TGIF!

I hope to get those Little Lambs quilt tops sewn together this weekend so Suzi can start quilting them.  THEN I absolutely MUST get some pants cut out and maybe a jacket or two.  I want to go to sewing weekend wearing something I made this year!  (Please, God, let that work out...)

 

 

Happy birthday to my wonderful brother Phillip.  He's got ALS and at such a young age, he's not even 60 yet and he's had it for several years.  I don't know if he reads this blog, but he's always in my prayers.  Love you buddy.

My Aunt Zel's birthday is this weekend, but she flew the coop again.  For someone who doesn't drive, she and her sister are on the road more than anyone I know.   Actually two someones because she's going with her sister, my Aunt Dar, and SHE doesn't drive either!  They're going to visit Dar's daughter in Minnesota.  Their chauffer is a third sister's husband.  (That sister doesn't drive either!)  Anyway, happy birthday to the world traveler on Sunday.

Sew on... hopefully!

Wednesday!

Blooms from my favorite senior vice president... it's Administrative Professionals Day.

 

 In appreciation for keeping him on the straight and narrow I think!

He is such a good guy, very thoughtful and so easy to communicate with!

If you are an admin, I hope you're having a good day today.  If you have an admin who helps you figure out life in your workplace, don't forget to say "thanks"!

Sew on...

Weekend Knitting and Sewing

This past Saturday we had our church quilting guild meeting.  Once again this year we will be sewing quilts for the Little Lambs preschool four year old graduation celebration.



2014 quilt - jelly beans and lots of colors.

Last year, I told you about doing that quilt at the 11th hour, and how stressful that is to throw something together at the last minute.  This year, we contacted the director and asked if the quilt project was in our future again.  Wonder of wonders, there are TWO classes this year, and no sewing moms or grandmoms to be seen in either class.  So I am SOOO glad we asked.

I actually pressed some of the other ladies into service to assist.  They didn't need MUCH pressing though.  We love to actually sew together.



This year the teacher organized the handprints into two groups, one green and purple and one pink and blue.  Boys got to use blue and green paint, girls used pink and purple.  Fitting since little girls LOVE pink and purple!

We actually had fabric in our stash that coordinated very well.  You can see Chris working on sewing the sashing and cornerstones to the first group.  You don't see Suzi squaring up the handprints (made on muslin) or Shirley and Bonnie pressing, or me doing the layout, supervised by Barb.  Chris is a fairly new quilter and she was fascinated by the process of layout.

I took it home to finish it up, and we'll layer them this weekend.  Then Suzi will have a couple of weeks to do the quilting.  Not that she will need it, I'm sure.  She always over delivers!


Sunday night after supper I did some knitting.  One of the kits that was in the inherited stash box was for dishcloths, made from Sugar and Cream cotton yarn.  I love small projects that work up fast, and my guilt over having gotten such wonderful bounty was working on me, so I put aside the sweater and pulled out the kit.

Here is the first one done. 

Finished project and left over yarn.  Might make another...

This fancy dish cloth is a good way to practice a fancy pattern.  It's about 9 inches square.

When the first one was done, I pulled out a cute pattern I found on Ravelry for knitted bangles.  They take about 15 yards of worsted weight yarn, so they're a great use of your left-over bits and bobs of pretty colors.

I haven't shown them to the girls yet.  Who knows if they'll actually like them.  I put three on, and they warm your wrists up nicely.  If you get cold in the winter (or fall or spring) you might want to consider these!

I did six altogether. 

Sew on...

On the Needles...

At last, I think I have this lace pattern figured out!

Ahhh, boo boos are gone.  Although I hated ripping the eight inches of lace out, on this side there was a big glob of stitches where I messed up on the number I needed to complete the last pattern and I had to just do increase stitches when I should have been doing pattern stitches. 

Last night and the night before, I knitted after supper.  I have eight repeats of the lace, each repeat is four rows.  So four hours of knitting got me 32 rows.   

167 times 32 is 5,344 stitches!  If only I could knit while walking on the treadmill...  lol!  JUST JOKING!

