What's THAT Gonna Be?

Blog Revival

2012-01-18T11:28:00.004-06:00

Testing.

One. Two.

Testing.

Hello?! Peeps?! Anybody out there?!

I miss you guys and I am going to try to clobber my writers block and jump back in. How about we just pick back up where we left off--ok?

Quilting? Anyone?

I have spent the first few weeks of January finishing old projects. I have had this quilt basted and ready for the quilting for exactly one year. One year when my studio has been so piled full of yarn that the sewing machine could hardly come up for breath. But I heard that January has been officially declared International Sew For Myself Month* so it's time to get this bad boy done.

Trivia for ya: It takes 36 bobbins to quilt a king size quilt. That equals about 12 taped episodes of David Letterman.

Soooo..............what are you working on?

*just kidding I just made that up!

Paducah Party and Pajama Projects

2011-05-05T11:02:00.006-05:00

Hello Peeps!

We are back from Paducah, full of quilts and fabric and maybe a few tortilla chips.

First of all, I have to report on the flooding cause it was big news. Paducah, Kentucky is situated right on the Ohio River, and had a huge flood in 1937, after which they built a flood wall to protect the city.

This exciting bit of photo journalism by Moi, features me standing in a parking lot, looking at Water Street (now closed for public safety) and the flood wall, with scary big river behind it. The scaffolding-like structure in the middle is one of the gates that was installed last week because of the rising river. There are many openings in the flood wall --47 total, I believe--that normally you can walk or drive through to see the beautiful river. When the river is threatening to flood the town, they install the gates in the openings. This is the second time since the 1950s that the city engineers have had to install the gates.

Here is a close up of one of the bigger gates, complete with all kinds of valves and pressurized thingies. I took this photo on the first day, pre-seepage.

Here is one of the smaller gates where we first noticed the seepage. We read that seepage is normal and should be expected. I totally get that. It is, however, kind of creepy. Especially when you know there is a big flood over on the other side of that wall and you can't see it, but you know it's there, and the seepage is the proof.

And this is one of the bigger gates right at the very front of downtown, where the seepage was getting a little more alarming by the last day. (Saturday, April 30th). However, that seepage is NOTHING compared to the video that my sister sent me this morning. When we were there last weekend, the river was predicted to crest at 53.3 feet, (if there was no flood wall, that would equate to about 3 feet of water in the downtown area), and that was supposed to happen on Tuesday, May 3rd. But now with additional rain, the river is predicted to crest at 58 feet tomorrow.

I will breath a big sigh of relief when the river crests and the flood wall holds and things get back to normal. I love that little city of Paducah. I am sure that people of Paducah as well as many more communities (Cairo, Illinois) along the Ohio River would appreciate prayers being directed their way.

Ok, on to sunnier portions of the program.

Here we are, me, my sister and my mom, in front of one of the other Architectural Marvels of Paducah, the Bubble. It does have an official name like the "Pavilion" or something like that, but we just call it the Bubble because that's what it is, and judging from conversation around us, we are not the only ones. I have also heard: Marshmallow, and Bubble Building, and Moon Bounce. It is some kind of plastic, pressurized building that they erected last year when they lost one of their main buildings that housed quilts and vendors. It is a bit creepy in and of itself, but add to the fact that you are in a pressured plastic bubble building just feet from a flood wall holding back a big scary river, and well, it was an adventure. Apparently I will brave quite a bit for the sake of quilts.

Here is a photo of my favorite sister. Isn't she cute! I have mentioned before that she is Milliner Extraordinaire. She is wearing one of her couture creations. She wears her hats often, as a hatmaker should, but this day happened to be the day of the Royal Wedding, and she was stopped often by people so pleased that she dressed up for the wedding. After about the 18th time this happened, she stopped trying to explain that she makes hats, and she regularly wears her own hats, and she just nodded and smiled sweetly.

Ok, onward to the fabric portion of the commentary:

Last year I started a tradition of buying each kid a novelty fabric that I thought they would like, for the purpose of sewing pajama shorts. Here is my selection for Ethan, above (doggies, kitties, spooky, he is all over it!)

From top to bottom:

Basicgrey, Max and Whiskers, for Moda (you have to see this up close it is darling!)

Timeless Treasures Dog c7143

Boo! Kitty by Alexander Henry

Next selection, for my doggy lover, Molly:

Anna Griffin, Fifi and Fido Collection, (so sweet!)

Hush Puppies by Alexander Henry --hilarious

Again with the BasicGrey as above, this time with a brown background.

And for Sophie:

Timeless Treasures Village C7158 (not so much her girly color choice but please note the cow)

Hello Kitty from David Textiles

And the pink one at the bottom--I couldn't have planned a better fabric if I had been Queen of the Universe: Hello Kitty with cow. Also from David Textiles. She almost died.

I hope I have given you enough info here in case you see a must-have for yourself. All of the fabrics were purchased at Hancock's of Paducah with the exception of the 2 Hello Kitty fabrics which I found at the Graphic Impressions booth.

These are photos of the pj shorts from last year. Sleep shorts for the boy details: Forest Fun fabric by Amy Schimler for Robert Kaufman. It is a few years old but I think you might still nab some on etsy. Pattern is Simplicity 2771.

The girls' shorts don't have a pattern, just an old pair of shorts that I cut up. The fabrics are sweet: the pink Girl Scout cookie fabric is from Robert Kaufman --still available, and the Hedgehog fabric by Michael Miller is also still available.

*One note of caution: kids in cute pj shorts might cause excess cuddling, which can lead to excess school tardiness. I'm not saying that you're going to receive an official letter from the school principal telling you (The Mom) to get your butt out of (their) bed and get those kids to school on time, or anything. But you might.

Another Colorful Quilt for a Colorful Girl (and Her Cows)

2011-04-26T14:07:00.008-05:00

Deciding that I was tired of waiting for Sophie to clean her room for the most perfect photo shoot ever, I decided that we could live with some closely-cropped shots of bed with quilt!

You've seen it before, first when I had it all up on the wall here, and then here when I was basting it. Now that it is finished, and now each of my kids has a (at least one) quilt, I feel like I can relax. Momentarily, until they start bugging me for another.

In case you haven't noticed, I just can't get enough of Kaffe Fassett florals. And this simple patchwork is so perfect for showcasing those big splashy florals. I cut 8.5" squares so I could get the maximum number of squares from a half yard--which is what I had in most of these prints since they came from my stash. I am really happy with the way this one (and her sister's) turned out.

Since the bed was made so nicely, apparently it was an opportune time to organize her collection of Cows. My girl loves cows. All she wanted for Christmas this year was a "bucket full of cows." She has an excellent collection.

Since I was still holding the camera, she presented her cows, one by one, pointing to each and telling me its name, then stopping, smiling, and posing for a photo with each one. Whew! I think the photo shoot took almost as long as the quilt-making!

But so worth it! Such a crazy, happy girl! She loves her new quilt and man, she loves her COWS!

*****
Addendum #1: I'm about to skip town with my mom and sister for the big quilt show in Paducah. I am super excited to check out all the fabric and quilts and hang with my Peeps. After a long winter and rainy cold spring, I'm ready for a little warm weather down south and to hang with all those rowdy quilters.

Addendum #2: Since we will be at the quilt show on Friday, we are taping (tivo-ing, or DVRing, or whatever people say these days) (I usually still say taping) the Big Event on Friday. Then, after we get home, we're going to have a Royal Wedding Party on Sunday with the girls. Or as they keep saying: "We're going to The Ball". I bought them white gloves (thank you Easter display at Target) and they can wear their fancy Easter dresses, but I'm still collecting ideas for snacks (finger sandwiches, tea and cake?) and possibly a craft? Any thoughts from all you creative friends would be welcome!

Yarn in Bloom

2011-03-18T10:07:00.007-05:00

Hello Friends!

I'm heading up to Madison today to sell yarn at the Madison Knitter's Guild annual Knit-In.

I love participating in this event; the people are awesome, they get great speakers (this year it's the Jess, Casey, Mary-Heather and Sarah from Ravelry) there is delicious food in Madison, and it's close enough from Chicago that a lot of my friends go.

Oh, and did I mention that I will be spending an entire night and day knitting and talking about knitting, with grown-ups?!

Woot!

100% homework-free, playdough-free, easybakeoven-free. Ok, so I do love that easybakeoven.

No footballs, basketballs, or tennis balls whizzing by my head threatening to knock over lamps. Big shout-out to Dave and Grandma who will hold down the fort while I'm gone and let us pray all the lamps survive the weekend.

Since I've been spending weeks dyeing and skeining yarn and making up some Magic Balls, I thought I'd give you a little behind the scenes look into the making of the Magic Ball:

This is a new color combination that was inspired by a pile of yarn lying around (funny how that happens....a lot.) I loved the pinks, purples, and green with a little grey. It seems very fresh.

So the first step is pretty fun: collecting all the colors that I want to use, and putting them in a beautiful order. I aim for balance of color and value (light/dark). Of course, a person could re-arrange them while knitting (I've done that myself) and I wouldn't be offended! It's all good.

The next step gets technical and not quite so fun. The weighing. Everything gets wound from skeins to cakes, so I can pull out 10 gram sections. They are supposed to be a little "random" for that "scrappy" look, so I change it up anywhere from 8 grams to 12 grams. But I don't go more or less than that, because I want the entire ball--15 sections--to weigh approximately 150 grams.

Then all those little 10 gram (approximately) sections get lined up like little soldiers for the sweat-shop assembly-line winding session. Do you get the picture that this is not my favorite part? My mom helps with all the winding. Hello Mom's hand in the photo above! It is a big job! You would think--looking at that table that you could whiz through that pretty quickly. But if you have ever tried to wind a zillion little balls at one time, you would know......it actually takes hours. I can usually only do 10 balls in a day. And rarely do I do so many (above) at once, but this was a new color and I have a yarn show plus an etsy update so I thought I'd do a big batch.

Then the un-fun part is over and it gets exciting again--popping the cake off the winder! Getting to see what it looks like for the first time! Pretty!

I'm naming this one "Monet's Garden". I'll have some in my booth at Madison and I'll have some in the etsy shop update next Tuesday (10am Central). There also might be one jumping into my personal stash. I think a little shawlette is calling my name!

I'll be back after the weekend with some Magic Ball projects I've done recently, and.....if I can get a little girl to clean up her room there just might be a quilt photo shoot.

Furniture Makeover

2011-02-22T11:05:00.000-06:00

On today's show, we are featuring a fantastic new makeover.

I would like to introduce you to my gorgeous new cabinet. We'll call him "Hutch". He is the cabinet of my dreams! Ok, he doesn't look so dreamy in the "before" photos, but wait til you see him "after"!

I found Hutch at my church rummage sale. $35 for both pieces ($15 for the top-and $20 for the bottom-the pieces had been separated and placed at different ends of the hallway, so I had do to a little detective work to find both parts, it was the slatted doors that were the giveaway).

When I found him--I called my mom and told her that I had found the hutch of my dreams! I had been looking for Hutch for quite some time.

Some background.....

In this photo above from the archives--circa 2007--you can see that I have a wall next to our dining room table. (Since we don't have a table in the kitchen, "dining room table" is really a misnomer, it is our: eat-every-meal, crafting, homework, baste quilts, etc. table). For years, the wall was the home for the high chair. See:

But after the high chair graduated to the attic a few years ago, this spot has been bare. There's not a ton of space, the wall is only 36" wide, but I felt it was full of possibility.

We have a lot of Big Dinners with the extended family and I had always thought that a pretty hutch would be just the thing to handle all the extra stuff that you have on the table when you have a Big Dinner. Not to mention that a cabinet would be handy for storage of all the homework papers and crafting paraphernalia that gets strewn around. I had big plans. It was just a matter of finding it.

Enter: flea market, thrift stores, and rummage sales. I looked at a lot of cabinets. I had my tape measure in my purse so that I could be sure it was perfect. I wanted: shelves on the top to display dishes and pottery, doors down below to hide away papers and messes, a counter top to hold serving dishes for afore mentioned Big Dinners, and finally, it had to be less than 36", which I discovered is really the kicker, as size was the deal breaker with most of the cabinets I saw.

And finally last October I found it. Baker Memorial United Methodist Church Rummage Sale: I love you so much!

First, I removed all the doors and hardware, primed and painted three coats. Benjamin Moore 2057 Blue Flower. High gloss. I left the door on the top part of the cabinet off. (So I filled and sanded the holes left from the hardware before I painted.) Originally I had hoped to replace the slatted doors with glass or possibly a fabric curtain but that idea was scrapped because those doors are really solid and I couldn't remove the slats.

I kept the original hinges and replaced the door knobs and drawer pulls. Knobs: Anthropologie, drawer pulls, Target.

Pretty! I love you Anthropologie!

One nice surprise was how the paneling in the back of the cabinet mimicked the paneling in the sunroom. Because I did the painting in the garage, I didn't notice that until Hutch was in place.

Ready for the big reveal?

Ta da! I don't think I have ever been so cheered by a piece of furniture. It is making me very happy and I'm glad it is a new addition to the room we use most.

Thank you for joining me today--I hope you enjoyed our little makeover show!

Color, Color

2011-02-14T10:33:00.003-06:00

I've spoken before about my love for semi-solids. Especially playing around with them and making up color combinations. I could just monkey around with a big bin of yarn playing with combinations all day long. If only! Dye and wool are my big-girl versions of Crayolas and paper. And then I get to wear it!

I saw this pattern on Ravelry last fall on the front page under "Jess's selection" and it was one of those Gotta-Buy-It-Now-And-Start-Knitting-Tonight moments. It was delicious knitting, with that main course of garter stitch and a lace border for dessert.

I made it bigger than the pattern by knitting the main section with my entire skein (350 yds) and then, surprisingly, the feather and fan border took almost a complete skein too. I used Sophie's Toes Midnight Sky and Favorite Jeans. The big square shape with a deep vee is super cozy and wrappable.

So I loved knitting Ruffle My Feathers, (above) and I was officially sucked into the Shawl Vortex. Next up: Flamboyan.

Here it is not yet blocked. I am in love with Stephen West's designs, so clean and modern. This one in Sophie's Toes colors Blackberry and Cranberry. Superfantastic detail in the border ribbing that resembles pleats.

It's a triangle, but instead of a straight-across top, the edges curve up making a nice "vee" shape that stays around the neck better. I have noticed this in many new patterns and it is a most excellent trend. I especially recommend this vee shape for the mom (who is trying to hold a couple of small hands and cross the street to get into church while wearing high heels in snow and keep her shawl from falling off)- crowd.

In progress: Aestlight by the talented designer Gudrun Johnston. I am using two greens that are double dyes (Sophie's Toes Layers of Color collection). The colors are a little washed out in this photo, but it is blocking as we speak, so I'll get a better, finished and modeled shot soon. I know the photo above isn't very exciting but I believe this might be my favorite of all. A person can never have too many green shawls! That's my motto.

I will leave you with those words of wisdom. If you don't have a green shawl, I highly recommend it.

And since I'm not ready to leave the Shawl Vortex any time soon...I'd love suggestions for other patterns. I'm eyeing Whippoorwill and Chadwick. Then there's this beauty, Roma. (Although, three colors! That might seriously put me over the edge!)

We're Basted!

2011-01-10T11:33:00.007-06:00

Basting is my least favorite part of the process. Maybe yours too. And what is the most elementary mistake? The most frustrating thing ever?

Cutting the batting without enough excess on all sides so that you get part of the quilt basted only to find out your batting is TOO SHORT!

All these years and quilts later, to make a mistake like that was frustrating. I thought I would save so much time by cutting the batting off the roll where I store it in the (dimly lit) attic, instead of bringing out into the house where I could actually see what I was doing. Heh.

Speaking of batting, I buy my batting by the roll from Quilter's Dream Cotton. I have used it for years and love it for art quilts and bed quilts. Especially for bed quilts, after the quilts get washed a zillion times and get super squishy.

However, I have recently started to notice that there are lots of new batting products on the market (since I had kids and got stuck in my 1999 time warp.) Last spring while I was at the AQS show in Paducah, I got sucked into the Pellon booth and a very nice salesman sold me on the cuddly-ness of bamboo. Seriously--how can one resist cuddly-ness? (Here's a link.) So I bought one to test, and it's been sitting around aging nicely for many months, and I am going to use it on my next quilt. (not the quilt above--which got the Quilter's Dream cotton--but scroll down for a sneak peek).

Has anybody used this? If so, please report.

Yep, I got this one basted too. Two basted quilts! Now I'm feeling virtuous! And I have several quilting days ahead of me. Yum.

Speaking of hunkering in for quilting, I think it has been a long time since I showed you my studio. In the past year it has undergone a little re-decoration.

It's gone from the baby stage (pack n play in the studio), to the toddler stage (buckets of Little People). Onto the next stage (bins of art supplies) and now I have drug in an old love seat and a rug, hoping to appeal to the "tween crowd". The rug really made a difference making it feel homier. I love having one or all of my little companions hunkered in with me. They are good company.

New Year, New Quilts!

2011-01-04T23:33:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to all my Peeps!

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season. I love this time of year, it is so quiet and I can focus. I also love that everyone starts to use the word hunker:

"It's cold outside so I'm going to hunker in"

"It's time to hunker in and work on projects"

Hunker, hunker, hunker.

So, raise your hand if you are hunkering in and working on quilts.

Here is the quilt I finished in November.

Hey, looky at that! The bed is made! (Must be a photoshoot)

A colorful quilt for my Colorful Girl.

That's my cutie pie. She is beautiful on the inside and out.

To re-cap, the girls share a room and I have plans for 2 quilts, both with the same big floral fabrics, but one with the emphasis on the blues and purples and the other with the emphasis on pinks. I have quilt #2 on the wall and am making final adjustments.

If you think this is bright, it is actually quite a bit brighter in person. I am finding that there is a fine line between fun-bright-cheerful, and "retina-searing". I'm not sure if I've crossed it. I'll keep you posted!

Quilt in Progress

2010-11-02T09:58:00.005-05:00

Hi Everybody! I thought I would have a finished quilt to show you by now but I had to take care of some spooky business last week. There's my little "Dorothy" at the elementary school costume parade. She's growing up, my little girl.

How about a quilt in progress? I need to rewind a little back to August:

We spent some time this summer laying out Molly's quilt at my dad's house, where he has a big entry hallway and a balcony above, so you can lay out the quilt and go upstairs to get a good overall view.

