Sewing Too

After making the decision to work only on WIPs until 1 December, I decided to apply this to sewing projects as well. Although, really, I don’t have sewing WIPs I just have the one that I should finish before starting anything else.

The languishing sewing WIP is a quilt which was my only sewing project at the beginning of the year until I hit a snag. And then it was side lined for all the garments. I purchased all the fabric for this quilt at the same time, including the backing. But when I finished the quilt top and compared the amount of backing with the top I did not have enough backing fabric. I checked what I had purchased against the pattern and I had bought the correct amount but the pattern had not taken into account that you needed two widths of the fabric. I was disappointed as I had specifically purchased the backing fabric at the same time as the main quilt fabric as it was the same style and so I had everything to make the quilt. I now had to decide if I wanted completely different material for the backing or if I wanted to piece the fabric I had with another fabric. Whatever choice I made I had to go shopping. I bought something quite different but coordinating to use as a centre panel with my original choice as the side panels.

By choosing to work on WIPs I finally sewed the two fabrics together and this weekend I trimmed then and sandwiched the quilt.

Here it is all pinned and waiting for me to quilt on my new machine.

Wrangling the WIPs

About three months ago I was justifying the number of projects I have on the go. Despite finishing two of the projects mentioned in that post, I still have too many projects in progress. I started a new project on vacation which coincided with a knitalong and I am thinking of doing an advent knitalong again this year. Soooo between now and 1 December I am going to work on existing projects – no new cast ons. Although I am already prepared to break that rule as I was contemplating casting on socks (yes, socks) so that I have an easy project.

Also, my projects, my rules. Not included in the WIP count are the charity projects, blanket squares and the two projects that still need to be frogged. I have two projects that are close to being finished. In fact it would be nice to complete them this month and there is a good chance I could complete another in November. That leaves two projects. They are not very far along so I am not likely to finish them before December but they will get worked on before 1 December if I have finished other things. Then next time I have a WIP round up I can be surprised at how far along I am!

A Hat

I know, I don’t post for nearly a month and all I have to show is a hat. I did finish my Changes shawl but, as usual, no photos.

The hat I finished was a simple crochet hat that I started in June. I got it out as I had a long car journey coming up and noticed that I only had half a row to go to finish the hat. I did that and started a new hat in the car. I now have three charity hats in progress.

I finally made myself take a photo of the hat



and before I had a chance to put it away it was snatched up.

Bags, Bags, Bags

A few posts ago I wrote that I wanted to use all the fabric I have recently purchased. This has resulted in more bags. Although some I made specifically for gifts.

When I went to England earlier this year, I purchased some ribbon. It was printed with the Union Flag and I thought it would be fun to make some bags for friends with it. I decided to make pyramid bags which meant the purchase of three zippers and then another gap before I got around to making the bags. (And even then I forgot to take them with me last time I saw my two friends together.)

When I did sit down to sew the bags I could not remember why I had chosen that particular length of zipper so just made the bags to fit the zips. Now I’m wondering if that was the shortest length in the colour I wanted and I planned to cut them. No big deal as this way I used all the ribbon. I cut out interfacing to size, fused the ribbon to it and then zig-zag stitched along the edges. This was used as the main fabric and I had plenty of a cream for the lining.



Sometime last year, I purchased a set of blue fat quarters with the idea of making another bento bag. Jo-ann’s sells them in sets of five. When I opened them up I realized that they were all very similar, dark blue with small white print, except for one which was light. (I don’t have a photo of all five together.) I wanted the light colour for the body of the bag but thought the other pieces were too dark for the lining so I used some left over fabric. I hope whoever I give this too doesn’t mind baseballs. The inside of the handle is also left over fabric; all the other fabric is from the fat quarter set. I did not have any suitable ribbon/cord so used what I have for the time being.



The next bag I made is one for which I had had the pattern a while (free at Jo-ann’s), had purchased the zipper a long time ago and finally decided to use fabric in stash. I really like the bag even though it didn’t turn out too well. The problem was that the fabric I used is quite thick so I had difficulty making and attaching the tab. Also the interfacing I have is too thick for when all pieces are interfaced. I really need to buy some thinner interfacing. I deliberately didn’t line up the zig-zag stitching but wish I had made them more offset or only on one side.



I can definitely see myself making more of these as pencil cases for children.

