Posted in knitting

Unraveled – 4-01-26 Update on knitting

Posted on by Laura Kate

Hello friends, Kat’s post today reminds me that it’s been a while since I reported on my knitting project. The three color vest is at the stage where the body has been finished and the shoulder seams are sewn. I’m very disappointed to report that the darn thing is unacceptably short!

The shoulders fit, the armholes are generous and the width is ample. The vest bottom edge reaches me about my mid rib-line. And due to its construction, I am having trouble figuring out how it can be lengthened without creating a Frankenstein.

With this knit now in time-out, I was approached by a friend last Saturday about teaching her to knit. We had discussed this several months ago, but she wasn’t quite ready. Now she is fired up about making a Melt the Ice hat. (Must have been at the No Kings rally.) So I agreed to help her. I already had purchased the pattern a few months ago in a gesture of support for Minneapolis fiber friends.

Thinking that it would help her to see a finished hat, I cast it on Sunday.

Wanting to get started right away, I just grabbed a skein that was in my stash – not red, but a very pretty and soft wool and silk blend in a slow change color gradation. When my grand daughter saw this, she immediately wanted a hat AND a scarf in these colors. It’s good that I have a recipient for the sample.

On to reading: This week I finished A World Appears – A Journey into Consciousness, by Michael Pollan. Those of you who are already Pollan fans will enjoy this book. I would suggest that you read How to Change your Mind first. His experiences while under the influence of psychedelics form a framework for how he approaches the subject of understanding consciousness.

I found the read a bit challenging, but very absorbing. The chapters on evidence of consciousness in plants and artificially intelligent computers were particularly interesting.

Hope all of you are well. After a brief heat wave, it is again cold here in Iowa. So I am huddled down with my reading, knitting and quilting this week.

Posted in quilting

SAHRR 2026 Parade of Quilts

Posted on by Laura Kate

Some how the days of March went marching by me. Days I spent trying to finish my quilt were, unfortunately, insufficient. But by yesterday, I had completed the top.

This image came out a little dark, so below are the three sections for a closer view.

If I were to grade myself on following the prompts, I would earn less than an A. In the end, I had to choose between the fidelity of my theme and completion of each prompt. Maybe I get a C+.

In the final analysis, I had to drop the hourglass blocks. Given more time, I might have redone them. Instead I used the “double it up” blocks of double tulips to suggest some of the flowers that I saw in Costa Rica. These two blocks look a bit like an abstraction of the ginger flower to me.

Photo by Bill Riley

Another round that I sort of ignored was the “curves” prompt, unless you accept that my appliques contained curves (especially the squirrel monkey’s gorgeous tail.)

I fully indulged myself in rendering animals, a subject that I have come to love. Hence eleven nine coatis.

The finished quilt will measure 45 by 32.

Many thanks to the group of clever quilters who provided the weekly prompts and the spaces where we participants could share our photographs. Here are the links to Brenda, Kathleen, Emily, Wendy, Gail and Anja. You ladies rock.

The Schedule

And many thanks to my DH Bill for sharing the photographs that served as subjects and inspiration for this project. We are, after all, a team.

Posted in painting, quilting

More Monkey Business

Posted on by Laura Kate

It’s been two weeks since I last posted about my 2026 Stay At Home Round Robin project. This week I am finally getting back to the monkey blocks. For a reference image I am using the photograph above, by Bill, for the center panel of this round. When we spotted this guy working his way down a long palm frond, it was hard to tell where he would end up. Reaching the end of the branch, he just leapt away to safety. What a plucky little creature! I just had to include him in my Costa Rica quilt.

I started in my usual manner. Making an applique transfer of the monkey was not difficult. I just traced the shape from the photograph in one piece, laid the tracing onto fused fabric and cut it out just as you would a paper doll.

In this photo you see the monkey cut-out overlaying the background fabric pre-painting You also see the tracing I made of the palm frond. It required multiple pieces of fused fabric to render a convincing applique version of the various leaflets.

The work happened over several days. Here’s the background fabric painted and the monkey and palm applique pieces fused but not sewn down yet.

Today I got out my Jacquard Textile paints and finished the work.

And here is how my monkey row will look with the two monkey wrench blocks at each end.

I have a plan for one more landscape panel to finish out this quilt. It will depict a sunrise as viewed from the villa we stayed at in Costa Rica last September.

Wish me luck.

Posted in knitting

Unravelled Wednesday: 3-11-26

Posted on by Laura Kate

Joining As Kat Knits and others to share updates on my reading and knitting efforts for the week.

The project I cast on last week is quite a bit further along.

This interesting vest in a mosaic stitch is knit on big needles with bulky/chunky yarn. You see here the front and, peeking through the front opening, a bit of the back. I am within a few inches of finishing the back. The next step will be I-cord edgings around arms and outer edges. My big decision will be which of the three colors to use for the edgings – light gray, dark gray or gold. Do any of you have a favorite?

I’ve gone through most of the balls of yarns (no yarn chicken game is expected, as I have another ball of each color still in reserve.)

On to reading. For those who are Michael Pollan fans, I can suggest his latest book: A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness. Ever since I read In Defense of Food, I have been a big fan and consume everything he puts out. This topic was a bit unexpected, until I read the preface, in which he explains how he came to write about it. I was dubious from the start. After all, scholars and scientists often can’t even agree on how to describe the state of being conscious, let alone how to study it. Most often, that effort is compared to a fish trying to describe water. There’s no way to get outside of it. It’s impossible to be objective or to apply the scientific method. Anyway, I got through the first two chapters as a sample on my virtual library. As soon as a copy is available, I’ll carry on where I left off.

This post is linked to As Kat Knits Unraveled Wednesday 3-11-26.