Colorado Crafting

I had a bit of time for crafts on my Christmas trip.  I am completely in love with infinity scarves!  I worked on one called September Circle.

Remember this, the Project Linus quilt?

I finished binding it.  Now it's waiting to be delivered to the quilt store that accepts these blankets.  I will have a full report and more pictures when that is done.

My plane back was delayed (by several hours).  I spent a bit of that time knitting on the latest project.

I also enjoyed a nice view of Pikes Peak.

Repeat

I liked that last cowl/loop/infinity scarf I made so much, I made another one!  I used the same yarn but a different colorway, dark purples called Tidewater.

Though I am modeling it, it's actually a Christmas or birthday gift for my mom.  (Those events are only three days apart.)

Once again I found this to be a really quick project.  Or at least quick by my not-so-speedy standards.

This last photo has absolutely nothing to do with what's above.  This is Lucy's giant neck and her new Christmas collar.  It has mistletoe!  How festive!  Lucy's dad buys her collars quite often from 2 Hounds Design.  He surprised us with this one.

Throwing Balls for the Beast

Here's a recent photo at the lake.  Doesn't she look happy?

Sometimes I do get a good action shot on my phone!

Diana's Bikini

There's a statue of Diana the Huntress in Pueblo.  Usually she is naked.  Not now.  Someone knitted her a bikini out of white fuzzy yarn.

Project Linus Update

I was home in Colorado this past weekend.  One of the things I did there was work on my Project Linus quilt.

I found some perfect fabric for the backing at Joann's.  This first photo is the backing, the batting (donated by my mom), and the top, all ready to be sandwiched together.

Mom's cousin Cass and a group of ladies quilt for Our Lady of the Meadows.  The church gives quilts to those in need.  Cass lent us the frame they use to stretch the quilts.  Here is the quilt stretched and ready to be quilted.

Lucky for me, my mom knows how to do all this stuff!  She taught me how to tie the quilt.

Here's a closeup.

And this is Mom in action.

Here's an artsy in-progress photo.

The last thing I did was learn how to make binding, attach it to the quilt by machine, and hand-sew the rest of it down.  I got about one-quarter of the way done with the by-hand part.

I intend to finish the quilt over Christmas.  Stay tuned for that!

Cowl/Infinity Scarf

I really wanted one of these.  So I made one.  This is the Canaletto Cowl by Megan Goodacre.  It was easy to make.  I finished it yesterday during the Texans game, thanks to overtime.  It's big enough to loop twice around my neck.

It loops twice around Lucy's big neck too.

The yarn is Dream in Color Everlasting DK.  The colorway is called Daylily.  That's a much better name than #8493 (or whatever) which all too many colorways are named.

Project Linus Quilt

Usually I am a selfish crafter.  I make things only for me (and occasionally for my mom).  But I'm making this for someone I'll never even meet.

At the quilt show last weekend, we wandered into the Moda Bake Shop booth.  The lady there gave each of us a bundle of twenty 2.5 x 5" rectangles.  In another booth I saw a charm pack (forty-two 5 x 5" squares) of the same fabric.  Coordination!  I bought the charm pack, not knowing what I'd do with my new little stash of fabric.

A while later we stumbled upon the Project Linus display.  This is a volunteer group that makes and gives blankets to children in hospitals or crisis situations, wherever they are needed.  I knew what I would do with the fabric!  It is children's fabric with dots, owls, numbers, and cars (the collection is called Ten Little Things) and it would make a great Project Linus quilt.

So I took a few evenings this week and made a quilt top.  (The sewing machine and stuff were still out from making my violet quilt top.)  The main part of the quilt is the charm pack I bought.  The blue border is leftover from the inside of the tote bag I made for Carol a couple years ago.  The patchwork border is 36 of the 40 rectangles the Moda lady gave us.  The outer green border is fabric I bought at Joann's specifically for this project.  I think this is pretty cute!

I'm going to (hopefully) finish this over Thanksgiving with a little help from my mom.  Rather than hand or machine quilting, I will tie the three layers together with yarn.  I have coordinating yarn, left over from my flock of bluebirds.   I'm really excited to finish and donate this quilt!

