Free Motion

More Ponytail Hats!

2012-01-04T15:02:00.000-05:00

The other present I actually completed and had under the tree was ponytail hats for the big girls. Last year I made one for the teenager next door and ever since I have been wanting to make one for every person I see wearing a ponytail. There was a bit of stress around these, mostly because of my inability to alter a knitting pattern. I'm a very literal knitter, I want a step by step pattern that holds my hand every minute and spells out exactly what it wants me to execute at all times. I am always in awe of someone who takes a pattern and modifies it to look completely different from the original and if you throw something at me that wants me to interpret a chart I will probably run away and hide under the bed with my wool stash. The only thing I ever change in a pattern is to almost always go up a needle size or two because I knit hideously tight. So, my issue was that the Hannah ponytail hat pattern is an adult size, and I wanted to make it for a ten and almost 8 year old. These children of mine do have above average sized heads, so at first I convinced myself that if I just used the recommended size yarn and much smaller needles then the hat would turn out perfect. Well, through some evil yarn black magic this not only resulted in a hat too big for a medium sized child, it was too big for me! Of course I told myself differently the whole time I knit it and waited until I had finished, cast off and plopped it on my head to admit that yes, it was huge. So, I turned to my stash of Cascade superwash and decided to try a much smaller weight of yarn along with the smaller needle size (notice that there is no mention of ever actually altering the number of stitches in the pattern, my brain touched on this idea for a moment then yelped and hid). This seemed to work great and when I finished I had two hats that I was quite sure would fit. I patted myself on the back and added buttons. I considered sneaking the hats onto their sleeping heads in the middle of the night to make sure, but my husband's look of disapproval made me realize my size obsession was getting a little out of control. I gave the hats a quick bath to relax the stitches, because blocking is magical, and then the panic set in. The Cascade superwash seemed to stretch quite a bit after being wet. I laid the hats out in their correct shape and put them in front of a space heater and waited for them to fluff up and be perfect. I called my mom and panicked. I poked at them probably every hour and was never totally convinced that the hats, which were previously deemed perfect, had not stretched beyond wear-ability. Eventually I let it go, as you have to do with all handmade gifts under the tree, and told myself if they didn't fit I would just try again after Christmas. I don't think I could have possibly been more excited on Christmas morning when the girls tore into the wrapping and immediately donned perfectly fitting ponytail hats. Craft stress turned into that glow that comes with a well executed and well received handmade gift (and several Christmas morning mimosas).

Maybe next year should be another item where size doesn't matter, and I probably should start working soon since there are now THREE little girls to knit for!

Lifting Fog

2012-01-03T17:14:00.001-05:00

The end of 2011 was definitely a hazy blur of pregnancy, birth, newborn-ness, Christmas preparations and holiday events. However, in all the chaos there was quite a bit of holiday knitting going on! I can't say it all got done in time to be under the tree, but some of it did and some of it has been being finished up in this first week of the year. By far my favorite thing made was a Summer Wind cowl for my mom. I started this back at the beginning of baseball playoffs and knit, knit, knit right on through the World Series (huge Cardinals fans around here). I didn't even take much notice at the beginning that the cowl I was making was Cardinal Red, (I had randomly chosen the color because I knew that it looks good on my mom) but by the end of the World Series with the Cardinals pulling off a very exciting win it began to feel like it had all been planned. I'll admit, it was a bit hard to give it up, but mom has been warned that she may have to wear it nonstop at the end of each baseball season for the sake of superstition. I don't actually have a picture of anyone wearing this cowl, I was 8 months pregnant by the time it was done and not feeling at all photogenic, but I have the couple shown here with it in progress and right after I blocked it. This was my first lace project and I have to say that going from the scrunchy finished object to the blocked finished object where all those holes are opened up is quite addictive. This pattern looks great on, worn long or doubled up around the neck, there are plenty of pictures of people wearing them on ravelry here. I used Spud and Chloe fine in Red Hot for the yarn. I felt like the yarn should be softer when I was knitting with it, since it is superwash merino and silk, and actually started to doubt I had chosen the best yarn until I blocked it. Blocking made the fibers soften and drape beautifully. I'm glad I bought the same yarn in another color to make one for me!

Hush Baby, Sleep Baby

2011-10-26T18:29:00.003-04:00

Last weekend my neighbor and dear friend held a baby shower in honor of this third little girl that will be entering into our lives soon. I was very excited for present opening because I knew my mom had been working on a blanket for quite some time, she had even let me squish it under the table at knit group as long as I promised not to look. I knew it was soft, and I knew she had used a yarn with cashmere in it like a lunatic, but wow I had no idea how beautiful it was. The pattern is the Lullaby Blanket by Jennifer Lori on Ravelry and it has the words Hush Baby, Sleep Baby knit into it. I can't think of any better sentiment for a new baby. Well, ok, a few sentiments were come up with at the shower that really represented what you want to say to a baby that absolutely refuses to sleep, but of course we will stick with this sweet version. Mom used Cascade Cash Vero DK yarn, which is one of those you can't stop rubbing on your face. She told me I can send it back to her when it needs washing and blocking so I don't screw it up in my sleep deprived haze. She's the best!!!

It looks great in her room... just waiting for a baby to wrap in it! (6 more weeks to go, give or take).

Here is one more picture, of me opening it at the shower so you can get a size reference. This blanket is big! Perfect for snuggling up a December baby...

Bitty Bump

2011-09-03T12:19:00.001-04:00

The Bitty Bump is done! Wow, this is a quick little knit, I think just as quick as the booties in my last post. I did get stuck on how to do the tiny cap sleeves and had to enlist some guidance and support from Grammy (as in, she just knit the darn things since they are only two rows each) but the rest went crazy fast with the malabrigo super chunky rasta. I can't wait to actually put this on a chilly winter baby!

Can we talk about this yarn for a moment? It is luscious. It begs to be squeezed, and rubbed against your cheek, and then squeezed some more. People pick up this vest to look at it and end up hugging it to their bodies. I have had to tell my children to step away from the malabrigo several times. This morning Sam found a scrap on the floor and came and asked permission to have it. Like, a three inch scrap. Then she giggled maniacally when I said yes. The sad part, I had to think about it for a second before saying yes. There is definitely a dark side to this yarn, it makes a knitter want to hoard it, build a nest out of it, and live in it like a hamster. I think if this baby vest had only required one skein I would already be at the yarn shop this morning buying more, but luckily it needed a tiny bit from a second skein, so I have almost a full one to make myself this. Yes, I may need an intervention.

Pattern: Bitty Bump on Ravelry
Size 15 needles, 11s for cap sleeves
Yarn: Malabrigo Rasta Super Chunky in the color Piedras

Baby Projects!

2011-08-29T19:10:00.000-04:00

The endless baby projects have begun! First up are these cute and teeny tiny booties made with a bit of leftover yarn from my Clapotis. These are the "Chaussons mignons", a free pattern on Ravelry, and couldn't be easier. You basically knit a T shape, fold the tops of the T down and sew around the edges. So cute! A project that even I can finish quickly!

I have now started on the "Bitty Bump", an itty bitty little vest being knit with the most luscious Malabrigo chunky yarn imaginable. This one should also be quick if I could just figure out how to do the cute little armholes.

Annnnd... to make sure I have plenty of things going on at one time I ordered this stack of Joel Dewberry Heirloom fabrics from Fabricworm to make an airy little baby blanket (I got the voiles, they are so soft!):

These are washed and ironed, ready for me to start whacking them into squares. I am finally going to make a zig zag quilt, which I have been wanting to make for quite some time, a lot like this one, or this one, or this one, so many to browse on flickr!

I have to get to work, there are a lot more projects in line after these ones!!!

Wow, Two Years Later...

2011-07-31T15:37:00.002-04:00

No, I wasn't referring to how long it's been since I have posted, even though the months have certainly flown by. I finally finished the Clapotis I started two years ago! This has been my "between projects" project for quite some time. It has accompanied me just about everywhere I have gone the last couple years, has been worked on in cars, planes and even on a train from Atlanta to New York. I have to say my most favorite place that I knitted on it was in France, overlooking the Dordogne Valley on a beautiful French day.

Lots of memories are knitted in to this project, and most recently that I completed it when I was five months pregnant! Yep, we are expecting our third little girl and this project was the one I wanted to get done before starting on all kinds of cute little baby projects. I think my first pair of little baby booties will be cast on this evening...

Yep, I will be wearing this one pretty much every day this winter and fall.

Yarn: Mountain Colors Hand Painted Yarns in Twizzle (Marino Wool and Silk)
Size 8 needles

Alpaca Birthday Love

2011-02-27T17:32:00.001-05:00

Ever since we met these handsome fellows on a trip out to Idaho...

... there have been many attempts to convince my mom she needs alpacas of her own. She really wants alpacas of her own, which makes it all the more fun to try to get her to commit to the adventure, especially when everyone has had a few rounds of vodka tonics. Seeing that there could still be years of cocktail induced cajoling left on our part, I decided to knit her an alpaca, and maybe he could help convince her she needs the real thing.

(I mean, when you see this face, don't you want a real alpaca?)

This is my third Rebecca Danger pattern, Zeke the Aloof Alpaca, and every time I knit one of her patterns I am delighted with the outcome.

Zeke actually became Stewart after being presented to my mom at a recent birthday dinner. I can't say I was sad to see him go, he has QUITE the sweet tooth and he and I almost came to blows over the samoas on more than one occasion.

Chalkboard Paint Valentines

2011-02-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

I'm sure that the obsession with chalkboard paint will subside eventually, but my desire to put it on EVERYTHING definitely influenced our Valentine's day craft this year. I think this simple idea turned out great even though I'm a little scared of what phrases will show up on the one residing on our fridge (there's a lot of twisted humor that goes on around here).

I set out for Michael's looking for the same wooden hearts that we used last year, but they didn't have enough of that size this time (we have to make 50 to cover both classes) so I went a little larger, which probably was for the best because it is really hard to write legibly in chalk really small. My main advice for painting the wooden hearts with chalkboard paint is use primer, I didn't and it took several coats to get them black enough because the paint soaks into the wood. We added button magnets to the back, then the girls signed them all in chalk for their classmates. The signed hearts went into little cellophane baggies with candy and a piece of chalk. I was worried about the baggies rubbing the chalk off, but the cellophane was actually stiff enough that it didn't rub against the hearts at all.

The first post I ever did on this blog was on our first handmade class valentines, so happy blogiversary to me!

2008 Valentines

2009 Valentines

2010 Valentines

Rotini Scarf - Video

2011-01-27T20:36:00.001-05:00

As promised, here is a quick video to show exactly how to start and knit the rotini scarf. Hopefully this will clear up the confusion surrounding short rows and get everyone who has had questions knitting away on this fun scarf!

Snow Knitting - Gap-tastic Cowl

2011-01-20T22:35:00.000-05:00

I can only think of one activity that can keep me continually entertained for 6 days of being snowed in. I don't know what I used to do in such situations before I learned to knit! Last week I started the Gap-tastic Cowl as the first flakes began to fall and bound off as most of the snow finally melted away. This great big scrunchy cowl is listed on my 2011 Crafty Resolution list and there are quite a few reasons I became instantly enamored with it:

1) It was posted on Ravelry and quickly had hundreds of knitters knitting it. I'm a sucker for knitting crowd mentality.
2) It is a pattern written up after someone went into the Gap, said "I can make that", counted the stitches and went home and knit it up. I have the desire to do this very same thing all the time, but rarely follow through, so it felt good to mooch off of the same sentiment from someone else.
3) It can be worn several ways. I can never resist versatility.
4) It promised to be quick and simple. Even for a slow as molasses type knitter like myself.
5) There was a buy one get one free sale on Lion Brand Thick and Quick yarn at Michael's. Free Yarn!
6) Did I mention there was a forecast for a huge snow storm?

I simply didn't stand a chance against all of these factors and had to start on it immediately, even though I have several projects STILL waiting for my attention. Like a rotini scarf perhaps. Or a Clapotis for goodness sakes. Or, shame of easily distracted knitter shames, Melissa's socks, which were for her birthday last July!!! I have to admit that there was a very large sense of satisfaction after finishing this up after 6 days, which means a knitter that knits at more than a snails pace could make this in a day or two. It's warm, it's smooshy, and it is marked off the list!

Rotini Scarf Update

2011-01-18T23:33:00.000-05:00

(How we spent New Year's day. We had so much fun it may need to become a tradition.)