August’s Square

I made August’s square last week. I was expecting it to take longer to make than it did because it looked like there was a lot of work plus when I had just sat down to sew I had some unexpected child care. With respect to the latter I was able to sew while he played with cars and regarding the former I could do a lot of chain piecing.

This block was labeled as appliqué but making a template was also involved. The flower has 20 petals. I had scraps of yellow in four different colours but decided to buy some more. An eighth-yard in three different colours when on sale at Jo-Ann’s does not cost very much. A template was made for the petals and the cutting out did not take long as I was able to layer two or three fabrics and then cut out with a small rotary cutter. Each petal was sewn across the top to make the point, turned to the right side and pressed. I then sewed the petals in pairs. I didn’t have any order for this, just made sure I didn’t have two of the same. Some of the pairs were sewn into four groups of four and then two groups of ten were made. These two groups were joined into a circle.

Here’s photos showing them before and after pressing.



The circle was then sewn to the green square – the appliqué part. There was no way I was going to do this by hand so I used zigzag stitch. I am very pleased with it; also very grateful for the needle up/down function on my new machine. The green is from the fat quarter I bought for March’s square. I am happy that I had a big piece in stash.

Flower sewn to block.



The centre of the flower is appliqué and a new to me method. The circle is cut larger than the template, running stitches made in the seam allowance, gathered around template. This was easier than expected as I had never done it before. The secret is to make stitches small and make sure they are all the same distance from the edge.

Finished block. This is the largest one so far.

And Another Bag

The other reason for there being quite a few finished sewing projects just lately is that I want to use all the fabric I purchased recently. I know that sounds a bit strange but I want my fabric purchases to be for specific projects and to be used in a short time scale and not sit in stash. I had a coupon for 20% off (I think) all purchases including sale items so I took advantage of this to buy fabric that was already massively on sale. That trip I bought fabric for five projects: the two dresses for my granddaughter, a skirt and a dress for myself, and a bag.

This week I made the skirt and the bag which means I have now used four of the five pieces of fabric. The bag was a new-to-me pattern I found in the One-Yard Wonder book. After purchasing the fabric, I noticed that the pattern said not suitable for one-directional fabric. Uh oh. No big deal. Just meant I had an extra seam at the bottom and had to concentrate to make sure the fabric was the right way up before sewing.

The bag was a straight forward lined bag with handles in the top seam but the sides and bottom had a pin tuck to give the bag shape. I messed up a bit at the corners but as my husband said anyone else wouldn't notice. Apart from that, I am happy with it but have not decided if it will be a knitting bag (for all those big projects) or just a regular carry anything bag. My granddaughter has not seen it yet and I am worried that she might lay claim to it as it is pink and dogs.

More Sewing Than Knitting

I don’t know if that is true but it definitely feels like it as this is another post showing a sewn item.

One reason is that my knitting has been big projects. Two of my finished projects this year have been over 1000 meters and the one I am working on now will be close to that. So not quick knits. Whereas the sewing has been, mostly, quick things. Also I usually have the chance to sew in a big block of time so it is easier to finish something, especially the block of the month. Whereas with just an hour or so each night spent on knitting it takes more days to finish something.

Add to that, if an item is for a child then they are very keen to see the finished item. Which brings us to today’s post and yet another dress for my granddaughter. She chose the fabric herself when we purchased the pink fabric as the dress is another view on the same pattern. This one was slightly easier as there were not eight panels to cut and sew for the skirt but they did seem to make the cutting out more complicated that I thought it needed to be. For the skirt, half the size was provided, which is usual when you are placing on the fold but they had you lay the fabric out flat and lay the pattern piece twice. This seemed unnecessary to me and I folded the fabric. The other change I made was to mitre the corners when hemming the skirt.

And There’s Knitting

At last I have a finished item to show you. Although I have many projects on the go, there is usually just one that I work on most of the time. This was my Changes shawl but when I couldn’t continue because of the split in one of the needles I picked up the Snow Day shawl. Although not at all appropriate for our summer heatwave I decided to finish it as it really is a lovely project.

I purchased the yarn at the end of January 2017. At the time I did not have a pattern in mind but purchased enough to make a decent size shawl. But when the Snow Day pattern was released I knew this yarn was perfect but I would need equal amounts of each colour. Another skein was purchased on last year’s Yarn Crawl.

