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):

I’m making a quilt. as in sewing. there’s a baby shower for someone at work on Friday. I’m getting close to done with it - the top is pieced, and I’ve made the batting sandwich and anchored it with safety pins (what a royal pain that was). tomorrow, I do the actual quilting (by machine. I would like to knit this week too.)

in other news, I’ve been completely distracted by Ravelry this weekend, and have managed to not knit for more than 15 minutes. (and that was to swatch some yarn for a project that I really shouldn’t cast on for, considering the WIP count.)

apologies for yet another post without photos. I had intentions of doing a quick photo shoot last night before/while packing, but I got a bit distracted. I really need to get a progress photo of Twist.

a quick WIP Wednesday update:
Twist is going well. I probably won’t finish by the end of the month for NaKniSweMo, but I’ve made some good progress, I think. I’m at the armholes on the back.

at some point during the week, I ran out of yarn and forgot to pack a new ball of yarn. (I thought I had packed it, but apparently I was having a delusional moment). of course, that means I have nothing to knit on an hour-long bus ride home. ugh! so I studied the pattern a bit. and then I had the amazing realization that there was knitting in my bag. The Harry Potter book scarf to the rescue! (maybe it’s not so crazy of me to carry extra knitting around with me.)

Holiday Travel (and Holiday knitting)
we’re heading down to Wisconsin for the weekend. spending Turkey day with one of dh’s friends and whoever else shows up. and then I’m heading north from there to Green Bay to get together with some old camp friends for a quilting/crafting weekend.

so, last night was spent packing. priorities of course, I packed the sewing projects (the 2nd curtain, pajama pants for me, the quilt I mentioned back in May-ish, and the never-ending 5-year+ quilt. aka my first quilt project that I only ever seem to think about working on when meeting up with my camp friends.). while gathering the fabric, I realized I had misplaced the foot I’d bought to applique the May quilt. I found it in with the rest of the feet for the machine. and then I realized that the pattern(s) I had for pajama pants won’t fit me (one would have if I’d bought the Misses sizes instead of the Junior sizes. note to self, pay attention), so I may need to make a side-trip to the store for that (not a problem, at some point we usually end up in a fabric store).

alright, sewing being packed, it’s time to move on to the knitting. I’ve got Twist with me, of course. and 4 extra balls so I can start working on the fronts or the sleeves. whichever I choose to do, I’m doing both at the same time so they match.
since the holiday knitting has been suffering, I’ve made sure to bring plenty of that as well. but what to bring? well, I was going to force myself to work on L’s mittens from last year, but that’s at the house, so I guess those will have to wait a while longer (dammit!). so I’m taking yarn for L’s gift, A’s gift, the poinsettia wreath, and I think something else.