The most visited post on this blog is my "A Scarf by Many Names" post from last November. Apparently rotini scarves or potato chip scarves or ruffle scarves or whatever you want to call them are quite popular. There is even a forum on craftster concerning my post for people that don't understand what I mean by the "knit 8, turn and knit back" directions. Isn't it funny how the simplest things can somehow be so hard to understand? I truly feel for these knitters since I read patterns all the time and think "what the HELL are they talking about?", but once I am shown whatever it is I can't believe I couldn't figure it out. I think I will try to film a little video this weekend on short rows, it is the only way I can take the befuddled masses, sit them down, and show them what I mean. It will be easy to film this video since my scarf is still a little over halfway done, unlike my mom who has knit, I think at last count, five? Maybe six? Two of them were Christmas presents for the shrimp, modeled above. Here are some more pics for your viewing pleasure, I still love how the noro yarn makes them so colorful!

You'll notice that on these she sewed the tips together at each end and added a big, lovely flower button. I'm pretty sure I will do something similar on mine, when I get around to actually finishing it. The one below she knitted for herself... it is from a slightly thicker noro yarn and she reduced the number of stitches in a row to compensate. It is just as ruffle-y, but has a little extra squish to it, which is nice. Wouldn't these make a wonderful Valentine's day present for someone you know?

Spud and Chloe Scrunch Scarf

2011-01-16T17:49:00.000-05:00

Atlanta saw more snow last week than it had in well over a decade, 1993 is the last time anyone remembers the city being shut down by snow for a week. This posed the perfect opportunity to snuggle into the new scarf my mom knit me for Christmas and I can report that it is a very warm, squishy scarf. She knit The Scrunch Scarf (free pattern from Spud and Chloe) with yarn she picked up at Purl Soho when we were in New York a few weeks ago. She says it is a super fast knit, which must be true since she has already whipped up another one for herself.

2011 Crafty Resolution List

2011-01-09T01:10:00.000-05:00

I have been miserably sick with strep, that my dear daughter shared with me, for the last few days and pretty much all I could muster the strength to do was catch up on blogs. This time of year everyone is busy posting their New Year's resolutions and as I laid there sick, feverish and delusional I had time to think about the type of resolution I wanted to make this year. Not something boring like exercising or eating right (those especially don't sound appealing when the room is spinning and your throat is on fire), but something fun instead. Something I want to do instead of something I feel like I need to fix. Maybe this misses the point of resolutions, but it sure was a nice diversion to think about things I would like to do when I felt better. I am resolving to take the time to accomplish some of the online tutorials/patterns/recipes that I have had starred and on my list for quite some time (some of them since I started reading blogs in 2008). I guess it is sort of like resolving to do more of the things I like to do, or resolving to get off the computer and make stuff, or resolving to narrow my focus since I chose from hundreds of starred items in google reader to come up with the following list of fifteen things I would like to sew, knit or cook in the coming year. These ones stood out in particular because they are all things that I have thought about doing several times, have most likely already subjected my husband to descriptions of their cleverness, and quite likely have already bought the supplies for, but just haven't quite made the time in the past to complete them. So, this resolution will also clear out some mental clutter upon completion.

2011 Crafty Resolution List

Drafty Door Thingy from Not Martha

Doorstop from Wipster (via the long thread)

Buttercup Bag from Made by Rae (I even bought fabric to make this well over a year ago)

Gathered Clutch by Skip To My Lou

Zippered Pouches by Flossie Teacakes (via How About Orange) or These by Sew 4 Home

Reusable Snack Bags by I Have to Say

Granola - Soule Mama's adaptation

Butter via Angry Chicken comments on the subject - Have been thinking about this since she first posted it, we love butter!

Elf Hats - ok, this one is from a book, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, which I own, but after seeing SouleMama knit a bunch of these for Christmas presents I can't stop thinking about them.

Gap-tastic Cowl - This one is on Ravelry. I love it when something so incredibly simple becomes rampantly popular as soon as someone takes the time to write a free pattern. It is taking all my willpower to not start one of these immediately, and it doesn't help that Lion Brand yarn is buy one get one free at Michael's today, or that it is supposed to snow starting tonight. At least now I have the excuse that it is part of my New Year's resolution!

French Press Felted Slippers - top left pattern. I own this pattern, I have watched almost every knitter in the blogosphere knit up a pair, it is time to get over my fear of all those seams and trust in the magic of felting!

5 Minute Skirt by Angry Chicken

Felted Knitting Basket from Martha Stewart

Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger

Figure 8 Scarf by Anna Maria Horner - already have the fabric, should be a quickie!

Do you have any long-thought-about craftiness that you want to accomplish this year?

Handmade Gift the Fourth - Aiden Hat

2011-01-01T14:43:00.000-05:00

If you have been reading my blog for a while you may remember that my husband got a nice, manly wool scarf for Christmas last year. This year he finally got the hat to match. A very basic ribbed hat from the Rowan Coulorscape Folk book (ravelry link). The hat pattern is nothing exciting, but the yarn has nice changes of color to make it interesting and enough weight to make this hat go very quickly, definitely knittable in a day if one had a chunk of time to devote to it.

Pattern: Aiden Hat from Rowan Colourscape Folk
Yarn: Rowan Colourscape Chunky in Storm
Needles: Size US 10 1/2 straights (could easily be knit in the round too)

Handmade Gift the Third - Ponytail Hat

2010-12-30T20:43:00.000-05:00

About two weeks before Christmas, while taking a knitting break and browsing Ravelry, I came across the cutest hat. One should absolutely not, under any circumstances, log on to Ravelry two weeks before Christmas, especially if one is a knitter working on a long term project with a deadline; who is easily distracted by super cute quick projects using big yarn that can be finished in a day or two. I think we all know that within a few short days I had appropriate yarn and needles in hand, with a plan to add just one more hand knit project to my gift list. The teenager next door has a love of knit hats and very long hair, so once I stumbled across the Hannah ponytail hat I couldn't get the idea of her having it out of my head. Luckily the pattern was very fast and it turned out just as I imagined (it is quite hard to take a picture of the back of your own head, hopefully you can tell that the clever hat buttons under your ponytail so that you don't mess it up putting the hat on and taking it off).

It is always a bit harrowing to present a hand made gift to someone you have never knit for before, but I think she liked it.

Pattern: Hannah Hat on Ravelry
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky in Seafoam Green
Needles: Size US 10 straight for button flap and then Double pointed to knit the rest in the round

Handmade Gift the Second - Olivia

2010-12-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Sammie the Sock Monster's friend, Olivia, finally got stuffed and pieced together on Christmas Eve Eve. This pattern is such a quick and easy knit, far faster than Sammie and I have to say she is all kinds of cute. Both monsters were a big hit Christmas morning and both girls kept asking me, "You knit these mom? Really? All by yourself?".

I Couldn't resist taking Olivia out for a photoshoot in the snow, we have never had snow accumulation on Christmas in my lifetime, and I attribute it all to the 8 year old that lives next door who put snow on her Christmas list for Santa. It was such a treat, just the right amount and so pretty.

Did you get your holiday knitting projects completed?
Pattern: Olivia the Audacious Monster by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Magenta
Needles: Size US 5 (I used double pointed instead of the magic loop suggested by the pattern)

Current State of Christmas Knitting

2010-12-19T11:17:00.002-05:00

One project complete.
One project almost complete, just needs stuffing and sewing together of various body parts. Oh, and a tiny tutu.
One project not yet started (eek!).
One project started Friday and almost complete, must run to yarn store for buttons and double pointed size ten needles for finishing today.
One heart attack yesterday morning after discovering this:

Sunday Status Report

2010-11-21T19:07:00.000-05:00

I am all the sudden very pleased with my holiday knitting progress, amazing how much monster you can knit when your butt rarely leaves the couch the whole day! Just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

Olivia in progress.

Sammie for my Sammy

2010-11-20T13:25:00.003-05:00

Christmas knitting is in full force around here, and as of this morning my first present is complete! Isn't he handsome? This fabulous Sammie the Sock Monster (pattern by the super creative Rebecca Danger) is quite a knitting accomplishment (he even has little socks!!!), but the fact that I have to whip up another whole monster in just a few weeks makes me hyperventilate slightly. Very similar to the position I was in last year I do believe. Even though I start on my Christmas knitting at the end of summer, I still find myself procrastinating come Thanksgiving. The rest of this weekend will be devoted to knitting, so hopefully I can make some good progress on Olivia. Of course I keep looking at Sammie and thinking he needs a monster quilt... doesn't he look cold? No, must focus on next monster!

Chattahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Show 2010

2010-09-26T21:00:00.001-04:00

Last weekend was my guild's quilt show. I think I am now far enough away from all the work and stress that goes in to such an event to show some pictures! I only had one quilt in the show, which means that is all I have completed in the last two years. That definitely shows how going back to work full time effects quilt output (not to mention planning a wedding/getting married, having a second child start school, and becoming obsessed with knitting). Excuses, excuses, I know there are plenty of people out there doing all that and more and producing quilts like crazy, I'm just in denial that I am really slow. Mom and Melissa had several quilts in the show, and they both won ribbons! Here is my Butterfly Garden quilt on display:

Mom's ribbon winning quilt:

Check out all that embroidery!

Two of Melissa's 9 patch quilts... I love 9 patches:

I better get to work now so I have something to enter in the 2012 show!

Jam!

2010-08-14T18:33:00.002-04:00

There have been so many summers that I thought about making jam, but it took being completely overrun with blueberries this summer to make me finally do it. After picking a ridiculous amount of berries at my mom's house, one of the hubbie's friends brought over a huge grocery bag full of berries he had picked at his grandparents' house. Since my children can consume their weight in any kind of berry it took this volume to finally push me into canning. Why did I think making jam was hard? It is SO easy, and not even that much of a time committment. I think I was put off by all the canning stuff that you can buy and that everyone who does canning seems to have. The only things I bought were some pectin (I tried liquid) and some jars. I already had a big pot to boil the jars in, and plenty of other pots to do everything else in, and I'm really not sure why you need a rack to put in the pot you boil the jars in? I didn't use one and just used tongs to lift the jars out of the boiling water. I ended up using the recipe on the pectin box for my first attempt (what better place to find an idiot-proof recipe?) but would really like to try a spiced one like this one. I'm hoping to try canning tomato sauce next, I have a ton of tomatoes that are all going to ripen at the same time, if the ants don't nibble them first.

Summer Harvest 1

2010-08-11T13:53:00.000-04:00

Blueberry season is winding down and I have spent several sweaty hours removing fruit from my mom's trees. With temperatures sneaking over a hundred this is no task for the faint of heart. The birds take great offense to my efforts, sitting in the nearby pine trees screeching at me most of the time, but the heat and the harrassment is well worth the freezer full of berries and the results of my first time making blueberry jam. I've yet to taste my first batch, and want to try spiced blueberry jam next, but will report back on my efforts soon.

(The umbrella was genius, its amazing how refreshing a little shade can be)

A Scarf By Many Names

2010-07-12T15:57:00.004-04:00

I definitely had a "look something shiny" moment in the yarn store last week with my mom, the culprit is a scarf that can't even decide what it is called. The free pattern I got from the yarn shop says "rotini scarf" or "potato chip" scarf, but a search in ravelry reveals scarves of those names that are not the same pattern as this one (the scarves by those names are cast on at the edge and knit sideways, or else they are crochet). A search for ruffle scarves reveals wayyyyy too many scarf patterns to look through, but I came closest to a similar pattern when I found one called a "corkscrew" scarf. The pattern is so ridiculously simple and was free with yarn, so I will put it at the end of this post.

Back to the point, this scarf is completely addictive, and when knit with Noro yarn is downright entrancing. The pattern is short, easily memorized and watching the scarf swirl as you knit is cackle inducing (just ask my husband). I tried to not cast on for it until I finished at least one of Melissa's socks, however resistance was futile. I should just admit that there's no going back until it is complete, at the rate I am going I'll get it done in a week or two and then can get back to the socks.

Corkscrew/Rotini/Potato Chip Scarf Pattern

(edits added for clarification, based on some questions)

Size 8 or 9 needles
Any medium weight yarn will do, I highly suggest a non-scratchy noro for color fun.

Cast on 20 stitches
Knit 8 - turn (turn your work as if you were at the end of a row, but you aren't)
Knit 8 back (knit back along the first 8 stitches you knit in previous row)
Knit 6 - turn (turn your work as if you were at the end of a row, but you aren't)
Knit 6 back (knit back along the 6 stitches you knit in previous row)
Knit 4 - turn (turn your work as if you were at the end of a row, but you aren't)

Knit 4 back (knit back along the 4 stitches you knit in previous row)

Knit 20 (ignore your short rows and just knit straight across the whole 20 stitches)

start over with the knit 8 row - that's it, just keep going to desired length and bind off!
(it takes a good 6 inches into the scarf before it starts to "corkscrew")

Video directions now posted here!

