Bag and Log Cabins

I finished a bag yesterday. I love how it turned out and it is exactly the size and type of bag I have been needing. Plus it has fabric on the pockets that I LOVE and find hilarious. I call them the creepy knitting ladies. I knew the instant that I saw the fabric that I had to have a project bag with them on it. The fabric is by Alexander Henry and it's called The Ghastlies. I for some reason could not get my head around this bag though. It took several tries, buying more fabric, and settling for a few things that I wouldn't normally accept but it's done. I think I would do much better the second go around, however I am still happy with the end product and love my new bag.

I am taking a quilt class right now, Classic Log Cabin. I have been anxiously awaiting a class like this. I am two weeks in and LOVING it. I didn't have much time last week to work on it, but all the logs are now cut and I am happily chain piecing away. I have four finished blocks and 16 that need one more round. This quilt will be for John to take with him to work for his bed there. I am hoping to get a maltese cross quilted onto it or something like that. It will be a gift for John graduating the Anchorage Fire Department Academy. One of the things I love best about a log cabin quilt is how amazing they look regardless of your fabric choices. I really stepped out of my comfort zone and bought all of the fabrics at 50-70%. As long as they were a light or a dark and weren't too similar to each other they went into the "buy" pile. I bought the backing at the same time for 70% off and enough of the center fabric to do borders and binding (although I am leaning towards doing a log cabin border too) at 70% off. The cost for the top and backing of this twin sized quilt will only be about $45. That is smoking! Anyhow I love a good deal and am excited to see the blocks coming together. I am using Judy Martin's method and I LOVE how easy it has made it. I am also using the organizers she recommended and they have been keeping my fabric so nice and ready to piece. I can't wait to post a finished picture!

Also here is a picture that my sister took from Noah's birthday party. I love it :)

Catch up

So I won't even try to play catch up but here are a few pictures of what I have been doing craft wise (well and the fair!) the past 2 months or so :)

A couple things from a BUSY Week!

So I won't touch on EVERYTHING I was busy doing this last week, but here are two accomplishments.

1. The boys room.

I forgot to take a before picture. But the upper half of the walls had been tarp blue. Not a bad color but it had been waiting a year for me to finish the room and I just woke up and realized that I never was going to want to spend the money on the paneling and chair rail. We have many more pressing fixes around that house. So I went to Lowe's and picked out some new paint. Went home and the next day jumped into painting mode! I taped, primed, and painted. here are the results. I'm very happy with it, and the boys (Corbin in particular) though it was a "beautiful blue". I had gone through their room a couple days before that and was ruthless. Now they have a nicely organized room with a place for everything. They have been doing much better at cleaning it up as well (which had been the real goal!).

2. Started a four patch posy quilt top.

This is one of the new classes this session at work. The sample is done in oriental prints and was just lovely. BUT! I have been dying to use a really bold and fun print and decided this was the time to try it! This is easier than some of the other patterns out there using the "stack and whack" method. It means layering four repeats (where the pattern 'repeats" across the fabric) exactly on top of each other and cutting them simultaneously to creat a kaleidoscope effect when they are pieced together. This was harder than I expected (though I should've known) and took me a long time (well longer than I thought it should have). I got it all cut out and have pieced 9 of the blocks so far. I think they are pretty cool. Here's how it looked as I went from step to step :)

Camilla Baby Sweater and Pants

Yay! Nothing like the instant (pretty much) gratification of knitting for small babies. I finished the knitting on this two days ago but just sat down this morning to graft the underarms and weave in the ends. I am so happy with how this turned out! I think it's much cuter in person. I don't think the camera picked up the details so well. Of course it's a grey day and I have no baby to model it on....

The corduroy pants I whipped up in no time using a free template online. I think they turned out great! They cost about $5 to make and were so fast. I have materials to make two more pairs and hope to get them done sooner than later.

I made the 6mo size in both so it should be a great little fall/winter outfit for this spring baby.

Finishing Up

As with most people, I was excited for the holidays to come and excited to see them go. I love the extra time with family and appreciate them so much. But it also makes me appreciate the everyday. So 2011 I am ready for you!I have one resolution (that's new anyways) and that is to get on top of my calendar. So far I'm taking baby steps, but that means it's better than it was. I just always feel helter-skelter, and I want to change that.

I have been finishing projects including three lap quilts! Two are yellow brick roads (they only differ in quilting pattern and binding so I've just included one pic) that I made for my boys to enjoy this winter and they were fun to make and my first foray into quilting something bigger than a bag. They aren't perfect, but the boys love them and I learned much from

doing them! I also finished a quilt that I had been making for my Grandpa Wes, it features RV/Camping fabric and he is very happy to have a leg quilt to go in the RV with him!

