• 2026 - Blanket - Cats - Crochet - Garment - Knitting - Socks - Sweater

    March 2026 Projects Update

    March 2, 2026 - By 

    It’s hard to believe it’s already March and I haven’t posted a finished project for 2026. I have been crocheting and knitting a lot this year, I just haven’t completed anything yet!

    I started off the year working on a crochet along with Attic24, the Wildshore Blanket CAL. The CAL takes about 2 months, with the border being released last Friday I should have finished it this past weekend, but I’m just not sure if I’m going to follow the border pattern, or pick something else. It’s the look of the final row that has me uncertain.

    I also started a raglan sweater for myself, that I have knit and frogged multiple times. I received the yarn and pattern as a Christmas gift and I started off knitting it from that, but it was a raglan sweater knit bottom up in pieces and I got frustrated with it. I thought I should switch to a top down raglan knit in once piece that I could try on as I went. Which sounded like a good plan, but then when I finished it, it ended up too big in circumference. When I told James about the latest fitting he said “you always seem to knit your sweaters a few times” I replied, “because I’m not good at it!” LOL I have the techniques down, but I really seem to struggle with garment sizing. So it’s in a time out right now while I think about how I want to fix it.

    I also started a loosey goosey sock knitalong with my friend Terri, I was meant to knit one pair of socks per month throughout the year. I started a pair in January but lost interest in the pattern and frogged it. So no January socks. I started a different pair in February, did I finish them? Also no. I am knitting them two at a time and have managed to knit the legs, do the heel turns and gusset decreases, so I think I am in the home stretch. But then I have to think of March socks…

    You’ll notice that the cats have been spending a lot of time near me as I work. Trixie is very good about leaving my yarn alone, but Miss Marple is a very naughty knitty kitty, she’s always keeping an eye on the yarn and trying to eat it, so that has contributed a bit to my slowness. Hopefully I’ll be adding a flurry of completed project posts in the next few weeks. 😉

    With that thought in mind, I have a couple changes to the blog for this year. I think I’m going to get back to the chatty blog posts I used to write, this past year of only adding projects hasn’t been as creative for me. So fair warning. I’ve also added a “spotlight” page you can access from the top menu, I’ll add photos I particularly like there. I also thought about changing the blog theme and appearance, I even purchased a new “pro” theme but I can’t get it to work the way I want. I need to learn more about working with it, maybe that will be a 2027 update.

  • 2025 - Cats - Knitting - Socks

    2025-30 Fang Socks

    January 9, 2026 - By 

    When I saw this pattern the first person I thought of making them for was my daughter Keely, who has a blank cat named Fang. The pattern uses a grey yarn for the cat, but black is in perfect contrast to the green.

    Pattern: Cat-astrophe from Biscotte Yarns

    Craft: knitting

    Made for: Keely

    Size: one size

    Needle: 2.5mm and 3 mm

    Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll – black, Sea Turtle Fiber Arts Ridley Sock – Meadow

    Notes: Turkish cast on, then knit one more round. Made shorties because I only had 50 grams of black.

  • 2025 - Blanket - Cats - Crochet

    2025-28 Flowerpress Blanket

    January 9, 2026 - By 

    My co-worker Erika bought a new house and moved into it over the Christmas holiday’s. I let her pick a pattern for a housewarming blanket, she really liked the first one I showed her which was the Flowerpress from Attic24. I had bought three of the kits when it was released in the fall of 2024 because I loved the colours, I knew I wanted to make a larger version because I’m not usually a fan of square blankets, and I’d want to make a 2nd blanket one day. I switched it from 4 x 4 squares to 4 x 6 squares. I had made an excel spreadsheet with the extra colours planned out, so that saved me a lot of work! My friend Cailin is about to get started on one as well and was planning on making it larger, so I shared my spreadsheet with her. All that extra project planning at the beginning really does come in handy sometimes!

    I was supervised by Miss Marple throughout the process.

