Monthly Archives: June 2011
Design Wall Monday
Here’s what’s on the design wall – the stained glass runner from left over HSTs. I got the top and bottom sections on last night before calling it quits in the sewing room. The circles are pinned in place and just need to be hand appliqued.
I also have one little wallhanging layered to start quilting on. The first of the “quilts from the crate”. I need to tidy the table from yesterday’s sewing and then may get the other machine pulled out and set up to start quilting on it. Still have to decide how to quilt it and what thread I want to use.
And here’s the current scarf in progress. I really like how the multicolor yarn is looking mixed with the brownish yarn.
Stained Glass Window
I’ve nearly got the bonus HST top done — it was the last one destined for the crate to be quilted so want to get it finished so I can start the machine quiting marathon. Just one problem.
Here’s my original EQ layout.
And here’s what I stitched.
Notice those little pinkish squares in the sashing…..hmmmmm none of those in my top at this point. Dang! I was moving right along and didn’t both to look back at the design and forgot I put those in there. I’m definitely not going to rip anything apart but I think it needs something in those spaces between the blocks so I’ve come up with a new plan. And actually I think I like the new plan better.
I added a section to each end which will use the same multicolored batik in it (I think this will make it long enough to use as a topper on my dining table. And I plan to applique circles of the same multicolor in between the blocks. I should be able to get the two end pieces on tomorrow night and then can start on the applique so hope to have this ready to start quiting on by Wednesday.
Denise
HST progress
They are squared up, sewing in pairs and now sewn into each half of the block.
Ahhhh… I’ve missed my sewing time. But did have to finally stop to make a sandwich. These are only half the pieces – they have a matching section but I just stuck these up so I can see which fabrics I need to cut the addition center section from.
Back to work – I’m on a roll.
Denise
Sunday Stashbusting report
Hey – finally a little progress to report since I cut some borders for a quilt yesterday – don’t have them sewn on yet but they are cut. So about a whopping yard used! 🙂
So the numbers are 81 total yards used YTD, 34.25 purchased YTD; net busted 46.75. I think I’m way low this year compared to last but hope to correct that soon. I issued myself a challenge yesterday to get a whole stack of quilt tops quilted between now and the end of next July. While it won’t stop me from making and adding new quilts to be quilted or get quilted, I’m going to concentrate on that particular stack since the majority of them are quilts to go to charity. Gotta get started somewhere and it would be too overwhelming a task if I contemplate the other two storage tubs full of tops in the closet waiting to be quilted. But all those backings and bindings should help the stashbusting efforts some (tho I hate to piece backings and don’t have a lot of pieces with large amounts of yardage so that could backfire and lead to more shopping – at least for some of them.)
Finally after what seems like weeks – and has been – I got back to some sewing yesterday after finishing cleaning the sewing room. Squaring up some HSTs that were on the design wall so I can set them together. And I’ve pulled the first quilt top I want to quilt so hope to get that layered today.
Last night I started on the scarf that I posted the yarn photos of yesterday. I started and ripped out twice because I made it the number of stitches wide the pattern called for — well I’m using two strands so that was way too wide. Clearly my brain wasn’t thinking when I cast on. So I took it down a few stitches but had figured the pattern repeat wrong — ripped again. Third time a charm – got a good width and recalculated the pattern repeat correctly so I had the exact number of stitches I needed.
Since the sweater with the one sleeve left to finish has gotten to akward to work on during my bus ride to work, this will be my new bus project. I love the way the colors are looking and am anxious to see how it looks once some of the pinky, orange sections of the yarn are used.
The pattern is called “Rain on the Prairie” from Interweave Knits Spril 2011 issue.
I put a white piece of paper behind this photo so you can sort of see the open holes in the design.
I do like the Interweave Knits magazine. Lots of great tips or techniques for simple things I’d never thought about. For instance on this scarf you cast on with a needle two sizes larger, than you start kniting with two sizes smaller. It stops the garter stitch rows at the bottom from sort of pulling in and looking smaller than the width of the rest of the scarf since that cast on row is a bit looser. Now why didn’t I think of that before! This could come in handy in many projects. Also, like many scarfs where you knit 3 or 4 stiches at each end every row to help stop the edges from curling, this takes it one step further and you slip the first stitch as if to purl then knit the first couple stitches. You get an nice straight edge that looks almost like a crochet chain.
Such a simple step that adds so much – I love the look of it and I think it will be much easier to thread blocking wires through that edge.
Now to get back to those HSTs.
Denise
Cleaning done!
Well at least the sewing room is other than a final vacuum. The living room – well while cleaning the closets, the bedroom and sewing room, everything that wasn’t in it’s rightful place/room, has temporarily found it’s way to my dining table and breakfast bar so the kitchen/living room look horrible. But I’m not worrying about that tonight.
See I told you there was a step stool under that landslide! Landslide put away, I moved the shelving unit that was there to a differnt corner and it’s all tidied, and stacked the wooden crates for the tv. Note the bonus HSTs are not on the design wall anymore. The table is cleared and I’ve started squaring them up — dang forgot I hadn’t done that yet.
I had a stack of quilt tops that I had pulled from the UFO boxes, and some recent ones I finished, that I’d love to see quilted since most are for charity quilts.
In my cleaning I found I have three 9.5″ square Omnigrid rulers. It’s one of my favorite sizes. I bought a new one since the edges of mine were getting a bit worn down from all the years of use. Then I bought a pack of them in multiple sizes which included another. So how would you like to win a new 9.5″ square ruler? All you have to do is post a comment with a guess as to how many projects will fit in that wooden crate. I’ve got a few more to put in there yet. I’ll set up a separate page where I’ll post them as I finish them. This will not be an instant gratification prize — you have to wait until I finish them (so I may have worn out that new ruler too and need to buy another for the prize) 🙂 I didn’t count them as I put them in there so I don’t have a clue how many there are or when I’ll get them all finished. My goal is to have this particular stack (since there are tons more in the closet) done by my birthday next year – end of July. That doesn’t mean I won’t be making new quilts or quilting others that aren’t in this stack, they just won’t be counted as part of these. So a challenge to myself to see if I can get them all quilted in a year, a month and 3 days. 🙂 So the countdown is on. I’m going to try to quilt them in the order they are stacked once I add the extras in (gosh I hope I didn’t put all the larger ones on the top of the stack!)
So post your guess of the total number I’ll end up putting in there (don’t bother to try to count them since you can’t see all of them that are in there and don’t know how many more I can squash on top) 🙂 It’s all in just good fun and you can cheer me along in reaching my goal. Suffice it to say, your guess should be more than 20. Only the guess/comments posted between now and midnight tomorrow (Sunday) will be included in the game. If more than once person guesses the number, their names will be put in a hat and a winner drawn.
So now off to run an errand and maybe, just maybe when I get back I’ll search for some backing for the first one to get layered. 😉
Denise
– who may now be regretting putting this challenge to herself in writing!
A Lovely Saturday
We’ll my plans to get up and start cleaning the sewing room right away haven’t materalized yet and it’s noon time. But that’s okay. It was the first really nice morning we’ve had in months where it wasn’t raining or humid. I lounged in bed watching a quilting show on tv while I waited for the coffee to finish dripping. The got dressed, made some breakfast and took it, my coffee, and a stack of knitting magazines to peruse out to the patio. The birds were chirping and butterflies and moths were fluttering about. A very relaxing morning indeed.
But, time to get busy. My design wall has looked like this for several weeks now.
I’d love to get the borders on the Pinwheel Poseys and get the little top put together from the bonus HSTs on the right. Need to pull all the fabrics back out since I need to add a piece in between all those HSTs to get the look I want.
But first I have to deal with this…..
The table needs to be uncovered so there’s actually room to sew. I was rummaging through cds to find a EQ pattern so have a mess of them all over the table. But hey – those fabric shelves are still looking tidy in the background (hmmm there’s room for more fabric on them too!) 🙂 The pile of yarn I found in the living room when cleaning – stuck in a place I had forgotten about.
Then there’s this – the collapsed pile. A mishmash of stuff I had pulled off the design wall or table that had been stacked on the little two step stool I use if I need to get to the very top of the design wall. At some point there was a land slide so time to put it in it’s rightful home and straighten out that shelf next to it that has become a catch all of stuff. Note the vacuum is the ready when I get this stuff put away since I have threads and schnibbles all over the place.
