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step by step, inch by inch
Posted on | September 1, 2010 | 14 Comments
I am slowly getting some things done!
First up – another pair of gift socks!
Lynn asked me how I magically knew what size to knit gift box socks, which is a good question. When I start a pair of gift socks, I have in mind the recipient, but I don’t blog names in case they read the blog. Also, four women I’d knit socks for wear the same size, so there’s lots of leeway when it’s time to gift.
Speaking of the gift box…it’s time to upgrade.
I also finished a quilt top!
String quilts take a good bit of time, and I decided last minute to make it larger. I’m slowly working on piecing the back and I need to buy twin-sized batting, since it’s larger than planned.
I really love it, though. So bold! So graphic! So totally non-matching anything in my house!
Fibery things have largely fallen to the wayside, as I’m burning my way through the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Such fun, quick reads! I started with Book 6, read to Book 10, and then went back to the beginning and am now reading Book 3. Only two more to go and I’ll have read them all (in the span of three weeks)! Then I’ll pick up something a little heavier, but these have been a fun summer read.
As summer draws to a close, I’m looking forward to pulling out my wool and needles, snuggling under a quilt and whipping out a sweater or two. What about you?
something to show
Posted on | August 18, 2010 | 32 Comments
I finally have something to show you!
I have been working and working and working on various projects, all of them close to completion, and this is the first to cross the finish line. I finally quilted my first quilt!
It’s far from perfect and I won’t point out all the shortcomings as they should be glaringly obvious. But it is DONE – hooray hooray!
I learned why quilters use a contrasting strip on the backside – not only does it help with fabric costs, but matching up busy prints is nerve wracking!
I did TRY to match them. They stayed matched for as long as it took me to get from one end of the fabric to the other. Then I gave up and reached for a coordinating strip – a decision that saved my sanity and my desire to ever quilt again.
I love it! It’s snuggle size (about 50″ x 60″), the fabric got all crinkly in the dryer, the colors held fabulously, and it is actually FINISHED.
All in all, a good experience! Now to finish some other items!
sustainable sewing
Posted on | August 6, 2010 | 21 Comments
I’ve been waiting all week to see if I had a tale of joy or a tale of woe to share.
Last Friday, I bought a 1951 Singer 15-91 from a guy off Craigslist. Brought it home, read the manual thoroughly, gave it a good oiling and sewed happily for about two hours. Then the machine started slowing down.
Our resident mechanic couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so I bought engine lubricant from the nicest man at Eastwood Sewing Center (I was SO happy I didn’t have to drive 30 minutes to a big box store for a $4 tube of lubricant!). Anyway. The lubricant didn’t work. The machine would sew fine for about five inches, then gradually slow to a crawl. I tried a few remedies from on-line sources but was afraid I’d blow the motor if I continued, so Monday I took it to the sewing center for servicing. It came back to me a new machine.
This was SB’s view last night.
And this was mine. I’m making a string quilt, using the paper piecing method from Film in the Fridge’s handy tutorial.
We go through a lot of paper at the office, and I’ve started saving paper that would normally be thrown away (I have TRIED to get them to adopt a recycling program – they’re not interested), and cut the paper down to 6″ squares which I then sew strips to.
This is an idea of what the squares will look like. Tonight’s cutting night – I get to trim the edges of all the squares I made last night (close to a dozen, I bet, I was on a tear!) and cut more strips of fabric for sewing this weekend.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have a working sewing machine. A co-worker gave me a hand-me-down Brother that I couldn’t get to work (computer error code), which would cost $65 just to have someone LOOK at it, or $150 to buy a new one. I returned it to her. A good good friend offered his mom’s old Singer to me MONTHS ago and I reminded him of his offer, but he’s busy and hasn’t had time to dig the machine out from under a pile of stuff from his mom’s house. I didn’t want to pressure him (he has all this stuff because his mom passed away and he may not be ready to deal with going through it) so I bought this one. If her old Singer makes its way to me, I’ll take it and love it and one of them will go live with my daughter because I really believe that every home should have a sewing machine, and if it’s an antique, all the better. These old machines don’t quit because of a computer error code. You can figure out how they work – they’re brilliant in their simplicity. They were made in a time when a sewing machine was as much of a household necessity as a refrigerator (excuse me – ice box), before the advent of the throw-away society. I’d rather pay more money for something I know will last, rather than less money on something that’s manufactured with the idea that it won’t last more than a few years. Call me crazy.
