Keeping Myself in Stitches

Remember this? Charlie's T-shirt quilt has been languishing while I figured out how to do the backing and then worked on other things.

Well, the back is done. I talked with the quilter about how to get the rows of footprints lined up with the edges of the quilt on the back, and we decided I should appliqué them on afterwards, so that's what I'll do. Here's the backing, folded in half. The other side has another T-shirt front (or back?) facing the other direction. The dark blue batik square is right in the middle, and hopefully it will end up in the middle after quilting. The rows of footprints are like the bottom of this piece of T-shirt, but without all the other stuff.

Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along Clue #1 dropped on Wednesday, so I got a nice start on it then. I finished the first clue on Saturday. It's going to be a cowl, and it's knitted horizontally in the round, so all the floats will be hidden inside, so they don't catch on anything. When the last clue is completed, the live stitches will be grafted to the live stitches at the bottom of this photo, provided by a provisional cast on using waste yarn (the white cotton). 

The pattern is designed by Jamie Lomax of Pacific Knit, who does the doodle cards and projects to go along with them. The clue included several different charts for light or dark background, and we got to choose which ones we wanted to use. I went with two with a background and one with a light background. The yarn is mYak Tibetan Cloud in Flame and Lotus Blossom.

I got back to work on my Sunday Morning Wrap on Saturday, when I put on my reading glasses and learned to my horror that the needle size was supposed to be 5mm, not US5, which makes a big difference. (It pays to wear your glasses when you're getting this information from the pattern.) So I started over with the right size needles. First I had to rewind my yarn. This time I decided to do the long-tailed CO, using the inside end and the outside end tied together so I wouldn't run out of yarn while casting on. It means two extra ends to weave in when finished, but I didn't want to do the knitted CO again, as it's rather tedious. Now I'm almost done with the first set of twisted rib. It's much easier with the bigger needles, because the yarn is fairly thick. The yarn is Kelbourne Woolens Scout in Cinnamon Heather.

I hope to get a bit more done before Clue #2 for the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along drops this coming Tuesday. I have an appointment with the quilter on January 30, so should be able to pick up Charlie's quilt sometime in February. That should give me time to get the binding and the two appliqué pieces ready to go.

In the meantime, here's Sandy with his new Lamb Chop toy.

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for More Classic Tales Retold or Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses or More Classic Tales Retold, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: The Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along project and the Sunday Morning Wrap. Also some other projects.

What's on my loom: Still in its corner under the windows.

What's on my sewing machine: Binding for the T-shirt quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: If you don’t understand the gravity of the situation, read this. In the story, gravity is explained so a child can understand it.  Here’s Ups and Downs.

What's my tip of the week: I prefer the long-tailed cast on for most knitting projects, but it's hard to know how long that long tail has to be. I solve the problem by using the tail from the outside of the ball of yarn along with the tail from the center. Tie a knot to hold the two ends together, then use the yarn on each side of the knot to start casting on. When you get done, cut the yarn from the outside of the ball and continue working with the yarn from the center.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, because the publisher gets a cut. 

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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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Monkeying Around

Ta-da! Mr. F. Is finished and waiting for his clothes.


I have one sleeve of his jammies (Union suit?) almost finished, but I've been hand-quilting, as you will see below.

However, while we're on knitting, I thought you would enjoy seeing Joanie's seal mum and pup:


They are from the book Knit Your Own Zoo by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborn. Now Joanie's working on the fruit bat, what she was really after. Her birthday is in October, and her last name is Howell (howl?) so Halloween  is a big deal for her.

Speaking of Halloween, we met at Barbara's For Vintage Stitchers. Here's her Halloween quilt:


I'm  trying to finish as many UFOs this year as I can. I'm working on the hand quilting of this hand-pieced and hand-appliquéd quilt (my first appliqué quilt ever...to be started, anyway). I call it "Spring Flowers." It hardly fits on my design wall, especially with the batting and everything. The part I've quilted so far is to the right, including the upper-right appliqué block.


