A Few Happy Endings

The "Madison Romance" cardigan is finished:

I worked on the button loops at Diane's during Vintage Stitchers. Here is the link to my Ravelry page for the project.

Julie has been making progress on her Ladybug pullover for her granddaughter. She worked on it at Vintage Stitchers.

Rebecca picked up a new quilt idea from a friend who had seen it and showed her how. It's from a book called Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts by Peggy Rhodes and Julia C. Wood.

The Hexigons are made by folding the fabric, sort of like origami. It takes a lot of fabric, but you don't need to stuff and quilt it if you don't want to, making a nice coverlet or counterpane.

Brenda had come back from a quilt retreat in Idaho and showed us this quilt top she made:

Diane has started a new wall hanging to replace the one in her entry that she feels is too Christmassy.:

The blocks represent signs of the zodiac and were from a sampler class she took with some friends. 

Friday we had a UFO session at Joanie's. There were four of us, and Kasha enjoyed the company and extra attention.

Joanie and I were going to work on our Yei Figures Bag. 

I worked on mine, but Joanie worked on her James Bond baby sweater. (I found out that "James Bond" is just the name she gave the sweater.) It's from this book. I think the real name of the pattern is "'50s Lounge Jacket."

Joanie brought out some pf her finished and almost-finished baby projects. There was this baby hat:

And a matching baby sweater:

The photo was before Julie crocheted around the neck for Joanie. (Joanie doesn't crochet. I think she should learn. Don't you?)

Also this white baby sweater with a hat to match, somewhat redundant with e hood:

Here's a closeup of the felted flower detail on white sweater:

Joanie is known for her creative embellishments.

Janet has almost finished her Sipalu Bag. Here it is, blocking:

She's working on a strap for it using the same pattern as the top border, which is what I did with mine, instead of the I-cord handle. She changed some of the colors for her bag from the colorway she bought, one of the nice things about having a stash of Palette.

My Yei Figures Bag will be done soon, and I'm working on my "Delectable Pathways" quilt. When these are done and I have time, I plan to bring out some really old UFOs! (But the Mary Tudor Cardigan is calling, calling….)

What's on my needles: "Green Tea" socks, a few rounds done this week. The Yei Figures Bag, just more I-cord to do for the handles. Soon I plan to start the BSJ for BS2, a little brother or sister for Soren, due in August. 

What's on my loom: Waffle scarf, not much progress this week, 

What's on my Featherweight: Soren's I-spy quilt, sashing cut and ready to piece.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Georgette Heyer's The Nonesuch and now reading Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen. I'm still watching "Top-Down Icelandic Sweater" with Ragga Eiriksdótir and Joe Cunningham's "Pattern-Free Quiltmaking," both classes from Craftsy.

What's my app of the week: I'm getting a lot of use out of the Craftsy app. You can watch the lessons right in the app and do most of the same things you can do with the platform on your computer.   

What's in my wine glass: Two-buck Chuck (Charles Shaw) Shiraz. One of my favorites.

What's my tip of the week: If you don't already have health insurance, you can still sign up by midnight today here and be covered for 2014. (I have heard that anyone who has attempted to log on by the midnight deadline will have a chance to finish signing up in the following days.) I have several friends with pre-existing conditions who have been able to sign up for plans that are reasonably priced, including my friend Julie, who is a cancer survivor and not yet old enough for Medicare.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Happy Endings

This week brought this wonderful book into my life, Tudor Roses (2013 edition) by Alice Starmore.

It's a reworking of the 1998 book of the same name, but with the sweaters reknit, rephotographed and somewhat redesigned. Some of the original sweaters are posted on Ravelry.

Some of the new ones don't have photos available on Ravelry yet, but watch for them...unless you get the book, and then you can see them all.

The one I have been wanting to do is the Mary Tudor sweater, a pullover in 1998 and a cardigan in the new version. I( like the new version better.)

When I discovered that this book was out, I snapped it up. The 1998 version was out-of-print, and was selling on Amazon for $600+. I tried to find it in a library, but the libraries that had the book had it listed as "missing." I assume that is the same thing as "stolen." I had a gift certificate from Amazon for Christmas, so the the new edition of the book was virtually free!

We braved the snow on Thursday to meet for Common Threads at Ellen's. We had a great turnout, in spite of the weather.

Janet has continued to practice machine appliqué, including working on these chicks. (Sorry about the back lighting. Next time I need to choose my seat more carefully.)

She also finished her Heart Quilt. (Upper corners aren't rounded. Janet is holding on there.)

She used the leftover fabrics in this quilt top.

Margareth's pullover is coming along. She's working on the bottom ribbing and then just has the sleeves to go.

She's been smiling alot these days, but she had been smiling ever since she arrived and told us that her boyfriend had proposed on Valentine's Day. I think her "smiler" was exhausted when I took this photo. 

DH's Christmas Waffle sweater is dry, so I got a photo of it blocked and modeled.

