Dot to Dot

Have I mentioned that I love the new quilt?



The pattern is Dot to Dot (Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting, January/February 2007). I don't remember seeing it when I first got the magazine, but it leaped out at me when I was flipping through some back issues a couple of months ago. I've become just a little obsessed with finding patterns that will use up the scrap bags but won't leave me with a dozen quilts that all look the same.

The big dots really show off some gorgeous prints I like but wouldn't want to base an entire quilt on. I decided to do the blanket stitch by hand instead of machine, expecting it to take forever, but the whole thing is going together fast.

I didn't have enough muslin to cut all of the dot blocks at once, so I've got sixteen or so of those to go, then it's ready to be assembled.

I finally got a big chunk of time to myself. Translation -- I was up until 2am, first playing with the new quilt and then adding a few rows to a cardigan for Alex. When I did finally make myself go to bed, my mind was still racing so I didn't actually fall asleep until several hours later. Leif, who fell asleep really early last night, crawled up onto me at about seven to tell me he loved me.

I'm running on maybe three hours of sleep and not much caffeine -- yet -- and can't wait to pull out the sewing machine and piece more blocks.

I'm happily drowning in yarn and fabric and ideas, which I haven't had time to blog about. I've got a couple dozen different projects I want to be working on and it seems like every time I turn around, I find more things to add to the list. Which is fine with me. Some will get done and some will never get started, and I'll have a lot of fun planning them in my head.

Oh, and I'm no longer sulking about the Simply Soft.

Last Friday I went up to Salem to help a friend with a quilting project. Which means I spent the evening telling her "I'd go ahead and leave it, but every other quilter in the world would probably tell you to rip it out." At least when I tell her she should redo something, she takes me seriously. Despite my hopeless attitude toward quilting accuracy, her log cabin came out gorgeous.

And since I was up there anyway, we stopped at the one Walmart I didn't have time to hit when I was looking for Simply Soft. That store had plenty of it marked down, but not the colors I was pining for. They called the store in Dallas (hey, it's only another fifteen miles each way) and they had six skeins of one of the colors and would hold them for me.

They didn't actually hold the yarn, but when I got there, they had plenty -- including the colors they said they were out of. I'm not going to complain about that. If they have to get rid of my favorite yarn, at least I got to pick up a bunch of it on clearance. I have enough Simply Soft to last a long, long time.

Grandma found me two more huge bags of quilting scraps at the thrift store and this afternoon I went through them both and pulled out everything that didn't fit even my loose definition of quilting cotton. I saved the solid colors and some wool and the rest is in a huge bag that I need to find a home for. Tomorrow I think I'm going to try to tackle the rest of the scrap bags.

I think I lost a monkey or two.



The pattern for Alex's quilt called for five little applique monkeys, but I got sick of them and didn't make that many. I'm sure I made at least three... but when I unfolded the top on Tuesday afternoon to get it ready for quilting, there were only two little monkeys.

Oh well. I'm not doing more of them. I just want this quilt to be done. It has issues. I made spectacular mistakes with the cutting. I used the wrong presser foot so my seams weren't 1/4 inch and the blocks didn't go together right. I quilted it yesterday when all I really wanted was to finish fast so we could go get some lunch and the thread kept breaking, so I'd lose track of where I was and which way I was looping, and Leif would grab onto my leg...

I hate it less now that it's quilted, but I'm never going to love this quilt. I do need to stay motivated enough to find the fabric I bought for the binding, because Alex wants it done NOW. She's only been waiting, um, eighteen months for me to finally finish it.

After the quilt was off the machine and we'd had lunch, we headed to Walmart so I could buy four skeins of Caron Simply Soft to cast on for a February Ladies Sweater. I've got some in my stash, but I really wanted to use one of those wonderful dark colors I fell in love with a few months ago -- and there wasn't more than a skein or two of each color. They're phasing it out.

I dragged the kids to three different stores, complaining about it the whole way, and never did find one of the colors I had my heart set on. I got a few other skeins to use for sweaters for the baby boys because one store had it marked down to $1.50 a skein, but I'm really annoyed about this.

Simply Soft is my favorite box store yarn, especially for sweaters for the kids. I could fall in love with a pattern and have the yarn in my hands fifteen minutes later -- if it was grocery shopping day.

The next closest place I know of that carries it is Michaels, fifty miles from home. If they still have it. I haven't had the heart to call and check.

I'm giddy.

I've been this way for two days now, all excited about the opportunity to play with yarn and fabric, which hasn't actually happened yet, but it's going to. Soon. Maybe within the next hour, if I'm not so totally wiped out by nap time that I crawl into bed myself.

We're back from our trip, the one that got cancelled and rescheduled so many times I spent my summer not knowing if I was coming or going or leaving tomorrow. The trip was great -- in ten days we drove through parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho...oh, yeah, and back into Oregon.

Brown Sheep is in Nebraska. I've been suggesting a detour in that direction for a couple of years now and my wonderful husband, the same one who usually won't stop at Joann's so I can pick up a skein of yarn, drove through three states so I could shop for yarn. And didn't bat at eye at the two huge bags Alex and I walked out of there with -- although he did ask which kid I was going to leave behind to make room for them.

So now in addition to all of the stuff I was excited about casting on when we got back, I've got enough Cotton Fleece for three tops, wool for a French Market Bag, and a bunch of Cotton Fine and some sock yarn. And I'm not sure what else -- it was hard to shop and keep Leif from running off and helping Alex pick out her own yarn at the same time. Not everything I meant to buy made it into my bag, and since I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, I don't know what all came home with me.

Lately I'm finding more and more new patterns I want to buy. The trick is going to be walking that fine line between "I'll wait to order until I'm ready to start knitting the project" and "I'll die if this becomes unavailable before I order it." I'm not sure which category that alligator scarf fell into, but I've bought the pattern and knit the project, so I don't need to worry about that one anymore.

Today I found a pattern for a knit jackalope. We spend a lot of time traveling in the southwest, so my kiddos know all about jackalopes and would probably love to have one. Not that I plan on sharing.

I love the Kelso Lace Cardigan and Spring Vines is just plain gorgeous. I'm not sure what yarn would do that pattern justice and is within my budget. But I'm keeping my eyes open.

Flora is such a pretty little wisp of lace, and the pattern is only four bucks and calls for one skein of Shadow. I could handle that -- especially since I already have the yarn.

Cat Mittens and Fisherman's Friend both make my heart go pitty pat, but I'm not going to let myself buy more patterns for colorwork mittens until I finish some of the ones I've already got planned.

This really is an illness

I spent the past two afternoons fighting the layered squares quilt, which was an absolute bear to assemble. After lots of struggling and whining and grabbing for the seam ripper, I've finally got the top together.



The pattern calls for a wide border, but this quilt needs to hide for a while before I decide whether I've got the necessary enthusiasm to buy it pretty fabric. Right now, I don't like it enough to spend extra money on it. I'm tempted to just quilt the thing and bind it and call it done the way it is.

My biggest problem was that the squares are laid out in horizontal rows. The piecing is done in diagonal rows and I couldn't wrap my head around the whole thing. Towards the end, the layout was getting easier and I started to think that this quilt might look really nice in some bright florals and that if I used post-its and note paper and numbered the blocks...

I'm trying to talk myself out of it.



And, speaking of illness, I felted the second Dumpling Bag yesterday after putting away the quilt for the day. This one is in Paton's SWS, which is prettier than the yarn I used for the first one, but that pink stripe is too bright for me to love. I think the Paint Box will be better, but I can't remember which safe place I hid it in.

So I cast on for a double dumpling with some purple wool that spent its previous life as a thrift store sweater.

There would be pictures, but the camera is throwing its worst tantrum to date. I'm afraid the blog may be photoless for a while. (edited to add the pictures I took after more camera-fighting)

How much fabric?!

Earlier this week, I saw something in one of my quilt magazines about how many yards of fabric and spools of thread the members of their editorial staff had stashed. They estimated that three yards of fabric weighs a pound so, with an actual formula for figuring out how what that mountain of oddly shaped scraps in the sewing room adds up to, I called my mom and double-dog-dared her to take an inventory of her own stash while I was doing mine.

She wasn't nearly as excited as I was. I think her tentative agreement was mostly to shut me up for the moment. But that's okay. We both know she's got a whole lot of fabric.

What I didn't realize was how much fabric I've accumulated. I'm not done weighing and adding yet and the total is already more than triple what I thought was a high guess.

This is kind of exciting. I keep finding patterns for neat scrap quilts, and it looks like I've enough fabric to keep making them. This is exciting!

After the kid were in bed last night, I started cutting fabric for the new quilt. I really wanted to make this one, even though the construction scares me to death.

It's not assembled in blocks. You're supposed to lay the whole thing out on a design wall and sew it together a piece at a time.



I'm sure that works just fine for people who have design walls that aren't part of a sloping ceiling and can keep their sewing machine next to those design walls. I don't fit that criteria.

But I want this quilt, so I laid out the fabric on the flannel side of an old table cloth and as soon as the kiddos are in bed, I'm going to start piecing. Hopefully I can get it all together before something scary happens.

I pulled out fabric for the new quilt this morning and while I've got more than enough pinks and blues, I'd really like a few more yellow prints. And maybe another green or two. I like the yellows I did come up with, I'm just not sure there's enough of them to balance out the blues and pinks. And I'm not willing to give up any of those.

sigh

I think I'm just ready to jump on any excuse to go fabric shopping.

Forget the five inch squares for now, because this pattern is screaming to me louder --



I know I've got the right fabrics up in the sewing room, but dh has the shop keys in the pants he wore to work, which means I've been locked away from my fabric all day. I could've spent those hours getting the house absolutely spotless so I'd have nothing to do tomorrow but sort through my stash for the perfect blue and pink and yellow and green prints, but that's not how my life works.

I did tackle the housework, but I also spent some time finishing this guy --



I desperately wanted to knit an alligator scarf, but was worried about those ridges down his back. How did they do that? I was picturing complex short rows or something equally stressful. And then there were those wonderful eyes. How could those possibly work?

The little ridges and eyes are easy. I had to redo the nostrils a couple of times, which was a problem with the knitter, not the pattern.

After my struggles with the shark hat, I need a couple of projects where I can just follow the pattern as written and not fight with it.

I can't go quilting at church without wanting to buy fabric on the way home. Today, it was a yard and a half of black cotton I suddenly had to have. But Joann's would have been a 60 mile detour and I forgot about the itty-bitty quilt shop between the church and the house so, although it was less about self control and more about not having the time to drive that far, I didn't actually buy any fabric.

After seeing someone else's finished quilt, I'm dying to make my own version of the scrap quilt the group is working on. It's a pattern I've seen before -- I think it's called "Exquisite," but I'm having no luck with a Google search to verify that. Too many people are using the word to describe their quilts. And while I'm sure they're all absolutely lovely, it's keeping me from finding what I want!

Now I'm going to go finish the dishes and start cutting five inch squares. Because if I have the squares done, I'll really need to go buy the black fabric.

The bead store didn't have lucite rings. I'm not convinced that the lady there even listened to my question, because she steered me toward jump rings and said that was the only thing they had. So I went to the craft store and found some little metal rings that I hoped would do the same job. Then I went home and got to work felting the bag and dying it with Black Cherry Kool Aid.



I love this little bag! It's the perfect size for my wallet, phone, and keys, and doesn't gape completely open to spill everything out. Keep in mind that I've been carrying diapers for most of the past 11 years and cute little purses are a totally unrealistic fantasy at this point in my life. But I do plan to knit another one as soon as I figure out what yarn to use.

StandsWSicks has one on Ravelry that's done in Knit One Crochet Too Paint Box. I've got some single balls of that in my stash...maybe I could stripe them?

And llamalady has made a "double dumpling" that's more of a shoulder bag. That would even hold diapers!



This shark hat has been driving me nuts. There's an error at the very beginning of the patter nthat brought me to a screeching halt about five minutes after casting on. I got that figured out, but once I got about halfway through the dorsal fin my shark's tail didn't look right so I ripped out the whole thing and started over. This time, I got almost to the teeth before deciding that the body is still too short and fat. He needs more plain rows between the tail increases and before the dorsal fin and between the last fin decreases and the ribbing...knitting this pattern as written definitely won't give you a shark shaped like the one in the pattern pictures.

I looked at the other shark hats on Ravelry -- should've done that before casting on! It's not just me. All of the shark hats there have modifications.

So do I start over a third time, or do I just move on to the teeth? Because I'm not sure how that part is going to work out, either.

Show and Tell Friday

It's been a long time since I've played Show and Tell Friday, but I'm so excited about today's new treasure that I've got to share.



Mom has this book that Great Grandma passed down to her. It's an absolutely massive thing, about a thousand pages divided into sections about medicine, and homemaking, and how to take care of the cows and chickens and the most obscure, fascinating stuff you could imagine, published in 1916. The spine was gone and the poor thing was falling apart until Mom took it and had it rebound.

I was always fascinated by that book but even though I could have looked carefully through it, it always felt too fragile to touch. So I didn't. I've never seen another book like it, not that I've been on a great quest for one. There could be dozens of them sitting on shelves in every antique store around.

I found this one at a garage sale today, sitting on someone's driveway beside a table of Danielle Steel paperbacks. As soon as I saw what it was, I scooped it up and started to figure out how much I could justify spending on it. I got it for a quarter. The sign said that books were twenty-five cents each, and that's what the lady charged me.



Considering its age and the fact that apparently no-one wanted it, it's in great shape. I can't wait to curl up with it and read how to treat hydrophobia and properly store fresh eggs!

The garage sales were good today. I found a huge bunch of black floral fabric (hopefully enough to finish and back the kitty cat quilt), an old blue Nancy Drew book I don't think I already have, and some decent yarn.

If I had two 3 centimeter Lucite rings and a packet of cherry Kool Aid, I'd finish my Dumpling Bag tonight. But we live in the middle of nowhere, so I have to wait until I'm up in town tomorrow to buy the little rings and the grocery store near the house is out of red drink mix. I really want to get this thing assembled and felted and dyed a different color!



When I cast on the night before last, I didn't expect to have it knit up before I left the house again, but it's a fast project. I'm using the same mystery wool I used for the Firefighter Hat, since it felted so well and came out such a nice shade of red.

These little projects are piling up quickly. I finished two more dishcloths, got the I-cord for the little froggy bag's mouth done and in place (he wasn't feeling photogenic today, so you'll have to imagine how he came out), and made a hat for Alex with yarn and a pattern that have been drifting around my sewing corner for at least a month now.





The Knit Dishcloth Dress is a pattern I'd printed out and completely forgotten about. I used short rows to shape the neckline in an effort to avoid rejoining yarn and weaving in extra ends.

The Pinwheel Dishcloth was easier than it first looked, if I don't admit that I couldn't figure out how to knit the fourth triangle to the first one. Mine is seamed.



Alex saw a picture of Pretty in Pink Ribbons over my shoulder when I found the pattern on Ravelry and liked it. She's up with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of days and hasn't seen it yet -- hopefully she'll agree that it came out cute!

My hand is feeling a lot better. It seems like knitting (as long as it's not seed stitch with dishcloth cotton) loosens it up, and I can go for longer stretches each day. So I'm a much happier knitter this week!

There's a radio ad playing lately that says something about making lemonade with free lemon slices and sugar packets. In my case, I'm using leftover bits of acrylic and suddenly feeling better about my knitting than I've felt in weeks. These little fiddly projects are distracting me from the fact that I can't knit for long stretches. So now I'm going through my Ravelry queue and looking for more of them.

The Sideways Short Row Watch Cap has been hovering near the top of my Ravelry queue for a couple of months. I thought it would be a good way to use up the leftover Bernat Camouflage from Heath's ugly raglan, but never got quite motivated enough to cast on.



Quinn promptly decided it was for him and insisted on wearing it to the grocery store because if he didn't, the wind would get in his hair. It was a fun little project and left me with a couple of ideas I want to try on my next short row hat.



I'd printed out a pattern for a Frog Bag ages ago because it's so silly and cute and I've got little kids to knit for. One of those projects I thought I might knit someday but wasn't actually planning to start because of those fiddly little arms and legs and eyes.

I love those little froggie legs and the way that a couple of "knit 3 togethers" make them bend just right!

My camera is having fits today and this is the only picture I could manage, but it proves I managed something last night --


(edited to add a better picture)

Pattern: Miniature Kniting Bag Ornaments

I used some Vanna's Choice left over from Leif's cabled sweater, and made the skeins with some old needlepoint wool that I had in my stash. It was quick and fun and left me feeling a lot better about my knitting.

I've got too much yarn to quit knitting, but I may have to learn a new way to hold my fingers around the needle. It still hurts when I bend my fingers. Not nearly as badly as it hurt the last time I posted, but I still can't knit for any decent length of time without feeling it.

Which probably explains why I'm getting so antsy in the evenings. I don't know what to do with myself if I can't knit!

I've managed a few more rounds on the Noviembre socks and got to within an hour or so of finishing Alex's new tank top before trying it on her and realizing that it's just a little too tight and a little too short. I was tempted to finish it just for the sake of finally finishing SOMETHING other than the fluffy red scarf, but I ripped the whole thing out this afternoon.

It was cute. I liked the texture of the yarn and the shaping and I had a whole skein of the yarn left over, more than enough to reknit it with a couple more inches of ease and make it longer.

I'd feel better about this if I was going to be able to actually get the knitting done anytime soon.

Maybe if I cast on something little and fiddly, I won't notice that I have to put it down and rest my hand every few minutes. I just went through my Ravelry queue and found some possibilities. The Miniature Knitting Bag Ornament pattern looks pretty cute!

The break will be good for my hands -- that's what I tell myself when life keeps me from knitting for a while.

Well, this last break was not good for my hands. On the second day of dh's vacation, I was doing dishes and the big glass mixing bowl slipped out of my hands. I closed my fingers around it at the same time as it hit the edge of the sink, with the exact result you'd expect from grabbing at a big shard of broken glass.

The doctor says I didn't cut anything vital and that any bits of glass still in there are so tiny they'll work themselves out. I was due for a tetanus booster anyway.

Another person who shall remain nameless (the who can expose a vein in his finger and still finish gutting a deer in the driveway before doing anything about it) tells me I'm a sniveler and that my little cut wasn't nearly bad enough to require medical attention, but it hurt a lot more than it seemed like it should, the throbbing was getting steadily worse, and we were were up in town and I was becoming more convinced by the second that I'd done real damage to my hand. I can handle natural childbirth. I can handle migraines. I cannot handle icky squeamish stuff.

When I did finally pick up my knitting a week later, it was bad. I could manage two eleven stitch rows before my stupid finger (which isn't even doing anything, it's just bending along with the rest of my fingers) forced me to stop. It's gotten better, but I don't know when I'm going to be able to knit normally again. And my arm is still throbbing where they gave me the tetanus shot, although that might be from sleeping on it wrong or hauling around toddlers or one of the other stupid things that frequently make me hurt.

Did I mention how not happy I am about this whole thing?

I am happy that the Alligator Scarf from Morehouse Merino is available as a pattern now. I think I waited a whole three minutes between finding that out and placing my order.

Alex has a new treasure and I've got a new challenge.



We went to an estate sale this afternoon and while I was trying to figure out why anyone would have boxes and boxes of Young Miss from 1983, Alex came running up to tell me "Daddy said to tell you there's fabric back there!" I got distracted by a box with knitting magazines in it and she dashed back to beat me to whatever good fabric there might be.

By that time, I'd found two old copies of Burda and a couple of Japanese knitting magazines for a dime each and wasn't thinking about fabric.

I probably wouldn't have picked up Alex's find because I don't look for finished knitting at estate sales. I want to knit my things myself. She came running up with a round shawl, totally in love and wanting to know if she could buy it.

I know a hand knit shawl is worth a whole lot more than $3.50. But I wasn't paying attention to the shawl itself, Alex didn't have that much money, and my first impression was that it had big holes in it. I told her she could ask if they'd take less money since it was damaged and she bought it for fifty cents.

She wants me to fix it. And, now that I've taken a good look, I realize it's worth fixing, if I can pull it off. I'm sure I can at least stabilize it and keep the holes from getting any bigger, but I'd like to do a better job than that.