Yarn Caddy

I like to read Nichole's blog.  She's got cute dogs, great instagram photos, product reviews, and giveaways.  Recently she reviewed the Della Q Cleo Yarn Caddy.  And she was giving one away.  I loved the bag in her review so of course I entered.  Imagine my surprise when I won!  I chose the color Tequila Sunrise and the nice people at Della Q promptly sent my Yarn Caddy.

This is a great bag!  It's big so it can hold a lot of yarn or in-progress projects in the interior.  It's got four big pockets on the outside for even more stuff.

Currently mine is holding an oh-so-close-to-being-finished Carson shawl, which is a pretty big project.  Should I get bored with that, there is some recently-wound yarn for an Anne Hanson scarf.  Of course the patterns for both are in the bag.  In the front pockets I put my little notions pouch and a bottle of water.  I know I could fit even more stuff in here but I'm trying not to start too many projects at once.

The Yarn Caddy is stylish too!  Look, it's in an ad in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting.

Thank you, Nichole and Della Q, for the fabulous Cleo Yarn Caddy!

And she's off!!!

Normally at the dog park I'm too busy throwing the ball for Lucy to take pictures as she launches herself into the pond.  But since my mom was here, she threw and I photographed.

Look at her go!

Big splash!

Such a smooth swimmer!

Quilting

I took some time away from knitting to quilt.  My mom is a quilter and she was here the past few days to visit and attend the big quilt show, the International Quilt Festival.  I was inspired at the thought of all those beautiful quilts and knew with my mom here, she'd be glad to help me with my quilting efforts.  

I knew what I wanted to make.  I loved the quilt on the cover of the winter edition of Simple Quilts and Sewing (see small photo of the the cover at the left in the link).  But rather than brights, I wanted to use my violet fabric.  I've been buying fabric with violets for years.  (My sorority flower is the violet.)  I just needed a solid color that would tie everything together.  I went to a quilt store and found the green.

Before my mom arrived I cut all the fabric and assembled the blocks that consist of both violet fabric and green.  I should add that I also did a lot of dehoarding (including taking the old printer and broken cameras to the electronics recycling place and shredding a whole bunch of stuff--really, why did I think I needed to save those old pay stubs and bank statements for so long) in my office/library.  I thought the clean, uncluttered floor would be a good place to lay out the quilt and I could shut that room's door to keep the livestock out.

We laid out the blocks, looked, rearranged, and came up with a pleasing distribution.  I sewed everything together.  Mom kept track of things like which way to press the seams and how to logically put the parts together, stuff an experienced quilter knows but might have taxed my brain.

Here's the result.

And a close-up.

Not bad, huh?

Now it needs borders.  I found some great fabrics at the quilt show for this.  We'll work on the borders next time we get together.

Not far from where I live there is a big park called George Bush Park.  One of its attractions is a nature reserve.  Within the nature reserve are some lakes.  It's really amazing that this is so close to the city.  Once you park and walk over the levee, it feels like you are a million miles away.

I had some spare time on a recent morning so I took Lucy for some hiking and swimming.

No one was there but us and this bird.  I think it is a great egret but I could be wrong.

Of course Lucy's favorite activity is swimming for her tennis ball.

This makes her happy.

Lucy was here!  That's what the footprints seem to say, however fleetingly.

We had a good time!  We'll be back.

Lawbreaker

I made the Springtime Bandit shawl.  Sometimes I really wonder how designers name their creations.  This shawl is not a springtime garment in most of the country, given the worsted weight alpaca, wool, and silk yarn.  And what's it got to do with a bandit?  Anyway, it was a fun, fast, and lovely thing to knit.

Just over a month ago I had knee surgery.  My mom came to help me out.  Turns out surgery was not bad at all and I was immediately walking around.  So we had some time for a few adventures.  We went west to Katy (a suburb of Houston) so my mom could shop in a quilt store.  Since we were already there, we went a few more miles down the road to Yarntopia.  I wasn't going to buy anything.  Really, I wasn't.  But this shawl was knitted and displayed around the shoulders of a mannequin.  My mom really liked it.  I had just given her her original Christmas gift for coming to help me out.   So I decided I would make this as a replacement Christmas gift.  She picked out the color.  The yarn is Terra by The Fiber Company.   It was really nice to work with, very soft, and it blocked out beautifully.

