Back to the sewing room

Laundry is in the works, the dishwasher loaded and running, I’ve got my coffee, it’s a sunny day and there’s a nice breeze drifting thru the sewing room window.  Appears to be a very nice day and I may need to go sit outside and knit for a while later when the sun comes round to the patio – still a tad nippy with the breeze but warming up.

Since I can’t decide what I want for breakfast/brunch – I’ll just go back to quilting until I decide that I’m really hungry. 🙂  I did pull some bananas out of the freezer to make some banana bread later since I finally found the cookbook I thought I had lost where the recipe is located.

I did spend a bit of time playing with some of the kaleidoscope blocks in a EQ add on I had gotten.  I’m not fond of paper piecing as you know but I’m contemplating maybe a sampler style quilt of some of the blocks.  It’s likely I’d make it if each block was different.   These designs I was playing with the same block set on point to see what sort of secondary design might emerge.  It’s always just fun to plug blocks into a layout and see what happens …so here’s a bit of eye candy – I didn’t bother to play with the colors so they are whatever solid colors the original block was drawn in.  Now back to my machine quilting.

Quilting Progress

First, when I sat down to the sewing machine,  I added the top and bottom rows onto this little wallhanging.

Then decided to finally start machine quilting the Barn Dance quilt.  But after winding 4 or 5 bobbins and changing the foot of the machine to the free motion foot, I did a bad thing.

The machine I used to quilt on I had to really tighten the screw that held the feet on a lot with a screw driver or it would work it’s way loose as I was quilting.   I forgot I don’t need to do that with this machine – the screw holds well without being over tightened….. but I remembered that too late.

Yep – that should not be two pieces.  I snapped it over tightening.  Luckily I took a screw off another machine that will work temporarily but I need to find where I stuck the book for the machine for safekeeping to see if there’s a part # so I can order a new one.

But other than that, I ended up quilting until I had used up 8 bobbins worth of thread and decided to call it quilts on that for today.  I’ll start in again tomorrow and maybe bet the quilting finished.

Last night I knit and knit and knit while streaming some free movies from Amazon Prime – I am definitely enjoying them and the good thing – if I start one and don’t care for it I can just move on to the next.   This afternoon while I was quilting I was watching a scarey movie (very suspenseful) and did nearly jump out of my skin when a pop can I had set on the edge of the counter in the kitchen clanged into the sink. LOL  The front door was open and the breeze coming in toppled it over.

But back to the knitting and knitting — my ESK 2nd quarter project just doesn’t seem to be getting longer even though I knit probably half a ball of yarn into it yesterday.

The yarn is quite stretchy and will block out longer and wider than as shown but it still needs more length so time to find more movies and get back to knitting on it.

 

Three Days to Play

I love three-day weekends and until about Wednesday of this week I totally forgot it was a three-day weekend.  Do I have any exciting plans – nope.   Some of the usual weekend stuff — groceries were delivered this morning, a load or two of laundry done, coffee was sipped out on the patio while knitting for a bit since it was a fairly nice day.

My only real plan for the long weekend (other than some cleaning that I definitely need to do) was to spend time off the computer and at the sewing machine.  I decided the cleaning could wait a day or two and spent the day puttering with fabric.  I haven’t started the machine quilting I need to do but I think that will be on tomorrow’s agenda.

I was trying to find a movie or something to watch on tv and remembered I had Amazon Prime  and that there were free movies, shows, etc. I could watch.  Oh the rabbit hole I have gone down there.  I spent the afternoon watching many episodes of Dr. Who that our local PBS station hasn’t run and have a long list of movies I want to watch since the last movie I saw in a movie theater was The Lion King.  🙂 not that I don’t have a large DVD/Video collection, but there’s lots of movies I haven’t seen but didn’t want to buy that I found I could watch for free.

So I decided to start on a new, bright and happy looking project.  Bright batiks – always fun to work with.  I had to take this photo to remeber what row order the colors were put in.

After those were made, they turned into stacks of these

After a stack or two of the blocks were finished I started sewing them into rows.

I still have a couple more rows to add but here are the ones I’ve completed so far.

 

My little beachside bathhouses.

 

 

 

Knitting Progress – MKAL spoiler

Before I show you what I’ve been working on – I have made a decision on my Camp Loopy projects for June.

I will be in the Pterodactyl group for knitting — isn’t he so ugly he is cute?!

My project will be made from the first Camp Club shipment – it fit the criteria and I found the perfect pattern to go with the yarn.

The Camp Club yarn June shipment is Into the Whirled  fingering weight yarn and the special coloway they dyed for this is called Stanley Stegasaurus.

This is even prettier in person.

I’m going to be making Glass Beach Shawl which I think will be stunning in this yarn. I also found a couple half yard pieces of dino fabric so I may need to make a matching project bag since our camp them is dinosaurs.

For my fabric camp project I ordered these lovely batiks

I’m going to make a large wallhanging – consisting of all HSTs – which I’m calling Dino DNA.  This is just an EQ drawing so I could figure out my sizes but the final quilt will look similar to this.

I’m all set with my plans so just have to wait until June 1 to start on the first Camp projects.

I’ve been slowly working on the Joji MKAL in between other projects.   Last week’s clue looks like this.

 

You make two separate triangles that look like this.  On the second triangle I think I have it done through the green lace, so need to get those last four colored rounds added.  Second clue came out earlier this week but I don’t think it should take too long to do.

I love the textures in this so far – garter, twisted rib, eyelet, lace –

and I’m still slowly plugging along on my feather and fan scarf for my ESK 2nd quarter project.

Oh and a few more row added to the Rhapsody KAL shawl – I am loving the multicolor with the lighter background on this one.

 

 

 

 

Waterford

It’s a lovely day outside – I think it may be safe to pack up my wintery clothes – a stroll through the apt complex down to my mailbox – sunny, 72 deg., blue sky, slight breeze – perfection!  Now if I could convince a very determined pair of wrens that they cannot build a nest between my outdoor light right next to my door and the side of the building. I keep taking it down, they keep rebuilding… persistent little buggers.

I found in my mailbox the advance copies of  McCall’s Quilting – July/August 2017 issue.

And inside….. Waterford….

Whoever sewed this did a lovely job and the quilter did some fantastic quilting which doesn’t really show up in my photos.   As with all my other published designs, I have not sewn the actual quilt that appears in the magazine – some other lovely talent sewists and quilters that the magazine uses has made it due to time constraints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quilting shows up in the photo below a bit.

 

Here’s the original image I submitted to the magazine.  They chose fabrics pretty close in color the colors I colored it in with – the fabrics are just a bit brighter / true color.

 

Stay tuned – there will be a drawing in the future for the magazine issue.

Off the needles…. and on to layering

andIsn’t this some gorgeous yarn.  You know I don’t really like pink but this combination

is so pretty.  And while I’ll never be a “wear lots of pastel girlie pink” girl, I am using pink a bit more in the things I knit and occasionally made a pink quilt.

 

 

This yarn is one of the Loopy Legend yarns called Linda’s Beautiful Day and it is beautiful.  This is the Truffle Shawl I made — the photo above shows the colors the best but here’s some shots of the entire shawl — just a little scarf really to keep the neck and shoulders warm.  Very easy knit.

I’ve started on the Joji MKAL but will wait until I’m a bit farther along to show photos of that and for anyone working on it who wishes it to remain a mystery to them and not see anyone else’s photos, I’ll try to remember to post that it is a spoiler photo.

Let’s not forget the sock I previously posted all about with it’s unusual heel strip and construction.  That came off the needles this week too.  It may be a while before I get the second one done with MKAL, the Rhapsody KAL, and Camp Loopy starting next month but we’ll see.

 

And after several weekends of planning to get in the sewing room to layer a quilt — proof it is actually happening today.

 

And with only one false start – before I had the top clamped in place I realized that I had grabbed the wrong size batting package.  I would have been so made at myself if I had starting pinning everything only to run out of batting.

Just stopped for a coffee break so now time to go find the tin of pins and get started pinning.

It’s Camp Loopy Time!!!

 My favorite knitting season of the year – Camp Loopy – is upon us.  The announcement went out yesterday and you can find all the info on TLE Blog here.

There’s new rewards and other fun things planned.    And the theme this year is Dinosaur Camp (boy would I hate to make socks for them or that sweater for the brontosaurus).

Camp Store week is happening right now (discount for your camping supplies) and I normally have my order placed the same day Camp is announced but not this time — so I’m feeling a bit behind.

