More Quilt Progress

One of my goals on maternity leave was to finish up some of my outstanding quilt projects. I have a few that are pretty close to completion and just needed a bit of focused time. I finished three tops so far this week.

Quilt #1:
This was a kit that I purchased a few years ago because I really loved the colors and pattern. I cut out the pieces when I was pregnant, but didn't have a chance to assemble it. I'm fond of baby quilts that are made with brighter non-traditional colors. I plan on putting it away for when Anna's a bit older. We have another that I made in her crib now - so I'll save this one for later.


Quilt #2:
A stack-n-wack quilt that my mom and I took a class for at a local quilt shop a year or so ago. The blocks were all done they just needed to be set. It's really neat to see how different all the blocks can look when they come from the same fabric. I also have 4 blocks that were a bit smaller left that I can use for a small lap quilt. I'll need to purchase some additional complimentary material for those at some point.



Quilt #3:
This was a top that I completed in a class last year, but never had a chance to add the borders. It is a fascinating pattern because it uses a very interesting technique. It is a pattern that would be great for a beginner because it is simple strips sewn together - there are no setting triangles that you would usually need to do a quilt set on point. Instead you sew it together (then hold your breath) and cut it apart and resew in a very specific fashion to create an on-point quilt.


I've also continued to work on completing some of last year's Socks that Rock club kits. I started the July kit. I've completed the first sock and am almost done with the top of the mate. I really love this pattern - it's been awhile since I've had a pattern go this fast. It has a wonderful rhythm. I wasn't so sure about the garter stitch short row heel and toe - but it actually fits really really well and is extremely comfortable. I hope to finish the mate this week and start another kit.

Sock it to me

I've been on a bit of a sock kick since it's hard to squeeze in much knitting time with a newborn. Plus, I need to catch up on my Socks that Rock club kits from last year that I couldn't work on in my prego fog.

I started with the November kit because it seemed the easiest on my brain. I really liked how the pattern flowed. It took a bit since I was extremely sleep deprived for the first few weeks. :O)

Holidazed in muddy autumn rainbow by Anne Hanson (details on ravelry)


Then, I decided to start Gumdrops with the Goody Goody colorway by JC Briar. I'm about 3/4 of the way down the leg. I love it! The pattern is fun and addicting, plus the color fits the bout of mini-spring weather we are having.



A few just to make you smile photos....

Quilts

I've had a few quilt tops that I finished ages ago and just never got around to quilting by hand or having professionally finished. When we were packing to move in Sept/Oct - my Mom volunteered to take them to a couple of machine quilters near my home town. She brought them back a few weeks ago when the baby was born and I didn't have a chance to post them.

They turned out great! (especially since my Mom bound them for me knowing how busy I was)... The one below surprisingly enough matches our new great room perfectly (surprising because we did not repaint when we moved in). They did a beautiful job on the machine quilting - dragonflies and an abstract pattern in the middle and flowers that mimic the border fabric around the edges:



The second quilt is a children's twin that I did to use up a variety of scraps. I think I'll put it away and use it as a gift or maybe for Anna when she gets older. This one is quilted with an all over pattern of butterflies and flowers.




I hope over the next month - I can finish a variety of other quilt tops that are very close to completion and send them off for quilting. The baby's sleep pattern is getting a bit easier, so I hope that I'll have the energy to work on some fun projects before I have to go back to the office.

I also finished the 1st sock in my Blue Moon Socks that Rock November package and started the second. I really love how the fit. It is a nice simple pattern (by Anne Hanson) that is perfect for me these days. All the details are in my Ravelry Project Page.

I Love Mail... [STR Spoiler Alert]

Seriously - I love mail. I think that is the direct cause of my Internet shopping excess. It's just fun to open packages. Junk mail I could do without. But, packages --- ohh the love. Yesterday, I got my 2nd Blue Moon Socks that Rock club package. I adore it. It is my favorite color - GREEN! Another study in shaded solids in STR Medium weight - right up my alley. Take a look:



It came with a very interesting pattern from JC Briar. It uses a heel flap/gusset increase concept similar to one of the architectures in the new Cat Borhdi sock pathways book. I got the book a little bit ago from a Ravelry destash and am looking forward to trying it out. It also had a few moo cards that use pictures of the January Club kit - very cute; the sock yarn key chain and our 10% discount coupon. Hmm - don't see that last item in the picture - that's because it is already gone -- see sentence #2 of this post for rationale. I have 6 (yes 6) skeins of STR coming my way. I am saving for the Apocalypse. No, I just like sock yarn. I'll show you pics when it comes. Whole package was awesome - I can't wait to get started. Just need to finish my Fawkes first. Got to have some discipline you know.