We paused several times to play the "which square is your favorite" game.

So now I'm doing the quilting, which I might have done by tonight! I'm doing an all-over big flower in light blue thread. I love that it blends into some of the patches completely, just giving nice texture, and then (surprise!) it and shows up nice and contrasty on the dark patches, like the one below.

Gotta get back to it. I have school pick up in 3 hours when I will have the daily conversation:

Molly: "Mom, is my quilt done yet?"

Me: "Almost!"

Another kid: "And what about MY quilt?"

Me: " That'll be next!"

Yet another kid: "And what about MY quilt?"

Me: "Honey, you already have 2 quilts and the girls don't have any yet so please be patient."

"But I NEEEEEEEED another one."

Really, how can I argue against that?!

Apparently, I Felt the Need to Clothe a Small Army in Pumpkin Hats

2010-10-22T14:40:00.004-05:00

Hi Guys! How are you? I miss you! I am still here, knitting and sewing and dyeing. I wanted to pop in and share the photo above with you, not because it was any genius knitting, but I thought the group shot was pretty cute.

Every year I take a photo of all 3 kids in the park with their pumpkin hats on, and I needed to re-make Sophie's hat because she's outgrown her infant size. (heh, she's 6, I guess we've stretched that hat out the past couple of years).

Then, I thought I'd make one for the new baby across the street, then, one thing led to another, and well, you know how that goes. I think I am now officially pumpkined out.

If all goes as planned this weekend, I'll be back in a few days with some quilting show and tell! xo

It's Quiet

2010-09-01T11:05:00.001-05:00

So, a week ago today the kids went back to school. (Here's last year's photo, where they are one year smaller).

The caption here should read: "Ok, Mom, this is the last one! Seriously! I need to get inside and see my friends! No more! You better not take any inside! MOMMMMM!"

Only one little bunny permitted me to take a photo inside.

And then, even she was off.

If I could have a dime for every time I have uttered the phrase "Someday, when the kids are all in school full time, I'm going to....(insert fabulous project here)."

That "someday" always seemed so far away. Even this summer, I knew it was finally getting very close and many days, to be honest, I was anticipating it with great relish. But it still seemed so very very far away.

Phase II of Motherhood: The Years When the Kids Are in School Full Time.

I have a list of projects a mile long. Dyeing, sewing, quilting....yada yada.....all the way down the list to organizing some files for the first time in a decade, and even catching up with long lost friends.

But to be honest, I'm feeling a little lost. I've been working on a few things, but I feel like my feet are in molasses.

So, that being said, please pardon my dust around here while I get it together. I'll be back soon with something. (Hopefully something *fabulous*).

Picnic Quilt

2010-07-20T19:38:00.010-05:00

Subject: Picnic Quilt

Quiltmaker: Emily

Stylist: Sophie

So here's the finished quilt I was telling you about. You've seen it before, here and here. (Yes, Kay, you told me that I was making a nine-patch and I didn't believe you! I forgot! Forgive me.)

The original plan was to make a king-sized quilt for our bed. But as I started laying out the several dozen/hundred-ish blocks that I needed for the king-size quilt, I realized that it wasn't turning out as I had envisioned. My color scheme was that it would be red, white, blue, and pink (very Cath Kidston) but heavier on the pastel range, with just a few more lively, brighter reds and blues for spark.

I realized that I had been making an equal amount of pastelish blocks and bright blocks and that it was going to be way brighter than I imagined. Don't get me wrong, I love the brighter range too, but it just wasn't what I envisioned for the bed quilt. However, it would be beautiful for a little picnic quilt. (I keep calling it a "picnic" quilt--it is about 65" square. I guess some people would call it a "throw". But it doesn't belong on the back of our sofa--it belongs at the park, the back of the car, the floor of the girls' room.)

So I pulled out a lot of the brighter blocks and a few of the pastel blocks, and sewed up this throw-sized top. There are still several dozen of the pastel blocks that are waiting in the basket to see some action, so the king-sized bed quilt is still on my list.

Sophie was delighted to help me stylize the photo shoot. She could play tea party all day.

Me, I like to play "what is your favorite square?"

Hi Mom! Whatcha Doin in Here?!

2010-07-17T11:37:00.007-05:00

Hi guys! It's been way too long! The last month of school really flew by and now we're speeding through summer.

We've been gone a lot of the summer so far, which is usual for us, but there is one lesson I learned last summer that I have applied to this one. I got really cranky last year when my sewing machine gathered dust all summer and my sewing table got piled high with Other People's Stuff. I have made it a priority to keep the studio tidy so that when I do get a few minutes here and there, I am ready to sew.

The result? Quilts! I've got a picnic quilt finished, an art quilt top completed, another bed quilt in-process of quilting, and here's one that I started laying out on the floor yesterday when I woke up at 6:15am and couldn't get back to sleep.

I started with all 6 colorways of Kaffe Fassett "Bekah" (maybe my all-time favorite print), one yard each. That's what you see in the front row. Then I added some other splashy florals from my stash. I cut 8" squares of everything I had. That's over 200 squares, which will be enough for 2 twin quilts with some left over (picnic quilt?)

Each of the girls picked out their favorites, so I will make 2 quilts with mostly the same fabrics, but Molly's will be heavy on the light blue and Sophie's heavy on the hot pink. They share a room, so their quilts will co-ordinate, but be unique.

Just to be clear, all this cutting and choosing was done before my 6:15am quilt-fest, so all I had to do was move a little furniture out of the way and start playing with my squares.

Trying to decide whether I like the random arrangement (above) or the light/dark checkerboard arrangement (below). What do you think?

Then I got a visitor.

"Hi Mom! Don't let me interrupt what you're doing. I'll just make myself comfortable."

Well, that's all for now, since I've figured out how to blog again, I should be back soon! xo

My Life as a Yarnie

2010-04-09T10:52:00.007-05:00

Hello my friends,

This week has been a little of this and a little of that. I am awash in knitting projects to finish, and I've been doing a little spring sewing, but nothing finished to show yet. So I was trying to think if I had any news to blog about, when it occured to me that I never posted all the photos from the Madison Knit-In.

So, here is a little peek into the life of a traveling yarn salesperson.

Here is the overview of the booth, starring my friend Blogless Carla (aka Carol Merrill.) Every booth space at every show is different, which is one of the challenges. Even though you know the size of your booth ahead of time, you usually don't know the location on the floor, the lighting, and whether-or-not it will be backed in bright green astroturf, etc.

Some of these aspects can really make a difference in your show experience. Luckily, at the Madison show, there are no dark back hallways to get stuck in; no "bad" spots. This booth shape was very long and narrow, but we tried a couple different table configurations and made it work.

And now for the Grand Tour. Let's start at the front.

I bring my own quilts for the tabletops to add a lot of color to the booth and make it homey and inviting.

This is a big wire basket that I found in a shed of our old house when we moved in. I'm thinking it belonged to an old refridgerator. It is enjoying a second life as yarn displayer. Carla put those colors together. Blues, pinks and purples, you see why we get along so well?!

Moving on down, you come to the main part of the booth, the great wall of sock yarn. People tend to stand here for a long time. Should I get this one....or that one.....or this one.....or that one.... It is fun to help them make choices. Really, it is the best part. It cracks me up when they leave for a few minutes and return with their friend/sister/mom to help them make a decision. If Carla helps them, the customer usually ends up abandoning the decision and just buys them all. (Did I mention she is an excellent assistant!) She uses her Jedi Mind Tricks.

To get technical about the booth display for a minute, those wire crates are from Target and they are the dickens to put together. I wrote about that a little bit after Yarn Con. But Neil from Wool and Co. gave me the best tip during Yarn Con when he told me to get zip ties and after you have each section put together, put a couple zip ties around it to hold it together permanently and then they don't pop out of position when you move on to the next section. Thanks Neil! My life was much easier this time.

In front of the yarn wall I have a lot of one-skein scarf samples. I like to knit scarves as much as socks, and I like to wear scarves out of sock yarn because they are lightweight but still warm and so soft. Currently I have 5 samples but I would like to add a Clapotis and possibly find a nice little stand to display them.

Moving further on down, we have reached the Baby Department. (Sorry for the blur, I might have been getting low on blood sugar when I took this one. Comes with the territory.) I love the Baby Department. Everybody knits for a baby at some point. Superwash sock is perfect for little sweaters, hats and booties.

Speaking of booties, I made up a bunch of bootie bundles for the show. Three mini-cakes of yarn, enough for three pairs of booties, or one little sweater, or Barn Raising squares....the possibilities are endless. Two packs would make a little blankie. Three packs would make a bigger blankie. I have sold these on etsy in the past but it's kind of a pain to photograph them and it's better to have them at a show. They are a great seller, kind of like a Magic Ball but you get to pick your own colors. I intend to make up more samples using these. Oh, the hardship.

And I always have the candy/yarn dish. In the fall it's candy corn and in the spring it's pastel mms.

At the back of the booth I have the baker's rack that my mom found for me at a garage sale. At this show, it houses the "other" yarn. I've got some worsted, some merino/cashmere/nylon blend, and new for this show, silk and sea cell. I'll be putting some of these up on etsy later this month.

And around the corner, back to the front of the booth we have Carla in the Worsted Department. My mannequin is sporting the Wicked cardigan and a zig zag scarf that I just noticed I haven't put on Ravelry yet so I have no link. In fact, most samples you see here should be on my Ravelry projects page in case I didn't link to them all.

So, we have come to the end of the tour. I hope you enjoyed it!

I'm going to be vending again this weekend at a brand new show sponsored by My Sister's Knits in Chicago. It's called the Beverly Hills Yarn Fest and it will be Sunday afternoon at the Beverly Art Center in Chicago. 11-5pm, admission $2. Looks like a really nice line-up of vendors so come out and spend an afternoon. If you stop by please introduce yourself and say hi!

My Sweet Little Bunny Holding One Large Rabbit

2010-04-04T11:20:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter to my dear readers! I am wishing for you a beautiful day filled with family, friends, and joy.

Love,
Emily

Adult Surprise

2010-03-29T11:21:00.009-05:00

File this under "I'm going to say this out loud and I hope it's not just me." But pretty much anything with the word "adult" in front of it makes me giggle a little. Like the time my son came downstairs sleepily while Dave and I were watching a movie (just a regular movie--I can't remember what it was ) and I told him he couldn't stay up and watch with us because we were watching an "adult movie". Heh heh.

So I type out the title to this post, and have my little giggle moment, and wonder how many creative ways it could be interpreted by a non-knitter.

Anyway. Presenting, in progress, the Adult Surprise Jacket:

I've made 2 baby surprise jackets, and now by the third one, you finally get the hang of just how exactly this weird amoeba-like shape is going to work out into a sweater. Fold here, fold there, voila! It's fun!

I'm using 2 strands of sock yarn to make a worsted weight yarn; leftovers in blues and purples that I've collected for over a year just for this project. I'm purposely using very short strands and interspersing the lights and darks to get a tweedy effect, looking a little like hand-spun yarn.
And yes, there will be lots of ends to weave in. I think a movie marathon might be in order. "Adult" movies! Feel free to leave recommendations as I haven't seen a good movie lately. And speaking of watching stuff--if you haven't caught Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution yet, you gotta watch it! I am totally hooked. It is on again tonight.

Barn Raising Do-Over

2010-03-29T10:10:00.003-05:00

Thanks, you guys, for all of your sweet comments on my Olympics sweater! You guys are awesome.

So, the last time I showed you some Barn Raising progress, I declared that the next time I mentioned the blanket, it would be DONE! (I used all caps and exclamation points.) Apparently, I lied, because here it is again, and it is definitely not "DONE". What happened was this....the blanket was another one of those projects that I was desperately trying to get done before the Madison Knit-In. I wanted to hang it in the booth. But.....sewing up those seams takes a lot of time. A. Lot. Of. Time. I seriously underestimated the amount of time it would take. (I am aware, there is a constant time management theme going on on this blog. Mirroring my life.) I discovered that this is no "sew it together in one evening in front of the tv" kind of project. First, it took multiple hours to sew the squares into strips, then it took about an hour each, to sew one strip to another.

I was on schedule early in the week before the Knit-In, and I sewed the last seam together at knitting guild Wednesday night, and in a ta-da moment, spread the finished blanket out on the table for some ooh-and-ahh time. Yes, my friends did their dutiful oohing and ahhing. I didn't say anything at the time, but I was not completely happy with it. I brought it home and laid it out again. It just didn't look as pretty as I had imagined it would.

Then I figured it out. I noticed a square smack in the middle that I knew was not supposed to be there. It was my least favorite square, and I remembered that I had put it over on the edge. Somehow, I had sewn them together out of sequence. A week before, I had spent a long time laying out the squares and determining the arrangement, and then I had made a mistake in sewing them together and gotten them out of order.

Luckily for me and my blanket, I am a big geek and I document the heck out of my knitting. I referred back to one of the layout photos and figured out that I had only mismatched one strip. Only one seam to rip out and re-do. That wasn't as bad as I had imagined the reconstruction would be.

As you can see from my diagram above, the seam between columns 4 and 5 needs to come out and the right section needs to be turned 180 degrees and re-sewn on the left.

Then ends woven in (a lot of them!) and some kind of crocheted edging. Then it will be really-truly-finally-done, DONE.

p.s. Wrongly-sewn together notwithstanding, I still took it to Madison and displayed it in the booth.

My Own Little Olympics Closing Ceremony at the Madison Knit-In

2010-03-17T11:14:00.004-05:00

Hello my friends! Last week the yarn factory was running overtime as I was getting ready to go to the Madison Knit-In. I still managed to squeeze in a little knitting time as I really, really, really wanted to wear (read: show off) my finished Olympic sweater in Madison. I finished the fair isle knitting on Wednesday.

And basted a line for the steek. I went through the center of the "v" in the center stitch. This allows you to see where you need to stitch when you have it under the sewing machine, because it is hard to follow the column of knitting in all those tiny dark stitches.

Late that night (note the bad lighting) I sewed the steek by machine. I did two lines of stitching on either side of the basted line.

I waited until the next morning-Thursday-to cut. Since my supervisor at the yarn factory (aka "me") seriously discourages drinking on the job, I had to cut the steek without the traditional shot of vodka beforehand. I did ok sans alcohol, although it was a little more nerve-wracking.

I knit the button bands Thursday night before I left (no action shot because if memory serves I was knitting with one hand and skeining yarn with the other, at that point). And I sewed the buttons on in the hotel room on Friday night, the night before the show. I also wove in (most of) the ends (at least the ones that would dangle down and show) that night and kitchenered the underarms.
I blame the bad hotel room lighting (note to self--always throw an Ott light in the car for a hotel) on the bad darning job under the arms. But hey--I've been to several big events in my life with a hem masking-taped-up, so I am not fazed by a knitting show with a few dangly ends inside and a tiny underarm hole!

She's done!

And here we all are at the show--me, my new sweater, and my dear friend and assistant Blogless Carla.

Details:

Pattern: Lloie's Cardigan also known as "Yoke Sweaters" by Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swansen available at Schoolhouse Press.

Yarn: Sophie's Toes sock yarn. I dyed the background color especially for this project by overdyeing Blackberry to an even darker and more solid shade. The fair isle colors are from bottom to top: blue--unknown, Cranberry, He Saw Her Across the Smoky Bar, Layers of Color Dark Green, Green is the New Black, Olive, and pink-unknown. These were all pretty much from my own collection of scraps so sorry some of the info is sketchy. It really takes just a bit for most of these color sections.

Needle size: 2 for body and ribbing; I'm a loose knitter.

Mods: I didn't follow the body stitch count but modeled this sweater after another one I've made in which I really like the fit, and I added waist shaping. But she uses the percentage system anyway, so that was fine and then I just followed the chart when I got to that part.

Several people have asked me if this was a kit or if the fair isle yarn was one yarn that changed colors like that. NO! PEOPLE! This is what I love to do--make color choices. I am very very happy and proud of this sweater. It is one of the best things I have ever made.

Thanks for listening! And before I sign off I just want to give a shout out to Blogless Carla who is an excellent help at the shows and to my special mom for tirelessly winding yarn as well as moral support for me last week before the show. Thank you!

What Do You Mean "The Olympics Are Over"?

2010-03-04T10:15:00.007-06:00

Hi guys!

Sorry to keep you hanging. I had a little shop update this week, and that tends to mess with my already-irregularly-scheduled blogging.

In case you didn't guess this already: I'm still knitting!

First of all, thank you to everyone who cheered me on, everyone who didn't say I was crazy, and everyone who didn't call me a loser!

Here's a summary of the past several days:

My 2010 Knitting Olympic Assumptions
(that turned out to be wrong):

1. Because I was knitting with the same/and/or/similar yarn, my gauge would be the same as this sweater, so no need to swatch.

2. Losing 2 days because my gauge was off was no big deal.

3. Knitting stockinette, even with fingering weight yarn, would be super-quick.

4. When I got to the colorwork section, it would be even quicker, because it was fun.

5. Picking colors out of my scrap bin, on the fly, without swatching, would work out great. (see photo above--colors that are too varigated or have highlights that match the background color don't work out great for fair isle patterning because you lose the pattern.)

And the BIG ONE:

6. Somehow, magically, because the Olympics were on: my family wouldn't need to eat, my kids would go off to boarding school, and the rest of my life would stop so I could be enveloped in a beautiful cloud of magical knitting and nothing else.

Yeah, that "beautiful cloud of magical knitting" thing didn't work out the way I had planned. Do I have any regrets? No. (Not to get all philosophical on you, forgive me) but I don't believe in regrets. Especially over knitting! So, I picked an overly ambitions project. However, it was a sweater that I wanted to knit, and I'm knitting it! And I'm almost done! I am really happy with this sweater, and now that the actual Olympics are over, I'm on the fun colorwork part. Albeit, the very slow colorwork part. I should be done in a few days--at least the plan is to be able to wear this sweater to the Madison Knit-In (I'm vending) next weekend. Onward!

More Olympic News Coverage

2010-02-27T08:13:00.004-06:00

We will now break away from the action on Cypress Mountain and take you into the living room of our knitter racing to finish her sweater:

She finished the second sleeve in a day! That's a personal best for her! (Many knitters crash on the second sleeve portion of the course. Some even fall asleep. The second sleeve is an especially treacherous part.)

It looks like she picked up some momentum when she entered the yoke portion. If she can keep of that momentum and get to the colorwork portion, she might still be in contention!

Her family cheers from the sidelines! Her daughter says "Pizza for dinner again, Mom?" (While it might seem unusual, that is a common cheer heard by knitters' families. Many highly trained knitters keep a well stocked freezer, for that "just one more row" situation.)

If she hits that color work section by this evening, and doesn't get hit with any more obstacles such as people needing dinner, somebody needing to be dropped off somewhere, or the dreaded kid-or-dog throwing up, she might......just........finish!

That knitter is going for gold!

NBC News Update: Olympian Behind by a Sleeve

2010-02-25T11:41:00.003-06:00

It's my own fault. My heart just wasn't in it this year. I picked a really boring project that just didn't keep my interest and I didn't knit enough during the first week.

I also didn't take into consideration how much yarn I would need to be dyeing each week of February to have enough for my booth at the Madison Knit-In in March. So, I've been a good worker bee yarn-wise, but my Olympic knitting has suffered.

According to my diagram (raise your hand, you geeky knitters who made a chart showing how much knitting you needed to accomplish each day to finish on time) I should be finished with the second sleeve and madly yoking around by now.

As it is, I have just started the second sleeve and am on schedule to be finished a day or two after the closing ceremonies.

The only thing that might save me is my sick kid at home yesterday and today, who is keeping me inside and in hovering range, instead of out in the garage in dyepots. I knit almost that whole first sleeve yesterday, and if I can keep up that stamina today, I might have hope to be knitting the yoke by tonight (ladies figure skating!).

I'm not giving up quite yet!

Olympic Knitting Update: Pass the Smelling Salts

2010-02-20T14:11:00.006-06:00

Knitting that is this monotonous really gives a person time to think.

Just out of curiousity, I wonder how many stitches there are in that mile of stockinette?

Let's see:

Approximately 320 stitches per round.

Times

Approximately 115 rounds so far. (No I didn't stop to count, I just know that there are 8 rounds between increases and decreases and a little extra for the waist and ribbing)

Equals (drum roll please): 36,800 stitches.

That's really all I have to say right now. I think I need to go lie down.

p.s. I held the sweater up last night and asked Dave to guess how many stitches. He said 2,400. Hah! Amateur!

Knitting Olympics: False Start

2010-02-17T20:18:00.005-06:00

So here's my sweater for the Knitting Olympics! It's called Lloie's Cardigan (also known by the super-creative name "Yoke Sweater WG79"); I'm doing the cardigan version pictured on the left, my own hand dyed yarn, size 2 needles.

The main color is a very dark purple--the big ball above. The fair isle pattern will be greens and teal, with cranberry at the very top, where the pattern resembles petals.

So, I cast on during the opening ceremonies with Blogless Carla, and I'm knitting along, doing the ribbing on size 1s, and might I add, not enjoying knitting 300 plus stitches on those size 1s.

I got the sinking feeling that, because of the miles of solid color stockinette on this sweater, I had picked a marathon event. I am not usually an endurance athlete, I am more of a sprinter. But I kept going.

By day 2, I was totally psyching myself out. I was questioning my color choice, I thought the cast on edge looked wavy and bad, and I was more than a little worried that I wasn't getting gauge. At the end of 2 days of knitting (with only about 3" done), I took it off the needles and put it on spare yarn to measure.

Confirmed: it was about 3" too small, I was knitting too tight!

Ugh! Nothing to do but riiiiiiiiip.

Now.....I'm back on track and things are going well. As well as can be considered where you're knitting miles of stockinette, 300 plus stitches to a round, on size 2 needles, in a very dark color. Get me to that fair isle section- stat!

Are you participating in the Knitting Olympics? What are you making? Tell me in the comments--I want deets!

Barn Raising.....Almost.....Finished

2010-02-08T21:28:00.005-06:00

I mentioned last week that the blanket was happily zipped away in it's little plastic ziploc marination chamber. Daunted by the blocking, I was happy to let it marinate for an indefinite period of time.

However, just a few days after I wrote that blog post I got an e-mail asking me to fill in with a last-minute program for our knitting guild (how could I say no--I love them so much).

I decided the lecture would be on color and creativity and a big part of the program would be about creatively using up your leftovers and orphan skeins. It would be the perfect time for Barn Raising to make her debut! I needed to sew those squares together, stat!

I borrowed my friend Blogless Carla's blocking board and was able to block all 49 squares in only 4 shifts (nearly painless, really.) I LOVE THIS BLOCKING BOARD!

Coincidently, it is the same one that Alicia just wrote about here. I am going to have to invest in one of these suckers. Especially since we no longer have a guest bed for blocking (darn kids, taking up those bedrooms.)

Well, I wish this story had a happy ending, but I'm just keepin it real here folks. I did not get the blanket done in time. I sewed the squares into 7 columns, but didn't get all the columns sewn together. Here it is in it's final layout with 4 columns sewn together:

Next time you see it, though, it will be DONE!

2010 May Be the Year of the Sock

2010-02-02T12:46:00.010-06:00

For me, 2009 was the year of the square.

I kind of wondered what I was going to do with all that sock yarn, after I was done with the blanket. (And by "done", I mean, done knitting the squares and putting them all in a big ziploc where they will sit for an indeterminate amount of time before I get the mojo to sew them together, after which it will be "really, finally, done.")

Well, what about socks. Those are a fun, small, portable project that uses sock yarn. I used to like to knit socks. I had kind of fallen off the sock bandwagon last year, probably because I signed up to do a knitalong where I was supposed to knit socks.

It would be good for a sock yarn dyer to knit socks. I think I'll try socks.

So, it started back in November when I decided to knit my mom a pair of socks for Christmas. I don't knit socks for just anybody, but if anyone is deserving, she is. I've said this before, she is my biggest cheerleader. And besides that, she wears the ones I gave her last year every time I see her, which is a lot, so I know she loves them.

I was going to knit her a pair of socks, plus something else. I asked her what she wanted, and she said "I want a pair of socks". I said "I'm already making you a pair of socks but I'll make you something else too, so what do you want?" She said "Just make me two pairs of socks." I groaned and rolled my eyes and said "ugh--no way!" but of course I knew that was just what I'd do, and the drama was an effort to throw her off my trail.

Here are the first ones I made. Sophie's Toes in Starry Night. I knew that she coveted this yarn because she was here when I dyed it, and she really liked it, and she's always liked blue and yellow together. I was really happy with the way they turned out. Starry.

For the next ones, I wanted to do something different, so she'd have a variety, and I pulled out this Sophie's Toes in Chelsea. I really got fancy with the picot edge!

She was happy--now the owner of 3 pairs of hand knit socks. I was happy she was happy. And I was fully engaged in sock-knitting mode now. I delved into stash and made a pair for myself:

Sophie's Toes in Man in Uniform. A very old skein that had aged quite nicely in my Sophie's Toes-super-secret-save-for-self stash.

By now, I'm officially on a sock bender. New socks are flying off the needles every couple of days! It was fun but something was nagging at me. It's the Trader Joe's bag. I could see it out of the corner of my eye and it was taunting me. The Trader Joe's bag sits in the corner of my studio and holds my sock WIPs.

It's a big grocery bag, and as you can see, it's full. All the single socks with their second skeins of yarn, all the in-progress socks abandoned but left there for the day when I would come back to them but I never do. Basically, it is the sock graveyard.

Wondering how long some of these orphan socks have been languishing in the bag, I found this post which features several that are still singles! Pathetic.

So, I decided that I would use my sock energy for good, not evil, and diligently work through the (give or take) 13 pairs that patiently awaited me in the bag.

Finished:

So far so good. Of the batch above, 4 of those are second socks! Here are the deets:

Black Koigu. There is a reason I put off knitting this second sock. Plain black 2 x 2 rib might be the ultimate boredom knitting. But I will probably wear these more than any other pair so I am happy they are done!

Deju vu: Plain olive green 2 x 2 rib might be the second most boring thing to knit. But I will wear these a lot too! Claudia's Handpaint yarn, very old and color number lost long ago.

Mountain Colors yarn, color number lost long ago. Deep purple with highlights of brown and blue. Not my favorite yarn to knit due to the mohair content making it fuzzier and splittier, but oh, so cozy to wear!

A big pair of husband birthday socks, finished a few hours before the birthday party. Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn, color 4255 Landscape Earth.

Whew! That was a lot of being a good girl. Then.....I might have fallen off a bit, and taken out some fresh and new yarn. Let's just call it a palette cleanser.

Pretty green stripey sock. Regia Design Line 4350. Full of Kaffe Fassett stripey goodness.

Fully refreshed, I tackled some more singles:

It's going to take me about another week or so but I'm going to keep on keepin on. When I am finished that will total 13 pairs since Christmas. But the best part is that the archaeological dig has unearthed some treasures at the bottom of the bag....

I'm getting down to the really good stuff! There's a skein of Just a Small Gathering of Friends and some Merino/Cashmere/Nylon. What am I going to do with myself when the bag is empty?! Cake? Confetti? Disneyland?

I get to buy more sock yarn.

2010-01-25T09:49:00.002-06:00

Thank you to all of you who left comments! (And by the way, welcome to all my first time commenters!) You make me so happy!

Without further ado, the winner is: Laura! Congratulations, Laura, I will be in touch to get your address.

Wool and Company has raised nearly $26,000! Thanks to many of you.

One thing I love about artists and crafters is they are so good at thinking up fun/interesting/creative ways to help those in need. Here are a few links for ya:

Amy pointed us to Craft Hope, which has a lot of great stuff to look at and buy (and has raised over $20,000.)

Beth let us know in the comments that she is having a giveaway too. Go!

And here's another great tidbit, via Ysolda. I'm sure you already know that many pattern designers are donating 50% of their pattern sale profits through 1/31. But did you know that you can search your own queue on Ravelry and find all the patterns that you want to make that are tagged "help for Haiti". Go to the main pattern page and see the Haitian flag at the top right of the page-click to see all the patterns available, and you can filter that by your "favorited" patterns or queued patterns. Rock on.

Why not go ahead and buy up all the patterns that you intend to buy eventually anyway--when you can do it NOW and make a difference is somebody's life?

I'll be back soon (maybe even today) with knitting. xo

Giveaway for Haiti

2010-01-19T20:58:00.003-06:00

Hello, my friends! What can I say....2009 in a word: BUSY.

Last year is a blur. A crazy, sometimes good crazy and sometimes TOO crazy, blurry-blur-blur.

I had big plans for January. Turn the page; a fresh clean sheet of paper. Everything was going to come into focus. Long, quiet days with no committments. Lots of me-time. Sewing projects, organizing my knitting, working on quilts. So far, however, the blur continues. Organizing, cleaning, doing taxes, and getting sick, all are competing for space on that fresh, clean sheet of paper that was supposed to be January.

Every now and then I get the urge to slap some fabric on something and sew it down, which accounts for a couple of quick projects like the heart t-shirt, above. However. Nothing substantial to report.

Contributing to the general inability to blog has been the past week of sadness/guilt watching the tragedy in Haiti and realizing how little they have/had even before the earthquake, and how much I have. So much in the family, health, and happiness department, not to mention the yarn and fabric department, and that isn't even mentioning the basic food and shelter department. So much.

I finally decided to end the blog silence AND do a little something, both at the same time.

First of all, I'd like to bring to your attention the Help Heal Haiti by Knitting Campaign going on by my friends at Wool and Company. Every dollar that you donate to Doctors without Borders on Wool and Co.'s website, will be matched by Knitting Fever. How awesome is that. So far they have raised over $9,000. (So, really $18,000.)

Maybe you already gave to one of the many charities and that's great. Maybe you already gave to Doctors without Borders through Wool and Company and that's also great. Maybe you are like me and gave a little last week, and now that you are continuing to follow the reports you are realizing with a heavy heart how very, very long term this situation is, and you decide you need to give more.

So, here's the deal here on my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment and let me know that you contributed in your own way to Haiti. You don't have to tell me where, and you don't have to tell me how much. It is an honor system, people! Just leave a comment, letting me know, and you will be entered in my little drawing to win both these skeins of yarn:

Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn in Chelsea (top) and Layers of Color: Royal (bottom). Each one, 350 yards of hand dyed merino goodness. There are so many great colorwork patterns out now, I was thinking these would make a really pretty Aestlight shawl (see on Ravelry all the pretty ones with 2 colors), or Akimbo, or Selbu Modern, or many many mitten patterns, or then again, you could go crazy and make yourself a coupla pairs of socks!

I know these will go to a good home. Comment between now and Saturday morning. I will draw a winner Saturday around noon, so check back by Sunday for the winner.

Thanks for reading! And now we return to more photos from our new t-shirt photoshoot--Sophie is always happy to oblige when there is a camera in my hand...

Projects, Projects, Projects

2009-12-02T16:01:00.004-06:00

It's pretty gloomy in here today (we're expecting snow--or maybe its less dramatic cousin, cold rain) so I don't have the greatest photo. But it's up!!!! The stockings are hung.

Last night we got Hershey Kisses, and tonight will either be mini candy canes or perhaps, a note about some fun activity that I need to dream up between now and then. Right, candy canes it is. Then I need to get my thinking cap on because it won't be candy every night, no siree.

Now, on to the next frantic deadline knit project. I'm trying to finish this Ishbel for me for our Santa Breakfast at church this Saturday morning. You can't see the sparkles in the above photo, so I've included a shot of the yarn below, it's Sophie's Toes sparkle. I dyed a little batch just for the holidays.

I have a back-up (last year's) outfit if this isn't finished. I've just gotten to the lace part, so I'm not sure how much I can get done (and blocked!) in 2 more days. I also have to make a small plaid Christmas dress, and that takes priority, since the dress will be sitting on Santa's lap getting its picture taken for posterity, and Ishbel will be back in the kitchen, cooking sausage and slinging fruit cocktail.

I thought I'd mention one more thing: it's my last shop update of the year, tonight. If you need a little "festive", I've got festive! There will be lots of Christmas yarn and other pretty colors. Here is a little preview:

Advent Stockings!

2009-12-01T13:36:00.002-06:00

Remember my mini-stocking sweatshop from last year? I have to admit, I'm not ready for the full-blown Christmas decor just yet, but I was excited to get these out and see them again.

Even though I finished all the socks last year, I ran out of steam when it came to doing the embroidery and figuring out a nice place to hang them. Lame! We still used them, just without the numbers.

But now, after a year off, I have renewed enthusiasm! I will embroider! I will knit I-cord! I spent way more time than I really should have late last night, arranging and re-arranging them into my favorite color order. Then I worked on the embroidery, which was touch-and-go, since I had the bad feeling that they were good the way they were and I was ruining them with the embroidery. But they have to have numbers.......right?

Now I just have a couple of miles of I-cord to knit this afternoon and we'll be all set. Happy December!

This is Where I've Been

2009-10-22T09:06:00.006-05:00

I've spent most of the last 3 weeks getting ready for Yarn Con. While most of the world was at Rhinebeck last weekend, a few hardy souls stayed in Chicago and had a great time at Chicago's own celebration of the yarny arts.

It has been several months since I did a show and I forgot how much fun it is. It really is a whirlwind being a vendor. Beforehand--it is so much crazy work getting ready--and stressful getting the car loaded and worrying that you will forget something, and then getting the booth set up in an hour--and then, boom. You are all ready and the knitters are there and it is so fun to spend a day meeting people and seeing all the great things they are wearing and talking knitting! Love you guys.

Here is one of my favorite photos, taken from the balcony above. Hi Mom and Jamie!

That's my knit-bud Jamie, who bravely agreed to get up very early and be my assistant. I wish I had a better photo of her Shoalwater shawl in Fall Mums, because it is stunning! Yay, Jamie!

My mom went with me also and was a big help! Here is mom stepping up to the red carpet...."why mom, what are you wearing?"

"Well, Emily, it's a garter stitch scarf in Sophie's Toes sock yarn color: Magical, with multicolor flowers stitched on."

"Wow, Mom, do those have bobbles in the center?"

"Why, yes they do!"

Way to go, Mom! Her first bobbles! And she looked great!

Of course I brought the much loved Candy Corn display.

Here's a view, again from the balcony, of the other side of the room. Yarn. Yarn. Yarn. Oh, and lest I forget, bags. Bags. Bags.

Here is my "Christmas" basket. Yes, it looks dark (as do most of the photos) because I was in a fairly dark spot. I was across the room from last year and the lighting wasn't as good. I had an Ott light in my car, but there wasn't any electricity on my side of the room. A battery operated Ott light or two is on my list of supplies for next time. Live and learn!

I have made numerous improvements to my booth, since last time, here's the list:

1. I love my sign from Kinkos.

2. Mom found me the mannequin (Belinda) at a yard sale, thanks Mom.

3. I invested in some cubes (see top photo) which are a *&^%# to put together (love you, Jamie) but are great for showcasing the yarn. As Jamie and I were putting them together the morning of the show, and cursing, we were laughing at how our 9 year old lego and bionicle building whiz-kid sons could probably put them together in a flash. I guess I need to add that to my supplies list: 2 9-year-old boys.

4. I've invested in a credit card machine and propay account, so I can now take credit cards at shows.

5. And, I've knit about a million samples. Well, maybe not quite that many but I can safely say that I will remember summer 2009 as "Summer of Samples".

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In summary: Yarn Con rocks. Honk if you were at Yarn Con!

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In other knitting news, I finished the last square for my Barn Raising Blanket on Tuesday. Here are the last four. Clockwise from top left: Holly, Table for Two with a Layers of Color Dark Teal in the center, Holly with Cosmopolitan in the center, and Just a Small Gathering of Friends. I realized, just in the nick of time, that I didn't have any squares in my Dye for Glory color. So that was my very last one, and probably my favorite.

So here they are, all 49 squares! It doesn't look that big, does it--but that is 2 years of work. Suggestions on how to block a lot of squares at once, would be very welcome right about now!

What I Knit During Summer Vacation

2009-09-29T13:30:00.007-05:00

Hello friends! Thank you to my sweet commenters--you made me feel welcome back to the ole blog again. I love you.

