Slipper Update...

Update to the grandson's slippers -- they are done...well except for the weaving in of the ends. They are so cute in camo!

A woman at church had seen me knitting and asked about them.  Her husband wants some.  When he saw the picture of the camo slippers he said 'those are exactly what I need!  I'll take two!'  We giggled because he meant two slippers and I thought he meant two pairs...

So now I have to knit an adult sized pair.  I think I will knit them both on the same set of needles because my main problem with making two of anything is always getting them exactly the same.

I'm going to use my yarn winder to make cakes instead of balls 

so I can use both ends of the cake for one slipper and both ends of a second cake for the second slipper.  Cakes have the advantage of not rolling around.  And since I bought the winder, I probably should use it!  (I used to own a knitting machine so it came in handy, but the machine took up too much space and the shuttles were too heavy to work comfortably so I sold it.)

I made a second girlie pair.  The picture looks pink but they are actually two shades of red, garnet and chardonnay.  I added a pompom.

Sew on!

Weekend Sewing

I spent the weekend in sewing land...

Remember DD's quilt?  I trimmed the big brown border and remeasured, then pieced a blue/blue/blue backing.  I have to square them both up and then it's off to the quilter!  I usually go to Patched Works in Elm Grove for professional quilting.  The ladies are nice and they do a good job and quickly.  I think I'll get this back in time for Christmas.

One gift down.  A zillion to go...

Saturday my friends Marlene and Judy and I went to the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Tinley Park, Illinois.  This is the south side of Chicago.  In the spring there's another one in Schaumburg. 

http://www.sewingexpo.com/Home.aspx

It's expensive to go to Tinley Park!  We paid more than $10 in tolls.  That cut into our lunch money in a big way.  Admission was another ten.  I should have hit a TYME machine before I left town, but it was so early and I'm lucky I remembered my purse...  so when lunchtime rolled around and I went to the concession stand, there wasn't much cash.  It was OK because the choices were not great.  Think high school football concession only worse.  I had a hot dog.  It was comparable to what the street vendors sell in the summer so I wasn't starving.  But I had to save $$ for tolls on the way home and to contribute to the gas fund for the driver.

There were lots of cool vendors there (who took credit cards!).  I picked up some black and white fabric cuts from Vogue Fabrics, a piece of batik from SewBatik from North Dakota.  The stuff was to die for!  Rayon and cotton were available, and some of the cottons were 108" wide for quilt backs.  WOW.

I also bought a few patterns, some thread from a Floriani dealer, and a fabric decoloring kit from June Colburn's booth.  When I got home and told Miss E about the decolorant she said it sounded very interesting, so we hope to have a craft day or two next week when we're both home.  (I'm taking vacation, she has days off of school.)

Marlene bought a few nice things too, but the big winner this time was Judy.  She picked up a cutting table floor model at the booth for Tracey's Tables from Stratford WI.  She got it at a super-duper price and he will deliver it to her house for a very small price.  We tried to figure out if we could get it into her SUV but since it was already assembled it was about four inches too tall.

He says they sell his tables at some quilt shops in the area, but so far I haven't located one.  He has a web site but there's no list of locations where his products are available.  I had my eye on a cutting and pressing station.  It has storage, a big pressing surface, and if you lay a cutting mat on top you can have a two-station station!

It looks much sturdier than my cheapo $60 table from the local chain, and it has storage!  Maybe Santa will  bring one to my house...

I'm taking a knitting class tonight at Fiddlesticks Yarn Store in Kenosha.  It's a cowl style scarf on bulky yarn.  I have to confirm the needle sizes though.  The blurb on the web said 3, 4 and 5.  Really?  For bulky yarn?  I think I'll call before I drive all the way down there and find out I have the wrong sizes...  and I'll post the finished product later.

Sew on!