I finally started it at the beginning of March when I was in London and I call it After Snow Day as there had been a bulk of snow the week before.
The pattern is written for three colours but I just alternated the two colours I had. When I came to the end of the written pattern I had practically a full skein of each left. The pattern is written with a different number of rows for each section, I worked the sequence backwards and finished with two blocks of garter stitch.

I love it. It is very squidgy and I am looking forward to wearing it when we have cooler evenings. My pattern notes say I would have gone up a needle size if I’d had bigger needles with me but now I’m glad I didn’t.

Pattern: Snow Day
Needles: 5mm
Yarn: Western Sky Knits Willow DK Superwash Merino
Colours: Pepper and Jasmine
Amount used: 2 full skeins of each.

June and July

My last post was grateful for sewing so that I had finished items to show and this one is all about the sewing too - quilt blocks.

I did not make a block in June as we were away for a couple of weeks and I just did not have the time to sew it. We're nearly at the end of July and I decided I better make the July block otherwise once I was two months behind would I continue with making them. As it turned out, I was able to make both blocks in the same day. Both blocks were made with scraps.

I am really pleased with July's block. It was another foundation paper piecing. They are so fun to make and you have the lines to sew on. This is a very summery block as it is a row of beach huts. Yes it is all scraps but the white was purchased for the bodice lining of the ill-fated Sofia dress.



As I had time left I made the June block as well as it did not have many pieces. But it was harder as there were curved shapes. I did not do as well with this as I did the umbrella in April but it will do.



When I have finished a block I look at the next one to work out what fabric I need and have everything ready to go. I will have to buy some fabric for August but I can purchase 1/8 yard at Jo-ann so I will not be adding greatly to my stash.

At the time of writing, I am very close to finishing one of my knitting projects and I have purchased a replacement needle for the Changes shawl. So who knows? Maybe the next post will be about knitting.

Thank Goodness for Sewing

As this means I have some finished items to show

Since my last sewing post I have made four more dresses for my granddaughter (two of which she didn’t like) and another shirt for my grandson. I also finished the dress I was making for myself which may or may not make an appearance depending on some decent photos being taken. Oh and that also applies to a skirt I made for myself.

I found a dress pattern in One-Yard Wonders and made a dress with Princess Sofia fabric. She loved the fabric but did not like the dress, I’m not surprised it was rather baggy, and she asked me to use the material to make the same dress pattern as the one shown in my May post. Which I obediently did. But it was too late, having not liked the dress the first time round she didn’t like the second iteration. But she did like the dress made with My Little Pony fabric. The Sofia dress was given to a relative.





The third dress I made for her was with Shopkins fabric that she chose herself. This is pre-elasticated at the top and the top and bottom edges are finished. I thought it would be relatively easy to sew a back seam and add straps so that the dress would stay up. Not so fast. When the top part is cut, you have to finish off the ends so that the elastic doesn’t all come out. Also I decided to neaten the bottom edge. And guess what? Even though she chose this fabric and had fun when I took photos with her in it, she does not like the dress as she does not like the green.



So undeterred by these failures we went to Jo-ann and I let her choose a pattern and fabric. I was impressed that she did this, as even as an adult it can be hard to picture a piece of clothing from an artist’s rendition. She chose a pattern with a few styles and fabric to make two of them. I wasn’t sure what size to make even after measuring against a dress she wears but decided too big is better than too small. It is a little big but with careful placement of the straps at the back it is not obviously too big. And the good news is that she loves it. So much so that she wanted to wear it everyday.

Then it was time to make another shirt for my grandson. He chose the fabric and was so excited when he saw it finished. In fact he was so excited he wore both shirts to school! I decided to add buttonholes to this one – the dinosaur one has snaps – the good thing about that is that my machine played up so much it was the final kick I needed to go out and get a new machine. But the bad thing was that when he took the shirt off he pulled like with snaps and I just managed to stop him before all the buttons came off.

Where Are The WIPs?

The last post showed finished items but we all know I have many projects still in progress. My last post of the Twelve Days of Christmas showed all my projects at that date. Since then I have started five projects (and finished two), completed two blanket squares and started three hats for charity (finishing one). Of the projects on the needles (hook) as at 6 January, two are finished, one was frogged and restarted with a different pattern and two will be frogged when I am ready to use the yarn.

