What Brown Did for Me...

Look what the UPS man brought me!

I can't find this magazine anywhere locally, so I ordered them from Stonehouse Publications in Canada.  These three issues have the pattern for Bronwyn Hayes' "Wish Quilt."

Not the best picture, I know, but what do you expect from taking a photo of a magazine page?

There's lots of other great stuff in these mags.  I'm seriously considering a subscription.

Can't talk.  Reading.

Another Early Morning

Yup, up too early again.  I wish I knew why I have these mornings where I just can't sleep.  I've been awake since before four this time.  Well, since I'm up anyway, it's definitely time for coffee.  'Scuze me.

Like my mug?  I picked it up at Starbucks recently.  Okay, this isn't really what I'm drinking right now.  It's not nearly that light out yet.

My perfectionist tendencies have gotten the better of my blogging again.  I keep waiting until I have *all* the pictures I want, and I keep waiting on the pictures until the light is good, until I wash and iron the stitchery, etc, etc, etc.  So, I'm posting this morning with what I've got.

Last December I fell in love with the November Sock of the Month offering from Robyn Gallimore of Red Bird Knits.  So, I joined the sock club on a quarterly basis, waited impatiently for the kit, and knitted it up in about two weeks.  Maybe less.

Picture?  Um, yeah.  That's one of the pictures I don't have at the moment.  I'll post one soon, I promise.

After finishing that, I had to have more of her designs!  I got the pattern for Winter Dreams from Patternfish, and knitted it up, also rather quickly.  (My obsession with stranded socks probably comes in part from our particularly snowy winter and a desire for warm feet!)  This I do have pictures of!

I love these socks!  I made one small change to the pattern.  Robyn apparently really likes to do a purl ridge at the top of her stranded designs, as all the ones I've looked at have it, but the one I did for my first pair of her socks won't stay up properly on my ankles, so I did about four rounds of ribbing, instead.

The green yarn is Colinette Jitterbug, and the white is Cascade Heritage.  I like both these yarns, but next time I won't mix them.  The Heritage is just a touch thinner than the Jitterbug, which made keeping my tension even a little difficult.

I'm now working on another of her stranded designs, and I got the kit for the February Sock of the Month in the mail.  Pictures to come.  :)

Pippin says if I really loved him, I'd stop messing with the computer and come rub his belly ...

Oy ... Bad Sinuses. Bad. No Biscuit.

Well, after spending the last three weeks fighting a sinus infection, I'm sadly behind here.  I have some knitting to show off, and lots more stitchery.  New posts coming soon, I hope!

It seems the seasonal bugs aren't done with us yet.  I've spent the week struggling with a cold thingie that mutated into a sinus infection.  Ugh.  I'm on antibiotics now, so should be feeling more human soon.

I've spent a lot of time doing close to nothing, but when I am doing something, it's embroidery.  I've finished the stitchery on Gail Pan's A Christmas Wish.

Here's blocks one and two against the fabric I'll be bordering them with.  After struggling with the hoop/no hoop issue on these small blocks, I'll be putting the borders on the rest of the blocks before stitching them (so they'll be big enough to hoop easily).

I'm also working on block one of Veranda Views, Under the Willow, which I'm really enjoying as well.

(Please excuse the hoop marks.)  Have you seen block three yet?  It's called "Bed and Breakfast," and it's so stinkin' cute!

I still haven't prepped the next A Tisket, A Tasket block.  No energy for it this week.  I had hoped to have it done before the March block was released, but that seems unlikely now.  I might still whip it up once the antibiotics really take hold, but I wouldn't count on it!!

So, three block of the month (BOM) projects for me.  Will this keep me on task, or drive me nuts?  Stay tuned...

What I've Been Doing, Applique Edition

Before I stumbled over the stitchery obsession, I was working on my applique quite a bit.  I've been working for quite a while on Baltimore's Country Cousins by Susan McKelvey (link goes to Amazon -- I tried to find a picture of a finished quilt, but couldn't), and am making very slow progress.  I've been saying I want this on my bed by my 15th anniversary, but at this rate, I'll be luck to have the top finished by then.

Here is my most recent finished block:

This makes eight finished blocks.  I still have four to go, plus the appliqued border.  I'm also adding a plain border to that, to make the quit big enough for my queen-sized bed.  And then I'm planning to hand-quilt it.  Much work still to go, I'm afraid.

Normally I wouldn't bother showing a picture of the new block at its current infant state, but this amuses me.

Doesn't that look like bug antennae?   It's actually two stems for leaves and flowers.  There'll be a third stem going straight up the middle, and a basket underneath.

Oh, and I promised a picture of my A Tisket, A Tasket block with the embroidery added:

I love this little block.  I'll be getting the January block with the snowman started soon.