I also checked the gauge -- so I needed fewer stitches.  Before I had 200+ on the needles, and I'm down to 167.  Before I ripped the measurement was about four inches bigger than I really needed.  It would have been like a swing coat!

When you have stitches all scrunched up on the needles, the garment looks only as big as the needles you're using, so for example I was using a 40 inch circular needle, and the stitches got bunched up in the center as I pushed them around to knit.  But once I spread out the front and measured it, it was way too big.  I don't like tight clothes but it was ridiculous.  The lace looks nicer when it's spread a little.  Too much fabric hides the pattern.  Besides I will use less yarn this way.

Moral of the story, check your gauge.  I know, it seems such a useless process sometimes, like prewashing fabric. 

Speaking of which, I have all my prewashed fabric lengths ready for cutting out some pants for myself this weekend.  After church quilt guild, and the youth auction, so maybe Sunday afternoon.

Fingers crossed.  I am getting tired of nothing but black pants and navy blue pants. 

Sew --  knit on!

Frog Stitching

Remember this project from a couple of weeks ago?  Yeah, I thought I was so smart, I'd finally started knitting something for myself.  This is a fairly simple lace pattern, as far as lace patterns go in knitting.  The yarn is a worsted weight, meaning 8 skinny strands of fiber twisted together into a fairly thick yarn, and I'm working on a size 9 needle.  It was going as fast as 230 stitches in each row can go when you have to count and pay attention to which row you're on.

 

Key words:  Pay Attention.

 

This is the left front.  It looks pretty good at this point.

This is the back.  Also pretty good.

The pattern is February Lady Sweater.  You can find it on Ravelry.com. 

So if you look at the 'back' photo, you can see the line of stitches between where the holes are.  The holes are offset every other row so they move out from that center line. 

That center line SHOULD line up.  All. The. Way. Down. The. Sweater.

They. Didn't!

I had knit several evenings, probably a whole seven or eight, doing maybe another six or seven inches of pattern.  If you look at the first picture, my project is laid on top of the pattern, which is on letter sized paper, 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches.  At that point in time my sweater was about 10 inches from shoulder to where I was working.  So add six inches to that and you can guess how many stitches I had made.  The math makes my head hurt.

I was admiring my work when I saw it.  Actually them.  Five of them... five lines that took detours into LARGE holes and went sideways by a stitch.

One stitch.  I almost cried.  So I sat there thinking, would anyone notice?  Oh God, please let me close my eyes, open them again, and have it not be true.

I asked DH if he could see what I did.  He wouldn't see a thing, I told myself.  He can't find a bottle of catsup in the fridge unless it's on the edge of the shelf promising to fall out.

He said, oh yeah, I see it.  Is that big hole supposed to be there?

Dead before I even started...

This lace pattern goes over 7 stitches and repeats.  I count as I knit, one two three four five six seven.  I should be starting the lace pattern over again after seven, if I have lived right in that moment.

I know how to fix a booboo in knitting.  You can knit over to the place above the error, un-knit or frog stitch just that stitch down to the error, fix it and knit each row back up to the top.  In theory.  You can do a column of stitches or just one.  I've done it on smaller widths, or when the error was closer to the needles.  So I tried pulling out some spare needles and un-knitting those seven stitches that contained the first error, but there were SO many rows knit, I lost track of the pattern about an inch past the error and it just kept getting worse.  And I had this to do in FIVE places!

<<insert groaning sounds here>>

Results:

Frogged back to the beginning of the lace!

Rip it!  Rip it!

I unwound two large balls and put them back in the project bag.  Maybe I can wear this next February!

Knit on...

Managing Stashes - Enablers

It's not always my fault.  Really, it's NOT!

Last night my daughter stopped over for a chat.  She had a big tote bag with her which her father was eyeing with suspicion.  After we talked for a while she said "I brought you some yarn."

I said "Oh, gosh" or words to that effect. Eye rolls from hubby.