After seeing the quilt design on an episode of Simply Quilts about 2000, I bought the fabric and started the quilt by doing the appliqué blocks (not in the original design). I copied the appliqué design from an old one I found in a book, American Quilt Classics from the Collection of Patricia Cox by Patricia Cox. It was from a quilt kit made about 1930. The fabrics were from "The Language of Flowers," designed by Susan Branch and manufactured by Springs Industries in their "Quilters Only" line. (I have been unable to learn the episode number of "Simply Quilts." If I find it, I'll add it at the bottom of this post.)

I've done several appliqué quilts since then, and taken several classes, including the one with Mary Sorensen, which really convinced me how much I love needleturn. Looking at these appliqué blocks now, I can see how much I've improved. My points in these blocks are really blunt, for example. Still, it has a nice effect, I think, and the "workmanship" makes it look very '30s. Here's a closeup of the appliqué block already quilted.



I ended up hand-piecing the quilt because I found I couldn't sew the LeMoyne Star blocks to my satisfaction. (It's funny how tolerant I was with the appliqué yet so picky with the piecing.) It has been sitting as a UFO for several years. Now I really want to finish it so I can hand-quilt my Delectable Pathways, which Julie basted for me on her long-arm.

In the meantime, it's starting to get cold here, and that reminds us that winter is coming. We just had our Jøtul stove in my fiber studio serviced. It was the first servicing in 10 years. It didn't seem to be working properly, so we called some experts to come and fix it. Some of the gas vents needed cleaning, and the installers had put too many ember pieces in. It works, but it doesn't seem to come on according to the thermostat. We may have to have the repairmen back. At least we can turn it on when we want it, though.

It sure makes my fiber studio cozy!


What's on my needles: Now that Mr. F. is done, I'm working on this clothes. I still have the Johan socks to work on.

What's in my quilting hoop: My quilting needle is working on the hand-quilting of my "Spring Flowers" quilt.

What's on my Featherweight: Still the backing for the Crystal Stars quilt.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to Julie Klassen's The Dancing Master and now listening to A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie, another good author and series brought to my attention through Audible's Daily Deal. Still reading Joseph Lallo's The Book of Deacon from Book Bub.

What's my app of the week: Craftsy again. I have been enjoying watching the lessons in the "Knit to Flatter" class. I just picked up "Save Our Stitches," on sale over the weekend.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec 2013, a new wine to compliment the very old UFOs.

What's my tip of the week: Masking tape is handy for hand-quilting. You can stick it onto your quilt as a guide for straight lines or cross-hatching. I use 3/4" or 1". Thinner than that doesn't stick very well. If the weather is cold, and your thimble keeps dropping off, you can put a little masking tape around your thimble finger to make it bigger. I find the tan masking tape is better than the blue painter's tape, which loses its stickiness too quickly for my taste.

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.

The Skies of Roswell

It's Like the Skies of Roswell! Except this is a different kind of UFO.

My Yei Figures Bag is finished except for adding the beads to the necklaces and bolos.

I decided to line it with some nice quilting fabric. The lining has some pockets for knitting or quilting supplies. 

The bag is big enough to hold a fairly large quilting or knitting project: 23" wide and 16" deep. (It's hanging on my front door in this photo.) This project was started in 2008, and I'm glad to have it done! This isn't the last of the UFOs. No, I have a nice supply!

The bedding for Daphne's dolly bunk beds isn't really a UFO, but it needed to get finished in time for her birthday next month. I finished one of the quilts during Vintage Stitchers this week and the other the next day. Here's one:

And the other:

I used '30s reproduction fabrics for the quilt tops, and some fabric my friend Ellen gave me for the backing. (It's cute fabric with little baby sleepers all over it.) Instead of batting, I used a layer of white flannel.

Some Peter Rabbit fabric left over from Daphne's baby quilt made great contour sheets, pillowcases and trim on the top sheets. I made the pillows out of the same ticking I used for the mattresses.

DH is going to help me recover the mattress boards, which are currently topped with a layer of foam and then some Con-Tact paper, which has become torn in places. I found some shelf liner that's more substantial and might last longer. It also looks like the kind of material that might be at the bottom of baby beds or play pens.