On to package #2 - I ordered my book club book for April from Barnes & Noble.com. I needed to get free shipping so I added in some other stuff that I've wanted to get. I can rationalize anything.



I've already started the new Yarn Harlot book, "Things I Learned from Knitting ... Whether I Wanted to or Not." I definitely recommend this one. It is wonderful, laugh out loud funny as usual. Literally - here is a quick quote to tide you over: "All of us have ended up standing stunned in a clothing store trying to understand how we could have been so wrong about the relationship between our arses and our pants." I'm cracking up again just typing it.

The second book is one that I admired a while back at my LYS: Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. It has some really adorable vest and sweater patterns that I'd like to try out. Especially as we are "working" on a little one of our own. No luck yet - but we'll keep trying. LOL

I have been making some knitting progress - my Back to School vest is ready to be split for the front and back (sorry no pics). My mindless RPM sock is ready to turn the heel. Here is a pic of the sock.



Love the pattern - not so fond of how this skein of STR is working up in the pattern - feels great - colors look like cat puke. Not to be gross - but I'm not so fond of the peachy orange color with the others. Looked great in the skein - weird in my sock. Though everyone I see says that they like colors - even after I say I don't like them. Wow - to each his own. Doesn't make me like STR any less though. Just love knitting and touching it.

Off to read and laugh some more and anxiously await tomorrow's mail. You never know what might come.

Holiday Weekends

Holiday weekends - aren't they great! It has been a very very nice relaxing weekend. Thursday after work, I made a trip to Sephora. Not normally my kind of trip (I hate the mall and haven't liked shopping since college unless it was online - people drive me batty). But, I was really sick of my make-up and was running out of just about everything. So time to start over - I went and had a consultation and spent a fortune. But I really like it. I came home and asked my husband what he thought - he told me I looked like me. Success as far as I am concerned - clean low-key look -not makeup hooker.

Continuing my feel good lazy weekend - I spent Friday afternoon at a local spa getting a massage, facial and pedicure with an x-mas gift certificate. Quiet bliss. I wish I could go all the time. Then, I returned home to a quiet evening with me and the dog (DH was at a Sabres game and not coming home until Saturday morning). We watched the game and movies (Live Free or Die Hard and Perfect Stranger) while knitting. Continued more of the same on Saturday (Michael Clayton & MI III) - since the boys are all watching March Madness. Basketball (except live) has never been my thing. As a result, I made some good progress on my Back-to-School Vest. It's been languishing in the WIP pile because of the endless ribbing - it was driving me nutty. It would be going faster except that I had to go down to a size 6 from an 8 needle to get a half-way decent fabric (which then required some mathnastics to get this to work). I am past the bust increases in the waffle stitch and am close to dividing for the front and back.



I also got a lovely little package in the mail from The Loopy Ewe. Can you tell I was in a springy Easter mood when I ordered?

Gypsy Knits Sock It - 3Ply in Fairy Tree & Dream in Color Smooshy in Butter Peeps


I was hoping that my Socks that Rock club package would arrive on Saturday since a bunch of east coasters posted that they received theirs, but no such luck. Maybe on Monday. So what I did do - decide to wait patiently? Nope! Cast on for a new pair of socks. My second Fawkes sock is almost done, but it isn't an easy one to take for waiting or in car - because I have to read the chart - I'm terrible at memorizing those kind of things. So I cast on for RPM with STR in Dixie Chick. I really like the pattern easy and repetitive, but I'm not so sure about how the color is coming together. Loved the skein, but the way it is pooling is a little sketchy. But I like how it feels so we shall keep going.



Well I'm off to get ready for Easter. Hope you all had a fun and relaxing weekend as well.

Unexpected

Well, I was all set to post a note about my mom's completed ribby socks and the two wonderful sock club packages that I received in the mail yesterday --- when low and behold I returned from dinner with the hubby to find my packages and basket of yarn strung about the house. Mind you my springer is 8 years old (yes 8) and has not gotten into anything for over two years. Apparently he was annoyed with me for some reason (yes me - because he didn't touch any of DH's stuff). So I have some sadly lacking photos to share since the flower seeds and chocolate are MIA. The only reason I know they were part of the TV Yarn packages is there was a lovely note included with the contents of the kit. Never actually saw what they looked like. Ah well - I guess I really didn't need the candy or flowers anyway.

But in good news - I finished my Mom's ribbed Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet Socks and they went off in the mail on Thursday:



I also made some headway on my Fawkes socks - god I love Dream in Color Smooshy...



Two sock club packages arrived yesterday and my husband kindly brought mail with him when we picked me up at work yesterday so I could look at them in the car (we went to the Sabres game last night). It is the first package for each of these clubs this year.

