Sewing Space

On Saturday night, my husband and I got some rare time out together without the kids. We were almost giddy with the thought of some time together. We had some dinner, went to IKEA , and a movie. Paul really wanted to go to IKEA although I could have skipped it, but I'm glad I didn't. We found this desk and I thought it would be a perfect sewing table. I wasn't really in the mood to part with the money for it, but then we found a display model in the "as-is" sale section for over half off. Well, we loaded it up in Paul's Outback and brought it home. The cabinets on the sides are big enough to house my sewing machine when I'm not sewing. It looks so much better than the old computer desk I had been using for sewing.

I dug out the dress that I started last April and I vowed to finish it before Easter even though I know Tess has grown too big for it. Isn't that sad? I'm struggling with sewing clothes. I'm a quilter and I have almost zero experience sewing anything other than a quilt.

Recently, I found myself at quilt shop in Golden and I bought some pre-cut half- yards to make these tote bags that Jenn inspired me to sew.  I thought that these totes would make great library book bags and possibly great handmade gifts for children's birthday parties.

I just love little stacks of beautiful fabric. I've been buying more fabric than yarn lately. I'm over-inspired as usual.

Yarn Along- Dragons and green yarn

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.

Here's Sammy's Dragon hat that I was working on last week. I worked really hard over the weekend to get this hat completed. I endured a knitting injury as well. I was using Knit Picks nickle-plated 3.25mm circulars and anyone who knits with Knit Picks knows that they are sharp. I punctured my index finger last Friday night while working through the last few rows of the Fair Isle section. Ouch! I can't believe the needle broke the skin. Anyhow, I persevered, but I wish I had knit it a tad longer and used bigger needles. This isn't going to fit Sam for very long. I haven't blocked it yet. So, maybe there's hope.
As to this week, I'm working on crazy St. Patrick's Day hats. Weather permitting, I'm hoping to take some of the kids to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Denver this year. We love St. Patrick here and I've already have plans for beef stew with Guinness, Irish soda bread, and cupcakes made with Bailey's Irish Cream. So, I've found a way to incorporate knitting into the day as well.

So, here is one crazy hat made with sparkly yarn. I'm on the decreases and they're a little tricky. I have a big bag of assorted green yarns and  two more St. Patrick hats to knit for two more special girls. I don't think I will knit spiral stripes though. I've been doing too much color work these days.

As for reading, I'm reading a lot of the same things as last week, but I'm also perusing this knitting book. I'm thinking I may have to buy my own copy since there are at least four things I'd like to knit in here.

That's all for today. Click on over to Ginny's for more book and yarn adventures.

Between the Lines

I make very simple quilts. Sometimes, a simple pattern highlights the beauty of the fabric better. I enjoy arranging fabric and playing with color. Well, I've had this Jelly Roll in my fabric stash for a long time and I wanted to find a pattern that would make good use of a Jelly Roll. I found  the Between the Lines pattern at the Fat Quarter Shop which happens to be my favorite online source for fabric. As you can see from the pattern image below, I'm not quite done with the topper yet, but precut fabric definitely speeds up the process of assembling a topper. I cut all the strips last week and sewed the long strips together in a day. Although, clearly, I'm far from the final stages of this quilt. Sewing can be so satisfying even if the quilt is simple. It still requires work and creativity.

The Snowman

Sammy had to make a snow creature for school. He wanted a traditional snowman. So, Luke, Sam, and I spent a few hours one night creating this snowman. I got all excited and my creative juices started flowing. I envisioned  a tartan kilt for "our" snowman and ice skates, but Sammy restrained me a bit. We had so much fun with all our felt, pipe cleaners, and glitter glue! This whole experience made me want to do more crafts like this with the kids. I want my kids to learn that deep joy can come with unleashing our creativity. I could feel my brain churning with ideas and I knew that something good was happening.  I guess I should go and make my own snowman!

Yarn Along- knitting, sewing and lots of color inspiration

A wonderful friend brought this bright happy fun dress from Hawaii for Little T.  It's a lovely orange which I think is a
great color on my little girl.  Of course, I thought that I should knit up a little shrug to match. So,  I went digging in my yarn stash and pulled out three hanks of Spud&Chloe in Sweater weight.  I'm thinking about another  Chloe because this pattern is already written for Spud&Chloe yarn. 



Should I knit it in stripes or solid yellow?  If I decide on a solid, I will have to buy more.  I'm definitely on a de-stash mission right now.  The minimalist in me won't let me have too much yarn around.  That hank of yellow above is Firefly.  Isn't that a perfectly delightful name?  The dark red is Firecracker and the light orange is Pollen. 

Here's the little sundress up close.  Doesn't it look lovely with that hank of Firefly?  Maybe I should just knit another shrug in one color! 



Here's another project that's kind of related to knitting.  With the help of my best friend's Auntie Arlene, I learned to sew this little dress over the past week.  So, I've devoted more time to my sewing machine than my knitting needles in the past few days.  I've always wanted to sew a dress, but sewing clothes just seemed daunting and challenging.  I have to laugh at the notion that this is a difficult sewing project though.  It's probably one of the easiest dress patterns out there! As a quilter, I'm no stranger to my sewing machine, but this is a very different type of sewing.  So, how is this dress project related to knitting you might ask?  Well, of course, Little T will need a lightweight sweater to wear with this, right? 



Aren't those apples sweet? 

I started this hat this week.  It's an easy pattern to memorize, but beware of getting off by even one stitch.  I've already had to pull it out once after knitting three inches or so.  It's a free pattern on Ravelry. 

