Sadie & Oliver

A Quilt For Sadie

For a first attempt at quilting, I would call it a success (for the most part).  It's not perfectly squared and there are puckers and pulls all through the jersey squares of Sadie's baby clothes due to a sewing machine, a lead foot and a lack of skill.  The rest of it though, is exactly as I'd hoped.

Hand quilted affirmations of 'brilliant', 'kind' and 'sincere' are stitched into the purple.  The binding was sewn and painted by hand, lending it all a certain hand-made romance.

 

And if that weren't enough of the old-fashioned, a good part of this quilt was made while listening to the lovely voice of Elizabeth Klett readJane Eyre to me over the iPod.

It made for a warm and peaceful experience and one I hope to repeat again and again. 

Wisteria

It was a debate as to whether I should design something for Mama, or use a beautiful pattern written by someone else.  I opted for the latter, and I'm glad I did.

The only modification I made was to shorten the sleeves by about 2".  I love the cables in this pattern, especially the ones that cascade from the yoke.  I'm not sure how Mama will feel about those cables highlighting her hips and rearend, but I didn't like the look of Wisteria without them.

 

 

Specs:

Wisteria by Kate Gilbert (Twist Collective ~ Fall 2008)

51" finished bust

yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

needles:  5mm circulars (40" & 16")

I am sure it will be more flattering on Mama.  There is a postive ease of 19" on this dress form.

Crazy Christmas Gift Make-athon

I like tradition.  I like handmade gifts best.  I'm a touch crazy.

When Christmas is coming, I take on a whack of gift projects, confident ridiculously sure of my ability to bring it all together in time.

Patti ~apron with ric rac flowers ~ in progress

Laryssa ~ kid sized cowl and toque ~ check

Grampa ~ monogrammed hankies ~ check

Grama ~ smooshy alpaca cowl ~ working on it

Mary ~ fancy Malabrigo cowl ~ check

Mama ~ Wisteria sweater ~ checkity-check, check-o-rama, check-a-doodle-dandy

Sadie ~ a quilt that will deserve a whole post of its own ~ still in progress

Chev ~ wants me to buy him something electronic ~ thank heavens!

How Inspiring

can one book possibly be?

This lady, Jane Brocket {one of my new favorite people}, makes me want to get out the fabric squares and play with color, knit pretty pillow covers, put jelly beans on cupcakes, embroider a crinoline lady on a table cloth, and otherwise shurk my everyday duties to indulge in every crafty impulse I have.  I hesitated to pull the book from the shelf because I knew all too well that it wouldn't be long before I was baking fairy buns.

And that's just what I'm going to do.

Snow Day

When the world looks like this:

 

My mind drifts to these:

 

Fortunately, my hands follow suit!

Happy Snow-day!

Because I Can,

I am changing things up.  A new name, some new colors, like a fresh coat of paint on an old desk.  This was supposed to be a journal for me, but somewhere along the way I decided it should be a knitting blog (a neglected and uninspired one at that).  If I don't knit, I don't update, and that defeats the whole purpose of having a blog in the first place.  So, welcome!  It's a new blog, or an old one with a fresh coat of paint.