I think I’ve (finally!) matured as a quilter. that or I just care enough about the FO to behave myself.

Tonight I finally started my BOTM quilt that’s going on my bed (eventually). (it’s the gold one mentioned about halfway through this post here.) the first block was in September, which I bought in late Oct/early Nov. It’s a bitch measuring things constantly, but so far my square in a square in a square (which will be the center of the quilt) looks pretty darn nice.

(I’ll post pics when I finish the square.)

in knitting news, I went to my friend Kim’s yesterday and we had a Harry Potter movie marathon in anticipation of the new movie coming out this week. since the last time we tried this we only made it through the first two movies, Emilea and I decided to start with the third movie. and as is usual for me, I fell asleep during the fifth one. anywho, I took the intarsia bag (started back in March ‘05) and managed to figure out where I left off (row 5 of the chart) and managed to get through the chart and beyond. I stopped at the part where I have to miter the bottom of the bag cuz I started overthinking things.

I’ve been trying to focus on the WIPs. I keep sort of joining ‘focus on the WIPs’ type groups on ravelry, but my knitting enthusiasm has been kind of low lately. at any rate, I’m sort of participating in the WIP Wrestling group - the intarsia bag has had good progress, and I’ve also been working on the Harry Potter book scarf this month. and I really want to get all the things that just need the ends woven in finished. we’ll see how I do.

in spinning news, I signed up for the Tour de Fleece - the goal being to spin every day with the Tour de France. I started out good, but haven’t really done much spinning since last weekend. so much for spinning a little every day. and the grand plans I came up with for the month. ah, well. at least I’m being crafty.

in other news, Kashka’s been sick the last week and a half or so. I took her in to the vet, and it’s either a tumor or just some really badly infected teeth. she’s been on antibiotics, and she seems to have improved a little bit. (the greatest evidence being her enthusiasm at chasing and pouncing at a moth that she and Wolfie found in the apartment. she’s been pretty lethargic since she’s been sick.) at any rate, she’ll be going in to have surgery soon to either figure out if it’s a tumor (I hope not) and, if not, have her teeth sorted out (cleaning, removal, etc). so if you’re so inclined, healthy kitty thoughts would be appreciated.

I have been knitting lately, just seems pretty boring working on the eternal WIPs. I’ve been heading down to Burnsville on and off the last few weeks to knit with Nancy & Rina and whoever else happens to be there. I went to Drunken Knitting Night at Merlin’s Rest with Kim and Becky from dance (and we encountered Dave, also from dance. He was one of the musicians, not knitting.) oh, and I knit ’round the campfire at my cousin’s fall gathering last weekend, where I was told that the two petals of the flower washcloth looked more like a bra or bikini top. hadn’t realized that, but he was oh-so-right.

Projects I’ve been working on lately have been the Positive Energy Stole (mostly at Burnsville), seaming the HP POA scarf, the flower washcloth, the short-row scarf of doom (aka Sea Lettuce) and the Zucca blanket. I bought a few needles for needle felting and a bit of blue fiber (I haven’t made anything more than a couple blobs yet) - I blame my sister for that. (ever since she got interested, I’ve had it in my head that I need to copy her. I figure I’ll add some designs to a felted bag or something in the future.) In spinning news, I finished the Miss Babs fiber and have started one of the Seawools from Creatively Dyed.

In non-knitting news, I wandered (well, drove) around the Twin Cities today for a quilting shop hop.
This is what I got:

and this is what the finished quilt would look like:

I only got the fabric for the squares right now (I can buy a kit with all the fabric for the borders and such to finish it up), and I only have 6 of the squares. (missing the yellow & green square in the center right and the green one with the red X in the center top). I’m thinking I might make a table runner or something instead of the quilt as shown.