Knitting Time/Space Continuum Warp

2010-07-08T20:01:00.000-04:00

I had a very odd experience the other day... after I posted about Melissa's birthday socks I was reading the fall KnitSimple magazine that I grabbed at a new way-too-close-to-me yarn shop and right there in the magazine were the socks I had just posted about.

My Sock:

Magazine Sock:

(this picture also proves that good studio lighting gives a much better representation of yarn colors)

Now, usually I see something in a magazine, drool over it for a very long time, then finally get around to knitting it. This was like some sort of knitting time warp! I actually somehow started knitting a project in a magazine feature before ever seeing it. I'm talking same Unisomo yarn and colorway and same pattern here people! Freaky. I have to admit it made me feel quite clever, like I am in tune with the knitting pulse of the universe. Maybe I am a yarn psychic! Nah, just a yarn psycho.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

2010-07-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

America shares her birthday with my good friend, Melissa, who has been subtley suggesting that she may like some hand knit socks for her birthday. If subtle means comments on my blog, texts, and random quotes from Dr. Seuss' Fox In Socks on my facebook page. It's hard to deny someone that really appreciates a handmade gift, or someone so relentless about one, so I have been working away on these for the last few weeks. They aren't finished, it's challenging to find a sense of urgency for something that can't be worn until winter, but I will keep knitting away and by the time it is cool enough for her to stand having them on her feet they will be done.

As usual, my mom had to show me up and finish a coordinating project to go with the socks before I got the actual socks done, so Melissa gets these super cute fingerless gloves to match her socks. Happy Birthday Melissa!

Slot Machines, Yarn and Fabric. Vegas Baby!

2010-06-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

Our family recently embarked on the most fantastic trip to Las Vegas to help celebrate my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. 60 years! There were 14 of us that went, including my two girls, and it was really refreshing to look at Vegas through the eyes of a six and eight year old. What had in the past seemed seedy and insidious became fascinating and sparkly all over again. It didn't hurt that the view from our hotel room at the Bellagio looked like this:

Anyone that says Vegas isn't for kids is only focusing on the parts of Las Vegas that are specifically not for kids, and of course there is plenty of that, but there is so much there for kids to love. To start with, our hotel had five pools, that in itself would have kept them entertained, but there was so much we wanted to do we couldn't even fit it all in to the four days we were there. We managed to make it to see the lions at MGM, the four story M&M store, the girls' first Vegas show (the Elvis Cirque de Soleil, which was fantastic), the show at Fremont street and the art museum at our hotel that has Picassos and Renoirs. It was the first time that I have gone to Vegas and actually not been ready to go when it was time to leave.

Another Vegas first for me was taking the time to search out some yarn and fabric stores. Las Vegas has some really nice ones! My mom, aunt and I ventured out to see what kind of yarn stores you can find in the desert and we were not disappointed. Our first stop was Knit Vegas, which at about 20 minutes from the strip was the farthest.

The shop owner was very friendly and spent a great deal of time discussing which yarns would work with a project my mom was buying yarn for and as a bonus they were having a sale. I bought two skeins of sequined yarn that I wouldn't normally purchase at regular price and while checking out we learned that the fabric store (Nancy's Quilt Shop) we had planned on visiting was going out of business.

A quick search on the car GPS showed another fabric store only four miles away, so in continuing our adventurous spirit we headed in that direction. The fabric store we were randomly led to was Quiltique and it was probably the nicest quilt shop I have ever been in, and I have been in a heck of a lot of quilt shops!

(This picture shows about a fourth of the shop, not including the Bernina side or the classrooms, and of course my mom picking out fabric.)

The fabric selection was huge and modern, there were a ton of samples made up to go with thier great selection of books and patterns and to top it all off the second half of the store was a Bernina dealer. As I waited for my aunt to check out I paused at these Anna Maria Horner fabric covered chairs and really pondered how I could fit them in my luggage to take home.

I bought Sandi Hendersons' new book there, which is so great it deserves its own post, while my mom found the backing for a quilt top she had just completed and my aunt gleefully found needles for her machine and a whole stack of fabric. This quilt store is a must for quilters visiting Las Vegas, and only about 15 minutes from the strip.

After a break and some lunch (that heat really takes it out of you), we continued on to the Wooly Wonders yarn store. This is a tiny yet well stocked little store only four miles from the Bellagio and is a perfect place to go if you have run out of yarn for a project or need a knitting fix. They have open knit Saturdays and there were quite a few people hanging out in the shop knitting and chatting. I managed to find a skein of sock yarn that I couldn't go home without and my mom got some gorgeous merlot colored fiber from their collection of spinning supplies.

We found plenty of great places for our Las Vegas fiber adventure, but if you know of somewhere else that shouldn't be missed be sure to leave it in the comments!

June Weekend Wanderings

2010-06-14T22:56:00.000-04:00

I love weekends that start off with nothing planned at all, then you get to fill them up with lots of stuff you want to do. Like knitting, and tons of gardening, and giggly little girl sleepovers, and reading new sewing books, and the perfect felting of an old sweater, watching movies with friends, and trying out a new cobbler recipe from PW's cookbook. Yes, it's nice having a weekend filled with slow wanderings from one activity to the next, and looking back Sunday evening to realize you accomplished a lot without even meaning to.

Softball Knitting

2010-05-23T22:54:00.000-04:00

It was almost too hot to knit this weekend, almost. Multiple tournament softball games present lots of time to start new pojects if you can stand to have wool in your hands in 90 degree heat. She's so darn cute when playing catcher, and her team made it to the final tournament game tomorrow night!

April Camp Session

2010-05-10T21:29:00.000-04:00

Sheesh, it isn't even summer yet and we are busier than the carpenter bees burrowing into my back deck! Every weekend has been packed, from weddings of friends to celebrating our own anniversary with a trip to Asheville and a recent session of Quilt Camp! (can you believe it has been a year? definitely does not seem like that long since this and this). I don't have a single picture to share of a quilt from quilt camp, or even a quilt top. Not because there weren't any made but because my camera was acting funky and all the pictures of quilts I took turned out out of focus (I think it needs a good cleaning after our recent visit to the beach). However, lots of other things happen at quilt camp besides completed quilt tops! There is often a fair amount of knitting,

some long and laborious hand applique,

pillowcases making for charity,

even some curtain making,

here you go, here is a picture of an almost assembled quilt top. Well trust me, it is there under Rillion, our official layout and design helper.

Another round of friends, food, fruity drinks and enough sewing to make us look like a Bernina commercial...

a whole uninterrupted weekend of fiber obsession feels so decadent, try it!

Yearning

2010-03-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

Thoughts of this past weekend made Monday morning at work practically cruel and unusual punishment.

There was a lot of delving into this...

there was some return to this (obviously I was a bit rusty, one of my points is too near the edge, bah)...

there was the pure glee that came with finally getting to drop another stitch on this (that's two!)...

and it didn't even bother me that I cut out half a pair of pajama pants for the older child and then realized I didn't have enough fabric for the other half (my how she's grown!)...

Yes, today at work was torturous with memories of a delightful weekend past, and ever so slow as I counted each hour until the bliss of having all next week off for spring break. At the beach. With as many books and as much knitting as I can fit into the car without being yelled at by the hubbie. Hurry up week!

Unlimited Opportunities for Obsession

2010-03-23T16:00:00.001-04:00

That's the thing with sewing and knitting and such, there are always new aspects of all these crafty endeavors to learn, and plenty of already obsessed people to push you over the edge of reason! For example, my dear mother, who has decided to buy a spinning wheel and so forces me into deep conversations about fiber and all its possibilities (I'm still trying to convince her to get an alpaca, how is she resisting THIS FACE). This, in turn, gets me thinking about how I can join in the fun without spending the bazillions of dollars that she is, which naturally leads to lots of research into spindles and hand spinning. Throw in some birthday gift certificates, a lot of encouragement from another Kate, and winning a 40 percent off coupon at my favorite yarn store and a new hobby is born. Here is my new spindle! (called trindles by some? difference?)

Along with plenty of alpaca corriedale blend to get started on.

Now friends, you know it doesn't stop there. Books must be ordered. Fancy spindles must be shopped... these are gorgeous... and you know the minutes are being counted down until this weekend, when I will be making yarn! Making. Yarn! Should I mention that my ball of fiber is sitting next to me on the couch snuggled up under my arm like some sort of fluffy adoring animal? That I just offered Jay a squeeze and assured him it would bring him inner peace? That I made him choose between about five edited pictures of that alpaca/wool to help me decide which showed off its fluffy soft sheepiness the best? Yeah, should probably keep all that to myself.

Handmade Party!

2010-03-22T21:57:00.000-04:00

I love that quite often at family birthday parties in my family there are handmade gifts being given. Not only that, but being given and really appreciated! This past weekend I finally got to give my mom her Birdie Sling (I suspect that she coordinated her outfit ahead of time)

and she finally got to give my Uncle the quilt she has been working on for ages to commemorate his recently published book. He is a civil war historian and of course needed a quilt made out of reproduction civil war era fabrics. I think it turned out great! The quilting on it is just lovely, but I'm afraid you can't tell from my picture. Great gift mom!

Birthday Birdie Sling

2010-03-14T10:35:00.001-04:00

This bag definitely had its challenges, but finally I have made the Amy Butler Birdie Sling for my mom's birthday. Only a month and a half late, not toooo bad. I had my mind set on using this Japanese Echino fabric to make this bag, but when I went to buy the yardage it was sold out everywhere. I spent weeks looking at different fabric combinations, finally decided on what to do, and then the Echino fabric came back in stock. At our actual birthday party, my mom got a picture of the cut out pieces of the bag and a promise of a speedy completion.

There was a very frustrating incident that made it a little less speedy which I had never had happen before. This was my first time working with linen, so I don't know if this is common, but when ironing the lining pieces of the bag to the fusible fleece the glue on the fleece came through the fabric. It looked horrible. This was definitely a low point in my efforts to get this done. It was a waste of very expensive fabric, meant another trip to Joann's to buy a different product to see if it would work better and a whole evening's worth of sewing time lost. Hunting down the specific pelon product suggested on the pattern proved to work much better, which baffled me because the pelon fusible fleece looked like it had more glue on it than the other fleece I had been using. Luckily it worked, I think if I had had to find another lining fabric this bag would have been crammed in a dark place in my craft closet for eternity and my mom presented with a lovely gift certificate to the yarn store.

The first Birdie Bag I made also used actual bird fabric, I don't know if I will ever be able to make this bag any other way. Happy Birthday mom, hope you enjoy your super cute bag!

More Handmade Love

2010-02-17T09:35:00.003-05:00

I think it goes without saying that my mom enjoys making and giving handmade gifts (has anyone noticed that she and the girls seem to be the only ones doing any "making" lately on this blog? Ahem. I do have a project in the works, hopefully to be shown off soon). These hats were given to the girls for Valentine's Day and they have been worn pretty much non-stop ever since. Often by mid February in Atlanta Spring has sprung, but not this year! I think these little hats were the perfect thing to bring something fresh to the few more weeks of winter we are apparently going to have to tolerate. The pattern is a free one on the Spud and Chloe website, Heart on a String.

Blog Love on Love Day

2010-02-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

I have mixed feelings about Valentine's day. It annoys me to no end that it's a packaged and commercialized fake holiday, but I absolutely love the chance to make handmade valentines! It is a popular holiday for small handmade items and the inspiration on blogs is limitless. Also, I started my blog on Valentine's day 2008 with this project, continued the handmade tradition in 2009 with owls and cats, and used this idea for our 2010 symbols of love...

The girls get really excited about making valentines for their classes. Hopefully they are learning a little bit about love in the process.

Thank you all for visiting my sewing, knitting, and random pieces of craftiness blog. I love you blogland!

1 thru 31 of 365

2010-02-03T11:34:00.000-05:00

We really did make it thru a picture a day for January. I'm really liking having a little tidbit from each day, even though some days nothing is really going on or you are too tired to think of something to take a picture of. Looking back on the month as a whole encourages me to keep going...

If you want to see descriptions you will have to go click on each picture in my set on flickr, I try to say something about each picture.

My 2010 365 Set

Jay's 2010 365 Set

More Sewing with Grammy!

2010-01-31T23:19:00.000-05:00

Grammy had so much fun sewing with the girls last time that she actually came back for more (brave woman that she is)! The girls had an early release day last week and Grammy picked them up from school with project supplies in hand. She picked a project from the book Let's make Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo! Fun Dolls. If you are looking for a beginning project for a young sewer this is a great one. She chose the snake pattern and a simple canvas fabric on which they used stamps and fabric markers for decorations.

