Week 32 of 2026

This week I finished knitting a little scarf -

The pattern is Leaf Fall by Nicola Diggins.

 I knit it with handspun yarn, a merino/silk blend that I dyed before spinning. I had used the yarn for another scarf years ago and never wore it, so I took it apart to use the yarn again.

It was quite curled before blocking.

After blocking it lays flat.

It was an easy, fun knit, and the pattern was very clear.

Today was the end of the second part of Tour de Fleece (Tour de Fleece Femmes), and I finished spinning the sock yarn I started in the first part of TdF, and I spun some more wool on the Indianhead spinner this week.

Photos from Around -

Molly runs around the pool with a ball in her mouth every time we go swimming (she has worn quite the path!). She gets so excited when we get our swimsuits out. When she was a puppy, and we swam in the pond, she ran around that too (she doesn't like to go in water, and is not a swimmer).

This piece of rebar in the garden makes a good scratching spot for Miss Maggie.

GingerSnap! discovered that he can catch sparrows that zip through the little door in the chicken coop (he has startled a hen or two also, but doesn't bother them).

There are lots of Black Swallowtail caterpillars in the garden (as well as some chrysalises).

A Tiger Swallowtail butterfly visited the garden yesterday.

Dust bath time for some of the chickens.

We harvested some honey this week.

All the best!♥︎

Week 27 of 2026

Did a few little sewing projects this week -

This little table runner is made from hexagons that I have been hand sewing for a while (an English Paper Piecing project).

It is about 10" x 31".

It is for the top of an old curio cabinet in my sewing room (not much is visible).

This is a kicker toy for the cats (really GingerSnap! is the one that likes to kick).

The pattern is from the Bernina website (link to tutorial). I used a clean chip bag for the "crinkle", stuffed it with wool waste, from cleaning and combing a fleece for spinning, and some catnip.

They don't tend to play with toys in the summer, I guess since they spend so much time outside, but this should be good for them in the winter.

Photos from Around - 

We had so much rain at the beginning of the week.

By the end of the week the garden was almost dry.

So far this has been the summer of ticks! I have never seen so many - I have definitely got over my fear of them. Some days I find more than I have ever had all my previous years combined.

The pets all have preventative medicine.

Molly is trying to get out of the rain under a tree.

We are hoping the chickens are eating lots of ticks when they are out and about.

Here are a couple enjoying the sunshine.

All the best!♥︎

Week 26 of 2026

This week I sewed a dress -

This is another Siena dress from Tailor Academy (the sew along I participated in last month). This time I made one for my Mom. It is made with loom line cotton from GK Fashion Fabrics in Ontario. I made this one a bit shorter, because my Mom is a bit shorter than I am, and no belt. The pattern is so well drafted, and it is a joy to sew the dress.

Photos from Around - 

Curious chicken.

Miss Maggie's steely gaze.

GingerSnap! helping me trim trees.

Molly playing with the cats - each one has different tolerances for the dog. GingerSnap! is right in there, and Miss Maggie likes to run out of reach.

All the best!♥︎

Week 21 of 2026

This week I finished weaving a set of tea towels -

The pattern is the Cajun Inspired Tea Towels from Handwoven magazine, issue Jan/Feb 2015. This is the fourth time I have woven this pattern, but the first time I used the called for colours. Three of the towels are woven with thrums (short lengths of leftover cotton knotted together), these ones remind me of a handwoven rug my Mom had. The pattern is one of my favourites.

Photos from Around - 

One of these is not like the others.

Good times.

Summer weather has finally arrived!

If he could open the door where their food is stored, he would. Photo taken an hour before mealtime, so a long wait! Miss Maggie doesn't make a peep at mealtimes anymore, she knows that Ginger$nap will make enough noise for both of them.

All the best!♥︎

Week 26 of 2025

This week I dyed some fibre in preparation for Tour de Fleece (starts July 5th this year) -

The bottom two are BFL dyed in two different colour ways to be spun together, and the top fibre is some leftover Merino.

Photos from Around -

The vegetable garden.

My son brought home so many different annual flowers (I don't usually plant too many varieties), the yard is full of colour now. These are just some of the different petunias.

Beautiful metallic Dogbane beetles on some wildflowers.

Poor Molly had to suffer through some grooming - she is clean, with short nails now.

Happy hens!

The canola field surrounding our home is stunning.

32ºC yesterday and GingerSnap! was hot. He was inside most of the day, but loves it outside.

The chicks have really changed this week - they are two and half weeks old.

Miss Maggie is smart to stay inside when it is hot.

Spot those German Shepard ears! Molly lays down and waits for someone to throw her ball, but we have to find it first.

All the best!♥︎

Week 14 of 2025

This week I finished another set of tea towels -

I revisited the Heavy Meta Towels pattern that I wove last year. 

When I modified the pattern to make the horizontal and vertical stripes the same width and wove a table runner, I knew I would try some more towels (the runner was a short warp to see if the modification would work before trying a long warp for towels).

This time I modified the pattern to make a one over one "weaving" pattern.

The warp in 2/16 unmercerized cotton in beige, and the pattern weft is 2/8 unmercerized cotton in various colours (the tabby weft is the same 2/16 beige cotton as the warp).

A varied the treadling patterns a bit, and also which side I chose as the "right" side when I hemmed the towels.

I finished knitting a hat this week too. 

The pattern is the Beeswax Hat by Any van de Laar. I knit it with a commercial merino/cashmere yarn that I had dyed.

Photos from Around - 

This week we had more snow (pretty, large snow flakes), the chickens were a bit leery to come outside for their treats (the temperature was around freezing, which they have no problem with).

They did all come out.

The fresh snow was so pretty (mostly melted later in the day).

Miss Maggie is always happy outside - as a feral cat it took a while for her to be comfortable outside.

GingerSnap! was definitely an indoor cat when he showed up, but he loves it outside now the weather is warmer (I worry about him not being cautious enough outside like Maggie).

All the best!♥︎