So…. how many projects do I really have on the go? Yikes having just counted them on Ravelry I’m not sure I’m ready to admit that number. Should I tell you the total before the excuses why certain projects don’t count or should I deduct those first? Whispers. Eleven. Ack how did that happen? In June I had one charity project on the go now I have two. But, seriously, how did six become eleven? Firstly, let’s get the number down to a real number. I can deduct the two projects I am going to frog as I am not going to use the yarn until some more projects have been finished; also deduct the two charity hats because they have really become long car journey knitting; and deduct the mitred square blanket as that is appointment knitting.

Five from eleven becomes six. Is six my magic number? One of those six was on the needles at the beginning of the year and one was on the needles but a different pattern. I would like to finish both of those by the end of this year.

When I came back from vacation my Changes shawl became my main project. But I hit a snag, literally. One of my needles developed a split. As I am more than half-way through, I want to continue with the same make needle so a trip to a store has to be planned. (Although there a couple of yarn stores less than a half-hour drive I do not pass either of them in my usual day; add in that they are not open 7-days and you can see why a trip has to be planned.) Until I can get that situation resolved, Snow Day shawl has become my main project. I mentioned this project when I returned from my trip to the UK. I love the yarn and am now on the second skein of each colour.

Four projects hiding in these bags.



From left to right first is the Changes shawl.


Then the Snow Day shawl which I had to move into this bag when I started the second skeins of yarn.


Then the Nexus shawl which had all the love when I was on vacation but now has to wait for one or two things to be finished.


Lastly is my gradient yarn. I don't know when I last worked on it. It probably was relegated when I started the Changes shawl but I was surprised as to how much I had done.

Finished Items

At last I have something to show. The last post with a completed knitted item was in April. And it’s not as if I’ve been piling up objects to show you. By the middle of last year I had completed 16 items. Admittedly many of those were hats and baby items, but even so half-way through this year I am at 5 items. It has made a difference starting the year with nothing on the needles (except what I started at the end of December) so there were no nearly finished projects to boost the stats and there was the nearly finished project that I completely frogged. Add to that I have been making larger items with more than one skein of yarn.

Here are the two hats that I mentioned in my last post. Both crocheted and will be sent to Operation Gratitude towards the end of the year.



The pattern for the top hat is Dream Weaver Beanie, free pattern available on Ravelry. The grey and dark green yarns are Bernat Softee Chunky and the other two colours are Charisma by Loops and Threads. They are all yarns left over from hats I made in previous years. With the small amount of yarn left over I started another hat with the same pattern. I have to go through my stash to see what I have left over that will finish that hat.

The bottom hat is the one I started and finished in the car. It is a simple Granny stitch type pattern that is free on Ravelry but I was given on the San Diego Yarn Crawl. The purple yarn is Vanna’s Choice and I used that for just the increase section then I changed to Red Heart Soft. I worked until I liked the length and then worked the final round which is in single crochet. I’m sure everyone heard my whoop of delight as I finished that round as I had just enough yarn to darn in the end. Another skein out of my stash.

The final finished project to show you is the mystery shawl knit along started on 27 April. There was no official deadline for this KAL and no prizes but I did finish it within a couple of weeks of the last clue being released. This KAL was different from others in which I have participated as the designer was not a presence on the discussion boards and had not appointed any moderators to take on that role. Although this did not cause any problems there was one aspect where it felt like the designer abandoned the knitters. The pattern was free during the KAL and stated that it would become a paid for pattern when the KAL ended. They also gave two to three days notice before the pattern became a paid for pattern. I had no problem with this as I had kept up and downloaded all the clues but many participants did not and expected the updates in their library to work at any time. But they found that once the pattern became paid the updates didn’t work. But the designer has disappeared from Ravelry and has not answered any questions about this. To make matters worse they referenced stupid people on the edit page.

Anyway now I’ve had my little moan about the designer, here’s the details on my project. The pattern called for two full skeins of sock yarn and two half or 50g skeins. (OK another moan. The pattern stated weight required and not yardage although this could be found if you searched the Ravelry group. Many people ran out of one of the colours even if they had started with the correct amount. The designer did not answer any questions about this.) I used two skeins I had purchased at Vista Fiber Fiesta last year, some yarn I had been given after a small amount had been used and some left over yarn.



But I did not use up any of the four, so no skeins out.

Vacation Knitting and Yarn Stores

For a while I have started a new project when I have gone on vacation. It’s fun to start something new when being away from home.