I have two other large quilt projects ready to start and can't wait!! Before I can get to those I just have another small wave tote to finish. (Please excuse the poor night/flash photography - it totally skewed the colors) It's for my MIL, she used to live in Alaska and loved it here, so I thought she would enjoy these fabrics......

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Here's just a small sampling from ours :)

Before and After

Whew! This week has flown! Lots got done and was probably one of the most satisfying weeks I have had in awhile! All the sewing and knitting has had some nicely tangible results and that always leaves me in a good mood! So I thought I would share some before and afters of my living area. It still seems a little bare (it needs a rug and boy do I have big plans for that!) but it is coming along nicely - a big improvement from moving day if I do say so myself.

Before

After

I also am doing the Through the Loops Socktober Fest Mystery Knit A Long. I have never done a knit a long, much less a mystery pattern! So far it is proving most exciting and I already have my first sock through the first clue and the second sock about 25% through. Already looking forward to next Thursday! Here is my picture of the progress. The yarn is Pigeonroof Studios Original Sock Yarn in her Mourning Dove colorway. My lighting was terrible (flourescent - bleh!) so I apologize and will post better pics soon!

Sock Summit Sock Hop - Oh Yeah!

So as a result of not getting one of the classes I was hoping for I have decided to go all out for the Sock Hop! I am making some awesome knee high socks (which I messed up on last evening and now need to rip a couple of rows - ugh!) and a super cool rockabilly 50's style dress (I mentioned this plan earlier but now it is getting closer to reality). I was very successful with fabric and yarn - I couldn't be happier! The fabric is an Alexander Henry print and the yarn is Dale of Norway baby Ull in a really nice icy blue. Enough chatter as pictures speak louder than words....


I am working on the socks first as they will take longer, and I am back on track for losing weight! My goal is another 15lbs before Sock Summit. I have maintained for the last couple of months - but I really need to break through this plateau as this weight is the lowest I have gotten for the past 4 years or so. I know I can do it - unfortunately it is going to require the treadmill from this point......

Progress and more progress!

I had written half this blog before I unthinkingly restarted firefox. So I will just jump in with my project progress first.

Spinning: My latest is skein of bulky weight wool that I intend for some super cuddly mitts. I purchased the batts from Knitting Grounds, but they are from one of my fave local fiber artists, Denise of Fiber n Ice. I love how the batts blended to form a beautiful heathered yarn. I will defninitely be buying more of these batts!


Knitting:

I have some baby shower knitting on the agenda and I have completed:

• a pair of suede booties (sans the fluffy yarn called for),

• A super cute - will definitely be making for my boys - hat pattern by Sweet Mama, Small Sugar. Who, by the way, I think has one of the greatest eyes out there for putting together some of the cutest children handmade outfits I have ever seen. I am just in love with her style. The hat is small on Noah, but I think you get the idea. Her patterns have great size range and I plan on knitting the next size up for him. It was a fast knit, and I some handspun leftover from my Dad's Turn a Square hat and (what I'm thinking is malabrigo worsted) yarn from my grab bag purchase. I had plenty leftover from each and am making a pair of thumbless baby mitts to go with the hat.
  

Sewing:

• So this is embarrasing to admit but our Christmas package just went out to my inlaws yesterday, the package was all finished except that it had been waiting on this table runner. I had just been indecisive on how I should quilt it (went the easy route and just ended up doing stitch in the ditch). I finally just sat down to do it. The (machine) quilting took maybe half an hour, but the hand stitching of the binding to the back took around 4 hours. I am glad I did it that way though, and I am just happy that it is finished in general.

• The other sewing project was a block for my sister's wedding quilt that her MIL is putting together. Again I was two months behind getting this in! Ack. I enjoy sewing, but I am (obviously) much more easily motivated by knitting or spinning. The instruction given to me were that the theme was "Love and Romance" and that the border would be done in a leafy green. My sister loves purple and green and I thought I had some fabrics in my stash that would work together. I ended up doing the design I did because Whitney and her hubby own property in Homer and are currently building their "love nest" cabin there. It took me two hours from pulling out the fabric to putting in the envelope to mail. Again a good reminder to myself that I need to just sit down and do it! "It" being whatever item on my agenda that I am putting off for whatever reason. I am really happy with how it turned out and think Whitney will love it!

Shop Progress:

My base yarns that I ordered more than 2 weeks ago finally got here! (Next time I will upgrade shipping!) I am so excited! I wound over 40 skeins today and still have more to do. I am adding three new yarns to my line - Terino Luxury (50/50 Tencel/Merino Sport weight), Borealis Lite (Superwash Merino Fingering Weight), and Australis (Merino worsted weight). I have a great deal planned in the upcoming months regarding my "yarn lines" and can't wait to share more as it get solidified into reality.

