What's in Your Lap?

I have next month's Block Lotto blocks on my design wall–but can't share those for another week. That's OK because most of my work-in-progress has been going on in my lap while I watch the Olympics coverage.

I wonder how many others have switched to hand work for the Olympic season?

Besides Bonnie's BOMs for January and February, the beaded heart sewing kit–all of which I've already shared–and the failed and unraveled sweater start (that I didn't even like enough to photograph), I've also stitched these small "pockets" from cathedral window squares.  They're currently open on one side and will  probably be stuffed and sewn into pincushions, but they're also just the right size to hold my classic–or could it be vintage already–iPod.

Yesterday I decided it just feels wrong not to be completing a knit project during the Winter Olympics, so I ordered Rosemary Hill's pattern for her Brandywine Shawl.

She is offering this pattern as a fundraiser for Doctors without Borders.  I loved it when she posted it on her blog and after seeing yet another beautiful example knit by someone else on their blog yesterday, I could no longer resist it. (I'm not the only one–this has become a great fundraiser for Haiti relief.)

A couple days ago, Lazy Gal Tonya shared some sweet photos of herself hand quilting–with her cat Poky in her lap. My big tomcat Johnny has lately decided that whenever I settle into one of the wing chairs with a project in hand, he needs to be in my lap . . . and be the center of my attention. Here he is, creeping up my ribcage and getting in the way, even as I AM focused on him and trying to take his photo.

Grace Hopper is not a lap cat and prefers to perch nearby, but last night, when I was machine quilting the doll-sized Blog Lotto Blog Button quilt, she jumped onto the sewing table and rolled on this small quilt (18 x 22 inches) . . . while I was stitching–she's never done that before and I was so startled, I didn't grab the camera fast enough.  Somehow I managed to finish the machine quilting with her "help."

In Michigan, I built a window seat for the cats next to the window (and beside my sewing table) so they could be nearby without being in the way.  It was also a good seat to watch all the activity on and around the pond behind my townhouse. I still need to find a way to do something like that in the itty bitty loft.  In the meantime, it'll be a balancing act around here, as I begin knitting the shawl and putting the binding on the little Block Lotto quilt.

For more snapshots of design walls and other projects, check out the links at the bottom of Judy's Design Wall Monday blog post.