Selfie Sunday & Holiday Reminder

Hi everyone. It’s Millie and Walter here. It’s been pretty gloomy here today but we’re looking back to one of the beautiful days we had here recently.

I love feeling the sun on my black fur.

There were still some colorful leaves on the shrubs too.

The barberry leaves behind me were so pretty.

Now we want to let you know about the Blogville Holiday Card exchange. Our friends at the LLB Gang are organizing this for us again so if you want to get in on the action you can read how by visiting their information page. Don’t delay in sending in your info because the deadline is this Wednesday, November 25th.

Look at all the cards we received last year!

We love giving and receiving cards from all our friends around the world and hope you will join us this year too. In case you are worried about how safe this might be this year because of the Covid-19 virus we checked the research and found that

“the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can live on paper for only a few minutes. The novel coronavirus spreads primarily through respiratory droplets after someone coughs or sneezes. It’s possible to spread from contaminated surfaces as well. After opening your mail and throwing away the envelopes, thoroughly wash your hands to be on the safe side.” (here is our source for that).

We hope you will join us in spreading a little holiday cheer this year. We certainly could all use it.

We’re joining The Cat on My Head for their Selfie Sunday blog hop. You should check out the hop to see some of the other selfies. Thanks for stopping by.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Hooking on Hump Day – Starting the Fruit Garden CAL

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. A couple of weeks ago I started a new crochet-a-long (CAL) to make a beautiful afghan designed by Janie Crow called the Fruit Garden Blanket.

Forget Me Not Block

So far I’ve only completed the eight Forget Me Not squares and am on my way with the next four.

Columbine Flower

The next set of blocks are the Columbine. I’ve made the four flowers and will add the background like the previous one next. The petals look a bit curled up right now but eventually they get attached to the background to hold them down so you can see the flower better.

This afghan is made up of 8 different flower motifs that are all so beautiful. It is actually the second time this CAL is being run. The first time it started was during the time I was doing the Kaleidoscope CAL so I didn’t participate then. Also when the Fruit Garden CAL was run the first time some people had difficulties sourcing the yarn due to shortages caused by the pandemic. The designer and her sponsors, Stylecraft Yarn, decided to run it again and also added a third colorway which is the one I’m doing.

I can’t wait to show you my progress as I work through this CAL.

I’m joining the The Loop Scoop Yarny Link Party (formerly know as Hookin on Hump Day). You should stop by to see some of the other projects people have posted.

Read Full Post »

Selfie Sunday at Webster Park

Hi everyone. It’s Millie and Walter here. We sure have been enjoying some amazing weather this past week with our high temps around 70° F (about 20 degrees above normal).

To celebrate the great weather our pawrents took us to Webster Park.
This is where they’ve been taking all those amazing sunset pictures.

You can tell how warm it was by how long Walter’s tongue is. BOL!

We walked around the park for a while enjoying the cool lake breeze.

Our dad wanted to get our picture on the rock jetty but we had to wait a while for a fisherman to leave.

We had lots of fun exploring the park.

Finally we had the jetty all to our selves.

After we posed (with our mom) for this picture I went for a little drink of water.

I really surprised our pawrents by stepping into the lake (barely covering my paws) to take a refreshing drink. Walter took a little encouragement to even get close to the water but I don’t think he ever took a drink even though he needed it.

We’re joining The Cat on My Head for their Selfie Sunday blog hop. You should check out the hop to see some of the other selfies. Thanks for stopping by.

Read Full Post »

Hooking on Hump Day – The Fade to Light Cardigan

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. After I finished the Kaleidoscope Blanket I happened upon a crochet-a-long for the Fade to Light Jacket.

Fade to Light Jacket
(Photo credit Lilla Björn’s Crochet World)

I made a cardigan early in my crochet career and found it difficult to do as the shaping wasn’t very well defined in the pattern. This cardigan is made with two kinds of Scheepjes yarn and is made from the top down so you get to try it on as you make it. I chose to do mine in the black & white version seen above as I felt this would go with more of my wardrobe. That version uses the Minimalism Whirl and Merino Soft in Pollock.

Scheepjes – Whirl Fine Art & Merino Soft

I started with a gauge swatch to make sure I was working to the right size and proceeded to work on the yolk (at the top of the sweater). When I completed that section I decided it was too big so I ripped it all out and started again at the next smaller size. I’m glad I did as it still seems a bit large but I can comfortably wear it with a shirt underneath.

Yolk section of Fade to Light Jacket

The next section we worked on were the sleeves. You start the sleeve by continuing to work the whirl yarn and then switch to the solid color. Here the pattern calls for you to make decreases every few rows. If I make this again I will make the decreases closer together to make the sleeve slim down quicker. I also might like to make the sleeves from more of the gradient whirl so that would require buying an additional one.

Fade to Light Jacket – Sleeve

Then it was on to the lower body where you alternate the gradient colored whirl with the solid color yarn to make the mosaic pattern. Since two rows were worked of each color you didn’t have to cut the yarn and just carried it up the side to the next row when needed. I was using two whirls and the solid color so this called for juggling three skeins of yarn to keep from tangling them. When I finished the whirl I did a few rows of the solid color.

Fade to Light Jacket – Lower Body

The cardigan is finished by working the front band and around the neckline with the solid color. When I was all done I tried the cardigan on and was happy with the fit. The instructions call for the cardigan to be blocked. This helps to even out the stitches for you. Since I’d never blocked a garment I asked some yarny friends and consulted YouTube for advise. I hand washed my cardigan and then used the technique of rolling it in towels and then stepping on it to gently squeeze some of the water out.

Fade to Light Jacket – Pinned to Blocking Boards

I pinned the cardigan in place without stretching it and left it on the boards for a few days to make sure it was dry.

Fade to Light Jacket – unpinned

When I unpinned the cardigan and tried it on I was horrified to find that it had stretched a size or two! Oh no! What to do? Charlie used his material science background and felt if I wet the cardigan again with just a spray bottle and then put it in the dryer on low he was confident it would shrink back to the size it was before the hand washing.

It fits!

Thankfully the cardigan regained the shape it was when I finished it.

I’m happy with the way it turned out.

I decided to leave the front of the cardigan without any buttons since I seem to never button any cardigan I have. The pattern was well written and easy to follow. The instructional images on the website helped with the understanding and there were also videos that helped too. I want to thank the designer Tatsiana of “Lilla Björn’s Crochet World” for a great pattern.

I’m joining the The Loop Scoop Yarny Link Party (formerly know as Hookin on Hump Day). You should stop by to see some of the other projects people have posted.

Read Full Post »