Finished quilt to be auctioned off next weekend:
And finished knitted thing which was knit sans pattern. The pattern was only available in a book that contained no other patterns I liked, so I faked it with pretty good results:
And now I am just stuck waiting to find out if I've gotten into grad school or not. Fingers Crossed!!
Aren't you tired of those excuses? Me too. So....... I've been busy! And I hate typepad so I either have to convert to wordpress or just stop writing entirely. We'll see. Anyhoo, my job is giving me stomach aches and my hips are falling apart so I'm not to keen on the conversion details at the moment. Oh, and I'm trying to get into grad school, so there's that too.
But there's craft finished objects! The Octopi Hat is complete! Forgive the yellow pictures, but the lighting in that bathroom is awful right now. Can you see the octopi? Aren't they lovely? Yeah....I think so too.
But the real mutha of a project has been the (bloody, bastard of a) quilt I am making for the Tibetan Society Auction in November. A word of advice to budding quilters out there - FAUX SILK IS NEVER, EVER A GOOD IDEA. But its finished except for the binding which will be this weekend and hopefully it will make them a bit of money, though probably nowhere near the sweat equity I put into it. That doesn't matter though b/c it will be FINISHED AND OUT OF MY HANDS! Huzzah!
What color binding do you think? Black? Hmmmmm.........
Typepad has been making me crazy lately and I'm looking in switching over to another platform, but in the mean time I've been extremely busy! Yes, with work and school and the ridiculous number of dental appointments I am currently entertaining, it's been hectic. But I have managed to squeeze out a bit of progress on the knit and sew front.
J's Norwegian Star Ear Flap Hat is finished! I forgot how much I liked color work that's not in a teeny tiny gauge. SO much so that I learned how to make these:
Christmas Tree Ornaments! Fast and easy and more of them to come.
The color work thing made me so happy that I spent a whole night planning my own color work hat. It will be beret or tam style in charcoal with variegated pink octopi! See?
If parties are interested, I can publish the chart for others. Right now it's just for one other color, but it would be very easy to make it for multiple colors. FUN! What kid doesn't need an octopus on their sweater, I ask you? Also, there has been quilting....
and more quilting (sorry for the blurry pic but I am both lazy and busy and that doesn't bode well for a re-shoot).
This just needs some hand stitching on the applique and then it too will be finished.
Finally, on a more somber note, a Jemima update:
Oh Jemima. not only are you STILL missing a sleeve but you are enormous!!
What have you been eating? Can sweaters eat yardage and gain sizes?
Has Jemima been neglected for so long that, like SkyNet, she has gained consciousness and awakened?
Oh Jey-Jey, what will we do with you? I don't want to put you in the failure bin with Tree Jacket (though she patiently sits there and waits) but I don't see many other options.
Sigh.....
And that's what's up.
Yesterday was my birthday (32) and I just wanted to thank everyone for the awesome gifts!
Always on the quilting front, Bea came through with some excellent supplies and a cute, simple Amy Butler kit.
My friend Rachael also went the awesome craft route with two books I desperately wanted (thanks again!)
Josh, of course, got me exactly what I wanted - an Orla Kiely bag and flowers!!
My mom got me a couple of cool books, a top and a ton fo gift certificates to my favorite lunch places!
And, last but certainly not least, my Dad got me this truly awesome and amazing antique sewing box that even has tiny hidden drawers (I'll never tell where)!! This thing is sooooo cooooool! I love it!!!
Thanks again everyone!!!
Hello. I made things this month. See?
This is my velveteen, disappearing nine-patch quilt. It's soft and velvety and so help me, I will never sew with velveteen again!!
This is a bloody enormous house square that's part of a quilt my MiL and I are sewing together. We're each sewing a block a month and then trading the blocks, so I'll have the blocks she's sewn and vice versa.
These are some peach danish I made the other day b/c I had both puff pastry and peaches going spare. They were delicious!!
FInally, here's a picture of my neighbors house at night. I just really liked how creepy the place looks, so I've been stalking their house for creep-tastic night pics. I'm sure they think I'm some sort of serial killer. I do live in the heart of suburbia, so it's to be expected. This one was taken on the 4th of July (obviously).
