Some Progress

It took a little bit but finally I have something to show for it.

All this time I have been saying that I am not just a winter knitter. Because knitting is for all times. But now I think that it may not necessarily be true. While I knit in the summer because I like to knit come fall I think I knit more. Not because the weather is cooler but rather because I do more things. I travel on the bus (knitting time), I sit in class (knitting time), I have down time before classes between classes (more knitting time). It was how last week I finished my Escher socks.

And this week what I can show you is that I finally have progress on my Potpourri socks. So much progress that I almost wonder if I can pull this off in a year. Probably not. But you know it might be possible. Once I got over how much I hated the double figure eight wrap in the pattern, it is a breeze. Well... I shouldn't say that. don't want to jinx myself.

I also started on a different pair of socks. They are the spot check socks and it will be some color work which I am excited about. It is going to be made out of Malabrigo in ravlery red and Mountain Colors Bearfoote in Bitterroot Rainbow.

The differences in the size of balls is actually somewhat comical...

Well hopefully this means the amount of knitting I am doing is on the up swing. And for the mothers and fathers that are worried, yes, I take notes in class as well. I wonder when I will knit when I graduate?

WIP: Wednesday or is it?

Iam never sure what to call quilt tops. Are the a finished object? Are they a work in progress. The top is finished and it's not like the finished quilt will be much different from the finished top? Then again there is a lot more work that has to go in it before it is actually done.

Since this particular quilt is currently covered in basting pins I feel comfortable calling this a work in progress.

You saw the beginnings of it while it was still in its half square triangle form. But now it is all grown up and even has a backing. it is the Kona solids challenge that requires the use of half square triangles.

I even started quilting it. I have quickly gave up though because right now all I have is a walking foot. And walking feet don't do very well with all the turning that is necessary for these stars. I will wait until I have a hopping foot again. It will be much easier with a hopping foot... Which I should maybe next week. YAY

Here is sort of the idea of what it will look like. I like the negative space of sorts. and the way that the colors flow from one ladder to the other. Whoo!

WIP Wednesday: Guild edition

I have joined a Guild. And not a WoW one either. The nerd in me is jumping up and down for joy right now. Last month I decided to attend a meeting of the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild. They meet once a month and talk and plan and have a show and tell of quilts. It is hosted at Sewtropolis and a lot of fun.


And boy did I choose a good month to come! In July they decided to start TWO that is right TWO challenges. At the time I could only pick one. I went with the rainbow-y one (big surprise) But today I stopped by and picked up the fabric for the second one. That is a lot of free fabric for this very happy little girl!

The First one which I started planning and cutting immediately is the Kona Soilds challenge where you are given a charm pack of Kona solids to do with what you please. You can only add other Kona solids into the mix. I picked out the ones I am planning on using and getting to work. As a Guild we decided to impose another challenge on ourselves and that is that we must use half square triangles to make these.

Oh you notice something? That my half square triangles are already stitched? Well that is because I JUST got my sewing machine back! (YAY!) For those of you who aren't ravelry friends with me. After the awesome Kay gave me a sewing machine I managed to/ It broke on me. In about 10 minutes. turns out it had a broken part that needed to be ordered. But I just got it back in time for happy quilting times YAY!

The other challenge that I picked up today is the Jay McCarol challenge. I received a fat eighth of eight of his fabrics from his line to make something out of. Aren't they pretty? The guild imposed challenge on this one is "wonky" I have an idea in my head. And just randomly cut strips out of my fat eights and I am about to go work on them now as soon as I am done making this blog post.
The more I look at these fabrics the more I like them. They don't all exactly match but I think that is part of the charm right? AND Jay McCarol is the season 1 winner of Project Runway! I had no idea he was designing fabric now. But he definitely has a flair for it.


I'M SO EXCITED TO BE QUILTING AGAIN! AHHHH

PS: I'm trying the Mr. Linky on Tami's blog for the first time today! check out other WIP

And Then There was One

Good news. I finished my first pair of socks. I am a little bit behind schedule but with the Tour de Fleece I figure July is an okay month to only finish one pair of socks. Though, it does mean I get started off to a bit of a slow start. Hopefully August I will pick up speed and knit a little faster.

My camera was fogging up because it was so muggy outside!

