Finished & In Progress Stuff...

Wow - as usual I've gotten behind on posting here. The holiday always seem to get the best of me and we had a crazy one that I'd rather forget about.

In good news, I have been making a ton of knitting and quilting progress lately. I did a large number of hats, cowls and fingerless mitts for Christmas gifts which was fun.

One Christmas gift that I didn't finish was A's Hippo from Knitted Toys by Susan Anderson (fabulous book) with our not so fun holiday. Oh well -- I'll give it to her for another once it's done. It has a body, but needs arms, legs and ears...


I finished my Trellis & Vine Pullover and am really pleased with how it came out. It fits extremely well. This is a slightly lopsided picture of it drying. I'll have to see if C can take a picture of me in it soon -


I'm almost done with a Pinwheel Sweater for A -- just needs the last sleeve completed and the ends woven in. I'm still debating what I'm going to start next...


Quilting wise ... I've finished 1 diaper bag (I seem to have forgotten to photo this one before it was gifted -- shoot I really liked it since I created it myself from about 9 different patterns), 1 boy baby quilt (Robot Top below), 2 girl baby tops (need to be quilted) and 1 large lap size for our front room (70x90 - I'll send this one out to be quilted)... lots of babies coming can you tell??

Bag-a-licious

You may recall months ago that I won the pockets galore demo/sample bag from D Whynn Designs on her blog. I loved it so much that I purchased the pattern to make another. I finally found the fabric I wanted over Labor Day weekend while visiting my folks.

Sample on Left - My version on Right


I followed the pattern mostly as written. Modifications: Slightly heavier weight fusible lining (I'm very fond of Pellon 987 fusible fleece - gives structure but has a lot of flexibility), I added a key hook to the inside, and I did the handles a bit more narrow using my normal strap construction (I hate having to turn handles inside out - I suck at it. So I make my fusible about 1/2" narrower than the strap -fold over each edge to the center (about 1/4") on each side and iron to the fusible - then fold the strap in 1/2 and edge stitch both sides. easy peasy).

I LOVE the pleated pocket - very functional (I use this purse everyday and it holds everything in a very organized fashion. I'm definitely going to incorporate the pleated pocket in other bags.


I'm hoping to do some more work on my Vine pullover and some socks today during football.


We're ready for football season. Are you?

Quilt-a-ploosa

I have made incredible quilty progress this weekend. I'm thrilled. My husband was away Friday and Saturday, the baby is a bit sick, but I still managed to complete a great deal of craftiness (house is a mess, but you can't have it all). It makes me happy to realize I can make time for the things I love to do - not everything, but enough to make me happy.

Friday - I made and sewed binding to 4 quilt projects (wall hangings to lap quilts).
(binding done on this one)

Saturday/Sunday morning: I completed the binding on 1.5 quilts and started a baby quilt for a friend. I'm thrilled with the baby quilt - it's leftover blocks from another made into a totally different quilt with accent fabric left from one of A's baby quilts. I stitched in the ditch on my sewing machine. It went really well - though I definitely couldn't do anything larger than this. I'm not a fan of machine quilting - it frustrates me more than I find pleasure in it - straight stitching is OK though. I've been sending most of my quilts to a professional - it's faster and nicer looking on the larger ones. I do think the baby quilt turned out well and is perfect for the recipient (they love pink).



I learned a neat technique at the quilt festival, where you can easily get half-square triangles as an "extra". Typically, when creating squares that have triangles in the corner - you sew a smaller square (across the diagonal) to the larger (right sides together) and cut away the excess (then throw excess away). The teacher suggested sewing an additional line 1/2" to the right of your diagonal - which gives you your block, plus additional extra blocks that you can arrange as pinwheels (like my baby quilt) or as diamonds, rows of triangles for a border, etc. I couldn't figure out how to post a drawing - so I tried to give a general idea with the quilt itself:


Dad came to visit last week and brought 2 of my quilts back from the machine quilter. They are for 2 of my nephews for Christmas - love them:


This one was sewn with Lizards...


