Amelia's Sweater

I think I've mentioned before that I had planned to finish a sweater for each of the 6 grandchildren for Christmas 2009. I finished 4-1/2 of them, thank you very much, and I'm not going to feel guilty about not reaching that self-imposed goal. Elijah and Evan will be okay with an IOU. I think Amelia is pleased with her sweater. Handknit or not, a sweater still counts as clothes for Christmas, not the most exciting thing for anyone, especially a pre-teen, to get. Nevertheless, I'm going to have warm memories of knitting things for those I love. And besides, I've taught Amelia to knit, and she is showing all the signs of having "the bug". I look forward to the day when she's knitting her own gifts to give for Christmas. Nothing would tickle me more than to get a sweater she's knitted for me on some future Christmas morning.

What I Did On My Christmas Vacation

My version of Carol's Clever Little Shawl: It's been finished for awhile, but I just got around to blocking it this week. I spun the yarn as well as knitted the pattern. It's a superwash merino from Sheep Shed Studio. This project is my first from my own handspun yarn.

I was in a jewelry making mood today, too. I'm thinking it would be really neat to have custom-made jewelry with the clothes I'll show in the upcoming fashion shows that Jamileh sponsors.

Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza

The 3rd annual Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza was even more wonderful than the 2nd annual Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza. Thank you Anne, Rachel, and all the others who make this event so wonderful. The vendor area was bigger and better than last year and I brought home some great fiber and projects.

I had time to get 2 more grandkid sweaters to the point where all they need is zippers sewn in them for a total of 3 in great shape for Christmas presents. Sweater #4 just needs sleeves and a collar . . . . Ok, I'm more than likely not going to get all 6 done, but 4 is better than I ever really should have expected to get done by this time.

The BEST part of the weekend, though, was spending relaxing, quality time with a couple of great friends and lots of fellow knitters/spinners/fiber fiends! Thanks Kay Meadors for the lace knitting class. I feel much better about charts now. The fashion show was so cool, but the whole weekend is one big fashion show as far as I'm concerned.

I'm already looking forward to going next year, recruiting even MORE friends to attend, and one way or the other I'm going to take a spinning wheel. I don't care WHAT part of the state it's in -- I'm THERE!

Let's face it, the beauty of Mt. Magazine deserves visitors' undivided attention and that is just not going to happen for me when it's 39 degrees outside and I have knitting needles and yarn in my hands. To me, a good girlfriend weekend just needs a really nice place with plenty of amenities (a microwave in the room was all that was missing), restaurants with good food and service that serve wine, and shopping. And knitting needles. And yarn.

The Skirt is Finished - The Quilt Is Not

I am now the proud owner of a custom-made gray wool pencil skirt. I'm going to wear it for the first time Wednesday; one of the girls in the Wednesday lunch group has been following my progress in the fashion design class, and I want her to see it. The next skirt I want to make is black wool, a little longer, and lined. The next series of classes begins this Saturday. I'm looking forward to finally having shirts and tops that fit!

I still haven't pinned the quilt. I keep thinking that I will take it to school or church when no one else is there so I can spread it out easily on a large floor space, but I haven't yet and probably won't. I've even gone so far as to put the quilt top, the batting, the backing, the pins, the tape, and the knee cushion in the car, but I still haven't pinned the quilt. What I'm going to have to do is just move the furniture in some room of my house and pin the quilt! I've also decided to hand quilt it instead of sending it to a long arm quilter. That decision means there's no way that quilt will be on the bed this winter an maybe not next, but no matter what decade it is when it finally gets finished, it will be MY quilt, not my machine-pieced top with apologies or explanations. My quilt - machine-pieced, hand-quilted, and embellished with Terry's mother's button collection.

On my day off I made two sample skirts -- a navy blue pleated skirt and a red and black plaid full circle skirt. They fit my old bride doll Bridget. I like making samples that fit my dolls. It feels a little more real than samples for a book. On Sunday, Michelle brought her dolls for me to measure for new clothes. She wants a new dress and, of all the fabric in my stash, she picked a purple fabric with red flowers. It's cute and it will look adorable on her. She has very particular tastes, this four year old. I think we make a good design team.

Fair Skies and 50 Degrees

Amelia's sweater is coming along great! The right yarn made all the difference. I've finished the back and the left side. I have a good start on the right side. I may not finish all of the grandchild sweaters, but I think I will have three or four finished. Cool weather makes it easier for me to want to knit.