    The yarn is really nice compared to other recycled fibres I’ve used. It’s 40% Wool, 30% Acrylic, and 30% Polyester, from plastic bottles. It feels a bit rough like cotton when you are working with it, but washes up like a pair of soft denim jeans.

    The first time I crocheted this blanket I tried to use the pattern join, but found it too tight, I switched it out to the continuous flat braid join from The Patchwork Heart UK. It’s a very pretty join, just using single crochet and chain stitches, see the notes below for my adjustments. It is more of a yarn eater though, so I had to buy one more ball of champagne to make this blanket. I still have enough yarn left that I can probably make a lap or baby blanket with it.

    Pattern: Flowerpress Blanket by Lucy of Attic24 

    Craft: crochet

    Made for: Erika’s housewarming gift

    Size: 48 x 69”

    Hook: 3.5 mm and 4 mm

    Yarn: Stylecraft ReCreate DK

    Colourway: Avocado, Blush, Champagne, Cherry, Dijon, Grape, Pistachio, Rose, Sky, Teal

    Notes from 2024 project:

    3.5 mm hook for squares. 4 mm hook for joining and first round of border. 

    Blanket is 4 x 4 squares. I made 4 x 6 squares. 

    Switched out pattern join for continuous flat braid join with, chain 2s and 3s instead of chain 3s and 5s. After joining round, slip stitch into corner space

    Next round: chain 1, (sc, ch 2, sc) into corner space. Sc in first stitch, hdc in missed sc of 2 rounds below (last round of square done in champagne.) continues across side. Where squares meet, hdc in corner loop 2 rounds below, sc in corner loop of last round, sc2tog over both corner loops, sc in corner loop of next square, hdc in corner loop of 2 rounds below. There will be 5 stitches across this joining area. In corners work sc, ch2, sc.

    181 stitches across short side on round 2 of border.

    273 stitches across long side on round 2 of border.

    Plus 4 corner stitches.

    Broke into second kit to work joining and border. Final yarn amounts used in grams:

    Avocado 132 – Blush 120 – Champagne 155 – Cherry 120 – Dijon 75 – Grape 105 – Pistachio 118 – Rose 114 – Sky 137 – Teal 75.

  • 2025 - Cats - Knitting - Shawl

    2025-8 Maple Leaf Wrap

    June 18, 2025 - By 

    In February our neighbours to the south started a trade war with us, so early March brought a renewed sense of Canadian pride, we started buying only Canadian products, or from our friendlier trade partners. It also inspired us to craft with Canadian pride. Knit Me is a Canadian company that offers yarn subscription boxes which I had previously been gifted, they also sell patterns individually. One of them is the Maple Leaf Wrap, if you look closely you can see the maple leaves.

    I had a skein and a bit of the yarn recommended for this pattern, leftover from knitting a sweater a couple years ago, So I decided to wind it up and make a “just because” gift for my BFF. Ancient Arts Revival Fingering is an environmentally conscious yarn made from recycled and reclaimed fibers from the carding and milling process, it’s 49% Wool, 34% Mohair, 11% Nylon, 4% Acrylic, 2% Silk.

    The pattern starts with a garter tab, then you work a 23 row lace pattern with increases on each end, so you do have to pay attention to your row count. There are also a few special stitches to sort out, but the pattern is well written and the special stitches have good descriptions.

    Overall I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and Sheila liked it.