This project is a simple shape that little hands can easily trace pattern pieces for, cut out, and they love personalizing the fabric to make it their own. Sewing in the mouth and tongue was a little tricky, Grammy had to help there, but almost all of the machine sewing, stuffing and hand sewing was done by the girls. It is really cute how much they LOVE their handmade snakes!

Sunday Sewing Bliss

2010-01-19T21:15:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday we went to spend the day at Grammy's house to sew. The youngest child received a Hello Kitty sewing machine, just like her big sister's, for Christmas and wanted to get started on her first quilt. The older child has a book report due at the end of the month for which the students can choose any medium they want to do the report in. She chose a quilt. Do I even have to tell you how happy both of these young children yearning to sew make me? And when I say yearning, they have both been BEGGING to sew on these projects for weeks now. Luckily Grammy wanted to help, I don't think I could have handled both of them working at the same time. Sewing with small children takes a lot of patience and constant vigilance since they are using irons and pins and machines, but it is so worth it when you see how proud they are of their finished projects. Sam finished her quilt, proudly displayed below, but Courtney still has some embellishments to put on her book report quilt before it is ready to show off.

Man Scarf

2010-01-10T15:21:00.000-05:00

Last fall, when we were out in Idaho, our second stop after getting off the plane was Isabel's yarn shop. This yarn store always has something set up to catch your eye and this time was no exception. As soon as we walked in the front door there was a table with the new Rowan Colourscape folk yarns and patterns. These yarns, especially the darker color-ways, just shout man yarn. Lots of women won't take their husbands shopping with them (especially on fiber procurement excursions) because they get told that they don't need any more yarn or fabric or whatnot, but with Jay I seem to have the opposite problem. He has a great eye for color and design and I think I end up spending twice as much when he is with me. I got enough to make him a matching hat too, hopefully I can whip that up before there aren't any cold days left to wear it this winter. Luckily this is a nice spongy wool that knits up quickly. The yarn is spun in such a way that it is fascinating to watch the colors blend into themselves and keeps you entertained while doing even a basic rib pattern. The man scarf is flattened and pinned to the rug upstairs at the moment for blocking, but here are some pics of it straight off the needles and still curly. I haven't ever blocked anything before so I'm very interested to see if it really does stay flat after it dries.

Pattern: Aiden Hat from Rowan Colourscape folk
Yarn: Rowan Colourscape chunky by Kaffe Fassett
Ravelry link here

Gifted Felt Bags

2010-01-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

Hand knit socks were not the only knitted item under the tree this year. My mom made these super cute little felted bags for the girls. The initials on them and the little ruffles just kill me. Little girls can never have too many bags... the youngest uses hers to carry around her new DS along with a small stitching project and the oldest stashes her random bits of daily life: acorns, rocks, plastic baubles and balls. It is always fun to peek in there and see what things they treasure on any given day.

Pattern: Felt Ruffle Bag from knittingonthenet.com
Yarn: Noro wool

Two Things

2010-01-04T23:36:00.000-05:00

1) Since yesterday 1,218 people have visited my blog because of this post. Wow, hi everyone!

2) Jay and I have both embarked on Project 365, you can find my set here and his set here. We are now taking bets on who will last the longest. Eventually I will figure out how to put a link in the sidebar or something equally fancy.

That is all.

2009 Completed Projects

2009-12-31T13:15:00.001-05:00

I really couldn't remember any completed projects from this past year as I sat down to look through my pictures, besides the most recent socks of course. I could only think of all the things that have kept me away from all the sewing and knitting that I would like to be getting done... the new full-time often overly demanding job, my youngest starting kindergarten and the demands of two girls in elementary school with homework and class parties and projects, the planning of a wedding and setting up of a new life with my dear hubbie, several bouts of various sicknesses running through the family the last couple of months... at first thought these events kept me away from my favorite past-times, but with a closer look at the pictures I realize that even when life is throwing crazy demands at you, you find time to work in the things that you love.

Socks were knit on the sly as the girls slept or we were out in Idaho, I fit in some less demanding projects on weekends like finishing a quilt that had been lingering for quite some time, whipping up easy skirts and dying yarn with my mom and aunt at a class. And when my crafty endeavors were too big for the time I had available, close family and friends, and even internet friends, stepped in and helped me get everything completed.

Those are now my favorite things... the wedding shawl my mom helped me finish and the ring pillows she helped me design and make. The napkins that several people contributed to and the first quilt made mostly by my daughter but with lots of help from her proud mama. It may not be all the things I wanted to do, but this collection represents a need to create and fitting that need in when possible. I know 2010 will be no less crazy and possibly even more so, but I look forward to fitting this addiction into all the little cracks between living. I hope all of you find the time to do something you love every chance you get too! Happy New Year!

The Socks Really Did Get Done!

2009-12-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

I'm still not quite sure how, but the socks for the youngest child which looked like this on December 19th:

were actually under the tree for her to discover Christmas morning.

It's all a blur of furious knitting. Knitting while on work conference calls, knitting at holiday parties, knitting while watching movies until 3am several nights. Somehow a flat of yarn became a pair of socks in just 6 days.

I wish there had been someone to witness me doing the kitchener stitch on the toes in the wee hours of Christmas morning, but it was just me, the tree and the cat. I know I'm not the only crafter that turns into a complete maniac right before a big gift giving event, I read many a blog of people in the same frenzy. There is nothing like giving something you put your heart into and having your 8 year old tell you that gift made it the best Christmas ever, or having your five year old refuse to take her handknit socks off for two days. The calloused fingertips and carpal tunnel were totally worth it!

Once again, the Ribbed Socks For Kids free pattern from Spud and Chloe.

I'm Sure The Next Pair Will Go Much Faster

2009-12-18T09:49:00.000-05:00

Alright, it's crunch time. I finished big sister's socks and now it's time to crank out some for the little sister feet. I am inspired by The Yarn Harlot's post yesterday where she cranked out a pair of socks for herself in a day basically because she was bored. I have seven days to make some for little bitty feet, no problem right? Don't worry, I work best under pressure.

This pattern is the Ribbed Socks for Kids free pattern from Spud and Chloe. Just a basic sock pattern sized down for little feet. I didn't want to do anything fancy since they will probably outgrow these by next year.

Time to get knitting!

There Aren't Many People I Would Wait Four Hours to See For 30 Seconds

2009-12-08T13:31:00.001-05:00

Who could possibly bring hundreds and hundreds of people out on a dreary cold Monday night in Atlanta to wait for hours to meet her? Apparently Pioneer Woman can! Ree Drummond stopped over in Atlanta yesterday while on her month long cookbook tour and I hauled the kiddos down to meet her.

Little did I know they had started selling wristbands the day before, or that we would have to wait four hours and the kids wouldn't get to bed until 11 on a school night, but I have to say it was worth it. Ree was as cute and sweet in person as you would believe her to be on her blog and she even had her sister Betsy and friend Hyacinth with her.

We were sitting right on the other side of the rope from them for many hours and I made several observations:

1) Ree drinks a lot of coffee.

2) Southern hospitality is alive and well if you could judge by the piles of cards and sweets and goody bags they had going.

3) Pioneer Woman has QUITE the fan base going a LONG way from the ranch.

4) She only went to the bathroom ONCE. Did I mention she drinks a lot of coffee? She must have been dying, talk about commitment!

5) No matter how crazy the fan or what the strange request might have been, these ladies were cheerful, smiling and gracious the entire time. They signed. They took pictures. They gave out free t-shirts. They chatted. They hugged babies. Really, after about 2 hours I would have been like man, I've had enough of you people. That's a lie, I would last about 3.2 seconds. But they were still smiling and laughing when we left with hundreds of people and hours still to go.

And, to top it all off, Bakerella had come through the line and left a whole box of cake balls (they were so cute and I didn't even get a picture!) and Betsy offered my obviously famished and droopy children some. Sam actually didn't want hers (I don't think she was expecting cake to be in the middle) so I got to have one of Bakerella's creations, yum! They had little miniature cookbooks on top of them!

I really don't know what magical fairy dust was sprinkled on my children to make them behave and entertain themselves so well, but even with the long wait it was quite an enjoyable evening (the fact that Borders ran the whole event really well definitely contributed to this).

One good thing about the four hour wait, I got started and made quite the progress on hubbie's Christmas scarf, about time!

Alpaca Love

2009-11-06T10:28:00.004-05:00

Life has been crazy around these parts without much stitching going on (still working on socks for the little people), but I wanted to post about our most recent adventure out to Idaho. I have posted before about my Aunt and Uncle's house there and a couple of weeks ago Jay and I went out to join them and my mom on the ranch.

They have some wonderful neighbors, and knowing what fiber enthusiasts we are, they set up a visit to a nearby alpaca farm for us. My mom keeps talking about wanting alpacas and I keep trying to shove her in that direction, so we were total geeky knitters going to visit this herd. They have 15 alpacas that we got to meet and try to entice with apples, then they showed us how they spin the fiber and make yarn, which OF COURSE we had to buy some of.

This little guy is an outcast from the herd (apparently alpacas can be a bit uppity), doesn't he look like he needs to come live in Georgia? We named him Snowball. I wish he would have fit in my luggage!

The horses were VERY jealous of all the alpaca attention.

Quilt Gift - Finally Posted!

2009-10-28T23:05:00.002-04:00

In all the craziness preceding our recent vacation out to Idaho I was unable to find any time to post about a wonderful gift I recently received. Now we are back (I miss you Idaho!) and everything is still crazy, but I have to show you all this quilt that my very best quilt buddy made me for a wedding gift. (Jay keeps correcting me that she made it for US, but I have been under it pretty much non-stop since it arrived at our house a couple weeks ago). Melissa has blogged about it here, so I will just show some pictures and say again thank you Mel, you're the best and we love it!

Frustrated But Triumphant!

2009-10-11T18:26:00.003-04:00

The socks I'm knitting for my first born are proving to be quite the challenge. First there was the issue with knitting the beginning of the heel inside out. That was last weekend and I ripped back several rows and fixed it and moved on, even though I ended up with some twisted stitches from my "fixing".

Oh well, I thought, if that's the worst that happens then they are still awesome socks. Well, today I managed to really screw them up. I worked on them all morning and afternoon and was thrilled to get the heel turned. Then things began to go bad. Very bad. First of all, the pattern wanted me to pick up 15 stitches along the gusset, but there just weren't 15 to grab. I forced 13 and moved on. Then, the pattern tells you to knit round one of two rounds from then on. Well, like most simple sock patterns the part on top of your foot is ribbed and if you are knitting a whole round every other round then you are ruining the ribbing that IS there in the second round. Does that make sense? Well, I've only been knitting for about a year, so I trusted in the pattern, plus I was already feeling queasy about not following the number of gusset stitches to pick up. I should have followed my instinct, the pattern is wrong (or at least wrong for how I want my socks to look, who am I to judge wonky ribbing?).

To top it all off, somewhere along the way I managed to get a hole. Yes, an f-ing hole.

By this point these socks had my original twisted stitches, messed up ribbing and an f-ing hole. I was ready to scrap the whole thing. My fingers were twitching to start ripping out rows, but I put it down and walked away for a while. After completely snapping at Jay when he walked by the sock lying on the table and had the nerve to say "the sock is looking great" (sorry honey, was a very bad knitting moment), I eventually calmed down and started to think about the problems.

I remembered my very first sock knitting class when I had done some stitches backwards and one of the shop ladies, Jenna (a knitting saint really), took my knitting and fixed the stitches in about 30 seconds without unknitting anything. I was awed and in no way understood what she had done, I just continued happily with fixed knitting. However, it had made quite an impression. On a whim I searched knittinghelp.com for "fixing mistakes" and actually came across just the video I needed to do exactly what Jenna had done that day. After watching the video about eight times and taking a very deep breath, I dropped stitches down to the first wrong one and wove them back in correctly. Then I did it six more times. By the last one I was feeling like the smartest knitter in the universe. And apparently, the hole was a dropped stitch that I fixed in just the same way, thanks to another video that identified the problem. Look, NO HOLE!!!

Now I am back to having socks that only have a few twisted stitches, and THAT I can still live with. I really want to go hunt down the knittinghelp.com ladies and hug each and every one of them. That site has saved my knitting ass on numerous occasions. On with the socks, hopefully the knitting gods will cut me a bit of slack now that I have taken the time to actually learn how to fix some common knitting mistakes!

Let the Holiday Knitting Begin!