As you can tell by the swing bench I am once again at my roommates parents. Not only for the free air conditioning but we are also celebrating our birthday (we were born on the same day but I am a year older what are the odds) which is actually tomorrow. So far her parents have been spoiling the crap out of me and I love it. best. birthday. ever.

But socks! They are paca-peds in tye-dye knit in the collision pattern. And were the first out of my sock grab bag. I am really happy how they turned out especially the top of the foot looks very nice. It is currently way too hot to be wearing them now though. I will put them away in favor for cooler weather. Last year I was stubborn enough to wear hand knit socks until June. This year I learned my lesson.

What finishing one sock means though is that I only have one (YOP) sock on the needles. So this means I get to cast on again right? RIGHT? Casting on it one of my favorite parts of a project.

Here is the progress of the Jade Schooner socks modeled by an adorable kitty named Bootsie! I am just past the heel of the first sock!

FO: Friday The Hipsteriest Scarf that Ever Hipstered a Scarf

Remember those huge needles I showed you a while back? Well I'm starting to remember why for the first four years of my knitting life I didn't own a needle under a size 11. And even then I rarely used a size 11. I spent a lot of time knitting scarves out of chunky yarn. And then I discovered socks.

But there is something about the clicking of giant needles that are just sort of fun. Really Really fun. I saw this sample at my LYS and immediately fell in love with it. It looks hard but it is just one ball of yarn that they make to look very complicated and messy(in a good way).

When I bought the yarn I also bought the size 35 needles. At first I was hesitant buying such big needles. When would I ever use them again? Well so far I have knit two projects on them and I am currently spinning the yarn for a third. So other than my size three needles that constantly have a sock on them in recent times these have been the needles that have seen the most action in a while and I will eat my words.

I am not one of those "knitting is only for winter" people. I love knitting at all times. The bad thing about summer knitting though is that I have to wait until winter. Or at the very least until it is not 90 degrees out to wear them. Maybe I should look into knitting tanktops.

But I don't know hipster scarves are just so cute. Especially when they are this darn hipstery. Look at that! the fringe came with it too. Which is just awesome.


Also currently off the giant needles? Here is a sneak peak of the rainbow scarf I've been raving about. But more on that when it is actually complete.

Friendship is Magic

I am in a rainbow battle. No not really. Maybe it is more like the rainbow express? It all started when I asked my wonderful and talented friend Tanya, who was drawing custom my little ponies at the time, to draw a birthday party picture for myself and my roommate (we have the same birthdate but she is a year younger!) With the custom pony she had drawn of me and one of my rommie.

Here is the picture it is sooo cute! I offered to knit her something for her troubles and she requested rainbow fingerless gloves. I forgot to take a picture of them before I sent them out. But they are full of rainbow-y delight you'll have to trust me on this one.

Then on Monday I got more rainbow goodness from her in the form of two keychains! They're super cute and they're like the friendship necklaces from when I was little. One to keep and one to give away (although I want to be selfish and keep that one too!) I was expecting a key chain in the mail but not two and definitely not so darn cute! Mine is already on my keys and I think I know what to do with the other one.

She sent my sister a catbus from totoro as a keychain. Look at the detail on that! If I didn't love my key chains so much I'd be jealous! She is a very talented person!

The newest thing in her etsy shop that I am coveting though is the set of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic key chains she just made and that I got to see in person! Super super cute!

The next rainbow thing that is going to be sent one the "rainbow express" is going to be a joint effort project between us. I have started on my portion but I want to keep it under wraps for a bit. But I will show you the yarn and colors for it.

Intrigued? Like the rainbow? You should!

Rockin' the Suburbs

I am spending this weekend in the suburbs with my roommates family. Because they are awesome and because of lack of air conditioning in my house.

Unfortunately because of that. And general (I get really bad second sock syndrome but hate knitting two socks at the same time) I really don't have a whole lot to report. I finished the cuff of my second tie-dye collision sock done with the flat portion and the rest of it is in the round so it should go much faster. I like knitting in the round much better than knitting flat. Being done with the cuff though also means that short rows are coming up. And we know how much I like those.

I really love this yarn though. So rainbowy and delightful. It really does look like a tie-dye something or another. I bet it'll look awesome as a square for my quilt.

