Knitting to stay sane

Starting something, when I had many others on needles, is the thing to do, just to make oneself happy...  Most of all, I need to have socks on needles in case I have to go out.  But who's going out these days?  Not me.  So I started socks with this beautiful yarn only to discover that it was SOOOO beautiful that I couldn't stand the thought of wearing it on my feet!

Using my book of  Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders I found this pattern called Celeste Shawl.  The photos in the book really didn't do it justice, and I was fully prepared to get to a point where it would be disappointing and I would rip it out.

But it didn't disappoint, and with blocking to bring out a pointed edge, I LOVE IT!  And the color!!!

 Yarn: Rockshelter Sock by Meadowcroft Dyeworks.  100% merino. YUM!
And speaking of YUM...

I'm learning about sourdough bread making.  This is definitely my best attempt at making the "big hole" type of "rustic" sourdough.  A friend shared her starter, and recipe, and with the help of the Internet I've been making bread 2-3 times a week.  

Plus, the need for face masks... I've made 4 so far, for ourselves.  I've been tempted to make them in great numbers like my friends have, to give to the many who are requesting them, yet, when I get done with 2 (at a time) I'm not as eager to continue.

Stay safe!

Other projects

This doll (tops turvy) has languished in a drawer for 5-6 years.  Celina made the skirt, I did the rest.  All she needed for Christmas was the red hair and face!  Perfect for a seven year old granddaughter.

This well worn pullover... has been dismantled and someday will be repurposed as a stuffed toy.

Someday...

Nanny Sewing

Sorry... These will be late reports on activities over the summer.  I could have posted in July.

Spending the summer in Norway, not a warm summer, but averaging 15ºC as the high temperature, I willingly put a quilt on my lap.  This is the quilt that my daughter pieced more than 10 years ago, and I have been quilting it periodically.  I pointed out (a year ago) that it wouldn't get finished if it was tucked away on a spare bedroom bed that was 100 miles away. It traveled back to Bergen with us a year ago, and this summer I managed to complete 3/4 of the inner border.  It had lots of competition!

Trips to the museums, the aquarium, playgrounds, daycare and school...and

In the first week I was there, I sewed this pretty dress.  She's a perfect size for a six-year-old. And lucky me...she likes to smile. (This is before losing her front teeth!)  Well, the tights aren't exactly a match, but I've learned to make decisions on things that matter.  The smile and photo are well worth it.

Packing for camp (A Preview)

Knitting = Bags

Working Women

All sorts of working. An evening of work for me as a seamstress.  I wish I had taken a "before" photo, because my daughter (the working woman) came home with the smallest size available and 12 hours before take-off... a man's medium.  EVERYTHING needed shortening, but I got away with shortening the sleeves, the leg cuffs, and the bodice (a huge tuck just above the waist.)

Wish I had had her put on steel-toed boots and hard hat for the full effect!
 The biggest part was removing the top+bottom opening zipper and putting it back in.  Amazingly I had the presence of mind to leave it sewn in from the collar down about 5 inches, so I didn't have to line it up again at the top.  She didn't mind that it no longer unzips from the bottom...

Wow! Reflective!

Happy Fourth!

No Yarn Was Harmed...

Sewing time again!

A few months ago, in my stash-busting phase, I selected projects to bring with me for summer.  Although it took me over a month since unpacking, I have been whittling away at my list.

First and most important was the dress for my granddaughter and a matching dolly dress.  I keep thinking I'll get a photo op of the two of them, but it won't happen until possibly this weekend, and ... I just can't wait.  She didn't receive the dolly (and dress) until her birthday, so she got some use of the dress for a few weeks, and she was happy to pose one morning!  She's getting tall... I had sewn this at home and waited to hem;   much to my surprise, I used the whole length. We call this her "New Mexico Dress."  Wild red and turquoise cactus print.

Much to my surprise, the Easter Egg wreath was still on the door, and it didn't go down without a fight--very popular, but last week this appeared instead.  I've had several wire wreath forms in my closet for a shameful number of years.  Confession:  I thought it would be a perfect project for my girl scout troop...uh, in the 90's.  A few leaves were cut out and assembled, so it was, like, "almost" done...Ha!  I used needle and thread for gathering, and a glue gun.  It's only a little more than 12" wide.  Kind of cute, and summery. (Do I have to make one for each season?  I'll keep that in mind.)

