Saturday, September 9, 2023

Making Gifts

My next door neighbour is an excellent knitter.  Last week, she helped me to fix a booboo in my knitted dishcloth.  She showed me some socks that she was knitting and I noticed that her knitting bag was a reusable grocery bag. I decided she needed a wide open zipper pouch for her sock knitting projects. I purchased the knitting fabric when on a mini shop hop with friends (we visited two shops and went out for lunch). The other two fabrics and the zipper were in my stash.  Can you tell I like dots?  My neighbour was thrilled with her new knitting bag!  The pattern is from Noodlehead. 



I'm going to a wedding shower next weekend and have made some things for the bride and groom to be. I will show pictures after the shower.  

I made a navy blue pineapple block this week for the rainbow scrap challenge.  I know that the colour of the month is Aqua but I don't have enough aqua scraps to make anything so I decided my colour for September is Navy. 


My husband and I spent two days on the long weekend making mustard pickle relish using my Mom's recipe. One batch makes a lot of relish! We filled 6 pint jars and 26 of these smaller jars with relish. 

I have finally finished two quadrants on my sunflower cross stitch. The picture is actually more than half finished now.  I have a pattern for a Christmas project which I may switch over to at some point but for now I will continue with the Sunflowers. 




Around here, the leaves on some of the trees are just starting to turn and my sedum is blooming.  Fall is just around the corner. 


Our shamrock continues to put on a magnificent show as well.  This plant belonged to my husband's great aunt at one time. It really seems to thrive on our shady back step. 


 I was talking to Finn on FaceTime yesterday and took this picture.  My daughter put her phone on the floor so Finn and I could chat while she made dinner. 


I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.  Have a great week. 

15 comments:

  1. that is a lot of relish! but it was fun to make.

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  2. Cute wide open pouch, such a perfect gift for your kind neighbour, and this knit fabric is perfect! Pretty blue block, navy is beautiful too ;)) Your sunflower cross stitch is coming along nicely. Busy week!
    Thank you for sharing, and linking up!

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  3. Hmmmm, I've never heard of mustard relish. Sounds like it should be good and I guess it'd better be. You've got enough to last for quite a while. The sunflowers are really coming along and I like the picture of your shamrocks. The sedum are in bloom around here, I like the pinky-purple ones best too! Have a great week!

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  4. That bag is lovely what a beautiful gift! I love your cross stitch the colours are lovely, Finn is adorable, have a lovely Sunday.

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  5. This is so striking. Love the sunflowers!

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  6. great fabric on your neighbours knitting pouch. Wow you won’t run out of relish for a while. I love your sunflower x stitch! Sarah quilting by the sea

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  7. That is the perfect gift for your knitting neighbor, Gail! Your relish sounds delicious, too. I love seeing your progress on the sunflower design - it's such a pretty design! That Finn is so cute! Was he a little confused about where you actually were?

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    1. Finn talks to us on FaceTime several times a week. We give him treats and he comes running when the FaceTime jingle plays.

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  8. Such a lovely gift for your knitting neighbour, so much nicer to use than a grocery bag. It must have been a busy old time for the two of you preparing and making relish, but you will have enough to last for ages.

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  9. What a thoughtful gift for your neighbor, Gail. And you used some AQUA, too! :o))

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  10. Finn!!! I love that you chat with him... having a standard poodle, I know they understand most of what we say (some of it they understand but blow off as human)
    What beauty here, and the relish! so cool! And BTW this would fit right into our Thursday group of Likes... just the little things of life we liked each week. Let me know if you want to be included. LeeAnna at not afraid of color

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  11. What a nice gift for your neighbor. I love the fabrics. Your sunflower cross-stitch is looking wonderful. My daughter's dog would never be able to understand FaceTime, but thankfully my granddaughter loves it.

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  12. Cute pouch. I love dots too. That relish looks good. I am planning to make some zucchini relish soon, hopefully before I go on retreat next weekend. Love the photo of Finn!

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  13. Your Navy pineapple block looks amazing and the relish looks so yummy. I have never tried making mustard pickle relish before. It is so nice to enjoy the bounty of the garden. Have a great week.

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  14. What a great zipper bag and a nice gift! MMMM that relish looks good. To you put in on things? or eat as a side?

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