I like needlepoint and I'm not lion!

Between arts & crafts time with Mom, hanging out while our brother finished a puzzle at my house, and weekend hexagon cutting, I have made some decent progress this week. 

First, here is the lion, now with ~half of his mane done, a tufty tail, and more of the butterfly border done (compare to when I first picked this up). Even more important, perhaps, I have gone online to try to track down the missing yarn for the remainder of the piece - three colors are ordered and on the way! I got 6 skeins of the yarn for the background - hope it's enough. I picked 'Forest green' from the few colors of this brand available - the pattern calls for "blue/green" but all of the other blues and greens I saw looked too similar to the flowers and birds already there.

I was also looking online for cross-stitch kits that might be fun for a beginner (a friend's daughter wants to learn) and ended up finding three patterns that were sooooo cute to order, and unearthing another kit in my closet that is also so cute. And I unearthed the mitosis fabric/pajama pattern. I have so many things to work on! Also while looking around the closet I realized I have SO MUCH YARN. I need to either come up with a real plan to use it or just send it off to you.

Second, here are 171 more hexagons! I finished cutting the fabric that was part of the papasan cover, and now I need to rewash the final piece of fabric because the cat has been lying on it (does he know that the recipient is allergic to cats? Probably - look at that evil expression). 

Finally, this has nothing to do with sewing, but I thought I should record it for posterity. I was out doing some errands this weekend, and got to witness some kind of bike protest go by. One person apparently didn't have a bicycle at hand, so rode by in this fabulous contraption:

Huzzah!

- Catherine 

So many sides!

I'm about halfway through with the hexagons! 300 already. I discovered that what I thought was two pieces of fabric was actually 4, but then accidentally burned a huge chunk of one of them by ripping out strips of 2" rather than 2.5". Sigh! 

I have another big chunk of the cream fabric (which used to be the bottom of a papasan cover I made in grad school), and then one more white; we'll see how close that gets.

We are also two days into the bathroom renovations, and hopefully mostly through with the initial VERY NOISY phase. It's especially noisy for me since the bathroom being renovated is directly through one of the walls in my office/sewing room. We'll see what happens when meetings and banging intersect. :P

It is so satisfying to make the hexagons, but I have a long to-do list for the weekend, so I've stopped myself for now. More soon, I hope!

I like your socks. :D Please don't freeze.

- Catherine

Will We Freeze?

 Happy hexagoning!  That's a lot of hexagons to cut.  So many sides!

Will it really take 6-8 weeks to do the work?  That seems like a lot, but then I guess there's a lot to do.  It's a good thing we're not competing anymore, since you'll be without stuff for a bit.

We had our front stairs replaced this summer.  They told us it would take a week or two.  They started in July and finished in December.  That was NOT two weeks.  We were not amused.  I hope your guys are better.

Yesterday was a bus riding day, and then we watched a new-to-us comedian so I got lots done on the second sock for Middle!  I have also included pictures of sock #1 so you can see how cute the pattern is.  The name is Effervescent, after the Fizzy Lifting Drink in Willy Wonka, so the holes are supposed to look like bubbles.  Very fun.

We are sending The Boy back to Vermont a day early, because of the potential mess with weather here in Texas.  There's also supposed to be a lot of snow in VT (9-11 inches), but I figure if he's in Boston on Sunday, the school shuttle will figure out how to get the kids back. 

I am hoping that we don't lose power, but I wouldn't be sad if everything was closed on Monday.  Reminds me that we should do some grocery shopping tonight or tomorrow. 

I will check in and let you know how the storm goes!

Margie

Hexagons calling

And so it begins! I have cut 68 of the 612 white hexagons I've calculated I will need. These are from smaller pieces of fabric, and now I have two very large pieces of fabric to dive into. I think have more bits hanging around in case those aren't enough - hopefully I don't have to buy more.

My other update is that we are planning a small renovation in our house, and the work is scheduled to start this coming week! I'll have to plan strategically to be without my supplies and workspaces for most of the next 6-8 weeks. 

I'm so sorry about Ginny - she was such a good cat. <3 <3 <3

- Catherine

in Meowmoriam

 I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of Ginny McSqueakins, who, on Wednesday of this week (the 14th, the day after our Aunt died) has gone on to join the cats who came before her.

