Back at it again

Wow! Has it really been over a month since my last post?  Not a lot of crafting was completed during that time, but a lot was done.  Big D started school, and at this point only has a week left.  He passed his road test first try and is now fully licensed to drive a big rig.  He'll be off to work on March 4th which I know he is both excited and apprehensive about.

I am taking one step further to solidifying my title as crazy crafting CAT lady.  Big D's Grandma is moving into an assisted living complex and cannot bring her fur babies with her.  We can't take both of them, but we have agreed to take Monte who used to belong to Big D.  He is a 7 year old maine coon and has a lovely disposition.  I know Meeko will get along with him, but Kokanee may be another story.  We'll see how it plays out with two people and three cats in our apartment. (Big D used to have a cat named Chevy, this is Monte and Meeko's middle name is Carlo...do we see a pattern here?)

Our new fur baby, Monte

I finally used my Fabricland gift card from Christmas and happened to go on a day with some killer deals!  They had cotton prints on buy one meter get TWO free.  For once, I didn't go wild for quilting fabric but instead bought enough to make a new outfit for the MLHS. (okay, you got me, it's in preparation for Mississinewa this year!)  I've also started working on the embroidery for my reticule to match my spencer jacket I made a couple months ago.  It's coming along nicely, although I think it's lacking a little something.  If  any of you Regency experts have suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

OOOH!!! Fabric!!

Embroidery on the reticule

I have done more work on the 9 patch quilt, but nothing really worth mentioning or showing other than its coming along well.

Keeping with the title of my post, I am back at it on a knitting project from 2006-2007 and earlier than that.  My Grandma started a cardigan sweater for my Grandpa back in 1956.  She was the queen of UFO's, so of course the back piece was finished and no more.  Some of the yarn was used years later for socks and now there isn't enough of the original red to complete it.  Her and I had discussed how to go about finishing it with what we had left.  We decided that a sweater vest with a contrasting colour for the front would be the best option and came up with a nice little design.  I haven't worked on it since she passed away.  I pulled out my very neglected yarn bin today while teaching a friend to knit, and decided it was time to get back at it.  I managed to complete 10 rows (two block strips) today and I feel really great about it!

Me and my Grandma back in 2000

The progress so far on the front of the vest.  Please excuse my laptop and over sized sweat pants! lol

Going through my stash, and knowing how many projects I have on the go at any one times makes me wonder, how many UFO's do you have?  

Sunday Morning Snapshots

Just a short post on this quiet Sunday morning.  I finished my block a month quilt piece last night.  It has to be turned in while I am away on my trip, so I have to bring it to my mom to turn in for me.  I'll still have to pay because I'm not there myself, but I'm perfectly okay with that.  It's only $5 after all.

I like the way the fabrics came together after I had assembled it.  When I saw the pieces, I was not too keen on the fabrics I had chosen.  Now, I'm quite happy with it and I can't wait for the next block!  I think I will make two again so that I'm working on two quilts at once for the price of one!  Who knows, maybe I'll even do a third with the pretty pretty fabric I pick up in the states!!!!!!

I don't feel that my corners are as nice on this one than my test block, but maybe I'm just being picky.  I'm just happy I did something with triangles and survived!

As promised, I have a picture of my Eye of Partridge shawl.  It's more like a tiny scarf as you can see in the picture.  For some reason, the edge ruffled when I did my cast off and I'm not sure why.  I think it looks neat though and I'm happy I finally finished it.

That's all for this Sunday.  I'm headed to my parent's place tonight with Big D for Thanksgiving dinner.  It should be a tasty good time!  Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers!

Fun with Pinterest

I've been doing a whole bunch of pinning on Pinterest as of late.  I decided it was time to try a few of the ideas on there.  The first adventure was attempting to make skinny jeans from regular wide leg or boot cut pants. (I recently bought my first pair of skinny jeans and have gotten over the fear of thunder thighs when I wear them.  Now all I want is skinny jeans!!)

I found a tutorial on this blog about a lady that thrifts and DIY's almost all her clothes.  The jeans I bought were black so I thought I would take a chance and try to make a blue pair.  I have 2-3 pairs of wide leg blue jeans.  Unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but I'm quite pleased with the after.  I had one of my co workers take the picture of my finished results.  One leg does seem to be a little tighter than the other, but I'm pleased with the overall result of my first Pinterest clothing DIY.