My first project in my fashion design class is almost finished. It's a grey wool pencil skirt. I have enough fabric for a jacket, too. I probably should be blogging about what I'm learning in class, but I'm journaling it first. We're putting together a super cool portfolio -- There are few pleasures in life greater than a big binder and lots of page protectors!

Other projects on the front burner: caps for Arkansas Children's Hospital - big ones for the older kids and adults, a cap for Jess, pinning the queen-size quilt -- needing a space big enough and time.

Wool and Flannel

The thermometer on the backporch reads 48 degrees this morning, so I'll just sit inside this morning with my first cups of coffee instead of on the porch swing. Saturdays are such a treat, especially those when it's finally cold enough to wear my fuzzy pink bathrobe and quilted slippers and I have no obligations to change into something presentable until at least noon.

I hope this little cold snap finally convinces the last of my hummingbirds to head on to Honduras instead of sticking around central Arkansas. Still, I'll keep red syrup in the containers as long as I see them fluttering about.

My dad feeds hummingbirds in Texas. He has three feeders on his front porch and birds as thick as bees around a hive until late August when they thin out as suddenly as they appear in the spring. His recipe for hummingbird food is 1 cup sugar to 2 cups water instead of the recommended 1:4 ratio. And, yes, there's red food coloring in it. Of course, there's red food coloring in it. They're tough birds; they can handle it. My flock has steadily increased since I've changed to his formula, but it still doesn't come close to rivaling his.

I started over on a sweater that I plan to give my oldest granddaughter for Christmas. She liked the picture in the magazine, but we couldn't find that exact yarn in our LYS. She picked out something else, but as I worked it up, it just didn't seem to be working quite right. So last week, when I discovered it was October, I counted the days to December 25, gave a big sigh, frogged the back, and ordered the yarn used for the model in the magazine. It arrived in the mail Wednesday, and thanks to some significant sitting time Thursday at the volleyball game, I'm almost caught up to where I was before and the sweater is looking great. If our Lady Cat Vballers hadn't taken out their opponent in straight sets, I probably could have finished it. I had plans to make all six grandkids a sweater this year; I doubt that will happen but I have high hopes for Granddaughter #1 having hers.

Sager-Brown UMCOR Baby Sweater Pattern

The first hint of fall is in the air. I needed a coat and an umbrella to get to church comfortably this morning. Comfort, warmth, plenty of food are things I am fortunate enough to expect in my life. I am blessed and grateful for it. I think I'll spend part of today knitting some hats for Arkansas Children's Hospital or some baby sweaters for UMCOR.

UMCOR stands for United Methodist Committee on Relief. This organization does great work in the United States and around the world when disaster strikes. The Sager-Brown UMCOR Depot is in Baldwin, Louisiana. School kits, baby kits, and flood buckets are just some of the resources they compile and distribute to places of need around the globe.

Here is a pattern for a baby cardigan that goes in the baby kit:

UMCOR Baby Cardigan
Instructions are for size 6 mos. Changes for sizes 1, 2, and 3 years are in parenthesis.

Materials:
1 2-oz. skein of acrylic sport yarn (DK weight)
#4, 5, or 6 needles (gauge: 5 stitches and 6 rows = 1" stockinette)

Back:
Cast on 50 (53, 55, 58) stitches and work in garter stitche (knit every row) for 8 rows.
Change to stockinette stitch (alternating knit one row, purl one row) and work until piece measures 5 inches (5-1/2, 6, 6-1/2). Increase 1 stitch at each end of every other row 3 times, 56 (59, 61, 64) stitches.

Back Sleeves:
At the beginning of the next 2 rows, cast on 20 (25, 30, 35) stitches using knit-on method. Working first and last 4 stitches in garter stitch and stitches in between in stockinette, work even on 96 (109, 121, 134) stitches for 2 inches (2-1/4, 2-1/2, 2-3/4). Next row, work across first 34 (40, 46, 52) stitches in pattern, place marker and knit 28 (29, 29, 30) stitches, place another marker and work across the last 34 (40, 46, 52) stitches in pattern. Continue in pattern for 8 rows, working garter stitch on all stitches between markers and on the 4 edge stitches.

Shape neck:
Work across to marker, knit 4 stitches, bind off next 20 (21, 21, 22) stitches, knit 4 stitches, slip marker, and work to end. Continue only on left side of neck or attach a second ball of yarn and work both sides at one time, reversing shaping.

