Fun Finishes

My friends and I have been finishing things this past week. Here's Janet's latest quilt top:

She brought it to Common Threads for show-and-tell. The pattern is "Bars of Gold" from Pam and Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll Quilts. She says she's going to make every quilt in the book. She has already done several, as have I. I'm not sure I'd want to make every one, but there are several I would like to make, especially "Starlight Express" and "Both Sides of the Pond."

Joanie finished her poncho. I had blocked it for her and picked up the sts around the neck after she sewed the shoulder seam. The color is pretty dark, and even though I'm younger than she is, it was even hard for me to see the sts. I had to sit in the window to do it. It looks great, though!

The pattern is this one from Rowan, and the yarn is Rowan's Felted Tweed DK. Several people in the group want to make it or something similar. I suggested City Tweed as a good alternative, if you can't get the yarn it called for. Lynda agreed. She made a lovely sweater from City Tweed a year or so ago. This is a very simple pattern, but versatile and effective. It's basically a rectangle, the shoulder seam sewn and then the cowl sts picked up. Nice!

Joanie also brought what is probably her last weaving project ever (because her loom now belongs to me):

You may have seen this blanket before, but now she has blocked it. Margareth helped her finish it and get it off the loom, because Joanie has trouble with her shoulders, which is why she was willing to part with her loom. She's happy she can still knit without pain.

This was the warp that was left on the loom when I received it, and I practiced on it with the same weft before starting the afghan that was my first weaving project. Now that I've seen Joanie's project blocked, I may have to finish the edges of the piece I made with the same weft and block it.

Speaking of Margareth, here's Karan admiring Margareth's latest FO, a tapestry sheep:

I'm lucky to have access to Margareth, Joanie and Karan for weaving tips and help! Margareth and I are going to take a rug class with Jason Collingwood in November. In the meantime, though, I'm having a go on my own, with the help of the books that came with my loom. I just finished Bathroom Rug #2:

I think it has a Southwestern feel. This one is for the master bath. Here it is on the bathroom floor:

The yarn is mostly Wool of the Andes Bulky, although I used some Wool of the Andes Worsted held double when I ran out of a color and there's some Ella Rae Worsted in there, too. I haven't wet-finished it yet. I had to see it on the floor! There was still some warp left on the loom, so I'm continuing to weave with my leftovers from this project. I might get a big enough piece out of it to make a bag, but we'll see.

The rug wasn't the only item I finished this week. I wore my finished Fiji Socks to Common Threads:

The yarn is Stroll Glimmer in "Fiji," but the sparkles hardly show up. The pattern is "Scrolls" from Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks. You may remember that I started these socks back in April of 2012, when we were awaiting Zachary's arrival. They got shoved aside to make time to knit baby things, but now they're finished and in use.

AND...I finished the first appliqué panel for my Delectable Pathways quilt, including the embroidery. Some of the embroidered stems just sort of stop, but that's because leaves that will cross a seam will go there.

Hiking season has begun. Sunny and Rocky really enjoy getting out in the sunshine. Here's Sunny on a recent hike:

The wildflowers are going crazy, like these Forget-me-nots. It's unusual to have so many of this flower here. They're really prolific this year for some reason.

Even the lowly dandelion is beautiful if you look closely:

I wonder if you can spin this stuff?

For those of you seeking some baby cuteness, here's Soren:

Daddy is reading to him. This evening ritual started long before Soren was born.

Well, I still have lots of UFOs and WIPs to finish up, and I'm ready to start the project for my Craftsy Floor Loom Weaving class, so check back with me next week. This has been a week of finishing things. Next week will probably see at least one new beginning.

What's on my needles: Bunny Suit and Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan.

What's on my loom: The rest of the warp with more weft-faced weaving for a bag or ?

What's on my Featherweight: Delectable Pathways, piecing the Delectable Mountain blocks with the setting triangles.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving, Espresso, second bobbin almost finished.

What's on my iPad: Marie Bostwick's A Thread of Truth, from Audible, various podcasts.

What's my app of the week: Gaugefy Free. Because you know you should always knit a gauge swatch!

What's in my wine glass: Alice White Shiraz 2011, from Australia. Just a hint of gum tree! Nice!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.