Weeds, weeds and more weeds

There is a nasty weed in our garden. Its common name is Garlic Mustard. It comes under the fence from the yard to our north. The couple there don't garden much on that side. Between Trish and I, we spent almost two hours weeding along the fence.

Other than the weeds, the garden is doing well. The Hepaticas are almost done blooming. The Bloodroot opened yesterday and was gone today.

Several of the Mayapples will have blooms this year. Hopefully the squirrels will not destroy the buds again this year.

This is Spartacus. She lives in the house giving us Garlic Mustard. She lives with Kubla. I think we will be seeing a lot of them this summer.

More later.

L

It has been a while...

Today was too nice to stay indoors. I spent some time in the yard getting rid of weeds and tidying up. There was an incredible number of cigarette butts in the vegetable garden. I wonder how they got there, Dad?

I finally finished the online HTML course I was taking through work. I think I understood what I was reading. I will learn more as I work with HTML and design my website. Okay I have no immediate plans to create a site from scratch.

Here are photos from the garden. The first one is a Hepatica.

This is another variety of Hepatica.

And finally the scillas. They have spread throughout the garden.

I have finished Trish's sweater vest. I'll take photos tomorrow. Finally a knitted gift for Trish that is finished before the required date.

This is what Calle does with her favourite catnip mouse. She carries around the house and periodically drops it in her water dish to make catnip soup. She is an odd cat.

More later.

L

Sunday Afternoon

On Friday I cut the fabric for the baby quilt. Yesterday I went to the Quilter's Palette (www.quilterspalette.ca) and got the fusible web for the circle appliques. I also picked up batting and fabric for the back. I spent the afternoon sewing the appliques and then the blocks into rows. Today I sewed the rows together. I had a problem with my sewing machine that took too long to figure out the problem. Although sewing is faster, with knitting if there a technical problem, it is me. Oh well. I figured it out and it is okay now.



Here is the top of the baby quilt.

I think I'll hand quilt circles in the blocks. I still need to figure out my border. I'm not even sure I'll use a border. I'll sleep on that decision.

The fabric I am using is Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy (http://www.freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/gallery.php?gal_id=84). I tried to use mostly blues and browns, since it is for a boy.

I have almost three months until I need to give the quilt to Antonette. So I'm going to focus on Trish's sweater vest.

I saw a woodpecker in our yard this afternoon. Unfortunately if I tried to go outside to get a photo, I would have scared it off. So I admired it from a far.

How wrong is this? This afternoon I'll be cheering for the New Jersey Devils. If the Islanders lose the game, the Leafs will make the playoffs. "Go Devils Go".

More later.

L

Spring Snow

Last Friday (March 30th) I used my Volunteer Day from work to help sell daffodils for the Canadian Cancer Society. There were three of us from work selling. It was a lot of fun. We sold out of flowers. I'm not sure how much money we raised, but it was at least $1000, probably closer to $1200. On the weekend I had a nasty stomach bug. I called in sick on Monday. So I worked three days this week and am exhausted. Why are short weeks also so tiring?

All winter I thought there was a dog that was regularly running in the backyard and leaving "presents". I was convinced of this early in the morning as I'm leaving for work. By the time I'd get home, I'd be awake and using logic. I mean, how can a dog regularly get into our yard from the street. I know there far too many irresponsible dog owners in our neighbourhood. The people who think that the leash works if they have it in their hand but not attached to the dog's collar. I hate these people. I understand taking the leash off in a dog park. But walking down Bathurst is not safe... On Monday while I was looking out the window thinking of the possibilities of spring I saw a dog in our yard, in the process of leaving me a "present". I went out back to find its human to clean up after it. The dog ran to the back right corner and went under the fence to get home. I blocked the hole in the fence with a planter box. This dog was completely unsupervised wandering the backyards of Albany. Great humans. At least I'm not crazy. Okay not crazy about confusing a dog and a raccoon.

It has been snowing here. A light dusting of snow is on the garden. Foliage is starting to emerge from the soil. Most of the daylilies have appeared.

