Thursday, March 15, 2018

Really?!! Finishes!

Hurray!  for me!  I finished something--these mitts from
FLG group on Ravelry--January featured mystery--
Winding Staircase mitts--challenging for me--as you 
can read about in previous posts.

Another finish is the January hat of the month group!!
Yep--I got it all ready for the charity box--who needs warm
hats in the summer?!  

Barley Light by Tin Can Knits is an easy knit--I used a Knit Picks wool
yarn--this will fit a young child. 
Boy, I'm on a roll........


Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Stitching A Year in the Garden

Sometimes, there is an opportunity to stitch a peaceful scene
Elefantz Designs offers such lovely patterns to
stitch and enjoy as time goes along.

You can find March's free pattern now--available till
April 1--

Luckily, I remembered to save January's pattern in
my Craftsy file--

Not so lucky for February--I needed to purchase for
a small fee of $2--well worth the cost for pattern.
I have my needles ready along with my perle cotton--
let my evenings be filled with pulling threads through
luxury linen.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Cable Challenge

How about a challenge to kick off your Monday--a Cable challenge!
Solene Knits is offering a 10 day mystery knit along--
oh, I love mysteries!  and here is a chance to learn
interesting things about cables--
A cowl pattern leading you into simple rope cables to
complex traveling cables with textures and lace--
I'm hoping to learn tips and tricks to create pretty cables as
I knit this cowl--or it could be a scarf instead.
And it's all free!
The challenge runs from Monday March 12th through
Wednesday March 21
I'm in!
It seems cable are just wanting to be learned to
be knitted!
Sign up at the Solene Knits website or
check it out on Ravelry.





Friday, March 9, 2018

The Color of March--Yellow!


The third bear in the Beary Colourful Quilt is the Yellow Bear of Being Active Outdoors. This bear is cheerful and energetic and is just itching to get out and have some fun. Grab this pattern from Clever Chameleon and your yellow fabric scraps to bring some
sunshine into your March stitching!
Yellow, the color of sunshine, hope, and happiness, has conflicting associations. On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it represents cowardice and deceit. A dull or dingy yellow may represent caution, sickness, and jealousy.
Studies show that the meaning of the color yellow can be warmth, cheerfulness, increased mental activity, increased muscle energy. The color yellow helps activate the memory, encourage communication, enhance vision, build confidence, and stimulate the nervous system.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Do You Ikea?


Have you seen this?  It's from a postcard set at Ikea designed
by Tom Frazier 
This quilt was designed by Jeli Quilts and she has the free
pattern!! What a color blast!  

Now, Sandra of Musings of a Menopause Melon is hosting a QAL--
Of course, I'm late coming to the party but this is calling my name!

And if color isn't your thing--here is another mathematical 
challenge for you, designed by Sarah Goer.
There is a fabulous tutorial on how to design your
own

Monday, March 5, 2018

Donate!

The Clementine Quilt Along benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help advance cures and means of prevention for catastrophic pediatric diseases. Fat Quarter Shop is happy to be partnering with Moda Fabrics to match up to $20,000 of donations for this awesome cause. And, on top of that, Fat Quarter Shop will auction their Clementine Quilt Along quilt at the end of the program, and 100% of the auction proceeds will go to our St. Jude campaign. So please DONATE today!
The patterns appear monthly but you can still get the last two now on
Fat Quarter Shop's website.





Saturday, March 3, 2018

How Would You Interpret This?

 Chain and Bar Quilt, Maker Unknown, Alberta, c. dates not specified, cotton, 185.5 cm x 179 cm, from the collection of University of Alberta Museums.

How would you interpret this quilt in modern day fabrics?  Mary Elizabeth Kinch
is leading a quilt along for this "Foothills Quilt"--she has laid out a series 
on how the QAL would work.  There are many lessons to be learned from
this quilt--so jump on the foothills wagon and let's learn together
about history.
The pattern and instructions will be on her site till May 10th; then it
will come down as she journeys around the country teaching this
interesting pattern.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Cables! Cables! Cables!

We have been striping wallpaper in the master bath--
up and down ladders, peeling, picking up papers--
by afternoon, all I want to do is sit, relax and
knit--there is so many other things that I 
should be doing. 
It's a treat to get to my knitting 
and now

I'm enthralled with cables!

Elizabeth Ravenwood on Ravelry is hosting a monthly
cable knit along--cables are something I haven't knit often;
thought this would be a good exercise to learn

some of my cables are lopsided but I'm learning.

Then there is a new book  (Something New to Learn About Cables)
coming out March 15
authored by Arnell-Culliford knitwear.

I definitely haven't learned much about cables yet--I'm just
looking forward to the pattern for March Knitalong. 

And look!  FLG (fingerless gloves) pattern for February is 
Aegwynn Laure Marmier--
cables!!  more to learn about cables!



Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Just Cruisin' Along...........

Just cruisin' along with my knitting--
I'm happy that I'm on the third yarn in the pattern--
yeah me!


This is January pattern for Hat group on Ravelry--
Always running behind and my goal was to knit
at least 5-7 hats in 2018.

Well, you can see that I made a mistake way back in 
first color--I didn't see it till I was too far removed
and said--'darn it' and knit along!

Just cruising along with my knitting and this is easy
pattern to follow but there it was --three pinks!!
instead of just two--well, this time I tinked back
to the mistake as those three together threw the
whole pattern off.  This pattern is from Darn Knit Anyway--


I'm cruisin' again!!  Maybe, I'll finish before April
as March pattern comes out--still have February to knit......


