Raggedy & Friends, Block 3, and a challenge

Between apple sauce and laundry I have been stitching on September's Raggedy & Friends BOM, and last night it was ready.

Two stitcheries, a nine-patch and a row of two triangle squares, and the two rows of 2" squares at the top. I'm already waiting for the next block!

Today my Ann posed for the stitchery. She is a normal healthy doll so she looks a little plump compared to the model in Kaaren's drawing. We didn't have any watermelon at home so we used a wedge of cabbage instead. The little bird posing on it is a Christmas gift from Eileen, who also made my Raggedy Ann and Andy.

I couldn't let Ann sit too long on the concrete steps - the weather is a cool +8 C (46 F) - so I sent her in to tell Andy about the photo shoot. While still wearing my jacket and shoes I took some pictures of the new colours outdoors.

Blueberries get read leaves before they drop, but the lingonberries (middle front of the picture) keep their thick green leaves all winter.

The aspens often get yellow leaves, they are like golden coins. Some trees turn red, like in the first picture on the left of my quilt block.

The chilly weather and wind have brought me a cold, so I'm taking it easy and sneezing today. September is almost over, and I have used only very little fabric. I hope to finish something before the end of the week to make my statistics look nice! Maybe I'll make a little softie for the Softies for Mirabel campaign. You can read more about it on Pip's blog Meet me at Mike's.

Why don't you join me here? All kinds of soft toys are welcome, and they will be delivered to the kids for Christmas. Before that, Pip will show them all together in her shop window in Melbourne.

Grannying along

I noticed that I can knit and crochet when the project is small enough. The wool jumper for DS1 is still waiting to be finished; I gave up on it several years ago after I needed cortisone shots in my knitting elbow. Knitting this little bunny was easy and fun. I created my own pattern by adding her a skirt. I think her name is Milly.


His name is Billy, and they are friends now. Later this year they will take a flight to Australia, where they will meet the other softies for Mirabel and find their new families.

Pip from Meet me at Mike's has been crocheting granny squares and showing a new one every day, and will continue until the end of May. I have been playing along more irregularly. Today I can show you five of my latest creations:

They may grow bigger still, so the yarn ends are all just hanging there. My yarn stash is a little dull, these are all leftovers from knitting socks for the family. What a lovely excuse to buy new yarn in lovely colours!

I have been sewing too, but I forgot to take pictures. The bags can wait for another day!

Brown Owling & Spring Exhibition

This year I wanted to try making a new kind of Softie for Mirabel, and earn my Brown Owls knitting badge at the same time. Now the bunny is finished:





He needs his scarf because we still have some snow and the nights are cold. This is a wild kind of fellow, he already managed to rip his pants and I used all my brown yarn for them: he has a pink patch to remind him to be more careful.




And up the apple tree he went! He will travel to Australia when I have made some company for him.

I have also crocheted my first Granny squares. Here they are damp stretching before I join them together. This is for my Crochet Badge, I hope.

On Saturday I went to see the Spring exhibition. My sewing group is the smallest group of all, so our corner was a modest one. Here is Hanna's textile art in the middle, she made a beach scene using different fabrics and threads and yarns, stitches, folds and embellishments. My ski holiday picture is on the right and my rag quilt on the left.

Hanna's apron on the left, Maila's Tilda Christmas mail bag next, my aprons and bags and Hanna's loop bag on the right.

There was a short course using coffee bags to make pot stands or shopping baskets:

Finns are heavy users of coffee, so these plastic vacuum bags are available in large amounts!

There is also a pottery group:

And a mosaic group. I love that table!

And there was a photo album binding group.

Next time I will show more pictures of the bobbin lace group, they deserve their own post.

Softies for Mirabel

This morning I changed the light blue button eyes of Mr Hare to less spooky ones and gave them both their whiskers. May I represent, Mr Hare and Flannel Kitty ready to start their journey to Melbourne. Flannel Kitty is made with Cherryskin's pattern of Calico Kitty, and Mr Hare is my own design.




Mr Hare has been hugging Miss Kitty so his tie is over his shoulder! He has a fluffy tail too: