A Wrinkle in Mine

The Polka Dot Garden has been finished--wa-hoo! The Man of the Place has been obsessed with watching the first season of Lost that a friend sent, so I've been able to sit by his side and sew down the binding first, and the label second. I even did a little embroidery on the label (no big deal, though).
Here's a close up of a block--you might be able to see a little of the quilting
And here's how the back turned out. You might noticed that I used up all the leftover scraps from the front--and that's how the Scrap Queen rolls!The only wrinkle was, um, a wrinkle. There was a long crease that got quilted into the back. And yes, I could have painstakingly pulled out the quilting and started over... if I was working for Martha Stewart or something... but I'm not. So.... wa-hoo! The Polka Dot Garden is finished!I also made a little progress on Sleep Baby Sleep. I still have no idea where it's going to wind up, seeing how the baby's room it was originally meant for is now (without changing tenants) home to a fourteen-year-old who prefers ninjas to bunnies.

Pink Orient

I showed Tiny these three fabrics and asked if she knew anyone who liked Asian prints, as she does, and pink. To my shock, she said that she did know someone: herself. I thought pink had fallen out of favor. But apparently it clawed its way back into her good graces. So I started work on it. For now I'm calling it Pink Orient. I'm just using a disappearing nine patch, as I'm so enamoured of making. Here's a link to my photo tutorial. (It's not as good as another one, but I couldn't find it tonight.)

Then I laid it out in the typical style and showed it to her, just to make sure it was really for her. "It's a little busy, don't you think, Mom?"

I looked at her from under my brows and gave the quick answer: "Have you ever seen the quilts I make?"

She grinned and nodded and that was the end of the exchange. But I gave it a little time and thought about it. I've decided I'll sash the blocks in black to help it settle down a little, like I did with the blue in Everything Groovy. That should do the trick.

Also on the quilting front, I've been working on the binding for Polka Dot Garden. It's moving along, but slowly. I like to hand-sew down the binding. It gives me a chance to fall in love with the quilt.

In knitting news:

I finished the embellishments and put in the interfacing for the Red Herring Purse. I've decided to add dowels into the handle for reinforcing, so I need to wait until I go to the lumber store. But at least it's moving forward. Glacially. Hey, glaciers move! They do. No, they really do. Like a foot. Every year. More with global warming...

And the second Soy Toy sock has turned the heel. Well, it's not automatic, like it knits itself or anything. I actually turned the heel. Wow, that would be cool if it just knit itself right along and I would find it in the morning all done. Like the Tailor of Gloucester in Beatrix Potter's book. Oh, wait, that turned out to be mice that did the work. Never mind.

On Monday, I went to see Kate Jacobs, author of The Friday Night Knitting Club. I really liked the novel and look forward to reading the sequel, Knit Two. She's very articulate and friendly and even acquiesced to my ridiculous request that she pose with my knitting. (I promise, I did try to remove the red-eye effect, but it looked creepy that way, so I just put 'em back to red.)

MiPod has Cables

Whoa! It's been a week since my last post! How did that happen? It must have been that crazy trip with Joaquin Phoenix to Malaysia... Oh, no, I dreamed that. Ah, well.

Okay, I haven't been jet-setting, but I have kept busy. I finished the stippling on the Polka Dot Garden...

...and the chartreuse thread rocked it!

And I got the medallion done on Ben's quilt. I worked about 8 hours on it on Friday. Whew!All that's left for the top is a border. I still don't have a good name for it, though.

One of my favorite things to do while creating pretty things is to listen to podcasts and music on my iPod, Ruby. Ruby also keeps me company while I exercise and do housework. The only problem is that I am a female. Hence, most of my clothes are pocket-free. So, I looked up iPod knitting patterns and found this one! So soon I will have my iPod caddy all ready to go!

Notice the cables? That's right, this girl can do cables. (Woot-woot!) And I only had to change needles three times and yarn once.

Last night I went to one of those Murder Mystery Parties. It was such fun! I was the tarty character (how come I got pegged as the tart?) and the Man of the Place was a gangster. Surprisingly, we were both innocent. It turned out to be the guy who, in real life, is a pastor! Go figure...

To Thine Own Self Be True

Well, I seem to be settling into 2009 just fine. And learning from past mistakes. If you've been reading my blog for a month or more, you may recall that I had to repin and iron a quilt (Cielo) because I pinned it and stored it before getting around to quilting it, making cause for quite a bit of whining. Well, yesterday I took my quilt to my quilt therapy group and pinned it. Then I took it home--carefully!--and laid it out so it would be ready to go. And it worked out just fine. Yay.
On the way home, I picked up the thread I wanted to use for quilting. I like it. Of course, chartreuse is a little wild, but come on, it's me we're talking about...
Next thing: I know that if I quilt this thing and then have to make up the binding, I will most like have a ginormous (that's a word now!) break between quilting and binding because I'll run out of steam, so I made up a roll o' binding, using the continuous binding technique, and put it away. That way, as soon as I finish quilting my Polka Dot Garden, I can just keep right on truckin'.
I needed some actual handwork today, so I pulled out what I've been calling "Baby Boy on Moon." Turns out the actual name is "Crescent Dreams." Now I wonder why I never finished it. It's not very complex. And the colors are pretty. I sewed on it while I watched the Chargers game with the Man of the Place. They won! Go Bolts!