Someone had odd taste in magazines and incredible lace knitting skills.

This afternoon, I got my second batch of quilted postcards for the Quilters Knitting Group over on Ravelry done and drove them down to the post office. Now my fingers are crossed that they get safely where they're supposed to go.



I'm seriously loving these quilted postcard swaps!

They cost next to nothing -- the only thing I've spent money on for these two swaps is stamps. It looks like I'll need to buy fabric to do what I've got in mind for the Fall swap, but that's only because I want the exact right colors.

Making the cards doesn't take a whole lot of time. I haven't actually timed myself and done the math, but it's taken less (a lot less) than an hour to finish each card. And the couple of evenings I did spend were divided between a bunch of different people, so even though I didn't get cards from a couple of the quilters I sent to last time, I don't feel like I got cheated. Maybe their cards got eaten by the post office, or maybe they were never sent. Since I didn't hear from either after letting them know I didn't get their cards, I've got my suspicions, but life happens.

And the cards that I did receive are fantastic.

I sunburned the backs of my knees today. How the heck did I manage that?! I burn easily. But I don't think I've managed that particular trick before.

The kids don't have sunburns. Which makes me feel better about my own.

We spent most of the day roaming the Sisters Quilt Show with my mom and a couple of friends. It didn't seem as hot as last year. There were a lot less people than usual. And there didn't seem to be as many quilts.

I did get a bunch of new ideas, but I'm too tired to remember any of them right now...

Casablanca

I feel like a bit of an imposter being so excited about this KAL, since I've never seen the movie. It's on the DVR, though, waiting for me to have some time. I wasn't sure about the first two clues, but the third one hooked me and now I'm dying to see what comes next.

Fancy Fulness

Yup, I'm still giddy about my pink lace. I absolutely love this shawl! The pattern, the yarn, the needles -- it all worked together just right.



The pattern was relatively easy to keep track of. With the wide edging and whatever that pretty pattern in the middle is (at first I thought the chart looked like hearts, but now I don't see those at all), it was quickly obvious if my stitches weren't lining up the way they should.

The wide border is gorgeous and I have a feeling I may use it again on something else.



Knitpicks Shadow is my absolute favorite lace weight yarn. I'm sure I spent more on the diet Coke I drank while knitting this than on the yarn. It took just a couple of yards from the second skein to finish the last rows.

I definitely need more Harmony circulars.

I checked this book out from the elementary school library over and over and over. It was full of fascinating things I just knew I could never try -- projects involving plaster and sharp knives and dead fish!



Out of the blue, I thought about it the other day, just a passing wisp of memory that couldn't go anywhere because I didn't know any actual details about the book, just that it had instructions for making prints with paint and dead fish and punching holes in empty tin cans to make lanterns.

I wasn't looking for it this afternoon. I was trying to hurry the kids out of the library so we could go meet Grandma across town and Alex needed a book with directions for braiding hemp bracelets and I was out of patience and bypassed the computers and helpful librarians to see if something would jump off the shelves at us. I wasn't even looking at the shelf this book was on, but the familiar spine jumped out at me.

While Alex was in karate, I flipped through it. The text is all handwritten, and I remember struggling to read it. I don't remember actually trying to make any of the projects, although I'm sure I would've tried some of the little paper ones.

Now that I'm all grown up and can buy plaster and risk my own fingers playing with tin cans, there are other things to be inspired and intimidated by. Like a whole stack of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines that I got off of Freecycle this morning.

I've been seduced by that magazine since I first saw it at the grocery store, but $8 an issue is a lot and there were always a couple of quilting or knitting magazines that I wanted more. I actually know how to quilt and knit. There's the possibility that I'll do more than drool over those.

I'm seriously loving Freecycle. It even found a happy home for our old love seat and chair, which weren't quite ready for the landfill yet.

Can I just stay home and knit?

Our new furniture was delivered four days ago and I'm still a bit giddy -- and also terrified that the kids are going to do something destructive to it. I could just sit here and knit forever. Especially in the recliner. I'd rather look at the pretty flowered couches, but I'd rather knit in the recliner.



I'm on clue six of Fancy Fulness and had to cheat just a bit to fix a mistake I couldn't find -- but I think everything is okay now.



After a couple of days of sorting and cutting, I can't decide whether I like the new scrap quilt or hate it. I love the picture in the magazine and mine has potential. But I don't know if I should tear apart the blocks I've got done and replace the bright fabrics that are nagging at me, or have faith that it'll all work out and use more of those colors.

Today has been gorgeous. The kids ran wild outside for hours and I spent time in the sewing room sorting fabric to find the right colors for two new quilts I'd like to start soon. And for the three scrap quilts I'm already working on. Then the mountain of fabric got overwhelming and I sat and flipped through old quilting magazines and found another five or six projects to fall in love with.

I will work my way through these scraps!

Now that the binding for the shaded nine-patch is mostly on, I'm feeling motivated to finish more quilt tops. Binding had intimidated me, to the point that I thought I'd probably never manage to do it right. I was just going to make a bunch of unfinished quilt tops to hand down to my future grandchildren.

Turns out that binding isn't like seaming sweaters. You cut it and iron it and sew it on and although my hand sewing leaves a lot to be desired, it's on the back. And these aren't heirlooms.

Pink Lace!

Things have finally settled down enough for me to pull out Fancy Fulness and finish clues three and four. I'm not sure why I'm so excited about knitting pink lace, but it seems like the neatest thing ever and once I get going I have a hard time putting it back down.

When I first downloaded the chart, I had a strong feeling that my Fancy Fulness should be be pink. I didn't have any, so the pattern sat for a while until I remembered the reddish pink lace weight Bill bought me for my birthday last year. Maybe I'd been thinking of that yarn the whole time and that was where the odd pink urge came from.

Turns out I absolutely hate that yarn. Then I remembered some pink fingering weight that was given to me a while back and was all set to cast on with that when I saw the new Shadows colors.

This is the right pink.

The Tribbles are multiplying quickly. I finished #5 in the drive thru while waiting for my dinner. When did tomatoes become a source of terror? And why can't I have cilantro or onions on my burrito either? I don't want the tomatoes if they're going to kill me, but the other trimmings would have been nice.

I might be getting a bit crabby. It's not helping that I've been going to bed hours earlier than usual and feeling just as exhausted as I do when I stay up knitting until 2am. So why have I been sacrificing my best knitting time?

Probably because I'm too tired to do anything but tribbles.

What I want to do is figure out Noviembre. I almost knew a little Spanish once.

It's a tribble!



The yarn and needles and first six rows of this have been riding around in my purse for months now. I dug it out this afternoon while Bill was comparison shopping for tires and I was in the car with my napping babies.

As soon as we got home, I headed to the sewing room to see what other scraps of kitchen cotton I could dig out. I need more of these!

That's such a great idea!

