Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf FO


This is the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, pattern by Karen Baumer which is a free pattern from Ravelry.   This is the final item that I made for my friend Kristin for this year's birthday/Christmas gift exchange.  She got all handmade items this year!  This was a fairly enjoyable scarf to knit, the changing yarns made it go more quickly than scarves usually do.  The original pattern called for Noro Silk Garden which has long color repeats, I chose to make it with leftover balls of sock yarn instead.  I chose colors in blue, gray, pink, and burgundy because those are Kristin's favorites.  The pattern knits up at a diagonal which is done by increases and decreases, not by picking up stitches.  The only drawback to using leftover yarn is all the ends I had to weave in at the end.  Yarns included are: Colinette Jitterbug, Dream in Color Smooshy, Dream in Color Starry, Farmhouse Yarns Fannie's Fingering, Fiberphile Squooshy sock, Hazel Knits artisan sock, Koigu, Kollage Yarns Sock-a-licious, Perchance to Knit Merino Sock, Rio De Le Plata Sock Artista, Socktopus Sokkusu Original,String Theory Caper Sock, Madelinetosh Pashmina and Tosh Sock.  I still have a huge bin of leftover sock yarn so perhaps I will make another for myself at some point.  Kristin was extremely pleased with her scarf as you can see below, she made it look very stylish!  As well as much more cheery looking than I did above!  I really need to smile in pictures - I look quite scary - sorry about that! 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Tie Front Tote version 3

This is the third version that I have made of this bag and I am pleased that it went fairly quickly this last time.  The fabrics are from Timeless Treasures, the Paris themed fabrics I think I got from Pink Chalk fabrics about a year ago and the blue check was from Creekside Quilting in Clive, Iowa.  The only changes I made this time around were because the fabric was directional so I had to cut it out differently than indicated but that was really no big deal.  I really need to remember when I take a photo of a bag to take some of the inside too!  Oh well.  This was another item that I made for my friend Kristin for birthday/Christmas this year.  I think she liked it.   I picked the fabric because she traveled to Paris a year ago on vacation so I thought she might think it was fun.  I ended up having a ton of fabric leftover so I guess I will make myself something and hope I get to go to France some day! 

I am happy to report that I just was outside and there were some snow flurries!  I love snow, especially this time of year. Last year we were majorly short changed in the snow department I think we only had scoopable snow one time!  Hopefully I don't end up regretting my words, my husband has a house to build yet this winter and they only just started the foundation!  So hopefully decent weather does hold out for a little while yet.  The 10 day forecast looks good at least. 

I am linking up today to Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations.  Next time I have a sewing FO to report I promise to take more photos!!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Free Motion Quilting

I spent a nice afternoon working in my sewing room, and attempting to replicate some of the quilting ideas from the book Free Motion Quilting by Angela Walters.  This is a great book and has a lot of great information, I do highly recommend it.  I have only attempted to FMQ a few times before and I am not sure I am using the correct sewing machine foot so my results were less than stellar.  I know I just need to practice but I have never enjoyed practicing things.  I have my two green/tan pot holders basted and ready to quilt, now I just have to decide how I want to do it.  Hopefully I can get it done tomorrow.  I did try a random squares and rectangle quilting that worked pretty well it was just anything with curves that I just couldn't get the hang of.  I am sure that is where the practice comes in and I should probably just keep at it.  Maybe I should get some cheap fabric from JoAnn and make up some small quilt sandwiches with leftover batting and just practice on something that has no purpose.  I could even photograph it for the blog so it would give me something to talk about! 
This is the front and the back of one of the potholders I was working on today.  It is a Wonky log cabin block for the front and the style of the potholder is this tutorial from Oh Fransson!  The second pot holder is the same style but just has 1 inch (finished) stripes for the front. 

I didn't get the UNI hat started today like I wanted but I do have the yarn wound and the pattern picked out so I am going to start in the morning.  Now I am off to bed.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Lotus Hat FO and knitting/quilting WIP report

This is the Lotus Hat by Uptown Purl, which is offered as a free pattern on Ravelry.  I have the dorkiest expression on my face!  Sorry about that!  I knit this hat for my friend Kristin, to go with her Hawkeye scarf and mittens.  The yarn is Madelinetosh Vintage in the Cloak colorway.  I have an enormous head and extremely thick hair and therefore have trouble getting hats to cover my ears, this one fits me wonderfully and I think it would be quite toasty.  I hope to make another for myself to keep so I have recorded my modifications on Ravelry. 

