Monday, January 27, 2014

Dreaming Of Springtime

The snow keeps getting deeper, so I need to have a hit of springtime.

My Amaryllis bloomed this morning.

I love the way the sun was shining through the petals of the top bloom. The bulb has two stalks, so I should get a good show.
An arty shot. I see the cat toy in the background is the same colour!

Last week, Karen Neary introduced a new pattern on her blog, called Polly's Posies . Allow me to brag that I named the pattern, and I even got a credit! Since the pattern is so spring, I went into my stash today, to see if I had anything that would work for the pattern.
I think these two will work. The floral print might even be called "Radiant Orchid". Now, I just need a solid(ish) purple and a couple of prints with a white background. I am pretty sure I have the solid, but I may have to make a run to the quilt shop to find the whites.




Thursday, January 23, 2014

Moebius II

I had such fun with the first one, I just had to try it again.

The pink cowl needed a darker bear to really show it off, so I asked for a new volunteer, and this one was eager to join the blog.

The weather here has been really cold, so staying home, knitting seems like a fine idea. Now that I have mastered the basic pattern, I think I need to try a different 8 stitch lace pattern.

I may keep this one for me.

Meanwhile, I think my buddy Zippy is nearly ready for adoption. He is finally living up to his name.
He discovered the bell on the cat tree, and was making it ring, all by himself. The blur shows how fast he and the bell are moving.



Saturday, January 18, 2014

I May Have An Addiction

It was 50% off day, at Fabricland, so I dropped in to do a little restocking.

Fourteen zippers came home with me, to replace the nine I used over Christmas, on the zippered bags.

I have lots of other bags I want to make, and I love zippers in my bags, so things don't get lost.  I don't think it is possible to have too many bags, do you?


Thursday, January 16, 2014

DaGMT 2014

Beth over at Quilting Haven Hottie has again issued that challenge, and I am taking it again this winter.

I, owner of too many UFOs and/or more fabric than I can hope to use up in my lifetime, am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's third annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for at least 20 minutes,  every day of the month of February, 2014. In doing so I hope to  ensure my children don't someday have to sort through 89 UFOs and then sell them for $5 each at a yard sale and I think Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join.

Click on the link to the right, and join me!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Moebius Cowl

I have been wanting to try one of these for awhile.
Made from a lovely ball of Sublime Baby Cashmere, gifted to me in the fall.
Pattern is here if you want to try one.

I have a second ball of the Baby Cashmere in pink. I think I need to do another.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A New Bag

I am increasingly becoming a bag lady. This week, it was a new tote bag for the man in my life.

I choose some denim, from the vintage section of my fabric. The fabric has been aging long enough that it is faded where it was folded. However, I mostly worked around the faded line.  You can see the mark on the handle of the bag.

The fabric was two sided, with a solid colour on one side and a kind of paisley on the other, so I made the bag as a double layer, using the print side out on the inside. I also put a large pocket to hold his papers on one side of the lining.

We had all kinds of wicked weather lately. Good weather for knitting. I started a toe up sock, and I am working on the heel.
I am reusing the yarn that I used to make the ill-fated True Love sock last year. This sock looks much more like my foot.

I wound a couple of skeins, this evening, preparing for a winter challenge.
I bought the yarn and the beads from on line sources, and managed to end up with a pretty good match. There is about 800 m of lace weight there, so it should keep me busy until the weather warms up.




Thursday, January 2, 2014

First Finish of 2014

I have been told that you should start as you mean to go. So with that in mind, I started 2014 with a finish!

A pair of socks, in bamboo. You will have to trust me that they are a pair, because the yarn did not lend itself to making identical twins, but the look is kind of fun. I knit the toe of the second sock, while watching the Rose Bowl parade. I had my first finish by noon of January 1.  Here's hoping I can continue.

Meanwhile, Arts and Socks welcomes Zippy, our newest temporary member of the gang.

I picked him up this morning, and I hope he enjoys his stay.