As for reading, I'm perusing my latest library haul.  I'm still working on The Forgotten Garden for book club as well.  Please join Ginny for more knitting and reading adventures!

Enchanted Knitting

It looks like February outside my window today. We're on day 3 of snow and Fall just started! Anyway, it's the perfect day for tea and scones and flipping through my new knitting book which arrived yesterday from Amazon. It's always a good day when books arrive from Amazon even if there's six inches of snow outside!

To Crochet or not to Crochet

See this cute little chevron throw? I want to make this, but I'm not done knitting my first pair of socks yet. I can't start another project yet, right? Well, I'm a little intimidated by crochet, but I want to try anyway (after I finish the socks of course).

In Progress...

I've started laying out these blocks in Kaffe Fassett garden prints...makes me long for Spring!

Here are some of these vibrant prints up close.

These are the remaining blocks that need to be cut to the smaller size. I still need to cut the border and choose fabric for the backing. I like breaking quilting down into manageable little chunks. Right now, I'm focused on just getting the topper done. Then, I can buy fabric for the backing (after Lent of course).

Here's my first sock...so far. I have to admit that I'm beginning to like double points.

I love the creative life!

The New Year

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I do like to begin the new year with a clear slate. I like to purge and clear out unnecessary stuff that I think clutters both my physical space and my mind. Then, I like to set out to challenge myself in some way in the new year. Maybe that is a resolution, but usually I think of resolutions as endeavors of self-torture that are quickly abandoned even before the end of January.

On New Year's day, I took down the the Christmas tree. Normally, we would keep the tree until the feast of the Epiphany, but this year, I needed the decorations packed away a little sooner. I kept the Nativity set up so that the boys could move the Wise Men closer each day until the Twelfth day of Christmas (today). Since we had a chaotic December our Advent was anything but routine. I just wanted to get back on track and that meant leaving the Christmas celebration a little earlier this year. Tess is a just a little over a month old now and we're beginning to settle back into our new "normal" life now. December passed so quickly yet it already seems so long ago that I was pregnant. Isn't that strange? The other night I rubbed my belly and I got a little sad missing my pregnant belly, but then I remembered that I can sleep on my tummy again! Anyway, I've been looking ahead and making plans for 2009. I've been reading Living Simply by Joanne Heim. Now, I've read scores of books on simple living, but I like her gentle approach to living a simple life including celebrating the Sabbath. I think this is an area that I want to explore more in the new year. How do I want to live the Sabbath? I want to create a day of restoration for my family, but it remains to be seen how this will actually play out during the year.

I've been reading many of your blogs out there and I really like this challenge I read about over at Sweetness and Light. It's the 4x10 Challenge where one reads four books in ten different subject areas. My first thought was 40 books? No problem! Then I realized that this might be more challenging considering there are ten different subject areas. I realize that I tend to read a lot about homeschooling, education, contemporary societal issues, simplicity, cooking and the occasional work of fiction, but there are several neglected subject areas. So, I'm looking forward to compiling a list of books. I got a few books for Christmas that I'm excited to read. I received a couple of novels by Elizabeth Goudge that I know I will add to the list. Of course I love to make lists so this will prove to be a fun beginning to a year of reading!
I would also like to continue to challenge myself with knitting. I'm getting closer to completing the Wallaby sweater I started in October. I received a fancy set of circular needles for Christmas and they cannot stay in the box. What to knit next?? I don't know yet, but there are so many delightful things to create! There is so much beauty to create.

"The World is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." -Robert Louis Stevenson

Okay, I just had to borrow that quote from Alice's blog.

Anyway, I look forward to a new year with exciting new projects, books, drawing with Luke and of course watching my new baby girl grow (but not too fast)! I love the pleasant thoughts of new beginnings! Happy New Year!!

Fun with Circular Needles

Here's my first attempt at using circular needles.
I'm taking a class to learn to knit a wallaby sweater. I figured it was time to learn how to knit something other than a square and I've been avoiding circular needles for a while. I've also been avoiding learning how to increase and decrease. So, this class forces me to take my knitting to the next level. So, when I'm done knitting this sweater it will be for Sammy. It has a hood and front pocket. So, apparently my knitting style is very loose. Mary, can you help me? I tend to pull the needles far apart when I purl.

It's Finally Done!

Here's the quilt (you can see Sammy's toes in the picture) I started for Sammy a few days after we brought him home from the hospital. Somehow, in those early days, I managed to cut it out, piece it and sew the topper together very quickly despite taking care of a newborn. I know it's not a terribly difficult quilt, but I was really motivated after Sam was born. Then, we put our house up for sale and I put my sewing machine away and all my quilting stuff too. A friend of mine from church quilted it for me and then the poor thing just sat stored away waiting to be finished. Recently, I pulled out four unfinished quilts and decided it was high time that I finished them. It's so easy to lose your momentum on a project if you put it away for too long. Anyway, thanks to Steph, it's finally complete just shy of Sam's third birthday. Steph helped me hand sew the binding on last night. I hadn't sewn bindings in over two years and I totally had forgotten how to do it. I now have three unfinished quilts and I'm anxious to begin a new quilting project and I won't (see how disciplined I can be?) until I finish the other quilts which remain in-progress. The next project I want to attempt is in this book. It's a cute little sailboat that will make a great wall-hanging for the boys' room. I'm already thinking about the day I can purchase more fabric!

Luke's crazy hat

Here's the hat that Luke knitted on a circular loom. He got a little help at the end, but otherwise he made it himself. He's started a second hat with two different yarns to make a thicker hat that will actually keep his head warm.