You might remember that I picked these dolly bunk beds up at the antique fair in Ogden. The whole thing comes apart for shipping, which is a good thing. This would be pretty expensive to ship set up. 

Vintage Stitchers met at Janet's this week. Joanie is almost finished with her James Bond baby sweater. She has promised to let me get a photo before she sends it off.

Carol was sewing the binding on her Planet Quilt:

I really like my minigroups, Vintage Stitchers (mostly quilting) and Common Threads (mostly knitting). The members of these groups are so excited about what they are doing, and they share this enthusiasm, but they also are learning different things, which they share with everyone, and their efforts are a real inspiration to all of us.

I bought some Palette yarn this week from a friend who was destashing, and in the batch of yarn was two of the colors I need for the for Mary Tudor cardigan. I was talking about the sweater at Vintage Stitchers, so Janet did some stash diving and came up with two other colors I needed, which she donated to me. She can come and "shop" in my stash of Palette any time she likes! Here's what I have now for the Mary Tudor:

Clockwise, from top right: Toffee, Brindle Heather (MC), Suede, Regal, Marine Heather, Blue Note Heather, Clematis Heather. I have more than one ball of several of these. The Regal is not as red as it appears in the photo. Not in photo and still to be purchased: Indigo Heather and Abyss Heather. (Waiting for the Abyss to come in before I place my order.)

Finally, having finished the Yei Figures bag, I allowed myself to CO for a new Baby Surprise Jacket  (BSJ) for Soren's baby brother, due in August. I'm using two Crazy Zauberballs (fingering weight) the way the BSJ I saw in Knit on Pearl in Jackson, Wyoming, was made.

I have the two balls in bowls to keep them from rolling around, but zip bags will work for travel.

Tuesday was Zachary's birthday, and we had a great Skype session with the family. His I-spy quilt had arrived, and and enjoyed setting his trains up on it. He has another big present coming.

Some of you may not think the dolly bunk beds and Zachary's birthday Skype session are enough cuteness, so here's a new photo of Soren:

They're growing up so fast!

Well, I don't see any more UFOs hovering over me, but then it's snowing again!

What's on my needles: BSJ for BS2, Soren's little brother. 

What's on my loom: Waffle scarf, no progress this week, but it should be warming up soon, so it will be nice to work downstairs. 

What's on my Featherweight: Back to the Delectable Pathways.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished another novel by Georgette Heyer, Sylvester, then read The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotsen. Now I'm listening to Regency Buck, another Georgette Heyer novel. (I seem to be on a Heyer binge lately.) All of these were from Audible. The Knit Wits Podcast is back, yaaaay! I'm watching "Stranded Colorwork, Basics and Beyond" from Craftsy.

What's my app of the week: The Podcast app. Now that my favorite podcast has returned.

What's in my wine glass: Concannon merlot 2011. The big bottle. It will last several days because we're still in Lent, and I've given up my second glass of wine for Lent. :-( 

But Lent will be over the end of the week. :-)

What's my tip of the week: When casting on a large number of stitches, I like to put a stitch marker every 20 sts, so I don't have to count over again from the beginning if I lose my place.

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.

UFO Sightings

It's another week for UFOs. Janet's Sipalu Bag is finished!

Janet started this bag in 2008. She thinks of herself as a quilter, not a knitter, but she has the talent, learns new techniques quickly and has a great sense of color. She changed some of the colors for this bag, which she bought as a kit. On to her Dogwood Blossoms sweater!

My Yei Figures bag has come along a bit this week.

Common Threads met at my house this week, requiring some time spent with the H-word beforehand. It's always nice to get the house clean, though.

Bernadette is crocheting an afghan:

We have several crocheters in our group. It makes me want to do some more crocheting. Maybe another granny square afghan to bust my stash so I can buy more yarn.

Julie brought Zachary's I-spy quilt, which she machine-quilted for me. She wanted to get it to me in time for me to bind it and send it off for his birthday. Here's the front.

The back will be good for him to play with his trains and cars on. The quilt is on its way to the birthday boy. Zachary will be two on Tuesday.

