Recently in In the works Category

I'm finally getting around to starting a quilt for a certain baby boy who should be making his appearance this March. I'm using a Moda jelly roll (long strips of precut fabrics - 2 1/2 inches wide) in the Happy Campers line to make these squares, and for the pattern I'm following along with Oh Fransson!'s new Paintbox Quilt-Along. Each square measures about 7 1/2 inches square.

This is a bit more detailed piecing than I'm used to (I'm all about the BIG blocks and random piecing) but I think it's turning out pretty well. Although I realized after the fact that Baby Boy might not appreciate the flowery block, and I don't really like the fabric in the red one. So... I've got several more to make! (About 24 squares total, I'm guessing.)

The good news is that I can make 2 squares in 30-45 minutes now that I've got all the measurements down. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the quilt top and either quilt it myself or get it sent out to a quilter before the baby comes.

In the midst of all the New Year's Resolution fervor (which I'm much better at talking about than actually implementing, by the way) I have actually been doing quite a bit of knitting. My favorite kind of Christmas knitting is the no-deadline kind, so it makes sense that for the past two years I've made Christmas stocking in January. Last year I knit two - one for me and one for my husband. This year, it's one for baby! Luckily the patterns calls for you to go back at the end and add in the name at the top in duplicate stitch, because we really haven't decided 100% on that yet. Plus, I may have to go back and change it anyway, because if we end up naming the baby Jehosephat* but everyone ends up calling him "Jump," I'll switch it out to his nickname.

I'm also - FINALLY - making a black and gold brioche scarf for my husband to match a hat I finished almost exactly a year ago. I'll try to snap a picture of that today, as well as an updated belly picture.

* I kid, Mom, I kid! You can stop hyperventilating now.

Ok knitters, no spoilers on what I'm knitting here (if you know)... but didn't this knit up pretty? I love hand-painted/variegated yarns in the skein, but they are sooo hard to make look good once they are knit. Flashing & pooling absolutely drives me crazy, and I have been know to rip and reknit the same yarn 5 or 6 times until I can find a pattern, gauge, and yarn combo that works without pooling.  This particular project only took one try (hallelujah!) but lots and lots of Ravelry stalking helped my odds. 

I loved my sister's last comment on my blog:
A. I demand a belly picture
B. I demand finished house pictures!
C. Your sister is very demanding.

I took a belly picture, but the internet connection at my house is messed up so I can't upload. My house isn't quite "finished" (as in, it's currently covered in bits of blue tape marking where the contractors need to come back through and fix things). So, she and my other less-demanding readers will have to be satisfied with a picture of some knitting-in-progress for someone that I'm pretty sure doesn't read this blog.

I've been planning on giving this person a scarf I finished this summer, but we all know that a knitter can't really get into the holiday spirit unless you unreasonably load up on Christmas knitting. (Right?) Anyway, I had plenty of matching yarn left, so I decided I needed to knit a pair of gloves to match the scarf. On Size 1 needles. With decorative beading. Yeah... I'm a genius.

The good news is that I have managed to finish one of these gloves already. So, I just have to finish the other one, along with these other Christmas knitting projects:

A hat
A scarf (or three)
A baby item of some sort
Possibly another pair of gloves? (Probably not, though)

That list doesn't look so bad... I will have to reassess after this wonderful Thanksgiving weekend which is always great for knitting. What do you think, am I crazy or are you in the same boat with your handmade gift list?

It's the crafty blogger's annual conundrum: how to continue blogging about my crafty adventures while not revealing holiday presents being made for family members and friends who read the blog? I really hate blogging without pictures, so that makes it even more difficult. This year, I think I'll just post random pretty pictures and some ramblings to distract you from lack of craftiness.

I've got a fairly intimidating list of Christmas gifts I'm planning to make, but I think the fact that I'm already planning out how to get it all done is a positive sign - right? How about you - are you in total denial that Christmas is 6 weeks away? Are you one of those sickening people that already has every present done, wrapped, and stowed away in a specially designated Christmas closet?

Photo credit to novamade via flickr.

To distract myself from the chaos that continues to be what I shall henceforth refer to as "the kitchen floor situation," I spent quite a bit of time on my sewing machine during last week and during the weekend.

I started this quilt in January (oh-nine, thank you very much!) with the plan of making a king-size log cabin quilt for my bed. I hadn't worked out all the details, but I know how to sew log cabin squares so I just started sewing, and sewing, and sewing.

Needless to say, even though I was string piecing and trying to be as organized and efficient as possible, I ran into so snags. I didn't have a good estimate of how much fabric I needed, and I started running out of certain colors. By the time I went back to the fabric store, she was sold out. I started ransacking my fabric stash & local fabric shops to find something that would be color-and-pattern equivalent to the fairly unique Amy Butler & Alexander Henry prints I had selected. (Thank you, Christmas gift card from Uncle Charlie!) I finally found some replacements that more or less filled the bill, more cutting, more sewing... burnout. I just got sick of the project and didn't touch it for at least 3 months.

This summer, I've kind of lost my knitting mojo, but I have been sewing quite a bit more. Why not the quilt? I picked it up to discover that all the squares were done, I just needed to join them together! I added some off-white sashing to balance out all the crazy prints, and I must say, I'm pretty impressed with myself.

So, now the question is... how in the heck am I supposed to quilt this thing? It is truly king-sized, and I just have a regular sewing machine (not long-arm or anything). Is it even possible? Any advice would be much appreciated.

It's that time again... the Tour de France! Actually it starts tomorrow (July 4, but I think I'll probably have something a little more patriotic to post then). Also, I'm not really a huge cycling fan, although I am learning to love riding my bike and I'm sure I can learn a few tricks from these guys if I pay attention.

No, I'm excited because it's time again for the Tour de France Knit-Along. I joined this group on a whim a couple of years ago, and had a really great time learning more about cycling and getting to know some new knitters.

This year I am competing for the polka dot jersey, which means I'll be trying to finish up as many current knitting projects as I can. Right now, that would be a pair of socks (from my Colorado trip), a cotton sweater for myself, a scarf that I meant to give as a Christmas gift last year but still isn't done, and as many baby hats as I can possibly crank out for Craft Hope.

I have been assigned to Team Rabobank, which in addition to being a real Tour team, is a team of 10 knitters from 4 different countries.  I'm hoping I can talk them into some kind of swap at the end of the KAL - I love getting mail and random goodies from other countries.

I have also agreed to adopt Stage 12 of the Tour, so be looking forward to learning more about the French towns of Tonnerre and Vittel on July 16th.