The first is from Hill Country Yarns - I'm excited about this one since I just finished Mom's socks (see above and really liked working with the Hill Country). This club comes with yarn and a pattern (only $20 a kit - pretty good deal). This month's is a shaded purple skein of Instant Gratification Superwash (6-7 stchs per inch on sz 4-6 needles) and a pattern for lace ankle socks (Quite Contrary Socks by Star Athena). Very nice:



The second package is from the White Oak Studio TV Yarn Sock Club. The first shipment was a celebration of the movie - Four Weddings and a Funeral. Very springy and British...



The package came with yarn, a beautiful stitch marker and tin (I forgot to include it in the picture - dog didn't eat that part), chocolates (long gone - damn dog), lavender sachet, and flower seeds (doggy tummy - we'll see if he sprouts any flowers). I love the colors - makes me want spring to come and melt all the snow. I'll have to find the perfect pattern for it - any suggestions?

Now - I'm off to watch the sabres game and work on some knitting to cheer me up....

Yarn & FO's

It's been the start of another fun knitty weekend. It started with the completion of my 1st STR sock club sock on Thursday night.



Blue Moon Socks that Rock Lightweight - Dragon Dance colorway
Pattern: Serendipity by Adrienne Fong
US #1 Needles - 2 circs 24"

I still have one sock to go - but really enjoying the pattern. I like the way the striping worked out for me.

Then, Friday night was the Winter Yarn Tasting at my LYS (http://www.spiritworkknit.com/servlet/StoreFront). Great fun! There was wine, food, yarn to try to your heart's content and lots of new stuff. As usual - I couldn't resist a few things:

Handmaiden Sea Silk - A bit of an indulgence, but I still had some gift certificate left from xmas. I'm planning on making the Tuscany Shawl from No Sheep for You. Apple Laine - Apple Pie sock yarn in two colorways - Godiva and Army Surplus. Amazingly soft - my downfall as usual. Berocco Comfort Sock - to make some dress socks for my husband.



Plus, much to my delight - my yarn love continued when I got home on Friday. My Loopy Ewe Sneak Up package was waiting for me. I got another small sock blocker (why I only ordered one the first time around is beyond me - I do have two feet right?), plus some more YARN:
Shibui Knits Sock in Denim (I think?), Dream in Color Classy in Grassy Green (for a baby sweater) and Numma Numma in Baba Ganoush.



But, the yarn saga doesn't end here. Today - I had the second session of my Learn to Crochet class. Since I finished my neck warmer last week. I picked out a pattern at the yarn tasting and some Blue Sky Organic Cotton in cream and I made a Crochet Beanie (Blue Sky pattern by Kathy Pususta. I made the repeats a bit longer because I wanted it to cover the ears and used a smaller hook (size H rather than J) since it was getting loosy goosy as I was crocheting. I still have a pretty good amount of the Blue Sky left. I think I can crochet a small washcloth. This stuff feels phenomenal. Here's an almost done photo and finished (sorry my lamp is a poor excuse for a head - but I don't like pics of myself). Done in a couple of hours = cool.



I still prefer knitting to crochet - but it is fun to whip off a quick project. Hope you all have a happy knitting weekend as well. Tomorrow it's on to the Bacardi sweater.

Progress Update - STR Spoiler Alert

Well I spent most of Sunday afternoon in the LYS - It has been a joy getting back into my "fun" projects rather than work. I have been making steady progress on my Bacardi Sweater (No Sheep for You) - then hit a small point of confusion in the the left panel shoulder and neck shaping - so off to sweater help. I think we've got it figured out now - but the sleeve inset is going to be interesting. But I'm not going to think about that until I get to that point. Here's my progress so far - left side done - right side almost just a few more rows (I'm a little farther along than the last pic shows) - then I'll wrap up the back and start the sleeves.


I'm about 75% of the way done with my first STR sock club sock. I'm really excited because I told myself I could only join and renew sock clubs if I stay on top of the packages and knit what comes. Otherwise no sock clubs for me next year. Here's to my new year's resolution - we'll see how I do.

I really like the pattern - nice simple, elegant lace pattern with a bit of stretch. The heel (short row) was new for me. Not completely pleased with how one side came out. It's a bit looser than I would have liked. Did both sides exactly the same - so I can only assume that my tension is different on the purl side. Does anyone have any tips for short row heels? Seemed to be a common problem on the STR blog and Ravelry STR Group.


I'll leave you with some yarnny goodness. You know I couldn't go to the LYS without bringing home something.....

Fleece Artist - Sea Wool (couldn't tell you what the colorway is since it's not printed on the tag)

Plus they are having a yarn tasting on Friday --- should be fun wine and fun new yarns to try.