Understand that my daughter is a talented person.  She does cross stitch like a pro, and knows how to sew but chooses not to.  She also does not cook.  Well, frozen pizzas and stuff in the microwave, but she is best described and most comfortable with the title of career woman.  Lucky for her she married a good cook and her older daughter likes to cook too.  And she hates to shop!

I know...right?

She always tells me it skipped a generation.  So when she tells me she brought me yarn, it could be great but it could be anything!  And she works in a hospital so where did she get yarn??

She took this bag out of her tote. 

"My coworker had to get her mom into assisted living or a nursing home and she was cleaning her house out.  She brought some stuff in, and I said I'd take the yarn."

It's NOT MY FAULT!  The stuff just comes to me like iron filings to a magnet!

She said she only took the stuff that looked new with labels on it.  There were some loose skeins and some individually wrapped packages of kits, yarn and patterns, from Annie's Hook Club.  Like Book Club but for needleworkers??  LOL!

Here's a pattern for fall veggies, beets, carrots and what I can only assume is an eggplant. 

 The package contained green, purple, orange and red yarn.

Then there was this grocery tote bag pattern:

With this lovely green cotton yarn inside:

A purple shawl pattern:

With Caron Simply Soft yarn in the shade of Grape:

A placemat kit, obviously in holiday colors:

Three loose skeins of Cuddle yarn from Joann's in mint green, it's sport weight, so for a baby project, or maybe socks??

And two more skeins of Simply Soft, one in pastels and one in green:

 

More Annie's yarn... this is one brand I did not have in my stash previously.  (I did a google search on Annie's Hook Club, and it appears the value of these kits is about $20 each!) This is worsted weight and feels a bit rough on the fingers.  I wonder if it was supposed to be a kit.  There was a piece of cardboard in the plastic bag, but no pattern.

And last but not least, a big skein of sort of a dusty aqua with no label.  It feels like a Red Heart Super Saver yarn, maybe a 12 or 16 ouncer, one of those "Big Saver" things.  Or maybe it's an off brand, but it is very soft.  The color is truer at the top of the picture.  It was dark when I took it so the camera was working hard in artificial light.

So at least she didn't bring me any UFOs.

Knit on!

Managing the Stash. Or Not.

Spring is always a great time in southern Wisconsin.  The sewing expos start popping up after the holidays, and people cannot WAIT to get outside after being cooped up by all the snow and cold.

My friend Marlene called me a couple of months ago and asked if I was interested in going to Schaumburg IL for Sewing Expo.

 

I know, I know, I do not need any more fabric.  Or notions, or patterns. 

 

Need has NOTHING to do with it.  You know I'm right.

 

Since the University of Wisconsin announced that they are not holding the expo at Platteville, I've been kind of mourning the loss.  The organizers always seemed to find fun local shops to come in and display their wares and you discover new places to put on your 'shop hop' maps.

Do not get me wrong, I still L.O.V.E. Sewing Weekend in Beaver Dam.  It has maintained most of its quality even after the sale of Nancy's Notions to the parent company of Babylock.  But once a year is not enough.  (This year it's May 7-8-9.  You should go.  Seriously, you should!)

(I think I blogged last year about the local transportation for Sewing Weekend.  I'm trying to slim down a little -- my purse and TOTE bag, that is! -- in order to get through that bus aisle faster.)

But I digress.   We needed some sewing girl time.  So south we ventured...  I have to say I was a tad bit disappointed in the Schaumburg show, as were my enablers companions.  Not too much variety, and not too much in the way of garment sewing. 

Not to fear, I did attend one pants fitting lecture which I liked, and I found some fabric... I was home by dinner time on Saturday and washed my pieces in preparation for some garment sewing this coming week.  Keep your fingers crossed, this year I might even wear something I made to Sewing Weekend!

Sew on!!

Happy Easter and a Finish or Two!

I hope you had a blessed holiday weekend, whether you celebrated Easter or Passover.