Front Sleeves: Work for 1 inch, keeping in pattern, ending at neck edge. Next row, cast on 10 stitches (10, 10, 11); knit 14 stitches (14, 14, 15) before marker, work to last 4 stitches, knit 4. Continue for 8 rows, keeping garter stitch at cuff and neck edges. Then contiue for 2 more inches, keeping only the first and last 4 stitches in garter stitch and all other stitches in stockinette stitch, ending at sleeve edge. Next row, bind off first 20 stitches (25, 30, 35).

Front Sides:
Work across next 28 stitches (29, 30, 32). Continue on remaining stitches keeping 4 stitches at front edge in garter stitch and decreasing 1 stitch at arm edge every other row 3 times. Continue in pattern on remaining stitches until front measures the same as the back from underarm to garter stitch border. Work 8 rows in garter stitch. Bind off. Complete right side to match left front.

Finishing:
Sew sleeve and side seams. Attach yarn at neck edge and, using a small crochet hook, work chain stitch for 5 inches. Fasten off. Repeat on other neck edge. Make another pair of ties 2 inches down from the neck. I-cord or ribbon may also be used for ties. Weave in ends.

Fall is in the air - new projects

I finished the queen-sized quilt top - bright homespun 6" squares sashed with white cotton. I'm looking for time and space to sandwich it with the batting and backing. I use safety pins to baste and I'm going to machine quilt with yellow thread -- simple straight stitching l" apart through the blocks, stitching in the ditch around the sashing. I should have some nice l l/2" squares at the corners of all the blocks.

In each of those I'm going to sew a white shirt button from the huge jar of them Terry's mother saved from the shirt factory in Marshall. I think every woman, and many of the men, in Searcy County worked there at one time or another. I'm sure the buttons will make the quilt heavier, but they're shirt buttons, so I don't think it will uncomfortably so.

I'll post pictures when I'm done. Publishing pictures is not my favorite thing to do -- I never can remember what procedure I use for what application -- Facebook, Ravelry, blog, etc. -- so, no pictures of stages, just final product.

I've started taking a new class that derives straight from my Project Runway obsession. I've signed up to take fashion design classes from Jamileh Kamran who owns a boutique in Little Rock. Last Saturday was the first lesson. We learned to measure correctly, sew on two- and four-hole buttons, tailor tack, and run a serger and industrial sewing machine.

I was kind of surprised that a couple of the other students had signed up without even knowing how to run a sewing machine.That makes the learning curve must steeper, I would think, but it also reminds me that not everyone in the world grew up with a mother who sewed every stitch of clothing she work from birth through college. At that point, I bought my own sewing machine, an inexpensive Singer that I recently gave to my oldest granddaughter, with my first paycheck from Democrat Printing and Lithographing. That was in 1980, I think, and I sewed most of my clothes on it for many years. When I finish the five courses that Jamileh offers, I should, she says, have a $1500 suit that I have sewn for much, much less, or much, much more if you count the cost of the classes.

Summer in a Glass

One of my favorite things about summer is watermelon. My dad loves the yellow-meated kind and black diamonds are a favorite of mine when I can find them, but give me a really good plain ol' striped one at room temperature with a freshly filled salt shaker and I'm in summertime heaven.

It's been a really good summer for watermelon. In fact, we had one a few weeks ago that we're still talking about as "The Best Watermelon I've Ever Eaten" -- sweet, juicy, red, perfect texture. And texture is important. If it isn't ripe enough the texture is hard and sour. Too ripe, and it's mush. Yucky mush.

Well, I bought one this week from a roadside stand that was "guaranteed." It was ripe, alright, overripe and, you guessed it, mushy. The flavor was right, but not the texture. I was sorely disappointed. I hated to waste it, though, so what to do?

For some reason toward the end of the first week of school lots of folks started talking about margaritas. After the first dozen or so people mentioned wanting, nay needing, a margarita soon, I thought, "Hey, what about a watermelon margarita?" I tweaked an internet recipe and I will never complain about an overripe melon again!!

Here's my recipe:
Stuff your blender with seeded very ripe watermelon.
Puree.
Add 4 oz. tequila
2 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. lime juice
a generous handful of ice cubes.
Puree again.
Put in the freezer to chill
Rim a glass with watermelon juice and margarita salt.
Pour in the chilled watermelon margarita and enjoy!!

