Mike & Gabby: February 2015

Here it is, February already, and I've just now delivered my last Christmas gift! I decided at the beginning of December to knit my sister a scarf to go with some earrings I was giving her. I saw a sample in my local yarn store that only took 1 skein of yarn. I downloaded the pattern from Ravelry and started in plenty of time. However, by the time I got to the end of the yarn, I realized it just wasn't going to be long enough. When I went back to the store, they didn't have any more of that color. So on December 13th, I ordered the yarn and even paid for expedited shipping. Unfortunately, it didn't arrive until December 26th. (I've never ordered from this yarn company before and I definitely won't again.) I finished the scarf in the next week or so, but because of scheduling, I haven't been able to get it to my sister until now.

This is the Feather and Fan scarf by Linda Castles. I used Madelinetosh Tosh Sock yarn in Envy. It took just over 1 skein to make, but it's a nice long scarf. (Now I have to figure out what to make with the rest of the yarn?)

The funny thing is, when I went back to the store to look for more yarn, I asked them why it was taking me more than their sample. It turns out I was using the wrong pattern. They have a different pattern with the same name. It looks similar to this, but isn't quite as wide and doesn't have the alternating rows of stockinette. They gave me a copy of their pattern. It's just as pretty and I can see making another of these scarves sometime in the future. Live and learn!

Anyway, for now I've put aside my knitting and finally gotten back to my hand applique. I'm determined to finish the last 2 ship blocks for my husband's quilt. (I'm in denial about how much work the borders will be.) I'm also getting close(r) to finishing my mom's Winter Wonderland quilt. This is one of the blocks I'm working on right now...

I caught these two napping end to end the other day. Jack and Moses don't care for each other much and they're always fighting over the same sleeping spot at night, so I was surprised to see them getting along so well. If only they'd do that all the time!

You probably noticed that I spent most of last winter complaining how cold I was. (I didn't feel like my feet thawed out until summer.) Late last fall, my husband and I replaced out heating system with one that uses natural gas. They'd only just installed the lines in our neighborhood earlier in the year. Since then, I have been toasty warm! Well, as long as long as I stay inside...