Archie The Wonder Dog

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! This will be a very quick post because I have very little progress to report; in fact it’s so little that it’s invisible.  I decided to get the LV scrappy trip top out for a look to assess what to do to make it smaller. As a reminder (because it’s been so long since it was in an actual post), it currently looks like this: It’s too big (and I suspect will be too heavy for me once it’s got wadding and backing added) so needs to be made smaller. My plan was that I’d remove some of the outer rows and end blocks as I did with the Winterkist quilt last month and also swap some fabric from remaining blocks that I no longer like. (In truth, I wasn’t that struck when I was making the blocks so have no idea why I didn’t just not use them *rolls eyes at past me*) When I got it out to see what would look best (I’ve been scribbling on a screen up until now), I realised that rather than removing rows and end blocks, th...

  Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! I started the month by casting on a new sock: but quickly ended up knitting a split/hole in my left index finger (I push the needle back through with the tip of my finger and those needles are sharp so repeatedly doing it ends up being quite painful) so I put down the knitting and picked up the hand piecing.  I joined four blocks together into one big block:  Then another one, doubling my hand piecing from last month: And another: And another: And another, until all the single blocks were combined into big blocks: Did I stop there? I did not, I carried on until all the big blocks were joined into one massive piece, which is the lower half of the top: And then this happened: Yes, a finished top! I can't quite believe it, I must admit. I gave the final seam (across the middle) a press before taking this picture but couldn't face pressing the whole quilt again (each block was starched and pressed ...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! Spring has sprung!! At the start of the month, I looked at my photos of the garden from the start of lockdown last year (most of which contain Mini Archie hiding in various spots) and couldn't believe the difference in how much green there was in them.  I looked at the garden and didn't think it would be anywhere near by the time the 24th (one year anniversary of Mini Archie's first Lockdown Hide) came round, but it is almost there and it's lovely to look out of the window and see the fresh spring green. And with the cheery thought of plants springing into life, let's look at what I've made this month: I finished the pair of socks I was knitting last time: You may notice that neither sock looks exactly like the finished one I showed last month, and that's because I got halfway down the foot of the second sock and ran out of yarn! So I unpicked the toe of the first one and pulled ...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! I thought I hadn't done much sewing or knitting this month, but when I gathered photos together, it seems I've done a lot more than I realised.  This seems to be a recurring theme...  I got half a quilt top joined!!  I honestly thought I'd carry on and have the other half at least started, but I haven't picked up a needle since. Maybe it's because it's a new needle and the old one needs time to instruct it and check its training is up to snuff? Here's the old needle, which has pieced all of this quilt so far and which has agreed to accept an emeritus position in the pin cushion: I finished the pair of socks for a friend: Yarn is Party Dress by  Made By Penguins And I finished a sock for me, this time I did an extra two sets of p/k for the heel flap to (hopefully) create more toom across the instep and reinforced the heel turn: I did reinforce the sole as well, but it turns out that ...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! I think January 2021 has surely been the longest January since records began! However, it's meant I've got a surprising amount of stuff done since the December Furtle - I hadn't realised how much until I came to sort photos for this post because the beginning of January feels so long ago that I thought they'd been done last year. I finished the socks for Mam: Pink yarn is WYS Sarsaparilla, patterned is from  Made By Penguins And knitted a pair for me, although I've technically finished these twice as the first time round I'd somehow made the feet a tad short so had to pull back the toes and add a few rounds before redoing the toe. They fit perfectly now, thank goodness. Yarn is Aqua by  Made By Penguins And I cast on another two socks for me: I also cast on another sock last night but as they're for a friend and she wants a surprise (she saw the yarn when she bought it, obviously, b...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! Where did December go?! Honestly, one minute it was all ahead of me, the next it's behind and it's time to write my final furtle post of the year. Let me show you what I managed this month: I hand pieced the final four blocks for my LV scrappy trip quilt: It feels like a while since a backside picture, so here's the final block: I also machine pieced the rest of the tomte blocks: The note says 'Mind my ear!' And then spent what felt like hours finding an arrangement which works: And got the blocks joined into rows: I've decided that I'm not going to have sashing round the edges (I'll bind it in the navy so the binding will look like the sashing does here) so I have a bit of unpicking to do before I can join the rows to either side of the sashing strips - just the strips either end of each row, fortunately, so it won't take long. Once I'd finished all the scrappy trip blo...