Now I can't unsee it

 So I was happily finishing off my Janet Clare BOM quilt top when DH wandered in to the sewing room.   "What's going on with this block?" he asked right away, pointing at a block which until that moment I had been perfectly happy with.

Yes, I had sewn this block, pressed it, sewn it into rows, and sewed the rows into a quilt top, without ever noticing that three of the little squares are turned the wrong way.  "Oh, you look so sad now!" exclaimed DH before wisely deciding to be elsewhere.  So guess what I'll be unpicking while I watch TV tonight.

Apart from that minor debacle, this is now a quilt top and I'm otherwise fairly pleased with it.  It's come out looking rather masculine in style, perhaps DS might want it at some point in the future.  He already has at least four quilts but this one would be a bit more mature than Noah's Ark.

To cut all the two-inch strips for the vertical sashing, I used my Shapecut Plus strip cutting ruler.  A somewhat pricey bit of kit that makes cutting multiple strips a complete doddle.  I don't use it that often but it's the perfect tool for cutting 15 two-inch-wide strips in a couple of minutes, and they are all completely accurate.

Another finish this week was the Ness of Brodgar fingerless mitts which will be DH's christmas present (although now that he has tried them on, he didn't want to give them back).  This was my first time trying a steeked thumb hole.  It gives a very neat and firm thumbhole edge that won't stretch out of shape, and of course means you can knit the whole mitt in the round.  It does create a bit of bulk due to the layers, but in a location which isn't going to interfere with movement. Over time the steek should felt to the mitten with usage. The symbols on the mitts are taken from some of the finds at the archeological dig.

an inside view showing the crocheted steek, which is whipstitched down.

I have been able to hand in my badge as the local representative of the Kitchen Door Police, after I installed an automatic door closer on Friday (thank you Amazon).  This purchase was prompted by finding the cat opportunistically nibbling the chicken thighs I was thawing for dinner earlier in the week.  Five years of trying to keep the cat out of the kitchen, daily reminders to the family to shut the door, multiple daily checks that the door was shut, and all I really had to do was throw £15 at the problem.  Of course now every time I go into the kitchen I first wonder what the heck is wrong with the door and why is it so hard to open, before remembering.  I'm sure we will be able to re-train eventually.

Our little maple tree in the garden is putting on a fiery show that brightens up the border even on a gloomy autumn day.

We took advantage of a dry day to store the garden sofas in the shed and put away the table, but there haven't been any frosts yet so the bird baths and fountains are still outside.  Won't be long now I guess until it all has to go under cover. Winter is coming...