2009-09-23T17:20:00.002-04:00

I have started on my first present! I feel so ahead of the game, for now anyway. This delicious yarn, that was the yarn-of-the-month at sock guild last month, is going to be socks for these feet:

Don't they look in serious need of hand knit socks? I am using the free pattern that was recently posted on the Spud and Chloe Yarn website. I thought it would be really easy to find a simple child sock pattern online, but not so much. Luckily they posted this one a couple weeks ago and it was just what I was looking for and saved me from having to do actual math to convert the simple adult pattern I already had. These are pretty much the exact same socks as the first and only socks I've ever knit, just child size. Seems like the smaller size should be a quick knit, but you never know with how easily distracted I am. And of course, another pair must be made for the little sister next.

Close-Up Machine Sewn Binding

2009-09-07T20:12:00.004-04:00

I have had a few requests to show a close-up of the serpentine stitich I used to machine sew the binding on my butterfly quilt and am finally getting around to obliging. I will start from the back, since that is the side where you are sewing when you start the binding...

The stitch is just an elongated S. It is one of the basic stitches on my bernina and I just increase the stitch length and practice on scrap fabric until I get it how I want it. Then you just carefully sew along the edge...

If you did a good job of folding your binding over the edge in equal amounts, then when you flip it over you will have also sewn along the edge of the front side...

However, if you have a spot that you accidently pulled the binding fabric too tight or too loose, you will run away from the edge on the front (because you were following the wonky edge on the back). Now, I don't pin or clip my binding in any way, I just fold it and stitch (gasp!), so if you are a methodic pinner or clipper you probably won't run into this problem. This was the first time I ever used this method, and it is a pretty big quilt, so I have to assume it would be a lot easier with some practice and especially on much smaller baby quilts (where I think machine sewn binding makes the most sense). This was the wonkiest spot I had, and I can live with it. I'm not one for pointing out imperfections, but didn't want you all to think this was some magic perfect technique :). Please disregard the cat hair in the close ups.

If anyone has any other questions I will be happy to answer in the comments!

Fun Way To Buy A Car

2009-08-23T21:03:00.003-04:00

For the last few weeks we have been trying desparately to take advantage of the CARS credit from President Obama, but I was having major problems finding what I wanted. First I wanted an Altima Hybrid, but they aren't sold in Georgia or anywhere near. So, I decided on a Camry hybrid. By the time I started looking at them, they were completely sold out in Georgia. An Atlanta area dealer found one in North Carolina, but she was so rude about it that we decided we would buy any car except a car from her. So, I turned my sights towards a regular Camry, but no one in the area even had one with the features I wanted. Friday afternoon I was about to settle and buy one with most of the features I wanted, when a dealer that had also found a car for my aunt gave me a call and said they had one camry hybrid in stock and it was even the color I wanted. The only problem was that they were in Charleston, South Carolina. It was a fantastic price, but we just didn't think the clunker we were trading in would make it the six hour drive. Well get this, he said he would send someone to pick it up for us. Deal. Now that is customer service! We were off Saturday morning on a jaunt to Charleston, and I have to say it was tons of fun! We bought the car, had a decadent dinner with a celebratory bottle of champagne at a french bistro near out hotel, then got up this morning and ate brunch there again (yes, it was that tasty). We decided on a walk down to the market and endulged in one of out favorite ways to explore a city... with pictures. Lots of pictures of random stuff, like ourselves...

brick walls that would make great quilt patterns...

and lots of fleurs de lis. These are the symbol of St. Louis (Jay's hometown) so we always delight in finding them as ornamentation in other cities. Yes, I know the fleur de lis is a symbol widely used all over the place (it is pretty amazing how the French managed to work it in everywhere) for all different reasons, but it always reminds Jay of home and me of one of our favorite places.

Now my 90 mile work commute will be a little less painful (I averaged 35 mpg on the drive home) and we are quite convinced that we need to return to Charleston soon to play some more. It really was the most fun a person could have buying a car!

I Think We Finally Agree!

2009-08-17T19:09:00.002-04:00

I have been trying to come up with a quilt block that Jay and I both really like to use to make our wedding napkins into a quilt. Ok, that is a complete lie. I have been trying for quite some time to convince Jay that he likes a block that I like, but he just doesn't. After some sulking and pouting I started to keep an eye out for something we both like and I think I found it! Well, he says he really likes it, but he may just be afraid of setting me off on another two months of loud sighs and sewing avoidance. Yes, I admit it, I can be a big baby when I don't get my way. When I stumbled across a new-to-me blog this weekend, The Sometimes Crafter, and her paper piecing tutorial for this block (she has a sampler going on, looks like tons of fun), I had a feeling it would look really great out of our fabrics, and I have to say I was right! It's a little more labor intensive of a block than I originally wanted to do, but it is still a circle which I really wanted, and even better it's a pointy circle. Like marriage sometimes. It's a very traditional block, but it took seeing it made up in some modern fabrics to really make me consider it. Those are quickly becoming my favorite patterns, traditional with a nice modern update. Paper piecing can be a bit fiddly, I think the problem is that it really makes you think since you are basically sewing backwards, but it will be a good challenge and I can't wait to see it come together.

And They're Off!

2009-08-10T21:21:00.002-04:00

I just can't believe it, but today the shrimp returned to school. Second grade for the oldest and kindergarten for the youngest. The youngest woke me up at three a.m., standing next to the bed tapping my shoulder. "hey mom, how much longer until morning?". She was slightly excited. I was the only one misty-eyed dropping her at class, she saw someone she knew in her class from pre-k and was off. Jay was there to hold my hand and remind me that they are supposed to grow up, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how little her hand was in mine as she went to take on the world and how by the end of the year she will be a different kid. Kindergarten is rough on the mommies!

Butterfly Skirts

2009-08-06T21:00:00.002-04:00

Back when I bought the fabric for my Butterfly Quilt, I was so in love with the whole line that I bought A LOT of it, in lots of colorways, with no real purpose for it. After finishing the quilt I decided some quick skirts for the girls would help use up some of the fabric and the simpler the skirt the better to show off those big prints.

Skirts made with rows of elastic thread for the waistband have been popping up all over blogland, so I gave it a try too. If you want a quick and easy kid skirt, this is the way to go. I just cut the fabric the length I wanted, hemmed the top and bottom, sewed six rows of the elastic thread at the top and then put a seam down the side and tada a skirt! I was a little afraid of the whole hand winding the bobbin with the elastic process, but it really did work just fine. Upon presenting the skirts the youngest immediately reminded me that I promised a matching shirt with a butterfly applique, so I know what I will be doing this weekend!

Yarn Dyeing Class!

2009-08-02T18:37:00.002-04:00

(My first dyed yarn... and it matches my begonias quite nicely)

I looked forward to today's sock guild all last week, we learned how to dye yarn! The Whole Nine Yarns mixed up huge amounts of dye and pre-soaked the skeins in vinegar water, then let us all go crazy with the colors. They were also very patient with showing us how to wrap the yarn in plastic for its rest in the steamer and the technique to rinsing it. I looked around online before class to get an idea of what I wanted to try (and fought the urge to buy truckloads of beautiful hand dyed yarns), and am very pleased that what I ended up with is just like something I drooled over online.

(My yarn in progress on the right, Aunt Jan's on the left. The colors definitely mellow during the steaming and rinsing)

(Mom planning her attack)

It's such a fun thing to do as a class because everyone comes up with something different. In these pics you can see mine along with my mom's and aunt's on the drying rack, and then a group picture below. As you can see, everyone had a different vision for their yarn that started off white.

Mountains and Pillowcases

2009-07-29T13:16:00.003-04:00

After returning from a lovely trip to St. Louis it has been a whirlwind of work and camp and getting ready for school to start... and a last minute jaunt up to a friend's mountain house last weekend. My return to full-time work last February has made it hard to stay as connected to two of my favorite ladies as I would like, and all of us being available to run away for a quick weekend of girl bonding was just too good to pass up.

My crazy friend Melissa was so excited at the prospect that she went completely over the top whipping up goody bags for us. They were so cute, little trinket necessities like a big drink cup and leis among other dollar store treats, and she somehow managed to print up some cute t-shirts and make pillowcases! If you watch The Office you will recognize the t-shirt quote, and all weekend you could hear melissa expounding "it isn't an event without SWAG!". I have to say I agree!

My pillowcase was made with squirrel fabric (because she is evil, but also knows I love that line) and some lovely Heather Bailey fabric. Christy's pillowcase was cupcakes with cute pink University of Georgia fabric on the edge.

We pretty much ate a huge breakfast, sat on the porch, read trashy magazines, ate snacks, sat on the porch, and gabbed. There may have been a few very large cups of sangria... mmmm.

Back to the pillowcases for a moment. I mentioned in my pillowcase tutorial what a great gift pillowcases are, but I just have to emphasize it again! All week I have gone to bed and smiled at my pillowcase from last weekend, and it will always remind me of good times with friends. Before putting the one Melissa made on my pillow, I had on one from the set that my friend Audrey made for a wedding gifty in our wedding colors. I can pull those out every anniversary as just another little reminder of that wonderful day. We also have ones that we put on pillows for birthdays and almost all major holidays. If you haven't made some I highly recommend it!

Audrey's wedding pillowcases

Knitting Over Saint Louis

2009-07-17T17:37:00.002-04:00

I couldn't resist a picture of the Clapotis finally getting some attention on the airplane. My new crackberry uploads pictures right to flickr, fun! Will be back next week after some STL Arch, Cardinals, Imo's pizza and family.

Butterflies Finally Finished!

2009-07-12T19:32:00.004-04:00

I wasn't sure I was going to make my weekend goal of finishing the butterfly quilt after carousing at Melissa's 40th birthday party last night, but this afternoon I rallied! I shook off the margarita haze, blasted some tunes (thanks to Jay's suggestion) and tackled the binding. At quilt camp my mom convinced me that I should try machine sewing my binding, and that really helped me complete the binding quickly also. To machine sew the binding you do the first side as usual, and then use a serpentine stitch to do the other side instead of sewing it by hand. I appreciate the speediness of it, and I think it did well on this quilt that I have always planned on being a picnic quilt, but I don't think I would use it on anything I had spent a lot of time on. Would be good for quick baby quilts too.

Specs:

Jane Sassaman's Butterfly Garden Fabrics

71" X 73"

Machine Appliqued Butterflies

Machine Pieced and Freemotion Quilted

July = Non Stop Action

2009-07-05T23:20:00.003-04:00

I wanted to get my binding strips cut out and sewn on to take up to the lake for the fourth to finish up my butterfly quilt, but sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the week. Also, Jack says there is not enough room in the car! Every weekend coming up seems to be completely booked, but hopefully I can eek out some time to finish the quilt, it is sooo close to being done.

Our fourth was full of family and fireworks, both natural and man-made. Hope yours was great too!

Quilt Camp 2009 - The Second

2009-06-28T20:00:00.002-04:00

Lessons learned at Quilt Camp this weekend: Take jeans to quilt camp because northern visitors can't handle the southern heat and will want to keep the ac at refrigerator temperatures, Some might go at the pace of a hare and some might go at the pace of a worm; but everyone gets a lot done, Mom really does cook sometimes, Stitch Regulators are really cool and addictive (and not cheating), Machingers are an absolute must-have for machine quilting (how did I ever sew without these?), Summer sewing and cocktails is endlessly entertaining (but really we already knew that).

Had a great time ladies! Hope to do it again soon.

The Chicken Knows

2009-06-24T13:53:00.002-04:00

I think Angry Chicken should hire herself out as a personal shopper. I can think of at least three things that she has shown on her blog that I have purchased, and all of them I've been immensely happy with. She just really has a knack for finding cool stuff! The lastest purchase of mine was the totally cute cherry pitter that she featured last week in this post. Just the day before I had been ripping cherries apart to get the pits out for my oldest daughter aka the cherry addict. When The Chicken showed this adorable little pitter that my daughter could do herself, I hopped right over to Amazon and snatched one up. It doesn't disappoint, this thing is adorable AND effective, just look at all those cherry pits!

And now my white sink doesn't look like cherry carnage has recently taken place, bonus. Look, even the box is cute!

WWKIPD

2009-06-21T15:04:00.002-04:00

I think I have a new favorite holiday, World Wide Knit In Public Day. Ok, so it isn't an official holiday, but it should be! My favorite metro Atlanta yarn store, The Whole Nine Yarns, hosted a knit in the park day this weekend (the park is located conveniently across the parking lot from the store) and had sale items that changed every hour. If you have any doubt that this is a great yarn store, know that we trek a solid 45 minutes from our homes on the other side of Atlanta to go to this one, when there are at least two other decent stores located much closer.