Now I'm afraid DH will wear it in the house all the time and turn down the thermostat even further. That thought spurred me on to finish a warm sweater for myself. The Dogwood Blossoms is blocking! Here it is before finishing the steek edges inside, darning in dangling ends of yarn and blocking. 

We had a hard time putting the wooly board together inside my sweater. After we struggled it onto the wooly board, I took it out in the street to get a photo.

It's a little different from the pattern. I changed the sleeve to a drop shoulder instead of a capped shoulder, BO sts below the armescye steeks, split the top of the sleeve at the underarm by knitting back and forth for the last 2" and added a triangular gusset. For the colors, I substituted the discontinued color "Nutmeg" for "Almond" and reduced the amount of "Rose Hip" overall. I threw in a bit of greenish-gold colors, too. It makes me warm just to look at it!

My goal was to finish these two sweaters during the Ravellenic Games, which ended yesterday, so I'm pleased, even though I barely made it.

What's on my needles: Ready to CO new sweater for Rocky. "Green Tea" socks, second sock coming along, working on the foot. 

What's on my loom: Christmas present scarves, in holding pattern. 

What's on my Featherweight: Piecing the second I-spy quilt, this one for Soren. Sewing day didn't happen this week. Life got in the way.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer, from Audible. (Fantastic narrator!) Now listening to the sequel to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness. Finished reading Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, by Sally Smith O'Rourke. Now back to Dragonseye by Anne McCaffrey, procured again from the library after a long wait.

What's my app of the week: NBC Sports Live Extra. It came in handy during the Olympics. 

What's in my wine glass: Alice White Shiraz 2012, the big bottle. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Back to Whatever is "Normal"

Lynda has finished her Dogwood Blossoms!

She's the first one in our group of four or so to finish it. She wore it to our Common Threads meeting on Thursday. Mine is close to finished (has been for a long time), and I plan to get it done during the Ravellenic Games. 

Here is the sweater Margareth and I were trying to resize to fit her at our meeting two weeks ago. She says that she has tried it on, and it fits perfectly.

The pattern is the Bayside Pullover from Hannah Fettig's Coastal Knits. 

Margareth is adding subtle stripes, because she didn't have enough of the main color yarn. I love her color choices. It's going to be worth all the math we had to do. 

Now Lynda's working on this great shawl. It's called "Dream Bird," and was designed by Nadita Swings.

Lone is working on felting and paper projects. 

Here's Ellen's garage-sale find from several years ago. The circles are yoyos, appliquéd down. She's thinking of using this piece as the center medallion of a quilt.

My first I-spy quilt top is finished. This one is for Zachary's second birthday in April. I have another one virtually the same to make for Soren, who will be two in July. I picked up the border fabric for both quilts on Tuesday at our local quilt shop after a sewing session at Ellen's. Because I'm using the same fabric for both quilts' borders, I have enough fabric to get the length of all borders without piecing them.

And...the endless Christmas Waffle Sweater is coming along. The second sleeve is finished. 

You may remember that I wasn't happy with the top-down sleeves. These were much easier to make, and I like the way they look better. Starting on the yoke.

I've been enjoying the new slow-cooker book I bought when I was in SLC with Ellen and Brenda. (Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just for You by Kathy Hester.) I made the "Pumpkin Polenta" overnight for breakfast, and it turned out great. I used water instead of nondairy milk and real cheese instead of the faux cheese. (I don't eat meat, but I'm not vegan.)

The other "excitement" for the week was Rocky's injury. We think he did it playing Frisbee in the snow a week ago Saturday with some other dogs. We didn't notice anything until Monday, when he got up unable to turn his head to the left. Our vet had us try aspirin for several days, but it was taking a long time to get better, so we took him in on Friday. Pulled muscle was the diagnosis. Now he's on two different medications to relax the muscle and reduce the pain, and seems to be recovering significantly. Never a dull moment with the pups!

Finally, the local groundhog saw his shadow on Sunday. Six more weeks of winter. I wish it were only six more weeks. That would be unusual for us. 

What's on my needles: "Green Tea" socks for me, second sock, and Dogwood Blossoms holding, and Christmas Waffle sweater moving along, with the second sleeve (second version) finished. Starting the raglan decreases for the yoke. 

What's on my loom: Christmas present scarves, a few more inches done.

What's on my Featherweight: Piecing the second I-spy quilt, this one for Soren. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Phantoms by Dean Koontz, from Audible and started Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey. Still reading Pemberly to Waterloo by Anna Elliot in iBooks, bought through Book Bub. Also listening to the Fiber Hooligan podcast and the Knit Picks podcast, as usual.

What's my app of the week: I'm really getting a lot of use out of The Recipe Box.  I'm adding my favorite recipes, so I can find them easily. It even let's you include a photo.

What's in my wine glass: Proximo by Marqués de Riscal Rioja, 2009, from Spain. Nice! It says "Alc. 135% on the bottle. No wonder it tastes so good! (No, that has to be a mistake.)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.