Crafternoon

 We had a great group for Crafternoon this past weekend with very diverse crafts being represented. 

Maggie and Aly were doing some quilting.  Maggie has a very precise way of pinning pieces of a quilt together to ensure that they don't shift and that the seams you want to line up are in fact aligned.  She taught Aly this pinning method this weekend and as you can see, they're both pleased with the results!

 Keva decided to join the group and keep herself close to the action!  Mom was laughing because she's really the perfect crafting dog.  She's quite content to lay around while everyone crafts.  

 Kim was working on a knit washcloth.  Interestingly enough, she stated what many crafters probably feel.  This wash cloth is taking way too long; if it were a blanket square it would be different....even though it's the same exact work, for some reason it seems more worth it.  She happens to fit quite comfortably in Tyler's chair so she got the squish chair! 

 I worked on spinning some fantastic fiber that I received in a Mad Color Fiber Arts Geek Tour shipment. 

It's based off of an episode of Doctor Who called "Blink" in which there is the most perfect pick up line ever...."Life is short and you are hot."  I swear, if any guy ever tried to pick me up with that line, I'd fall in a heart beat. 

Aren't the colors fantastic?!? 

 Here I am tucked away at my spinning wheel making great progress.

And this is what the singles are looking like.  I'm trying to keep the colors together on the bobbin because it pleases me to see them all lined up in sections.

 Gary got the other squishy chair and was working on knitting the most lovely green shawl. 

When Aly first walked in the door with her sewing machine and sewing supplies I swooned.  She uses this vintage suit case to keep all her project and supplies together in one fantastic kit. 

 Maggie is working on a machine applique block for a quilt for Aunt Lois.  I tell ya!  Machine Applique takes the patience of Job.  It takes For-Ev-Er to get one block done...But the results are stunning!

Like any good Crafternoon, we had food!  There was an egg, potato, cheese casserole, Cheetoes, Oreos, chocolate bundt cake, orange juice and cranberry juice.  Yum!  But the real treat came in the form of poached pears with fudge sauce over top.  I have never had anything poached before, but now I'm a convert!  Gary has great cooking skill and flair so even though I hadn't had poached pears before I knew I'd be thrilled to eat them. 

 He even put together a fantastic presentation!  They say the eye eats first, but I'm pretty sure my taste buds were the real winners here.

Here is the progress I had made by the end of the day on my stripey yarn:

 Not quite as tidy on the color chunks as earlier in the day, but I'm still very happy with how it looks!

Shifting colors!

I have been having SO much fun knitting on this colorful mitered square blanket this past month that I just have to share my progress!



This is the first quarter of a 50 inch x 50 inch lap blanket (lapghan for those who like to be clever).  Although I still have a few (ha...a few) ends to weave in on the back, I love the fact that for the most part once you're done with the knitting, you've got a blanket to use. 

 

This time of year is the perfect time of year to knit on a lap blanket because it's starting to get chilly at night and having 1/4 of a blanket on your lap is cozy instead of stifling.  I started the blue and purple corner last night and I can't wait to see where it goes!

 

Interestingly enough, I am knitting this for my Nerd Wars dissertation, which means I have 3 months to finish it.  I'm a little worried since it's the end of the first month and I have only 1/4 done.  I'm not going to let that get me down though...I'm going to keep plugging away and let the colors unfold for me!

Spindle Spun

Remember this yarn?

I finished spinning this second half of the wool: 

 And then plied it up on my spinning wheel to make this fantastic yarn. 

One of the things that is so interesting to me about spinning is that you can take wool that is bright pink in sections, orange sherbert colored in others, and then dark purple in others and put it all together and it just works.  I love how the colors all kinda mush in spots and then other spots just pop. 

(Don't be alarmed by that bit of white in there.  I was a bit off on either my spinning of the two halves or the separating of the two halves and when I plied them I had a little left over on one bobbin.  Because I can't stand to waste anything, I decided to ply it in with some other white I had already spun up.  My plan is to ply any extra lengths from the current spinning I'm doing with white and then use all the varied marls together in one project so that the white is their commonality and the colors are their visual interest.)

I seem to be awfully enthralled with spinning right now and am finding it kind of hard to want to knit.  The ironic part is that as I'm knitting less (due to the spinning), I'm also increasing my yarn amounts. 

We have a winner!