To battle Second Sock Syndrome I have started another sock. It is still in it is begining stages. But it is Dream in Color Smooshy in Good Luck Jade and I am knitting the Escher socks pattern. I knit something similar a while back but while they look sort of similar (or rather this one looks like the inside out version of that one) the patterns are completely different. This one though is more of a traditional sock construction that I like.

Also, I can't leave without showing you all what I am taking pictures on. It is a swing bench that my roomie's family brought up from Oklahoma when they moved and I have never seen anything like it. It is beautiful and I would love to know more about it. Very very cool.

PS: I was totally listening to the Ben Folds song while I wrote this.

Tour de Fleece CHALLENGE Day

Today is the 22nd. It is the hardest part of the Tour de France which means that it should also be the hardest part of the Tour de Fleece. That though is open to interpretation. For me I have decided that the hardest part of my tour will be spinning with an unfamiliar short stapled fiber. Enter the llama fiber. I picked this up at the farmers market in my home town a month ago and now I get to spin it up.


I chose to try it out which my new cascade spindle. Which was the replacement for the one I broke a couple weeks ago. (Yes spindles don't count in my fabric, fiber yarn diet. But I did decided that I would rather buy a spindle than groceries this week. I have been living off of rice, and noddles) I am happy to report that even though the look of it is slightly different, it does spin very similarly to my old Cascade spindle. A huge relief.

Llama fiber spins up a little like my merino/angora blend that I've been working on. But it is very fine and doesn't have a lot of stretch to it. I won't really know until I knit with it though.

My plans for this llama fiber I am spinning up is going to be to ply it with this beautiful woolgatherings fiber I have that is a merino/tussah silk/bamboo blend. I didn't plan on spinning them up together. Actually at all. But it is sort of a new thing for me to blend a rainbow fiber with a solid neutral color.

These two were also sitting next to each other in my fiber closet and they just went so well together I couldn't resist. I think I'm going to split the rainbow as much as possible to get the short color repeats in there and it (should) be really pretty. That's all I've got for challenging myself. A fiber of a different nature. It is very very soft though

Also, I wanted to show off. (pardon the terrible bathroom picture) I got new extensions put in my hair last week they are fun I love the colors

Big Plans and Earrings

At the Moda Bake shop they're doing a Christmas in July theme. Nothing that interests me too much but a quilt by Angela really caught my eye, especially when she went and posted it in this version.

It's RAINBOW! and the perfect way to use not-exactly-coordinating-but-not-mismatching fat quarters. Today I dragged my entire fat quarter stash went through it. And came up with this.

I think I like the color pallet I maybe have to switch it around some more still and figure it out. I think though the real make it or break it of this quilt will be the background color I pick. Anyone have any suggestions? Based on the pic in my back stairwell I don't think white is the right neutral to do it with. My first inclination is to use grey. But that is because I really like the color grey so I am biased.

The more I think about quilting the more I'm getting excited for it. I finally sent the check to my sewing machine repair guy so I can replace the part that broke!
Right now though it is too hot to think about ironing. (an important part of quilting) The heat index has consistently been over 100 degrees lately. Usually averaging about 105. My roommates new favorite website is The Fucking Weather which is kind of all sorts of awesome. The point is it is way too hot to play with a hot machine, especially one that spurts out steam.

My favorite part of quilting is the large amounts of fabric and color that can go in one quilt. If I put that much different yarn in a sock it would look a little silly. But for fabric I think this is the perfect amount.

Have you noticed my problem yet? Look closely... How about this side?
I only have two purples. I need three... Does someone have a purplely-lavender fat quarter they'd be so kind to pass along? I'll trade you? I'm also looking for another yellow and green because a few of them I would like to switch out.

Which brings us to the second part of this post. Over the winter I decided (or rather was just too lazy to keep studs in) to let the piercings in my ears close. I didn't get them pierced until I was 18 and found them to be a hassle more than anything else. So I've decided that I should pass my earrings on to someone that would actually use them. Or repurpose them. I'm not picky just so
long as they are put to good use. Here is the lot.

(Promised to someone)

(Promised to someone)

(promised to someone)

(promised to someone)

If you're interested leave a comment, contact me on ravelry or twitter, email. There are a lot of ways to get in contact with me!

These aren't all of them. I am a collector of stuff. So I will post more later. But if something catches your eye let me know! Surprised by the lack of rainbow earrings?