Rainbow Trout

Cookies, that is. I was thinking of fishies when I asked what other images you all saw in the over-sized cat shapes. Karen saw fishies, too. I've used up all the pre-baked cookie blanks. Monique's owls and Karen's hot air balloons will have to wait. Kate's penguins will almost certainly get made. Penguins in knitwear! Who could resist?

Pincushions revisited

I'm still fascinated by pincushions. Clearly. I've discovered various pincushion facts. For one, the Victorians had a thing for them, and there are many antique pincushions from that era. They liked to collect them. Two...pincushions can't just be a blob of stuffing. If there's too much stuffing, you run the risk of losing your needle down in the middle of your pincushion. Here's my latest:

Very small. Just intended for my embroidery needles (which I really wouldn't want to lose) and a couple of pins.

How small, you ask? Well, here's the Kingdom of Coco's own Vanna White to illustrate:

Built on a wooden ring that's been hanging around my workroom since the age of macramé. With felt flowers and embroidery.

I couldn't see the forest for the trees

My friend Karen remarked that if you took the long view on the cat cookies, they could be giant cat heads. When I looked at them again, I thought, "Of course!".  (She's so smart!) So, in honour of Karen, here are a few giant cat head cookies.

Some are even wearing sun glasses.

I'm curious. Here is the naked cookie. What other cookies do you see in this shape?

Border patrol

The squares for the baby blanket are all joined. Now it needs a nice border. I decided to add a knitted-on garter stitch border. It's 9 stitches wide, and I think it's looking pretty good. The corners are a simple case of mitring with short rows. It's just more of the same for while. Not really good blog material, but necessary. And satisfying.

Care for a cookie?

The wheel turns, and we're back to cookies!! If you're going to be in the village of Lyndhurst, Ontario, at the giant plant sale and yard sale, this coming Saturday morning (May 16, 2015), be sure to drop by the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project's table to get yourself a cookie! There will be all sorts of interesting things on offer like crafts and home baking, but you're going to want to get yourself a cat cookie! All proceeds (from the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project's sales) go to the cat colony. The sale starts at 8:30.

And if these cool cats look familiar, it might be because you saw them here first:

The   Say, "Cheese"! quilt!! Cassie's sittin' on most of them, but you can still see one or 2. This image is one of my favourites, and it's going to show up again soon, I think.

I am a dope

And here is the proof.

After knitting 3 (THREE) joining strips, I flipped the work over only to find that the back of the joining strips looks really nice. I mean REALLY nice. That's when it hit me. I like the back side best, don't you?

The original strip is on the left. The upside-down strip is on the right. No contest, right?  (Ignore the faint turquoise line on each side of the joining strip. That's just my lifeline that I'm leaving in place for the moment.)

In my defense, there are a lot of variations possible in this process. If you slip the stitches that need slipping in a purl-wise fashion, the result will be different from what you get if you slip them knit-wise. If you join with a slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over manoeuver, it will look different from joining by purling 2 stitches through the back loop (from the back). There's a lot of trial and error and a lot of just doing it the way you like best. There's no absolutely right way to do any of this.

For those who are still wondering about it, this insertion is a little like adding an edging to a knit shawl. There is no grafting involved, nor is there any sewing. I don't have anything against grafting or sewing, but I find this process very intuitive and pleasant and versatile.

Once you figure out which side you're on.

Joining the squares

I had done some rough calculations based on a bit of swatching. I had a 'sorta' plan. However, I really wouldn't know if the plan would work until I actually did it. I like that kind of spontaneity, and I like it best when it all works out.

You'll remember that each block is worked in the round. It's a squared circle. That means that the stitches at the edge of each square are live. My plan is to pick up the live stitches and join them with a strip of knitting in between. Specifically, I thought a band of garter stitch would make for an interesting textural detail.

First I tried a strip of 12 stitches, but it was too wide, I think. This strip is 6 stitches wide, and, just like Baby Bear, I think it's just about right. I started the strip provisionally, and I left the ending stitches on a length of waste yarn. That gives me live stitches on each end for joining the rows together.

I think it may just work. :)