FOs! Sunday, July 13, 2008

Why, hello there. Have you been waiting long? I have some things to show you...



The Tracks socks. Also blogged about here and here. These are for me (neener neener). Finished 6/21/08.

Finally finished Baby J's Quilt. This should not take anyone else on the planet as long as it took me. Let's blame it on... certain people... bailing on their responsibilities, and leave it at that. Pattern is "Easy Lap Quilt" from Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. This is the second one I made and it was just as enjoyable as the first.



Next to the quilt is a Soft Turtle Buddy from the same book. He may be a "big sister gift." If you are making this turtle for the first time, you might want to make it larger than recommended, and pay close attention to the directions. Don't cut out all your pieces until you have read the directions thoroughly! I will make him again (but bigger); he is so cute.



He is going to be hard to part with. :(

I made some bags this weekend.

These are all variations on Irene's Classic Tote, from the Sew, Mama, Sew blog..



First one, made according to Irene's original pattern. Get the details at Make A Bag. Easy pattern, try it! I'm dying for a skirt in this fabric!

The next day, I made two more of these bags. These are so quick and easy of heavier fabric with no lining; great for making bunches of them. This may be my go-to pattern for shopping totes.



This is bit smaller than the original pattern and may be a teacher gift. We'll have FIVE teachers next school year, and that's just classroom teachers. Two each for the older kids and one for Mr. L.



Speaking of Mr. L, he needed a bookbag for his meeting books. This one has dividers in the front pocket to hold four colored pencils. (Click for big.) It's even smaller than the first two totes, and maybe just a little bit smaller than I intended. Oops!

On The Needles

Sorry, no photo. One sock pair in progress - Mr. L wants rainbow socks, so that's what he's getting. The yarn is Paton's Kroy in Paint Box - this yarn is way scratchier than Knit Picks Essential (my go-to sock yarn). Will it soften after washing? Stay tuned!

I have a sewing bug at the moment - gotta make more totes!

FOto Saturday - April 5, 2008

"FOto Saturday?" Yeah, yeah, I know. Do you want to see pictures or not?

Earth Hour 2008

An hour spent technology free led to getting these done:

Candy Sox


Candy Stripe Socks a.k.a. Candy Socks a.k.a. Candy Sox - either way, they're done! My daughter put them on and said, "They fit right now." Thankfully, I have some of this yarn left over and knit them top down, so if they are too small next year, I can (ideally) unravel them from the toes back and add some length. We'll see if that actually happens. Anyway, yarn is Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in #6946 "Crush." Size 2 (US) dpns. Basic top down instructions from Knitting Rules. These turned out ok, maybe a little ladder-y. The only thing I am really disappointed about is that they could have matched. I was afraid of running out of yarn, so I didn't try to match them and it turned out the pattern was only about 1/2 inch off. Bummer. What's our motto for this year? Say it with me now:

Fearless Knitting.

Hey, I'm trying!

My MMR&SE swap scarf is winging its way to Manitoba as we speak, so no photos until it's safely in Feralmama's hands. I already outed myself as her "secret" swap knitter, so no harm done there. But she really should be the first to see it, dontcha think?

I cast on for another Vogue Knitting scarf from their 25th anniversary issue, the Flounce Scarf by Laura Bryant using Lion Brand Incredible in Purple Party. I'm not sure if I love it, tho. I'm guessing the yarn they used in the original may have had a little more "body" to it - mine looks a tad droopy. But nice colors!

The Diamante Socks are still stalled at the second sock's wrap & turn, but since they are the ONLY socks I have OTN, I think I may be remastering (ha!) the W&T this evening.

Baby's J's quilt is machine quilted, just needs the binding to be made and attached.

The next big project is my Green Tomato. Remember, fearless!

FOol Friday

Ok, that's a tease because there are no Finished Objects to show this Friday. The horror!

The baby bib is done knitting but needs ends woven in, a button, and maybe a crochet edge to tie the mismatched top and bottom together (don't ask). Just gotta figure out how to do that crochet edge thing.

I have, however, been sewing like a FOol today. Working on baby J's quilt that I finally decided to start. The quilt top is done, just need the backing so I can sandwich it up and start quilting. Machine quilting.

FOr more FOolishness... The kids are outside playing in the snow. Yes, snow. We have at least 2 inches on the ground and more coming.

Happy Spring, everybody!!

Why I Don't Spin

This was posted by someone on my Michigan knitting Yahoo Group. This is exactly what would happen if I took up spinning.

A HUSBAND'S LAMENT

She learned to spin on Monday
Her yarn turned out just fine
She forgot to start our dinner
So we went out to dine..
She blended colors on Tuesday
Convinced drum carding is a must
I agree it seemed a most useful tool
But she forgot to dust..
On Wednesday she tried plying
The challenge was such fun
What symmetry, texture and beauty
But the laundry wasn't done.
Weaving took up Thursday
So lively in white and red
I guess she really was engrossed
Because she never made the bed...
She made fluffy lambs on Friday
With the wool that she adores
She never seemed to notice
Crumbs collecting on the floor..
I hired a maid on Saturday
The housework to complete
My wife can weave the hours away
Now the house will still be neat...
My expectations sank on Sunday
I guess I just can't win
When I saw the sink of dirty dishes
I realized the maid had learned to spin!
--Wini Labrecque

Quilt Madness

Gateway textiles:

Two dinner napkins bought on clearance. They sure look innocent, don't they?

Quickly leads to this:

CAUTION: Fabric stashing in progress.

Ok, I know I take terrible photos. If you thought those were bad, check out this attempt at artistry:

Natural sunlight is no match for complete lack of talent and a really cheap camera.