I spent the morning with my two favorite crazy knitters (my mom and my aunt) and a bunch of other delightful knitters (not pictured because I feel weird posting pics of people I don't know). I managed to make it through the sales with only one book purchased, and to top it all off someone brought their bunnies, angora bunnies!!!

I would seriously consider owning a few of these if bunnies weren't so stinky. Especially after the awesome spinning lesson we got from someone that set up their wheel and showed all us non-spinners the ins and outs of making your own yarn. I think she gave some very good advice: if you already have a love of fiber, don't start spinning unless you are ready to become completely addicted. I don't think my bank account can stand another addiciton at this time, so I am staying away. At least until my mom purchases her first spinning wheel.

I am still only at the beginning stages of my clapotis, I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to really get going on this thing. I think I've mentioned it before, but my mom and I started knitting this at the same time and hers was done weeks ago. sigh. Does seem a bit odd to be knitting a scarf-like object when it is 95 degrees, but I'm not about to knit something seasonally appropriate like a bathing suit!

Must be summer...

2009-06-18T22:00:00.002-04:00

because we chopped a LOT of hair around here this week!

Unexpected Gift

2009-06-14T21:08:00.002-04:00

I love getting to share how creative and talented my family members are. We had a family birthday party this weekend and among the birthday presents was a wedding present for me and Jay. My aunt used to do a lot of stained glass when I was a child, but she put it aside for many years. I'm so excited that she has taken it back up, especially since I have recently aquired two of her pieces: a Christmas star ornament that is so pretty that it remains hanging in our window year around and now this gorgeous piece of art...

It is going in a window next to our bed where we can see it every morning. I have always loved the changing light that comes through this window and really look forward watching it play with the glass.

I spent a good chunk of Sunday over at Melissa's sewing, I am revisiting a quilt that I have worked on a little bit each summer for the past 5 years. This is the year that it is going to be finished, and soon! I'm hoping to have the top complete and sandwiched before I go off to quilt camp weekend after next so that I can quilt my heart out while hanging out with other funny and inspiring quilters (bring your whip Audrey, I want to get this one done!).

Too Sunburned to Sew

2009-06-08T21:42:00.003-04:00

Not a lot of crafty action going on around here... we took advantage of a childless weekend to jaunt up to the family lakehouse and lounge around on the dock (a little too long). I took some knitting but didn't even touch it. Just lake and sun and naps and candlelight dinners. This is why I love this man... he didn't one time say I was completely hairbrained when I told him I wanted to haul a quilt and candles down to the dock to eat dinner just like we were in a page out of the recent Anthropologie catalogue. Even though that meant he had to carry dinner down about 50 steps and a REALLY steep hill...

and over a gang plank (um, after wading knee deep in water because the other end of the walkway is presently submerged)...

It was worth it.

But then we had to carry it all back up. There are numerous stairs beyond the ones you can see here. Was still worth it.

(he also never called me a crackpot for wanting to put battery powered candles all down the stairs)

We wandered home Sunday and then went to see Bon Iver. He was beyond awesome. I wish this video did him the least bit of justice, but sadly my little camera has a super crappy microphone that can't handle any of the base or overwhelming noise of about 1500 people singing at the top of their lungs. But it makes me smile to remember, so here it is anyway.

Handmade Ring Bearer Pillows

2009-05-25T22:38:00.002-04:00

I just realized today that I forgot to post the cute ring bearer pillows I made. So, I'm sorry, but here is yet another wedding post. I actually got started on the quilt from my wedding napkins today, but there is some debate about the design going on around here, so I'm not ready to post it yet.

I had the design of these pillows in mind long before the wedding, and I was absolutely set on the idea of combining knitting with fabric, but it wasn't until a few weeks before the wedding that I convinced my mom to knit the little lace squares I needed for the middle. For some reason she just smiled and did as she was told, and I finished making these two days before the wedding. They turned out just as I had imagined, which was pretty much a complete shock to me. I had done a prototype that I liked well enough, but I never did a second prototype with the changes I wanted to make to the original, I just dove in (it was down to a time crunch) and I thought they turned out just lovely. The knitted lace part was out of the most luxurious Ella Rae bamboo silk yarn, and it is really hard to resist just petting these little pillows and rubbing them against your face. Here's one in action, I wish I had a good shot of the younger child with hers, she was so serious about holding it up just right.

Perfect Day

2009-05-10T22:47:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was wonderful. My only complaint is that it went too fast (I know, all brides say that, but there were so many moments I wanted to freeze time and just breathe it all in). Two of my best friends helped me get ready and drank champagne out of the bottle with me to calm my nerves. The ceremony was rich with detail and deeply meaningful to us both. The party in the vineyard was time spent with almost every person I love.

We laughed a lot. We cried a little. It sprinkled just enough for luck. We hula hooped. We ran through the grass. There was casual knitting with wine and conversation. There were quilts spread under the oak trees. My daughters were so beautiful my heart hurts to think about it. I married my best friend. Perfect.

I will link to a flickr album once I finish rounding up pictures from family and friends (for some reason we didn't take many ourselves). I do love these that Jay took as we ran around after almost all the guests were gone, with the shawl that was finished thanks to my mother dragging it out of my hands two days before the wedding.

Quilt Camp!

2009-05-06T22:59:00.003-04:00

Quilt camp was so much fun that we have already scheduled two more for later this year. I only got to go a couple of days, but my mom, aunt and friend Audrey were at it for a week and got lots completed considering camp includes lots of vodka tonics and the occasional nap. My aunt finished her first two quilts, baby quilts for coworkers:

Audrey came with a suitcase full of uncut fabric and left with a quilt top! She had plenty of help deciding exactly how the blocks should be laid out and Rillion was there to help with pictures:

My mom made all the blocks for a quilt she started, and also put in some time on the neverending wedding shawl.

I finished the aforementioned napkins and put in some time on the shawl too, I really look forward to working on a non-wedding related project at the next quilt camp. Of course, I will probably be working on the quilt made from the napkins, so I guess that is still wedding related. We really did have a great time, and the beasts definitely did not want us to leave. Look at these pitiful pup faces trying to go home in the car with us!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

2009-05-02T20:36:00.003-04:00

I think it is very important to point out to everyone that the wedding napkins have been done for a whole week, that's two weeks before the wedding people! I really thought I would be still sewing these the night before the wedding, but thanks to the help of many people, some of them complete strangers, they were done in plenty of time. My mom sewed a very large stack, and my friend Audrey flew through a stack of them last weekend at quilt camp (she would tell you it was thousands, but really it was about 15). And then about a week and a half ago I had one of the best mail days ever because all of the ones below arrived!

A fabulous box of napkins from Mary in Virginia, including wine charms in our wedding colors and a little kit to make fabric flowers, sooooo stinkin' cute!

And, her friend Sandy apparently joined the festivities too and included these lovelies:

And also Chris, from my neck of the woods, sent these along:

I really just kind of walk around with a goofey smile on my face whenever I think of these napkins and these ladies, they are like 19 little hugs and best wishes from the blogosphere, just awesome. Thank you all so much!

And here is what 70 finished cocktail napkins looks like... seems like that stack should look a lot taller, huh? But they are all there, I've counted several times.

I'm super excited to see them in use next weekend. Eek! Next weekend!

Signs of Summer Approaching

2009-04-29T21:17:00.003-04:00

For me, a Dave Matthews show is a sure sign that summer is near. We missed his free show at Piedmont Park last year and were not about to miss his first show at the new Encore Park amphitheater near us. It was fantastic, as always, and the new amphitheater is quite lovely. Hopefully they will have lots of good musicians visting there soon. It feels like such an endulgence to only have to drive 20 minutes to see a show instead of over an hour.

I have been experiencing technical difficulties between my camera and my computer, but I think I have things figured out and have lots to post about, so more soon!

Quilt Festival

2009-04-17T19:38:00.002-04:00

Around this time last year, I was totally green with envy that my mom was getting ready to jaunt off to Paducah for their annual quilt show without me, and so I hosted my own little quilt show. It just so happens that this year Amy over at Park City Girl is hosting a virtual quilt show asking people to post their favorite quilt. I have different quilts that are my favorite for all different reasons, but this one remains to be my all-time favorite because it is the one that first got me really excited about quilting and all the possibilites fabric as an art medium can hold.

I went through a major phase where I was obsessed with fabric folding. It sort of became a joke among my quilty friends because it was all I did or thought about. This quilt came out of that phase and I still love it. It hangs in my daughter's bedroom and I gaze at it from time to time and still wonder about the fact that it even exists. This quilt took a ton of focus, detrmination to make a design work, and is full of techniques that I learned just to make it and have probably since forgotten. It looks totally different in the changing light throughout the day and sometimes the batiks seem to just glow. This quilt will always be a symbol to me of my fascination with manipulating fabric and bringing to life something that has been knocking around in my head. Pics are from a few different angles to capture the variegated thread quilting and all those sequins I sewed on.

This year, instead of going to Paducah, my mom and aunt are hosting Quilt Camp to work on all the projects they bought at Paducah last year, and I'm thrilled to be able to go! It will be a great chance to get a lot of sewing and knitting done, something I haven't really had time to focus on lately. And there could possibly be the consumption of a few cocktails, you just never know what can happen when a bunch of wild quilters get together!

Yes, I'm supposed to be sewing napkins...

2009-04-13T21:15:00.002-04:00

... but I got a gift card to the yarn shop for my birthday. And my lovely mom got me one of these:

and now it is just sooooo much fun to make these:

and she also happened to mention about how this yarn would make a lovely shawl for my wedding when it gets cool in the evening. So, it's true, now there is another wedding project. She actually told me I could leave the yarn at her house and she would work on it, but I had already dropped two other projects off at her house that day. Plus, how could I leave this yarn behind anywhere? Really, just a few more weeks and then I will find something to blog about besides wedding stuff. Really!

Really?

2009-03-28T12:39:00.003-04:00

After I posted the first pics of my little wedding napkin project I got a comment from a reader suggesting that she and possibly others would be interested in contributing a napkin to my wedding. I thought to myself, nah, no one would want to do that. Then this reader posted on Sew Mama Sew and someone else showed interest. Then I had another comment. So, since this dear person named Mary, whom I have never met or even really talked to, planted this idea in my head I have spent a lot of time thinking about how gosh darn cool it would be to have actual real people who read my blog contribute to this. So I am shoving to the side my humble quiet nature and am just going to put the details out there. Even if I was only sent one little napkin I would be beside myself with excitement! If this is something you would like to participate in then hop on over to Mary's forum post and join in the chatter or leave a comment here (if she had a blog of course I would link but apparently she doesn't). The fabrics I am using are random ones that have a combination of turquoise/aqua/spring green. I have found these colors in the Amy Butler Daisy Chain line, the Moda Soiree line, some of Anna Maria Horners fabrics and others (a few samples shown in the pic). My squares are cut 9 inch square, put right sides together and sewn around the edge with a quarter inch seam. Of course I leave a hole to turn them right side out, press the unsewn fabric straight along the edge and sew a quarter inch seam aroung the edge again. Very basic. Oh, and I am using two different fabrics for the front and back. If you want to send one just email me at katebrid at gmail dot com and I will shamelessly send you my address.

Edited to Add: Forgot to mention two things... I clip the corners before turning them inside out and I don't wash my fabrics before sewing with them. I don't think it would make that much difference for the quilt I will eventually make out of these if some were prewashed, but I didn't want anyone to think that they needed to prewash the fabrics.

Mom Awesomeness

2009-03-23T18:00:00.001-04:00

My mom (the one who likes to leave witty comments on my blog posts like, "what wedding?") is always a driving factor behind my sewing, knitting and crafting. She is the one that taught me to sew and knit orginally and the one that I ultimately go to when I am stuck on a project. Her advice, which usually starts with, "Now Kate, let's think about this..." has gotten me out of many a crafty jam, and just when I think I know it all about sewing or knitting she goes and learns something new and then happily shares whatever it is (because she knows I can't stand to not know how to do something) in her patient manner. She has finished two great projects lately, and since she has yet to venture into having her own blog I told her I was going to share her finished objects on mine. The shawl above is an example of how she can seriously rock some knitting needles, but it is the quilt below that shows the true depth of her skill and heart.

