Hello 2013.

2012 has come and gone… and I can’t say I’m going to miss it. There were some ups, and far more downs than I’d like to see, and I’m definitely glad it’s time for a new year and a fresh start.

Last year, I didn’t make any resolutions, just a few knitting goals.

They were:

– Finish Nico’s Brigade sweater. – HAHAHAHA I don’t think I even picked this up all year… FAIL.

– Finish the sweater and blanker for baby Dario. – Blanket has gone AWOL… actually so has the sweater.. whoops. But I did sew him a cute little quilt, so we won’t call this a total fail.

– Finish my Spectra scarf.  – I’ve worked on it here and there, but it’s still not finished…

– Weave more on my loom. – I’ve played with it a bit, but haven’t finished anything… FAIL.

– Spin more from my stash. – Spinning definitely got thrown by the wayside this past year… oops.

– Knit more from my stash. – I didn’t finish that many things this year.. but I actually did pull mainly from stash.

– Work on Hexipuffs. Goal is at least 15 a month.. 30 would be preferable.  – Uh… major FAIL on this… I think I only knit 4 or 5 the whole year.

– Knit myself a sweater. (or two) – I started one… does that count?

– Knit myself another pair of socks. And maybe a pair for Nico as well. – I started these too… Socks for me are 1/4 of the way finished.. Socks for Nico are almost 1/2 finished…

– TRY not to purchase yarn and fiber… – Um… NO COMMENT. (Rhinebeck kicked my butt)

 

Hmm.. ok. I am clearly very bad at keeping goals. I think for this year, I’m just going to try and finish things. I think I may have to set up a Finish or Frog It system for myself.. my WiPs are getting out of control!

Ah well.. Here’s to 2013! The year where I’m going to just do what I want, live well, laugh lots, and spend tons of time with loved ones.

Cheers!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

I’m hoping to have lots of fun new stuff to share in 2013!

Hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year’s Eve!!

WIP Wednesday

Geysir Stretch – knit in Cephalopod Yarns Traveller (San Francisco Bay, Sherwood Gardens, and Casco Bay)

Not that I should be starting any new projects when I have eleventy billion (slight exaggeration here) WIPs on the needles already… but when I saw another Stephen West KAL popping up, I had to sign up. At least I’m knitting from stash. 😉

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Fall 2012

Twice a year, Amy over at Amy’s Creative Side hosts the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, which is kind of like an online quilt show. People post their beautiful quilts and have a chance to win some awesome prizes! I’ve been checking out a lot of them, which is leading me to new, fun blogs to read… which means my daily list of posts to read is just going to get longer and longer!

Anyways.. I decided I wanted to enter my latest finished quilt, which is my Halloween Mini- Quilt.

I’ve been following along with the Tula Pink Sew-a-long over at Sew Sweetness, and was trying to find the right project to work on. When this post came up featuring Tula’s Cartwheels pattern, I knew I had to try it. I loved both versions Beth did for the sew-a-long. After pawing through my stash, I decided to use my Guising fabric to try and make a Halloween quilt for the wall.  I’m glad she showed mini quilt versions featuring one block, because I would have been incredibly dense and not thought of that myself. It made that pattern seem do-able, even though I had never sewn curves (scary!) before.

I’m extremely pleased with how it turned out (even if it is a bit ripply).

This is my first mini-quilt, my first time sewing curves, first time trying concentric quilting, and first time trying out zigzag binding.

It’s currently hanging on the little wall next to the kitchen and I have to admit, it makes me smile everytime I see it. Since I decided to make Halloween-y decoration so late, I’m going to leave it up for a little while longer.

Quilt Measurements: 21.5″ x 21.5″
Special Techniques: concentric quilting, templates, curved piecing
Quilted by: me
Best category: Mini Quilts, Wall hanging, Art Quilt

Entry # 494

Tour de Fleece – Week 2

I may have slacked off a little bit this past week..

I did spin every day (aside from the dedicated day of rest), but it was in small spurts and wasn’t worth taking daily pictures of….

I tried to spin the Merino/Yak on a support spindle. It was easier than spinning it on the Moosie.. but I’ve gotten really frustrated with it and I’m setting it aside. The yak just doesn’t want to draft evenly, and it’s really difficult for me to work with.

