wow, I’ve been a bit quiet here lately. I’ve been busy knitting the Sockamania River socks - I’m stuck halfway up the foot of sock #1. I need to figure out how to sort out my mods and a high instep modification. So today I went back to the Tasha bag. Also been busy getting my projects added to Ravelry.

so, strolling thru blogland this morning, I stumbled on this. Scroll down a bit. I’m loving that Cider Moon yarn she’s using on the socks. love the colors, love the way it looks. would love to have it. but that’ll have to wait a bit.

in other news, I hemmed some store-bought curtains Sunday night. and that turned out pretty well. (they’re pretty even and straight. dh is happy.) last night I layed out the fabric and cut out the pieces for dh’s pajama pants. I’m hoping the bedroom curtains will get done next week while dh is away (he’ll be in Ohio at Origins). and I want to make myself a skirt. and my pajama pants. and maybe go back to the quilt. I’m also planning some other non-knitting craftiness - my friend is getting married the end of July (on my birthday, coincidentally), and the shower is mid-July. I’m thinking soap and candlemaking as well as some knitting shall produce a nice gift. (she’s crafty too, so hopefully she won’t think I’m completely cheap or anything)

oh, and I’m feeling a bit giddy. since it’s kinda cold out today (compared to the last few days), I’m wearing my new socks at work. yeah, the glitz itches a lot. but my feet are comfy

originally. but then the quilt-that-must-be-made caught my attention. so the weekend plan was altered.

Friday night I finished sock #1 (aside from end weaving). the verdict - it fits, but kind of funny. so the ends have not been woven in and sock #2’s toe has been neglected. I’ve also discovered I have a good bit of yarn left and could probably have made the cuff longer.

the sock!

Saturday, the husband and I went fabric shopping. We hit JoAnne’s in Coon Rapids first. Saw a few fabrics that caught my eye, but they weren’t quite right. So we wandered over to the Hancock Fabrics over in Crystal which is one that’s going out of business. (we got a bit lost in the process - the cell phone map wasn’t as clear as it needed to be. and they don’t know how to name roads around here. example: on what must have been a town border, if you’re going in one direction on the 2-lane road, you’re on some numbered street. if you’re on the same road in the opposite direction, it’s some-odd Lake Rd.) I found most of the fabric needed for the quilt there (and at 60% off. woohoo!). We also got some fabric to make bedroom curtains from, and dh picked out some horrid green stripe flannel fabric for the pajama pants he’s been saying he wants me to make.

(horrid stripes, curtain back, curtain front, quilt contrast/border, quilt background, quilt border)

Onwards… to Mill End Textiles, who were having a 50% off Memorial Day Sale. Holy fabric batman! We should have gone there first. Found a ‘perfect’ fabric for the quilt. Just needed a couple basic solids for the quilt still, so back to JoAnne’s. we encountered another bit of bad cell phone mapping, so we went to the one in Maple Grove this time. which was good, cuz they had fabrics that were perfect that the other one didn’t. so got the backing fabric, another fabric, and a remnant, and quilt shopping was done. whew! (there was also a stop for lunch, a poke into Half Price Books, and a stop for dinner. yeah, it was a great all day event).

(quilt backing, ‘perfect’ for quilt, more quilt fabric and remnant for quilt)

when we got home, it was time to sort things out, and then the great prewashing began. my least favorite part of the sewing process.

Sunday morning was spent ironing the prewashed fabric. oh joy. and then I began cutting quilt squares/strips. and did a couple other things quilt-related. then we left to see a movie, which didn’t end up happening for various reasons, so we went to Hollywood Video instead.

This morning has been spent tracing. there’s a lot of applique on this quilt, and the tracing is starting to get to me. so it was time for a pre-lunch internet break. If I’m lucky, I’ll get the tracing done and be able to start putting quilt blocks together. why’s there gotta be so much darned prep-work????

Here’s what half the quilt squares will look like:

the fabric stash that is. I poked into the library to pick up a couple book that were on hold (Felt Frenzy & Kid’s Knitted Sweaters… from Cabin Fever) and decided to poke thru the regular stock of books. (This was at the branch that I consider to be the size of a shoebox. They still have a decent selection without resorting to summoning from other branches.) Anywho, since this library is the size of a shoebox (unlike, say, the Central Mpls branch by work, where knitting takes up most of one row section), knitting shares a shelf with quilting. And 3 quilting books came home with me as well. One of which has the CUTEST quilt that I, as a knitter, feel I absolutely must make. despite the fact that it has taken me a good 4-5 years to make minimal progress on my first quilt attempt (it took me a year to wash the fabric. I am counting that year.) unfortunately, my fabric stash doesn’t contain many quilt-worthy fabrics, and so I feel I must make a pilgrimage to the fabric shops. JoAnns seems to be having a sale. ooh, or there’s a quilt shop up in town - I wonder what their hours are this weekend… and what the damage to the yarn budget would be…

in knitting news, Dulaan hat #4 is nearing completion (when do I need to get these in the mail by?). and so are my socks. pics coming soon.

(did I mention that we got satellite internet at home now? now, can we keep the clouds away while I’m at home so that I can actually connect?)

so I had a feis (Irish dance competition) this weekend down in Madison. I stayed with my parents for the night, since they live sort of nearby. I had seen something in one of the thrift shops that I thought mom would like, so I went back to grab it. decided to stop at a 2nd thrift store that was on the way, and found a few knitting needles. so I got (another) 29″ size 7 circ, and two orphans: a size 10 Brittany (not sure what wood it is) and a size 10.5 Crystal Palace. anyone else have an orphan they’d like to trade (or trade something for)?

(eta: the Brittany has found a new home. the Crystal Palace needle is still a bit lonely though)

back to the feis… considering I didn’t do much practicing, I did pretty well - I got 1st in one dance and tied for 5th in another. one of the best parts about going to a feis: the vendors with the Irish candies! so I grabbed a few. as you can see, the Flake bar didn’t last long (though they did survive the trip home!)

after the feis, I tried to find a craft store that has a coupon online. I was on the wrong road at first, and stumbled on Goodwill (by EastTowne). ooh, did I have fun in there! they had TONS of yarn. 10 skeins of Pingouin something in 2 colors, a skein of ‘virgin wool’ (I think it’s the same brand as the skein I kool-aid dyed - it’ll probably meet the same fate), a skein of Bernat something or other that’s 70/15/15 acrylic, wool & mohair, and a few zippers. I did finally find the craft store, but by that time they were closed.
  

oh, and I made some progress on the needle case I’m making. I just need to stitch the top and bottom edges, and maybe add a closure of some sort.

I’ve decided to sew myself a needle case of some sort. You should see the small collection of patterns I have to try this from: the one in the SnB book, the out-of-print Simplicity pattern, the one from the Sweater Workshop book, and this one. being the crazy person that I am, I became obsessed with finding the Simplicity pattern - bid on it on eBay, and was sent the wrong pattern. ended up getting it from a different seller. and what did this obsession leave me with? not using it. well, I did steal the idea from it to use bias tape around the edges so it’ll look a little prettier. but for the most part I’m using the one linked with some alterations. so at this point I have the fabric cut, layed out, and am trying to decide how I want to sew it together. and I’m thinking I want to add an accessory pocket of sorts (I’m thinking vinyl with a velcro closure), but I’m not sure where to add it. *rolls eyes* of course, I can’t do things according to the pattern. no I have to modify and make it more complicated than it really is. =)

so that’s my non-knitting update. I think I’ll go stare at it some more and see if I can figure out what I’m trying to do…