    8 Maple Leaf Wrap

    Pattern: Maple Leaf Wrap by Knit Me

    Craft: knit

    Made for: Sheila

    Needle: 3.25 mm

    Yarn: Ancient Arts Revival

    Colourway: Beaujolais Nouveau 115 grams total

    Notes: 5 repeats plus 5 rows = 409 sts 

  • 2025 - Blanket - Cats - Crochet

    2025-2 January CAL

    June 5, 2025 - By 

    I love a Crochet-A-Long (CAL) especially the ones by Lucy of Attic24. She has been designing and hosting one in January for a number of years now, I almost always participate. It gives me something to look forward to in the cold and dark months of January and February. She always has a yarn pack you can buy from Wool Warehouse UK to go along with it, and I usually buy a pack, but some years I don’t, perhaps the colours don’t call to me, or I decide that I really should use yarn I already own and do some stash busting, or my daughter decides the blanket should be hers and picks out her own colours…

    This past December we had a mail strike in Canada so I couldn’t order the yarn pack without paying more for DHL shipping, which is always a last resort for me. Luckily I had a Starbright Blanket kit from Lucy that I hadn’t used yet, and many of the colours of the Canalboat CAL were in it, with a little stash busting I was able to pull my own yarn pack together.

    This year my husband James was the lucky recipient, I hadn’t made him his own blanket yet, he wanted one for his lap that the cats could cuddle on when he was in his recliner. I think they approve of it. They both supervised it’s creation.

    I really love the folk art feel of it that Lucy was going for, it definitely adds a bright splash of colour to the livingroom! Details of my yarn substitutions are below, I’ve also noted how many grams of each colour that I used in parenthesis behind the colour name.

    2 January CAL

    Pattern: Canalboat Blanket CAL by Lucy of Attic24

    Craft: crochet

    Hook: 4.5 mm and 4 mm

    Size: 46 x 78″

    Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK

    Colourway: Apple, Aster, Bottle, Claret, French Navy, Fuchsia Purple, Kelly Green, Lipstick, Lobelia, Gold, Magenta, Pomegranate, Powder Pink, Teal, Turquoise

    • Notes: I decided not to use the Canalboat yarn pack, there was a mail strike in December which meant I couldn’t order it on time, plus the colours aren’t really calling to me. I decided to stash bust and am using most of the Starbright yarn pack, but switching out two to get more contrast and match the folk art feel of the pattern. Removed Empire and Lapis from Starbright kit.
    • After row 5 my blanket is 132 cm wide
    • Two hook sizes, because I always start off with looser tension in a striped blanket and have to go up a hook size after 5-6 inches or my blanket narrows noticeably.

    Canalboat kit colour replacements

    Royal = Lobelia

    Green = Kelly Green

    Sage = Aster

    Lime = Apple

    Camel = Fuchsia Purple

    Fondant = Magenta

    Tomato = Pomegranate 

    Colour list and amount used in grams

    Apple = 70

    Aster = 78

    Bottle = 74

    Claret = 70

    French Navy = 74

    Fushia Purple = 71

    Gold = 65

    Kelly Green = 81

    Lipstick = 11

    Lobelia = 70

    Magenta = 62

    Pomegranate = 75

    Powder Pink = 75

    Teal = 75

    Turquoise = 65

  • 2025 - Cats - Crochet - Introduction - Knitting

    2025, ugh…

    June 3, 2025 - By 

    As my tagline says, I’m just a girl, holding an existential crisis at bay, the best way I know how. Knitting and crocheting my way through my yarn stash, usually with a cat on my lap.

    Trixie the mackeral tabby cat on a crocheted blanket on my lap with a partially knit shawl

    The last five years have been hard, we have lived through a global pandemic, we’re seeing a rise in fascism, social media has turned into a dumpster fire of hate and conspiracy theories, and now measles is on the rise, measles? The childhood disease with a safe and effective vaccine? Yeah that one. On a personal note, all my kids have moved out and I’m stumbling my way into menopause, with all the joyful symptoms that entails. Thank you to the pharmaceutical industry, and a family doctor who listens to me, which is a minor miracle since I live in Alberta and our health care system is collapsing. Yeah it’s been a hard few years.

    Playing with yarn, and snuggling my cats really is my therapy. This year I wanted to create a positive space to share my projects, a home on the internet free of everything mentioned above. It’s taken me a few months to get it going, but I think it’s time to start writing and posting photos. Let’s start with a photo of Trixie on my lap, because it brings me joy.