A couple of weeks ago, preparing for vacation, I was faced with the decision of what knitting to take. I have so many projects on the go I couldn’t even think about a new project. Really, I had no inclination to start anything new so I grabbed a couple of project bags. I worked on my Nexus shawl and got as far as the border. Which is what I was aiming for. The border is knitted sideways and I will prefer working on it at home. Now I’m home I am back working on my Changes Shawl. I had decided not to take it on vacation because of all the different skeins. Having completed half of it I am really looking forward to the finished item.

For the driving part of the trip, I finished the hat I started way back in October. I also started and finished another hat and started a third hat. These were all hats I was crocheting for charity. I haven’t made anything for charity for a while and it seems that long car journeys are a good time to make a few things.

When I am away I do not make a point of visiting yarn stores but if I happen to see one I will pop in. I visited three this trip and drove past a fourth but decided not to stop.

All the stores were interesting in the way they greeted me. The first place, someone was sitting behind a big counter in the middle of the store; she acknowledged my presence but that was it. People who came in after me were treated the same way. Even one person who was obviously seriously buying yarn. This attitude did put me off and I did not buy any yarn.

The other two stores were similar in that they greeted me and said to let them know if they could help. And no other interaction. To be fair one owner was helping someone with their knitting. These stores didn’t have anything I couldn’t buy at home so nothing was purchased. It seems to me that customers complain about too much attention or not enough. I have thought what greeting I would like. Something along the lines of “have you been here before, let me show you what we have”, and then leave me to look.

I was disappointed in what the stores stocked. I know they have to cater for their regular customers but there was not anything different from what I see at home. They did have one locally produced and dyed yarn. Unfortunately it contained mohair to which I am allergic.

There’s Been Sewing

Actually there’s been knitting too I just don’t have anything finished to show. I have been keeping up with the mystery I showed you last time. As the rows have been getting shorter I even finished Clue 4 early and picked up the Changes Shawl to work on. I have one more Clue of the mystery so a finished object soon.

In the meantime I am sure you are not going to complain about sewn items. Firstly May’s square. A quick little number. I cut out the shapes the day before I sewed them, which was quick and it was quick to sew them together the next day. All fabric was from stash.

Then I decided to sew a dress for my granddaughter from fabric leftover from a dress I was making for myself. Note the tense of that verb to make. Yes it isn’t finished and my granddaughter got a dress first. Remember I said that I had got a free sewing class on Craftsy. The class showed you how to make a bag and a dress. The pattern for the bag was downloaded as part of the class but the pattern for the dress was a manufacturer’s pattern that was mailed to the participants.

After I cut out the dress pattern I was surprised at how much fabric was left over and realized that I had purchased the yardage requirement for narrower fabric. So when I was about half-way through my dress I decided to use the leftover fabric to make a child’s dress as there was a free pattern on CreativeBug. It wasn’t a hard pattern, although I wasn’t too impressed by the class, and there was a surprise waiting for her at the end of the day.

Having made a dress, her brother now needed something and I found a pattern for a shirt in One-Yard Wonders. I got this book from the library and none of the patterns had been cut so I purchased some Pellon Easy Pattern to trace the pattern and, therefore, leave it intact for the next person. I also took the grandchildren shopping so they could choose their own fabric and, no surprise, dinosaurs were chosen.

I couldn’t get him to stand still for a decent photo so a hanger photo will have to suffice.

Another Cast On

After writing about the ideal number of projects on the go it appears that that is just pie-in-the-sky and the actual ideal number is whatever it is on that day. I have found that regardless of how many unfinished projects I have, I tend to work on just one and have an easy one as my take along project

I was quite happily working on the Changes Shawl, when I had a desire to knit a mystery. I don’t know what prompted this. I still have on the needles the mystery that I started in August that was not a good experience. Prior to that, my last mystery was in 2016. I used to participate in sock mysteries all the time but I think I got rather bored with that.

The mystery I am now working on I had seen before the LA Yarn Crawl but had not seriously considered at the time. Which is a good thing as it has been designed by and is being run by people from the first yarn store we visited. If I had known that I’m sure I would have bought yarn specifically for the project. As it is I am using entirely stash yarn. Two skeins that I had bought at last year’s Vista Fiber Fiesta, a skein of yarn that I was given after someone had knit something small from it and some left overs.

I am enjoying it so far. I have managed to keep up to date, having completed Clue 1 and working through Clue 2.

Second Square

In January I posted a photo of my first square in my mitred square/log cabin blanket. I have now finished my second square. I do not know how long it took to complete so from now on I am making a note of the start and finish date of each block.