T-shirt quilts are a pain to make to begin with... the fabric is stretchy, it all has to be backed with stabilizer, you often have all different size squares from cutting around the t-shirt art and sewing it all together gets thick and hard to push through your machine. We both cringe at the thought of making t-shirt quilts, but this one is so special that there was no way she wasn't going to make it. We have a family friend that had a daughter recently lose a long battle with cystic fybrosis, and this quilt was made out of her t-shirts for her sister to take to college. My mom struggled with this quilt from conception to completion, not just because t-shirt quilts are challenging to make, but because the emotional investment and pressure to do a really great job was pretty intense. I am so proud of her for finishing this quilt and for how great it turned out. I know it was a journey for her, and I think it really shows how a quilt can be so much more than the time and fabric invested in it.

3 Down, 77 To Go

2009-03-20T14:16:00.003-04:00

Apparently I really am crazy enough to make 80 cocktail napkins for my upcoming wedding because I actually started on this project last weekend. (There is often a large gap between thinking I will do something and really doing it). Getting started was very satisfying, you have a finished object about every five minutes with these! I have already informed my mother and Melissa that they will be cranking out some napkins too, and they didn't seem horrified at the thought, so hopefully these really will get done. I am already trying to decide what sort of quilt to make with them after the wedding. Oh! And they are a real reason to buy more fabric. It is so strange to have an actual reason...

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-03-08T19:53:00.002-04:00

So, not only is the new job completely kicking my butt, we are in the middle of trying to plan every detail of our upcoming May wedding. We finally got out to the vineyard where we are having it this weekend to look around the space and plan for chair setup, tent placement, etc. Definitely getting a little buried in the details that need tending to, but we got a lot done this weekend and I'm sure we will get a lot of other important things finalized this week, like ordering invitations and the final design for our rings. Getting those taken care of will make me feel a lot better. So, want to see the vineyard? It is Three Sisters Vineyard in north Georgia, the vines are all naked at the moment so you have to imagine everything all green and pretty, as if it isn't pretty enough already...

There's my Jay on the left, and our friends Billy and Meredith joined us for the lovely ride in the country.

Hopefully I will be doing some of this the day of the wedding too, we are trying to keep it a pretty laid back affair. I'm just hoping for weather as lovely as yesterday was.

My sewing ideas are leaning towards wedding stuff pretty full throttle right now, I want to make ring pillows for the girls to carry, cocktail napkins that can later be made into a quilt and since we are planning on having lots of quilts at the wedding for lounging and wine sipping, I would love to crank out a simple, pretty one for us in our turquoise-y wedding colors, we'll see.

New Routine In Progress

2009-02-22T21:02:00.004-05:00

This past week has been a bit of an end of an era for me. The last two years I have had the pleasure of working from home, my commute consisted of a walk through my living room to my office. Due to my job disappearing, lately I have been forced to put myself out there in a horrific job market to find something new. My first instinct in times like these is to go hide under the bed, but I sucked it up and with several pep talks from my Jay and my mom and pretty much everyone else that knows me managed to search out and get a great job. The only down side to the new job that I can find so far is that I have to commute downtown 4 days a week (this is a good solid hour each way). It's been a bit stressful for this chronic suburbanite, but I have been learning new things every day. I'm quite able to entertain myself during the commute with my ipod and lots of new podcasts, but it all seriously cuts into my craft time. If only I could knit and drive at the same time! I started last Monday and the new job, along with my youngest ending up having pneumonia, definitely contributed to it being very quiet on my blog. Hopefully all will settle into a routine soon and I will figure out how to fit petting fabric and yarn into my new schedule. Now, if only I could convince them to let me bring this very important desk accesory with me to my new job...

Love is...

2009-02-14T10:29:00.002-05:00

...handmade Valentines! They worked soooo hard on these for their classes. The seven year old did the owls and the five year old did the kitties. Making our own Valentine cards is quickly becoming one of my favorite holiday traditions, hopefully one they won't outgrow anytime soon.

On the back: Whoooo will be your Valentine? Owl be your Valentine!

On the back: You are the Purr-fect friend. Happy Valentine's day!

Super Magical Pillowcase Tutorial

2009-02-12T09:10:00.004-05:00

The day I finally understood how to make a pillowcase using this method was a total revelation to me. It is so easy and it still feels magical after many a pillowcase. Some call it the tube method, some (somewhat crazy) people call it the sausage method. The magic of it is that you end up making the whole edge of the pillowcase with just one seam (the contasting end fabric, thin accent fabric, and the rest of the pillowcase fabric) and no raw edges showing. So then, you are just left with having to sew up the other two edges.

There are lots of pictures, so I made a pictobrowser for the tutorial. The "notes" on each picture contain the directions. (If you are using a reader you will have to click through to my blog)

Edited: The pictobrowser seems to not be working... here is a link to the flickr set that has directions included with each picture:

Pillowcase Tutorial

Jungle It Up - Third and Final Phase

2009-02-09T12:32:00.002-05:00

I got to work yesterday afternoon and finished up the remaining little touches I wanted to do to the 7 year old's room. I finally recovered her vanity stool with the zebra fabric she wanted. Not sure why I kept putting this off, it took all of about 20 minutes.

I also relined the little drawers on her armoir...

And whipped up a new pillowcase for her bed. I always forget how fun and easy the "magic tube" pillowcase method is.

Such a satisfying little project with big impact that takes less than an hour. Now I'm wanting new custom pillowcases for my bed. I took pictures of the way I do them and will post a tutorial soon. I'm sure it can be found elsewhere on the internet but I mostly want to post it to be able to remind myself how easy they are (and so I don't have to keep searching for that one scrap of paper with measurements on it every time I want to make one).

I think I'm done with jungley things for a while... except there is a lot of that zebra fabric left that would make some fantastic little throw pillows...

New Toy

2009-01-28T21:00:00.000-05:00

While still feeling confident after conquering my first pair of socks, I have decided to start on a project that I have been wanting to make pretty much since I first started knitting. I'm certainly not the only one, Ravelry has 9753 project listings for the Clapotis (from Knitty). This scarf/shawl has lots of stitches that I have never used, increases and dropped stitches. It is also started at a corner instead of an edge. I think it will be just the right challenge. Between knittinghelp.com and my mom I'm sure I can figure out the stitches, I just hope it's as easy as everyone says it is once you get started. Which brings me to what I did today! I got to break out my new yarn winder that my mom got me for Christmas. This is the same little winder that is used at the yarn shop where I have sock guild and is lots of fun. There is something very satisfying about taking a twisted skein of yarn and turning it into a nice neat ball ready to be knit.

Socks! Woohoo!

2009-01-27T10:25:00.002-05:00

(please disregard my goose bumps, it was quite chilly this morning)

I feel as if I have finally made great progress on my knitting journey, I finished my first pair of socks! Now, I was impressed with myself when I whipped up Jay's hat for Christmas, but I am really a bit too excited about this whole sock thing. It is strangely satisfying even though people keep asking me "why don't you just go buy a pair of socks?". At least if modern industry completely melts down I know for sure that my family will continue to have warm feet. These socks were just a basic pattern provided by my local yarn shop at sock knitting lessons and they are knit with Sheep Shop Yarn Company yarn in sheep number three color G152. They actually have quite a few free patterns on their site I just discovered, you have to click on the different yarns (the different sheep) and then they have a button for free patterns using that yarn. Oh, and last night I came across Knitting Pattern Central which lists tons of free patterns from all over the web and I also found an awesome Sock-u-lator that if you put in your measurements it gives you a basic pattern for whatever size you need (you can customize how long you want your sock and other stuff). I was looking for child size sock patterns because of course the girls want socks and I have a lot of leftover yarn from these ones. She also has all kinds of other calculators here.

So, lots of beginning knitters say they will never knit socks, I have to admit I kind of scoffed at the idea at one time, but they really are fun. Also, you look really cool using four needles at once. I also just bought a book about how to do two socks at one time on circular needles and am very interested in giving that a try, I think finishing two socks at once would be downright joyous! Socks are also a very portable project. I knit these:

-while watching movies

-at sock guild

-at the bus stop

-on the chaise bird watching with the cats

-while the girls took very long baths

-at Melissa's dinner party (I was cramming for sock lessons the next day)

-at quilt guild

-while driving Jay to work when the squirrels ate his car (well, he drove, I knit)

-in the drivethru line at the bank

and who knows how many other random places.

One row takes me two and a half minutes, so really they are easy to pull out and get a bit done just about anywhere.

Jungle It Up - Phase Two

2009-01-26T16:26:00.002-05:00

When we first moved into our current house two years ago, my oldest daughter wanted her new room to have a "jungle vibe" to it. I let her pick her wall color, which of course turned out to be a very vibrant green, and I made some kind of meager efforts at bringing in the jungle feel like letting her have a jungle themed canopy over her bed, some pictures and some animal print bed stuff. Also, Grammy made her a perfect jungle fabric pillowcase. Well, fast-forward two years to me receiving the Hancocks of Paducah catalog a few weeks ago. They were featuring the cutest Laurel Burch jungle animals panel and accent fabrics. Finally some fabrics that actually inspired me to "jungle it up" some more in her room. I sat the child down and really discussed with her if the whole jungle theme was a passing whim or something she was committed too. After her reassurances that she was still all about the jungle look (and reminding me that I had bought zebra fabric to cover her vanity stool and never got around to it) I ordered the fabrics. I have been so pleased with them. I finished up the panel wall hanging last night and got it hung today. I tried to get pictures of all the hot-fix crystals I put on it, but of course they are almost impossible to photograph. Also, it was cloudy and overcast all day while I was trying to get pics and then when I sat down to do this post the sun came streaming out. It was hard to not go take down the wallhanging and retake pics, but in the interest of actually getting a post done today I resisted. Here are some closeups of a few of the great animals (the snake is by far my favorite):

Here is where it now lives (her walls are much greener than the picture conveys, the cloudy light kind of washed them out)...

Phase three will involve finally covering her vanity stool in the zebra fabric I already have, another pillowcase made out of coordinating fabrics to the wall hanging, and I am also going to put the same fabrics in the glass fronts of her drawers on her armoir, they currently just have a kind of generic green fabric behind the glass. Then I think I will be done! Even though some jungley storage cubes to go in those top squares of her bookcase would be cute and help hide clutter, and there are soooo many good tutorials online...

Change I Can Believe In!

2009-01-20T19:26:00.003-05:00

Ok, the day's festivities were great fun and wow can our new president deliver a speech, but I have other very important change to talk about here people! Mainly, a new recipe that has forever changed two of my most beloved desserts... brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Did you know that you can actually combine the two?!! I came across this post at Bakerella and have been dreaming about it ever since. Then, after seeing the patriotic cupcake medallions on Crafty Crow I came up with a perfect excuse to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies. Festive occasions always deserve festive desserts in my book (and champagne). Seriously, I don't know if I will ever make the two separately again, they were that good. I highly suggest throwing your new year's resolution out the window and indulging in these as soon as possible!

This is... the obsessive compulsive thing I do to start off the new year.

2009-01-15T12:41:00.003-05:00

Jennifer was all talk at quilt guild last week about getting our "This Is..." weekly meme going again. I had my doubts that she really would because she has been on quite the blog hiatus, but by george she did and wrote about her insane new-year-fridge-cleaning that she undertakes each January. I have to admit, the only time my fridge gets that thorough of a cleaning is if something sticky and disgusting gets spilled down the back wall, and even then I try to ignore it for quite sometime beforehand.

However, each January I do embark on a very thorough nest cleaning and reorganizing. Ahem, my "studio" is always in need of a major revamping after the flurry of holiday activity and thanks to my mother's crafty gifts and gift certificates I often have new stuff that I need to find room for. Well this year I didn't just straighten, I undertook an all-out room reorg. I share my nest with the girls' playroom/craft area in a huge finished bonus room over our garage. Before now all of "my stuff" was sort of in the middle of the room, on the largest wall (I KNOW I have a picture of my area before, but of course I can't find it anywhere, next up organize pictures on hard drive). Now I have rearranged things so that I have a whole corner and really half of the room to myself. Everything is within reach and I even got my rulers hung on the wall, something I've been meaning to do for ages. Jay says that when I wear my pink sweatpants and shirt he can't even find me over in my nook (he says this to pester me, the pink walls drive me crazy but the girls are emphatic that I am never allowed to paint over them. We'll see about that.). Of course by the time I took this picture I was well into my first project of the year, so it isn't so neat anymore, but just being able to see some of the table is quite impressive!

This is the rest of the room... now all over there:

And here is a peak at what I am busy working on... love these Laurel Burch jungle prints. Loved them so much that the 7 year old is getting a new wall hanging for her jungle themed room just for the heck of it.

The first project of the year...

