I Finished A Pair!

I have had the 'one sock syndrome' for ages.  In North Caroilna, in storage, is an unfinished pair, I'm sure.  But last night I did it!  I conquered the single sock and actually made a pair and have them on as I type this.

The pattern is Fiber Trends Railroad Rib Socks using Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun Worsted Weight Yarn in a purple variegated.  The pattern and yarn were recommended to me a couple of years ago by Pam at Pam's Knit and Stitch in Great Falls.  Luckily, I don't get to Great Falls often, otherwise I would have a ton more knitting projects on hand.

While this was done in a Plymouth Yarn, I just bought a really cute hat kit for Lady K, also from Plymouth Yarn.  The eyes, nose, and ears are already done for you and you knit the hat.  Really cute.  But the worsted weight yarn is, well, thin.  I started working with it and am really, really disappointed with the feel of it.  It would do for a hat for someone in Florida, not in Montana.  And in talking to Plymouth Yarns about my disappointment in the weight of the yarn, I was told to take it back to the place where I got it.  Problem is, it's two hours away and don't think I will be back there anytime soon.  When I advised them of this, they told me to call the store and make arrangements to mail it back.   No more Plymouth Yarns for me.  

So will have to pull out a Lion Brand yarn in a similar color I have on hand (I think) to knit the hat.  But that's for another day.

(Note:  this is also a project off my goals list for this quarter!)

Fibers and Fabric This Past Week

Despite feeling under the weather (or maybe cause I was under the weather), I have managed to get some projects moving forward.  

The first, and one that had a definite deadline, was my block for the January Bee Hive Swap.  

I made two blocks, one to send, one to keep.  Mine, I sewed together and used the less than perfect blocks for it.  This way I will have a second quilt top by the time the swap is over at the end of the year.  One that is all my blocks and another one block from each month I sent out.  I love the deadline requirement and the color requirements the other "Queens" will come up with.

The second challenge I am involved in is the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge 2016.  The first month is blue and a Twinkle Star.

My shadow is involved with the picture and I was too sick to care.  My center block is a dark blue batik with the words 'create', 'imagine', among others on it.  Then the dark points are a purple/blue batik.  The light points are a blue/grey batik.  I wanted/needed to do six blocks for the quilt and I ran out of the light blue and subbed a darker blue on one block.  This was a fun block to put together once I got the measurements right.  Now I need more white background fabric for next month.  And I want to make another block with the white a dark color and the blues a light fabric in color.  In other words, swapping the light/dark in the block to see what it looks like.  May this week.

Another item I am working on for my goals for this month is this piece of knitting which I started, abandoned and have picked up to finish up in January.  I now have one sock finished and the second one started.

The picture of the sock on my foot is the true color of the yarn.  It's a worseted weight yarn and the pattern is Railroad Rib Sock by Fiber Trends and was recommended by my LYS in Great Falls as a go-to sock.  The pattern, so far, has been fast and easy, even finishing off the toe with a Kitchener Stitch which I have not done before.  Texter thinks the yarn is too stiff for her, which means I might be able to keep them for myself.  They will make a good pair to wear around the house to keep my feet warm.

While I hadn't planned on adding to my stash, I did pick up a hat to knit this weekend.  It's going to be a fun knit, and hopefully, a quick one.  At the yarn store they had some of the Plymouth Yarnimals which are super cute and I can knit it in an adult size.

.

It comes with the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and ties already made.  All you have to do is knit the hat.  Can't wait to get started on it.  They also have an owl one, but Lady K wanted the monkey.  

Another fun thing coming up is I have a couple of friends who want to learn to knit and have asked me to get them started.  Can't wait!  More people speaking my language of fibers and needles.  I need to round up the rest of my needles I have 

The Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt is still in pieces.  Pieces being combined to become larger pieces.  I am so tired of pressing and trimming and trimming and pressing.  Since I feel like I want to 'get it done', I have set it aside for a couple of days and then push forward again.  Hopefully, this week I can mark it off my to-do list and move it to the next stage of 'needing border fabric'. 

Another thing I can't wait for and I will be lending a hand on (so I can take advantage of it), is my friend Kathleen is setting up a studio.  A studio! For Quilting!  And a large design wall!  And access to it!  And to her expertise! And a possible long arm quilter in the future!  It's like saying I have access to Aladdin's Cave.  But I have at least one quilt I need a large design wall to set out the pieces on and ask for suggestions on how to get the pieces 'together'.  My Geisha Garden Walk quilt I have designed for Savvy has the background fabric being cut on the bias and panels set into it.  A bit tricky on that part and will need some guidance and a large design wall to put it up on to mark and view.

Also, this week starts the Modern HST QAL.  Hosted by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts, who is also the host of the Bee Hive Swaps.  I have a lot of this owl fabric collection and will use it for the QAL. I will probably need to buy some solid background fabric, but can't wait to get started.

So are, 10 days into January, I am pleased with how my fabric and fiber tasks are being accomplished.  And I'm having fun doing it, they are not just things to check off a list.  The end of the month should be fun recounting where I am with my goals in this category.

100 Day Challenge

Since I find I work better with goals and breaking down projects into steps, I decided to join in with yet another challenge.