Time on My Hands

Ah, the gift of a few days off from work. I spent yesterday cutting fabric for a quilt that will actually fit our queen-size bed. I discovered I don't have enough fabric, so I've ordered some bleached muslin to fill in. It's a simple pattern -- thirty different homespun patterns in cheerful colors. I cut 180 6-1/2" squares. I'm going to outline those with 2" strips of muslin then outline the whole base of the quilt with a solid yellow strip and bind it with a yellow and gold plaid cut on the bias -- I love plaid binding cut on the bias!

Today I'm going to make some glass beads for my niece Abbey. She and I are fellow jewelry makers. I'm thinking white with various colors of swirls. I may make some stringer out of the wonderful frit I have -- just to see what happens.

First, I need to do something productive. For one, I'm going to put the charms I received from the Cloth, Paper, Scissors Charm Swap on the charm bracelet I bought in Hot Springs. It already had silver crosses on it and I'm also going to add some of my beaded charms. I finally e-mailed the people who made the charms I received to thank them. I've already heard back from one of the ladies! Overall, this has been a most "charming" experience. I've been humbled and delighted by the charms I've received, the responses to my work, and the conversations that have begun as a result of this swap. I can't wait to read the magazine article this fall.

My other choices for the moment are work in the yard or clean up the craft room. I'm leaning toward the craft room, knowing full well I'll get distracted into craft -- not a bad thing, right?

Return to the Blog Spot!

My spinning is better now. I'm almost finished with the first project I've knitted with yarn I have spun myself. The pattern is Carol's Clever Little Shawl from the KAL at the Sheep Shed Studio forum on Ravelry. I have pictures of my fiber and yarn on the Sheep Shed Studio forum. Watch for pictures of the finished shawl soon!

I'm currently reading The Black Swam: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. The next books I'm ordering will be The Peasant Prince and the first book in the Warriors series.

I'm journaling about my parents' 60th anniversary celebration. The working title is "What You Can Do in Sixty Years" and it will probably wind up being a mixed media piece.

first spinning

Beginning a new hobby is one of the most exciting things I can think of doing. There's so much possibility and forgiveness because you're just learning. Terry and i put together my spinning wheel (Kromski Prelude) a week or so after it arrived, and a few days later I tried my first spinning. I mostly worked from memory of my brief exerience at Knit and Spin Day. Now that I've spun this roving, I'm reading more and looking at posts and videos.

This fiber should make other spinners feel really good about their first effors -- I know it's not the greatest, but I still love it. I don't know what I'll make with it yet, but it was fun.

I had a nice day shopping in Little Rock yesterday. I made friends with Fred the Cockatiel at Cockatiel Glass & Beads. I bought some toggles to make stitch markers and some beads for my Cheshire Cat shawl. I started the shawl, but I think my yarn is more sock weight than lace weight. I can't remember if I bought 4 oz. or 8 oz., so I'm slightly worried about running out before it's long enough. Time will tell . . . . It's a lace pattern, I'm going to use lifelines, and I'll figure out what to do with it when it gets finished.

I finished Margaret's goddess doll. I even made her (the goddess) a prayer shawl. I tried to name her, but she wouldn't tell me what she wanted to be called. Maybe she'll tell Margaret. Margaret and I spent a happy couple of hours knitting and talking and drinking coffee. We talked for the umpteenth time about forming a regular group for knitting. Maybe we will this year.

DH just came him. We're going to lunch at the mighty Wagon Wheel.

New Year's Day

Ok, so I need to learn a little bit more about felting. I had felted a piece of I-cord from some woold I had used to make a hat and mittens. I just threw it in with some other laundry and it turned out pretty cool. So I made some I-cord and a couple of small swatches from the Paca Paints that I'm using for the bag and threw them in with some random laundry. Oh no! It was the biggest wadded up mess I've ever seen! The swatches looked like lint balls and the cord was equally awful. At least I just ruined those before I threw the whole bag in.

My problem now is that seeing how those pieces look, I've lost interest in finishing the bag. I'm sure I will at some point, but at the moment I can't bear to think of a full skein's worth of knitting stockinette in the round only to have a potential disaster at the end of it. I know felting is unpredictable, but think my only choices were "great" and "total destruction".

I consoled myself by knitting some more on the pastel cardigan and starting a tiny shawl from some handpainted, handspun, beaded stuff to go on a beaded "doll" for Margaret. I'm also working on a double-point case from hand-dyed silk for Terry and assorted charms for the Cloth, Paper, Scissors charm swap.

Hmmmm, maybe I do have enough going on that I can live without felting!