I worked on the Corgi Hill Merino/Cashmere/Silk in Raspberry Cooler on and off, and managed to finish the first half of the fiber today. I’ll start on the second half tonight… provided it cools off a bit first.. it’s too hot and sticky to spin!

My spinning supervisor approved of the break due to the insufferable weather.

Current status:

Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Cashmere/Silk – Raspberry Cooler
Started with 3 oz. 1.5 oz spun this week; appx 1.5 oz remaining.
Currently in progress on the Joy.
Goal: To spin and ply to a finished yarn.

Corgi Hill Farm Humbug BFL/Silk – Puff Pack
Started with 6 oz. Appx 4 oz left to spin. 2.5 oz spun last week; appx 1.5 oz remaining.
Currently in progress on the Bosworth Tulipwood Mini.
Goal: To spin and ply the remaining 8 half oz nests.

Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Yak – Marsala
Started with 2.4 oz. Appx 2.2 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Bosworth Moosie.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles. Ply if time allows. (unsure of how I want to ply this yet)
Removed from lineup. Too frustrating to work with!

Spunky Eclectic Merino/Bamboo – Beach Day
Started with 3 oz. Appx 1 oz remaining.
Currently in progress on the Bristlecone glindles/twindles.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles and chain ply to a finished yarn.

Just one week left! I think I’m going to really try and push myself to finish.
♥

Tour de Fleece – Week 1

Phew! What a busy week! Actually, I spent half of the trying to fight off the flu (or something with flu-like symptoms).. but that gave me plenty of time to make sure I spun every single day.

Day 1: Spun half of a red piece of the Corgi Hill BFL/Silk and a little bit of the Spunky Merino/Bamboo.

Day 2: Finished the red BFL/Silk and continued with the Spunky fiber.

Day 3: Started a teal piece of BFL/Silk and made more progress on the Spunky fiber.

Day 4: Finished the teal BFL/Silk, spun 3 more pieces on the Joy, and took what I had already spun of the Merino/Yak/Silk and plied it. Decided to take the Merino/Yak/Silk out of the TdF lineup and will pick something else.

Day 5: Plied all the BFL/Silk singles.. 3 more chunks of fluff to go! Also spun more of the Spunky fiber.

Day 6: Spun yet more of the Merino/Bamboo.

Day 7: Picked up the Corgi Hill Merino/Yak and spun a little bit. Decided the Moosie is too heavy for fiber that wants to spin this fine, and will probably switch to a support spindle.

I think I’m making good progress so far…

As it stands, I am now here with my goals:

Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Yak/Silk – unknown colorway
Unknown beginning weight. Appx 2.6 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Ashford Joy.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles. Ply into a 2ply yarn if time allows.
Removed from lineup. Will be replaced with Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Cashmere/Silk in Raspberry Cooler

Corgi Hill Farm Humbug BFL/Silk – Puff Pack
Started with 6 oz. Appx 4 oz left to spin. 2.5 oz spun this week; appx 1.5 oz remaining.
Currently in progress on the Bosworth Tulipwood Mini.
Goal: To spin and ply the remaining 8 half oz nests.

Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Yak – Marsala
Started with 2.4 oz. Appx 2.2 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Bosworth Moosie.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles. Ply if time allows. (unsure of how I want to ply this yet)

Spunky Eclectic Merino/Bamboo – Beach Day
Started with 3 oz. Appx 1.5 oz left to spin. Appx 1.1 oz remaining.
Currently in progress on the Bristlecone glindles/twindles.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles and chain ply to a finished yarn.

1 week down, 2 more to go! I think if I actually keep up with spinning every day, I just might make all my goals. 😀

♥

Tour de Fleece

It’s that time of year again! Spinners around the world are spinning along while the Tour de France rides.

I’ve been participating the past couple of years.. although I failed miserably to keep up last year. It’s really laid back, and each individual sets their own goals. The only thing you really need to do is spin daily, even if it’s only for 5 minutes a day.

This year, I’m setting a fairly reasonable goal for myself. (I hope) It’s going to be all about finishing for me. I’ve signed up for Team Corgi Hill Farm, and I plan on joining Team Support Spindlers as well.

Fiber that will be spun/finished:

Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Yak/Silk – unknown colorway
Unknown beginning weight. Appx 2.6 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Ashford Joy.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles. Ply into a 2ply yarn if time allows.