The last time we visited my Barn Raising Blanket in progress was about a year ago. I was deciding whether to keep it in the blue/green range or to add some warm tones. I have made a lot of progress since then! You can see I made the decision to add warm. I even made a dark brown! (2nd row center of the photo below). I added several very light squares, which are washed out in the photo but mostly pale purples and blues, and some murky greens. There's even a little orange.

I have "refined" my goal (I almost used the word: downgraded, but we'll be positive) to 7x 7 squares, so I need 49 total. I have 44 completed, and one on the needles. One is iffy, but I am considering overdyeing it, so the total fluctuates a bit, but I am VERY CLOSE.

I mentioned before that I love to knit these little squares while on vacation. I make a goal of one square a day. It is so relaxing to get up and start a square with my coffee in the morning. It takes a little more than an hour to knit one of these--and sometimes I race to see if I can complete it while still in jammies. (Vacation is about the ONLY time I can knit for over an hour in the morning without feeling like I need to be getting ready to do something.)

Some squares are solid and some are a square-within-a-square. The way I knit those is this: I knit until there are 14 stitches between the "spokes" and then change yarn. I change yarn on a plain row so it doesn't mess up the yarn overs. That's it.

I don't have any formula to how many of each I'm going to do, I just do whatever the yarn moves me to make that day. Sometimes I'm feeling plain, sometimes I'm feeling fancy.

Highlights/Lowlights

2009-09-25T11:01:00.003-05:00

First Day of School, 2009

Hello my friends! I hope I still have a few readers left, after I accidently took the summer off. Thank you for sticking with me! Even though the kids have been in school for a month now, I have been afraid to touch the blog, not sure that I still remembered how to do it.

So this will be a quickie. A test. Just a few highlights (and a few lowlights) of the summer months.

We had a busy and fun summer--we went on several trips. One that will forever be lovingly referred to as "Barf-fest 2009".

I participated in Dye for Glory and WON! Making the summer even busier for me as I wasn't really planning on dyeing much yarn. But I don't mean to complain! It was good.

In the knitting category: I went on a scarf kick, a sweater kick, a Barn Raising square kick, and a Magic Ball kick.

In the kid category: a much anticipated event...my youngest is now in (half day) kindergarten! While that doesn't give me any more alone time than I had last year, I have been very excited for all 3 to be at the same school. I love our elementary school and do a lot of volunteering there. I intend to savor these next 2 years.

We got a puppy!

I am tired.

But...I'm slowing getting back into the swing of things. I think I am better with the routine that school brings, and fall is my favorite season. I'll be back in a few days with some knitting to report.

xoxo

Little Lovey

2009-06-09T17:02:00.007-05:00

There has been some discussion over on the Ravelry group about this fabulous pattern for the Zig and Zag Sock Yarn Pram Blanket by Debbie Orr and what my pal Blogless Carla has been doing.

It all started at knitting guild last month. May is our annual yarn garage sale, and I was thinking of getting rid of a big bag of Sophie's Toes scraps that was clogging up my closet.

I'm sure you have heard the joke of the quilter who dies and the family finds a box of scraps in the attic labeled: "Scraps Too Small to Save". Well, it was like that. I had an overflowing bag of yarn scraps--pieces too small to make booties, too small to put in Magic balls, too small to even make Barn Raising squares. But they were just so dang pretty. I really hated to throw them in the trash. I wondered if some clever individual could think of something.

But I hesitated, because I didn't want to bring a bunch of crap that nobody wanted to guild, and be embarrassed. But the were so dang pretty. So I organized them loosely by color, shoved them into ziplocs and weighed them so they were roughly 200 gms each, and brought them to guild. I had no idea of the price. (Or if anyone would want them.)

I sat down with a bunch of friends at guild, and started to unload them and ask my friends advice about the price, and people started grabbing them up right away! I had 7 of the 10 bags spoken for before I could even get them over to the sale table!

Discussion ensued: they were pretty! But what would you actually do with them?!

Right then, in a serendipitous moment, another friend happened to walk by and see Blogless Carla oohing over her scraps and said right away: you could make the Zig Zag Pram Blanket! So Carla looked it up on Ravelry that night, cast on with her ziploc of blues and greens with a little pink thrown in, and was hooked!

She finished it in less than a week. She used a separate ball (Sophie's Toes, color: Downtown) for the border, because she wanted the border to be all the same color, and she wasn't sure that she had a scrap ball big enough for the border. Apparently you weave the ends in as you go, so it isn't such a chore at the end. It weighs 150 gms total and measures 20" wide by 27" long. It is a little blankie-but just perfect for a little lovey.

I know it must be a fun knit, because she cast on another one right away!

The second blanket is made with a Sophie's Toes Magic Ball. (Color: Pastel Baby). She wanted to make a bigger one than the first, so she added 2 repeats to make it wider, and added more scraps to make it longer. FYI the Magic Ball will just make the smaller version (150 gms).

I believe that the original pattern has 9 repeats and the bigger blankie has 11. It measures 24" wide by 31" long.

Big thank you to Carla for letting me show off her beautiful creations! And for even more Zigzag blankie love, check out Paulacrowe's blankie on Ravelry!

Something Old, Something New

2009-05-26T20:41:00.009-05:00

Hello! I still knit!

If you have kids you know that May is a really crazy month. All the end of school programs, art shows, preschool sing, Mother's Day tea, etc. Add in a birthday. Get outside and get that yard shaped up. Then, catch Tote Bag Fever and go a little crazy on that for awhile. My studio (my whole house) is just a crazy mess.

So, I've been trying to organize my knitting projects that have gotten scattered around the house. When I really want to buckle down and get some stuff finished, I do the "finish one old project before rewarding myself with a new project" game. I know you do that too.

So today I present you with two FOs, one started last October, one started last week.

First up, the Chic Basic Hoodie--Lace Version. I started this last October with some Cotton Ease in Violet. It clipped along for a few months, hit the wall in January, when I discovered for the 85th time, that a 4" rib just doesn't work for me. After a few months in time out, I ripped back and reknit 3" in stockinette and 1" rib.

Finished the sleeves in the car during spring break, and sewed the buttons on today!
I changed the hood to a big collar. I just picked up the same amount of stitches called for my size, fudged a bit to make sure I had a multiple of 4 (+2) and knit 8" of 2 x 2 rib. When picking up stitches for the collar, I made sure the pick up looked good on both sides, by just picking up the very edge loop (1/2 a stitch). More details on Ravelry.

And now, for something completely different.....

I love animal print. I especially love it on kids.

I've had this idea for awhile, to make a Magic Ball using Tiger yarn and some other bright colors. Last week I made a boy version, with Tiger, Candy Corn, Picnic Basket, and others, and a girl version, with Tiger, Cosette, Deep Rose, California Poppies, and more (pink, orange, yellow, and some neutrals).

Just as a mom "tests" the chocolate chip cookies when they come out of the oven to make sure they are good for everyone, I decided that I needed to test out one of these to see if it lived up to my vision.

I am really super happy with the result. I made this Baby Surprise Jacket from the boy version. I upsized it to a 3T to test out how large a sweater I could get from one Magic Ball. I can report that I used almost the whole ball for the 3T size--I had 2 color sections out of 15 left over--so it is could be possible to do a 4T and just make it shorter.

If you are needing to see the girl version, you can catch a sneak peek over at the Sophie's Toes Ravelry group forum, or see them in the shop tomorrow night.

Color Palette

2009-05-10T17:26:00.009-05:00

I have often felt that semi-solids don't get enough credit in the hand-dyed sock world. I love dyeing the pretty variegated yarns, and I love looking at them in their beautiful skeins, but I really knit a lot more with the semi-solids. They can be so rich. They behave so well. But for some reason, probably because they are not as flashy as their variegated siblings, they don't sell as well. But they are really beautiful for lace knitting, and there seems to be a new abundance of fair isle patterns for which semi-solids are fabulous.

One evening last month, I was frantically packing for spring break. (I know you have been in this situation--you have a family of 5 to pack for, for 9 days. It's whatever-o-clock at night, and you are leaving at whatever-o-clock in the morning, and you still have a million things to do. And what are you worried about? That's right. Your knitting. Will you have all the right yarn/needles/patterns/tools that you need? Will you run out of anything? Is it all portable enough? Etc., etc., etc.)

Well I was in that situation and I did my usual. Ignored all the chores and went into a trance-like state where all I could think about was the perfect sock yarn colors for this beret. Just between us, I spent more time picking out yarn colors for the beret than I did packing for my 4 traveling companions.

I ended up with a dark green Layers of Color Collection double-dye from a year ago, and Favorite Jeans. (In other words, dark green and medium periwinkle blue.) Two color knitting is so addicting. I was contemplating a matching (or maybe NOT matching but somewhat co-ordinating) pair of fingerless mitts.

Then a friend asked about possible combinations for the Garden Gate socks.

I'm thinking about making those too, but I might convert them into arm warmers instead of socks.

And just to throw another pattern at ya, here's a mitten pattern that has been in my queue for awhile.

So I started thinking about fun color combinations and started matching up friends. I came up with a zillion combinations; here are just a few:

Midnight and Cinnamon Spice

Cranberry and Olive

I Heart Pumpkin and Winterberry

My Favorite Shirt and Iced Coffee

Green is the New Black and My Favorite Shirt

Windy City and Iced Coffee

These are just a handful of the combinations I photographed. I will post some others on the Ravelry group or you can see all of them on my Flickr page.

I'll be updating my etsy shop tomorrow -Tuesday- evening at 7pm Central, and I'm posting all of these (plus more) semi-solids, and some of their flashier varigated siblings.

Happy Knitting!

One More Bag, Before You All Go To Sleep On Me

2009-05-08T22:00:00.007-05:00

A little patchwork action, a little knitting, and one more bag, before you all die of bag boredom.

I've had this tiny little photo of a patchwork bag on my bulletin board for a few years. I clipped it from a magazine and I wish I could give credit, but it's been so long, maybe even 10 years, and I have no idea where it came from.

I've wanted to copy it--not just the patchwork, but also the boxy shape, and the great size. I have a lot of handbags and totes, which are usually perfect, but my regular tote is sometimes a little too small to stuff a full-size sweater project into.

And I have a few huge bags, for daytrips or carrying your life with you to the pool.

I have recently noticed an absence of oversized-purse bags, for carrying a big sweater project plus the handbag essentials like wallet, phone, etc., and not looking like a dork, or like Santa with his pack.

Last year at the quilt show in Paducah, I bought some fat quarters from these folks. Mmmm, French fabrics, ooh la la. This spring I quilted them up in a random patchwork placement and made this bag.

I liked it and the size was great. 16" wide, 7" deep, 10" high, in case you are interested. It could be a tad higher, but I had to make the patchwork squares work out evenly. However, it wasn't as fabulous as I had hoped, so I went back to the original photo and realized that one thing I love about the magazine bag was the binding on the outside of the sides. I had never made a bag like that.

I wasn't 100% sure how to do that, so i just pinched the sides (wrong sides together) and sewed a 1/4" seam up the sides, then bound it like you would bind the edges of a quilt.

I was surprised what a difference it made, in giving the bag a really boxy shape. Making it stand up on its own.

It is a little detail, but it was the oomph that the bag was missing. Now I really love it.

Just the right size for a sweater project and some necessities.

And if you have an interest in the sweater, I have been working on this one off-and-on for a few months, but I am nearing the finish line! It's the Chicknits Basic Hoodie. I had a little speed bump when I had to rip off the bottom ribbing because it was-ahem-less then becoming on me.

I'm eliminating the hood and making a wide collar. Just a couple inches to go on the collar and the front bands.

Wishing all you mamas out there a very happy Mother's Day and a little knitting or sewing time to yourself! xo

For A Good Cause

2009-04-29T14:42:00.005-05:00

Spring is in full swing and if you know anything about me at all, you know that I ususally catch the Tote Bag Fever right around now.

I picked out one of the world's prettiest fabrics for this one. It is for a good cause and it could be yours! A few months ago a knitting friend's husband died unexpectedly. She has four kids who will be entering college in the upcoming years, and our LYS is having an auction of cool stuff to benefit their college fund.

It is sturdy, fully quilted, lined and straps bound with contrasting fabric, and a little pocket inside for your phone or whatever. Watch the Wool and Company blog for details about the upcoming auction.

Speaking of tote bags, there are several more in the queue, so if you are afraid of catching the fever, you might want to avert your eyes for the next several days!

House of Totes

2009-04-22T22:14:00.004-05:00

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Thank you SO MUCH for all the fantastic comments and suggestions that you left on the vending post. I intend to reply to you individually but I haven't had a chance yet this week. Thank you!!

My mom and sister arrived tonight (Allison from Los Angeles and Mom from Indiana) and we are hanging out/packing/watching American Idol tivo'd/they are shopping in my mini-yarn store that I have packed in rubbermaid totes in the corner/and we are all planning our knitting projects for the weekend. We are leaving early in the morning for the quilt show.

Everyone deserves a new tote bag for the quilt show, don't you think?

I got this bug fabric last year at Hancock's of Paducah. I have this thing where I have to at least attempt to use a fraction of the fabric I get before I go back the following year.

My sister has dubbed my home "House of Bags and Totes." I admit, when I am getting ready for a trip there might possibly be totes hanging from every doorknob in the house.

Speaking of bags, have you seen this fabric from Alexander Henry? It's called Sew Now, Sew Wow! If I can find it this weekend, I'm buying a truckload.

Perfect bags for the knitting projects that will be coming along with us tomorrow.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you next week!

Madison Knit-In

2009-04-18T07:15:00.003-05:00

Hi Friends!

Here is my weekend round up of my trip to Madison a couple weeks ago, when I went to vend at the Madison Knitter's Guild Knit-In.

The best thing about the weekend was sharing it with Blogless Carla. She is the best yarn assistant in the world! She puts the booth together better than I do. (Waving to Carla!!!!!) Thank you!!

You might remember that I've only done this once before; last fall at Yarn Con in Chicago. So I learned a lot again at this show and kind of used the weekend to test whether I want to add vending to the etsy selling on a regular basis. It is a LOT of work.

My booth here was a lot bigger than the one at Yarn Con. The other major difference was the flavor of this show. There were a lot less indie vendors and more professional booths. I felt a bit self conscious with my plastic bins (see below), next to all the professional display racks.

I also learned that I need a big sign. I had smaller signs distributed along the tables, but nevertheless, one lady thought my booth was named "Gym Lights". (You'll have to embiggen the photo above to get that.)

The last thing I would say, is that many vendors had the ability to take credit cards, and I didn't. I did lose a few sales to that. Except for one at the end, when my friend Marilyn from Black Water Abbey (love her and her yarn!) heard what was happening and offered to run it for me. Thank you!

So. Sign, credit cards, more interesting/professional booth display. These are the things I would work on if I were to do it again. Please don't write and say I'm being hard on myself! I am just trying to be objective, and give myself constructive criticism and learn. Read on for the stuff in the "good" column:

Things I wouldn't change: the yarn, the customers, sharing a fun weekend with a great friend. I think I will try to do it again, maybe just 2 or 3 a year, especially shows close by.

Oh yeah, and I won't change the little candy display, (which was a huge hit at Yarn Con with the Candy Corn). This seasonal display was Easter M&Ms and Easter Basket yarn. Yum and Yum!

Here's one more thing I want to discuss. The use of samples. I have heard so many stories recently about samples being stolen from yarn stores and yarn show booths, so I've a little reluctant to display knitted samples. At Yarn Con, I took a few shawls, scarves, socks and fingerless gloves and kept them under the table and brought them out when people had questions.

However, I know from my own experience how well samples help sell yarn. I have been drawn in many a time to a beautiful shawl hanging in a booth. Before Madison, I knit another little baby sweater and a pair of booties to show how much you could get out of one skein. (Yarn color Pale Rose).

I also set out a few scarves and fingerless gloves. It is especially helpful for people who walk in the booth and love the yarn, but don't knit socks, and want some ideas for other things you can do with it.

I think that if, instead of using my own items that I have knit for myself/worn/loved/become attached to, that I knit a few items specifically as samples that I would feel better about using them.

What do you think about samples? What do you like to see? I would love to hear your opinions. Have a great weekend, everybody!

(Cute Baker's Rack above courtesy of my mom. Thanks Mom!)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T11:12:00.005-05:00

Hello, my friends, long time, no see!

To my fellow readers who celebrate Easter, I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday with friends and family.

How about a little tidbit of spring knitting?

I don't usually get so elaborate with the Easter dresses, but I scored this year: the purple dress was a hand-me-down from a neighbor, and the blue one was from a thrift sale. Knowing that Easter is often chilly, I decided to make little shrugs, and using the white for both tied them together. (There is only so much longer that I can put them in matching outfits, as Older Sister is heavily resisting.)

The yarn is Berroco Glace from stash, and the shinyness of the rayon made the sweaters dressy and looked really nice with the fancy schmancy dresses. Since I was using a heavier weight yarn than the pattern called for, I knit one size smaller garment to compensate.

I see more of these in my future as they are a snap to make and look so stinkin cute, and would be great in Cotton-Ease over tank tops for summer nights.

Pattern: Jane Austen Shrug (Ravelry link) from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. I just made one tiny change and used yarn overs instead of M1 for the increases, making it a tad bit lacier.

Super sweet!

This past month has been one thing after another, and I have a backlog of things to show and topics to discuss. Hopefully I can settle in now with some spring sewing and get back to the blog. Are any other moms out there counting down the weeks until school's out? People! I feel like summer vacation is a freight train and it's a coming down the tracks!

Road Trip!

2009-03-12T17:19:00.004-05:00

This week I've been busy getting ready for my second-ever vending experience. This time, it's the Madison Knitting Guild's Knit-In.

I've never been before, but I was invited to apply after the organizer saw my booth at Yarn Con. Although I'm not looking to start vending on a regular basis, Madison is only about 2 hours from me, so it seemed do-able. Not to mention, when I found out that the Harlot is their guest speaker, I thought it sounded like a ton of fun!

My sources tell me, that once the Harlot blogged it, registrations started pouring in, and they are expecting record attendance. I won't be able to hear her speak since I will be working, but I am looking forward to basking in the party atmosphere of happy knitters that will be encircling the campus.

If you are coming, please say hi!

*My quilt above is "I'm Buggin" from 1996 and can be found in the book Contemporary Quilts: Quilt National 1997. Not that it is related to the Knit-In (only via the travel theme) but the blog feels naked without a photo!