I may not have enough of the backing fabric to use for backing for Soren's I-spy quilt, but if not, I'll find something just as fun. I finished piecing the top for it on Saturday.

As you can see, it's almost identical to Zachary's. Some of the I-spy patches are different.

You may remember the bunk beds I found at the antique fair for Daphne's dolls. I've been working on making bedding for them, so I can send them off in time for her birthday next month. So far, I've finished the mattresses and the blankets.

There are plans for sheets and quilts, then some repair on the base that supports each mattress. Foam rubber is covered with torn Con-Tact paper. I want to replace the Con-Tact paper, if I can find a suitable pattern.

In the meantime, I'm getting ideas for a quilt for Soren's baby brother, due in August. It's the Chinese "Year of the Horse." I'm looking for a cute horse image to use for designing an appliqué. I'm also ready to CO for another BSJ for the new baby. Even though he will have several BSJ hand-me-downs already from Soren, each child should have at least one knit just for him or her, I think.

The I-spy quilts and doll bedding don't count as UFOs, so I can't start a new knitting project or quilt until I finish one of the true UFOs in my pipeline. The Delectable Pathways definitely qualifies as a UFO, and I'm coming down the home stretch with that. I managed to get a few more leaves appliquéd on this week, and I keep reminding myself that this is the last panel. All the blocks are done, so when this panel is done, I can put the whole thing together and finish it. In the meantime, I have two quilts I'm hand-quilting, and they have been languishing, and another one partly pieced. There is also a Wedding-ring quilt partly pieced.

While finishing up my UFOs, I'm dreaming about the new projects I want to make. I have two kits and several patterns, all ready to go. One new one is the kit for CT's Lincoln's Log Cabin. And then there's the Clara's Journey quilt pattern.

These add to my collection of planned but unstarted projects, including the Treasure Chest quilt. The kit is in reds, blues and tans. There is also the Pine Burr quilt from McCall's Quilting, May/June 2012, only I plan on a different palette.

I have also picked out some Palette yarn for the Mary Tudor Cardigan in Alice Starmore's new Tudor Roses book. (Knitters, this book looks great on the coffee table!) I already have some of the yarn I need:

I'm going to use Palette in Brindle Heather (MC), Indigo Heather, Abyss Heather, Blue Note Heather, Toffee, Marine, Suede, Clematis Heather and Mulberry, listed in order of how much will be used. The photo shows what I already have on my stash. Missing from the photo are Abyss Heather, Indigo Heather, Toffee and Mulberry, and I will need more of the Brindle Heather and Marine Heather. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what I can finish this week. Stay tuned!

What's on my needles: The Yei Figures Bag, finishing up the embroidery and the duplicate stitch on the front. BSJ for BS2, Soren's little brother, due in August ready to CO. 

What's on my loom: Waffle scarf, no progress this week, but it's warming up, so it will be nice to work downstairs. 

What's on my Featherweight: Bedding for Daphne's dolly bunk beds. Mattresses and blankets done, sheets and two quilts still to go.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen was pretty good. I just finished The Girl in the Gatehouse, by Julie Klassen and have started another novel by Georgette Heyer, Sylvester. I'm watching "Stranded Colorwork, Basics and Beyond" from Craftsy.

What's my app of the week: KSL Weather, which I like better than the weather app that came with my iPhone. Our weather in Summit Park can vary a lot from that of Park City because of the difference in elevation and the location of the mountains. We have weather measuring equipment right here. KSL is a local TV station in Salt Lake City, but you can choose locations anywhere.

What's in my wine glass: Lelanau Cellars Autumn Harvest Premium Dry Red Table Wine, a Michigan wine. Dry and fruity. Surprising treat!

What's my tip of the week: When measuring for quilt borders, measure across the middle, vertically and horizontally, and cut the borders to that measurement, sewing one pair of borders on before measuring for the the other pair. Ease the fabric if needed when sewing them on. This usually ensures that your quilt will be square and doesn't resemble a potato chip, as the edges are more likely to be either larger or smaller than the middle of the quilt, and the edges may not match.

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.

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.