Rag Dolls quilt continued and Max is ONE!!!

It is rare indeed for a project to turn out the way you envision it!  I am so happy with the way the Rag Dolls quilt top is turning out.  I found the perfect background material at Joann Fabrics on Friday and finished cutting and sewing the blocks together today!  It took some pondering to get the staggered arrangement to work out.  Now on to designing complimentary borders and figuring out the best designs to use for hand quilting.  I also need to figure out what I want to do for the back.

Watched some adorable videos of Max on his first birthday!  Wish I could have been there to give him grandma hugs and kisses :-(.  He is such a darling. 

Rag Dolls Quilt

I have enjoyed creating rag doll blocks since September and now am struggling with how best to assemble the blocks into a quilt.  Just lining them up didn't appeal to me.  A staggered arrangement gave them more life.

My first attempt at sashing overwhelmed the blocks I worked so hard to create, since there was just too much color and the eye was overwhelmed.

After doing some research on line to look at different examples of sashing I came across an exciting presentation possibility using "wonky" sashing to tilt the blocks. http://whynotsew.blogspot.com/2011/11/topsy-turvy-sashing-tutorial-wonky.html

This combined with a single color cream background may be the best solution to make them stand out and to give them even more movement.  My next consideration was whether to frame the blocks or to leave them unframed.  I think I have decided to leave them unframed.

Now I must decide on borders, yeah or nay?  I sort of like the patchwork borders, but I'm not sure.  Again, I don't want to take away from the rag doll blocks.... Maybe a white border on the outside?  I can see 'spirals of wind' stitches for the quilting around the blocks.  Lots more thinking needed!

To be continued!

Back in the Saddle!

I haven't posted for quite some time in this blog due to time constraints, and life in general, but now that I am 'less-employed' I will have more opportunity and inclination to blog.  I am looking forward to this!

Currently I am busy pursuing massive reorganization of our home and indulging in crafts that I've never had the time to tackle. I have completed a first sweep through the top floor of rooms (which included my craft room and our office so those were both VERY time consuming and still need a bit more work).  Since my craft room is now functional again, quilting and other sewing is my current time consumer :-). (Ah, the benefits of being a good girl and biting the bullet and cleaning!). We also tackled the dreaded garage, which was in a rather sorry state of mass confusion. We have made significant progress in that area (maybe half done) and donated a pick up truck full of furniture, a dryer, books and other items to the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  I've also donated about 15 bags of clothes, and other household goods to Easter Seals and Purple Hearts Veterans.  Several large bags of trash were also generated and dispatched, and there is still more!  I confess that the lure of quilting has slowed progress in reorganization..... I still need to finish going through 2 cabinets in the living room and a few in the kitchen.  The dreaded basement awaits and is gathering more items from elsewhere that I just can't deal with yet. (This is called the 'anaconda' method of cleaning - the bulge travels from room to room until it escapes the house!)  Gardening is slowing down as the Fall progresses, and I worked on clearing the large back garden bed yesterday.  I hope to get out there and seriously weed all the beds before bad weather sets in so I can enjoy the Spring splendor without the Spring sore body!  I bought 120 bulbs to add to the Springtime joy and have about 30 more of those to plant yet.  I am working on a crocheted baby blanket, that is mindless, more-or-less, just for the fun of it.

I am also trying to organize all important information in one central location so that it will be more easily accessed by us and others, in case that were needed! I have wanted to do this for some time so I bought this book from Signals catalog with the rather grim name "I'm Dead. Now What?" to help with this task. The book has helpful pages for just about everything you would want to know all  organized in one place once it is completed.  It is going to take a while to fill out and some of the topics we need to get busy and decide on.  I'm going to work on filling it in every day.  I made a good start on it last night and this morning. I also wrote up a list of travel destinations we would love to visit - a bucket list, I guess!

My other pursuit includes physical activity (which I need more of!) and photography.  I discovered that I am truly happy exploring the natural world and discovering, photographing and identifying organisms is a passion. It is a useful activity as well, since I am still working as a part-time Naturalist. I have been spontaneously hiking or biking the many lovely little parks and reserves near us or just walking our U shaped neighborhood, which is a lovely walk of about 1 1/2 miles. I hope to obtain a better camera soon.

Last, but not least, the cats really appreciate my increased presence :-)

DIY Knitting Tools! What Fun :-)

Preparation for March's Northcoast Knitting Guild meeting on DIY Knitting Tools has been so much fun!  I've tried out many of the projects and love the results!  I've even created a few of my own ideas along the way :-)  Here is a sampling of the projects I've worked on and a list of references for the creative adventurers in the world of DIY to try out for yourself!

Figure 1: Row Counter and Needle Threaders

 Figure 2: Stitch Markers

 Figure 3: Row Counter

Figure 4: Yarn Keeper aka Yarn Bra

Figure 5: More Knit and Crochet Stitch Markers

Figures 6 & 7 Cable Needle Rings (pattern for sale on Ravelry)

Figure 8: Felted Gnome DPN Holders Pattern by Tiny Owl Knits

Figures 9, 10 & 11: Foam, Foam Board and Coat Hanger Sock Blockers

Figure 12: Knitting Tool Do-Dad

Figure 13: Knitting Scarf Caddy for Knitting Tools

Figures 14 & 15: Punchinello Caps for DPNs

Figure 16: Knitting Project Bag

Figures 17 & 18: Still more fun Stitch Markers!