And most recently, placemats.  The dreaded failure of the first attempt (which still plans to be a doll skirt) set me back, but I'm still determined to stash-bust.  And certainly, if I carry this stuff to Norway, it isn't going back!  You can see that the funny (non-rectangular) pieces are from the snafu, and I sewed them together to make...strips.  As with any stash-busting project (of mine), I run out of colours, so each one is "unique".  The next four will be...very different.  Maybe there won't be another four...?

 This is the simplest of all patterns where you pile the batting on the backing and start stitching top pieces.  Trim them up and add a binding.  Even the binding I had from another project!  I'm happy!  (Will there ever be an empty bin from stash-busting?  A life-time goal, my friends!)

Sure, the sun is shining, and I could be outside knitting...  Happy Summer!

From the past...

A few months ago, I was sitting home alone, and I had an extra bed, and an extra room, and a wave of throw-things-out came over me.  The truth is, I'm a mini-hoarder, with stashes of yarn, and fabric. I don't even know for sure, but there are blogs from August 22 and September 4 and 8, 2010 showing my (lack of) progress.  Almost four years later I reached up to the top shelf, after moving the bagged pieces and project every six months, and I thought NOW IS THE TIME!
I was spurred on by a duvet that has never had a well-fitted cover, and instead of going out and buying fabric, I decided to be thrifty, and finish.
The truest sense of the meaning:  Scrap Quilt, yet it will be a duvet cover, with no batting.

It will be waiting for me to finish when I get home, so I can't promise a finished project until... it's finished.  I couldn't bear the thought of hand-quilting so my favourite fabric store took it with a 3 week backorder for machine quilting.
It could go back on the shelf....I wonder... 

Travel

I am reminded of a quote from the sixth-century Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tzu, founder of Daoism:

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."

Airline travel in a nutshell!

What has happened?  I found myself with a many legged air ticket that takes me to visit my uncle, my friends, my daughter and family, and knitter friends to be.  Hang on!

Before I left, I had a fit of sewing... and when I have a fit of anything, well, I end up with a lot of ideas, and too little time.  That's why my checked bag came in at 49.7 pounds (the limit is 50), AND a box was send in the mail.  My travels are for 2-1/2 months...  You see my dilemma, perhaps?

One thing now and more later:  I thought I was clever, and I thought I was a master quilter (I guess), but I'm NOT!  The "Castle Wall" beat it out of me...   It looked so nice when the pieces were laid out:

Then

I sewed one together, and nothing matched, and I was pivoting to sew seams at angles, and **** it came out all wrong, and not the least bit flat.  

Does it look flat?  Yes, it's pressed flat with several lovely folds/pleats.  

Plan 2b:  Sew all the parts together and make something less challenging.  It will be a doll skirt... Perfecto!

Bag-o-blocks

Without meaning to advertise a certain type of building blocks, I would like to show you something fashioned from a pin on pinterest which deals with a number of problems.  Number one problem is TINY pieces, lost on the carpet.

Now they are easily contained, and the minky fabric is a delight to sit on.  I tried a drawstring first, but it's too bulky to cinch up, so I sewed eight tabs which can be collected with a carabiner, and YAY!  There's also a pocket for some set booklets and building ideas.  

One of many projects around the house with a four-year-old.

Busy?

It's TRUE!  I get things done when I'm busy... hmmm.  That sounds a bit like---duh!  Busy=Productive!
But that isn't what I mean.  It seems like I have been relaxed and idle all Summer, and suddenly with one week until September, which brings a visit from my daughter and granddaughter, I can think of a zillion things I wanted to do before they get here.  So here it goes!
I have taken on one class, twice a week, which means I get out of the house on a schedule two mornings a week, and dang!  I suddenly want to pull weeds, and sew!  Sewing:  You have to do it at home, that is, if you want to use the sewing machine!  A project I started thinking of last Spring, and carted to Norway in May, and never touched a stitch, until last weekend, is now to the point where I don't want to finish until I get some feedback.
It's a little purse, cute as can be, by Betz White called Caitlyn Handbag.  Here's my attempt using fabric I purchased a few years ago.