I Guess That's Why They Call Them Tweens

2009-03-05T20:50:00.004-06:00

What is going through a 9 year old boy's mind as he hovers in the doorway? I believe it is something like this:

"What are those little sisters watching without me? Oh, Winnie the Pooh. That show is for babies. I hate baby shows. Oh, look. Pooh is really cute. Oh, there's Tigger. I love Tigger. Must....break......away. But....I seem to be.......transfixed."

I saw him standing there, looking so cute and holding his 3 dinos so casually, and it reminded me that I forgot to blog about Green Steggie a couple of months ago. I took the opportunity to surreptitiously get a photo. Then later, I was looking through the photos and I got a little verklempt.

This is a boy who loves his "buddies and blankies" more than any of my kids. He sleeps under a mountain of 2 quilts, 1 blanket, 4 blankies, and about 40 stuffed animals every night. And yet, should friends stop by unexpectedly, he is up the stairs like lightning to throw all of the stuffed animals into the girls' room.

He would rather die than have me kiss him goodbye in front of the school, and yet, he looks around and then leans forward between the front car seats every day as I am dropping him off, so I can give him a little head pat or hair ruffle. And he still will hold my hand walking down the sidewalk. If we are in another town where no one will see him.

Oh, little man. My basketball-playing, Star Wars-loving, dino-holding sweet boy. Would you please just stay like this forever?

Meet Green Steggie.
Free pattern here.
Yarn: Arucania Nature Cotton, 1 skein.
Notes: I debated about using a light blue for his face, since the black doesn't show up very well on the dark green/navy combo, but he liked it, so be it.

It took me a long time to get around to making him; I am not a huge fan of knitting toys because they are so fiddly, and ever since the "Bad Kitty" debacle I just haven't had the motivation. Some people just have a knack for embroidering adorable faces, but I don't have that gene. (Seriously-if you don't believe me, just click on that Bad Kitty link.)

However, if you love making toys, have you seen this adorable pattern?

He might look at little linty, that is because he has been playing for a few months with his best friends, Blue Squishy and Tri.

Great Sox

2009-03-02T20:17:00.012-06:00

Here I am, having a little "wash and dry my handknit socks event" and I remembered that I never showed you all the handknit socks from last year. I don't know why I-a seller of sock yarn-would neglect this. It seems like I should be shouting from the rooftops every time I finished a pair of socks! Maybe it's because I'm just a Plain Jane sock knitter? Just the basic sock pattern for me, nothing lacey, nothing cabley, nothing fancy, not even a little picot.

Or maybe I just have rocks in my head. I will try to be better.

So better late than never. Here they are, in no particular order:

I will never forget where I was when I started this pair. I was at Borders, listening to the Harlot, and thank God I brought this skein of "emergency knitting" along with me, because the first 2 skeins of regular knitting fell out of my bag on the way into the store. Never underestimate the value of emergency knitting. I almost finished the first sock that night.

Sophie's Toes color Midnight Sky, which is a navy, dark royal blue, and grey combination. The pattern I always use is the sock pattern from the Ann Budd book Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and all the following are variations of that.

These were made from a pairing of scraps, which explains why they are shorties. No reason, just that I wanted to test knit some of my own yarn. Let's call it "quality control".

Sophie's Toes Magical for the leg and foot and Electric Blue for the heels and toes.

How about a stripey pair. I am totally into stripes, especially if they don't have that fake-fair-isle stuff gunking it up. I'm just not into that FFI stuff. (Sorry, if you are a FFI lover). And, as a bonus, they're a little tweedy!

Lana Grossa Meilenweit colortweed #1004

So I brought home that tweedy-stripey green and blue yarn, above, and realized that I was already knitting these, below:

I know that one is stripey and one is not, but other than that, they are almost the same color. Don't laugh, I'm serious. In the dark pre-dawn and pre-caffinated hour, one might even mistake and mismatch them.

I started these way back when because I was concerned that there were white areas in the dyed yarn. Again with the quality control. But it was fine - it was really light blue - and lucky me! My quality control specialist (me) happened to knit (me) a size 9!

Sophie's Toes Lily Pond. Kelly green and denim with a little chartruse and light blue.

Ok, here's where it breaks down into total craziness. I just love the Hundertwasser, can't stay away from the Hundertwasser. Visit it every time I go into LYS, even if its just to say a quick "hi" and look at the paintings on the ball bands.

These socks are so NOT ME. I didn't love knitting them. Didn't love the FFI and the extreme yellow patches. However, in the end, I love them and wear them a lot. In fact, just thinking of the Hundertwasser makes me want to go upstairs and visit the stash. Focus, Emily, focus.

Opal Hundertwasser #650 Blue Moon. Sock yarn inspired by paintings!

Ok, here's another pair I really love.

(Sophie's Toes Table for Two. Teal with green light blue and grey.)

You can tell if I really love the yarn because then I will give it the Full Royal Treatment. That means, I will extend the ribbing all the way down the leg. And I will make the leg pretty long, about 8" or more.

Therefore, they will take a lot longer to knit, but I will enjoy wearing them much more and then they are much more likely to achieve all-time-beloved sock status. I just really like the ankle hugging action of a ribbed leg. Is it just me, or does anyone else have trouble saying the word "ribbed" without wanting to break out in juvenile giggles?

Moving on.

One last pair from 2008. I actually broke with the blue and green theme that seemed to go on all year. And here's something fancy. The Eye of Partridge heel. Ooh, pretty. Worth learnin' a little something new.

Sophie's Toes Crushed Velvet. One of my best selling colors. With so many different colors combined, it turns out a little differently every time. This was a very dark batch. Any which way, it is always pretty.

That brings us to the end of our 2008-finished-sock-slideshow. I hope you have enjoyed the program. Happy knitting!

Turtleneck finished

2009-02-22T15:28:00.007-06:00

Hello my friends!

I had a cold last week so I pretty much slept my way through the week (you know - as much as is possible to do with 3 kids.) I really should advise you that as soon as you say "Wow, it's February already and nobody has been sick yet!" that you are just DOOMED.

I am so happy to be back and to show you my favorite accomplishment from January:

I started this sweater a year ago so here is some review:

(There will not be a quiz.)

I started it in January of last year.

I had always wanted to make an all-Koigu striped sweater after seeing a pattern in Vogue Knitting Fall 2002 (all time favorite issue). The pattern isn't pictured on Ravelry, but you can see a photo of it on this post.

The shape of the sweater was a little dated (bat wings, anyone?) and I didn't like the style of ribbing, so I decided to make some changes, and then I decided to just copy the measurements of my favorite tee shirt. Eventually, I changed so much that the only thing that really sticks to the original pattern is the 12 row-stripe pattern, and the fact that it's a turtleneck.

I had collected dark blue and dark green shades of Koigu for a few years, and I added in 3 shades of Sophies Toes to complete the assortment.

I tinkered around a bit with the color placement and subtracting colors that stuck out too much (see here and here), so it wasn't exactly a quick knit, but then again, once I got going the mindless knitting in the round was fast and the changing colors every 12 rows was fun.

When I got to the yoke I followed the Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns for the raglan decreases. I will put all the boring details of this on Ravelry.

Then I was stumped for awhile about the neckline. I did a crewneck first, but it was not quite right. I knit a mock turtleneck but didn't like it either. I did a full turtleneck but didn't like the pooling of the yarn. I considered steeking it into a cardigan. That's when I gave it a time-out and it fell off the blog radar.

I picked it up on the last day of January (remember that motivation I had to finish a sweater a month?), and tried it on for some friends. They approved! I looked in the mirror and thought "where have you been all my life?" I didn't even notice the pooling that I had hated last year. I loved the turtleneck. It is so soft and comfy next to the skin. It is fabulous to have a fine gauge sweater amongst all it's worsted friends.

I love the fact that you can see the stripes, but they don't really shout out. There are lots of differnt shades of blues, greens, and some grey so the fact that they don't scream "stripes!" is because they are all the same dark value.
This is my new favorite sweater! (I know I say that a lot.) But it is really great to have a light weight and warm turtleneck- it just seems perfect for every occasion. I hope I can find the notes I made about the stitch counts because I would like to make another in a solid.

Knitting With My Peeps

2009-02-10T10:45:00.007-06:00

Last week was quiet on the blog because I had visitors. My peeps were in the house! My little brother, I'll call him "Kenny", but he is also known as "Tres" or in some circles as "Earl", came to visit from California.

(Many Californians have multiple identities, I have come to learn.)

He brought his WIP vest, shown above. Much knitting ensued.

Shout out to Mom, who is working on this cowl.

Here's an appearance by my dad, modeling his new Jacque Cousteau hat, which I made him for Christmas.

I didn't get a great photo, (Note to self--use step ladder when photographing handknits on tall man's head) but the decreases are cool. I'll get the details up on Ravelry.

It was pretty fun to have a house full of people and knitting going on somewhere almost constantly. Then there were the classic conversations such as:

Me: Oh! Are you using the Magic Loop method with that armhole ribbing? (See picture above.)
Kenny: No, I'm just using a circular needle that's too big for this circumference.
Me: Um, ok.

Then, there's some super exciting news in the "newest knitter" category! That's Miss Molly above, with her very first project! How proud am I?

I have been treated to the classic "This is so fun!" "Just one more row!" and then the not so good "How did I get so many stitches?" I had to laugh when she brought me her "scarf" and showed me how it was mysteriously getting wider. I counted her stitches--she started with 20--and the current number on the needles was 44. Yikes! But she is having fun! And a very special addition to our knitting circle.

Welcome, Molly!

And I would be remiss without saying: We missed you Allison.

Our week long knit-fest culminated in the annual Lincoln Elementary Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Let's check in on the Red Carpet and see if we can spot any handknits!

Why, it's my little bro wearing his F.O! His self-designed (with some help from the Ann Budd book) Aurucania Nature Wool One-Stripe Vest.

On the outside, he's so "Hey. I'm the cool uncle from California." And on the inside he's totally "Lookie! Lookie! I'm wearing my new vest! I made it myself!"

Why, it's my mom! Looking pretty in her Flora that I made her a couple of years ago.

Do I have anything to show for myself? Why, yes! It could be a completed Koigu turtleneck! Details on that later.

When you're nine, ribbons are fabulous.

And lastly, shop update tonight, 7pm Central time. I have had some trouble with my e-mail list not going through, so I thought I'd mention it here.

I'd Like One of Those in Big Girl Size, Please

2009-01-30T14:34:00.006-06:00

This is the most darling baby sweater I have ever knitted. It is for a dear kindergarden teacher who taught 2 of my kids (so far) and just had her first baby. Her name is Wren. Everybody say "awwwww".

I highly recommend this pattern. It was very straightforward and well written.

And, now, of course, I really, really, really, really, want one in my size. I searched Ravelry for Feather and Fan sweater pattern and came up with Liesl (which is already in my queue--better get on that!) and then I also realized that Selda (Ravelry link) from Rowan 41 is also very similar. And what do you know--it's about 80% done! So I guess I'll be riding the feather and fan train for awhile.

Details:

Pattern: Feather and Fan Baby Sweater by Kimberly Conterio from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders (there are a lot of cute patterns in this book BTW)

Yarn: Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn in Crimson, one skein. Actually, it weighs exactly 77 gms so you have enough left over for a matching hat or booties.

Mods: none.

Sweater Talk

2009-01-28T12:13:00.008-06:00

I mentioned that I had joined the Ravelry Group NaKniSweMoDo. (Yes, I have to concentrate and sound that out every time I type it.) That's National Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecathon.

Some people expressed concern that I follow my heart and knit what I want, which I fully intend to do! Knitting is a FUN hobby, and I intend to keep it fun. I was just organizing my thoughts. I mean, if I finished 8 sweaters last year, then I probably started 16 or 20. I have a LOT of half-finished projects lying around here and I'd like to clean that up a bit. At least 4 out of those 12 sweaters that I intend to finish this year are just sweaters that are nearly done already from last year. I would like to have fewer "loose ends" around here, so to speak. It would make me feel better.

That being said:

I cast on 3 sweaters already in January! Whoo hoo!

Let's get to the details.

First up: I started this Debbie Bliss cable cardigan sleeve (Cable Jacket with Hood from Debbie Bliss Number Four) last July, and after 6 months of staring me in the face, I decided it was time to go. The cable was just too complicated for me to do in small bursts of knitting and the lack of a chart made my head want to explode.

I still love the sweater and maybe I'll get to it someday when I'm not knitting and helping with 3rd grade homework at the same time. But, the yarn--Black Water Abbey Worsted in Forest-- was still whispering to me so I searched for a beautiful cable cardigan with easy-to-memorize cables.

Voila! Cassidy. The back is almost done. Love. Lots of cables make it look more complicated than it is. And if there is anyone here who still uses a cable needle then please, come over for coffee tomorrow morning and I will show you how easy it is to kiss that annoying cable needle goodbye. Otherwise, I am sure you could find a video on the web. It really makes it so much more enjoyable.

Next up: the Baby Suprise Jacket for Sophie. My poor deprived baby girl has only hand-me-down-handknits. Never a sweater especially just for her. She loves this one and wants one like it. I saw this gigantic ball of sock yarn and thought it might be a cute BSJ. (Actually - Girl SJ. I'm using the pattern for the Adult Suprise Jacket and sizing it down for a four year old.)

However. Can't decide if I love it or hate it. Usually that means I hate it but I'm not willing to give up the dream so I plow ahead anyway. Girlfriends say "love", so I'm keepin' on keepin' on. For now. Sorry about the crap cloudy day photo but I'm not sure it looks all that better in real life, anyway.

And lastly, this little nugget. I need a baby sweater for a super-special kindergarden teacher. Cast on Sunday night and by Monday morning it looked like this:

By Wednesday morning it looked like this:

Those babies, they're so dang tiny! Love that! This pattern is the Feather and Fan Baby Sweater from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. Yarn: Sophie's Toes (one skein) in Crimson. I'm hoping to find little heart buttons. I'm also hoping to finish it tonight-block it tomorrow-photograph it on Friday-and gift it on Saturday. I've got 2 episodes of 24 tivo'd up so that should be no problem.

HOWEVER.

You might have noticed that I started this post by talking about NaKniSweMoDo. The only sweater above that has the potential to be finished in January is the baby sweater and that won't count. This would be one of those months that I should take the opportunity to finish one of those from last year that just needs a little tweaking.

Anybody remember this? I started this last January. The Koigu turtleneck, modeled after my favorite tee shirt. I love it, but the neckline doesn't love me. I have tried it as crew neck and as turtleneck, and I'm not satisfied with either one. I'm currently thinking it needs to be cardiganized.

It would only take a day or two to rip off the turtleneck, steek it and knit some bands. And it would be perfect to wear right now.

Then there's the Chic Lace Hoodie (hold the hood). I love it, but the wide ribbing at the bottom doesn't love me. I really should have known better. I tried to block it out straight, but it is Cotton Ease and that didn't work.

I need to finish the sleeves and rip off the bottom ribbing and knit it longer in stockinette with just a one inch ribbing that doesn't pull in. Then button bands, and a collar....ok, so this one needs about a week's worth of work.

There's also Capri, which I finished but I hate button band. It is very sloppy and it really needs more than the one button, because it doesn't hang right. (The original sweater has big snaps, which I wasn't into, but I might revisit that idea). Otherwise, it is very cute.

And lastly, Hey Teach! Another one completely finished, but slightly wrong. It is just 2 inches too short. I need to take off the front bands, cut above the ribbing and unravel, pick up and knit down 2 inches and re-do the rib and front bands. Not really a big deal, but it's just hard to get started.

Well, that's it for the January edition of Sweater Talk. Anybody care to cast a vote on which one to finish up?

Beautiful Week

2009-01-26T11:44:00.004-06:00

Hello friends!

After those first couple busy documenting-and-mosaic-making weeks of January, I was ready to take on a nice, big project. Last week I wanted to spend some serious time with the television, soaking in everything I could about the inauguation. I wanted a project that would be meaningful to me, because you know how you look at something and remember what you were doing when you made it?

A momentous occasion calls for momentous project. Does that sound silly? Well, it's how I felt. I had a few (meaning: a lot of) sweaters on the needles but I didn't really want to make a sweater that somebody would outgrow in a year, or that would be out of style in a few years and be relegated to the bottom of the stack.

I wanted something that I would look at every day for the rest of my life. Is that too much to ask?!

Solution: the quilt I started last year. The great thing about it is that, since it's for my bed, the
"look at it everyday for the rest of my life and remember what I was doing" potential is there. And as an added bonus: it's red white and blue! Perfect!

I sewed many blocks while watching every last minute of inauguration day, from the long parade of V.I.P.s decked in hats and scarves, to the glorious entertainment, to the poem and speech that I have read and re-read, and found more and more meaning in every time. To the parade, the commentary, and every last ball.

I have many blocks now.

Here it is pinned up to my design wall and it's only 2/3 done. I have a little over 100 blocks and I need 144. I haven't made a king size quilt before and I'm here to tell you, it's big.

Thank you for all your comments on my 2008 production. You are all so sweet to me. It didn't seem like all that much at the time.

For those of you worried about me getting caught up in rules-don't worry! I have already cast on 3 new sweaters this month! I don't worry about following self imposed rules, but it is fun to make them.

And lastly, LaDonna, I added that baby blanket to my Ravelry projects page, so the pattern information is there now. Thanks for asking!

New sweaters up next. Stay warm!

Year in Review

2009-01-16T15:53:00.010-06:00

I love those mosaics that everybody makes of their projects from the year. I've always really really really wanted to do one of those. I was determined that this would be THE YEAR. So I sat down on New Year's Day and started looking through my photos and listing out the stuff. It turns out, even though I feel pretty unproductive much of the time, I make a lot of stuff.

Lots of stuff that doesn't get blogged. Some stuff that doesn't even get photographed. Some stuff that sits in a bin for several months because I don't want to wear it until I get a pristine photo and get in on the blog. Ugh!

You know those people that blog every day and have those massive Flickr pages and everything is documented and perfect on Ravelry and they make it look so easy!? Like the ice skaters on the Olympics?! How do they do it?? It has taken me 2 weeks to get everything in order, for cryin out loud. But, I did it and I have my lovely mosaics (more than one because you can only do up to 36 photos per mosaic and I had more than that so I decided to categorize them) and I'm so happy!