I love my iPhone and I love listening to music on it.  It's so convenient and just plain awesome.  The one thing I hate is searching through my purse for my headphones and spending most of my bus ride trying to untangle those things.  They must have a mind of their own because no matter how I put them into my purse or pocket, they always come out looking like this.

Thankfully, I ran across this nifty little pin that claims to stop the tangle and makes your headphones unique and customized.  No more fighting with Big D over whose headphones are whose!  I did a portion of mine so far.  I'm not sure how I'm going to get around the volume button or the little clippy thingie, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

I also FINALLY finished my Eye of Partridge shawl, or as Big D knows it, the truck repair shawl.  I started it over 3 years ago when he bought his truck.  It was used and had a blown transmission but the price was more than right.  Every time we would go to his Uncle's place to work on the truck, I would bring this knitting project along with me to keep myself occupied.  The truck was repaired but the shawl was not done.  It went missing a few times in my bins of crafts, and the pattern took a vacation as well, but I finally finished it.  The funny thing is, Big D sold the truck about a month ago!  I'll upload a picture of it later.

For now, I'll get back to work watching the snow whiz by the window.  Yes, you read correctly, it is snowing here.  It's not staying, thank goodness, but it's making things cold, wet and slushy.  None of which I like in early October.  On the other hand, it is the perfect crafting weather!!

Some Old Projects or A Brief History in the Creation of a Crazy Crafting Cat Lady!

All of this work that I've been doing lately has had people asking me “how many quilts have you made”, “how long have you been making these crafts” and similar questions. It got me to thinking I should showcase some of the work I've done pre-blogging.

My first quilt I made was inspired from helping my mom with some research she was doing for a paper. She had a ton of quilting books and I fell in love with a brick wall pattern. This was the first quilt I had ever attempted, so simplicity was a must. I used scrap fabrics and a few old pairs of jeans for the brick wall and only had to buy material for the border and backing. At the time, I only had a very tiny, hand-me-down Singer feather weight sewing machine from my great Aunt. Suffice it to say that when my quilt was done, the machine was too! I enjoyed making that quilt but lack of a sewing machine made it hard to continue. I bought a used machine online and it worked...kinda...IF it felt like it. It also liked to eat bobbin thread like a fat kid eats cake. That machine was part of the reason my fall table topper wasn't finished in so many years.

It was in the year and a half that I didn't have a sewing machine that I went through my knitting phase. I still haven't knitted a sweater, but I had scarves, toques, purses and every other project imaginable. Part of me still wanted to scratch that sewing itch, and joining the MLHS gave me an excuse to buy a machine and get started. I still do knitting and other crafts. I have a shawl on the go right now and a tub of yarn stashed under the bed.  I also picked up some cross stitching again while away hunting last year.

My first knitted garment!  A ponch!!!

I still have this purse, but have never managed to get the lining done.  (Maybe I can do that with my new machine!)

I wouldn't say I have a favorite or preferred craft, I mostly go through phases. I would say that the impatient part of me enjoys sewing and quilting more. The project comes together a lot quicker than with knitting.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my earlier work!

Just another rainy lazy day

I absolutely love challenging myself with new projects that force me to learn something.  There are days, however, where you just need something simple and mindless.  Today is one of those days.  It's rainy, windy and chilly here and I'm babysitting my two youngest cousins.  They're full on pizza and lemonade and now relaxing watching G-Force.  I had limited bag space and decided to bring along my quick stash busting knitting project.  

It's nothing fancy, just a simple two ball garter stitch scarf, but the yarn is yummy.It's Sean Sheep's Wooloomooloo 51% Wool 49% Acrylic blend (75g 90m/98yd per ball) and it resembles a hand spun yarn with its irregularities.  I'm knitting it up 25 sts wide on US10/6.5mm aluminum Boye needles.  Very nice to work with and not bad as far as Walmart yarn goes.  I picked it up at least two years ago and has been sitting in the large box under my bed since.

So here is a picture of my half scarf for all of you to marvel at.  At the rate its knitting up, the weather outside, and the hours I have left babysitting these monsters cousins of mine I should be done soon!  I can't wait to see  how it turns out!  The wheels in my head are already turning on how to finish this.  Maybe add some fleece to one side to make it super cozy and a little more wind proof for those chilly fall days we all know are closer than we'd like.