Corgi Hill Farm Humbug BFL/Silk – Puff Pack
Started with 6 oz. Appx 4 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Bosworth Tulipwood Mini.
Goal: To spin and ply the remaining 8 half oz nests.

Corgi Hill Farm Merino/Yak – Marsala
Started with 2.4 oz. Appx 2.2 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Bosworth Moosie.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles. Ply if time allows. (unsure of how I want to ply this yet)

Spunky Eclectic Merino/Bamboo – Beach Day
Started with 3 oz. Appx 1.5 oz left to spin.
Currently in progress on the Bristlecone glindles/twindles.
Goal: To finish spinning the singles and chain ply to a finished yarn.

That’s only a total of 10.3 oz to spin(and ply). Totally manageable, right?

If I happen to actually finish all that, I’ll have to dig out something else that’s pretty to play with. 😉

Today’s the kickoff day.. and there’s less than 4 hours left! Eeeek! I better get stop blabbing and get to spinning!

♥

Progress

I haven’t been working on a lot.. but I finally finished the borders on the Dogwood Blossom for the Modern Medallion Quilt.

I’m really excited to get started on the next portion, which is the Satin and Jewels embroidery. I’m so slow at handstitching, so I hope I can get caught up over the next week.

These are my color selections for the embroidery:

The four on the left will be the satin stitched jewels, and I’m going to randomly place the other colors for the triangles.I hope it looks good!

I also finished two needlecards. I had a lot of fun learning new stitches, and I think the cards are pretty cute.

There’s two more projects from the Handstitched Class this past week that I really want to make.. but I think I have to work on the quilt first. Ah well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

♥

Summer Sewing Contest

Jennifer over at Ellison Lane Quilts is hosting a Summer Sewing Contest. Last week, it was open to post entries to 4 different categories: Quilts, Bags and Accessories, Home Decor, and Clothing. Yesterday, finalists were announced, and voting goes on until this Friday.

And guess what?!

My Charlie Bag made it to the final 12!!!!! I was so surprised and excited to see my bag up for voting! I had entered it as well as Dario’s quilt, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything except maybe more visitors to the blog. I’m so pumped and can’t wait until they announce winners next week. The first place prize for each category is a $100 gift certificate to The Fat Quarter Shop… so I’m crossing my fingers!

There’s a lot of really great projects (not just the finalists either.. there were a TON of great entries), so stop over and check them out. And make sure to vote! You don’t have to vote for me, definitely vote for your favorite.. but I’d appreciate any votes thrown my way! 😉

Go here to vote: Voting Time! Summer Sewing Contest

Handstitched Class

So what’s this class? And what’s it all about?

Why.. handstitching, of course!

When I saw that Rachel from Stitched in Color was offering an online class for handstitching, I was immediately intrigued. After reading the blog posts about it, I knew I had to sign up. I decided to sign up for the most basic, figuring that if I didn’t like it, at least I wouldn’t be wasting too much money.

Well, I had nothing to worry about, because I love it! We’re starting the second week of classes today, and I’m really looking forward to the different projects.

Two weeks ago was the first set of classes and projects (last week was the “rest week” for getting all the stitching done) and I enjoyed it a lot. We learned different techniques for reverse applique. So far I have only completed one of the projects: the eyelet needlebook.

It was a fast and easy project to complete, and perfect for beginners like me.

I skipped over the embellished tank and went straight to working on the Dogwood Blossom block for the Center of the Modern Medallion Quilt, which is the main class project.

It’s pretty clear to me that my handstitching needs a lot of work. I got almost halfway around the blossom, then realized my stitches were getting bigger and spaced further apart.

Sigh.

I ripped them all out and started over. Its still not perfectly even, but much better than before. I’m happy with it so far.

I’ve never done reverse applique before, so this was interesting to do. It involved starch and freezer paper, and while I was a bit confused at first, it turned out to be fun. I’m already imagining a bunch of different things I can do for future quilts.

Back of block after pressing

Front of block after pressing

I really have to get my butt in gear and finish the stitching around the blossom, then add the borders. Tomorrow’s class will go over the next section to be embroidered. I know it’s going to be really time consuming, and I really want to attempt to keep up with this project!

♥