Hubby and I have been going to early church services for so long, it seems only right that we go to Sunrise Service on Easter morning.  It's very moving and beautiful.  We start outside around an outdoor firepit and process into the beautifully decorated sanctuary.  Our pastor is a very good preacher, and his sermons really always seem to hit the mark.

Normally we go separately because hubby likes to leave right after, and I like to stay for coffee and a bit of visiting.  We went together this week because it was Easter.  We were driving home at 7:40 a.m.  I said "Wow, on a normal week we wouldn't even be getting there at this time!"

After breakfast I took a nap.

The family came over at around 2 p.m. and we had dinner.  Pot roast and ham and roasted veggies and salad and a key lime pie for dessert. 

And of course a few Easter Eggs, carefully crafted and dyed by Miss A and Miss E.  Miss A was the BOSS this year (as she normally must be!) and Miss E was allowed to do some eggs (but not many) by the little tyrant crew chief.  Of course at 13 and a half, one is much too dignified to appear to CARE about those things, but she is artistic and wanted to contribute SOME of her talent!

You would think with three dozen eggs cooked, she could get some of them, but little sister had a PLAN and we just had to go ALONG.  Or ELSE.  LOL!

We have these cute little egg shaped plastic cups for dye, color coded, and the plastic plus the towel saves us from cracked eggs during the coloring process, unless of course they fall elsewhere...

 The "invisible crayon" provided many minutes of excitement while waiting for the dye to become the proper shade.  I used vinegar so the colors were supposed to be 'vibrant'.  If they wanted pastels they just dipped less.

I am SO sorry, this photo will NOT rotate, no matter what program I use to save it!  Can you tilt your head just a bit?  She had stations set up for really wet eggs, dry eggs, and undyed eggs. 

 

And I normally would not post a picture of my grands with their faces showing, but her hair was up and her shirt was just TOO good to pass up... it's one of Dad's that she used for an artist's smock.

One dozen finished!  The green one says 'green egg'.  To eat with your ham...

We sacrificed a car wash towel and it now has a lovely dotted pattern.

I'm sure the dye will wash out of the towel, and NO dye got on my rug or on the Crew Chief! 

The youth auction quilt and pillows were delivered.  The auction is in two weeks, that was cutting it short!  I sewed a lovely label on the back.  The throw pillows were donated by a lady who was cleaning out her sewing room in order to move. 

The quilt is 50x60 inches so the perfect lap or dorm quilt, with two coordinating but not matching throw pillows that I made from the left over pieces.

It was expertly quilted by my friend Suzi with fans, and a straight line pattern in the border.

The back, before the label.  Of COURSE there's no photo of the label...  duh me!

Head tilting is required... sorry.

The top is on the right side... sigh.

Pillow No. 1 has a flange around the edges, which was a challenge to get under the presser foot!

Pillow No. 2 is a simple log cabin pattern, featuring the cherry fabric in the center. 

My last finish this week was a doll dress for a cabbage patch-sized doll.  The dress was made from the lining and overlay of my cousin's wedding dress.  She gave it to our cousin Amy to make pillows from after her wedding a couple of years ago.  She doesn't know my aunt decided that this doll she has and wanted to give to her should have a wedding dress (or that I should make it!)  So if you see Kelly, don't tell... but since I doubt she reads this blog we can take a look.

Full front view.

Detail of the collar.  That's the corner of the overlay at the front.

Skirt detail.  The edge is one piece, and the flowers are all separate pieces, sewn down individually.

 

I could not find a piece of the overlay large enough to cover the whole skirt without cutting off many of the lace flowers and beads.  Lace is just motifs such as the flowers sewn onto netting, so I cut the netting away and just basted the motifs right to the dress.  This was LOTS of hand sewing, so it took for.ev.er... and with all the pins needed I poked myself a LOT.  With all the beads and sequins, it could have been a disaster in the sewing machine.

I supposed I could have sewn them down to another piece of netting and THEN applied that to the dress, but that would have been too easy or logical, or would have required planning.  Such as doing that before I put the dress base together...

So this just needs a closure and it can be delivered.

Two things crossed off my project in process list! 

Sew on...