I Liked It So Much I Bought It Twice!

I was stuck. Really stuck. I used this fun Jacobean print with the polka dots, but I only had 1 measly yard and used it all up in the blocks. But I still had to make the final border. What would go with everything? I am against using white in the outside of a quilt because that's where hands mostly go. Hands aren't always clean. I think you can follow the logic. So I'm pulling out purple, pink, blue, yellow. Nothing looks right. I mean, really. This quilt is crazy (although it's not a Crazy Quilt). So, in a fit of what-the-blank, I pulled out the multicolored fabric boxes and guess what? I found a whole 'nother yard of the Jacobean! Ya-hoo!

Also, I'm starting two more quilts before year's end: this one will be simple. It's called "Late Bloomers" because it's floral on black. It's a great way to, what? That's right, use up stash fabric and use the pink fabric Santa brought me.The pink and the orchids will alternate, and this will be the border.Also, I pulled this puppy out. I've been wanting to work on it for a while, so it's going to get some attention!

The Magical Magic Loop

Bonnie said...
I've just started making socks. Used a pattern I didn't particularly like but the socks are done and are being worn. Does Adult Socks II teach the Magic Loop Method? I bought the book about knitting on two circular needles but haven't found both sets of circular needles. What is the magic about Magic Loop?

Nope. Adult Socks II has you using 4 DPNs (That's double pointed needles for you non-knitters. And before your imagination gets going all weird with some convoluted bent stick thing, you oughta know that a DPN is a straight stick with a point on both ends. That's all.)

Here's a pic I found on the net that shows Magic Loop pretty clearly.

Being a one-day veteran (bow in wonder!) of the Magic Loop method, I can tell you that the only magic I'm seeing is a lowered likelihood of dropping stitches, and a near impossibility of losing needles. Oh, also, it seems to go pretty fast and for a slowpoke like me, anything to speed me up is a good thing. Sock Diva (you know who you are) got me going yesterday morning and I cooked right along. I've already turned the heel (it's kinda square!) and am about halfway through the sole.

And I've been obsessed, as Tiny would say, with my Polka Dot Garden quilt. This is just plain fun for me! And if you think it's loud, well, all I can say is, "Duh!" I have found that it's really important to make stuff ASAP from gift materials. That way people know how happy you are with your gifties. I'm so happy that I already had this Jacobean-inspired fabric that picked up all the colors of the polka dot fabric that was in my stocking. (The pattern is called "Barbara's Antique" and is from Debbie Caffrey.) I'll probably sash it in white to calm it down a little.

Socks and Quilts Galore

I probably knitted about 25 stitches today, but that was putting it on my new needles! I'm going to switch over to Magic Loop Method. Oot-oot!

And speaking of socks....

tshquilts said...
love your quilts and socks. (Thanks, tsh!) What book or pattern would you recommend to someone who has not knitted for many years, but would like to make some socks?
Oh, that's easy! My "go-to" sock pattern is Ann Norling's Adult Socks II: Play on Ribs... funny, now that I look at it, I don't follow it to the letter. I stop the ribbing wherever I feel like it (usually after 2" of cuff) and just do plain knitting (stockinette to those in the know). I'm slow enough already without all that switching from purl to knit. But back to the topic: This pattern not only has sizes for tinies and grups (adults), but it has instructions that accomodate 3 different common yarn weights: worsted, sport, and fingering!

But let me open this up to you all: what's your favorite easy sock pattern?

One more piece of advice: if you have to start over a few times, Baby, know that you're not alone. I've made 18 socks. I've started probably 30 times. You do the math.

Here's the quilt that I had to be so cagey about:

I couldn't show the football fabric without giving it away. My beloved Uncle Don is a huge Buffalo Bills fan, so I found some appropriate Bills colored fabrics in my stash (Stashbuster Alert) and put it together with the football. I titled it, "Are You Ready for Some Football?" When I bought the Football fabric, I thought I'd only need a small amount, for the borders, so I was thinking a yard, to be on the safe side, then I thought maybe I'll just use it for the back, so I said, "Two yards, please." Then something made me say, "No, make that two and a half." Clearly, I was way overbuying and overbuying fabric that was so not me. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, friends. Here's what's left over:

What's happening today, you ask? Ah, yes. Today I been quiltin' big-time! I finished Cielo: ta-da!

And I started a NEW QUILT. Yes, not one that I started a year ago and not one as a gift, but a genuine new quilt based on the fat quarters that graced my stocking! I had a lovely yard of fabric in the stash that goes very well! Here's what's going on so far:

I've chopped up all the fabric for the blocks--yay!