Too many of my knitting and quilting projects start with that thought and turn out not to be much fun at all.

And then there was last night's little adventure. The kids from our church had the chance to sleep with the sharks at the aquarium. Doesn't that just sound like the coolest thing ever? When we found out about the trip a couple of months ago, I got my kids signed up and got myself signed up as a chaperone. We scheduled our vacation around it.

I couldn't manage a decent picture of where we slept without getting anyone else in the shot, but I found a picture of the tunnel. We were in the tube with the sharks. I spent most of the night lying awake and watching leopard sharks and bat rays drift past, sandwiched between my two littlest guys.

We were supposed to get up at a quarter to seven. I don't know what time Quinn and Leif started taking turns waking up and immediately going back to sleep, but it was a lot earlier than that. If I'd had my knitting with me, it would've been fine, but were weren't supposed to have anything in the tunnel but bedding and I thought smuggling in a sock and dpns would have been a bit ridiculous.

It would have been smart. Those sharks were absolutely fascinating for the first few hours, but I sure could've used something to keep my hands busy.

It was a once in a childhood opportunity that I'm sure the big kids will remember forever, and I'm glad we went. But I am ready to collapse from exhaustion.

Diamonds and Pearls

pattern from The Knitter's Book of Yarn
yarn from a 49 cent thrift store sweater
size 8 Denise needles



I really like this little shawl. It's the kind of pattern I hoped to find in all of those one-skein books.

Because I was using the sleeves of a thrift store sweater, I doubt my gauge was anywhere near the pattern's. I added a few repeats at the end to make it longer and, because I couldn't get the knitted edging to work out right, dug out a crochet hook and tried to do it that way.

I'm now officially in love with crocheted edgings and won't shy away from them in the future.



This is the first batch of quilted postcards for a swap I'm in. I spent hours and hours dreaming up appliqued cards, then realized that what I really wanted to do was piece them. So I'm making flying geese. And pinwheels, but I don't like the way they're coming out nearly as well.

It's thirty degrees cooler. It's raining. Apparently I'm the only one happy about this.



Pattern: Citrus Yoke Pullover (Interweave Knits - Winter 2007)
Size: 45"
Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky Twists, taupe, 7 skeins
Needles: Denise size 10

Four years ago, I knit Alex a sweater out of Softee Chunky. I hated the yarn while I was knitting with it, but after repeated washings it softened and became her absolute favorite sweater. I wish I'd made it a couple of inches longer so she didn't have to give it up now that it's getting a bit too cropped.

I've been wanting to knit myself a sweater out of the same stuff and actually did start the Bed & Breakfast Pullover a while back, but that one is going to take forever, so when I saw the Citrus Yoke Pullover pattern and Michaels had all yarn 25% off, I bought yarn for this one.

It only took about two weeks to knit and even the patterned yoke didn't require a whole lot of concentration.

It fits! And I had enough yarn! This is only the second "real" sweater I've knit for myself, so I was holding my breath a lot of the time.

I only repeated the zigzag lace once before starting the increases and the neck is still higher than I'd like. If I was going to knit this one again, I'd start the repeats immediately. And add some shaping to the sleeves.



Fancy Fulness is a lot more fun now that I'm not struggling with the cobwebby yarn. I made it through the first two clues on Sunday night and as soon as the house is quiet, I'll be starting clue 3.

The yarn is Pink Posy, one of the new Knit Picks Shadows colors. When they released the newest batch of colors and announced that the prices were going up, I splurged. Now I've got almost more pretty lace weight than I know what to do with.

It's too hot.

Four or five weeks ago, we missed Sunday School because it was snowing hard enough that the plow came by three times. It's not supposed to snow at all in April, let alone snow hard enough that they break out the snow plows.

And it's not supposed to top ninety degrees in the middle of May! My babies are miserable, and so am I.

We spent Friday morning at a Civil War reenactment. Alex, who's been up to her ears in the Civil War lately, watched the demonstrations while the little guys and I tried to find nearby bits of shade to hide in. We made it through to the battle, but by the time we got home, I was sunburned and completely done in. No one but Mom gets sunburned at our house. It's some kind of rule.



I couldn't skip the war, and I wasn't going to skip my trip up to town on Saturday to quilt with Mom's fun toy. She'd invited me up to do the monkey quilt, but I don't really like the monkey quilt. I absolutely adore the offset diamond quilt I finished piecing last week, so I used the batting I'd bought for the monkey quilt and did mine instead. I thought I was going to use some polyester batting and tie the monkey quilt, but now that I know how much fun the longarm is, I'll probably reconsider that plan.

That was two full days out and about in the heat. I planned to come straight home after church and spend the rest of the day under the ceiling fans. Nope. The car wash to raise money for the aquarium trip was today.

I really want to stay out of the sun and out of the car for the next couple of days before it's back to karate and quilting at the church and whatever else there is that I either have to do or want to do.

There's a thread over on Ravelry asking whether cheap yarn detracts from the knitting. Why on earth would it?

I'm almost done with the Diamonds and Pearls Shawl, knit with the unravelled arms of a 49 cent cotton thrift store sweater. I love the color, the drape, the wonderful squooshiness of it...

This is yarn I would've bought in actual skeins.

And it's not the only time I've done this. Ester started life as a couple of sweater sleeves from the same thrift store. The felted firefighter hat was ugly blue auction wool that took a swim in some red Kool Aid.

I've had a disaster or two, but I've also had problems with LYS yarn. I've got more patience with the cheap stuff, just because I know that when I'm using it I'm taking my knitting into my own hands.

Still busy here. I've been on the elliptical first thing every morning, worked my way down through the yoke of the Citrus Yoke Pullover and started on the body, cut more two inch squares, and got this put together --



This is those 729 three inch squares that I started playing with a couple of months ago. For way too long, it's been sitting in piles on my sewing machine and ironing board and I've been avoiding it because I was afraid I might have lost some of the pieces. And I'd returned the library book with the layout I was using.

I tried to do it from memory, got nowhere with that, then remembered the picture I'd taken and posted to the blog a while back. That did the trick and after the kids were in bed I laid it out on the living room floor and got the blocks pinned into rows. The next day, I got all of the blocks sewn together.

I'm anxious to get this quilted so I can snuggle up under it, but I'm not sure if I should wait until I can use Mom's long arm machine or try to do it on my regular machine here at home.

I somehow got really busy really fast.

It started with the wire mesh shelves I bought at Costco a month ago. They made it up to the sewing room and sat, then last week the kids were playing outside and it seemed like a good idea to put them together. I don't care what the instructions say, it wasn't easy and there was no "really fun part." I actually bled. But the thing does hold a ton of yarn and look pretty nice, even if I don't have room to set it up with all eight blocks.

A couple of days later, I talked Bill into finally putting together the eliptical he bought me for Christmas. That thing should have been marketed as a kit -- I've never seen so many little loose pieces. But there were no injuries, unless you want to count the sore muscles I've had since I started using the thing.