Contrary to the quality of this picture, Tyler has declared this scarf to be "Really nice." From him, I'm taking that as high praise indeed. He's pretty excited that he'll get to go to the Harry Potter Party as Harry Potter, but he did also ask me if I'd use one of my pillowcases and cut a hole for his head so he could dress up as Dobby the House Elf. I swear. If this boy had his way, this party would have more outfit changes than a Carrie Underwood concert. I also think it's hilarious (and kinda cool) that he's so creative and believes that his mom can make anything!

House colors

Last night I got a text message from Tyler (it was a Daddy Night) that read:

Turns out I'm a sucker for a cute boy. I happened to already have the gold colored yarn and there happened to be someone going to Joann's that I could tag along with to buy the maroon yarn and last night I cast on this:

The working theory being that even if Tyler ends up only wearing it once (to a Harry Potter party that his step-mother is having) I will get to wear it too.

Holiday Stress

I had an epiphany about Holiday stress as I was walking into a Starbucks for a little knitting meetup with my family on Christmas Eve.

Somehow, the holidays always seem to be stressful. List makers make lists, shoppers flock to the shops, bakers cover their counters with cookies, decorators decorate the heck out of their spaces and crafters work their wee little knuckles to the bone. People get short tempered and intensly focused which leads to holiday tensions in parking lots, shopping centers, etc.

For the past several years I have tried to do more handcrafting for Christmas gifts, which is its own kind of stress. It's the stress of wondering "Will I finish all this in time?!?" "Will they like it?" "If they don't like it, how can I ask for it back without seeming rude?" and so on. HOWEVER (and here's my epiphany) Crafting stress is the kind of stressing out that happens while you're in your pajamas at home on your couch watching TV show marathons or listening to music of your choice. It is NOT the fighting traffic, standing in lines filled with cranky people and listening to the same piped in holiday music that every store seems to play, but with a 1-2 song delay ensuring that you hear the exact same song at least 3 times in 3 different stores kinda stress. I would far prefer the Holiday Stress of a Crafter to the Holiday Stress of a non-crafter.

Here's a picture of one of the fun things I crafted for the holidays.

He was for my dad who we like to tease about his sneaky ninja-like qualities.

10:19

10 is the number of knitting days that are left before Tyler's Christmas vacation. I am knitting his teacher a fabulous cowl using Jessica's pattern in the school colors of Red and Blue. I made myself one of these cowls and I LOVE it so I hope Mrs. Cha will too. As a minor side benefit, this will also be able to be turned in to meet a Nerd Wars challenge relating to all things British as it is 2 of the 3 colors of the British flag. As a question: I've just recently learned that Tyler is being deployed to a 2/3 combo classroom for reading 4 days of the week instead of the original 2. Does this increased contact with him warrant a teacher gift for that teacher too? even if I've never met/talked with her? I know teacher gifts aren't obligatory, but what's the general guideline on this sort of thing?

19 is the number of crafting days that are left before Christmas. Now, this is including Christmas day, so there's always the possibility that I'll be madly knitting/sewing/whatever ON Christmas Day, but I really hope not. That's stressful.

Lest this depress too many crafters out there, may I direct your attention to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog yarnharlot.com where she is doing a daily series on what to give to knitters...AND she's talking about how she has tons of mitten knitting going on which I don't think is her Christmas knitting. I really wonder how she has the time/sanity to do non-Christmas crafting. I am in awe...

Awwww. They're friends!

I started Nerd Wars this weekend and the first challenge I chose to tackle was the Colortastic challenge. Basically, any project with two or more colored yarns. I've been longing to learn to crochet for a while simply so I could make granny squares. I find them to be sooooo charming and fabulous! So, I decided this challenge was the perfect opportunity to give it a go. I started on Saturday and it's growing so fast! I'm loving the colors--as Jessie says, "It's a party!"

Since these are totally Jessie's colors, it makes perfect sense that she should make one too! I'm a little sad that hers is almost as big as mine and I started mine waaaay before her, but I'm learning to live with it. (It's not a race, but I'm totally losing!)

The other great thing is that this is a Stashy Sunday project since i've had this yarn just waiting for a prefect project. I think a granny square is just right!

Stashy Sunday--delayed

Technically my Stashy Challenge has been successful this week since I haven't purchased any new yarn; however, I've also not gotten a lot done on my Stashy Projects. I did a wee bit of knitting on my sweater, no knitting at all on my Tilting TARDIS Cowl, a little bit of knitting on my Where's Perry Project. I have finished seaming three of the four adorable platypus feet:

So now all I need to do is finish the fourth foot, seam the who thing together. I also count it as a semi-Stashy thing because I helped Jessica reduce the size of her stash by using this perfect orange yarn from her bin.