She was an excellent cat who loved boxes and hated being held.  She would sleep in your lap until your legs were in pain, and loved napping on sunny, fuzzy blankets.  She would lift her feet in a really cute way when she trit-trotted to come say hello to me, and she had a cute chirpy meow, usually reserved for saying hello, or when she wanted pets or food.  She enjoyed leading us to her "petting rug", coaching me while exercising by walking underneath me during planks or push ups, or while playing cards, although she didn't always give me good advice.  She slept with us almost every night, and enjoyed being between us, earning the name, Chaperone Cat.

I am glad she is free of her regimen of medication, undesirable nail trimming, and vet visits.  She won't have to have the dental procedure I was saving up for, and she'll never have to get in her carrier again.

I will miss her so much.

"Waiter, where's my salmon?"

Big fan of boxes.

Welcoming me home.

Napping in the sun.

Coaching me at cards.

Napping on Catherine

This also counts as a box.

I will stop here.  There are so many box and sleeping pictures.  I have a book about knitting your own cat.  I might have to make one.
I talked with Marjorie.  If I get another cat, I want a big, dumb, orange one.  I haven't had one of those yet.

Catherine, I hope your procedure went well!

Margie

Another One Rides the Bus

 Well.

I did go to Dallas, it was so nice to see our cousins and our aunt.  There is a picture somewhere of us (not with Aunt Ann) at dinner on Saturday.  I will get it at some point.  I'm so glad I went.

I didn't yet take a picture of the projects, but I did take home some empty printer paper boxes last night to put things in.  I filled one with my project bags, which suggests to me that perhaps I don't need all those project bags.  However, if I get rid of many of them, then I could give in to my desire to create more project bags!  I will try to get a picture of things soon.

I rode the bus Monday and today (Wednesday) and will ride at least once more this week.  I like the bus.  It has allowed me to make some good progress on the sock I'm working on.  I did drop my tiny needle twice on Monday, so I am being more careful when I'm putting things away.  I've turned the heel and have five more decrease rows to do before it's straight along to the toe.  That always feels the quickest to me.

Oh! I spotted The Boy's pencil case on the counter last night and when I moved it to the spot where he should see it to take it to his room, I noticed that there were items in it.  What items did it contain?  Let me show you...

Good use of the bag. (also, I love the lining fabric!)

I think that's all I know.  It's only Wednesday, but I'm looking forward to the holiday weekend!  It's the 12th anniversary of my first date with Jeff, which we like to celebrate as the Best First Date Ever (at least for us).  I need to plan ahead for what to do so that I can make progress on the quilts too!  I kind of wish I had selected a more simple pattern to give to people.  Alas.  I did make too many triangles, and I was thinking about making a second baby quilt, and then one that could be a lap quilt for Smallest, but maaaaybe I make a more simple quilt for the second baby and then make a larger quilt for Smallest...  I'll have to think about that.  What suggestions do you have?

I hope you'll have a lovely long weekend too!

Margie
(P.S. I have learned that for me, the Blog website now hates Safari.  I have to use Chrome if I want to upload pictures.)

Margie's 2026 Aspirations

Okay, you've done it, so I will too.

First, I will sum up where things stand with current projects.  

Middle left this morning to return to Chicago.  Her father once again stepped up and took the 4 am airport run.  I don't know if I mentioned the post-Thanksgiving airport run for The Boy at a similar hour that he took also.  Much appreciated.  I finished the Hoodola at 12:30 this morning (although I sewed in two ends at 3:50 this morning while waiting for departure).  I have pictures from the dark of my room.  I am hoping that Middle will send a picture once it has been blocked and it's being worn.

I haven't worked on anything else for the last couple of days in the push to get that done, so the socks and vest remain as they were.  I still am planning to finish them this month.  Hopefully in the next week or two.

I did take the bus to work M-W this week, I drove today because I have a meeting after work and I don't want to have to deal with the buses after that, but on the whole it's been very pleasant and I'll probably do it more going forward.  I like having the knitting time.

I didn't work on the quilt at all over the break, and I do need to finish that also!  I forgot about that.

I will probably go to Dallas this weekend to see our Aunt.  I need to coordinate that with Carroll.  

So... for 2026, what to do?  I have several cross stitch projects that are languishing that would be good to work into the rotation of projects.  Many of them are well underway and wouldn't take too long to finish.  I also have been given some sashiko kits that would be fun to complete.  Perhaps I need to survey the projects and then make a realistic list for the year.  

Will your hedgehog be a pin cushion?

I'll see if I can get a picture of the projects to be completed.  More after the weekend!

Margie