! I picked up Stacey Trock's "Amigurumi: Woodland Animals," thinking I would improve my crochet skills and maybe use up some scraps making toys for the grands. The only thing I don't like is, when they have a sale, they give me a notification, which shows up on my phone and my iPad, in addition to the email they send. If I read it one place, it still stays on each device until I delete it from that device.

What's in my wine glass: Blackstone Mendoza Malbec 2011, coincidentally the same vintage as DH's "new" Impreza. The fate of his old 1998 Legacy Wagon is still undetermined. However, I'm certain the Malbec has a better bouquet and flavor, although the finish on the Impreza is pretty nice.

What's my tip of the week: If you need to slice vegetables that are rounded, like carrots, radishes, zucchini, etc., and you're in a hurry, slice them lengthwise first. They they will lie flat while you quickly slice them. Of course, this only works if you're happy  with half-moon shapes.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.