Embroidery

Well, this post is coming a little later than intended.  A nasty stomach bug hit la casa de ADD.  I managed to avoid it this round (had it about three weeks ago), but it seems to be running rampant in the area, and my brother's family got it and then shared with DH.  So, it's been either busy or exhausted or both here for the last several days.

I had planned to show off my latest applique projects (and I still will), but the weirdest thing happened.  I was working on my February block for Bunny Hill Designs' A Tisket A Tasket BOM, and I finished the applique.  It looked like this:

It was missing the embroidery of the birds' eyes and beaks, and the stems between the hearts and the top bird.

Ooooh, embroidery.  I hadn't done any embroidery since I made a smiley-face patch for the seat of my jeans when I was about 19.  Before that, I think I'd been about 12.  I've been dubious for a while about doing any projects that required embroidery, as I don't remember being any good at it when I was a kid, and I didn't expect my skills to have improved with disuse.  But, stitchery projects keep popping up all over, especially on blogs from Australia and Europe (gotta love this internet!), and some of them were really sweet.  

So, I figured this project, with its small amounts of embroidery, would be a good way to dip my toe in the water.  If I didn't like it, it wasn't a big part of the work.

Silly me.  It's hand stitching!  What made me think I wouldn't like it???

I can't show you a picture of the finished block (it's hiding), but I'll dig it up and post it with my other applique projects.  I was rather pleased with my work, considering I haven't done any in so long, but I still thought I'd like it to be a bit more even before I do the next block.  I want this to be a nice finished quilt.  So, since I've seen Gail Pan's A Christmas Wish BOM on several blogs, I figured I'd do the Love block as a practice piece.

Whee!  That was fun!  (Please excuse its rumpled state.)  I hadn't gotten very far before I decided I had to do this whole quilt, too.  Problem is, since this block was only supposed to be practice, I didn't worry about making it as big as the instructions call for.  So, I'll have to stitch this block again.  I'm planning to turn this one into the center of a pillow for my bed.

After doing that block, I couldn't stop!  So look what happened:

I found myself prowling around the 'net, looking for more embroidery patterns, more tips, more, more MORE!

And then this followed me home from the store:

I might have a problem here...

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is Robin, one of my foster kitties from last summer.  She and I wanted to remind you to love on someone today!

Quiet Morning

I wish I was a morning person.   I'm not.  I'm a night owl trapped in a morning person's culture that believes in "early to bed, early to rise."

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 4:30.  Yes, a.m.  This is a time of day I prefer to think of as "The middle of the night."  Or maybe, "Oh-dark-thirty."  But yesterday, I was completely wide awake.  At about 5:15, I gave up and got out of bed.  The dog was happy to take my warm spot in the bed, and the cats followed me out to the living room.

It had snowed lightly Tuesday, and there was still a dusting on the ground.  As it gradually grew light outside, I could see the snow still there.  I like snow that sticks to the trees and grass and leaves the pavement alone.  Snow in western Washington is usually disruptive because we don't have the equipment to handle it properly, but if the roads are dry and safe, I can just enjoy how the powder makes the trees look like lace.

I caught up on my blogs, read the paper as soon as it arrived, ate breakfast, and did some applique.  I cuddled a cat.  I was showered, dressed and ready for the day at a time when I'm usually still in bed.

I wish I could be like this all the time.  Early morning is so peaceful (note:  I am not responsible for getting anyone else out of the house on time!).  But, no.  Most days I'm still fighting for consciousness and clear thinking by my second cup of coffee.

Life has been a bit rough for the last nine months or so.  I've been dealing with several issues, physical and emotional, but I think everything's on the upswing now.  I'll try to get back to actual posts and talking about crafts again.

So this isn't totally craft free, here's a picture of the bags my quilting group made for a challenge project last fall.  Mine is the second from the left.  It's become a sock-knitting tote, perfect for carrying a pattern and a couple of balls of yarn for the stranded socks I've been knitting.

More soon, I promise!

Not Dead Yet... Take Two

I keep thinking I want to be more regular in posting here. I compose posts in my head all the time. They just never make it into the computer. The last few months have been a bit rough. I've left the yarn shop--just not the right place for me to be right now.

So, today I'm up extra early (can't sleep), and while I don't have a crafty post ready, I thought I'd do that meme that's currently racing around blogland.

1. What was I doing ten years ago? I was enjoying my last summer before developing fibromyalgia--too bad I didn't realize it then. I was starting my last career-track job, a communications director at a small (very small) non-profit, before discovering I was too ill for stressful work. I was preparing to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. It was one of those new-fangled internet meetings, and I was very concerned for the bride, one of my best friends. They are still together--the groom is my friend in the Darth Vader costume from a while back. DH and I were househunting for our first house, where I have now lived longer than anywhere else. Come to think of it, that was a pretty important year!