Speaking of that pile of yarn I found -I had decided I wanted to use one of the bright colored sock yarns in there to make another two yarn scarf like I had made several of last winter as gifts. At first I was thinking this combination
But the more I looked at it, that Kettle Red (from The Painted Tiger) is too close in color to some of the pinky orange colors in the yarn so it makes it look like there’s spots with no second color in the scarf when you knit it (which I learned when making some of the past ones). So I’m thinking I’ll use this Bengal Twist, also from Painted Tiger – the color is called “What a Maroon”. There’s a bit of that color in the scarf but not so much it will blend out the second yarn.
Plus I like the fact that the Bengal is slightly skinner yarn than the Poems Socks (the multicolored) so will add a differnt bit of texture to the scarf.
But no stopping to get that wound into a ball yet or I might just sit down and knit and not get to any cleaning or sewing! That scarf will be my “bus riding” project next week I think.
Someone asked what yarn I was using for the sweater in a post comment — it’s Plymouth Yarn Kudo – Color 48 . It’s a 50% cotton, 40% Rayon, 5% silk blend. I’ll have two hanks of it left over when the sweater is done so think I’ll make a long skinny scarf out of it — it will add a bit of color to some of my summer sweaters and because of the cotton blend, won’t be too warm to wear.
Okay – time to get busy around here.
Denise
Sweater Progress
I’m getting there – one sleeve is nearly finished and then just the other to go. I think this one might fit Mom – will have to wait and see when they come to visiting next month. But I now have a good idea where I want to make adjustments to the pattern to get it to fit me the way I want. Like for instance when you line up the raglan sleeve seams (not really seams but where the increases are on both sides) the front is not wide enough to button with an overlap. The edges just barely meet when laid. I guess if you were flat chested it wouldn’t be too much of an issue but there definitely needs to be more stitches in the front sides of the sweater for my tastes to allow for the overlap. Plus I want to make the bottom part more A-line or even like there’s a few gathers below the bust rather than straight up and down. I know it’s designed for the bottom to hang open but I don’t like the ones that pull open in the front making it look like it’s too small – it might look okay on a skinny minnie person – which I am definitely not – but I prefer them to hang like they could button all the way down the front if there were buttons there so a bit more floomy (highly technical knitting term) 🙂 on the bottom. But all those should be easy to do since it’s a really basic design that will lend itself easily to the changes. I also think I’ll decrease the garter stitch area up the front so its only about half as wide. The sleeves have been a little bit slower going but only because I don’t have a small circular needle the right size so have to do it on double points, and the yarn does not like to slide very easily across that wood. Metal needles is definitely way to go with this yarn. But I think I’ll add another inch or so to the sleeve and then add the garter edging so they’ll be maybe elbow length.
This weekend I hope to tackle the cleaning of the sewing room and maybe finally get the living room furniture rearranged. My “spring cleaning” has dragged itself into “summer cleaning” but it was time for a good clear out of all the closets and cabinets and it will be nice when it’s all done. But for tonight I think I’ll just contemplate my plan of attack for tomorrow and sit and knit instead. I’d love to get this sweater finished off this weekend since we’re supposed to have a few nonhumid days which would be good for getting it blocked.
Denise
Not much to report
Nothing to exciting going on here. I found two boxes stuffed back in a closet shelf that I hadn’t opened since I moved here several years ago. I’ve been cleaning those out – photos – frames (some the worse for wear so hit the trash) and other odd junk to toss out since clearly I don’t need it. Tonight tho I think I’ll give myself a break from the cleaning out and sit and knit the night away. I’m anxious to get the sweater long enough so I can get started on the sleeves and get it finished. I want to have it done before I see my parents next month since I want to see if Mom wants one and have her try it on to figure out how much smaller I need to make it for her.
I did do a bit of pattern shopping on line and bought another simple sweater – very plain with short sleeves that would be good under a jacket, along with two shawl patterns.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tuch-shawl-lazykaty I like the unique shapping and the lacy edge is gorgeous. Also go another called Romantica by the same designer.
and this one http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/weekend-shawl which is gorgeous and may be my next project. Love the edging.
So off to knit for a while.
Denise
and this one
Justquiltin with Denise Russart 