Friday, October 09, 2009

CRAFT IN AMERICA SERIES

I was able to tape the episodes of Craft in America on Wednesday and loved them! Episodes are available online and on DVD if PBS is not available. Anyone who loves crafts should see them. Wow!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

VISIT TO IOWA: FINISHED PROJECTS

I'm way behind in posting here--I spend too much time on Ravelry.

I did get a lot done for our trip to Iowa--some before, some while driving, and some while there. I had finished some slippers for Andrew, and then completed (on the drive) some for Daniel and started a pair for Thea, which I finished on the visit. These are from an old McCall's Needlework & Crafts and were part of a Learn-to-Knit series. I was using measurements from several months ago and thought I had planned enough to add a bit, but they still seemed a bit snug. I added the little cuffs, but they wanted to stand up, not lie down--the kids still liked them.





(Andrew couldn't find his when I took the picture, but his are beige with brown cuffs and soles.)

I finally finished a skull-themed hat for Billy, this time using the graph from the We Call Them Pirates pattern



I made Melanie fingerless gloves from the Fishtail Wristwarmers pattern (adding thumbs and making them longer) and made her a Divine Hat to match.



While we were there, I made Tegan this Amigurumi "Heartfelt" Bunny:


I also gave Thea the pair of ribbed fingerless gloves I had made that were too small--they fit her fine. I had a pair I'd made for me in gray, but Billy saw them and asked for them so he got them. Now Daniel wants a pair--in red--which I'm nearly done with. I'll make a pair for Andrew, too, so he won't be left out--in blue. I don't have pics of them on the kids. [I'll show the pictures I do have on a separate post.] I also made a pair of Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation for Annie.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

TOKYO QUILT SHOW PICS

[via Mason-Dixon Knitting]
Check out the awesome quilts from the Japanese quilt show in these Flickr set from Be*mused, Moving Hands, and Moonstitches.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

CALS & KALS

After reading a recent "This Week in Ravelry" that highlighted some groups, I joined the Block-a-Month CAL. The idea is to make one 12 inch block each month and have an afghan by the end of the year. Additional 12' and 6" (baby afghans, perhaps) block patterns are available. Of course, I couldn't stop with one. Ive made both 12 " and four 6" blocks in each of two colorways--so far--and am thinking of a couple more. I just started one block for February.

Then I found the Christmas 2009 Monthly Make-a-head. January was miniatures and ornaments. I only made one thing--a crocheted star--but will probably add a few more items later. February is scarves or shawls and I already cast on for the Snake scarf Knitalong . I also signed up for the Yahoo Holiday Mystery Gift-along group which is currently doing a mystery shawl--both KAL and CAL. I'm still finding yarn for this one, though, so am way behind.

A new group started on Ravelry for Fabric Knitting & Crochet--of course, I joined it. The first project will be a knit or crocheted bath mat using, probably, strips of t-shirts. I also joined the Learn-to-Knit Afghan group that is going through Barbara Walker's book. I am not ready to start this yet.

However, as part of all these potential projects, I'm going through my boxes of yarn, consolidating, untangling and winding, and testing for wool. I already discarded one beat-up packing box. Winding balls of yarn is a good project to do while watching TV.

I'm also trying to finish some things for Annie's kids before Friday--slippers, mitts for Mel, a hat for Billy, maybe a toy for Tegan???

You can tell I haven't been working much.

Friday, January 02, 2009

CHRISTMAS GIVE-AWAY

Last year, the hats I'd made that no one seemed to want went to PADS--the EZ Swatch caps and a ribbed (failed Hallowig) hat. This year, I decided to take the hats and scarves and mitts I had left to the annual Christmas gift exchange/birthday-party-for-Dad at my parents. It was postponed a day from Christmas Eve (the actual birthday--88 years young) to Christmas Day because of the bad weather. [We didn't have a donation box at the library this year and I also felt I had spent too much time on some of the projects to donate them out of the family. If any had been left, I would have, though.] I laid them all out, and all were taken:
Three Tams (see entries below):
A--to youngest sister Nancy; she liked that it was big and loved the colors (actually, I think the variegated yarn originally was hers)
B--to second sister Pat; she has reported it is very warm
C--to niece Lauren; the blue looked great on her
Divine Hats:
"orchid" color--to niece Joy; the color was perfect for her
off white--to my Mom; the smaller size fit her very well
black--to sister Nancy; again she liked the larger size [it had been hidden in the pile of coats, somehow, and she was still there, so she got it]
Cabled Mitts:
off white--to sister-in-law Joyce; she wasn't there, but my brother Mark took them for her and I heard she really liked how they fit
black--to fourth sister Jeanne; she is an artist and--for now--a condo renovator, so she felt they would be very useful
Scarves:
blue "Road Not Taken"--to third sister Marce; kind of by default--it's what was left
off white "Holland"--I have no clue who got it, but it wasn't left when we departed.
Each of my siblings there and my parents also got one of the various dishcloths--8 in all--I'd made--"ballband", "9-Patch", and "Garterlac".

For next year I'll probably do more mitts, hats, scarves, and probably mitered hanging dish towels--or whatever. It is nice to know one's work will have a place to go.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

THREE TAMS--TAM C

I finished this tam in August as part of the Ravelympics "WIPs Wrestling"--I had started it in February and got distracted. Once again, I ran out of the ombre yarn and had to use white to finish. Somehow I messed up the decreases, so I added a pom pon to hide the irregularities. It looks cute, I think.

Side view:

Top down view: