Friday, February 1, 2013

Time has gotten away from me.

I haven't been keeping up my blog, but then no one has complained so I'm sure very few people actually want to read about my musings. I really should change the name of my blog as I've begun to quilt again.

I took several quilting classes about 7 years ago and finally finished the 6 block quilt that I'd learned to make. I presented it to my daughter-in-law for Christmas, 2012. I also made a Bernstein Bear quilt for my granddaughter and my grandson has taken it from his sister as he loves the Bernstein Bears but didn't want me to make him a quilt. Now he's happy to use his sister's quilt and is excited about the I Spy quilt that I'm slowly putting together for him.

This is the Hanami Stole or shawl that I'd started in July, 2012 but only did 6 rows and added the 48 beads. It sat and sat for months. I finally pulled it out again after Christmas and was determined to finish it before Spring time in Japan.

It is for my daughter-in-law's mum, who lives in Japan and she'd requested a rectangular shawl from me. The story behind this shawl interested me as Japan is a very beautiful country and Cherry Blossom season is celebrated by people having picnics outdoors and around shrines or wherever there are a lot of Cherry Blossom trees. Seeing for myself how beautiful these trees are in Springtime in Japan made me want to make this shawl for my daughter-in-law's mum.

It is asymmetrical in design and I didn't do the ruffle but added 6 rows of garter stitch and also added 48 more beads. I don't like working with lace weight yarn, but I managed to finish this in a month and don't have the same fear of dropping stitches and working with lace weight yarn.

I was ready to sell all my lace weight yarn and after making this beautiful shawl I've changed my mind.

Currently, I have many UFO's. I sorted through them today and got the patterns next to the yarn which is in plastic bags. I'm seriously working on the Eco Vest out of Cascade Eco wool and am enjoying the process. I may only do 4 inches of the broken rib for the front depending how it fits me. The arm holes are a bit big, but that's fine. I don't like tight vests.

I'm working on another rectangular shawl for my daughter-in-law's mum for next Christmas, plus a winter hat for my granddaughter for next winter, another vest, a cowl for myself out of some beautiful pink Madeline tosh yarn. A new yarn shop opened near my home called Valley Yarns and as the owner has had an online shop for a few years, it is now nice to have a quick drive to look at yarn. My stash is still too much for me but I do have 3 big containers filled with yarn that I'm willing to sell.

My dear friend has bought yarn from me and she tends to check to see what I have before she enters a yarn shop. Helps me out and also I was overjoyed to see some yarn that I'd forgotten I had made into a nice long vest by her. She is returning to knitting as I did so she's working on easy patterns. I've tried to convince her to try a top down sweater and I think she may be willing to try Mr. Greenjeans.

I have so many projects that I want to make. I have socks on needles which really should be finished. They just keep sitting in the bag as I work on other projects.

Now that I've gotten serious about quilting, it means I have more magazines and a few books and fabric of course filling up my craft room. I told my husband today that I'd like to move to a smaller place in 5 years but then I'd lose my craft room and he'd lose his train room so for now we'll muddle around in this big house. Our hobbies need space and while I'm trying to sell or knit up my stash, I know that I won't get it all knitted up or sold in 5 years.

Our two Golden Retrievers take up a lot of my time and energy and they follow me everywhere. They whimper at me to go out and then back inside the house. But when I'm in my craft room sewing or cutting fabric, they just either play with a toy or chew a bone or sleep. I tend to do all my knitting in the family room so I can watch TV or at least have it on if I'm working on something that is repetitive.

I'll try to write more here and I need to figure out how to change the name of this blog of mine.

Fibre's West is going to be in Cloverdale this year and I can easily walk to it. I'm excited about going this year because it is so close. Our knitting guild does wind yarn for people, so I'll volunteer to do that and get to be around gorgeous yarn and possibly find a class that I want to take.

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