Sponsored by Jen at Quilter in the Closet, is a 100 day challenge to get three projects done and off your to-do list.

My three projects are as follows:

• Finish the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt top.  Right now I am about halfway through and really so close to the end it hurts.  But, knowing me, I will let other projects get in the way.  So I want the top finished so I can start looking for borders and backing. 
• My thick purple socks.  The first sock has been in a state of suspended animation for a couple of years now.  I want them done so I have them to wear around the house this winter.  Texter doesn't like the yarn, says it's too rough, so hopefully they will remain on my feet.
• "Harley Quinn" cosplay outfit for Texter.  I have the pattern and I want to do a muslin rough draft before I cut into the fabric (which I have, but some incidentals I still need to get).  And it's something I need to have finished by the end of May, but I also want to do a cosplay outfit for myself and for Lady K (and probably Savvy).  So I need to get sewing on this one first.

With reference to my sock project, the couple of socks I have started already...well, I have second-sock-syndrome.  So hopefully this challenge will cure me of it.

So 100 days and three projects.  Wish me luck!

Fox Cowl I

I had originally thought about this cowl for Lady K.  She has gotten demoted on the list, so to speak.  Texter decided she wanted one first.  And I am making one for someone else's daughter.  But Texter did not want the 'fox' colors, but loved this color, Aspen Tweed, when I picked it out.  I call it my Tundra Fox Cowl.

The yarns I am using, Lion Brand Heartland and Lion Brand Hometown USA, are so soft and cushy and a dream to work with.  Texter snatched it from me the minute it was done and has been wearing it ever since.  Yes, indoors too.

Texter is my cold natured child and anything below 80 degrees is chilly to her.  She has been wearing it inside to keep her neck and head warm.  For some reason, her bedroom is colder than mine.  Bummer for me.

The Failynn Fox Cowl pattern is a dream to knit also.  The instructions are easy to read and simple.  This is a great pattern for curling up and watching TV while knitting.  Nothing to really involve a lot of attention, like a lace pattern would. And if you don't have to contend with a Lady K, it would only take a weekend (or less) to complete.

So one down and at least one more to go.

One Project off the "List" - Canyon Cowl

Ok, so it's taken me several months to actually sit down and make this cowl.  Which is a shame, because it is actually a quick and easy project.  But I did it.  Even with having to find an additional skein of yard (thank you Ben Franklin Crafts) and a button for it.

I took it into work on Friday and handed it off to the person I was making it for.  She reluctantly allowed her picture to be taken in it.

Then I got a message later in the evening she had made it home and inside the door and then it 'disappeared'.

Someone else was happy with the cowl.  But now that one is finished, I can turn to the Fox Cowl for Texter.  And maybe, just maybe, the cowl above can be returned to it's original owner when she receives one of these...

The Failynn Fox Cowl by The Velvet Acorn is also where I got the pattern for the Canyon Cowl I have now made two of.  (oh, no, Lady K just saw it...so I guess now 3 fox 'hats' are in the works!)

Projects on the Burner

One of the wonderful, and crazy, things about being retired is that my list of 'to-do's' is growing by leaps and bounds.  In the stuff I am having shipped from North Carolina are two big bins of needlework which I now have the time to work on.  Hopefully, I will finish up some of those partially completed pieces that have been languishing for ages.

Not content with that, I have also lined up a couple of 'new' projects.  The first one is weaving on this loom. 

I saw this loom at the quilt show in April and bought one.  I want to make some woven rugs out of old sheets and jeans.  I have been buying old sheets at yard sales and Goodwill for the vintage fabric for quilts, but I will probably use some of them for rugs.  This is something I will probably work on while watching TV in the evenings.

Another project I to do is one that I have wanted to do for decades.  I saw this pattern years and years ago and was probably one of the reasons I learned to knit.

Photo by Vogue Knitting

This is the Map of the World Afghan.  It is knit in four panels and sewn together, which I really don't like.  I had thought I might try knitting all the way across but I have a couple of road blocks for that plan.  The first is that there are 'points' along the long edges of the afghan.  If I wanted to do it all in one go, then I would have to knit all the points and have then on needles to add as I go along.  Doable, but fussy.  The second, and most important one, is the weight.  A friend pointed this out to me.  Being in worsted weight yarn, the 324 stitches across would get bulky and heavy to knit in one go.  But I HATE seaming.  So I might try to do it in two panels rather than four panels in order to only have one seam to sew.  

The original is knitted in a tweedy yarn.  I went with the "Michael's option" (cheaper) and the amount of yarn needed fills this bin. 

Somewhere in there is my 40 inch circular needle (or somewhere else in the house!).  This is another project which will wait until the weather turns cooler and will be worked on in the evenings.  

Lady K's New Beanie

Found some really nice yarn I had to do something with yesterday at my local needlework shop.  It's Euro Baby Maypole, color #9, and 100% polyester.  Super soft and a crinkly yarn and with being polyester it can be washed easily.

I knitted up a beanie for Lady K.

A super easy knit, done in the round even if the pattern says knit flat and seam.  I don't like seaming, so knit it in the round.

A little large right now, but she can grow into it.  With the wind we have here in Great Falls, she will have plenty of opportunities to wear it.

Now onto a 'monkey' hat for her and Texter.