Puppy-love
Need I say more:
My in-law's puppies. Our last visit with them (the puppies), as they are ALL going to their homes by the end of the week (and not our home…). A wonderful experience for Huxley (and me).
Need I say more:
My in-law's puppies. Our last visit with them (the puppies), as they are ALL going to their homes by the end of the week (and not our home…). A wonderful experience for Huxley (and me).
The "Hide" from last week has been sewed up and this is the chippy resulting from pattern #2. It's not bad, but I wasn't fully happy with it. I also experimented with the way to add the stripes to the side, but don't think it is successful.
There is also a new cast on my finger with new art – Egyptian inspired me thinks.
Chippy from Pattern #3, as pictured below has an extremely long tail (about 14" long), per Huxley's request and since making hand-made goodies for boys is so much harder, I indulged him.
Why the long tail? It makes "Tail" as he was named better able to fly (i.e. swing the tail and launch), also, the tail can be wrapped around Tail's body, or around Huxley's hand or finger.. so much potential.
I also switched the needle size down and made the front paws a bit smaller than the hind paws – Hubby's idea. The tail is also sewn up-wards, so that Tail can more easily sit on his behind and look more chippy-like. The body is a bit longer too, as chipmunks tend to have longer bodies (hard to see when they are sitting upright).
Last fall was a very busy time, so much happening, so little time and then the ground froze on me. I panicked, as I didn't have a chance to harvest our Jerusalem Artichoke. I thought that maybe we would get a January thaw, but no such luck.
On Thursday, I saw a squirrel dig in the grass and decided to see what's happening in the back yard to get it so excited.. lo and behold, much of the ground is thawed. So I pulled on the sunchoke plant (they are annuals), and it came easily out of the ground, not many artichokes though. When I pulled out the next plant however, I found a few chokes in the soil.. I went and got the shovel.. and here my dears is my harvest:
I haven't weighed it yet, but I guess it's around 3kg.
This is from 6 plants. I had put them in the middle of the garden. Not knowing how exactly they would do in my space (it was my first time trying them), I regretted that decision, as they blocked all the light from my swiss chard harvest (i.e. there was no swiss chard harvest last year). This year they are going against the back fence, to block the view and to let them have fun and expand.
My husband was worried if the chokes would taste okay after being frozen in the ground, and they did. It was after reading in many places that once you plant them, they are very hard to get rid off, that I decided that the tubers must likely be okay to stay in the ground during the winter.. now on to preserving and cooking them.. yummy!…
If you cook with them and have a favourite recipe, I would love to hear about it.
The cast is not supposed to get wet. I am therefore working on some projects other than my paintings too. Long, long overdue ones.
Today's task: prepare the pattern for the Chippys I made back in 2009.
There was some pattern drawing, some test knitting, some introductions:
There was also some procrastination where I spent time decorating my cast (inspired by Frieda Kahlo, but on a bit a smaller scale)
The finger feels a lot better, but I need to see the hand therapist twice a week to change the cast and tend to the skin under it. Huxley and I were horsing around tonight and the finger got a tug on it… wow.. that was not good!!!!!
Back to the chippies:
I'm not satisfied with the body shape of the one above and have re-drawn the pattern and re-knit the next "hide". Most of the work in these sweet little chippies is in the sewing up and embroidery. Once I have the pattern finalized, I will need to write up those instructions, then look for some test-knitters to see if my instructions make sense.
Knit in 100% Alpaca, on 2.5mm needles.
I also went to the wool store and got some white angora to make bunnies.
There is a bit of an unplanned break in my endeavors–during spring cleaning at the studio a heavy tabletop, i.e. a 1" thick solid door fell onto the tip of the middle finger of my left hand. I heard a "crack" and now that dear finger is in a cast. It will remain so for 4 weeks with weekly therapy sessions with a hand therapist… it's also painful and typing is hard.
I am now working on a couple of custom orders but it is a much slower process.
Stay posted for the occasional picture…
Today I give you a brazen squirrel that feeds at my in-law's and chases all the chipmunks away…
but isn't she lovely!