2009-01-10T13:33:00.002-05:00

...was not completed by me. And really, my oldest didn't need nearly as much help as I thought she would. We covered the very basic fundamentals of piecing, layering and quilting. I thought I was being super clever by convincing her to put minky on the back so that we didn't have to put any batting in the middle (I thought two layers would be much easier for her to handle for a first quilt) but I forgot that minky is really quite slippery and a little tricky to maneuver. So, I did the sewing around the edge of the quilt before flipping it inside out, but she did all the layout, piecing and quilting. She did learn a fair bit about unstitching and our friend the seam ripper while doing the piecing, and in true meticulous first-child fashion she often ripped and resewed pieces that I thought were fine. We are both very proud of her first creation with her new sewing machine. Now I just have to teach her to be sure to label everything she makes (unlike her often slack mama).

2008 Completed Projects

2009-01-01T21:30:00.002-05:00

Wow, it feels so productive to group everything together! I'm really looking forward to 2009 and all the craft/sewing/knitting possibilities it holds.

Scarves, finally!

2008-12-29T19:54:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated the last day of Hanukkah and the girls got to open the scarves I made. I think they liked them! They were both impressed that I was able to keep them secret when they were constantly bugging me to make scarves for them every time I knitted anything. Hanukkah was definitely a hit with the little ones, they got to play with fire, get eight days of presents, play games and try to speak in a very funny (to them) language. I enjoyed it too, it really had us spending some great, low-key time hanging out as a family during a very hectic time of year. It's a great holiday for giving handmade gifts because they aren't just lost in a flurry of presents!

The oldest wanted to make sure that everyone noticed her new scarf coordinates with her slinky...

Merry and Bright...

2008-12-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

A little peek at why my Christmas was especially merry...

Handmade Holiday Goodness

2008-12-27T19:07:00.002-05:00

There were some fantastic handmade gifts under the tree this year... here we are all modeling them in a cheesey Christmas morning picture:

My mom was verrrry busy. She made a scarf for my dad and brother. She knitted super cute mice for the girls and even made me a bat from a pattern I had put in my favorites on Ravelry. Most impressive was the stocking she made for Jay in three weeks!!! We saw the kit in a yarn shop the week of Thanksgiving and I thought she would get it done for next year, but no she is obviously a knitting superwoman. I made Jay the hat, it has been killing me to not post about it for months. It is the Kim's Hat pattern from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, in cashmere. Here's a better look...

And the mice and bat (I have yet to come up with a suitable name...)

Now I must return to my holiday and more of this:

Double Festival of Lights

2008-12-21T20:49:00.005-05:00

There's a lot of covert crafting and secret shopping missions going on around here, but we took some time this evening to celebrate the solstice and also the first day of Chanukkah. It was a really nice break from all the craziness! It was a double festival of lights by the time we go done lighting the last of the 21 solstice candles and the menorah. Jay dusted off his hebrew and said the prayers, we had some dreidel action and the girls were thrilled to get to open a present so early. I think we all had fun starting some new traditions this year.

New Bird Friend

2008-12-16T11:21:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to whip up some birds from the Spool pattern that has been all over the place lately for quite some time, but just have not gotten around to it. Much to my surprise, last week Melissa called me and said she was coming by to drop something off and it was one of these lovely little birds. She said she saw the pattern and thought of me, oh it's so nice to be thought of! This little guy made my day. He has moved all around my tree talking to the other bird ornaments, but now he resides on the curly-que ironwork that is the base of my lamp on my desk. Perfect company and a reminder to make him some friends. Thanks Mel!

There is a whole flickr group of these guys here!

Ornament Exchange!

2008-12-14T11:57:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun participating in the Crafty Crow ornament exchange this year. They divided participants into groups of eight. Our group had kids from Alaska, New York, Florida, Arizona, California, Idaho and Minnesota. I had never joined in an ornament exchange before, so I really had no idea how many different stages of excitement it would hold! There's of course the making of our own onaments to send out:

The ornaments we made:

The packaging:

The great fun of getting mail and ripping into it, then looking at the map to see where each ornament had traveled from.

Getting to see what everyone else made and of course decorating the tree! (the girls have their own tree and they really love pointing out each new ornament and telling where it is from).

My new job can be official squirrel trapper...

2008-12-09T15:32:00.005-05:00

...because I have now had quite a bit of experience.

Do not be fooled by this furry little thing's attempt to be cute. They are nefarious, persistent and evil little pests. Obviously there is a story behind my blog suddenly being hijacked by a squirrel. Last week, a very unsuspecting Jay went out to start his car and it would not start. He had not moved his car for ten days after having his wisom teeth out and then having dry sockets and then getting sick, so he thought that maybe the battery was dead. The next day we tried to jump-start it with no luck. So, the car got towed off to find out what the problem was. Yes, squirrels. They had built a nest in his engine and chewed through his wiring. $400 worth of damage. He got the car fixed and all was fine until Saturday. Our neighbor, a slightly paranoid officer of the law and good friend, called Jay to ask if he had seen any suspicious people in his driveway because he thought someone had cut the wires on his truck. Jay assured him that he was not being stalked but had been a target of our evil squirrels while Jay's car was off getting fixed. They met up in the driveway and Jay went to show him what the squirrels had been up to in his own car. When he opened up the hood a squirrel shot out at his head and scampered off, and sure enough the wires had been chewed through. Again. After a lot of squirrel cursing and quite a bit of throwing rocks at the heckling critters, I went off to my uncle's and returned with a squirrel trap. As of this morning I have successfully trapped three squirrels. Much to Jay and my neighbor's dismay, they have all been driven off and released into the wild (well, one was released behind a liquor store on our way to dinner yesterday, but there were trees). It seems like every time I trap one I see about four other squirrels standing around near the trapped one, so this could go on for quite some time. I am determined to greatly reduce the squirrel population around my home, especially since I spent a thousand dollars last spring sealing up the attic and having our phone line rewired. They also started in on my neighbor's other car, so for now the score stands at squirrels: 4 cars (counting Jay's twice) and thousands of dollars worth of damage, humans: 3 squirrels captured and released. I'm afraid the squirrels are way ahead for now.

Did you know that squirrels growl? They do. Quite loudly too.

Two Presents Done!

2008-12-02T11:55:00.002-05:00

Melissa and my Mom came over for another Sunday sewing session this past weekend and I cheated and knitted instead. We are always so productive during these gatherings, my mom finished the project she was working on and Melissa got a lot of this handsome fellow done. I finished up the Christmas/Hannukah scarves for the girls, yay! Of course I couldn't have the girls model them since they are a surprise, and it is waaaaay to cold outside to go find a pretty tree to hang them on, so my back-up model stood in. He was doing quite well until one of the cats came on the scene and sat behind me while I took pics. I can just imagine the heckling that was going on. Look at how he has his eyes narrowed at her in the last picture... don't worry, he was well rewarded with milk bones. I sure hope the girls like their scarves!

Thanksgiving Southern Style

2008-12-01T21:07:00.002-05:00

Doesn't this look like some kind of ancient turkey torture device? Apparently, after watching way too many episodes of Alton Brown my dad decided this is the way to fry a turkey, can't really argue since the turkey was delicious! I just see it as a sign that craftiness is hiding in everyone, they just have to find an outlet for it.

Nana's Pound Cake... (made by my step-mom):
Pioneer Woman's Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake (made by me!):

We did the usual family gathering and copius amounts of food consumption. However, the main focus of the evening ended up being my cousin's dog, Beaver. I think we all considered abducting him at some point and my mom is still talking about what a great dog he is. I will post some completed craftiness tomorrow if I can get enough light to take good pictures, we had grayness and snow today.

Ridiculous Five Year Project

2008-11-19T15:59:00.003-05:00

The story behind this little quilt is a sad, sad example of how easily distracted those of us with fabric addictions can be. I started this quilt for my unborn second child five years ago people! Also, it can hardly be called a quilt. She was going to have a fairy themed room and I came across this cute fairy fabric and decided to just make a quick blanket with the fairies on one side and minky on the other. Minky had just come out and this little project was mostly an excuse to use the super soft stuff. It should have taken me a weekend at most to complete this. Well, I put the two pieces together, freemotion quilted little flowers all over it and put it aside to do the binding later. So, it sat. And sat. My second daughter was born and then I had a newborn. Unlike all the blogs I read from people that have like five babies running around and still sew daily, I got nothing done in the sewing department with a baby in the house. I then went through a Jane Sassaman obsession where I started a new quilt (known as the butterfly quilt, also unfinished to this day) and then I decided I would learn to hand applique and started that project and then, well, my life fell apart. So, to somewhat get to the point, I unpacked this quilt at my new house and put it in a prominent place so I would finish it. And it sat. I made this quilt and this quilt and started a myriad of new projects and then I felt really guilty... and then! and then! (is anyone still reading this?) Melissa came over last weekend to sew and I decided the time had come to finally get the binding on this quilt. And I did! And now I have no idea why I didn't just finish it to begin with. Oh well. I did notice a great thing about this quilt. When you just take a full cut of fabric and throw on a backing you end up with the perfect size rectangle for kids to use on their nap mats at preschool. You see, that's what I intended for it all along!

Socks for Christmas

2008-11-16T08:31:00.002-05:00

Usually one would not be overjoyed to receive socks for Christmas. However, this year I have already received one of my Christmas presents, which was indeed socks, and I could not be more pleased! My aunt and mom have been chatting for weeks about joining a sock guild at a yarn shop that I had never been to, but my aunt had no idea how to knit a sock. I thought the idea of a sock guild was intriguing, but I also had no idea how to go about knitting a sock and it was quite a few things-to-learn down on my project list. That all changed last week when my aunt called me practically giggling and asked me to join her in private sock lessons at the yarn store, The Whole Nine Yarns, as an early Christmas present. I was definitely up for that adventure and yesterday we went for our first lesson. If you knit, and you live in the Atlanta area, and you have not been to The Whole Nine Yarns... GO! This place is a knitters dream and I was overjoyed to see that it was absolutely packed with people taking lessons, buying stuff, and supporting the local yarn economy. So many quilt and yarn shops come and go very quickly, but this place is definitley doing a lot right and creating a knit community. Our instructor was delightful and got us both on the road to making socks in no time. My aunt had another class after ours which only had one other person in it, so they said I could hang out with them and work on my socks. We were there all afternoon chatting, viewing different yarn combinations for some pillows my aunt wants to knit, looking at books and chatting some more. It was quite invigorating to be around tons of people that share the same crazy passion for yarn and color and all its possibilities.

As I was walking to my car I did do a little mental head slapping for having bought more yarn (the perfect combination for a scarf to match my new jacket had to come home with me) and even a new book, not to mention joining the monthly sock guild myself! Clearly I had lost my mind. But then I looked down at the ground as I walked and noticed that it was sprinkled with tiny, red, heart shaped leaves. A little reminder from the universe to embrace what you love, and just be happy. At least that's how I saw it.

And So It Begins

2008-11-11T21:04:00.002-05:00

The seven year old has been in craft heaven the last two days because Grammy got her a Janome Hello Kitty sewing machine for her birthday. She has had three "lessons" and rarely talks about anything else. The first thing she said at 6:30 Monday morning was, "Mom, I think today is a terrific day to learn how to sew" and the last thing she said to me when she went to bed tonight was "What are you going to teach me about sewing tomorrow?". So far she has practiced following a straight line and then following the line with the edge of her presser foot, she really has done much better than I thought she would. Today I did have to teach her one of the most important lessons in sewing... "When you start to get frustrated it is important to get up and walk away, then come back to it later". It's a lesson that I still have to remind myself of quite often. I have stopped hovering over her every second and am just letting her "go at it" as Melissa told me to today (so of course I will blame her if the child sews her fingers together). Her concentration is quite good, she didn't even stop sewing to ask me "are you taking pictures of me for your blog again?". Yep.

Birthday Quilt!

2008-11-04T12:10:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe there is now a 7 year old living in my house (even though sometimes lately it seems like she is about 13). I saw this quilt kit when we were in Nashville and fell in love with the Moda Full Moon Forrest fabrics (each one has different animals hidden in the design) and snatched it up with the intention of making a birthday quilt. Thank goodness the pattern, "Just Can't Cut It", was super simple and I was able to make it in basically two weekends. Melissa and mom came over for an intense Sunday sewing session last weekend and I got most of it done then.

Of course now the younger child is begging for a new quilt of her own. I am determined this week to finish the quilt that I started for her when she was born, um, almost five years ago. It has been waiting for binding that whole time. That is really, really embarrassing. Especially since it was just one piece of fairy fabric and one piece of minkie on the back. In my defense, everyone else made her quilts when she was born and mine was just a quick blanket I was whipping up to go with her fairy room. Sometimes it sucks to be the second child, but hopefully that will distract her for a bit until I come up with something fabulous for her January birthday.