I was going to have photos to go along with this week's WIP report but naturally my camera battery was dead again.  So no photos of the WIP's this week. 

Quilting/Sewing
UFO's
Modern Sampler Quilt - no progress
Rainbow Road table runner - no progress
9 patch lattice baby quilt - no progress

 New projects
Wonky log cabin pot holders and matching dish towels - green/tan fabric
Autumn themed pot holders and matching dish towels

I purchased the towel fabric and cut out 4 towels and hemmed them several months back and I have been planning to make the Fabric Embellished Dish towels that I pinned several months ago.  I finally decided to use some green and tan fabrics that I got from Jo-Ann to make some pot holders and use the scraps to finish two of the towels.  I also have some autumn themed fabric leftover from a project I did last year so I also plan to make autumn themed pot holders and towels.  I hope to have these finished by the end of this week. 

Finished projects
 Tie Front Tote for Kristin (FO post to come)

Knitting
UFO's
Ravi cardigan
Barn Raising Quilt
Dark and Stormy cardigan

New projects
Entangled Stitches gloves - this is a pattern by Julia Mueller on Ravelry.  These have been fun to knit so far, they are very intricately cabled gloves that I am excited to wear!  I will get a photo as soon as my camera starts cooperating.  The yarn I am using is The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny bugga in the colorway Sharpshooter Leafhopper that I got from The Loopy Ewe 2 years ago.  They are kind of slow going knitting because they are so detailed. 

Seamless Kimono Baby Sweater - I am knitting this for my friend Kim who is expecting her second baby in December.  The pattern is by Carina Spencer and I purchased it on Ravelry.  I am making a striped version with pink and brown Berroco vintage yarn.

Need to start ASAP
Josh's UNI hat - I found purple and yellow Cascade 220 superwash at Knitted Together in Des Moines yesterday.  Now I need to decide on the pattern and get started.  Hopefully I can start this tomorrow!

Tania's hawkeye apparel - I had some black Cascade 220 in my stash and found the yellow I needed yesterday too.  I will start this project after finishing Josh's UNI hat. 

I am hoping to make a lot of progress with some of these projects over the next few days, so wish me luck!




Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Election Night 2012

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO November 2011
I have been having a quiet night at home working on the baby sweater that I cast on a few days ago and watching the first disc of the tv show Homeland on DVD.  I have been avoiding the news for the most part, I have checked in on CNN a few times to see how things are going.  But I have decided I am going to bed, I would be surprised if things were decided tonight anyway.  I am grateful that I decided to cast my vote absentee since I have been out of town for a few days and only got back tonight.  When I drove past our polling place it was quite busy so I was glad I didn't have to stand in line.  I do pray that our current president gets 4 more years but at this point that is all I can do!  At least there have been no more phone calls this evening!  (Random picture above just because I hate blogging with no photos! We visited there last year and it was beautiful!)

Monday, November 5, 2012

Cover Up Sewing Machine Cover

I finally finished my sewing machine cover a few weeks ago after having to make several (unplanned!) modifications.  The original pattern (Cover Up) does not have the patchwork panel around the bottom of the machine but it turned out too short!  Since I had plenty of fabric leftover I decided I would rip out the stitching on the sides and add a panel to the bottom.  Then of course it was too long!  So I ended up deciding to remove the panel off one end and cut it shorter.  That was a major mistake!  I should have removed the panel from both ends and trimmed evenly since I had already boxed the corners on the top.  Instead I ended up with one side of the cover way too short and the other side way too long!  So I decided to remove the bottom panel, cut off all the green fabric (leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance) and make new green side panels and sew it all together again.  There are some really bulky seams on the inside but it is lined so they don't show.  I learned a lot from this project, and I am really glad that I almost always buy extra fabric!  I am linking up today with {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations! 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Knitter's Remorse!