This is an orange/yellow block. They are the colours of which I have the least variety but I do have plenty of yarn. So I am likely to end up with the squares looking very similar.

I am only working on these when I am at appointments and need something simple to work on that can be stopped and stuffed into a bag at a moment's notice.

A Woolly Weekend

Last weekend there were a couple of events going on that I was able to participate in. Saturday was LYS (Local Yarn Store) Day and the LA Yarn Crawl was held from Thursday to Sunday.

On Saturday I visited four of the San Diego Stores with one knitting friend and on Sunday I went up to LA with another knitting friend and managed to visit six stores. Phew, lots of driving and yarn fondling and some yarnie goodies came home with me.

This is a photo of everything I got.

Four different skeins of yarn, a mini set and some row counters. From top left, the first skein is to go with yarn I purchased on last year’s yarn crawl. I have been having trouble finishing a project with the yarn I already have, so finally decided to buy more, frog, once again, and knit a simple child’s cardigan.
Next to it is the colour of the month from Candy Skein. I had been eyeing this on Instagram but didn’t order it. When we decided to do LYS Day I knew there was a good chance that I would purchase it. It is beautiful and I am mulling over what it will become and if I will pair it with contrasting or matching colours.

The next two skeins were purchased at The Knitting Tree, LA. The first stop on our LA Yarn Crawl. It was an amazing shop with many yarns that I had heard of but not seen. As it was the first stop on our crawl I only came out with two skeins. I could have purchased much more and would like to return there.

If possible I like to purchase stitch markers as a souvenir but I didn’t see any that stood out to me but in one store I saw some fun row counters. I never seem to have enough row counters although I am sure I have more than I have projects.

The last purchase was the set of mini skeins seen at the front of the photo. They are 1-ounce skeins of a silk/merino blend. And I think they will make a subtle gradient.

All-in-all I had a fun weekend with friends and just a little bit of stash enhancement.

From Discount Store to Haute Couture

Well not really but I am pleased with what I did with a skirt purchased at T J Maxx or Marshalls that was destined for Goodwill.

Sometime last year I bought a long skirt; I like and wear long skirts. I must have tried it on at home and liked it but whenever I decided to wear it, it just didn’t look right so I wore something else. The only time I wore it was when I needed to dress nicely for a dinner but I wanted to hide the boots I was wearing to support my foot. Thus it was destined to be given away.

But I hate to give away something I buy but don’t wear. And I thought “what would happen if you made this shorter? You make clothes, so why not amend them?" And that is what I did. I laid a skirt of similar style on top to get the length, cut and hemmed. The hemming was a bit tricky as I was sewing lace. Also the lining needed to be hemmed. I could have done a better job but I now have a skirt that I will wear.

Before



After

Stash Enhancement

Although is it stash enhancement if you cast on straight away? Before this pattern was released I knew I wanted to make it and the dyer that the designer had used for her pattern created sets to knit the shawl.

I was really deliberating about the yarn. I knew I wanted a light colour for the centre square and I knew I needed to buy, at least, mini skeins. After much thought, looking at my stash and cost calculation I ordered one of the sets and added another skein of yarn for the centre. The yarn arrived last Sunday and I cast on that evening. The light colour is for the middle and the other colours are the set created by Primrose Yarns. I will use the grey when working with the colours. I know this will result in extra yarn left over but it is what I wanted. The difficulty is recording how many skeins in. I got 10 mini skeins in the set; which is equivalent to two full skeins so do I record that as 2 or 10? For the moment I have noted them as 10.

And this is the centre part finished.

April Showers

That is the name of April’s block which I completed this week. This block included a new to me technique – templates from freezer paper. Also I had not sewn concave and convex shapes together before. The instructions were straight forward on how to sew them.

I did buy some fabric for this block. When I was buying the fat quarters for last month’s block, I noticed some fabric and thought it would be perfect for the back ground of April showers. The other two fabrics were in my stash.

Something Else Finished in March

I finished Verdon. and I love it. It is big but just what is needed in Southern California where you don't need a coat all the time. And four skeins of yarn are out of my stash. I played serious yarn chicken - I used up all of the red, and had 40 inches left of the grey, 50 inches left of the white and 1 gram left of the pink.

I did not want to soak this as I was worried that the red would bleed but it definitely needed a block. As you can see in this in-progress picture the short rows are bunching.