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)? Well, today's actually a weekend day for me (DH works Sunday-Thursday, and I've taken on his schedule). My to-do lists on weekends are either crazy or non-existent. Today it's non-existent. DH and I are planning to go see the new Narnia movie. Ummm.... I think that's it. Neener.

3. Snacks I enjoy. Anything with frosting. Seriously, you could just about put frosting on a dead bug and I'd eat it. Okay, maybe not. Maybe I'd just pick the bug out. Other than that? Chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Popcorn. Cashews. Chex snack mix.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire. Have a dream house built, one with a sewing studio for me and a big office/den space for DH. I'm not working, but DH would retire early. Put a bunch of money aside for my nephew's college fund. My parents have got to be about to retire, but I haven't heard a peep out of them, so provide them whatever funding they'd need to retire now. Travel, taking family with me. Send my parents on a trip of their own, just the two of them. Donate a lot of money to fibromyalgia research. Fund a no-kill animal shelter.

5. Places I have lived. Milwaukee, The Dalles, Eugene, Coos Bay and Newport, all in Oregon; and Tacoma and Lakewood, both in Washington (state). I also spent 3 1/2 months in London in college, does that count?

6. Jobs I've had. Oh, boy. Summer camp counselor. McDonald's worker. Barrista at my college cafeteria. Yarn/needlework store clerk. Other retail. Office temp. Office assistant. Communications director. File clerk.

Not Dead Yet...

Okay, I'm still here. Really.

The biggest news, crafting-wise (and life-wise, too, I guess), is that I left my office job at the end of July, and then in October, starting working one day a week at my LYS, Yorkshire Yarns. I was even Needleworker of the Month for November.

A few shots of what I've been doing:


This is DH's foot in one of his birthday socks. These are his first handknit socks, despite me offering to knit him a pair several years ago. At the time he said no, very politely. "I just don't think I'd wear them," he said.

Well, okay, then.

So, about early November, I spotted some yarn that was vaguely the same colors as Denver Bronco uniforms. And, the key to DH's heart is not his stomach, but the Broncos. So, I asked again. "If I knit you socks in Bronco colors, would you wear them?"

"If you knit me any socks, of course I'd wear them!"

Perhaps this new opinion is because he gets cold easier now? I asked him about what he said before, and he doesn't remember the conversation (which I sometimes think is Guy Code for "I don't want to get in trouble for something I said/did years ago...."). Instead, he says, "I must have been nuts."

So, I got the yarn and started knitting. And knitting. Boy, his feet are bigger than mine!

They were finished at 10:30 the night before his birthday (which is right after Christmas, so it gave me a few extra days).



This sock is on its way to being DH's second pair of handknit socks. This sock is finished now, after knitting the toe four times to get it in the right place. It seems so much more difficult to get a custom fit for someone else's foot!


And this sock has now entered its modeling career at Yorkie Yarns. It's a shop model, happily single (only one sock to knit--no Second Sock Syndrome!), showing off just a bit of the huge sock yarn selection at the shop.



This is Hadrian helping me decide on the final arrangement of blocks in my quilt. It's made out of a jelly roll (pre-cut 2 1/2" strips of fabric, for my non-quilting readers out there) from one of my LQS, The Shibori Dragon. I hadn't planned on making this quilt, I wasn't looking for a quilt project ... but the jelly roll and the pattern just jumped into my arms when I was in the store to pick up my Block of the Month block last month. I couldn't resist the teal. The blocks are sewn together now, and I'm working on hand quilting it. This will be a nice size for a throw for the recliners.

These next two pictures are a touch embarrassing, but since so many people have posted their messy workspaces, I thought I'd share mine. Someday I'll clean it, really I will...

Black Sheep Gathering

"Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full."

Yup, I’m headed to Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene this weekend! Tomorrow afternoon I go down to my parents’ home in the Portland area, and then Saturday morning my mom and I will drive to Eugene, and stay there that night.

I keep telling myself I don’t want to spend a lot of money, as I have *plenty* of fiber stash—I’ve easily acquired SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy)—but who am I kidding? Maybe this year I’ll invest in tools: a new spindle, a niddy noddy, a set of cards? Or maybe this is the year to blow it all on a small bundle of something expensive…

Stash Enhancement

Saturday was a lot of fun. I got up much too early, met up with two of my friends, and drove north. We hit five yarn shops and five quilt shops, dropping one from my original list (the one in Anacortes, off to the west of the rest of the shops), but adding another that was only a couple blocks from one of the quilt shops. I came home with a lot of fabric, two quilt patterns, free knitting patterns from the yarn shops (part of the official shop hop festivities), a panel for an advent calendar, and yarn for two pairs of socks and a sweater. We're talking serious stash enhancement.

Some of the sock yarn is a skein of that TOFUtsies yarn people are talking about. I can't wait to try it, but I'm forcing myself to finish at least one other pair of socks before casting on for these.

