A Bit of Progress and A Bit of Yarn

I have slowly been working on the disappearing pinwheel quilt over the last two weeks. I have all the sashing done and have the first borders and binding cut. A few piano keys have been sewn together for the second border and I hope to have a finished top by the end of the week.

I have also spun most of the merino roving into singles and could not resist plying the first skein. It is approximately 3 ounces and 125 yards. Unfortunately, I only have 5 ounces left so will have a little over 300 yards when I am done. Not enough for the pattern I was thinking of using. I will need to do a little pattern searching on Ravelry to find an alternative.

At the end of next week, I need to start working on products for our farm business but I intend to keep plugging away at a few of my own projects to get a little more balance in my life in 2020.

Diaboleite on the Needles

What a surprise - we once again are struggling through bad weather. This snow/sleet/ice storm is not as bad as we had earlier this winter season, but it made for interesting morning chores on the farm. It was quite an effort to get up the hill to our alpaca barn as for every step I took up, I slid about a half a step back down!

I am taking a slight break from quilting - until I get the studio straight after a crazy fall/holiday season (I can see two out of the four main tables now) and it is a bit warmer. So knitting is taking the front row for a while.

Depending upon when and where I am knitting, I like to have different projects to work on. Lately I have been working on my Time Turner Shawl using our hand dyed sock yarn in the colorway Diaboleite. We currently have only DK and Bulky in that colorway on our Etsy store, but hope to dye more sock yarn soon.

Cast on Wednesday, January 9, 2019

As of Sunday, January 13, 2019

I have done most of the knitting while watching Wallander but I am now up to the lace part of the pattern, so I will switch it out for my Viajante shawl so I can watch the show and not my knitting. I will probably be knitting Viajante forever as it is 1600 yards of fingering weight yarn and I think I am only about a third of the way through the yarn. 

Knitting Miss Moxie

Our neighboring alpaca farm had a very special alpaca girl that they lost to cancer earlier this year. Adrienne and I were very close to her as we spent the first night of her life helping her owner tube feed her as she had some issues nursing at first.

Adrienne had spun her first fleece and used it to design and knit an amazing double knit pattern Porg that is for sale her Etsy store. She still had a few skeins left and I used them to knit a hat (Bankhead) and a headband (Heartsome) for Miss Moxie's owners. 

A pair of bittersweet Christmas presents.

Day 18 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Struggling

Again only about an hour working in the studio on sewing - and not even quilting at that. The kitchen curtain was up on deck today as it is going to get cold (and a little snowy) Friday night. Now it only needs a little hand work and then it can be installed!

I finished the headband I was knitting last night and really like the  pattern Heartsome - unfortunately I will be tinking the bind off and doing the one recommended in the pattern.  I used a suspended bind off but it is not quite stretchy enough. I needed to look up how to do Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off, but my Cast On Bind Off book by Leslie Ann Bestor (highly recommended) was a the studio, so I just took a chance that the bind off I normally use would work. It didn't.

I will take pictures of it tomorrow when the light is better. It is getting gifted tomorrow so I better get to it.

I have a feeling I won't get much time in the studio tomorrow either as we are visiting our neighbor alpaca farm and going to the laundromat to do some heavy items that my washer just can't handle.

I need to figure out a better schedule so I can have more time in the studio and I can wrap up some long standing projects and get working on a piece that will be displayed in our local arts council's gallery in February. I know what I want to make and am working out some of the logistical details in paper before I start creating the piece in fabric. 

I think all I want for Christmas is extra time in the studio!

Day 17 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Still Here and a Little Knitting

We are still fighting the historic snow fall in Western NC. We ventured out today to get a few supplies for us and the animals. Schools are going to be closed again tomorrow and my guild meeting is cancelled so the project I needed to get done by Thursday now has a deadline in January. 

So it is on the back burner and a little knitting has occurred. I have two small Christmas gifts to make for some special people out of some very special hand spun alpaca yarn that Adrienne made.  I have finished the hat using the pattern Bankhead on Ravelry.

I have picked out the pattern for the lady of the pair - a headband called Heartsome also on Ravelry and plan to cast on this evening.

If it all goes well they will be delivered early next week.

Day 11 of the of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

I'm a Quilter not a Knitter . . .

So why do I have eight projects on needles at the moment?

A pair of toe up socks which have been frogged once and are the oldest project in the group as they where started last summer.  I think I prefer to start my socks from the top and after I finished this pair (and I will finish them as I love the yarn) I will start from the top in the future.

The knitters in my family are doing a KAL this year - the green yarn in front.  I have almost finished Adrienne's Anime Amble - the third pattern in the series.  Instead of doing a scarf (not very useful in Charleston) I am doing  the 5 Way Shawl .  Of course that means double the number of stitches and I need to knit a few more rows of every pattern to achieve the proper length - so it takes a little bit of time to do each pattern.

The red scarf is from yarn that was to be a sweater (what was I thinking!) and will be given to heart patient when completed.  It is fairly far along and is a good pattern to do while watching movies - as long as I don't get too involved in the plot.

Three are for gifts - and that is all I will say about them.

The last two are for me - one is Colourwheel Cowl by Susan Ashcroft and the other is Sleeves by Martina Behm.  Sleeves is the newest as it was cast on yesterday - I think I might be developing an addiction.

On the quilting front - remember I am a Quilter - I finished the last of a series of baby quilts for my sister-in-laws mother as well as teaching both at our local shop and guild.

A Little Knitting

I am sort of taking a short break from quilting - I have several classes going on at the moment and most of my sewing is related to samples for those classes.  Not the most exciting photos - especially since I use old and mismatch fabric to do my class samples.  Helps to keep me from drowning in the stuff.

I am working on a very easy, quick knitting project using yarn I purchased at the frayed knot (a great little store) in Savannah, Georgia where I spent last weekend with my sisters and daughter.  We had a wonderful time - walking, knitting, eating and visiting the Destination Savannah quilt show where my quilt Bloom was on display.

The yarn I am using is Souk by Cascade Yarns

and the pattern is One Ball Gradient Shawlette by Karen Vradelis.  

It is a very easy pattern - the only change I made was to slip the first stitch purl wise on all odd rows to make a slightly neater edge.

I was working on another small knitting project (Downtown Cowl by Christy Becker)- but it has disappeared into the black hole in my house.  I worked on it Sunday after we returned home - cleared it off the table to serve dinner - and haven't seen it since!  Not for the lack of looking.  

Of course I will finish the shawlette and find the cowl just in time for hot weather to arrive in Charleston!

Color Affection Continues

I am making progress on my Color Affection - I had wanted to take pictures after I finished the second color but was so excited to see what the third color would look like - I kept knitting and forgot to get the picture!

I am please with the colors and now that my "garden" is back on the porch maybe I will make better progress on this piece.  I also have a pair of socks that I can't wait to start.