On the Needles this week, and some other goodies!

Here it is - Friday again...!    Both DH and I have a parent that has dealt with some serious health issues in the past 2 weeks, and the days seem to have just blurred into one another.  Of course that means that not a lot has happened in the crafting department.  I can't remember when I last sat at the sewing machine, but I have managed to get some knitting done (you can get a lot of "mindless" knitting done in hospital waiting rooms!).
You'll probably remember my sweater project from 2 weeks ago - I've managed to finish the second sleeve, and the body up to the yoke section; I've joined in the sleeves, and am now starting the yoke fair-isle patterning.  The pattern is Tenderheart from Tin Can Knits - they collaborated with 7 other knitwear designers to produce 8 different sweaters using the same standard body and sleeves - but with the twist of having each designer create a unique yoke.  Right now, there's a Knit-Along going on - we have until April 18th to finish our project, and there are some pretty sweet prizes!
Here's my progress so far:

You can see the picture of the completed sweater design on the pattern page.  I'm making the 2-4 year-old size - hopefully, the little guy receiving it will get a lot of use out of it!

I did have about an hour to make a few cards one evening.  Two friends were celebrating birthdays; we also had a few deaths in our church family...

These cards have gone out to the folks that needed them, and I ended up with a few extra birthday cards so I'd have some on hand.

Hopefully, the next few weeks will be a little more settled than the past ones have been -  I need to get going on a few quilting projects, and there's been another baby boy born, so I picked out another sweater pattern this afternoon.  I'm hoping that I can use some stashed yarn for it.

And finally, in the middle of the chaos that we've had, we've had some fun too!  Meet some of

our newest "family members":

I'm linking up to Judy's On the Needles post.

Blocks, blocks and more blocks!

It's been an absolutely crazy week - and I thought I'd have a few days to get some sewing done...  Well, that didn't happen quite the way I thought it would, but it is what it is.  I did manage to get a few seams sewn on Monday, but Tuesday and Wednesday were too busy with more important things. So, that brings us to today, and I made up for lost time!
First off, Kat's charity Covered in Love is hosting a block drive once again - a very interesting textural 3-D block that she calls "Grandad's Shirt".  She asked for blocks using black, grey and blue fabrics - and I managed to make 5 blocks:

Next up, while I had those fabrics out, I cut a few strips and squares to make more  "Raspberry Kiss" blocks:

They aren't the most exciting colours, but when added to the rest of the blocks on my wall, they'll fit in quite nicely!

And finally, I got to work on the stack of blocks that have been piling up on my sewing table - these are for my 150 Canadian Women quilt.  I'm still behind, but I've managed to get close to being caught up again:

Linking up to Leann's Scraptastic Tuesday; Cynthia's Oh Scrap;  Kat's Sew Some Love; and Quilting and Learning's Celebrate-Fetons-150-in-March posts.

My latest "doings"...

It's Friday again - time to share my latest knitting project - well, one of them at least!
Several months ago, the ladies behind TinCanKnits "conspired" with several other well-known knitwear designers to produce Heart on my Sleeve - a compilation of patterns to raise funds to purchase mosquito netting for malaria-areas of the world.  The idea was that a pattern would be purchased (the body is the same for all) and each knitter would be free to choose from the various yoke and sleeve options.  There's also a bit of incentive - there are prizes for any sweaters completed before April 18th.
It just so happened that I was in need of a sweater for my daughter's newest nephew - born in November - and the HOMS patterns start at 0-6 months and go to adult size 4XL.  I had already purchased some dark teal Ultra Mellowspun yarn from Mary Maxim, and had knit about 4" of a sweater, but I wasn't really thrilled with the way it was turning out, so I had no problem "unknitting" that project.  That freed up the yarn for a gorgeous fair-isle yoke styled sweater.
I've managed to complete one sleeve, and have most of the second one done; I've also knit about half of the body section.
This photo doesn't show the richness of the teal colour, but you can at least see the progress I've made since I cast on last week Monday.  The yoke will have an off-white yarn for the contrast in the yoke.

You may also remember the sweaters I've been knitting for my grandsons - and I'm happy to say that they are done - except for the buttons being sewn on - and blocking...   This is "Antler" from TinCanKnits - the light sweater is a size 1-2, and the darker sweater is size 2-4.  Hopefully, I'll get the buttons on tomorrow and the boys can have their sweaters!  They should fit them this fall - and hopefully next year too!

Linking up to Judy's On The Needles report.