The sweater yarn is ggh Soft Kid, for a sweater out of Rebecca magazine, the same wrap cardigan that Wendy knit a while back. I've had the pattern since then, but stumbled across the yarn by accident this weekend. I was not nearly as successful at telling myself not to start this project--I'm halfway through the back of it already! (This is why I'm not known for my patience...)

All in all, it was a particularly fun birthday trip. One of the quilt stores we visited was having a party, celebrating becoming a Janome dealer, so I got to have cake (without all those leftovers sitting around my house...), and I even had "Happy Birthday" sung to me by a high school choir. Well, okay, not exactly to me--they were doing a fundraiser in front of a shop where we stopped to get coffee, and a couple of people walked out with a balloon bouquet with birthday balloons just as we were walking in. The timing was perfect!

So, anyway, happy birthday to me!

And Now for Something Completely Different...

What do you say when you meet the Dark Lord of the Sith?

Neat Online Toy

A friend posted recently about Google Maps about the new My Maps function. So, I thought I’d give it a try.

With yarn and quilt shops, of course.

This Saturday, there’s a yarn shop hop happening here in NW Washington, and a couple of friends and I are going to a few of the shops. (Seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate my birthday.) Rather than trying to get to all the yarn shops, we’re taking the opportunity to go to some quilt shops in the area, since we don’t normally get up there.

So, I plugged several shops into the map, and can now use it to get directions for each shop. Pretty slick!

I’m so excited to have won Susan’s contest! I’ve been eyeing her Spring Things shawl pattern since she posted it, but Paypal and I don’t get along. Winning the pattern is just great.

I’ll be going stash diving this afternoon, as I think I have some yarn that will work for the shawl, and I’m going to give in to startitis, and just go for it with this pattern. Assuming the yarn works, that is… And that I can find it, for that matter. I packed a lot of my stash away into big plastic tubs and stored them in the garage, and now actually finding things again can be a bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes I can locate them, sometimes they seem to have ended up in Douglas Adams’ alternate universe with the ballpoint pens and spare socks.

The timing of this contest is wonderful, actually. Firstly, I was in the LA area for my own quick trip (a college friend was getting married) a week and a half ago. I didn’t get to an Angels game like Susan did, but I did go to the Getty Center. I think I must have stood against the same railing she did when she took her picture, just a week before she was there.

The other good part of the timing is that DH and I are going on a long weekend trip this weekend. We’re going to stay at a B&B just outside of Leavenworth, WA, and plan on doing as close to absolutely nothing as possible. Which, of course, is the perfect time to start a new knitting project! Especially something like lace, which needs a measure of concentration. I can sit in our lovely suite, stretch out in front of the fireplace (Leavenworth is in the mountains—when we were there at this time last year, there was snow on the ground), and knit. Ahhhh…

Pictures!

New stuff in the mail:


New socks:


New quilt blocks:



While we're at it, older quilt blocks:


New haircut:

I'm not sure about this one...

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself. For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Across the Rainbow Bridge

Shiva
1995-2007

For Blue Moon Fiber Arts

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.

--Pablo Neruda

Orts

The other day, I mentioned to a non-knitting co-worker that I was thinking of knitting myself a hat from some leftover yarn I had in my stash. My co-worker gave me a funny look and said that if my stash was really as big as I claim, couldn't I find something to make the hat without having to use leftovers? I explained that not using the leftovers for small projects would be wasting yarn, and left it at that.

Thinking about it, though, crafters are big on using scraps. Knitters make hats or scarves or stripes in sweaters with bits of yarn too small to make something big. Quilters are famous for using cut up clothing or scraps left from making clothing. Though the modern quilter gets most if not all of her/his fabric from the LQS, scrap quilts are still very popular. Some quilters even make charm quilts, where no two pieces of fabric are the same.

When we finish a project, the remaining supplies go back into stash to marinate a while longer. We'd never dream of throwing it away! I know, I know, the idea made me feel faint, too. Go get a drink. I'll wait. (This, btw, is exactly what my SIL is trying to get my DB to do, throw out the yarn he has left from finished knitting.)

We wouldn't throw our yarn, or fabric, or unspun fiber away because that's exactly the opposite of the point! We love the stuff. We touch it, pet it, fondle it, sniff it, even threaten to roll around in it. We have our stashes because we want to surround ourselves with it. Some of us only do the crafting to justify having the stash in the first place.

It's more than that, though. We like to use the leftovers because they remind us of the previous project. If I enjoy making a sweater and then later put that yarn into another sweater, I'll think of the two projects together. If I use a great green fabric in a second or third quilt, that project will be linked to the previous quilts in my mind. (Again, this is something people often think of with quilts made from clothes--there's Grandma's apron, Mom's first dress, etc.)

Do you think my hat will be warmer with the echos of old projects knit into it?