I laid it out as flat and as rectangular as possible and then laid a wet towel on top. I left it like this overnight and took the towel off in the morning so that the project could dry. Perfect. All the kinks had gone and I was left with a lovely project. I hope you agree.

A Finished Object and an Unfinished Object

At last the promised finished item. But first, what is unfinished?

Last weekend I completely frogged my new year project. The yarn was a gradient and I carefully (or so I thought) chose a pattern that would not only look good in a gradient yarn but would also use up most of the yarn. After all that is the point of a gradient. The pattern I chose said yardage requirement 822 yards of laceweight; I have 870 yards. But I got to the bind off and still had third of the skein left. I debated a long time about adding rows in different pattern; looking through my pattern books multiple times but I decided that would take away from the pattern. I also did not want to lose 1/3 skein of gradient so frogging happened. Which was really unenjoyable as the yarn has a halo and is not easy to undo.

I do like this pattern and will make it again when I find the right yarn - drapey but not a gradient.

Once the yarn was back into a ball I cast on a new project - Fruit Cocktail. It seems that this is more easily adaptable - I hope so.

And now for the finished item. I was so excited that I actually finished something. It is amazing that I have got to March before finishing anything. Although an unexpected trip to the UK meant I didn't finish anything in February.

I have already shown the yarn which is sooo pretty. And this is what it became.

It is so light and beautiful and I love it. And it's finished even if I didn't quite finish it in February.


You can see the first Starshower I made here. I like that one too.

Where’s the Knitting?

Last time I said a project was blocking and another was close to being finished. So why is this another sewing post? Because I made the block before completely finishing the project that was blocking. Yes I sewed before sewing in ends and a project is not finished until it is blocked and all ends sewn in. (Yes all two of them.)

In February I talked about a block-a-month. As I had been away I could not make March’s right at the beginning of the month but I made it the first free day I got so that I did not fall behind. Although I would like to use stash as much as possible, I bought two fat quarters for this square – for the background and the green stems. This block was labelled as foundation paper piecing which I had not done before and I thought was rather fun. There were a couple of mistakes in the instructions. One was minor; it said to cut one stem although you needed two; but the other was to trim the squares to their post-seaming size not pre-seaming. As all these blocks are going to be different sizes, it wouldn’t have mattered but the other pieces of background had been cut to the bigger size.

I’m enjoying making these blocks each month. OK I know I have only made two. Knitting content will happen next post but in the meantime I have set up a new account with KnitMeter so that I can show off record how much I have made.

What Happened To February?

I should have finished projects but nothing to show – yet – I am soo close. Verdon and my New Year’s cast on would have been finished but I had an unexpected trip to the UK. I decided rather than take nearly finished objects and new yarn I would just take new yarn.

But which yarn and which projects? I had been given some beautiful pink variegated yarn which I had already decided would make a beautiful Starshower.



I considered changing the lace pattern but decided a trip was not the time for changing patterns. I started it on the flight and finished it on 2 March so even if it had not needed to be blocked it still wouldn’t have been a February finisher. But it is blocking as I write this so I have a finished knitted item this year. Yay.

The other yarn I took was yarn I bought a year ago. At the time I did not have a pattern in mind but when I saw this pattern I decided it was perfect for my yarn. I bought another skein of the grey on the Yarn Crawl and my plan is to work the pattern until I run out of yarn.

Now I am back from my trip, what project should I work on? (I don’t even want to think how many I have on the go.)Although it is tempting to continue working on my new cast on I am close to finishing Verdon as I am on the decrease rows so that is what I worked on this morning when I was awake too early thanks to jet lag. Can I have it finished by the end of the weekend?

On the plus side, despite no finished projects, February was a good month for stash reduction. I sold three balls of yarn and gave one to a friend and received a skein of yarn. So stash is down.

And Still No Knitting

I have been knitting but I don’t have any finished projects. I have been working two rows per day on my New Year’s Day cast on (OK sometimes I have to play catch up at the weekends) but I already know I am going to add more rows to use up all the yarn so it won’t be finished this month.

Sewing to the rescue again.

I have wanted to participate in a block-a-month quilt. But they have always cost more than I can justify spending. Last time I was in Jo-Ann, I noticed one of the quilting magazines included a 2018 planner with a block design for each month. Bingo! As it was near the end of January when I purchased the magazine, I waited until February to make the first block. January's will be made next year. This is not a problem as there will be quite a bit of finishing to turn the finished blocks into a quilt so I am not aiming to finish it this year.

