Black Friday and a Long Weekend

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was exhausting. And unfortunately we didn't get to take our trip to Gatlinburg. I was pretty disappointed, but I we will make plans to try it again soon.

I don't do Black Friday shopping, in fact I didn't even leave the house on Friday. I stayed in my Pj's all day, ate leftovers, and worked on my new shawl. I did stop by my local Joann Fabrics this evening the check out their sales and Christmas fabric and picked out a few half yard cuts that I wanted needed for pillows.

I have a soft spot for anything vintage Christmas and they had a few good selections. I like shopping their holiday fabrics, because they usually do carry a lot of good choices, especially vintage looking ones. And sometimes I can find some hard to find Alexander Henry holiday fabrics. (like the backing for my Halloween quilt!)

The candy cane and the green deer with the angels I knew I wanted and was lucky to find some left, I saw it there about a week or so ago when I got the flannel for my tunic. The others were just a bonus, but I adore the gray fabric with the little train and village on it, its even metallic gold!

                 

Speaking of my tunic, it was a partial success. It came out great, but doesn't fit quite right, its a little too baggy in a few places and I am giving it a rest to see the best way to do some adjusting on it. I will definitely be making myself clothes in the future though.

I am hoping to get a lot of sewing done tomorrow afternoon, at least several pillow covers finished. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post soon. I also have some Christmas gifts to get working on too.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I am planning on making some zipper pouches for my boyfriend's sisters and mother and filling them with some little gifts. We have decided not to spend a lot of Christmas presents and I was looking for something useful and pretty. I made myself some zipper pouches ages ago and I use them in my purse to carry all my little things (hand sanitizer, chap stick, pens, etc) so they don't get lost at the bottom of my purse. So i thought I would buy some of the mini sanitizers and lotions from Bath and Body works but then I was stumped as to what else to put in them. Any suggestions? What would you enjoy getting? What do you use a lot or carry in your purse that would be handy???

Cottonwood Shawl

I have been learning A LOT about knitting lately, and I find it so relaxing and easy to transport. Its so much easier to take with you than hand sewing. I've been working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt again the last week or so but I miss knitting. Especially with the cold weather lately. I just finished my latest shawl and once again I'm in love. I used the Elder Tree Shawl pattern on Ravelry but used sport weight yarn instead of worsted. I went with Madelinetosh Pashmina in Candlewick and it is SO SO soft. I can't go on enough about how soft the yarn is. I love anything Madelinetosh basically. The color is a little out of my comfort zone but it is so versatile. I've worn it with a teal cardigan and a navy blue sweater and it looks great with both. It also looks amazing with anything gray! I will try and get some better pictures of it in the next couple days.

I ordered some more yarn Friday and can't wait for it to get here. I have planned a couple more shawls. I ordered Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Robin's Egg and Natural.

The Natural I plan on using for a modified Haruni shawl and the Robin's Egg I plan on using for this pattern.

We are planning a trip to Gatlinburg coming up and I want to take some knitting with me to work on in the car and in the hotel room. I want something that will be easy to put down and pick back up without any confusion about the pattern. I think the Sunlight Shawl will be perfect for that. The Haruni I think will take a little more concentration on my part, and definitely isn't a "traveling" shawl.

Garment Sewing?

I've been spending so much time knitting lately, I haven't had much time to sew, and I've been in kind of a sewing "funk" you might say. I've been looking for something to get me motivated, and so I decided to try sewing myself a top. I had read on Amanda's blog about her wanting to do an Esme top in flannel from Joann fabrics. I had seen the same wonderfully soft flannel, and thought at the time, what a wonderful idea! That was weeks ago, and then I promptly forgot all about it. Until last night. I'm not sure what prompted my brain to somehow suddenly remember it, but it did. I had a few problems though, the first being my size. I am VERY top heavy, and most patterns (including the Esme top it seemed) were not made to fit my top. So I went to my local Joann fabrics today and braved the crazy huge crowd of people (there weren't even any shopping carts when I first got there!) and browsed through their patterns. I wanted something similar to the Esme top that would look good in flannel and be semi long enough to wear with leggings or skinny jeans and boots, but also something fairly EASY. Considering I have not had a lot of practice garment sewing before. I came up with this pattern. Its a See & Sew pattern, # B5874. I like the fact that it has ties at the sides so I can make it to fit my breasts and not have to worry to much about it being to large at my waist because I can cinch it in!

                                            

I am planning on leaving off the pockets for a couple reasons, the biggest reason being, once again, my top heaviness. Extra anything on my breasts is unnecessary, plus I don't want to worry about matching prints, etc with my plaid flannel. I also plan on using a few more buttons at closer intervals along the front. There is nothing I hate more than a button up shirt that gaps at the buttons around my breasts.

I went with this red flannel because it felt so festive! I think its going to be perfect to wear pretty much anywhere, either with some jeans or some nice warm leggings and black boots. I can even dress it up and wear my pretty sparkly black Holden shawl! I honestly can't convey to you how soft the flannel is. I absolutely can't wait to wear it! So hopefully I won't mess it up!

                  

Winter Is Knocking

I'm not a fan of cold weather. Fall, is my favorite time of the year, when that little chill is in the air, but it's still sunny and bright and the leaves are amazing colors. Here in West Virginia fall is amazing. One thing about the cold weather is how much I want to knit and make warm things! I've been knitting shawls like a crazy lady, I've made 5! A year ago I couldn't knit a scarf without a mistake, and now I'm knitting socks and lace shawls and all kinds of things!  

