Kitty Mats & Knitting (of course!)

Wow! Two friends from guild have recently lamented about how time got away from them in their recent blog posts. Made me realize that I haven't posted in quite some time myself! After returning from retreat over MLK weekend, I guess I got caught up in the Australian Open Tennis Tournament and that was the end of me for a while! So, without further adieu, here goes ...

I left off last post getting ready to escape to retreat. Here are a few finished projects from some of my fellow retreaters. Of course I didn't get pictures of all the beautiful projects but here are a few:

 


               

Aren't they beautiful??? I can't take credit for any of these. Rats!!!!






           

I did finally complete all four kitty mats. Yup! Stitched, squared up, bound, washed & dried! They look so different when completed. The picture on the left is two mats needing washing & drying. The right picture has been squirted with water and let dry. 

The picture on the left was machine-washed & dried. The picture on the right is of all four machine-washed & dried. Check the binding fabrics to see which is which. Totally different looking!! This was such a fun project!

I call this picture "Princess Polly & the Pea". Remember that fairy tale? Well, here's the princess sitting on her stack of mattresses ... well, sort of! Hahaha!!!

And another picture of Polly enjoying a rest in a basket we received at Christmas. Of course, there's Gracie keeping an eye on everything in the background!

I'm also sharing an in-progress picture of a cowl I'm knitting. It's called Contour Lines by Laura Aylor. You can find the pattern on Ravelry 

HERE! Laura writes difficult patterns in an easy-to-understand way and they are such FUN knits! I'd also like to add that I LOVE the color of this yarn! It's Mrs. Crosby's Steamer Trunk in Spicy Habanero. So many beautiful shades of warm orange in this cowl! Can't wait to wear it when it's done!

That pretty much brings you up to snuff here, except for the shawl I finished the other day but haven't had a chance to get a picture. It'll wait until another post. Until then ... make it a great day!