And this one with Monkeys...


So cute!

A few last crafty items for your viewing pleasure.... (yes, I'm a dork)

Handbag:


Start of the Trellis and Vine Pullover from the Fall issue of Interweave:


Some sweater yarn from the Village Yarn and Loopy Ewe anniversary sales:
6 skeins of DIC Classy and Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran

Knitty Progress

Well I haven't gotten much better about posting regularly. I'm still trying to find that balance between work, family, hobbies, friends, etc. I have been doing a bit of knitting and taking a sock class.

My February Lady Sweater has made some good progress. I've completed the body and am 3/4 of the way through the first sleeve. I love working with the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted yarn - the color is fabulous (Korppi) and it works up wonderfully.



I've also been working on a number of socks - though progress has been minimal since I haven't had much time to work on them during lunch at work.

Sock #1 - plain jane sock - It's a basic broken rib pattern with Wendy Knits' Temptation Top-Down sock pattern. It's a neat heel pattern to eliminate the need to pick-up stitches for the gusset.


Sock #2 - Sky Sock - Cat Bordhi New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I enrolled in two New Pathways sock classes at one of my LYS - one top-down and one toe-up. It's really helped me to get a better understanding of the book and the concepts. I'm in the process of finishing up the heel.


Sock #3 - Riverbed - Rushing Rivulet Socks - Cat Bordhi New Pathways for Sock Knitters. Toe-up -- only the toe is done - I need to make some headway on the rest before next week's class.

Knitty Progress

I've been showing a bunch of my quilt projects lately - so you might think that I've not been doing much knitting. You would be mostly right. It's hard to find time these days after I get home from work - but I've been trying to make some headway on a few socks and a sweater.

February Lady Sweater
I may be one of the last people in the knitting community to make this sweater - but I'm really loving it. I can see why it's so popular. I've also been reading the Elizabeth Zimmerman book that contains the original children's version. Highly entertaining. I may make a matching one for my little one if I have enough yarn left. Yes, I'm that much of a dork. I'm making mine out of Blue Moon Twisted in Korppi.



I've also been working on learning some of Cat Bordhi's sock architectures. I'm currently working on a Sky Sock in The Plucky Knitter's merino/cashmere fingering. The colorway is Colonel Brandon - it feels absolutely lovely. Yippee for Cashmere! I've got to find time to apply myself to this one sometime soon. It's just been hanging for awhile.



The last sock is my on the go sock - since I can't mentally tackle the sky sock out and about. It is a simple rib pattern applied to Wendy Knits' Temptation Top Down sock pattern. It is has a very cool heel.


Have a great Easter weekend. I'm hopeful for some more knitting.

Secret Pal 11 & What to knit?

I just received my Pal assignment for Secret Swap 11!!! I am really excited to be participating - I have already started brainstorming on what types of items I might include in my package.

Wednesday is sweater group at the LYS. I'm excited, but I'm not sure what I want to start next. I finished the baby cardigan - it just needs to be blocked. I am planning on do the Fifi top (see sexy knitters club KAL), but I am short 1 ball of Rowan Calmer in the right color. The first version of the pattern I got had the incorrect yarn yardage (extremely wrong - 85 yds per ball vs. 175!) - so I'm in the process of trying to track down another ball in the same dye lot from KnitSwap. Plus - I'm doing a cardigan from the No Sheep for You book for my mom for Christmas - but the LYS ordered the yarn and it won't be in until September. So I need to pick a relatively quick project because I know I'll want to start these two once the yarn situation is straightened out. I have a bunch of Karabella Aurora Bulky that I may knit into a V-neck for me or a Children's Zip-up - I'm just not sure which I want to do. They are both from the Yarn Girls Books (beyond the basics & older kids knits). Choices, choices, choices....