References:

http://www.interweave.com/needle/projects_articles.asp - pattern for Punchinello Caps for DPNs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoB7Kt7Nj74 – U tube video on making DPN holders

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/crafthackz#.bynra65x9 – Various DIY knitting gadget ideas

http://sutherland-studios.com.au/free/rowcounter.php - row counter bracelet instructions

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/07/easy-ways-to-count-rows/ - row counter instructions

https://catknitsalot.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/homemade-row-counter-for-knitting/ - more row counter instructions

http://martianmischief.blogspot.co.uk/2006/04/i-make-my-own-row-counters_28.html - still another row counter idea

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/make-your-own-knitting-stitch-markers/ - stitch markers

http://cyberseams.com/article/105710/all_things_knitting/how_to_make_your_own_sock_blockers.html - sock blockers

http://littlesesameknits.blogspot.com/2007/04/super-easy-diy-sock-blockers-tutorial.html - sock blockers

https://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-sock-blocker-using-wire-hanger/ - coat hanger sock blocker

http://www.eskimimimakes.com/2009/09/make-your-own-sock-blockers.html - sock blockers

http://www.eskimimimakes.com/2013/01/tutorial-blocking-mittens-with-handmade.html - mitten blockers

http://www.jessicabiscoe.co.uk/archives/diy-blocking-board - blocking board

https://knitknoodler.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/make-your-own-blocking-board/ - blocking board

http://acreativedimension.blogspot.com/2012/10/make-your-own-blocking-board.html - blocking board

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knitting-needle-case - a knit, lined, knitting needle case

http://people.delphiforums.com/knit_chat/fingerpuppets/pincushion.htm - knit pin cushion / needle holder

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tape-measure-cover - knitted tape measure cover

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yarn-cake-keeper - yarn cake keeper, aka yarn bra

http://knituition.blogspot.com/2007/04/wrist-yarn-holder.html - yarn ball keeper, wrist yarn holder

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cable-needle-dock-rings - cable needle dock ring

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tool-belt-for-the-wrist - tool belt for the wrist

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/jvallas/faux-cables-sample-pieces - more on tool belt for wrist

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spiffy-little-needle-roll - knit needle roll

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kable - felted and cabled needle holder

http://www.berroco.com/patterns/kable

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/case-in-point - knit needle roll with pockets for dpn

http://brineydeepdesigns.blogspot.com/2007/12/free-pattern-case-in-point.html

A Special Gift!

Sometimes you just hit on the perfect gift for someone!  This morning I 'helped' to create the perfect gift for a friend of mine.  Julie's mother had been a knitter and crocheter.  She had been working on an afghan for Julie's family but wasn't able to finish it before her death.  Recently Julie's father also passed away.  Her family was tasked with cleaning out the house to ready it for sale.  Knowing that I knit and crochet, Julie gifted me with a large bag of her mother's yarn that had been in storage for years.  As I sorted through the skeins of yarn I also found several strips of an uncompleted afghan that her mother had been working on.  I admired the beautiful work and reflected on the hours she must have spent creating the strips.  I thought about what I could possibly do to make something of the strips for Julie.  Pillows was a possibility or maybe something else......

This morning inspiration struck!  As I laid out the strips to try to figure out how to turn them into something useful, I draped a strip around my neck and looked in the mirror.  COWL!  Ah ha!  I rummaged through my stash of antique buttons (great fun :-) and came up with 4 perfect buttons.

I placed the live stitches on a needle and created a garter stitch edge on one side and single crocheted and slip stitched back an edge on the other end.

I sewed on the 4 buttons and steam blocked the cowl.

Here is Julie in her warm hug from her mom :-)  We both cried.....

Level II Adventures!

Ready for a funny story? Yesterday, I decided to work on swatch 24 (the last one for my Level II, yay!!!!) outside in my lovely reclining deck chair. The instructions say to add a another ball of yarn while working the pocket. I didn't have another ball, so I decided to use the other yarn end of the ball I was using. So far, so good despite a few tangles. Then I discovered I had split two stitches and had to do some knitting surgery, but in the process of fixing these two mistakes, the cats decided to give chase to a hapless chipmunk. Now I couldn’t just sit there and watch it get murdered, despite the fact that it had earned a Darwin Award by even venturing into our fenced back yard full of cats, so I dropped my knitting and joined the chase. I finally did succeed in driving away the cats with the water hose. By the time I got back to my knitting I couldn’t remember what row I was on! Sigh. Then I discovered that I had one end of the working yarn going over the chair arm and one under the chair arm. This basically meant I was trapped and MUST finish knitting the swatch in that chair. Of course, the black flies and midges thought this was a grand idea and they got very busy making me regret that mistake and it was with great relief that I could finally cut one of the active yarn ends and get free !!! Ah, the trials of knitting!!! (My husband had several chuckles over this.....)

So Proud of My Mom!

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