And mostly I re-learned stuff that I already knew about myself but I did learn a new thing or two in the process and I made a couple of goals and I'm all about the lists and goals and so this is just great. And now that 2008 is organized I can finally move on to 2009! And thank heaven, because it's already January 16th! And I have stuff from 2009 finished that I need to start documenting too!

Here we go: The sweaters.

What I knew: Sweater knitting is my favorite knitting.

What I learned: If I would do slightly less flitting from one thing to another, I would have a sweater for every month. (Ok, maybe I did already know that, just in denial.)

Goal: A sweater a month for 2009 (Stacey made me do it. NaKniSweMoDo.)

2008 Sweater Mosaic, originally uploaded by emilyquilts.

Koigu turtleneck, February Lady, Chantal, Cable Cardigan, Beryl, Hey Teach, Bay Cardigan, and Capri, almost all of them on my Ravelry page, or ask me in the comments if you have a question. (I'm sorry, but linking individually to all 60 projects on this post might put me over the edge.)

Next Subject: Socks

What I already knew: I love knitting and wearing handknit socks.
What I learned: I finished more socks than I thought. And apparently I like green socks.

Goal: With a little more effort, I could make 12 pairs of socks a year.

Caveat: I tend to go on sock sprees. I either love knitting socks and it's all I do and I go through them like crazy, or I am not interested. If I sign up for a sock-a-long, it's the kiss of death for sock knitting for me for several months. If you notice me leaning toward a sock KAL, please say gently: "Lady, please back away from the sock knitalong." I thank you in advance.

2008 Sock Mosaic, originally uploaded by emilyquilts.

(I will devote a whole post to the socks and give details on the yarns asap.)

Next Subject: Scarves, Hats, Mitts, Etc.

What I alreay knew: I love these little projects. These are the delicious palette cleansers between sweaters. Also: I love my kids in cute hats, and they can't have too many.

What I learned: I really make a lot of this stuff. I could cut back.

2008 Hats Mitts Scarves and Misc. Mosaic, originally uploaded by emilyquilts.

Most of these are Raveled. If not, it probably is going to get its own post. Again, if you have any questions, ask me in the comments and I will answer in the comments.

Next up: Baby Stuff and Gifts

What I learned: I don't love making baby blankets. But I love the opportunity to be the maker of potentially a small human's favorite object. So it's worth it.

Goal: keep on keepin on.

2008 Baby and Gifts, originally uploaded by emilyquilts.

Next up: Bags

What I know: I love bags. I don't need any more bags. But I love them.

People love bags. Bags are good gifts. Bags Bags Bags.

2008 Bag Mosaic 1, originally uploaded by emilyquilts.

Most of these bags were for other people. Many of them I made from my dish towel totebag tutorial (see sidebar.) I will never stop making bags! BAGS!

Ok, now I get to the really pathetic department: Quilts.

What I already know: I used to be a quilter.

True confession: When I talk about quilts now, I feel like an imposter.

Goal: I need to make more quilts.

2008 Quilting Mosaic, originally uploaded by emilyquilts.

(Because really, the tree skirt doesn't even count as a quilt, but it is quilted, and I didn't have any other category for it.)

QUICK SUMMARY:

Make 12 sweaters per year.

Make 12 pairs of socks per year.

Ease up on the accessories already.

Gift knitting: good.

BAGS!

Make quilts.

Amen.

Gifting Wrap-Up

2009-01-05T11:16:00.005-06:00

Hello Blog! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break.

I will cop to the fact that our Christmas week started out very sluggish. In spite of my very best efforts to keep my heart and mind on the joy of the season I was extremely distressed due to the weather. It started with a bad snowstorm the week before Christmas that landed me and my van full of kids stuck in a snowpile on the side of the road (on our way to ring bells for the Salvation Army bucket--poor Sophie was so sad she bawled). Then we had another bad snow/ice storm that kept the kids out of school on their last day--the big Holiday sing/party day. Then the cold and snowy weather kept my mom from coming up the week of Christmas to do our baking/crafting/sewing with Grandma.

I know it was rough in many parts of the country. I know I was not alone in weather frustration! I feel bad for the people who had to brave the airports. I tried to relax and enjoy the staying-at-homeness of it all, but the worst thing was that I really wanted my mom to be here. She did finally make it up on Christmas afternoon (even with getting a flat tire on the way! Shout out to the lady that owned the bar that was open on Christmas day, and Angel, the tow truck guy who helped her change her tire!) Yes, truly. A tow truck guy on Christmas Day named Angel. Does it get any better than that?

So, thanks to Angel, we did end up having a wonderful Christmas with my mom on Christmas day and Dave's whole family the day after. A few days later, my Molly got her tonsils out so we had a quiet New Year and a nice quiet week full of R & R.

I did get a little sewing done: a big pile o' Christmas flannel jammies, and the tree skirt (at the top of the post) that I've been wanting to do for years.

I tried to keep the Christmas knitting to a minimum this year, still recovering from the November Advent stocking marathon, and not wanting to make myself too crazy. I made 2 presents, one for Dave and one for my mom, and they were both very happily received!

For Dave, who walks 3 long blocks from the train station to his office in windy downtown Chicago, a cozy scarf:

Pattern: A Scarf Askew by emily elizabeth knits

Yarn: Sophie's Toes Mahogany, doubled to make a worsted weight.

Notes: knit as pattern, no mods. What a nice manly pattern. It does have a tendency to curl in, but it is wide and cozy and so it doesn't really matter, I might give it a good steam now and then to open it up.

The one thing I'm going to remember about knitting this was that the day I was planning on finishing it up was the day we had a big snow day and Dave "worked" from home. Yeah, you know why I put in those quotation marks. Most of the time he was hovering, and the thing is, I knit on it anyway, and he was oblivious. I got in a good 1/3 of the scarf that day!

Is that an unfortunately placed bowl in the background or does he have horns? You decide.

For my mom. My biggest cheerleader for my yarn business, who has no hand knit socks. I dug deep into the bin labeled "Sophie's Toes Super Secret Special Private Collection." And came up with this. Hollyhocks.

It suits her perfectly! Here is is wearing them with her cute Mary Janes.

She kept commenting on how warm and cozy they are. I think she possibly knows how to play her cards right in order to get another pair. xo

Knit This Hat and You Will Feel Like A Fairy Princess

2008-12-16T10:15:00.001-06:00

I kid you not.

I was a bit skeptical about the whole beret thing. I didn't want to look like a baker. I think it was a bit baker-ish (puffy and tall) before blocking, but blocking it over a dinner plate gave it the right amount of droop and opened up the lace beautifully.

As many people note on Ravelry, this hat is hard to put down! The pattern is written beautifully.

Pattern: Rose Red by Ysolda

Yarn: RYC Cashsoft from stash

Mods: none

Putting it on for the first time and still a little unsure about the beret look, I showed my daughters.

7 year old: "That hat is wicked cool. I want one."

4 year old: "Mommy pretty."

I'd give that pattern 10 stars!

Calico Cat Magic Ball

2008-12-09T14:48:00.004-06:00

Hello. Thank you for all the advent love! I promise an installation photo and am thrilled that some of you are doing them too. Always happy to be an enabler.

Today is just a quickie to let you know that I am having a little holiday party tonight in the etsy shop. I'm updating with a ton of yarn, and Magic Balls, and Bootie Trios, and new yarn note cards.

I'm giving away a free note card with every order now until December 19th, when I am closing the shop for the rest of the year. I'm also giving away a free skein tonight! (If you hit the magic number!)

Here is my favorite magic ball of all the ones I have knit. The Calico Cat. I wore this scarf all fall and never blogged about it. Since I have stocked a bunch in the shop tonight I thought it was high time to get a photo.

Back soon with more accessories (I seem to be on a neckwarmer and hat kick.)

Advent

2008-12-02T21:19:00.005-06:00

I can't believe I finished 25 stockings! I was originally going to do 24, but I had the idea that I would get a baby Jesus ornament for the tree for the 25th for them to open on Christmas morning. I powered through 10 during Thanksgiving, 5 on Thursday and 5 on Friday. I just had 2 to finish up last weekend which was a piece of cake.

Then, I found one more this week under the front seat of the car--don't ask! There is actually one I didn't like (I accidently knit it on different sized needles--doh!--and it sort of sticks out) so I replaced it with the straggler.

This is one of the most fun and special knitting projects I have done. I can't believe I didn't get sick of them. I might even make more and use them for ornaments on the tree. They would be especially cute as an envelope for a gift certificate, or a fancy gift topper.

I have to admit that I haven't gotten them hung up yet. I'm still working on the embroidery of the numbers on each stocking and I haven't decided exactly how and where I want to hang them. You'd think I was doing an art installation at MOMA, the amount of thought I've put into this. But even though it isn't completely finished, we've been opening one every night and loving them.

Installation shots coming soon.

I'm Sorry Ma'am, But I'm Going To Have To Confiscate That

2008-11-24T07:45:00.009-06:00

My mom is a nut.

She called me yesterday from the airport. "I made it!" She proclaimed. "I'm at my gate!" She was getting ready to get on a plane to California, to visit my bro and sis for Thanksgiving. (It's hard for me to believe that a year ago I was frantically sewing this for our trip out there.)

So we had a little chat about her trip to the airport and then she started chuckling. My mom has the best deep laugh that reminds me of my farmer grandpa. "Heh heh giggle...guess what they confiscated from my bag..."

"Your knitting needles!" Was my lightning quick response.

"Nope." More muffled chuckling.

"Your expensive eye cream?" I'm wracking my brain.

"Nope." Giggle. Snort.

"It must have been some kind of cream or lotion?"

"Nope."

I can't stand the suspense. Really. My mom doesn't carry weapons, gadgets, or explosives.

"I have no idea!"

More giggles, I could hardly understand her the first time she said it.

"What??!!"

"My pumpkin."

"What do you mean--your pumpkin?"

"My pumpkin! You know! For the PIE!"

O.M.G. Like they don't have pumpkins in California. My mom, in charge of the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, decided that she needed to take a tupperware of home cooked pumpkin puree on her flight from Indiana to California. In her carry-on.

"Mom, I have a feeling those screeners just don't see home-made pumpkin puree everyday. In fact, you may be the only crazy-pumpkin-pie-puree toting lady they see all year!"

"Well, he was really apologetic when he took it. And I told him--he could take it home and cook it up and it would be really good!"

So, I'm sad to miss out on all the California escapades this year. My brother really knows how to throw a great Thanksgiving. It is always entertaining and sometimes an emergency room is even involved.

And, Mom, I hope, in four days, you can find a pumpkin to cook in California.

Back here in Illinois I am going to be the Pie Lady (it's in the genes) for Dave's family gathering. There will be 7 adults and 5 kids, so I'm currently thinking quantity: 4 pies, but that could change, depending on the adrenaline rush on Wednesday. I'm planning on: Pumpkin, Banana Cream, Chocolate Pecan, and Sawdust. The Sawdust is from this cookbook and I've had it at the restaurant (near Paducah) and it is amazing!

The pumpkin pie is my grandma's recipe. I love it because it is really custardy and not spicy. I'm not a big nutmeg-clove-ginger fan. This pie turns out a lovely orange pumpkin color and not all dark brown and scary like the kind you buy. I believe that home cooked pumpkin makes a big difference and it is not hard to do. Just buy a pie pumpkin, cut it into chunks or slices (they don't have to be too small--the size of your hand is ok) and simmer/steam them in a saucepan for 1/2 hour or so, until the pumpkin is soft and you can scrape it from the peel.

You can do it ahead and freeze it. Just please, don't try to take it on the plane with you.

Grandma Parson's Pumpkin Pie.

1 1/2 c. pumpkin

1 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg (I grate fresh and don't use as much)

1/2 t. ginger (I guess I omit this entirely--your mileage may vary)

1 c. evaporated milk

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 T. soft butter

Beat together all ingredients. Put in unbaked crust. Bake 45 minutes in 9" pan. 350-400 degrees. (Grandma was sometimes kind of vague.)

The Piecrust. I should really devote an entire post just to the piecrust to do it justice. (Last year Carole did an awesome piecrust tutorial--with pictures!-so check that out.) My mom taught me how to make the piecrust and she really rocks in the pie department. Her secret is the lard. I know it looks like a scary four letter word, but Rick uses it and promises it isn't so scary, so if you don't want to take my word for it, there, I just gave you a second opinion.

Mom's Piecrust

(This makes one single piecrust but I have found it to be a little skimpy and like to double it--even for a single crust pie, because then the crust is a little thicker and you can also have the leftovers to make the cookies--see below).

1 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/3 c. lard

3-4 T cold water (ice cubes in it)

Mix flour and salt. Measure lard and put in freezer (I just keep mine frozen anyway, since I rarely use it). So I just measure mine out and it's already really cold. Cube up the lard and cover with flour mixture. Toss so cubes don't stick together. Use pastry cutter to blend it together so the dough comes together with the least amount of handling possible (honestly, I don't have a pastry cutter and I use my hands--but I have practice doing this so I don't blend it too much--that's what makes it flaky). Add the water 1T at a time and stop when all the flour and water is incorporated--you don't have to use the full 4T. Form ball. Place on lightly floured surface and flatten with hands and then roll out, about 1/4" thick.

I fold mine in half to pick it up off the counter and lay it in the pan, then unfold it. Cut the excess off and use to build up a thicker edge if you want (glue it on with a little water) or you can sprinkle the extra pieces with cinnamon and sugar and bake them as cookies (yum!).

Knitting update: 4 more stockings for the advent calendar.

Put them with their siblings and that gives me a total of 10, and I think I've made a few more since I took that photo, so let's say 13 done.

11 to go, 6 days, totally do-able.

Deadline Knitting

2008-11-10T22:41:00.007-06:00

Good morning friends! I want to thank you for such sweet comments on my February Lady. I really appreciate it when you comment! Thank you!

Ok, on to today's subject. I didn't want to be the first to bring up the subject of Christmas Knitting, but I've seen it mentioned a few times around the blogs and then I was in Trader Joes yesterday and I saw these, so I know for sure that Christmas will be here before we know it.

Every year I have high aspirations that this will be the year I make all those wonderful things to decorate my house and make it so cozy and Christmasy. One thing I have always wanted is a homemade advent calendar. I have purchased the little calendars with chocolates in the past but I want something really special. You know, like a family heirloom. No pressure.

But this year the stars aligned. NOT ONLY did I see the hat and mitten garland in the Garnet Hill catalog (photo above) and the free pattern from Classic Elite for the mini stockings within the same week and put 2 and 2 together. BUT ALSO, this light bulb moment happened during the last week in October, not December 20th. Making it all possible!

I figure, if I knit one stocking per day (each one takes about an hour, so no sweat) during the month of November, then I will be all ready for the unveiling on December 1st.

Current status: the date is November 12th, and I have 6.5 done. So I'm a little behind. But no worries, I can catch up. As you might have guessed, I am using Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn scraps. Each one takes only 6gms of yarn (I would estimate that is about 20 yards). If you are a sock knitter-you could probably find a couple of stocking's worth buried in your sofa cushions!

They are really fun to knit, and just so stinkin cute that I think I spend as much time spreading them out and admiring them......putting them all in a row and playing with the color combinations...switching them around and petting them again.....as I do knitting them!

And I have to keep my eye on them because the kids keep running off with them. I think they might fit an American Girl doll, but it's just a strange feeling.

Speaking of deadline knitting, I have a gift to give early (at Thanksgiving) and I need to knit a repeat a day in order to get it blocked and done. Recognize the pattern? It's an oldie but goodie.

A sock a day. A repeat a day. Oh, I'm going to be so disciplined.

Ok, speaking of Christmas I have one more thing. I found this book at LYS last weekend and if you have any little ones to buy for, it is completely adorable.

I just love to find books with quilting or knitting in them. This one is all about the knitting. The mommy kitty knits gifts for each of the kittens (three of them! I am a total sucker for any book where there are three animal children and I can name one for each of mine) and the kittens end up giving them away to keep the snowman warm. But she has a suprise for them in the end. So sweet!

February in November

2008-11-10T20:43:00.009-06:00

Hello! Reporting in with a finished sweater!

The history of my February Lady:

I started in June, right after I saw the pattern via Ravelry and dug through my stash like a crazy woman to see what I could use. I had 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran that had aged quite nicely and the color was a great choice for the sweater.

The knitting took me less than 2 weeks, mainly because I was racing to see if I would run out of yarn, and, of course, I did. I thought finding more yarn would be hopeless, since the yarn had been in my stash for a few years, so I weighed options like shortening the body or the sleeves. Then on the off chance that I could find more yarn I browsed stash yarn in Ravelry and found that it was a pretty common color.

Then I found a yarn store several states away that still had it. Whoo hoo! When I got it (2 more balls) I discovered that it was even the same dyelot! Double whoo hoo!

So I finished the sweater with the sleeves and body just the right length and found great buttons but when I tried it on it just wasn't the total love fest that I imagined it would be. It sat the rest of the summer in the corner and had a little time-out.

I kept trying it on and trying to pinpoint what I didn't like about the sweater and I decided that it was the neckline. It was too wide on me and looked stretched out and (floppy? wimpy? I can’t really think of how to describe it) unflattering. Not to mention that the cast on edge--the neck edge--already looked worn from just the trying-on sessions.

I had the idea to crochet a scallop around the neckline, hoping it might draw the neck in and make the cast on edge a little more substantial. I wasn't completely sure if the scallop would go with the style of the sweater, but since it is pretty girlie, I thought it would.

But I had very little yarn left:

And I am very new to crochet and I didn't want to mess it up. I didn't want to crochet part of it and run out of yarn or worse, have it look terrible and then have the edge even more worn after I had to rip it out.

A few months later, I was determined to "make it work". Armed with an hour of complete peace and quiet and strong coffee, I grabbed a beginner crochet book, my hook, my meager yarn leftovers, and I practiced on the back of the neck, figuring out the spacing I would need. Above is a photo of the neck halfway through.

I stopped and ripped about 3 times, trying it on after almost every few scallops to see if it was lying flat. As you can see below, it doesn't look fabulous when it isn't being worn:

But when I am wearing it the scallops spread out a little and lie flat. Just right. Adding the crochet really tightened up the neckline so it isn't so wide and made it much more flattering on me. And I like the feminine touch it added to all that garter stitch on the yoke.