The happiest part of my “new” machine are the felt pads Mr. Eastwood Sewing Center put on the machine. I had forgotten that the old machines had them and they make me happy just to look at them. I learned to sew on an antique treadle Singer – so those red felt pads bring back a lot of good memories for me.
Never fear, fiber friends – I am still knitting! I have NOT lost the love of the knit! I’m 8 stitches away from finishing a pair of socks, I’m steadily working on the strips for my MIL’s blanket (although really, not very steadily), and I’ve cast on for Kaino! I’ve also spun 2 ounces of the fiber I got from Miss Babs last week! So, bear with me on this quilting kick and I promise fluffier fiber soon! (although, it’s really all fiber, isn’t it?) Have a great weekend!
what I’ve been up to
Posted on | July 29, 2010 | 18 Comments
The zinnias had a lasting effect.
After the natural colored mohair, I had to spin some COLOR!
I’d say I definitely found it! Merino/bamboo, about 800 yards of heavy worsted. No idea what it’ll be, definitely something girly!
After clearing my bobbins, I forced myself to get back to my MIL’s Parcheesi.
I finished the last square yesterday – now to knit 22 short strips for in between the squares. Sigh. I am already so over this. But Grace is right, if you make yourself work on that project you’re sick of, once you get started you realize that you really do like it and with every row, you’re one bit closer to being finished!
*PSA* Miss Babs, who dyed the gorgeous yarn I’m using for the Parcheesi Afghan, has had an unimaginable disaster. I don’t know what you can do, but I just bought a few ounces of her merino/silk (25% off! no fire damage!) in an effort to make us both feel better! My heart goes out to her.
And then you can move onto the next project! I got perfect gauge for Ravensong. Perfect. Gauge. That never happens! (I swatched with the white leftovers, since I don’t wind yarn until I’m ready to use it. I’m also a bit nervous about winding the 1,000 yard skein of mohair.)
I think this will be a fast knit (on US 8s), which is good because I really need to finish the Fair Isle Cardigan AND I want to knit a slouchy cardigan from handspun (maybe two) AND I suppose I should get started on those Christmas stockings if I want to use them this year. But – no pressure! I’ll get done what I get done. And it’s only August (almost).
So yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing. You?
sunday scenes
Posted on | July 27, 2010 | 15 Comments
Sunday I felt like getting high.
Let me tell you – those liquid balloons will do the trick, too.
I couldn’t stop at one balloon.
Pretty soon I had a balloon family and a cluster migraine to match! Once I came down, that is.
oooh, look at the little hitchhikers! Acrobatic devils.
I blame my altered mental state for the shattering Monopoly loss. The boy uses Legos to designate his properties, otherwise he’d never collect rent (it’s hard to keep up with the game and text your girlfriend at the same time). I lost my entire fortune to the Menorah that was Boardwalk.
Poor kitty never gets to play.
This stuff really shouldn’t be legal.
zinnia socks
Posted on | July 21, 2010 | 24 Comments
Every summer, I plant (by which I mean, SB removes all the weeds that have grown during the winter and preps the bed for me, and I go outside, decide what flower seeds go where, and sprinkle them about. It’s a great arrangement, I highly recommend it!) a cutting garden of zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, and various other flowers that may or may not bloom.
The one flower I can count on each year is the zinnia.
This year, I happened to knit socks that embodied all the zinnia colors, thanks to the dyeing geniuses at Koigu (the colorway is P632).
Aren’t they a perfect match?
I know Koigu is not the sturdiest sock yarn out there, but I’m a sucker for the colors.
I put these in the gift box after finishing, but I do believe they’re staying with me. And yes, I realize I’ve said that about several pair!
at times like these
Posted on | July 19, 2010 | 15 Comments
I wish I had a motorized skeiner! I thought to take a picture after I’d already wound off 100 yards, so it was truly a PACKED bobbin! I bought the fiber at SAFF last fall:
Two 4 oz. balls of mohair bought with blending in mind, but a few weeks ago I had the urge to spin natural fiber and grabbed them from the closet. (right now I have more fiber in my closet than clothes, it’s probably a 2/1 ratio). The first bobbin of white spun so easy, it drafted like butter and I was finished in no time. The second bobbin of light brown was an entirely different story, I couldn’t believe they both came from the same farm. But I muscled through and finished it last week.
1,000 yards, probably light sport weight, that I’m thinking of using for Ravensong, from A Fine Fleece. Swatching will commence (and be the deciding factor), once I’ve cleared a few other projects from my plate.