February was not a hard block to make and I was able to use all scraps. My intention is to use scraps as much as possible but I do not want adjoining blocks to have the same fabric so there will be a little bit of purchasing going on.

First Two of 2018

And they are both sewing projects. And the first one is almost a cheat as all that was required for finishing was cutting threads and sewing down a sleeve on the back.

It’s a slightly delayed Christmas project. Although it depends on definition of slightly. It's a project I started last year so not too long from start to finish; but the pattern and fabric were purchased many years ago, so a long delay between purchase and finish.



This was not hard but did require care.

The second sewing project is a bag. Yes I know - another bag. But there truly is a good reason for this. I was given a code for a free class on Craftsy and this included the Start Up Library. I chose the Sewing Class. Although I know how to sew, I thought it would be an opportunity to learn different or better techniques. The class covers two projects, one being a bag, and if I was going to do this class properly I was going to make the bag. I used tracing paper for the first time and added darts which I haven't made for a long time and finished seams with a zigzag stitch again something I haven't done for a while.

I have thought it would be fun to have a bag with a Christmas theme so that was the fabric I purchased.



There won't be any finished knitting projects for a while. Verdon is big and I'm not quite half-way through. I have been working two rows per day on my New Year's Cast on. So if I keep that up it won't be finished until the middle of next month. If I could muster some enthusiasm for crochet I could pick up those projects and finish them. I should set up a reminder as I could have a finished project for this month if I worked on the hat.

I Jumped On That Bandwagon

A knitting bandwagon that is. I have made four of the five patterns on Ravelry with the most projects. I have no plans to make it five out of five but I have started another popular pattern. It doesn’t show up in the most popular as there are many variations – free and for purchase. I have started a mitred square blanket, also known as a sock yarn blanket or cozy memories blanket. I find it interesting that with so many variations out there, people are still publishing patterns for purchase. I’m not saying they shouldn’t charge for their patterns, just that I cannot see the need for more of this particular design.

I have not wanted to make a blanket with my left overs as either you have to sew a lot of squares together or you are working on a large blanket. I think that is why many people are gung-ho at the start when there are few squares but give up when you are picking up stitches on a heavy blanket. But I do have many leftovers from all the socks I have knitted. And there are many socks made before I started blogging and Ravelry only has projects from when I joined not older projects.

What to do with unused yarn? When there are so many sock patterns and I had so much yarn, why use remains to knit socks? Although one month I did join the challenge of making socks from left overs and I do wear the socks.
(And weird aside, I noticed in that post I used the expression gung-ho. I didn’t know I used it that much in writing but obviously when I talk about left over yarn.)

I make notes about ideas for my crafting. This may be things I would like to make on vacation or ideas for the next year. At some point I had written “Knit Wrap minis one a month/week”. I have no idea what “knit wrap minis” means. Had I seen a pattern for a wrap that used mini skeins? Anyway, I took that as a nudge to do something with my partial skeins of yarn. I had written that note a while before I started the Advent wrap, where I used 13 partial skeins but not completely used up any of them. So I needed a big project to make a dent in my leftovers. But I didn’t want to knit or crochet a big blanket. Let’s make it clear, I have nothing against the big blankets people are knitting or crocheting, I just don’t want to make one. But I do want to use my scraps.

On a podcast a presenter had made a combination mitred square/log cabin blanket. She had made blocks of mitred squares, edged them as a log cabin blanket and then sewn them together to make a blanket. As I want my blanket to be at least double-bed size so that it is usable this method will be easy to work and only become unwieldy when I sew the squares together. I just had to decide two things, how big to make each individual square and if there was going to be any thought to which yarns I used. Oh and which method for the center decreases.

I grouped my yarns by colour and will work squares based on a colour/shade. I wanted squares to be approx 4 inches and calculated how many stitches to cast on. I looked at various patterns and chose the knit 2 together and SSK decreases. I also started out with a knitted cast on as written in one pattern but have changed that to a cable cast on. The other thing I calculated was how much I would have to knit to have enough blocks for a blanket by the end of the year. I estimated that I would need to knit a block of nine squares every week. Having completed the first block, I am not going to keep that pace as I found that my other knitting is being neglected. So I won’t have a finished blanket by the end of the year but by the end of 2019?