A butterfly

For Kate's mother, who thought babies and butterflies just go together. I think I have to agree.

This makes 9...only 3 more to go, and I can start putting them together.

A bear, of course

Some things just stay with you, I guess. I knew I wanted a bear for the baby quilt. When I starting sketching, this is the bear who showed up. He's very Yogi Bear and BooBoo, don't you think?  For better or for worse, we are the sum of our experiences.

And a lamb

Square #7, I think. A very pink lamb kickin' up his heels.

Cassie says we need a cat

You can't see it in the photo, but the copper variegated wool has a strand of glitter that is really cool. The wool is intended for socks. It's a superwash wool with a little nylon. Loops & Threads Pizzazz. I don't think I'd like socks made from it, because it's a little scratchy, but it's very nice for embroidery.

This is the 6th square for the baby blanket. Only 6 left to go. And I have 6 more sketches made. That means each of the 12 squares will have a different design. Since I'm learning as I go, and the piece is evolving because of that, this square uses a new (for me) stitch.... a chain stitch. It distorts the knitted ground less than the satin stitch. A nice addition to my repertoire.

What's buzzin' in your world?

Square #5 is a bee, and Cassie quite likes it.

Or, at least, she finds it a good place to nap.

A reluctant mouse

Square #4 of the baby blanket features a little mouse. The first time I stitched him, he was a little ... lumpy? The fabric was pretty stiff. :(

Stitching him in the worsted weight Cascade 220 Superwash didn't work so well. I really needed a lighter weight yarn. I split the 4 plies and tried stitching with just 2.

Much better.

Slurpy Dog

Square #3.

Inspired by Duke. He may be long gone, but he still pops up from time to time. Never to be forgotten.

More of the same

I can't get enough of that dusky pink/coral and green combination. Also, if you look closely, you'll see the 2nd square for the baby blanket is finished.

A chick. I'm lovin' how the squared circle is making frames on each square. Uhhh....now that I see it on the monitor, I think it may need just one more leaf...

Today in a photo

The pellet stove is blazing, and the tulips my sister-in-law and brother brought for Easter are just starting to bloom. Beautiful shades of green and coral that lift the spirits. A couple of good books on my Kobo. Cassie sleeping. Today in the Kingdom.

Block 1, done

Last night when I finished the embroidery on this block, and liberated it from its clamps, I was disappointed. In spite of that little square being tightly held by the clamps, it was slightly distorted once freed. :(  During the night, I considered my options (when I should have been sleeping). This morning, before I did anything more drastic, I gave it a quick 2nd chance steam blocking, with the square face-down on a thick bath towel. I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I think it's OK. That means Block #1 of 16 is done. I have not yet decided if every block will be embroidered. There have to be a few mysteries left unsolved, or the project will be very dull.

This block shows off one of the reasons I so wanted to knit the squares in the round, in the first place. The purple rounds are done in double knitting, with a little checkerboard effect. Because of the random increases every other round, I can't do the major double knitting patterns I had hoped to do, but the little checkerboards make the block interesting, I think.

Now, what's next? Little birdies?

Blankets for babies

Moving right along on the baby blanket. Now that I have the 8-inch squares knit-in-the-round figured out, I want to be sure the embroidery part is going to work. Here's the first one underway. You can sort of see the used dryer sheet I'm using as a stabilizer and also, to transfer the embroidery lines. The clamps were Kate's idea, to hold everything nice and snug while I embroider. It's good to have geniuses for friends. :)

Winners! We have winners! and buttons!!

Thank you to everyone who came out to play in the Pincushion Design Contest (for the rest of us) 2015! We had some lovely entries which you can see on the page dedicated to them. Nice to see a couple of new faces here in the Kingdom. I hope you'll become regulars.

Don't forget to check over on Books and Quilts to see who Heather chose as her winner of the book from Book Depository. I really appreciate her generous offer of such a great prize, but I don't envy Heather the job of picking just one winner.

I, myself, have decided to take the easier route. I'm declaring EVERY ONE of you a winner! And for prizes, I'm sending out handmade buttons. I figure anyone who needs a pincushion will probably need a button or 2 at some time or another. If you submitted an entry, and I don't already have your address, please email me at covillewood [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll send your prize buttons right out in the mail.

Now, if you're sorry you didn't get around to making a pincushion, you can still get yourself some buttons. I've opened a little shop called Funny Business Buttons, and all the money (except for the little bit that Mr. Paypal takes for handling the transfer) goes straight to The Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project to pay for food and vet care for the cats.

Of course, I immediately slapped one of those turquoise cat buttons on my little baby sweater. What do you think? Fetching, n'est-ce pas? :)

There are still a few of these turquoise kitties left in the shop, 

as well as a few brown ones

... and bunnies and bees and bears and mice. Oh, my!

My kingdom for a button

I finished the little baby sweater that I showed you several weeks ago. Now, all it needs is the perfect button. It's sized for a newborn. Not sure the colour shows up well in this photo. It's actually a bright turquoise.