The June knitting camp theme is Dinosaur textures – all the textures that dinosaurs have – feathers, spikes, spots, scales, etc. so you (1) either pick a pattern with texture or (2) use a yarn that represents those textures – yarn with sparkles in it, or gradient, or speckled yarn.  Or you could do both.

I spent last night looking at all kinds of patterns and yarn but then remembered for the first project we could use our Camp Club yarn (separate club from Camp) and the first shipment should be arriving next week.  So I decided I’m not behind at all – I’m going to be surprised and use my Club yarn and once I see it, figure out what to use it for.  I do have several potential projects added to my list of Ravelry patterns but since we know the Club shipment yarn will be either have sparkles, gradient or speckled, I could use any pattern I like.  I have been eyeing the Evergreen Socks pattern – but need to see the yarn first.

Fabric Camp Loopy has the same June theme, but you can represent those dino textures through choice of pattern, fabric style or quilting to give something texture.  The sane part of me says since I have two wedding quilts to work on I shouldn’t do fabric camp — however, I seldom listen to the sane part of me.  But I will wait until the weekend to decide when I have some time to look at projects/patterns and see if anything really says MAKE ME!  (Okay I just found a really cute baby dino applique pattern…hmmmm….)

It’s a sock – a really wierd looking sock

But despite the fact that it looks like it’s made for Frankenstein’s foot when laid flat, it fits perfectly.

Part of that is because the leg is all ribbing so it pulls it in when there’s no leg in it and part is because of the way the heel is made  – more boxy.

And I like the way the shaping decreases make the stripes sort of chevron down the sides.

Since I can’t take a photo of the back of the sock when it’s on my foot – no I am not a contortionist – I put both sock blockers in it and stuffed it with a hank of yarn to get a not so great photo.

 

Here’s the back/heel.

 

And some other photos — it fits perfectly and is very comfy.  And I even managed to not get any ladders where the two circulars met, which I was a bit worried about.  For my first pair on two circulars, it went really easy once I got the hang of it and I think actually quicker because I was only dealing with 2 needles instead of four double points so not having to read just things as much.

And I like that with the circulars you can try it on as you go to get the perfect length.  About half way down the foot I tried it on and realized it was a little loose around so added a few more decreases to get it to the right fit – if it had been on double points, I wouldn’t have noticed that.  So I’m very pleased with this sock.

The last photo looks like it has a bit of a point at the heel but that’s just because the blockers still have the stuffing in them.  Now to cast on the second one and see if I can get it done before Camp Loopy starts.

 

Decisions, completions, works in progress, and fresh from the oven

Decisions:  After a short stint searching the stash – I found the yarn I was looking for (and knew was hidden in one of those tubs) for my Joji MKAL.

I love all these colors  – while with the information given about lighter colors and darker colors etc given for a MKAL you never really know how the colors will play together – the fact that these colors are pretty much among my favorites means I’ll like it no matter what.  And I was able to keep all the yarns from the same type of yarn, Dream In Color Smooshy (which is lovely and, of course, smooshy).  Now to wait for the MKAL to start.

Completions:  Well just one – but I bound off those 670+ stitches last night and the Truffle shawl is now pinned out and blocking.  Once it’s dry I’ll show the whole thing.

Works In Progress:  These Squircles socks just keep getting more interesting.  That long rectangular section I previously showed (the heel garter strip) has now turned into this

The garter strip is in the center of the oval section.  That is not the top of the foot – that garter section goes down the back of the heel and where those two pins farthest to the right are holding it there are two stitch markers and to the right of the pins/stitchmarkers is where the heel turn area is taking place and by such a simple method – not wraps and turns etc.  And I like the way my stripes are traveling around the back heel section.

When I said unusual construction, I meant it but so interesting to see it starting to take shape.

Here’s what it looks like if the heel section is sort of pinned in place.  The top of the sock – then the back heel.  From the pink marker on the back edge, there is a line of interesting decreases.  Can’t wait to see how it looks when I get a few more steps along.

And Fresh from the Oven:

Yummm it should be cooled by now so I have to go do a taste test.

Squircle Sock

Hmmm this is getting interesting… it went from this

 

 

 

 

to now looking like this

 

 

 

 

so that’s what a garter heel strap looks like.  It’s a skinny little thing.

Squircle sock  definitely is interesting knitting.  If you want to see how that heel strap fits into the bigger picture (finished sock) you can see it at the pattern link.