So all in all while I haven't quite been on top of blogging a lot has been going on!

A series of collages...

Thank you ahead of time for putting up with the excessive amounts of collages, and not just in this post, but in the last few as well. They take up much less room however and I am a little infatuated with them.

I finally got all of my desired pictures taken and edited and voila! Here they are (make sure you're comfortable this might take awhile!).....

The first collage is the contents of my Phat Fiber Sampler Box from February. I will describe a few in detail.... Fiber (Left Side):

• I will start with bottom left first. Angora bunny fiber....I had never felt this fiber before and I am so in love. I ordered more that night....12oz more.
  
• I was thrilled to have gotten a sample from Moonwood farms of hand carded alpaca and she included a great informational card with pics of her animals and ways to use the roving!
  
• My fave wool is BFL and I got a generous sample of it from Abstract Fibers in a colorway that instantly drew me to it!
• Wildhare Fiber Studio (whose name and logo I just love) had a light as air and fluffy roving that just lit up once the light hit it (red firestar). I think it would make such a great yarn and can tell just from looking at it that it would be a joy to spin! I love bright colors and
• From Ewe to You delivered a great example of that! Their roving sample had depth that is hard to capture in photos and I think it would be great for felting, I was instantly wanting to pull out my needlefelting supplies! It had great spring to it as well! They had also tied their sample with what looks like the same fiber spun and it is a lovely crisp yarn that would wear well.

Yarns (Bottom Right Corner):

There were a variety of yarns, some pure silk worsted from Hedgehog fibres (YUMMY), the beautiful pinks & chocolates fingering from sis yarn was lovely too. A generous sample included was from Fire Lizard Studios and while I probably would have never picked this colorway for myself has become a favorite and I keep thinking how nice it would be to have a pair of socks in that colorway. I knit the sample into a phone cozy (pictured in a collage below). Another sample, or set of samples I should say, that stood out were from Oriri Draco Design and it was great to see three different yarns that they carry, my fave was the Sea Squish Lace a luxurious seacell and silk blend.

Other (Upper Right Corner):

• I felt so lucky to have recieved one of Seven Yaks needle guages! I have already used it several times and am planning on picking up some of their sock blockers in the near future!
• I also got one of the notecards from Knit it Up, It's a beautiful card and I love just having a beautiful picture of yarn to look at! I also have several friends that I know would like to receive it.
• A very cute conversation hear stitch marker was in my box from Designs by Tami and I know it will be getting some good use!
• Another sample was Teat Treat Salve from Desert Garden Farms, it came in an awesome tin and it feels great on the hands! Love!
• I also received Two patterns, "Under the Rose", a very pretty fingerless mitts pattern and a sock pattern "Berries" that uses a worsted weight yarn, which I could easily see myself making!
  

Next up are the yarns I spun from a friend's Phat Fiber Sampler (She doesn't spin, so I luckily got the chance to play with that many more samples.)

• The first is a woolen spun (my first) yarn that weighs in right at 25g with 75 yards (top right pic). I loved spinnging this yarn and know that I will be ordering more batts from Giffordables Folk art and Fibres. It is probably the most enjoyable yarn I have spun in a long time! Her prices are insanely good too.
  
• The bright yarn on the top left is a 3 ply(which I done in a long time) with about 60yards, was so much fun to see the variety of colors intermix. It was spun from roving dyed by Kangaroo Dyer, which specializes in unique color combinations, which I think she has a great eye for. I really can't wait to see what Sally knits with it as I think it will look fantastic knit!
• Bottom left was spun from a Copperpot woolies roving, which was so soft and fun as it was a merino and bamboo blend. It's colorway was rockin' robin, which I thought was a great name for it! I did a two ply and ended up with about 36 yards.
• Liberty Fibers included a very creatively named Raspberry Truffle Dark Chocolate With Wasabi Cream blended roving and I LOVED it. The named fit it perfectly and it really stretched me as a spinner and I felt there were so many ways to have spun up this fiber. I am happy with how it mixed up and it had a great amount of sparkle! Here is her link for the fiber, I forgot to take a pic before spinning it.

Below are the other projects that have been keeping me busy this week! More about them later!


Wow! You made it all this way! Thanks for sticking it out!

Sewing, Knitting, and Dyeing, oh my!

As it is with most people this time of year I have been pretty busy! But I feel that I have quite a bit to show for it! (yay! Which is much better than having nothing to show). So rather than blather on I will just put up some pics.

Sewing:

Knitting: Dyeing: (woohoo, I am really getting more time efficient at this! Also figured out a few new techniques that really make me happy)


Some of the above yarns are already in the shop!

Also I apologize for my knitting pics agh! ;)