Knitting...?

No, just casting....

last night watching a YouTube tutorial.  

I'm left handed so it was a bit awkward at first.  

I cast on 40 stitches-TWICE.

Then I got sucked into the abyss "YouTube tutorial land" watching rug hooking demos...

I am making decent progress on the Skinny Santa.

 Although his being complete by end of January is if-y mainly because the month is going way too fast, and I don't seem to have any control over it.

Is anyone else dizzy?

Perhaps it's just me.

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Yesterday, I spent the day with several quilters from the guild I'm in at a sew-in for their community outreach. 

They had blocks already pieced from donated fabrics.  

I  put 2 lap size tops together and brought them home to quilt.  

It was a very good day.

I even made dinner.

Amazing.

A Scarf

Yeah!  

It's really soft and warm...I'm wearing it right now 

and yes I am still in my jammies

 and yes it clashes.

I'm crazy like that.  

Coffee dying

As I write this I am coffee dying this little pillow that I stitched together yesterday. 

I made these years ago, I think around 2003.

I just stuck a piece of leftover batting behind them and did random lines of sewing to hold it together and then just sewed them together leaving an opening for stuffing.  

I have one more stitchery that I forgot to get a picture of that says "Light fades stars appear Evening Angels gather here" I think that's right.  

I need to either stitch a little angel to it or applique one on.... it needs something...

Yesterday I got a 2nd stitchery from Kaaren's FFF together and quilted.

(17 x 22)

I just need to sew those binding strips together and this one will be done as well.  I should get that finished today. The 2 side borders are flannel and they stretched and are pretty wavy after my dense quilting.  I'm probably going to have to block this and swear at it pretty good :) to get it to behave.

I've been watching You tube videos of beginning knitting tutorials.  They are a great time waster mesmerizing.  

I do think now I am ready to try again to teach myself to knit.  I tried a couple days ago, just following a little beginner booklet and I just couldn't understand what the hell the pictures were conveying.  Now I think I get it.  Oh man this is so dangerous to write "I think I get it"  and then I won't and it will be so embarrassing.

When I couldn't get the hang of casting on with REAL knitting needles, I got out my Knifty Knitter loom and started this

I love it, it's nice and soft and I can't wait to use it.

I'm trying to do this knitting and my rug hooking "10 minutes" at a time.  Well, that's what I'm trying for but I think 20 minutes at a time would be more productive since I'm slow I don't get much done in 10 minutes and I like to see results.

The pieced backing I was working on is finally big enough (80x80).  I ran down during the Pens game intermissions and sewed...sewed through most of the 2nd period too!

I didn't take a picture but it is now loaded on HQ and ready for quilting. 

Today I've been distracted by this computer, phone calls, the dogs--just one of those kinds of days.

Since my design wall is empty I've pulled out this project.

It will be my first UFO for 2012.  You may remember when I took the One Block Wonder class one of the students in that class ended up hating hers and after getting them in rows decided she wasn't going to finish them ever.  So I bought them and all her leftover fabric from her for $20.  

I was going to put them up and maybe rearrange which is why, I think, they've languished for so long.  I have this picture from the class where she's just starting her layout but nothing else.

I liked it then and still do. So my next decision is should I just sew them together as she has them, or should I put them up on the wall and maybe play around with them...

I do so like to play with blocks... 

I think that answers that question.

Well, I just checked my coffee dying and I'm not happy.  the muslin is a little darker but not like I want.  I want staining.  I must try again.  

fun times, fun times...Life is Good!

The Scarf, Aster Manor and Crab Apples

My first scarf is finished!!  It is going to keep me very warm.  It's about 60" long.  I just kept knitting and knitting, figured it was better to use it and have a very long scarf than stop and have a little ball of yard leftover and nothing to do with it.

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In between housework and other stuff I've been working on A.Manor. The sashing strips are all together along the right side.  The 2 bottom rows are already sewn together. I did that right away to get the bottom row off the floor, since Annie thinks fabric of any kind on the floor is her cue to make a nest!

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I only put together 1 block a day this week, the log cabin one on the left; hoping to catch up on those today and tomorrow.

The block on the right is my sample block for my next L/E using 2" squares. The quilt is called Crab Apples by B. Hunter. It's in her latest book, Adventures with Leaders and Enders.   However, the blocks in her quilt are smaller since she used 1.5" squares.   I wanted to use 2" squares to make the blocks finish 12".  So that meant re-sizing the paper piece pattern for the trunk part of the block!

It actually worked and since the p.pc. section is only 4 fabrics I was able to make it the first time correctly!  :)

 

Progress

Ta-da!   There is about 3" coming out of the bottom of the loom.  I did 3-4 rounds while watching a 10 yr old (looked and sounded like it anyway) do a demo on YouTube!  After everyone went to bed, I did all of this. 

Judy D told me in an email that her grandaughter made one in a few hours!!

I'm in awe since I did this much in about an hour.

 

I am having Fun, fun, fun!