Saturday, February 24, 2018

Weavers Gathering!

It was our February meeting of WSW (Westside Weavers)--
we are a small group but mighty!  Our experiences are varied
but Sharing is a big part of our
meeting--times of trouble, sadness, health issues, friendships
we made, weaving problems and solutions--

During "show and tell" time, Penny had this gorgeous Shetland wool--
boy, wish I knew this last November!  It would have been
perfect for Shetland lace knitting project--oh, well,
we touched it lightly and could see it being spun into a
fine thread. 

Connie shared her Christmas gift--
a stitching joy to behold!  

Rosemary had her Christmas cards--she used portions of
her parents wool blanket--bringing back memories of
her childhood--she did some eco-dyeing on the wool
and used the insets for her cards--very clever!

Another clever idea from Rosemary--all those photos
you receive over the years--all from one family--she
used to make these delightful balls for decorations
for her memory tree.

Such colorful twill towels were shared by Pat--
nice handle--20 epi cotton--

She had several with different weft colors to
accent the warp--we all wanted to sneak one into
our bags to take home!  
Good work Pat!
Laughs, Friends, Fun, Sharing, and we end the 
the day with lunch.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Finishes? Not Much.............

I think there are many people who finish projects,
I'm not one of those people--although, I try--
sometimes, those projects or UFOs linger for
awhile--why?  Sometimes, I get lazy; sometimes,
I lose interest; sometimes, I forget about them!

This is 10 blocks from A Quilting Life--2017 BOM--
I had to search the site to find the last two block patterns, so
maybe, one day in 2018 I'll put it together.

This is the leader, ender project--it will be an ongoing
sewing project.  Maybe, I'll finish this and pass it along
for a charity quilt

I have the pieces all cut out for the leader-ender
so there should be no excuse--right?
I'm still working on the lender-ender project from 2016--
oh, well--some day it will finish!  Maybe!

I was knitting these Winding Stairway fingerless gloves
on two circular needles--doing two at the same time.
well, that didn't work for me--it was a good idea, until
I put them down for awhile.  When I picked them up to knit,


I got lost in the pattern trying to keep up with
both gloves--now, the gloves are on double pointed
needles--and I think I might finish--by next winter.

For MONTHS--I've been looking for this pattern!
Finally, it surfaced!  I wasn't looking for it
and out it came from hiding! 
another UFO on the list of almost finished items.
Wonder what other UFOs are hiding?

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

The Cowls Have It...........

Our theme for 2019 January Spin-in is Purple Cowl--my mind is whirling with ideas--cowls--not Purple, that's for sure!!  
I will use color wheel to select off the side from purple --Orange!

This was the Joyful Cowl MKAL by designer Heather Anderson on Ravelry
--fun to knit--variety too.

Lots of loose ends to repair though
During the Olympics, Ravelry hosts Ravellenics 2018
free pattern (Just Slip It) was designed by Susan Ashcroft
This event is called "Cowl Curling"!
I've had this variegated yarn for some time--
now, which solid to use with it?  

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Crochet Comeback!!

Crochet seems to be making a comeback--we had one spin-in participant show off her granny square afghan that was knit from every Opal sock yarn --no photo here--too bad--it was stunning!
Since, we had so many crochet pieces, it got me to thinking about how we seem to come around to different fiber techniques.
Here is one that comes close to our Granny Square Queen's work.

Lavender and Rose  has a tutorial for hexagon squares:
We had several crochet wearables show up at January Spin-in.
Most of the time, we had lots of knitted and woven items,
but this year we were blessed with this technique.

Suzanne is modeling a crochet poncho that a fellow
fiberist gave to her.

I'm sorry I didn't get the name of the pattern but
you can contact Suzanne at Fireant Ranch if you 
are interested in this pattern.

This lovely was made by Jane at Spin-in--
she said she wanted to show off her space dyed
yarn and this pattern was just perfect

"Virus" shawl by Woolpedia, designed by
Julia Marquardt

Mijo Crochet has a free pattern and tutorials for you!
This is way too pretty!  Wish I did more crochet!


Inveraray Cable Scarf

by Noelle Stiles  has a wonderful cable--

Fire and Ice Shawl is a free crochet shawl pattern
Grab those hooks and lets get to hooking!






Friday, February 16, 2018

Color At My Fingertips

The loom is warp ready and I've placed colorful fibers to
brighten up a rather gloomy time.  I have certain shuttles that
I like to use--the one on the right is my favorite--a gift from
CHT board members when I retired as President--
it glides nicely across the 8/2 cotton threads. 

Each of these towels will use a different weft color--purple pops across
the orange/red warp

A little blue too makes my heart sing with delight as I
throw the shuttle--heres to a treadling good day as 
the warp progresses on the front beam.


Another towel is humming along-----wait! there is one big
glaring mistake!!  Somehow, the weft didn't cross the warp in
a few pieces--guess what?  It's time to rippppppp back to the 
mistake!

Oh well, I found this before I took the warp off the loom.
!
Whew!  off the loom!  Look at all those weft ends that
need to be darned back into the warp--handwork for sure!

I'm happy with the results from this warp--when I'm weaving
I'm thinking about the next warp--
each warp in my mind will change as I progress on the
loom-- I will leave plenty of warp, so if I choose
I can tie on the next warp--
Happy treadling y'all!



So It Goes!!

Yes! I am spinning for Tour de Fleece.  In between spinning, I hurry to studio and finish up some UFOs.  In comes another month's clues ...