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.

in mouse news, I caught one in a snap trap Sunday morning. I felt rather clever - I set the trap (which tried to attack me. I don’t like this brand) on a sheet of newspaper in the pantry and closed the door (to keep kitty paws and whiskers safe). The theory being that I could just fold it up in the paper and be done with it. it worked pretty well (I found a second sheet of newspaper to cover it with to avoid the ew factor). sidenote: I’m all about being humane, but I live in the country. if I release them, they’ll just find their way back in since we don’t know where they’re coming in from anyway.

MS3 update
I finally started working on it on Sunday. I didn’t get very far because I was working off the chart on the computer screen, and once it got complicated (around row 13, I think. wherever that next bead placing row is and the stuff in the middle kicks in) I couldn’t mindlessly follow it. and then I never got around to grabbing the printed chart from downstairs. and then I got distracted by the sewing machine (I’m fighting with the bedroom curtains at the moment. I did something backwards, and have to do some seam ripping)

lime dragon asked about my dying plans - before or after I knit.
I’m thinking of dyeing afterwards. I don’t feel like unwinding all the yarn from the cone just to dye it. KnitPicks had a how-to of dying a finished lace shawl/stole, so I’ll use that as a guide. I also need to make sure that dying wouldn’t do anything weird to the beads. and who knows, maybe I won’t mind the pink.

Monday I lost my car key. since it’s one of those bizarre keys that flips out of the remote and can’t be easily copied at a local store, I only have the one key. (I really should get a copy made, shouldn’t I?) where was it? in my purse. boy, did I feel stupid when I found it. (in my defense, the purse interior is black and the key is black. but still) so I stayed home (by the time I found the key, it really wasn’t worth it to drive and park or drive and park and bus since I work part time).

I spent much of the morning feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed (and downloading podcasts). at some point, I felt compelled to knit, so I worked on the strap of the Tasha bag a bit. (boy is that braided cable fiddly - I did get it memorized by the bus ride home last night, though.) I contemplated resuming work on the Sockamania River socks, but just couldn’t get the required mojo for that. meanwhile, the armless & faceless Mother Bear lay there staring at me (which I imagine must have been difficult for her, considering the lack of a face).

as an aside so that you may fully understand the way my knits can stare at me, my desk is angled to fit in a corner, with the computer in the center and space on either side. currently, on the left are about 4 WIPs and on the right side just out of the way (but barely) of the mousing zone are another 5 WIPs (which included the bear up until Monday). let it also be noted that there are more WIPs floating around the room in various places.

so yeah, the bear is now finished:

Started: Summer 2005
Finished: 2 July 2007
Pattern: Mother Bear Project - can be ordered from their site or found in Knitting for Peace
Mods: I knit it in the round. worked ok, though I think I’d prefer knitting it flat next time. also added the skirt.
Needles: Size 7
Yarn: Various worsted weight acrylics from the stash

I also finished sewing up the dh’s stripey pajama pants of blindness:

just in time for his trip to Ohio for Origins. he left yesterday, so I am home alone for a week.

in other news, nothing says summer like fresh berries. one only needs to walk about 3 steps from the front door to get them:

yes, they’ve taken over the front deck. we also have some along the edge near the neighbors horse fence and in the back woods somewhere.

the nice thing is, they don’t all go ripe at the same time - I think I’d go nuts if they did. (it’s bad enough trying to harvest and eat them daily)

we also have a little friend in the pond bucket. anyone know what he is?