I started and finished the Soft Baby Cardigan from Knitter's Book of Yarn for a friend at church who isn't sure yet if she's having a boy or a girl. I had to get one girly thing done before the ultrasound limited my options. I could've used a neutral color, but the raspberry skein has been sitting in my stash forever and I feel good about using it up. I also love the way it looks in the box stitch pattern.



Last night, I cast on for the Diamonds and Pearls Shawl from the same book, which I really want, but hadn't started before now because there's no chart. People on Ravelry claim to have knit it in two or three evenings -- I can put up with the written instructions for that long. Maybe longer, because I really like the way this yarn is working up and might make mine bigger.



And I cast on for the Citrus Yoke Pullover this morning. I've got my fingers tightly crossed that it'll fit and that I have enough yarn. Mostly that it'll fit -- I can buy more yarn.

I solved the mystery!

Those green lace socks don't fit because instead of purling the wrong side of the heel flap, I slipped every other stitch. If I'd read the pattern carefully, I probably would have a sock that came out the right size.

That's one pair out of four that didn't work out, so I guess I'm happy enough. My socky enthusiasm has started to fade, but so far nothing more exciting is screaming for me to knit it.

Maybe because I keep starting so darn many quilts. Now it's a 21st Century Bullseye. I did about six blocks last night and can't really decide if it's what I want to do with my big florals or not. I've got to make 48 blocks and then cut each of those into quarters and sew them back other with pieces from the other blocks, and the raw edge applique won't do its thing until the whole thing is quilted and washed, so I won't know until the end if it works. I'm not sure I can handle that much suspense.

My mother doesn't appreciate my taste in fabric, at least not when it comes to the skulls. But these have to be the most wonderful skull fabric I've ever seen. Now I'm determined to find the perfect red floral and make myself a tote bag.



The church group met this morning and started our new project - a mariner's compass quilt. I love the pattern, but after working hard to match plaid stripes and learn a new technique, I feel like doing something really mindless tonight. Not sure if that'll be knitting or quilting -- or maybe a little of both.

.


The Smores Socks are done and they aren't quite as snug as I feared they'd be. Maybe my feet were swollen when I tried on the first one.

The Ivy Lace socks, though, will not fit. I was sure I had it right, but nope. The one I've finished fits my eleven year old daughter's foot just fine. The foot fits me, but the leg is too narrow. I'm missing some important knitting concept here, but I can't figure out what it is.

And since she wants them and she's the only one in the house I haven't made a pair of socks for, I'm going to finish the pair and give them to her.

I Want This Quilt!

This is the quilt I'm suddenly so motivated to work on -- Scrappy Squares by Carol Clark, pattern in Traditional Quiltworks #70. I've had the magazine turned open to the black and white pattern page for so long I almost forgot what the finished quilt was supposed to look like. I've been focusing on the part where I cut tons and tons of little squares and eventually join them into units. I was picking up yesterday and turned to the picture and it hit me again that I really want to have this quilt.

If I actually follow the pattern as written, it'll be big enough to cover my bed. Which got me worrying. Maybe I should be sticking to some kind of color scheme. Maybe I should be making the shaded nine-patch quilt bigger. Maybe putting on those pieced borders will be too much for me.

Maybe I should stop worrying and go cut more squares.

I'm loving my personal sock club -- so far I've opened up two little brown bags and cast on two pairs that I probably wouldn't have started without it. Add those to the two pairs I'd started already and that's more sock knitting in a couple of weeks than I've done in the past two years.

I didn't match up patterns with the yarn in advance, but I've got ideas for most if not all of the skeins I bagged up.



The green pair is Ivy Lace from Socks Socks Socks and whatever the problem was in the beginning, I think I've got it beat now as long as I pay attention. I've already mentioned how excited I am about that heel flap and gusset, even though it's nothing special. I almost always substitute short row heels, so for me these are kind of fancy.

The pink multi-colored pair is a pattern I'm making up myself as I go along. I'd had a particular stitch pattern in mind for this yarn, but once I found the book and looked at the looooong written directions, so I almost chickened out. Turns out that once you get going it's a really easy pattern to follow. Which makes me wonder why more patterns don't just say to knit the knits and purl the purls or "continue as established."

My big passion right now is the new scrap quilt. I cut another 250 little squares yesterday and would have done more except the blade in my rotary cutter is so dull I was killing my wrist. Blades have been on sale at Joann's, which means both stores I checked were totally sold out of them. And I can't remember where the rest of the blades I actually own are. Out of reach of the kids, apparently.

I would have inflicted more pain on myself and cut more squares during nap time this afternoon, but the new Stephen King book is due back at the library tomorrow and no way was I going to take it back without finding out how it ended. It kept picking up speed and getting eerier and now I'm in that weird slightly sad haze that hits when you've been sucked into a book and there's suddenly no more to read.

I've still got a whole stack of core four readers to plow through if I'm going to keep ahead of Alex and most of those are pretty good, but it won't be the same.

While I was typing this, I thought of another out of reach place I might've put those blades and went to check. No luck there, either, but I did run up to the sewing room to get the rotary blade sharpener Mom bought me for Christmas.

I'd put off trying it because I'm afraid of cutting off my own fingers, and I didn't want to mess up the only blade in the house. But my desire to cut more squares overrode my instinct for self preservation and I was really careful and it looks like now I've got a blade that will actually cut fabric!

What I don't have is the time to set up the iron and cutting mat for more than enough minutes. I'm about out of afternoon and need to cook some veggies to go with the roast that's been doing its thing in the crock pot.

I cast on for another lace shawl last week and it was a nightmare. The chart was great, but the yarn and needles weren't working and I couldn't understand why things were going so completely wrong. I was using lace weight and size 3's and everything was impossibly loose, even though the pattern actually called for size 8 needles. I knit Frozen Lake with lace weight on 6s and (not counting my inability to increase lace in pattern) it worked .... It wasn't making sense and I really want to try that pattern, so I decided to cast on again with Palette but if I gave up on lace weight, what would happen to my Bayou Shimmer and the rest of my lace weight stash?

That's the kind of thing that makes me lie awake at night and worry.

By the light of day, I figured it out. The yarn I was fighting with had 1300 yards in a 100 gram skein, which makes it a lot finer than anything else I've ever tackled. I hate it. And guess what -- it's LYS yarn. Because if I'm going to hate a yarn this much, it's going to be something I bought at a "real" yarn store and spent more than usual on.

So I'm going to bury that yarn in the darkest recesses of my stash and pull out one of my single skeins of Gloss lace weight and see if I can't make it work. Turns out that the pattern I'd planned to use doesn't have charts and I'm not in the mood for miles of written instructions, so I searched Ravelry and found some possibilities.

I'm pretty sure I want these --

Anya
Laminaria
Shetland Shimmer Scarf
Bear Claw Scarfette

And I also like these --

Enchanting
A Scarf for Ally
Traveling Roses Lace Scarf
Lucy's Diamonds

Sorta Swirly O Socks

Edited on 2/21/13 so I can link up to Show Us Your Socks at Patchwork Times.

I really liked the texture of the yarn I used for these, Knitpicks Dancing. That one's long discontinued, but according to my Ravelry stash, I should have a few different colorways of it up in the sewing room. If I can't lay my hands on that, I have some Paton's Stretch, which is similar.

I need to cast on some new socks!

---

The Sorta Swirly O Socks are done and on my feet. The stitch pattern isn't obvious unless you're looking at them up close, but it served its purpose and kept the knitting more entertaining than plain stockinette would have been.



Pattern -- kind of loosely based on the Swirly O Socks from the Knitters Book of Yarn. Mine are in a different gauge, toe up instead of cuff down, and minus the picot border.

Yarn -- Knitpicks Dancing

This is the second pair of socks I've made with Dancing. The colors do some funky things, like perfect striping within the pools, but I love the texture and was sad to see it discontinued. Risata seems to have a similar texture and I've got a couple of skeins stashed, so I'll have to experiment with it soon.

The new socks aren't going as well. I got the ribbing and first eight rounds of lace done in one sitting, then picked them up a day later and couldn't get the next round to come out right. I always had two stitches left over. Convinced I'd lost track of where the round started, I frogged and started over. And had two extra stitches at the end of the 9th round.

I counted stitches. I went over the whole round, comparing it to the chart. I'm sure I said some unladylike things as I tinked back to the knit row and counted those stitches. And when I reknit it, that round came out just fine.

I have no clue what I did wrong -- twice.

This should be an easy lace pattern, but now it's got me a little spooked.

It's been quite a while since any of the free patterns at Elann really made my heart go pitty-pat. Then today I saw the Voyager Lace Stole in their organic cotton. I love its first incarnation, but the stitch pattern looks so intricate and snuggly (can you have both at the same time?) and wonderful in the heavier yarn I can't stand it.

And there's the Luna Peacock Plumes Bolero. But there's no Luna on the web site -- not until next month. Personally, I think it's cruel to make me decide to knit a project and then refuse to even let me know what the suggested yarn is going to cost. I'm thinking I could use Calista, but I'll wait until the Luna is up to see if those colors are more tempting.

So since I'm going to wait for the Luna, I bought three skeins of Simply Soft Heathers that I could use for a Voyager Stole. Or a baby sweater if the stole doesn't work out. Either way works for me.

I finished the first Smore sock and it's decent. The yarn changed color every round, forming very narrow, very distinct stripes of brown and grey and white so I used a subtle all-over cable pattern. I think I like it. The sock is a bit snug, but not bad enough that I want to reknit it.



Now that I'm halfway done with the Smores socks and almost completely done with the Sorta Swirly O Socks, it seemed like a good time to open my first personal sock club bag. It's solid green Elann Sock it to Me and after looking through Sentational Knitted Socks and Socks Socks Socks (because those were the two books on the coffee table at the time.)

I settled on the Vine Lace Socks from Socks Socks Socks and cast on for them this morning. I'm following the pattern as written and doing them top down because suddenly heel flaps and gussets seem awuflly intricate looking.

Yesterday when I said I was up to my ears in schoolbooks, I didn't realize I'd be up past midnight just trying to get a little bit ahead of what the kids will be reading. And two of 'em aren't anywhere near reading yet! What's this going to be like in another three years or so?

Actually, if we stay with Sonlight, I'll have read their books for Heath and Alex already and Heath will be reading the ones Alex is reading now and I'll just have one core to keep up with. I don't even have to read her books -- I could just use the questions in the Instructor Guide, but this time I'm determined to read all of it and see what's getting into their brains.

So I read two 2nd grade readers last night, and a biography of Simon Bolivar, and started the three other books Alex is reading this week. Except for the biography, which was a miserably boring list of dates and places, they're fantastic.

I got to sleep in this morning, so once I get my sick baby boys in bed I've got a brown paper bag to open up and a sock to cast on.

I'd read about personal sock clubs several times, but it was a post on Ravelry that described putting the yarn into paper lunch bags that finally convinced me. Yarn in ziplocs, or little numbered slips of paper didn't seem special enough. But sealed brown paper bags? I wanna do that!

I bought a package of bags at Walmart, and staples, then came home and picked out enough sock yarn for seven different pairs, then sealed the bags and put them in a big basket in the sewing room. It's been a few days, so I can't even remember for sure what's in there.

I just went up and pulled out a bag and it's on the kitchen counter, waiting to be opened. Or I might cut some more two inch squares from the scraps Mom sent over, or cast on another toddler sock to try out the short row garter stitch heel I just saw in a pattern...

I have the books. I did have to drive fifty miles out of my way to pick them up, and was told that it wasn't the driver's fault they weren't delivered, but they're in my living room now.

So is this --



Online tracking said it would be delivered on the 5th, and yesterday was the 2nd. I don't know how that works, but I'm not going to complain that I got my goodies from Knitpicks a lot earlier than I expected.

I think I'm in love. Everything is even prettier than I hoped it would be, and I don't know what I'm going to cast on, but whatever it is is going to be gorgeous. Can't start anything new today -- I'm up to my ears in schoolbooks!

I am ready to scream.

I got up early this morning and spent the whole day within sight of the front windows. I kept the kids quiet-ish, the volume on the television low and jumped every time I heard the crunch of tires on gravel. I went out a couple of times and checked the porch just to make sure I hadn't somehow missed hearing the FedEx guy.

I finally started running out of day and called to check our tracking number and see if they had any clue what time he'd actually show up. (Friday, they told me between 8am and 8pm, but that I could call today and probably get an actual time.) My box isn't even on the truck. They don't know why my box is being held for pick up and isn't on the truck, because there's a record of my call on Friday asking to have it delivered today.

Mad doesn't begin to describe it. I might try to be more understanding if the truck had broken down, or if there was some actual reason why my books aren't here in my hands. But there's not. They show that it should have been delivered today. At least "not on the truck where it's supposed to be" isn't as bad as "lost."

I'm going to try to pick the package up in Salem tomorrow, but I'm not feeling very optimistic.

Compared to this, I can be completely patient waiting for that Bayou Shimmer and my other new laceweight to arrive!



I do have some happy stuff to share -- after the kiddos were in bed last night, I cut 200 squares for the new scrap quilt, turned the heel on my second Sorta Swirly O sock, and knit about two inches on the foot of my first Smores socks.

Since I won't be organizing our new schoolbooks tonight, maybe I can get some more done.

It feels like I haven't accomplished anything this month so I went back through my blog entries to see if I had forgotten something.

What I did do in March --

finished two pairs of toddler socks for the little guys

finished 9 blocks for that applique kitten quilt

cut and pieced a bunch of shaded nine-patch blocks

sewed the handles onto Trimiters

cast on a pair of socks that didn't work out

test knit 61 rows of a lace shawl (then dropped a stitch so badly I'll have to start over)

cast on a different pair of socks for myself and finished up to the second heel

cast on a third pair of socks for myself and finished one toe and a few rows of the stitch pattern

cast on Mystic Light and made it to row 7 before frogging

Written out as a list, it looks like more than I thought I got done, but it still doesn't feel like very much. I know how many days (not counting the trip) I've spent not knitting, or quilting, or doing anything creative at all. Not because I was busy with other things, but because I didn't feel like moving my fingers.

This is pathetic.

On the bright side, our schoolbooks should get here tomorrow -- maybe that'll inspire me. At the very least, it should stop me from reading and rereading through the catalogs that showed up this week and thinking absolutely insane thoughts about ordering a pre-preschool curriculum for the two littlest ones.

The website said our order will ship within three working days and take an additional three to five working days to get here. So how can the curriculum I ordered on Wednesday be scheduled to get here tomorrow -- the one day I can't drop everything and sit on the porch waiting for it?!

I was hoping to maybe get the books by the end of next week, but now it's killing me to know that I could have them tomorrow if I drive 100 miles round trip and get us back down here in time for Heath's birthday party. Or I can wait until Tuesday and have the FedEx guy bring them right to my door. The weather has been weird -- it actually snowed earlier today -- so I guess I should be patient.

It's just that we spent a scary-huge amount of money on those books and I won't rest until they're actually here and not getting tossed around in a box somewhere.

I don't suppose there's any chance my birthday yarn from Knitpicks will show up sooner than it's supposed to?

And speaking of Knitpicks, I got a fantastic birthday surprise yesterday from my mother. She'd told me she left a little present at Grandma's for me and to expect my real present later. In the gift bag was a box from Crafts America Group. I got my hopes all up, then decided she was probably reusing the box my Christmas yarn came in...but there were ten skeins of sock yarn in there. The same exact colors she gave me for Christmas. Huh? Maybe she went to the website and picked out colors and it was a weird coincidence that she duplicated the ones from a couple of months ago...

When we got home, I pulled out the yarn again to see if maybe I was the one who was confused and found the set of Harmony sock needles. No way did Mom buy me a second set of those by mistake!

It turns out my Christmas present got lost in the mail, Knitpicks sent a replacement, then the original turned up weeks later and when Mom called about returning it, they told her to just give it to someone she knew who knits.

I've been using the Christmas needles non-stop for the past couple of weeks and my love for these sock needles is a little ridiculous. But they're so pretty and nice to knit with and the case is perfect. I was going to buy an extra set of size 1s -- they come with six needles and I knit with four, so two sets would mean three possible pairs of socks.... Now I've got two complete sets and there are six different needle sizes, so that would be 18 pairs without even dipping into my plastic or bamboo needles...

It might just be possible that I've got enough skinny little dpns in my life, but of course now I'm so in love with the prett shiny Harmony wood I want a set of circulars.

Trimiters finally has handles!



I'm glad I went with the purchased handles instead of making due with I-cord. Even if they are slightly sticky vinyl, these handles make the bag look really polished. I used it at church this morning and it's a great size for my wallet, keys, an extra diaper, and all of the stuff the kids bring out of Sunday School and need me to hold for them.

For the first time in forever, Bill had a whole string of days off from work, so we loaded up the kids and drove to Reno. We checked out the new Cabela's (a huge disappointment compared to the one in Salt Lake City), wandered around the shops in Virginia City, and stayed at Circus Circus where we saw the circus acts, ate far too much at the buffet, and had a blast playing midway games with our two-for-one coupons. Alex has a talent for catapulting stuffed chickens into pots on a revolving stand. I even managed to get one in by following her advice.

The pass was totally clear on the drive down, but on the way home it started to rain. Then the rain got kind of thick. And white. And the temperature dropped ten degrees in less than half an hour. So we headed back for the casino (which is considerably cheaper than the regular motel we usually stay in on our way down south), got another room and more coupons and had buffet again and catapulted more chickens. And drove home the next day across the other pass which also had thick white stuff falling from the sky.

Now that we're back, I'm working on a pair of socks for myself and daydreaming about the new colors at Knitpicks.

Still knitting toddler socks and I haven't made much of a dent in my pile of fingering weight odds and ends. I have used the most exciting ones though, and thanks to Ravelry I know what I really want to knit toddler socks out of -- Fabel.

If I ordered a few of that to knit the boys socks with, I'd know if I wanted enough to try one of the gorgeous patterns on the Garnstudio site. They also sell the Eskimo for those bulky lace socks that had me so fascinated...

I'm not buying yarn right this second, but what has me really excited is the Ravelry feature that led me to it. On the yarn page there's a "Buying Options" tab that leads to a list of online stores -- and then directly to the page with that particular yarn. That is so neat! I wasted far too much time on Google trying to find the Eskimo and never was successful.

I still don't know how to crochet. If I did, I'd probably know better than to try making a Red Riding Hood and Grandmother Topsy-Turvy Doll that can be compared to the size of a quarter. But when I stumble across a free pattern this nifty, I've just gotta print out a copy for my notebook full of things I want to make if I ever learn how.

not quite an fo, but close enough

This is what I did yesterday afternoon.



I've still got to join the blocks together, then figure out if it's going to have borders (there aren't enough scraps left to do the one the pattern calls for) or if I'm going to hang it on the sewing room wall the way it is.

A pieced top or a set of finished blocks, in my mind at least, can sit around for a hundred years without counting as a UFO. One of these days, I'll get them quilted. Or maybe I won't. For this one, it doesn't matter. I was just playing around with some scraps and a cute pattern I found in a library book.

The shaded nine patch blocks are all cut out and mostly pieced. Those will get put together and quilted because I'm determined to wrap up in that quilt.

And once it's done, I've got my eye on a new pattern. This one calls for 2176 two inch squares. That's only about three times what I did for the shaded nine patch -- I can manage it!

Three inch squares of ugly scrap fabric are addictive. I didn't realize that. I thought I was cutting up the stuff and sewing it together in a way that will hopefully disguise some of its ugliness.

The lights and darks were giving me trouble until a picture in a quilting magazine provided the answer. Muslin! It's definitely light, lighter than all but a couple of the fabrics I'd been trying to use. Next to it, pretty much everything else can work as dark or medium. And I've got muslin.

This is fun. I cleared all of the toys out of the front room this morning and laid out what I had. It didn't look like much when I was crawling around on the floor, but it's photogenic!



That's about half of the squares I need for the size I'd planned. I cut the rest of the pieces this afternoon, so now all that's left is sewing and pressing. Oh, and joining the blocks together and finding backing fabric, and all of those pesky little details.

I am so happy with the way this is coming out!