Oh, knitting.....what happened? We were moving along at a good clip. I felt like you really "got" me. We spent our evenings caught in each other's embrace. Our days were spent dreaming of when we would finally reunite. Work spent plotting our next experience together. It was good. REALLY GOOD. But now, disinterest has set in. Ennui has prevailed. I feel our relationship is but a shell of what it once was. Sure, I still think..."maybe tonight will be different" but it never is. It's just endless, soporific stockinette. I even tried to spice things up by introducing a little lace into the mix, but, alas, even that proved fruitless.
Maybe I just need a summer fling. Something different. A break from the monotony. Will you still love me in the fall if I have my summer flings? Will you? Will you Jemima? And you Lace? Sigh....I think it's just a risk I'll have to take.
Knitting, meet Quilting. Quilting, Knitting. I'm sorry Knitting, but Quilting is bringing Sock Monkeys to the table - SOCK MONKEYS! This is what I'm talking about!
And velveteen, OH THE VELVETEEN!! Quilting has the softest, velvet touch.
And Knitting, did I mention how low-maintenance Quilting is right now? I mean sure, she has a temper and can be totally impossible at times, but most of the time there's no back and forth with gauge and winding, etc. etc. Hell, I bought the velveteen pre-cut!
I don't know what the future has in store for us, Knitting, but if you love something set it free, if it comes back it was truly yours to begin with. Right, Sting?
Finish the back panel of Jemima.....check!
Sew an obscene number of Buck-A-Block squares (as I was horribly behind on them)......check!
Plan a delicious and well deserved Valentine's Day mini break someplace lovely (like here)......check!
See, I do get things done....sometimes.
See you after V-Day!
Well, I have been frantically trying to finish one final present for someone who I am 99.7% sure does not read this. In case they do, I only have this to say: "Hey! Look at the insane thing I made you! Ain't it purty?" Otherwise, this thing, this craft, this monstrosity snowballed from a simple idea into a project that was a bit over my head. But I faked it 'til I made it and this is the result of my labor:
It doesn't look like much, but I promise you it is 5 feet of blood, sweat and tears in addition to multiple pin pricks.
On a MUCH happier note, my friend Rachael sent me a lovely xmas present that I opened early and it is BEAUTIFUL! The pattern for Hanami, the beads, the teeniest crochet hook in the known universe, some delicious yarn - Buttercream by Yarn Chef, and one of her famous, homemade project bags!
Now, if only the presents I ordered her 3 weeks ago would hurry up and bloody well get here! Grrr! I haven't forgotten you Rachael, Baby! There's something lovely coming for you!
Well, I've been crafty lately. I had taken a HUGE hiatus from knitting. I haven't knit anything in the last 5 months until the other day. I am officially knitting again. See?
What we have here is my progress on the back of Mrs. Darcy in worsted 100% alpaca, color indigo. And its yummy!
On the quilting front, my mother in law B has enrolled me in the block of the month club (civil war patterns) using these little, ingenious thing called Thangles. I just finished June and July (see below) and August is in progress.
As for my jelly roll of Xmas fabric, I had ordered a beautiful pattern called Butterfly Blooms but upon receiving and reading the pattern I realized that there was no way in hell I was going to cut all of that. So, I have decided going with something like this:
using those lovely Thangles! Did I mention that I love those things?
Well, as my close friends know, I turned 31 on Sunday! Here's a bit of a recap of some of my loot:
I got a Kaffe Fassett book from J, my Mom and Rachael and the strip quilting books from J's mom, B. Thank you guys so much! I love them all! The next picture is what I bought with some of my birthday money from Aunt J. I got The Essential Ellison, In Stitches by Amy Butler, a newer Umberto Eco book and the dvd of Hot Fuzz. I also got this:
A new pair of shoes, some creamsicle perfume by Demeter and a ton of fancy, girly make-up (and yes, all of the Vincent Longo was 1/2 price, I'm not crazy!) The fabric is a fun jelly roll called Holly Jolly from B. The big finale was from my parents who got me this:
There was more, but you get the general idea. Thank you so much everyone. It is all perfect!