 The greenish band at the top is really turquoise... I think!   It's made with pleats, and I'm stuck.  What color should the strap be?  You tell me!  The strap is supposed to be 36" long (1 meter), and skinny, so my visuals are not to scale.

 Or

 Big button?

 Little button?  The button is ornamental.  There's a magnet snap under it.

So far, I like it!  I'm going to have to make more...
What do you say about the strap?  It could be in the red fabric but I have to send for it... It's in Norway. Or maybe they still have it at the shop.  The other fabric I brought back with me, and I thought I was clever.  

Welcome, 2013!

What can I say?  It all ended with optimism, creativity, carefree, innocence... (2012), and when I awoke this morning, I proceeded to recognize disaster, ruin, and ... another lesson in learning from my mistakes. (2013)
It started more than a year ago, with itchy fingers, and a search for a fair isle pattern.  The pattern: Hearts and Flowers.

Although my Ravelry page lists this project as "frogged", it was really thrown set aside, hoping that it could be used for something... originally it was to be the body of a pullover for a little girl, growing too fast.
That little girl is now 3-1/2 years old and staying with Grandpa and Grandma for a week;  it's a week of cold temps, and occasional snow, (tempting to be eaten snow), and since big puffy mittens are a bit cumbersome, Grandma thinks that this little girl needs some flexible knit mittens.  After some discussion about color (purple/lots of colors) Grandma thinks she has the answer.  And what could be easier?  Put your little hands down on this, and let Grandma trace!  Willingly done.

 Yay!  Off to the sewing machine... but gosh!  Why is that first one so tiny?
Lesson 1:  Tracing the outline of a hand is not the way:  I discover that mittens are 3-dimensional... hmmm.
Soldiering on I make the second larger.  And it turns out pretty well.  Now, will Miss Princess accept a mitten that is so tiny that it squeezes her fingers together?  Of course not!
Lesson 2:  Just knit, knittinglady!  Instead I pieced together the third one, which involved (but not limited to) seaming by machine, trimming, kitchener, and a bleeding wound on my index finger from getting too close to the screw that holds the sewing machine foot etc.  The biggest problem was finding enough cuff to make a third mitten.
Results?  Probably a throw away.  I have 4 more days of cold to get one use out of these... The inside is a disaster:

 I'm not proud, but hope someone is more intelligent than I, and will realize: START LARGE!

Gosh, they could have been SO cute... I better get knitting...

Taking a break...

Life at the museum makes me think of all the things I could be doing at home.  With a day and a half off, I started sewing like... like... well, like I'm going away for a month!  Only a few days left to wrap up projects, and get things done so I don't have to look at them when I return!
One of those ideas is to sew tote bags.  Since I finished one last week, I couldn't wait to start cutting and sewing.
I have this false impression that by doing this I will diminish my fabric stash.  Hardly a dent, my friends!

 I got more and more crazy... the above and below pictures are the same bag.  One outside pocket on the side.  Cactus and...

Fish.  And big roomy pockets on the inside.  I think I'll call it "Wet and Dry".

 Pastel Southwest:  "Cheater blocks" that I always thought I would use for pillows...

 Two outside side pockets.

I used "Fusible Fleece" for filling.  Let's see:  Where should these live?

Bags o' Bags

I've been busy, and we all know that begets busy-ness!  My mind has been churning, how to make less clutter... never mind the yarn stash... but the fabric stash, and the jewelry, and books, and tea cups, and...
Inspired by someone else's sewing of bags that are for sale at the museum gift shop, I thought, "I can do that!  And I have the fabric, too."  What I don't have is the time, and the imagination, and sometimes I need interfacing or fleece backing.  So it isn't ALL stored in the house.
I found a great pattern, and I've begun the task of using scraps, and stashed fabric.  As I started looking at it all, I wished I had taken the time for a color class.  It would definitely step up the visual appeal, but instead, I went ahead and made the first proto-type of what I hope is a long line of bags.

 There's little pocket center front and back.  And when you turn it around, you get a different view!

 Looking inside, you'll see pockets and a nifty label that says I knitted it... oops!

Maybe it means it will be full of knitting!

Bag Business

A cute bag from the cutest of prints! Who recognizes the formulas? Hint: think apples