Here is my most recent knit, it's the Holden Shawl pattern available for free on Ravelry (I'm michyquilts there as well!) 

The yarn is Dream In Color Starry in Black Pearl and it is so beautiful!!!

I'm hoping to get my sewing mojo back soon and also hoping the weather will cooperate for some outdoor shots of some quilts!!!!

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Has it really been over a month since my last post?!?  

I've been so busy and tired lately that it has just slipped my mind. I feel like I'm being pulled in a hundred different directions. I've gotten almost no sewing done. It seems like I just can't get motivated to sit down at my sewing machine.

I have been learning to knit though, and doing pretty well. Just for the sake of pictures here are a few things I've been working on.

I turned this skein of yarn...

Into this Oaklet shawl! (I hadn't woven in the ends yet, that's why there is a tail)

And I made an Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief 

This yarn is seriously amazing. It's Madinetosh DK in Firewood and it's beautiful 

I am Loving knitting. Seriously loving it. I promise to be back with more quilt pictures soon though. I still have a couple finished quilts to show you!

The Impatient Knitter

                    

Last year around this time I got the itch to learn how to knit. I blame it on this blog. Her knitting is so inspiring! I'm a devoted blog follower of hers, and if you don't already follow her, then you should! Anyways, I am especially inspired by her socks (and envious of them!) and have wanted so badly to learn HOW to knit. Not sjut go through the motions, but really GET it. Last year I didn't have much luck and gave up and the knitting needles and yarn I had purchased were hidden away. But it seems like every year when we get a taste of fall I start getting that itch again. So I did some reading, and I knitted two Honey Cowls, and although the first one presented some problems the second was easy! I had been nervous about knitting in the round because I couldn't really knit at ALL. But knitting in the round makes more sense to me, I don't know why, but it does! It just CLICKS in my brain for some reason. So I did some more research, and coveted some more hand knit socks and started drooling over beautiful sock yarn, and then I decided to try it. And although there have been a few bumps (more like mountains!) I am pushing through, and it is actually making sense! I bought Socks From The Toe Up by Wendy Johnson and read it and read it, and read it some more, and watched some videos on Youtube, and tada! I cast on for a sock. I am going to try two at a time next, but I wanted to focus on getting one RIGHT before I attempt two. I just started the gusset last night. Its not perfect, FAR from it. I am still learning a lot about knitting in general, but I am getting MUCH better.

I ordered some yarn and some new needles and I'm hoping to try casting on for two at a time this weekend sometime. For curious minds, I used the Turkish cast on on a size 1 circular needle for this sock and I am doing a gusset heel. 

If anyone has any other good references for knitting then please let me know! I still have so much to learn! I want to try lace knitting next, I would LOVE to make a shawl for this fall/winter!

Never Enough Time

I'm sure that is what everyone says, but lately, for me, it has been normal and not the exception. There are SO many things I want to do and share and places I want to go and there is just no way I can get it all done. I have been feeling VERY overwhelmed lately. So please forgive me for being so absent lately. 

I have been doing lots of different things lately, so I will update you as best I can with what pictures I have (I haven't had much time to take good pictures either!)

I've been learning to knit. I have finished two Honey Cowls and a hat. I have LOTS to learn, and it doesn't come easily to me. I struggle with it A LOT. But I am so inspired by this blog. I even bought a book about sock knitting, because I am DYING to knit socks. (Not that I needed another hobby to take up even more time) It's the time of the year when the air is finally starting to cool off and the sunshine just feels different, and it reminds me of fall and I wanted to learn to knit. I am probably going to end up taking a sock knitting class because even with the book I doubt I am able to pick it up. Knitting just isn't something that CLICKS in my brain.

                                     

I've also been working on my Halloween sewing. I managed to get this pillow done last weekend (I LOVE it!) and I finished stitiching the binding on a table runner this evening.

                         

And here is my Halloween Sampler cross stitch (I finished the Jack O Lantern square over the weekend, but didn't have a picture of it yet) I also started the frames for my Autumn Sampler cross stitch as well.

                                      

And today I stitched up some zipper pouches. The back one is Noodle heads Open Wide pouch (I made the medium this time) and is made using Juliana Horner's Rosette fabric and Robert Kaufman yarn dyed linen in black. The front on is just a generic zipper pouch with Martha Negley's Farmington Feathers and some wood grain fabric from Joanns. I don't recall what line it was for, but it was one of their Designer Quilting Cottons. The Open Wide pouch has my circular knitting needles and a few other of my knitting things, and the smaller pouch is holding my floss bobbins for my Halloween and Autumn Samplers

                                       

I have also finished a couple quilts in the last several weeks. I finished my Square in a Square quilt made with the Dream On fabrics, and I got my Scrappy Trip Along quilt done as well. I was hoping to take pictures of both of them today but it didn't play out that way. And the weather isn't supposed to be very good this week, so I'm not sure WHEN I will be able to get good pictures, but I am really going to try my hardest to get them up this week. My assistant quilt photographer is under the weather so I will probably be taking pictures of them by myself.

My goals this week include finishing up a bag for a woman I work with and maybe (possibly) finishing my Modern Maples quilt blocks. We will see!