sewing sewing sewing

It's been a fairly productive week - some pictures for viewing. A group of us got together at Evergreen Quilting in Tacoma and alot of them really got something accomplished. I got a lot of visiting done - but that's important too. Below is Gail and the bunny she made for her grandaughter. She had a couple of dresses done, so there might be another bunny lurking around too.

Shirley was working on one of the 5 yard quilts. Both Barb and Amber had finished ones, but like an idiot - I didn't get pictures of those - but doesn't Shirley look industrious?

A couple of other good shots of the group at work.

I've got a couple of things on the design wall. This first one is a "split nine patch" or disappearing nine patch" Should have it pieced and hopefully quilted in time for show and tell at our next guild meeting. I love these fabrics - they just make me happy.

I find I'm making more quilts for the happiness factor than anything else. So it also seems like I'm liking all my quilts more. There's been times that I've finished a quit and just been mostly pleased that it was finished - didn't really LOVE it. This one - I think I'll LOVE. I'm also working on an Asian fractions style that I think I'm really going to like too...the background fabric is wonderful.

And I've started working on my Mariner's compass for the BOM at Pacific Fabrics. I think it will turn out pretty nice, but it reminds me again why I don't like paper piecing. way too fiddly for me.Next - organizing my sewing room...gonna start on scrap quilts...

I love weekends!

We had sock club today...I had a sock to show...actually 2 socks, but only 1 each from 2 pairs. So I wore them together. I really think this should be a national trend. I know there's a lady out there who's designed some nice bright socks that purposely don't match. Well, if she can do it, so can I.

The one on the left is just a plain old sock...I love how they fit and how fast they knit up. The one on the right is from our sock club. I think the name was rainbow spiral and it was a little tricky - but that's why we're in the club right? To push ourselves and not get complacent in our knitting. I actually can't wait to do the second sock for both these. I like the color on both and I really like the spiral effect on the club sock. But maybe I should continue to wear them like this -then - just like the old joke, I could tell people I have another pair just like these in the drawer at home!

Mainly I wanted to write today to show you my circular needle holder that I made this morning. I've seen them in stores, but didn't want to part with the $20 they cost. So I took 4 fat quarters, a little scap batting to put in some stability and came up with this.

Sewed trimmed fat quarters end to end, made them into a tube , put alittle batting in half the length to give it some body. Folded it half and sewed channels across it about 2 in. apart.

I'd especially like to show the fancy closing method for hanging...after all, safety pins were invented before velco, right? And when you don't have velco...

It's not as pretty as the store bought holders, but I hope it will help me get a bit more organized. Now - off to get ready for quilting tomorrow. More pictures soon.

Spring time in WA

We had a little taste of spring, everything is blooming and now the weatherman is talking about things going back below freezing! Shades of South Dakota!

I've been busy knitting and quilting, so staying out of trouble. Worked on some fingerless mitts, a new pattern from Jen Hagan. Tons of fun to do and easy. In fact I'm working on my second pair.

The cable goes around your thumb! Very cool. She's coming out with a whole new line of patterns, so be sure to check out her blog and web site...

And I've been working on socks from the sock club I'm going to. You might have read about it on Trisha's blog and saw the pictures of her socks...amazing what a difference the yarn makes. She likes pastels - I go for the earthtones.

Our instructor Jeannie is also a quilting buddy of ours and she's been busy working on both knitting (she says our next month sock is really fun) and quilting.

It's amazing how many of us are intersested (and proficient) in both arts. Personally, I think it has to do with both the texture and the color. Sculpting would provide the texture part of the fulfillment, but would lack the excitement of the color. Painting would supply color to your life, but you'd miss that wonderful tactile feel of the wool and cotton. My life always feels more balanced when I have my fiber. (pun intended)

More pictures next time.

God'll get you for that, Walter.

Remember that from the old TV show "Maude"? Well a few weeks ago, a co-worker got sick - sick enough to stay home for a couple of days - and they were complaining about how boring it was and they couldn't wait to get back to work.

I thought to myself - boy, how dumb is that? If I were lucky enough to get sick and have to stay home, I could get a day or two of solid knitting in without interruptions.

Well - - Yesterday and today I'm home sick. I told you my grandson came to visit last weekend, he had a cold. Now I have a cold. I spent ALL day yesterday sleeping. Did not have the strength or energy to even pick up a pair of needles. I did manage to move from the bed to the recliner to sleep, but that was the extent of my activity for the day. This morning, I have managed to get out of bed (about 3 hours after my usual rising time) and move to the computer (it's all of 10 feet) to write this. My next excursion will be to the recliner to rest up after this workout.

Seems like once every winter I get one cold that just knocks me on my butt. And I should have known better when I was wishing for 'time alone to knit'...God was just waiting for the right moment, wasn't she?

Didn't get the gold...

but I think I should get a bronze medal for giving it one helluva try. Got the front and back of the sweater done! And the shoulder seams done. 2 sleeves yet to go, but they're short sleeves, so it's something I will get done. (these pictures don't show how pretty the color is, it's called Denim and is a lovely blue with almost invisible streaks of purple...)

I tried it on - and so far - it even fits! That's worth the gold medal just for that!

Now - as to why it's at this stage instead of finished...these are the distractions.

Right off the bat, I cast on the shawl - couldn't wait to try the pattern I got at Madrona - doing it in Kauni yarn. Nice long color changes that should get more interesting as the shawl grows.

Then I bought a book - 60 quick knits using Cascade 220. some very nice patterns in here and I just couldn't wait to start on this scarf.

Then there's the sock from class.

And the puzzle - my grandson Scott came to visit for Saturday - and he's always the priority. We watched teen-age boy movies in the afternoon (trust me - not my usual choice - but he loves them) and we worked on the puzzle in the evening. I can knit anytime, but can't always spend time with him...it was nice.

And this next picture is for Trisha (tlcstitches). We're both in the BOM class at Pacific Fabrics in Puyallup, but we've had to start taking it on different days, so we can't compare progress.



It'll be nice to fill in that hole in the middle (for those of you not taking the class - it'll be a mariner's compass.)

Now on to a post-Olympic life. (and to finish the sweater!!!)

Life Lessons

Just a really quick note as I really am working feverishly on my Olympic Knitting sweater. The back is done, the front is 1/3 done - maybe it'll be a vest?? We'll see - closing ceremonies are Sun.

BUT

What I want to write about - check your bank account often. I got home tonight to a letter from my bank telling me they'd transfered all my savings funds into my checking account to cover debit payments I'd made. Now, I keep my checks / debits in Quicken...I love it, quick, easy, accurate. And I'd just updated a couple of days ago and according to it - I had plenty of money to last till payday. I did NOT check my actual bank balance - or I would have noticed the discrepency. As soon as I read that letter, I logged on - and discovered a $450 payment that I HADN'T authorized!!!!! I was on the phone to the bank - they checked things out while I was on the phone with them and discovered that it had been drawn on the wrong account!

I still have to jump through a little hoop tomorrow to get it totally straightened out - probably paperwork to show that I know what's going on and approve of the fix or something.

But this is definitely a wake-up. Don't just trust that because you're pretty sure that your bank never makes mistakes - remember - banks are made up of humans. And they make typos and transpose digits. Check your balance more than once a month when you reconcile your checkbook.

And now - I'm off to knit...I promise to post pictures this weekend. Not only of the Olympic Sweater, but the other projects that have distracted me.

the 'confession'

Quick update - I've finished the corkscrew scarf out of my handspun. I've worked a bit on the Olympics project - pictures soon...

the confession - I've cast on 2 more projects while I'm supposed to be focused on the Olympics challenge! I can't seem to help myself...I'm beginning to wonder if I'm one of those 'process' knitters. I love starting, I love watching a new stitch take shape, I love seeing a new pattern emerging. I don't love so much the knit-knit-knitting till the end. I'm like that with quilting too. I love making the blocks. I love doing the quilting. I don't love so much putting the blocks together to make the quilt - or loading it on the frame to do the quilting.

I've noticed tendencies towards that in other parts of my life. I LOVE moving to new towns. New people, new stores, new scenes. I even actually enjoy new jobs, new skills, new co-workers, new commutes. I think that might be why I really enjoyed working food service in my younger life. I lived in a tourist area - the Black Hills of SD - so everyday was filled with new people, new questions. Since a lot of our employees were high school and college students - it was new co-workers all the time too.

I'd like to think that it's because my mind is just itching to learn, learn, learn new things. But I'm afraid what it actually means is that I have the attention span of a gnat and I'm easily bored. But I'm also easily deluded, so I'll stick with the learning new things interpretation, if that okay with everyone.

Maybe the biggest part of the whole Olympic challenge for me will be to just finish the project. Starting is always the easiest, right?