I have been working on Trish's sweater vest. Last night I was in the process of the starting the v-neck of the front, when I realised that I had managed to stop knitting one of the middle ribs. I had to take out almost 10 inches of knitting. OUCH! But I will survive. It was far too noticable mistake to try to pretend it didn't happen. What makes it hard is that I'm knitting using a 4mm needle. I still think I can get it done for Trish's birthday later this month.

Here is Calle modelling the sweater vest. I'm not sure the colour of the vest compliments her colouring...

I have a plan for baby quilt I'm going to make. It involves circles and applique, oh my. The fabric that I got at the Quilter's Palette will look great.

This is a sampling of the fabric I have.

Now all I need is to learn how to sew in circles for the applique. Oh and more fusible web.

I should start knitting. I have some time to make up. I also want to get some housework out of the way.

More later.

L

Photos

Here are the photos I had a problem uploading on Sunday night. Below is another photo of the snow drops. They should be open today. I'll try to get another photo tonight after work.

Here is one of the photos I took of Trotsky on Sunday afternoon.


This is is Trish's sweater vest as of Sunday. I have knit 5 of the 8 inches for the armholes. Progress is happening...



Here is Calle conducting a quality inspection of my work, again.


More later.

L

Spring has almost Sprung

It is starting to feel like spring here. There has been some rain, and some variations in the temperature. I took some photos of the snow drops that are almost in bloom.

I took a photo of Trish's sweater vest. I have done almost 17" so far. I have another 5" to knit before I can start the shoulder shaping. I should be done the back mid-week. This will jinx my progress, but it is going quicker than I thought it would.

I hemmed a pair of pants today. I bought three pairs of "boyfriend trousers" from the Gap. And since they are women's pants, they do not come in length, so they all require hemming. I'm going to hem another pair later tonight.

I only quilted one block of Mish Mash this weekend. I'll spend more time next weekend. I had some extra errands to run.

I am having some technical difficulties uploading the photos I want to show you. I'll try to add them tomorrow.

I have to go and watch another episode of Dead Like Me. The DVD is due back at the video store at 9pm.

More later.

Mid-Week Report

I have quilted one row of blocks on Mish Mash (6 of 18 bigger blocks are done). There is still much work to be done. But it is easier to work on it during the weekend. By the time I get home from work and have dinner it is almost 7pm and it is rather bulky. And as reminder, my blog is called OCD_Slacker...

Here is a photo from Sunday's work.

This is the last block on the middle row. This weekend I started another row.

I also need to start thinking about the baby quilt. Maybe I'll spend some time this weekend cutting fabric. I have until July... but at the pace I quilt... I should start soon.

I have been working on Trish's sweater vest. I have found out how to "purl through the back of the loop." It is knit on 4mm needles. Yes that is 4mm. Very small and slow. I have knit 4 inches of the back so far.

I'm getting ready for the Walk for MS on April 15th. To sponsor me you can goto www.supercitieswalk.com. Click on the "Get online with the Super Cities Walk for MS" button on the right hand side. On the next page click on the "Pledge A Walker" button. Enter my name in the "Find A Walker" field. Then enter the amount you want to donate to the MS Society. Thank you in advance for your support.

I should get back to knitting.

More later.

L

St. Patrick's Day

I met Allison at Islington subway station today. We went to the Quilter's Palette (www.quilterspalette.ca). I got fabric for a baby quilt for a coworker. Here is some of the fabric. The pattern I got is called "Trapezoids". Most of the fabric I got was in the store's sample. Some of the fabric is Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy from Free Spirit (www.freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/gallery.php?gal_id=110&PHPSESSID=a7fd9381f425093ce5c2c54d4a2023b7). The quilt is for a boy. I tried to get a lot of blue. I'm thinking a solid brown for the backing and binding. I'll wait until I have the top finished before making that decision.

I also picked up some more Amy Butler fat quarters. They did not have the Kaffe Fassett fabric that I need more of. Now I have a reason to go to Oakville. In addition to seeing Allison and Len. It has been a few weeks since I have seen the renovations they have made.

I still have more hand quilting to do on Mish Mash (I have 4 blocks done... so yes a lot to be done).

While in Etobicoke we went to Village Yarns (www.villageyarns.com). I got Rowan's Summer Tweed to make Trish's birthday present. The yarn is 70% silk and 30% cotton. The pattern is from No Sheep For You by Amy R Singer. Unfortunately the colour of the yarn doesn't look quite right in the photo.

I'll work on this in secret, on my commute to work. I have quilting to do at home.

After the yarn store, Allison and I went the the Shamrock and Thistle for a pint and some stew (it was beef) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

My priorities for projects are as follows:

1. Mish Mash - hand quilting
2. Baby quilt for Nette
3. Trish's sweater vest (shh... secret)
4. Pinwheel (need more fabric)

I need to get some rest. Tomorrow is a busy day of housework and hand quilting.

More later.

L

Daylight Saving Time

The weather has been warm since Friday. Tomorrow the high is suppose to 9. I'm glad the snow is melting. It was startng to look and dirty. No doubt there will be new snow to replace the old stuff.

Last weekend I gave Allison her Christmas cardigan to get a zipper for it, since I had not found one yet (not that I looked very hard). Maybe she'll get one this week and she can give me the sweater and zipper to sew on Saturday.

Allison and I are meeting at the Quilter's Palette (http://www.quilterspalette.ca/) for their Open House on Saturday (March 17). I need to get some fabric for a baby quilt for Nette at work.

I have been busy handquilting Mish Mash. So far I have four of the 18 large blocks quilted. It is going well. I'm just a little slow. I'll take pictures once I have a little more quilted. It seems a little odd working with the old Amy Butler fabric after spending time looking at her new line.

On Wednesday Trish and I went to the Canada Blooms show. Saw a lot of beautiful flowers. I bought some more native plants for the back shade garden. They are from the Wildflower Farm (http://www.wildflowerfarm.ca/). Most of my native plants came from them.

We saw Patsy as we were leaving. I was thinking about her and Kathy as I wandered around the show. Several years ago I saw them at the show. Caroline was at the show with them but had gone off on her own for a few minutes. We had a good chat. She had to go and catch her bus back home. I forgot the camera, so I have no pictures. I'll definitely take photos of the new plants once they are planted.

I have signed Allison and Len up to join at this year's Walk for MS (April 15th). My work team has 7 people so far (including Allison and Len).

I should go and check on dinner.

More later.

L

Still WInter

It took a while but we have a sufficient amount of snow. It was been rather cold lately. It looks like next week will be a little warmer. Trish and I were out walking in the snow yesterday.

I have been procrastinating on quilting Mish Mash. I need to spend time working on it. But my first priority is knitting a hat and scarf for work. We had an on-line auction to help raise money for our MS Walk. I need to make the hat and scarf and send it to the highest bidder. Her three colour choices were midnight blue, black and brown. Romni didn't have a midnight blue and the black seemed flat. So Chocolate Souffle it is.

I have been thinking about what to do with all the fabric I got at Christmas. At this point the Kaffe Fassett fabric will be used in a pinwheel quilt. I was looking through the Kaffe Fassett books and made a list of patterns that would require new skills. The pinwheel won out (a photo of the quilt can be found at http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/info_Quilt_1556.html). The pattern is on the small size (44 x 51), so I think I may try to make it bigger... I will need to get some solid fabric to go with it. Below is a photo of the main fabric I'll be using.

I also have a plan for the new Amy Butler fabric. I'm thinking about using the Wallpaper Strips Quilt pattern from Fassett's Quilt Road. But that may change...

Okay to summarize priorities:

1. knitting hat and scarf
2. quilt Mish Mash
3. use Kaffe Fassett fabric
4. use Amy Butler fabric

If you have any suggestions for the Amy Butler fabric, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas.

That scarf is not going to knit itself. I better get back to work.

More later.

L

PS Happy Birthday, Dad.