The result:

The Napkin Quilt

And reverse:

Happy 10th, M&J.

The next quilt:

Baby quilt for a friend. Guess I shoulda unwrapped the remnant piece first, huh?

November Goals

I feel like I got so much accomplished during UFOctober by having a set plan, that I have set the following crafting goals for November.

Knitting:

1. Complete and mail yarn for Hand-Dyed Sock Yarn Swap (the one I wasn't going to join any more of). Deadline - Nov 30

2. Grey/blue mittens for Boy1 (blue yarn is dyed)

3. Finish Jaywalkers

4. Start Jimmy Neutron Sweater


Sewing:

1. Reorganize fabric stash by weight and color (probably some mental quilt planning here too)

2. Finish quilt-in-progress. Deadline: November 10 (working on the final binding tonight)

3. Review pajama needs for Boy2 and proceed accordingly.

UFOctober, Day 26 Progress Report

No FOtos this Friday. No FOs to show. (Plus I think I hate my camera. Or it hates me. Or something.)

Feeling a little grumpy today. I may be coming down with something. Either a cold or quiltitis. (Or both).

Oh yes, I have been bitten by the quilting bug. I blame these people:

Cassiana for putting the idea (back) in my head.

Chief Enabler Amy for making it seem so easy. Also cute. Edited to add: If you want to lose an hour, click on the Bend-the-Rules Flickr group and watch the slideshow.

Kay pushed me right over the edge. I definitely plan to use Mary B's Lifetime Guarantee idea - scroll to the end of that linked page to read it.

I may have Cia and Superbuzzy taste on a Joann budget, but I managed to find some good stuff at my local Joann Etc. yesterday.

BTW, if anyone was confused about the next UFOctober drawing, it will be held after UFOctober so we all have a chance to get as much finished as possible.

I have been making good knitting progress despite the latest infection.

*=new progress

Blue Cascade Socks for Boy1 - Frog FROGGED 10/6/07

Chevron Lace Socks - Rip back to heel flap just before turn, & reknit FINISHED 10/6/07

Early Nettie - Frog FROGGED 10/1/07

Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono 1 - FINISHED 10/18/07.

Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono 2 - Figure out the sleeve seams or frog

Lily Pad Socks for Boy1 - Finish second sock FINISHED 10/7/07

* Purple sweater for Girl - In progress - Finished sleeve 1, started sleeve 2.

Recycled Navy Sweater - TRASHED 10/19/07

Sky Socks - Mail MAILED 10/4/07

Swap-Bot Swap Yarn - MAILED 10/6/07

* The interloper:
Jaywalker - just trusted the heel directions as written and it all worked out. Trust the knitting, Luke.

The Exceptions:

Jimmy Neutron sweater for Boy1

ONE ball-band dishcloth if the mood strikes

FOto Friday - September 28, 2007

Wow, a week sure goes by fast! What? It's been two three weeks since I did a FOto Friday? Yipe. Sorry!

This is, at long last, the Vine Lace Scarf I hope to teach at the LYS next month:

Ok, that's a terrible picture. I'll get a better one, uh... someday. The scarf is done in one skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Very simple pattern: 3 repeats of Vine Lace pattern with a 3-stitch stockinette border on each side. The border rolls a bit by design.

Here's a little sewing project that's been burning in my brain for way too long:


Produce bags! Get the whole story over at Make A Bag.

One ball Noro Kureyon + one basic knit-flat mitten pattern - tops of fingers and thumb + top ribbing =
Fingerless Noro Mitts. These knit up super-fast! Probably four hours, total. I used the mitten pattern from Instant Expert Knitting. (Support your local book store, or at least Borders, which is Michigan-owned!)

Oh those aren't unwoven-in ends. Those are a design feature. Yep.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I'm doing a hand-dyed sock yarn swap through Swap-Bot. My swap partner (I dye for her; someone else dyes for me, presumably) said at one point she likes the colors of autumn leaves, so that is what I was going for.

Yes, really. (Stop laughing.)

Lesson learned: never underestimate the power of orange Kool-Aid in homemade dyeing projects. Good grief!

Oh, yeah. The mailing deadline is tomorrow. Do you think Robyn would prefer ugly yarn or late yarn? sigh

Handmade Toys

I'd like you to meet some friends of mine:


L to R: Serafina, Blue Wetty, Toasty

After reading angry chicken's post yesterday about handmade toys, I remembered these guys I made with the kids about a year ago.


Blue Wetty wanted to be sure you could see his cute little tail.

The ideas and names came from Stupid Sock Creatures: Making Quirky, Lovable Figures from Cast-off Socks by John Murphy. In our house, we call them "silly sock monsters." If you are making these with young kids, you might want to preview the book before letting them look. If I remember correctly, the book's Toasty sports a cigarette!


No smoking in our house! Toasty has kicked the habit.

They were easy to make with basic hand-sewing skills. Even Girl, who was 7 or 8 at the time and hadn't sewn before, was able to help sew up Serafina's arms.



These are great little projects because:

1) They are environmentally friendly - you can use lightly-worn mismatched socks and old buttons, and hand-sew the toys.

2) They are a fun project to do with kids (after previewing the book) - kids can pick out which ones they want to do, and which socks to use, and your more coordinated kids can cut and sew the pieces.

3) They help declutter (well, kinda) by getting socks out of the lost sock bin (but into the toy bin).

4) They encourage creativity, yours and the kids'. The books has basic how-to guidelines, but the combinations are endless. Plus kids can, and probably will, do something like this:


Serafina shows her girly side.