Christmas Birds Table Runner

 

As I was getting ready for the fair(s) this year, I wasn't sure how many of the local fairs I was going to enter. I can enter the same projects in two of the fairs, but the other fair overlaps with one of the other two. Thinking ahead, I wanted to be prepared to enter something in the Christmas table runner class in the third fair. Rummaging around in the studio (maybe some day, I'll get it organized so I don't have to do so much rummaging), I came across this kit that's been in my stash for numerous years. The pattern is called The Big Easy! from Pieced Tree Patterns. (I can't link to it because my anti-virus software keeps blocking their webpage). It was quick and simple and the kit included backing fabric. So, I made it up. 

I used the Chickadee Christmas Trio pantograph to quilt it, bound it, and it was done. 
As it turned out, I only entered one fair, so this one hasn't been entered anywhere. Maybe next year. But it is really pretty. I love Christmas birds. 

No Tortoise Project updates because I haven't really been working on any of them. But I did start the Maple Leaf Forever scarf. When I was at Len's Mill in Ontario, I picked up the pattern leaflet for this scarf. Once back in Alberta, I bought some Red Heart Comfort in red shimmer and started the project.

Unfortunately, I soon found that something wasn't quite right with the pattern. There was an extra column of knitting beside the maple leaf motif, which should have been part of the seed stitch border. And the finished measurements were off for the amount of repeats that there were. Instead of 60", the scarf would end up being over 8 feet long!
I went to the Yarnspirations website and found that they had corrected the pattern. So, I ripped out all of my work and started fresh. Their measurements still weren't accurate, however. According to their gauge, "24 rows = 4" in stocking stitch", or 6 rows for one inch. There are 12 rows of seed stitch (6 at the beginning and 6 at the end), 22 rows in each of 8 maple leaves (4 of Chart I and 4 of Chart II) for 176 rows, with 9 sections of 26 rows (personally, I think there should only be 24 rows, but I'm following the pattern as written, which says to "repeat last 2 rows 12 times more", and I think it should just be 11) of straight stockinette stitch in between the maple leaves for 234 rows. 12+176+234=422. A total of 422 rows divided by 6 rows per inch equals a scarf that's almost 6 feet long (70.33"), significantly longer than the 60" that the pattern states. Even if we lopped off the 2 rows of stockinette stitch in each of the 9 sections, as I think it should be, that would only be 3" shorter in total length (2x9/6), so I'm really not sure where they got the 60" measurement from. Because the pattern is "mirror image"(do the maple leaves on one half of the scarf pointing in one direction, and on the other half pointing in the other direction), I couldn't leave out one maple leaf. I would have to leave out 2 to keep it even, and that would make the scarf too short. 
Anyway, I'm going to end up with a very long scarf, but certainly not as long as the original pattern leaflet I started out with, which had 5 maple leaves on each half of the scarf. 

The maple leaves are not showing up as well as I would like either. 

They seem to stand out slightly better on the reverse side. But neither looks as good as the picture with the pattern. Maybe it's because I used a different yarn from what the pattern calls for. Nevertheless, I'm still happy with it. And I'm almost done.