Quilts (wild blue and green)

In a holiday season gone mad, there is a small bit of comfort:


The jury is still deliberating on the coolness of this one. But it turned out raggey and wild like I wanted it too. Don't look too closely, I'm still perfecting my machine sewing technique.

And my first and highly enjoyable attempt at foundation piecing:

I just searched for a good link to foundation piecing, and most everyone refers to paper piecing, or sewing pieces to paper instead of muslin. This is from the Denyse Schmidt book of quilting projects.

This is a very good technique to use when I want irregular pieces and edges, as it is hard to plan two irregular edges to fit together. I'm looking forward to exploring this more.

Check out what MadFabric-holic did with foundation piecing:

Snazzy! I want one!

Knitty Winter 2006 Gems

First of all, for Jeanette:

Wow! Knitted blade covers! I should have thought of it first! (Of course, I'm thinking a nice absorbent cotton lining instead of water resistant wool...)

And one that caught my eye, the Argosy:

I like the crossing of the color stripes and the eyelet pattern, and the edge.



This is one of the things for which I feel very thankful: my craft room. A whole room to fill with my crafty ingredients. And since it is occasionally used as a guest room, it actually gets a cleaning once in a while. My Viking sewing machine is glowing there on the table. It is slightly older than I am. My father bought it for my mother when I was in the womb (awww). The first time that I had to get it fixed, it was still under its 25-year warranty. No, that's not a type-o, twenty-five year warranty. Gotta love it.

I've been having lots of craft zone moments. My brain goes into a mode that reminds me of when I used to take math classes, where I'm thinking in a non-verbal fashion. I might start out with an idea in mind, or I might just go and hit the stash of craft supplies to see what I come up with. Often this urge is coupled with the urge to use up the items that I hoard for these occasions. It's a pity that it takes longer to make things than it does to acquire the materials, as I acquire more than I make.

I've wrapped gifts in fabric before, but I missed the crisp edges of paper wrapping, and safety pins looked a little hokey for fasteners. So this year, with my somewhat newfound knowledge of spray starch (my husband has taught me many wonderful things), sale remnants, and a fortuitous hoarding of double-sided quarter-inch fabric tape, I wrapped:

Snazzy, eh?

Spinning! Blue-green-yellow

From some roving bought at the Black Sheep Gathering this year:



I don't know what variety of wool it is, but boy I love the colors! I split the sliver in half lengthwise, and am starting on bobbin no. 2. It'll be a 2-ply, and I'm hoping that the colors won't match up too much with the two strands. I'd love them to be offset one or two color changes.

More wool! (And a wool/silk combo). From Woodland Woolworks. Buying this a few weeks ago spurred me to spin the blue-green wool.

I'm proud of myself for moving into new colors, when I started spinning I was really heavy on blue and purple, not necessarily because I like those colors more, but because I found color blends that I liked in those colors. It's hard to find good greens, but I'm looking.

Back to the wheel...

Christmas Stocking

A few days before the xmas I made this stocking, I went in to work on a vacation day, just so I could lock myself in my office and knit. Yes, it was a surprise. Yes, it was done by xmas morning. Barely.



Back when Alice Starmore made yarn, this was my second fair-isle project. The stocking is a fine wale cotton corduroy, with a linen lining. The stocking shape was from a Martha Stewart Living magazine template. I usually have a deep seated dislike of the other Martha, and for a while I was suspecting her of bugging my house, as she would publish magazine issues on crafts I'd recently rediscovered.

Speaking of Alice Starmore, our public library has a copy of Alice Starmore Fair Isle Knitting, and I was a little shocked to discover that a copy would set me back $150. I'll wait until it comes back into print.

And no, I haven't gotten around to making my stocking yet.

WIP

Too many projects going! 3 spinning projects, 3 quilting projects, and a kazillion knitting projects. Yeesh! This time of year is nutso anyways. I'm always glad when January rolls around. Well, I'm exhausted and depressed until the post-holiday blues wear off. So let's say mid-January to be on the safe side.

And work has been too busy to even think about knitting, even on breaks. I just sit there and quiver with adrenaline.