I also fell in love with one of the shops (located next to All About Yarn) Block of the Month quilts:

It’ll be queen sized when finished - which is perfect since that’s what size my bed is (which is also good cuz the kitties try to crowd me - usually one on either side of me). It started in September (with the medallion in the center), so I’m not too far behind.

and, in parting, some kitty pics…

Wolfie napping (or attempting to, before I found him and grabbed the camera) on the treadle of my wheel

dinner time. Wolfie weighs nearly twice as much as Kashka. though most of him is still fluff.

yup, there was a falling down today. damn, I was doing pretty well. (17 days since my last yarn purchase)

I poked into Needlework Unlimited since I was sort of in the area for a doctor’s appointment. There was a ball of Panda Silk that was insisting it come home with me, but after further searches into the basket, there was only one ball. damn. they did have the Meilenweidt Tweed in an aran color, which I’ve been wanting since Nancy bought some a few years ago. and I also picked up 3 balls of Panda Wool (I don’t trust that there’s enough yardage in those tiny little balls!) - though now I’m having color regrets. (I like the color, but I’m not sure I’ll wear the color.)

then I poked over to their outlet, and only managed to avoid a second falling down due to the fact that I didn’t have enough cash on me. I’ll be heading back to claim that yarn soon.

the problem with this latest yarn purchase is that I didn’t really follow the rules of yarn buying. I’ve apparently not posted them here yet. Let me remedy that:

My rules for buying/swapping for yarn:
1. I need more to finish a project started from stash yarn
2. really good sale yarn, IF I have a project in mind for it and don’t have something suitable in the stash already
3. NO sock yarn unless I have a super specific need for it. (a vague “I’ll make socks” just doesn’t cut it anymore, until I actually start MAKING socks with the stuff I have, which is another goal for the year.)

the yarn purchased today does not fit any of my rules. the tweed is an ok purchase, due to the fact that I’ve wanted it for 2-odd years and has a little-less-vague thought of cabled socks. I did buy a pattern for socks as well, and I’m thinking I could use the Panda Wool for that, but it feels a little like cheating.

… might as well fry some eggs
as if that wasn’t bad enough, I discovered Christmas/holiday fabric on sale at JoAnns. what am I going to do with it? no idea. (I did come up with ‘fabric bowls’ as a sort-of vague justification.) I also bought a darning foot for my machine, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out if I’m putting it on right. must research that a bit more…

and for once I’m going to post a WIP update on Wednesday.

since L’s mittens are finally finished (and in the mail) and the baby bonnet went way fast, there’s not much to show. I’ve been working on dad’s hat again (after a bit of a break). I’ve decided I’ve made enough ribbing, so the ribbing continues. (it’s a doubled hat - start at the crown, end at the crown, stuff one inside the other. voila, double-thick reversible hat.) I need to work on charting out the design for the second half - though, on the plus side (if you can call it that), this ribbing is still taking forever.

other WIPs: I cast on for some odd CookieA sock pattern. I think I need to go down a needle size, so they just sit here taunting me. I’ve wound up the KP Superwash to start the GAAA. I’m thinking I’ll start with the Julie Levy square (it’s in the Winter 2000 issue of Knitters, which I just got off of someone’s destashing efforts on Ravelry. I have no idea what order it’s in if you have the book.)

in sewing news, I’m working on a quilted table runner from the book Quilt a Colorful Christmas (thank you HCLib). I’ve got the borders done (though I think the sides are off a bit and I need to rip and re-sew a couple spots), and am at the point of needing to make snowflakes to appliqué to the center background panel before I can sew my borders onto it.

My first quilt is complete. Don’t look too closely, there’s quite a few mistakes (squares not lining up, not-so straight lines, a bit of puckering, etc). But overall, I think it turned out pretty well.

Made for: a coworker. Her baby shower at work is tomorrow.
Finished size: 31.5″ x 39.5″
Started: late Dec 2007
Finished: 10 January 2008

Fabrics: a jungle print, green & blue tie dye, yellow gingham. all flannel
Batting: Warm & White - craft sized.
Thread: Guterman 100% cotton for the piecing, Coats Dual Duty for the quilting and binding.

I had issues with the cotton thread breaking while piecing the quilt. Not sure if it was a bad spool, or if my machine doesn’t like that type of thread. I switched for the quilting process to thread I know my machine likes. (though it did act up a bit sewing the binding on.)

here’s a few more pics (click to embiggen):