Of course, the two 4 oz. roving balls couldn’t spin up equally and I had 48 yards of the white leftover. The white definitely has a better sheen to it than the light brown, and it’s softer. Must have been a better fleece!
I want to put out a brief message to my local peeps: If you know anyone or hear of anyone, or if you yourself, would like to de-clutter and have an old sewing maching sitting around, taking up space, please let me know. My antique machine is probably not worth what it would take to service it, and I’ve learned that while hand sewing a quilt top can be kind of fun, trying to finish the quilt by hand is laborious and not fun at all.
Which is a big hint as to what project I’m trying to finish next!
sparkler creations
Posted on | July 16, 2010 | 10 Comments
Have a great weekend! I’ve been so busy spinning this week that I haven’t taken any pictures, but I’ll rectify that over the weekend! Tootles!
can you guess where I’ve been?
Posted on | July 13, 2010 | 19 Comments
Yep, the annual family beach trip to Cape San Blas, Florida! Which, I’m happy to report, is oil free.
We had lovely sunsets,
beach bonfires (boys and their poking sticks!)
and fireworks!
It only rained one day, which was the perfect time for me to do this:
Yeah, you can pretty much throw out everything I said about not having room, money or time for another hobby. I went to the LQS (isn’t that cute?!?! Quilters say “LQS” like we say LYS!!!) the Friday afternoon before we left for the beach and you should’ve seen those ladies’ faces when I told them I wanted to hand sew quilt squares together on the beach. They tried to mask it, but they thought I was insane. I’m sure they had a good laugh when I left!
But I did find time to stitch, and sewing cotton squares together was easier than trying to knit wool on a Florida beach in July! I don’t think those ladies knew who they were talking to!
I finished it! Have you ever seen such wonky squares!?!? I have to laugh. I’ve debated ripping and redoing the whole thing on a machine – you know, with a seam guide – but I’m not going to. This is my first quilt. It’s hand sewn. I love it for its wonkiness, and I’ll be buying the backing material this week. I’m thinking a blue backing with red trim, and I’m planning to hand tie it, so the sewing should be minimal and will be done by machine if mine still works.
Vacation was fun, but I’ve missed you guys! I haven’t even opened Bloglines because I know it’ll be overwhelming, but I can’t wait to see what y’all have been up to!
cleansing the pallet
Posted on | June 30, 2010 | 12 Comments
In my last post, I mentioned having some failures, so let’s get that out of the way real quick.
My Boutis project isn’t going to work – not surprising really, since I tried to use an embroidery pattern instead of a Boutis pattern.
You can see the raised areas where I stuffed the flower petals and leaves, but other than the center stem line (that I added to the pattern), there aren’t any other raised areas to bring the design together, and the design is too small to modify each and every flower and leaf stem. I just don’t think it’s going to work. Which makes me a little bummed, but I enjoyed the stitching, it was good practice, and I will definitely try again – next time with an appropriate pattern.
A pattern like this would’ve been a better choice, although I’d have to add some lines in the flat (empty) areas of the design.
The above pattern and the earlier embroidery pattern came from a book of patterns that was brought to a guild meeting as a “I’m cleaning out my closets, please take these” give-away.
It has some really cool patterns – for quilts, embroidery, hook rugs, cross stitch, you name it. The pattern for the knitted counterpane afghan was missing, I imagine that’s why the book was purchased. The copyright is 1963, and I just located the companion book on Amazon – how cool that it was written by Rose Wilder Lane – Laura Ingalls Wilder’s daughter!!! Yes, it’s been ordered – for less than five bucks! Woot!
I will be ordering a book of Boutis patterns as well, at some point. I’m trying not to get too far into this quilting thing because I can see where this is going (yesterday I spent a scary amount of time looking at quilting blogs) and I have no room for a fabric stash! NO. ROOM.
Of course, I’ve cast on a new project to cleanse my pallet.
Behold the colors for a Parcheesi Afghan for a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law! (shoot, I hope she doesn’t read this. Did I tell you guys about being “outed” to my MIL about my blog? A friend was on a plane with my MIL and was knitting, they struck up a conversation, MIL mentions that I knit, friend mentions that she knows me and proceeds to pull up my blog on her laptop and show MIL!!!! Color me surprised. My own mother doesn’t know about the blog! Anyway. It’s all good.)
When it’s time to start a new square, I set five colors out on the bar and play with the arrangement until I find something I like. The purple is the center of each square.
Two of the six large squares are finished, and the third is started. It’s great mindless knitting and garter stitch always makes me happy, so I’m hoping this will be a quick project to knock out and put in the gift box!