Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! My daughter has been home for a few days and I had a wonderful fun time with her. We had Easter yesterday as she had to leave today and my son had to work. Today I have the whole day to myself. It's so quiet around here now.

I was able to get back to the sewing machine this afternoon. I finished this week's Jelly Roll Quilt Along Block.

I'm not really sure I'm liking this jelly roll, but it's all I have so I will carry on. Three blocks down now.

I started a shawl last week, the Arrowhead Shawl. I found the pattern on Ravelry. Usually me and lace do not mix. I have learned (the hard way) that I must use lifelines! And so I am. Those pink and white colored yarns are my lifelines. And it's a good thing I have them there as I have had to rip back. Not fun.

I can tell this shawl is going to take me a long time to knit. But that's OK, I'm really loving this yarn. It's from Farmhouse Yarns, a worsted weight. Real soft as a shawl.

I'm going to sew down the binding on my Schnibble quilt this afternoon and hopefully that will finally be done. That is how I'm spending my Easter Sunday. Hope you are enjoying yours.

Happy New Year!

Wow 2009! Happy New Year! Did you have a nice New Years Eve? It was nice and calm here. I don't go out on New Years Eve. I stayed in and did a lot of knitting. A perfect evening! I am making my daughter some mittens called Bella's Mittens. They are the mittens the girl from the Twilight book wears in the movie. We've been reading all those books in this house. Pretty interesting and fun reading! I have one mitten done so far.

So, do you make New Years resolutions? I never do. But this year I am going to try to do more charity knitting. I'm going to knit preemie hats that a LYS is collecting for a local hospital. So tiny and cute! I got some yarn to get me started. So colorful! I've been having fun browsing the patterns for preemie hats on Ravelry.

I bought a few things for myself lately. Always fun! I bought this book, Knitting Little Luxuries. Such a pretty book! And oh so fun to look through. I don't know what I'll make yet.

I also ordered myself a set of Knit Picks Options circular needles. I like circular knitting but the Boye needles that I own have such stiff cables they really make my wrists hurt when using them. And I ordered a book about making lace shawls from Amazon, Wrapped in Comfort. Can't wait to get that. And lastly I pre-ordered a book on Amazon by Alice Starmore about Fair Isle knitting. That won't be here until August. Something to look forward to!

It's cold outside and very cozy in the house. I'm hoping to get a lot more knitting done before I go back to work on Monday. Gotta earn more money so I can buy more yarn and stuff!

Happy knitting and crafting and Happy New Year!

I Can Knit Again!

The pain is gone, I can knit again, yippee! So, I've been working on this:

What do you think it is? Stay tuned, and I'll let you know.

I finally got the book I wanted! I've been watching my mail, and it's finally here! Beautiful mittens in it, just beautiful. I've been reading it and learning the history of these mittens.

I'm not real good with stranded knitting, yet. I'm hoping to improve. I also suck at reading charts. But I'm determined to learn this. I'll just do a little bit at a time when I finally get around to making a pair of these mittens and give it my full attention. I CAN DO THIS!

I gave Mom her shawl on Mother's Day. She loved it! She loved the colors, the pattern, and how soft it is. She loved the little washcloth I gave her too. She doesn't want to use it, says it's too pretty.

Aching Hands

The shawl is done! I will post a pic once I have blocked it. That thing just absolutely killed my hands. They just ache. I don't know what it was, but I think it was the needles I was using that made me so sore. I used the Boye interchangeables and the cable is so stuff, when you start a new row you have to fight with it, the tension of the cable I guess. And since I was knitting a LOT the last few days because I wanted it done so badly, I think I overdid it. I was going to go to a knitting afternoon tomorrow, but I think I better lay off the knitting for a few days. This pain really sucks.

I did get a little bit of sewing done this afternoon. My hands were OK with that, but I didn't sew long. I did take a break from the shawl last weekend and made these little animals, a dog and two cats.

My daughter's friends really wanted me to make them once they saw the one I made her. I had to improvise on the dog as I didn't have a dog pattern, but it turned out hilarious. I just HAD to sew on a little tongue. I used a sheep pattern I had and just modified it to make it dog-looking. The cat pattern is one I used from Ravelry.

My daughter did come home for a night last night. It was so good to see her! She brought some stuff home as they have to start getting their dorm rooms ready to move out in TWO weeks. Can you believe it? Two more weeks and she'll be home. These first two semesters of college sure flew by. I'm going to have to dust off the stove and cook again.

Almost done!

I have one more repeat on the shawl! Hip hip hooray! I'm so close to the end I can almost taste it. After that repeat, there are four rows of garter stitch and then I can weave in the ends. I'll be so glad to be done with this. There is a new episode of Grey's Anatomy on tonight, I'll be on the couch knitting while I watch it. I know I won't finish tonight, but I'll get close. So exciting!

I bought some calico fabric to make my sister a little project bag. Then I'm going to get some more fabric to make my other sister a bag too. Once this shawl is done, I'm going to sew up a storm for a few days! So many family members want my little bags. Can't wait to get started!

Balloons

Four more repeats. Four, count them, four more to go and this shawl will be done. I can't tell you how sick of it I am. This is the biggest project I've ever knit. I need to make a dishcloth or something real small next.

I bought some more fabric, fat quarters to be exact. So vibrant and pretty!

And with all the funeral activities lately I knew I would be seeing one of my other aunts. She makes beautiful quilts. Very talented. She also inspired me in the crafting aspect of my life and makes me little gifts sometimes. So I made a little project bag for her from the fat quarters and gave it to her today at the funeral. She loved it!

Balloon Send Off

Today was the funeral for Aunt Roz. It was just very, very sad. But also so very nice to see relatives. Some I haven't seen in a long time. After the service at the church we all went outside and there was a big bouquet of helium balloons. Lots of them. My cousin passed out as many as she could before she ran out. I got one. At the count of three we all released them into the sky for Aunt Roz. It was so touching watching all those colorful balloons float away to heaven. What a moment. We watched as long as we could see them. We were all smiling and crying at the same time knowing she would have really loved seeing something like that.

Beautiful Sunrise

What's that old saying: "Red Sky at Night, Sailor's Delight; Red Sky in Morning Sailors Take Warning." It was a beautiful sunrise this morning, the sky was so red and pink. I was very awed by it. Didn't get a picture, just too many houses and garages and utility lines in the way. The color of the sky was awesome.

I planted some daffodil and tulip bulbs last fall. The daffodils are up and blooming! They look so pretty and cheerful in my yard. The tulips aren't in bloom yet.

I'm still working on that shawl. I'm getting so bored with it. I have 9 more repeats to go. In the meantime I got some more Japanese fabric that I bought. This piece came from China. It was very strange too, no stamps at all on the envelope.

Thank you for all of your kinds words about my aunt. Everyone needs an Aunt Roz.

And on that note, I'm off to get done what I gotta get done. Have a great weekend!

Fun with Sewing!

I'm still plugging away on the shawl for my Mom. I should reach the halfway point tonight, yippee!!!

In between working on the shawl I've been making puppets! I've made three of them so far. They are for my grandson to play with when he comes over. They are so cute, I want to play with them too!

They are Butterick pattern B4209. All of them are made with polar fleece. Fun to make!

My First Bag

I finally finished the bag I was making. I like how it turned out! Making a bag was a lot more work than I thought it would be, but it was fun, it challenged me, and I will definitely make another one some day.

Here is an overhead view:

And here is the inside. You can see the inside has a pocket also. There are four pockets on the outside too. Lots of room for stuff!

I used Butterick pattern B4532, View D. I made it with a cotton calico I bought at Joann, the lining is calico too. I also used magnetic snaps on it. I made the straps longer than the pattern called for and I sewed a button on the front instead of making a bow with ribbon. It's bigger than a purse I would normally use for everyday, but I will still use it. I can carry around a small knitting project in there if I want to. And maybe my lunch.

On the knitting needles I have a shawl that I started for my Mom for Mothers Day. I don't have much done yet. More on that next time.

A White Easter

Well damn, we got hit with ANOTHER snowstorm Friday night. The Never Ending Winter is back. The Never Ending Heating Bills continue. I'm so tired of all this snow and there's nothing I can do about it. Except bake cookies! For some reason I like to bake when it snows. But I cheated this time, I made the break-apart cookies. They are yummy!

I was in Joann on Friday buying this fabric when my daughter called and told me the snow had started.

I'm totally obsessed with sewing lately. I. Can't. Stop. So I finished up my shopping and came home and I made another project bag:

And here's the inside:

It's been a lot of fun sewing. And I feel like I've been spending quality time with my daughter who has been home for a little Easter break. She'll be on the computer and I'll be at the sewing machine which are in the same room, and we're together. I like it! But, today she goes back to school and the house will be quiet again.

I got the Japanese fabric I bought on Etsy. OMG, it's so cute! Hedgehogs!

I don't know what I'll make with it yet, but just HAD to have it.

I finished one of the fingerless mitts I was knitting with the sparkly beaded yarn. Hopefully I'll start the second one today and get it done soon so I can move onto the next project. I want to make my mom a shawl for Mother's Day, so I gotta get moving on that soon.

So today is Easter. It's just not a holiday I care about. I'm not religious and I just don't celebrate it in the religious way. I made our Easter dinner last night since Daughter has to leave today. I made corned beef, cheesy mashed potatoes, beans, rolls, and deviled eggs, and of course the cookies for dessert. It was a great feast!

Happy Easter!