I don't know how I keep getting myself into this but somehow I just committed myself to knit another pair of Hawkeye mittens as well as a matching scarf by Christmas!  I knit 2 pairs of mittens for last Christmas and had knit a matching striped scarf earlier last year. 




My friend Kristin (who was the recipient of the first pair of Hawkeye mittens and the scarf) was wearing hers today and has requested a set for another friend of hers who is a Hawkeye fan.  I knit the 2nd pair of Hawkeye mittens for my mom and after finishing them I swore no more black and yellow yarn!   Oh well, at least they have had a good response! This is a good (free!) pattern that is available on Ravelry.   I did have a little trouble with the thumbs but ended up winging it and just trying to make the colors match the picture.  The scarf was made by casting on 80 stitches on a short circular needle and knitting in the round for 14 rounds then switching to the other color.  I did 14 black and gold stripes and it was over 6 feet long, not counting the fringe!  It was an extremely boring scarf, so hopefully I can find some good tv shows or something on Netflix Instant watch and knit away! 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Liesl sweater

I finished this sweater back in August according to my Ravelry page.  I have not actually worn it yet and I have mixed feelings about it.  The yarn is Sundara Aran Silky merino which is a 50/50 merino and silk blend.  The yarn itself is beautiful but I found it kind of difficult because it grows so much! It seemed small when I was knitting it but once I washed and blocked it, it was much bigger.  I knew this would happen so I did account for it while knitting.  Additionally I had issues with the sleeve pattern.  This was something that a lot of other knitters noted about this pattern.  It is difficult to get the feather and fan stitch pattern to line up correctly.  The only thing that worked for me was to make several attempts, each time starting the feather and fan pattern in a different spot until it lined up correctly.  In the end I am just not sure that I really like this sweater, I may pull it out today and wear it and see if I change my mind about it. 

I was able to cast on my Dark and Stormy cardi last night but that was literally all that I did, I cast on 80 stitches then I went to bed!  Hopefully I have more time to work on it today.  I didn't take a photo of my single row of stitches so here is a photo of the yarn I am using.  (Miss Babs Yowza Whatta Skein in colorway Fraser)

 I do have a bunch of small projects that I need to be getting done soon, a baby sweater and hat for a friend of mine expecting her second baby next month, a knitted monster for the same friend's 2 year old daughter ( I just had to look at the date of the baby sweater I made for her to remember how old she is!) and a UNI(purple/yellow) striped hat for a friend who is a sophomore there.  Hopefully I can get the yarn for that figured out this weekend, I should have the hat done by the time he comes home for Thanksgiving.  I do have a bit of traveling this weekend so I may cast on the baby sweater to take along, it seems like the most portable knitting since I will probably have to order yarn for the UNI hat.


Thursday, November 1, 2012

Brandywine Shawlette FO




I haven't posted in over a month!  I didn't really mean to slack off on the blogging but I have been knitting (a lot) and sewing (a little!).  I have finished several knitting projects and the first I will talk about is probably my favorite.  This is the Brandywine Shawlette pattern by Rosemary Hill.  The yarn I used is Dream in Color Smooshy in the colorway Rose Smash.  I finished this on September 30 and it was one of the handmade items I gave to my friend Kristin for birthday/christmas when I met up with her in Chicago a couple weeks ago.  I wanted this shawlette to be small, to be worn as a scarf with a jacket so I used one size smaller needle than the pattern recommended.  If I did it again I think I would use the recommended needle size.  It could have been bigger but I think it will work fine and Kristin liked it so that was all that mattered.  This was the first Rosemary Hill pattern that I have knit and I really enjoyed the pattern, it was well written and easy to understand.  FYI- the sweater I am wearing in the picture is my Amelia sweater which is one of my favorites!

I am planning to participate in the NaKniSweMo  KAL on Ravelry this month.  This is a knit a-long where you knit a sweater of at least 50,000 stitches to completion in the month of November.  I am planning on knitting a Dark and Stormy Cardigan with some Miss Babs Yowza that I got at Stitches Midwest in 2011.  I have wound up the first ball and swatched so I am ready to cast on today! 

I am also planning on participating in Blog-vember, meaning that I will blog every day all month.  So, hopefully I can stick to that!  I will hopefully have progress of my Dark and Stormy cardi to report!