In the end, just a little tweaking took a sweater that I felt meh about to a sweater that I now LOVE.

Specs:

Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne

Yarn:Debbie Bliss Merino Aran Color 325701 (what I would call "cadet blue") 12 balls.

Mods: Added crochet scallop around neck.

Notes: I LOVE THIS SWEATER! Many exclamation points!!!!
A few more photos over on Ravelry.

Election Day!!!!!!

2008-11-04T13:04:00.005-06:00

GRATEFUL: that the lines in my precint weren't long so I could take the kids early, before school, and that the polling place workers were so enthusiastic and nice to them.

PRAYING FOR: all the areas where the above isn't the case.

PROUD: to be part of a great moment in history.

HIGHLY CAFFEINATED: Did you know you can get a free cup of Starbucks coffee today after you vote? Not only that, how about some ice cream?

(You might just need that coffee and sugar to make it through this potentially long night of tv coverage. Hope you have some good knitting too! I'll be back tomorrow with some knitting--maybe a lot--if we have to go into the wee hours. xoxo)

Yoda, On His Way to Third Grade

2008-10-31T09:36:00.004-05:00

Yoda, on his way to third grade. Hope your day is full of spooky fun!!

(Felted Baby Yoda hat, upsized for big boy. Details on Ravelry.)

Drop Everything and Knit This, STAT!

2008-10-28T14:18:00.003-05:00

Unless you have been living under a rock (and I say that in the most loving way, since I live there most of the time) you might have noticed that cowls seem to be HOT.

I had sort of noticed this cowl phenomenon, but not really paid attention. Then, the other week when my mom was here, I was showing her how to use Ravelry, and being the Diaper Lady that she is, I thought she might have an interest in cowl patterns. Well, if you search for cowl patterns on Ravelry, you come up with 20 pages for crying out loud! And many of the patterns are free!

I found this one that I like a lot. It called for sport weight, but I added one 12 stitch repeat and used some leftover sock yarn. (Being that I have a dump truck load of leftover sock yarn on hand.)

Just a couple of soccer games and a movie or two later....and you have this funny looking lumpy tubey thing. (About 9 inches long, stretched.)

Block it out (using a hair dryer, to speed up the process if you are really excited!)

Voila! Blocked measurements 8" wide by 9" high.

Just the right amount of scrunch, not too much flop. You will notice that it doesn't even match what I'm wearing, so excited was I to snap a photo and break the news of this fantastic project.

See? Excited! I predict a bevy of these in my future. Match every outfit! Give them to friends! Make it the Official Teacher Gift of 2008! I won't leave you out, Mom!

The pattern is free and don't tell me you don't have 36 gm of sock yarn in your favorite color (or you could go all mavericky and use the sport weight that the pattern calls for), so go. Bedeck thyself in cowls and be happy.

Pattern: Razor Shell Neckwarmer

Yarn: Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn in Crimson (36 gms)

Needle: size 2 Addi Natura (I knit loosely and use 2 sizes smaller than usual)

Mods: cast on 108 instead of 96 to compensate for using fingering weight instead of sport.

Distracting You From the Lack of Finishing

2008-10-24T09:27:00.005-05:00

Would you just sit down and knit us some neckbands, already??!!

To distract you from my recent lack of knitting content, how about something bright and shiny, like a vintage chair re-do?!

Behold, the great vintage chair I scored at a thrift/antique store in Indiana this summer while visiting my mom. (James Dean Gallery and shop in Fairmount for my Hoosier buds.) It just needed a little elbow grease and TLC.

And some Amy Butler yardage wouldn't hurt, either.

I plopped it down into its new spot and all three kids immediately shrieked: MINE!

Here it is in its new setting. (with Sophie and cow taking an increasingly rare afternoon nap.)

Is this little fabric cute or what!? (Psst... I just noticed that it's on sale here--don't call me an enabler!!) I know it's official name is "Frest Start" but don't you think around the office they refer to it as "retro tvs"??!!

Signing off now to go knit some neckbands.....have a great weekend!

Yarn Con Rocks Chicago

2008-10-09T07:21:00.005-05:00

Yarn Con totally rocked! I had so much fun. The above photo is kind of messy, but it is the only one I got of the whole room. Can you see the windows at the far right side of the photo? My booth was right under those windows, and you can kind of see Blogless Carla's head right next to the windows as she was tending my booth and I was off galavanting and taking bad photos.

Below you can see my booth in its pristine pre-customer state.

The chip-and-dip candy corn display was a huge hit!

And one more close up of the yarny goodness.

It was so fun to get out of my suburban mom world and downtown to the land of the hip. Picture the Stitches crowd, add piercings, babies in slings, some pink hair*, and a liberal sprinkling of Obama buttons (pun intended), and you've got Yarn Con. Oh, and let's not forget the handknits. Hands down, Wicked was the most popular knit I saw. (Honk if you were wearing Wicked!) And let me tell you, that sweater looks great on everybody! Must move it to the top of the queue!

It was fun to see what the stylin' knitters were wearing. I started getting delirious and addressing the handknits. A lady walks by-"Hello Central Park Hoodie!" Two gals walk into the booth--"why, hello February Lady and Wicked".

As far as the vendors, there was quite a bit of yarn, celebrities, bags, some jewelry, and other yarny accessories. You can see the whole vendor list here. I just got to do a quick once-around before the show started, and then I was so busy in my own booth, that I didn't get to really study what was going on in the rest of the room. (BTW there was one room last year--the first year--and this year it had expanded to two rooms. Next year--the world!) If I didn't vend, I would definitely drive downtown to attend. However, I will certainly apply again next year, I would love to do it again.

A huge shout out to everyone who was there! The friends and customers I got to see again or meet for the first time. Ann, Bonne Marie, Jan, Theresa, Rachel, Adrienne, Angela, Franklin, Stacey, Jen, Dee, Gretl, Linda, Judy, Laura, Laurel, and organizers Sara and Natalia. I hope I didn't forget anyone. It was such a blur, and I am still trying to sort it all out in my mind-putting the names with the faces, blogs, and etsy names.

Another big shout out and a big thank you for Blogless Carla for being my assistant. I couldn't ask for a better helper! MWAH!

p.s. If you were sad because you missed out on the Candy Corn last week, I just put the last couple of skeins in the shop.

* I fit right in! (But that's a whole other post.)

Did You Get Your Candy Corn Yet?

2008-09-30T22:22:00.004-05:00

Did you get your Candy Corn yet? I'm putting some in the shop today at 10 am central time. Yum!

Can't Help Myself

2008-09-30T10:58:00.002-05:00

Hi there!

I know I'm supposed to be finishing all those sweaters, (and I have made some progress....just not enough to show...)

But I had this yarn that threw itself into my hands and demanded that I use it, and I saw this pattern on Ravelry that screamed "Knit me NOW!"

Resistance is futile.

Pattern: Genmaicha Cable Mitts, by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn, Colorway: Chelsea

Save the date!

2008-09-25T12:59:00.003-05:00

Sophie's Toes is going to Yarn Con! At the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse in Chicago, Saturday, October 4th from 10-4.

What is Yarn Con?!?!

Chicago's own yarn convention, filled with yarny goodness. Lots of independent dyers, crafters of yarny paraphanalia, (click here for the vendor list) and classes. Not to mention the rubbing of the elbows with fabulous knitting celebrities!

( Photo used with permission from madgerly on flickr.)

Doesn't that look fun? Such a pretty building, filled with yarny goodness! See more photos from last year's event over on the Yarn Con site.

Hi There! I Still Knit!

2008-09-18T10:21:00.004-05:00

Hello friends!

Thanks for hanging in with me. Does anybody out there do AVIC (Art Volunteers in the Classroom) in their elementary school? If so, give me a shout out.

It's a volunteer program where we go in and give each class a 45 minute program on a specific artist and artwork and do a little art project. It is only once a month, so it isn't a terribly big commitment, and it is really fun. I have done it the past 2 years (last year in my kids' kindergarten and 2nd grade classes) but this year I have volunteered to be Chairperson for the school. It has been a lot of organizational work the past 2 weeks, but I had our introductory meeting yesterday, so now I think the majority of the work is done for the year, and I feel a bit of freedom. Strange! Good.

Re: Knitting. I like to knit a lot of things, but I guess I finally discovered this year, that what I love most is sweaters. I really am a sweater person. Earlier this summer, I wrote about finding that perfect project and getting my sweater mojo back. I found that knitting sweater pieces can be as portable and mindless for good summer knitting as socks, as long as you are in the groove with your pattern.

The problem comes with the sewing together and finishing work. Not so portable, schlepping a sweater body and two sleeves with your packet of needles, markers, thread, buttons etc. in the beach bag. Not so mindless, trying to slipstitch a sleeve into an armhole while chatting it up with another mom and simultaneously watching the 2 kids in the pool while making the third one a peanut butter and jelly.

The result at the end of the summer? Lots and lots of sweater pieces needing finishing.

Do you want details? If you responded yes, see below. Clockwise from upper left we have:
Capri. Needs: front bands, neckband, decision on buttons or snaps, sleeve seams and sleeves sewn into armholes. I have done some work on this one since I snapped the above photo a week ago, and this one is looking promising.

Chantal. Needs: sleeve seams, sleeves sewn into armholes, and neckband. I'm not even listing "weave in ends" and "blocking" on all of these, since that is a given.

February Lady. Technically, this one is done. As in "wearable". But I'm not really happy with the neckline. It just sort of droops on me and doesn't do anything flattering. I am toying with the idea of decorative crochet around the neck, but I hardly have any yarn left and I need a nice date night with a crochet hook and a crochet book which just hasn't happened in my universe.

Selda. The farthest from being finished because I haven't knit the sleeves. But doesn't she look pretty!? Do you think I could finish her by Yarn Con?

Hey Teach: I have done a lot of work on this one in the past week, and it is blocking on my bed as we speak. Don't get too excited though, when I sewed on the buttons and tried it on, it was 2" too short! How could that happen??!! I am usually very careful about the length, as I am picky and like my sweaters to be exactly 23". I know I went a little on the short side, because Cotton Ease droops. But 2" is WAY too short. I am blocking and stretching it, and we'll see tomorrow how that works out. Otherwise, I will have to remove the front bands and cut it above the bottom ribbing and knit down. Worth it, because it is a really PRETTY sweater!

That's it folks! Now I wonder if I have time to sew a sleeve into an armhole before preschool pickup......

Almost There!

2008-09-04T20:19:00.004-05:00

For the past 6 days, the older 2 kids have gone off to school (full day!) and my little Sophie has given me the frownie face and more than one tantrum that she doesn't get to go yet. But the big day has almost arrived! Preschool starts tomorrow!

This has been a summer of almost zero sewing, but with the older kids gone for a few days, I've been able to get started on a couple of projects. Like a backpack for Sophie that I promised her (gulp) last fall. I'm just giving you a couple teaser photos because it isn't completely done.

Tomorrow. I've, I mean, she's been waiting forever for this! It's going to be so quiet around here!

Hah. For 2 1/2 hours.

Tasty Morsels

2008-08-01T07:48:00.003-05:00

August 1st! That's crazy talk. I can't believe I'm thinking about the beginning of school already. Our August promises to be a crazy patchwork of several different trips and lots of visits with family.

I'm really looking forward to it all, and then the excitement and much needed routine of starting school at the end of August will be a great ending/beginning that we will all welcome.

Meanwhile, I want to share some more good summer knitting.
I started these squares (Barn Raising Quilt from the book Knitalong) last year during our August vacation. I turn to them now and then, when I want a quick yet satisfying project. I've made 20.

I especially love knitting these in the summer months, because I can't help but be reminded of our family vacation when I started them. Getting up early in the morning, sitting on the tiny porch of our rented cottage, and starting a square while drinking coffee and looking at the lake. The kids would get up one by one and start a game of solitare at my feet, and together, we'd watch the lake wake up. I could have a square almost done by the time we needed to get our day started, and I'd finish it up that evening. I tried to do a square a day: a fun little vacation goal.

Last week my friend Jodee (Jods on Ravelry) asked her friends to make squares for a blanket she will give her friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I was happy to do it. I don't think there is anything more comforting than something that was made by many hands. All wishing you well as they stitch away.

I asked Jodee for a color recommendation and she mentioned that she was using pink, so I stayed in that color family (above, Farmer's Market and Crushed Velvet).

For my own on-going blanket, I have used shades of blue and green. There is a little purple in there, but I'm not sure if that will stay or go.

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep to the blue green family like this quilt (our sofa quilt, circa 1999):Or add warm colors, and make it more scrappy like this one (Dave's birthday quilt, 1998):
I'm planning to make it approx 70" square, which will take 81 squares (9 squares by 9 squares) so with 20 done, I have a ways to go. I have a lot of good summer knitting ahead of me.

Knitting Knews

2008-07-22T08:17:00.004-05:00

Hello! We are blurry. Sorry about that. I forget which friend took this photo at the Bloomingdale Museum reception, but it's possible that she had some wine.

A big shout out to my peeps I saw this weekend. The Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival was fun, I bought luscious wool/bamboo yarn to test dye (have had a lot of requests for worsted weight) so we'll see about that. Compared to last year, I really found the new location difficult to navigate. (I was only there for 2 hours and I had a kid and a stroller, so I know I wasn't the usual demographic of attendee.) I would love to hear comments from those of you who went--what did you think? What did you buy? What did I miss?

And the Bloomingdale reception was wonderful, as always. They really put some lovely refreshments and there was even a cute musician! If you are in the area you must see this show. (I'm not saying so just because I'm biased. I mean, how often do you get a chance to see Quilt National? Seriously!)

So, the summer is half over and I have been remiss with my knitting updates. This has been a summer full of knitting, so there is a lot to report. Settle in with a cuppa.....

When we last left our knitting heroine this spring, she finished a couple of sweaters that she really loved. Especially the periwinkle one, which was hard to top. You know that awful letdown after the Perfect Project? The search for another great project? One with great yarn, great stitch, not to much of this, not too much of that......

Much swatching ensued.

Little swatches

Big swatches

Lots and Lots of Swatches.

**Pacing and gnashing of teeth**

Sleeves disguised as swatches.

Fronts disguised as swatches.

Not to mention the socks, which came and went, flying off the needles while our knitter searched for her perfect sweater.

Finally, something stuck. (Rowan #41, Selda.) Knitting ensued. In spite of gauge issues and the fiddly situation of fitting side shaping into a lace pattern, our knitter was reasonably happy.

Then, a new pattern came along. The kind of pattern you Must. Cast. On. Right. Away.

Knitting ensued. Furious, glorious knitting. Knitting in the Zone Knitting. Our knitter got her groove back.

Coming soon: Finished Objects.

(For information on any of the above patterns, ask me in the comments and I will answer in the comments, or see my project section over on Ravelry.)

Weekend Edition - Art Show News

2008-07-19T09:52:00.004-05:00

(Ann Fahl's coneflower quilt in front, and my 2 little Colander quilts in back.)

Hi Friends!

Just popping in with some weekend doings. This weekend (as I'm sure you know already!) is the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair up in Crystal Lake. I'm going up today, late in the afternoon to visit the vendors before attending the artist reception at the art show from 6-7pm. I have 2 quilts in the show, so pop over for a second and say hi!

Tomorrow is the opening for another show, the Bloomingdale Park District Museum is having an artist reception frokm 2-4pm for 2 shows: Quilt National 2007 "B" Collection in one gallery, and Women Packing Irons - Quilt Art from the Chicago School of Fusing in the other gallery.

Get that yard work done early, and come say hi!

We hung the show 2 weeks ago and here is a sneak preview from that day......

Anne contemplates what needs to go where.

When you have 3 kids in tow, you give thanks for Laura (above), who is always ready to entertain, and Marge (below), who decides to open up the (juice) bar.

Judy unpacks one of her large quilts.

Laura poses with the kids in front of our sign. Laura is happy because the show looks great, and the kids are smiling because we are done and are on our way to get the kids a treat. (In fact, I think Ethan is already on his way toward the door.)

More Tote Bags and a Caterpillar Update

2008-06-29T12:38:00.010-05:00

The other day I overheard this conversation between my 3 year old and some Barbies:

"I'm going to the ball! I'm going to be so pretty! First, I need a pretty dress. Then, I need a tote bag."

Apparently, I have passed on the tote-bag gene.

Here's a bag that I made for a preschool teacher. I had enough fabric left over so I made an one for the girls too. Again, I used the Summery Dish Towel Tote Bag tutorial. Except I ran out of dish towels, and used actual fabric, cut the same size as the dish towels. The fabric is from Joann's, a nice heavy weight cotton. I used the same fabric for both the outside and the lining.

Here's another summery bag. This one is made from 2 Anthropologie dish towels that I got on sale. One thing you find when looking for dish towels, is that sometimes there is a design only on one end. On this one, the pink flowers were only on one side. On a plain towel, that might be a problem, but this towel has the writing all over, so the "plain" side isn't really plain.

Another situation you run into with the towels is that if there is a placed design on the end (as opposed to the design being an all-over print) is that, when you fold it to sew the side seams, the design is going to be facing upside down when you make it into a bag. That was the case with the above bag: the pink flowers were upside down. So I had to cut the towel in half and sew it back together with the design facing the other way so it would be right side up on my bag. No big deal, it's just another little step. The seam is at the center bottom of the bag and doesn't show.

I love the lining and the bag is reversible. With floppy bags like this, it's important to love the lining because you're going to see it. That's the way I feel about quilt backings too. You're going to see them, so do something nice or fun or interesting and don't just use crappy old fabric thinking it won't show. (Maybe the backing of art quilts hanging on a wall won't show, but for sure the bed quilt backing will show at some point--at least it does on my unmade, crumpled beds).

Here's the reversible side, it's as fabulous as the other side:

And now for a caterpillar update!

Here's a photo of the caterpillar condo, with everyone tucked nicely in their chrysalis. (5 of the 6 made chrysalises and one, sadly, didn't make it.)

You can see that 3 attached themselves to the roof of the condo and one is on a stick right below. The other one was near the bottom. You can kind of see how the chrysalises were spikey, just like the caterpillars.

They hatched 11 days later. Two hatched and three did not, (which was sad, but apparently the kids are well adjusted to the circle of life, even if Mom is not).