Given the color and the feather-like pattern, this reminds me of a peacock.

Completely unrelated:  I did some fall decorating with mums and pumpkins.  And this pumpkin chiminea.

Somewhat related:  I previously made the Springtime in Philadelphia beret so I am not completely clueless about the shawl's name.  But sometimes the names are just too cutesy for me.

1.5 Mittens, Circa 1986

Last week I was looking through a plastic bin in a spare closet.  I had no idea what was in there.  My theory these days is, "If I don't know what's in there, I probably don't need it and should get rid of it." 

I did that with some of the stuff, but not these.  No.  I need to keep them as a souvenir of my earliest attempt at knitting.

This mitten is the first thing I ever knitted, way back in 1986.  (Not a bad job, is it?)  I'd wanted to learn to knit since I was in high school.  But I didn't know any knitters.  My mom and grandma were crocheters.  The internet and YouTube videos didn't exist at the time.  So I just had to wait until I met a real-life knitter.

That summer, between sophomore and junior years of college, I flew to Connecticut so I could then drive back to Colorado and the new semester with a friend.  His mom knit!  This was my chance to learn!  So I did.  I have no memory of the actual knitting lessons but apparently I learned.

I thought I'd lost this first project.  I knew I completed one mitten but I was surprised to find the second one half done and on the needles.

Interestingly, these mittens were knit on straight needles and then seamed up the side.  That seems so old-fashioned now.

The pattern was from this Jack Frost Knitting company.  I don't know a thing about them.  However, I did an internet search and if this blogger is correct, the pattern is from 1942!  Wow, it's even older than I thought.

I think I'll leave these mittens as is, just a souvenir from my earliest attempts at knitting.  It might be fun to try making them again in some prettier yarn.

KALing Away

Sometimes I really enjoy knitting along with other people.  I can ask questions if I have a problem and someone will help me out.  I like seeing everyone's results and color choices.  I don't have a local knitting group but instead have a worldwide knitting group thanks to Ravelry.

Lately I've been participating in two different knit-a-longs.  The first is for Anne Hanson's fall club.  The project is called Sonneblume and it is a big green sunflower shawl.  The start of this project is the most unusual I've ever done.  Thankfully the group points the way and answers questions! This project takes all my brain power so I mostly knit it during lunch and when I am fully awake. I'm quite sure I won't finish this before the October project arrives. Maybe before Christmas? Here is my progress so far.

The other KAL is for a Romi shawl called Carson.  This one has been quick and easy.  This is good TV-before-bedtime knitting.  I went for fall colors.  I think it will end up looking like the sunset.  Here's what I've done so far.

Tri-Color Part 2

I love a good yarn club!  There is something so much fun about getting a package in the mail at regular intervals.  It's like a gift, even though you know you paid for it.  I love Anne Hanson designs.  So what could be better than an Anne Hanson club?  I don't have an answer.  So I joined her Bare Naked Knitspot club this past spring.   As usual I have more knitting time in my head than in real life.

But finally I cast on for a project.  This is the June selection, the Sheltie Triangle.  I cast on before vacation.  Then I had a lot of time in the Jeep--about 15.5 hours each way--and I did a lot of knitting when I wasn't driving.  Seriously, Texas has some boring scenery.  I had some time during vacation to knit too.  I made a huge amount of progress.  I finished soon after vacation was over.  Here's the result.

Knitting at my mom's house, I realized the three colors of yarn were almost the same as the three colors of her kitty.  (She has a real name but doesn't recognize it because everyone just calls her Kitty.)  I pointed this out and asked my mom if she'd like the finished shawl.  She said "yes" so fast and loud!  So the shawl will be hers.

Even if the kitty hairs up my mom while wearing the shawl no one will know since it matches the kitty so well.

Peaches

My mom's peach tree in Colorado grows the best peaches I have ever tasted.  They are sweet and juicy.  Beautiful too.

The tree produced so many peaches this year.  Mom picked a whole box full of them for me to bring back from vacation.

They are so plentiful that we didn't mind (much) to share one with a squirrel.

Yesterday I made what is possibly the best pie I have ever made.  I owe it all to those peaches.  I am a pretty decent crust maker too.  We have a special recipe that includes only four ingredients:  flour, salt, oil, and milk.   This pie is so good!