The other Stashy (yarn) project I worked on was a cowl using two yarns I've had in my stash for almost a year. The pattern was written by Jessica and is really fun. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I am not a Gryffindor (as everyone wants to be) but rather a Ravenclaw, since blue and grey are much more my style than maroon and gold (shhh...don't tell my high school alma mater). Do you see the cool "Sammy" and "Dean" stitch markers? Supernatural is going to be back on TV soon!

Finally, the thing that has been eating up most of my crafty time is a quilt. I have been inspired (goaded?) into entering a quilt into the BIG Fresno Fair and the deadline for completion is September 16th...Yeah...the September the 16th that is 10 short days away. So I have been stitching like a madwoman to get the binding put on in time. No pictures, I don't want to jinx it!

Stashy Sunday

I spent some time this week working on my Stashy projects and I'm happy to say I've made some great progress. I finally finished these monsters that were a special request by Tyler after listening to the Never Not Knitting podcast where she talked about knitting her daughter some. I must say, I am completely charmed by them. So fat...so monstery...Love! Tyler hand selected the colors, specified which would be stripey, which solid... and he also hand selected the buttons out of my button jar. He also seems to be pretty happy with them so I count them a success. I also continued to work on my Tilting TARDIS cowl. I know it doesn't look like much, but considering how little time I've had to knit on it this week, it's really quite impressive. Are you impressed??? My last Stashy project was designed to use some fabric I had set aside and already cut for a magic pillowcase for me. I don't remember why I never actually sewed the dang thing, but I decided that it was time! Now all this little baby needs is a good wash and it's going on my pillow.

Now that I've dazzled you with my Stashy successes, I can tell you about an alteration in my Stashy plan. I am adding a caveat to the Stashy Challenge that allows for purchasing yarn that will be used to make a gift for someone else (birthday presents for myself don't count!). In pursuit of this endeavor, I decided to buy some destash yarn (where other knitters post their stash yarn that they want to sell--Usually for less than what you'd pay at a yarn shop) to make Tyler a Perry the Platypus hot water bottle cover. Now...before you call me a freak, let me assure you that Tyler does in fact LOVE hot water bottles. He loves to snuggle them, sleep with them, sit with them on a chilly winter morning, etc. He also is really loving the show, Phineas and Ferb, right now--most especially Perry the Platypus/Agent P. Stay tuned for updates on Perry as the yarn should be arriving this week sometime.

Stashy Sunday

This week was a Stashy Success!! I finished my stash project and I'm sooo happy with it--The color, the shape, the feel...Everything about it! (Please excuse the wild and crazed look in my eyes--I am clearly NOT photogenic.)

I am moving on from there to a project that I've been working on for a while. (Well...mostly I started it a while ago and then it got pushed aside for something new.) I have been on a Dr. Who kick lately and in that spirit, I started a "Tilting Tardis Cowl". It's a project that I decided would be perfect to use another yarn I've had in my stash for about 2 years.

It doesn't look like much yet, but I'm planning to work on it a fair bit this week so I hope to have more to show next Stashy Sunday.

And speaking of Dr. Who....stay tuned for a post documenting a FABULOUS Dr. Who Swap that I participated in on Ravelry. Spoiler: Kim (my sister) was my swap partner! She's very clever AND crafty so I was completely spoiled by her package. (Disclaimer: I'm not a total nerd. I just have fandom tendencies.)

Progress!

I am excited to report that I have made some great progress on my Noro Log Cabin blanket!!! I have completed 16 of the 20 squares, and even connected a few of them to each other (its sashing, if you will). Unfortunately, in laying them all out together and extrapolating to reflect the other four blocks I need to finish, I have concluded that it will be too small for what I want--a blanket to curl up in front of the TV with that will cover me from toes to nose. I am now on the hunt for a few more (different) colors of this yarn in order to keep the momentum going and complete this blanket SOON!

Oh the Possibilities!

A while back I saw this amazing blanket and forward the information to my mom thinking that she would love it and it might inspire her to start knitting. Well, I talked so convincingly that I talked myself right into it. So far, I have about 14 of the blocks knit and although I don't have a full picture, I took a picture of the few blocks I've already started to join. I love the riot of color and the fact that these blocks are log cabin blocks, which means I am able to combine my love of quilting with my knitting project.
The other thing I love about this project is that it is a constant reminder that the Possibilities are endless. Not just in knitting, quilting, crafting, etc., but also in life. Just this one little start of a block:
could be anything. You just never know what is going to come out of the ball of yarn next.

Eagles, Waffles, Chicks, Mitts

Continuing on with my handmade updates, I thought I'd combine some sewing and knitting projects I gifted. I revisited my Magic Pillowcase obsession by making my dad an eagle Magic Pillowcase. Since he's not such a "frills" kinda guy, I left off the wee tiny contrasting strip that the pattern specifies. He tells me he loves it!

I also knit him a Waffle Hat using Cascade 220 Superwash that he can wear while at Lakeview Cottages, during his SAR/CARDA activities or when he's feeling particularly rugged.

Tyler's favorite colors in the world are blue and green. A few years back, I made a brightly colored rag quilt using flannels. Tyler really enjoyed cuddling up under it on chilly mornings before school, so I thought it was high time I made him one of his own in colors he enjoys. It's probably dumb, but I imagine him carting this same rag quilt off to college someday to snuggle with when he's homesick. I also knitted him some fabulous Chickies.
These chickies were a specific request after listening to the Never Not Knitting podcast episode in which she talks about knitting a Chicken Family for her daughter. Since it's just an audio podcast and he had never seen a picture of her chickens, I had asked him to draw me a picture of what kind of chickie he wanted to go with Pock, whom Tyler received when he contracted the Chicken Pox.
I found a pattern that most closely resembled his drawing and make two chickies for Pock.

I knitted Kim some Alice Mitts with some Bristol County Dyeworks yarn in the New Moon colorway. I LOVE this yarn. It's fabulously soft, great colors and it's washable to boot! They are meant to look like the mitts that Alice Cullen wears in the New Moon movie and you can see a picture of those here.

It's never too late...

That's what I was told, at least. I was recently reminded that it's been nearly an aeon since I last posted. When I replied that I had had great plans to blog about all of my handmade Christmas gifts and new pictures of Tyler, etc., I was told that it's never too late. SO...Assuming that is correct, here goes the start of my "catch up" the blog series.

I made the decision around August of last year that I wanted to have a nearly completely handmade Christmas this year. I am really pleased with how all of my creations turned out and especially pleased that each seemed to be well received. (Or else I am surrounded by fabulous actors.)

For Mom, I used beautiful Noro Kureyon to make a very colorful, very "Mom" scarf. For anyone who knows her well, you understand that this scarf will go with virtually everything she wears.

One thing about crafting for someone is that it really makes you think about what that person would like. It's not enough just to make something that you would like, it needs to be to their taste in color, style, care instructions, etc. I really think that this whole handmade holiday thing made me a more intentional gifter.

Quilt Camp

North Fresno Quilters Fall 2010

Keola Fall Quilt Camp 2010

I know Quilt Camp was nearly a month ago so I'm finally blogging about it quite late. However, it couldn't pass without any recognition at all, so here goes:

There once was a girl who was going to quilt camp. She washed and cut her fabric to begin a new quilt project. She packed fabric for her Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt and backing fabric for two quilt tops that only needed to be measured so the backs could be cut and assembled. She gathered her tools and packed them in her car. She packed clothes for the chilly mountain weather. She purchased yarn, needles and printed a pattern for a "back up" knitting project *In case the sewing became tedious*. And then drove up the hill to Camp Keola. Once the table were set up for sewing stations, she began unpacking her projects to get a jump start on sewing projects. And realized that she had left the whole box full of washed a cut fabric for the new quilt project at home. Yep. That girl is me. I hied myself off to Quilt Camp without my quilting project. I had the pattern, the thread, etc. But no fabric. I called Jessica and Valerie who would be heading up the hill later that day. No answer. I called Doug to see if he could pick up the fabric from my house and take them to Uncle George's or Mark's house since they too would be coming up the hill later. He was on the path to do just that when I called Mark to see if that would be ok...No go...They were already in Prather. Bummer! Call Jess and Val again. Yay! They answered! And they were about 90 seconds from my house at Riverpark. Fweeeew...No wasted Quilt Camp weekend for me! Huge thanks to the team effort to enable me to be able to quilt!!!!

I was able to get quite a bit of the piecing done on the Vintage Cross quilt that almost wasn't:

Tyler LOVES to "help" Grammy sew. He takes his job very seriously:

Until the task is done and it's time to take a break:

Mom finished this amazing quilt:

Kim was able to wear this FANTASTIC sweater top that she knit:

(I love how in this picture, the sunlight totally highlights the top)

Obviously, "Quilt Camp" is a term loosely applied that does not necessarily indicate that quilting will be the main activity, as you can see by the fact that Kim, Jess and Val did not even bring a sewing machine:


Deb Friesen and Jessica showed me how easy it would be to make Magic Pillowcases: