Still knitting

The back of my sweater is starting to take shape. I'm coming along pretty quickly with this...it's not really that hard once you master the cables. I just hope it fits properly when I'm finished.

While I knit, I've been listening to audiobooks on my ipod from here. All of the books are fairly old since they are in the public domain, but there are some good old classics out there. Also, the books are read by volunteers, so that's pretty cool. However, I do prefer the books that are read entirely by the same person, and not a different reader for each chapter.

I also read this yesterday. It was an absolute page turner, and I'm heading out this afternoon to pick up the next book in the series.

Knitting for babies

I like making things for babies. Babies are small, so their stuff is small. Babies aren't curvy and look cute in anything, so fit isn't much of an issue. And babies are not ungrateful about your handmade gifts. They're not particularly grateful either, but they can't help that. So it makes sense to me, when learning a new craft, to make things for babies... small things that don't have to fit well. Not to mention the fact that I've been attending more baby showers these days, and handmade baby gifts are more in demand. We've been to a lot of weddings over the past several years, so I guess one follows the other.

I recently got my hands on the Mason Dixon Knitting book, and there are several good baby projects in there. (Check out the Mason Dixon Flickr group here.) You may not be able to tell, but this is a bib. It's my first finished knitting project. I'm not sure how I feel about how the variegated pink yarn knitted up, but I suppose it will work for an object that my niece is going to drool and spit up on. Now I just need to find a cute button for it.


Here is another project in progress from the book. It's the baby kimono sweater, a wrap sweater knit in one piece. I plan to make one for my almost-one-year-old niece, but I'm making the newborn size from the book first. I'm using dishcloth cotton yarn from the discount store for this one, but I'm on the hunt for some different yarn to use in the kimono for my niece. I'm looking for a soft, pale pink, but most of the cotton yarns I've seen so far are screaming Barbie pink instead. Luckily, as we now, hunting for the perfect yarn/fabric is half the fun.

hello, blog

Wow, I can't believe it's been 3 months since I've posted. In case you were wondering, I am alive and well in my new location. I went a few weeks without internet access, and I'm slowly getting things organized around here. I did get some quilting/crafting done during the chaos of moving, so I have lots to show you once I get around to unpacking things and taking their picture.

I have to admit, I may be taking a quilting hiatus for awhile....I've started knitting. Actually, I sort of taught myself to knit a few months ago, but I've been doing a lot more knitting lately. Thanks to my new LYS (local yarn shop), I have a ton of gorgeous new yarns at my disposal, and I'm taking full advantage. Like fabric, they are hard to resist. The sweater I'm working on is the central park hoodie, and the yarn is cascade 220 tweed in icy blue (can't find a link to that particular color... must be really new), if you're curious. If there are any other crocheters/knitters out there, are on ravelry yet? You may already know about it, but I always feel like I'm the last person to find out about these things. Just in case I'm not, there you go.

I do intend to post quite a bit more often now that I'm settled...thanks for sticking with me!

Home Stretch

Don't think I've mentioned this on the blog before, but I am closing the my quilt shop's retail location this Saturday, June 28. (Skip on over to the shop's website and have a look...all internet orders are 30% off.) To make a long story short, I've been busy with the shop, winding things down and tying up loose ends. I may be a little scarce around here for another month or so as I wrap things up at the shop, job hunt, and get moved east a little ways. Never fear, though, I'm still getting some crafting done here and there, and I'll keep you updated.

Now for some eye candy. Our little guild's biannual quilt show was last weekend, and I snapped a few pics. I'm very drawn to the older quilts passed down through the years to the current generation of quilters. These quiltmakers didn't get their panties (or bloomers or whatever) in a twist about perfectly matching fabrics or points. And I love the results.





Sorry, I'm writing this 7 hours after I originally started this post. I'm too lazy to caption these pictures, so just make up your own. It's been a long day, and I'm starting to get a little punchy. Even so, I'm thinking about stopping by the grocery store on my way home and buying a carton of strawberries so I'll have something to eat with my Nutella when I get home. Eh, screw it, I'll just have my Nutella straight up, on a spoon.

No sir, I don't like it.

I was originally inspired to make a granny afghan by this photo (not the softy...the afghan in the background). And then I saw this. I was completely smitten. But then I had second thoughts. After all, where would I put this masterpiece, assuming I ever finished it? A bright red, green, yellow, and blue afghan would definitely stand out in my current home decor. So then I thought that maybe I should try making a granny afghan in a bit more subdued colors. Here's what I came up with for my first square.

It's okay, but I'm not in love. And if I'm going to crochet that many granny squares, I want to be in love with the project. So I think I've decided to just stick with the color scheme I fell in love with. I'll figure out where to put the darn thing when it's finished.

As for the yarn I used in my test square, maybe it would make a nice ripple afghan.

Belated Happy Father's Day, to my dad, and to yours!

On my coffee table...

From the bottom, up:
1) The Summer 2008 issue of Interweave Knits, because I can knit now! I'm so excited! Pics to come...
2) June 2008 BHG. Good recipes (I think I'll actually try a couple), lots of decorating inspiration, and a large article on gardening (surprise, surprise) which I probably should put to good use but probably won't.
3) Encyclopedia of Crochet, checked out from my local library. A pretty good selection of stitches, granny squares, etc., but the projects were a little uninspiring. Probably b/c the book was published in 2002.
4) The Crochet Stitch Bible, recent purchase from Amazon. I don't know if I would necessary call it the crochet bible, but it does contain a lot of stitches, granny squares, edgings, and even some tunisian crochet. This is not a project book. It's a stitch book. It's not all-inclusive, but I'm not sure any book could capture every possible crochet stitch. Definitely a handy reference.
5) Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, checked out from the library. This is one I may have to buy. It's a decent stitch reference guide, and there are several projects I would like to make from this book. As a matter of fact...
6) ...I've already started one. I'll wait until it's done to show you which one I picked.

Flea Market Finds, Episode 1: The Fabric Menace

Okay, so I mentioned that I'd been to the local flea market. First just let me say that the flea market is a dangerous place for me to visit. I spent entirely too much money. Entirely. I felt the need to "adopt" half of the store. I spent a good hour and a half in there, and when it came to decision time I felt like I was choosing puppies to be saved from euthanization instead of shopping from a multitude of other people's castoffs . However, I'm really happy with what I bought, and like so many other things I want to buy, I have now forgotten about most of what I decided to leave behind.

This is part one of my flea market purchases, "Episode 1", if you will. (Please indulge me the corny Star Wars reference.)

First up is a piece of lightweight Winnie the Pooh fabric hemmed around the edges (it was labeled as a "baby blanket"), and a somewhat wonky quilt block. I'm not sure if the quilt block is salvagable or not as it isn't square and doesn't lay completely flat. That's a project for another day (or year).

And please ignore the wrinkles in anything you see here. I can't be bothered to iron just for pictures. I'll do that when I actually want to use the stuff.

In this photo, from top to bottom:

1. a bunch (haven't counted) of hand-pieced 4-patches.
2. over 3 yards of 36" wide pink gingham, which I am totally stoked about since that's the new Tie One On theme.
3. a large, oval tablecloth. Maybe has a future as a bag.
4. another table cloth, large & oblong. Love the pattern on this one...could end up as a bag also.
5. my favorite piece (from this group, anyway) a hand-embroidered baby quilt top. There are 8 embroidered blocks, set together with plain pink squares. Here is some detail of the blocks:
   

They're just too adorable. I can't decide what to do about this one, but I think I'm going to take it apart and reconstruct a small quilt out of the blocks, squaring things up as I go and probably using a better quality fabric or maybe even some quilt blocks to set it together. And maybe I'll even get ambitious and hand quilt it when I'm finished. I might be getting a little ahead of myself with that one, but it's a thought.

We're forecasted to get some really nasty weather tonight, so if you're reading this from, I don't know, anywhere in the Midwest stay safe. My hubby has requested this for dinner, so I'm going home to fry bacon and either embroider or crochet.

Stay tuned: Flea Market Finds, Episode Two!