They hatched during the night and it was exciting to come down in the morning and see the butterflies clinging to the chrysalises, being totally still. They were still for almost a whole day befor they started moving around.

The butterfly is at the bottom of the house, just to the left of the orange slice:

I was concerned about opening the top to let out the butterflies when there was still a chrysalis attached to the ceiling, but we did it very carefully.

I was hoping to have this quilt done, and to have a glorious butterfly release, complete with sunshine, Martha-Stewart-worthy picnic, and photo shoot with beautiful butterflies landing on shoulders and kids smiling in wonderment.

It was nothing of the sort, as the day the butterflies chose was filled with vacation bible school, swimming lessons, and a quickie dinner fit in before 2 baseball games. Nevertheless, it was memorable, in its own ramshackle way. The first butterfly flew off quickly and crazily, zigzagging with his first freedom high into the sky and away.

The second one flew right up to the tree next to us, and stayed basking in the sun for a long time. You can see him in the picture below, about 2 feet above the fork on the left side.

I was desperately trying to get a group photo, but the kids were getting restless, and here is all I could get. But it does have all 4 of them in the photo, at least.

See them all? Here are arrows, the top arrows pointing out the butterfly, and the other arrows for the kids.

Two Year Anniversary

2008-06-10T08:59:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it......this month is the two year anniversary of Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn! I am having a big celebration over on etsy!

Here's what is happening, starting tonight.....

Free shipping to the U.S. or Canada if you buy 3 or more skeins. Stock up for those summer sock knitalongs, vacation knitting, or get a jump on some holiday knitting! International buyers--get $5 off your shipping cost.

I am giving away 3 free skeins! The 2nd skein I sell on Tuesday evening, after I list the new yarn, will be free to the lucky person with the quick mouse clicks. The 11th skein (it's my favorite number) will also be free, and so will the 22nd skein. If you are a lucky winner, I will notify you as quickly as possible and send you a revised paypal invoice. If you are a quick payer (thank you!) and have already paid for the free skein, I will refund your money via paypal. I wish I could make confetti drop down on you, but you will just have to imagine that!!

And I am sending a little thank-you-suprise in each package!

So, I hear you asking, what colors will be available on Tuesday night? I dyed the TOP TEN FAVORITES, as voted by my mailing list subscribers. The top ten favorites are: American Patchwork, Bouquet, Christmas Lights, Crushed Velvet, Favorite Jeans, Iris Garden, Good Earth, Secret Garden, Springtime in Paris, and Tapestry.

And, what I'm even more excited about, is that I have also dyed ten BRAND NEW gorgeous colors.

There is going to be a huge amount of yarn listed tonight. Some of them are sure to sell out, so get there early and get a good seat down front!! The excitement starts at 7pm Central time, Tuesday, June 10th in my etsy shop.

Thank you for all your support the past two years. I hope you have fun shopping!

Breaking News: Science and Nature Department

2008-06-09T19:08:00.008-05:00

I was backing out of the driveway last week, taking the kids to the library. I noticed something black on the side of the house. I was pretty far away, but it looked like a very big caterpillar (you know we are into caterpillars), but it was also possible that it was just a leaf.

I stopped the car and told the kids I needed to investigate. Upon closer inspection, it was a caterpillar! It was a big, black, spikey caterpillar with brown spots. We abandoned our library plans and went inside to get a jar. While I was poking holes in the peanut butter jar lid with a hammer and nail, I noticed another one crawling across the garage floor. The exact same kind! What are the odds? We haven't seen a caterpillar in ages--let alone two of the same kind, at the same time. So we put them both in the jar.

We went outside to get some leaves and sticks for their home. And what do you know, but here comes another one crawling across the driveway.

Yes, at this point, I was feeling a little freaked out. Invasion of the caterpillars?! Three freaky, black, spikey, caterpillars.

So we went in to identify them on the internet. It took about 30 seconds to identify our caterpillars and see what kind of butterflies they would turn into. (I breathed a sigh of relief that they would be a beautiful butterfly and not a scary kind of moth!) We also learned that they stay together on their host tree (Elm) until they are full grown, and then go traveling off at the same time to find a place to make their chrysalis.

No wonder they were all there at the same time! And our guys were all brothers and sisters! How exciting!

(Sophie is not crying. She is "taking pictures for the blog". My girl.)

So, we went back out to find the Elm tree, which was right next to our driveway--makes sense--and, there came another little guy crawling across the driveway! So, then we had four. And I told the kids to keep and eye out on the driveway for more, and that's when I found another one on the house. Five.

I was concerned about the amount of room, and the amount of air, to be honest, in the peanut butter jar, so we put them in the garage and continued on our mission to the library, and also to find a suitable house to keep them comfortable.

We stocked up on butterfly literature at the library and found a fabulous caterpillar condo at the toy store. When we got back, we transferred our friends from the crowded peanut butter jar into the condo, and added a nice amount of sticks and elm leaves.

I told the kids to make one last scan of the area for any more. All of a sudden, Sophie started yelling at the top of her lungs. She was so excited that, at first, I couldn't understand what she was saying. She was pointing at the side of the porch, screaming "I see another friend! I see another friend!!!!" She was over the moon with joy.

Final count: six. Group photo.

I made a diagram of where they were all found, for posterity. I mean, what are the odds that we happened to be on the driveway at the exact moment that the little guys made their move? I went out several times later that day and the next, and I never found any more. I feel incredibly lucky that we were in the right place at the right time!

I put their house on the dining room table. I will admit, it was a little creepy to watch them while we were eating dinner, all crawly and spikey and everything. They were extremely active that afternoon and evening. Then, the next morning when we came downstairs, they were all in their j position, hanging completely still, upside down from sticks or from the ceiling of the house.

The next day was pretty exciting, as we waited for chrysalis making. I was gone in the evening, when they made their chrysalises, but the kids got to see it. Now they are all tucked in, and our waiting begins.

In crafting news, Emily's Totebag Factory is running full tilt.

Many totebags were gifted in the month of May. Teachers were hugged. Tears were shed.

These (above) were made from my dishtowel totebag tutorial and my stash of Crate and Barrel dishtowels that I bought last year. Love the cherries. Wish they had that same vintage-looking dish towel this year.

The one below was from two black and grey towels Crate and Barrel has this year.

This is the same bag above and below. It's reversible.

Then I ran out of towels and had to make one from fabric (imagine!) This is upholstery weight fabric (Veronique by Alexander Henry) lined with black cotton duck, and the straps are black twill tape webbing.

I put the tutorial in my sidebar. I am finishing up a couple more for myself and the kids, so brace yourself for more totebag deliciousness later this week.

I'll be back tomorrow with a shop update announcement. This month is my two year yarn-dyeing anniversary, and I have some special goings-on over on etsy!

Summery Skirt

2008-05-22T07:17:00.003-05:00

Hi guys! A lot of you know that I love to sew clothes. It was my first hobby, before quilting and before knitting. Even though I sew a lot of my clothing, I have rarely blogged about it; I just didn't think people would be interested.

But I have had more compliments on this skirt than probably any other clothing I have ever made--literally, every time I wear it, strangers say "cute skirt!" so I thought I'd share it.
It's the Barcelona skirt from Amy Butler. The fabric is Amy Butler too- from the Lotus collection. I made this skirt last summer from a fabric I bought in April 2007, but I noticed that the fabric is still available at Hancock's of Paducah, and probably other places too. (And speaking of Amy Butler--have you seen this new pattern? Cute!!)

It's just a basic a-line skirt, but the unique and fun detail is the way the skirt panels are layered and stitched, so you get a frayed edge on the outside. Here's a close up.

Today is my last day of preschool for this year! I have two hours to myself and I'm torn between sewing and planting. Then, when I pick up my preschooler I'll be saying goodbye to a wonderful teacher that all the kids have had --five years in a row. Pass the tissues.

Mother's Day and This and That

2008-05-11T14:54:00.006-05:00

First off, a big shout out to MOM! Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!

I don't think I mentioned that within this last year my mom got her first computer--so now she reads my blog! That has been a really special treat for me. (Although I can no longer pull something like this.) She now "gets" how fun blogging is and what it means to me.

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I got a special card today and opened it up:

I read outloud "Mommy, your ok." That's nice, I thought, albeit a little less enthusiastic than their usual Mother's Day greetings. How happy I was to be corrected: No! Mom! It says: "Mommy, you rock!" (Whew! What a difference a little translation makes!)

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In some sad news, I was talking this week to a knitter-friend of mine at church, the lady that I mentioned before who lost her niece on Valentine's Day. I didn't know that her niece was also a knitter. She had 8 projects on the needles and my friend is working through them one by one to finish them. I guess this is a way to work through grief but I can't even imagine how difficult that would be. Prayers for her family would be good.

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And I also learned this week that UMCOR is a good agency to donate to if you wish to help people in Myanmar. 100% of your donations go to the relief effort, since all administrative costs are paid by the church. And they are one of the few agencies that already has people in place and permits to be working there now. FYI.

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On a completely different thread, I found myself making last minute teacher gifts before school on Friday. Clarification: these were not the big end-of-year teacher gift. That is yet to be determined. (Teacher Gift Guru Kay, please bestow on us the wisdom that is this season's best idea for teacher gift!) This was a little trinket that they were supposed to bring in for teacher appreciation week, to be contributed to a big class basket. I used some of my favorite fabric purchased at Paducah, to make tissue holders from this great tutorial.

It is especially appropriate for our 2nd grade teacher, since their class had caterpillars this month. The "theme" wasn't as pertinent for the kindergarten teacher, but I figured, who can resist the hungry caterpillar?! He is just the cutest. There is a whole line of Hungry Caterpillar fabric

(see some here and here) and I'm hoping to make a picnic quilt out of it before the end of school. (As if!)

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Speaking of kindergarten, their science project this spring was hatching chicks. My girl was so excited. She dressed up in a dress the day the eggs were delivered. Every day I got an egg report. In honor of the hatching, we made a shirt. Which led to another shirt.

And another.

Wonder-under on the fabric, iron it to the shirt. I recommend a small piece of fusible interfacing on the underside to help stabilize it. Stitch around the shape, adding details as you wish. Couldn't be easier! (Seriously--it's embarrassing that I just typed out instructions.)

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I guess that's it, sorry for the jumble. New knitting projects and FO's up this week. Today I'm giving thanks that, in someone's eyes, "I rok", and wishing you all a rocking day too. Happy Mother's Day.

p.s. I almost forgot to mention a little thing....today is my birthday! What a difference a year makes. Last year I was completely freaked! 40 is hard! 41 is nice and mellow! I'm having a wonderful mellow relaxing day today, and as soon as hit publish post, I'm going to go make myself a delicious birthday pie. Happy day to you all!

Magic Ball Fever

2008-05-07T07:10:00.005-05:00

Hello! Since I have an etsy shop update tonight, I thought I whould show you something I finished last month from a Magic Ball. (Tonight will be the last of the Magic Balls until fall--I need to rest my winding arm!)

I was so taken with Jodee's Baby Suprise Jacket that I wanted to make one myself. I was possibly the only person on the planet that hadn't made one and I wanted to see how it was constructed.

Fun! Quick to make, fun to figure out, and adorable finished project. No wonder they are so popular! If I am wrong, and YOU are the only person on the planet who hasn't made one, go forth, now, and make thee a Baby Suprise!

Add some wee buttons and revel in the cuteness.

Specs:

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Suprise Jacket from The Opinionater Knitter, also available as a single pattern from Schoolhouse Press.

Yarn: Sophie's Toes Magic Ball, color Pastel Baby. It only took 1/2 of the ball.

Buttons from Wool and Company.

Notes: I was determined to use the Magic Ball as is, with no "engineering" of how the stripes would be placed. But when I got toward the end, I could see that the only pink section was the one around the sleeve edge (the same stripe that goes across the upper back). And I thought it would look really nice if the pink was repeated. So, I did break my "rule" of leaving the ball alone and just doing whatever came along. When I could see that the last stripe was going to be purple, I took the ball apart and got to another pink section so the front/bottom stripe would be pink. Some rules are meant to be broken--I love the way it turned out.

Quilt Show

2008-04-29T09:50:00.003-05:00

Holy Cow! Look at all those quilts!

Here I am in Paducah, Kentucky: Quilt City, USA. I came with Mommy, Grandma, and Aunt Allison. We came to see the quilts.

I am really good at picking out fabric! I tell Mommy which fabric I like (all of it!) and she puts it in the cart. Sometimes she even buys it! (Sometimes she puts it back when I'm not looking.)

I love joking around with my Aunt Allison. Here we are at Hancock's of Paducah.

Quilt shows are hard work. I think I'll make my new fabric into a princess bed and take a little nap. Mom will be back at the blog after she does some laundry and gets back into reality!

Love, Sophie

Just Call Me Auntie Em!

2008-04-20T12:50:00.005-05:00

We have a new nephew! He came a little bit earlier than expected, but luckily, (thanks to all those nights on the sofa with Mom) Blue Blankie is finished and I just needed to get it in the mail this weekend.

Here it is before we sent it off, modeled by my own blankie loving boy. If this blankie gets just half as much lovin as this one has, I will be very happy indeed.

Stats:

Pattern: Fiber Trends Easy Knit Baby Blankets, Collection 2

Yarn: Plymount Encore Worsted Color 793 Lite Blue (their spelling-not mine!), 5 skeins

Notes: I made the smaller size and it turned out 34" x 40". While doesn't sound that big, this thing really looks big; it is easily a baby/toddler drag around blanket. I think you could take out 2 repeats and make a smaller blankie, and I would probably do that next time.

Overall: enjoyed the pattern, not the yarn, but it is very pretty, very traditional, very washable, very blue, very Blankie-ish.

Signing off for now,

Auntie Em

p.s. I am going to start answering questions in the comments now so if you are anonymous and asked a question last time, be sure to check back in the comments on the last post for your answer!

Quilty Post

2008-04-18T17:01:00.008-05:00

Thank you for the sweater love! I really appreciate your comments! I have a lot more knitting to show you, hopefully I'll get some photos locked and loaded for next week. I also have some questions to answer, so stay tuned.

I hate to use excuses for my lack of posting recently, but really, how often do you get to say "the garbage truck ate my internet." (Meaning--those supersized trucks keep pulling down the cable line that goes from our house to the pole across the street). This has happened 3 times in the past month or so. Seriously, I now brace myself every Monday morning (garbage day) to be without phone, cable tv and internet until Tuesday afternoon or even, heavy sigh, Wednesday. But I think this last cable guy got the line up higher so the problem will be solved for a while. Hopefully.

I went to the Chicago Quilt Festival last weekend. Several people had asked my if I had a quilt in the show this year and I told them no. So imagine my suprise when I walked in and saw a friend who told me that my quilt looked great! I told her, I don't have a quilt in the show. She said "Oh yes, you do!"

This quilt, Trio, won the Master of Contemporary Artisty award in the IQA show in 2001. It won me $5,000 and a trip to Houston. It was my only trip to the Houston show, and I made the trip with my then 5-week-old baby Molly and my sister. That was such a special and exciting trip and I treasure those memories!! The quilt is now in the permanent collection of Quilts, Inc. and they picked it to bring along and decorate their booth. I got to meet Ruth Moya, the show operations manager (above photo, in the middle). She was handing out a questionaire to show-goers.

She is so nice! And it was great of her to take my picture, so I got an unexpected me-with-my-quilt-at-a-show photo. And my clothes matched my quilt, even though I didn't plan* it! So, in case you couldn't tell, from my enthusiasm and liberal use of exclamation points, it was a nice treat to see this quilt again and to have a quilt in the show after all.

Speaking of quilts, I am often asked when I'm going to make a big quilt again. Well, the answer is.....soon. The trouble is, sometimes soon, for me, means a few days and sometimes it means a year. But I'm working on it. This school year has been much busier than I expected with the kids (you experienced moms are shaking your heads and laughing at me, I know) and of course, the yarn takes a lot of time too. I'm feeling a little rusty at the quilting but trying to get the wheels turning again.

In anticipation of starting a big new quilt, I have been spending a lot of time spring cleaning the studio. Clearing out the cobwebs and clutter (literally) has helped clear out the clutter in the brain. You know, the voices that keep telling me that it won't be good.

I spent several days ironing and folding hand-dyed fabric that was messy, disorganized, wrinkled, and scattered around the studio in several piles.
Doesn't that bookshelf look yummy and inviting now? So which stack would you start with? The pinks and oranges?

How about the blues and greens?

I think I hear this stack of periwinkle calling me.....

*Would I normally plan my wardrobe so that I matched my quilt--of course!

Happy New Sweater!

2008-04-11T14:47:00.004-05:00

I have tons of love for this new sweater! I really wasn't sure how it would turn out; substituting a woolier, less-drapey yarn, the weird yoke, the bell sleeves, the ruffle at the bottom. But I worked it, bay-bee. And I love it!

Really, I could use about 100 exclamation points during the course of this entry(!), but I will spare you any more gushing. Here's the back:

Here's the yoke:

And here are the specs:

Pattern: Cabled Cardigan by Shiri Mor, Vogue Knitting Magazine, Winter 2007/2008

Yarn: Cascade 220 Quatro Color 5017 Moondance, 6.5 skeins

Mods: Obviously, I omitted the ombre effect that they used in the magazine sample and went with one color yarn. I also added a four stitch seedstitch button band to the front. I omitted the buttonholes in the yoke while knitting the fronts, but placed a marker where they were supposed to go, so I could put them in the same spots when I knit the button band.

A few more details on Ravelry.

Hitting the Hot Spots of Muncie, Indiana

2008-04-06T13:38:00.004-05:00

Spring break! Vacation knitting at it's finest.

I took the kids on a little trip to see the Grandparents. Took six projects. Knit a bit on all of them. Here are the highlights:

Calico Cat Magic Ball patchwork scarf went to the Minnetrista Cultural Center.
Scaruffle went to the Muncie Children's Museum.

Periwinkle Cable Cardigan went to the library.

Green stripey sock went to the world's best bakery.

Blue Manos scarf went to the world's best (I'm really not kidding) candy store.

But don't let all those yarny tourist shots fool you. In reality, not a lot of knitting was done while I was watching the kids ransack the museums and bakeries.

The best knitting was done when the kids were tucked in and exhausted, just me and my mom on the sofa, watching the one channel (PBS) that she gets with her rabbit ear antenna on the TV. Knitting and chatting into the wee hours.