A Quilt For Virginia

Every year, a group of teens and adults from my church head off to Virginia to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build. The Quilting Circle hand quilts a quilt to send with them.

This is the quilt that will be heading south, next week. The throw cushion is one off the pew, it will be staying here.

I made it a travel bag.

The bag, of course, has pockets.

The quilt top was a foundling, left at the church by someone clearing out, I imagine.

The bag is made from some scraps that arrived at the church recently, a different person clearing out, I expect.

You know what they say about one person's trash.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

For the last couple of days, it has been grey and raining. The dogs are tracking in mud. The icy patches have water on them, to make them more slippery. Good days to stay in and hide. Good time to knit!

 The first baby sweater is done, and looking very preppy.

The second is started and will be the reverse of the first. This picture shows the blue a bit better than the first one.

The yarn is a nice soft acrylic/nylon blend. It will wash and dry by machine. However, my house is so dry at the moment, that static is a big problem with this yarn. It seems to attract dog hair out of the air. The scientist in me went looking for a solution. I am trying an experiment.

The yarn is currently being stored in an anti-static bag, the kind used for electronics. When I am not knitting, the sweater goes in there too. I think it is helping, although a regular ziploc bag might have worked as well. If it does work, I'll be asking for some bigger ones at the local computer store.

I made a heart for Valentine's Day.

The pattern is from Bethany's blog. I didn't stuff mine, I kind of like it flat. The yarn is some sock yarn scrap from my stash. Cute, isn't it.

I have a question for the big yarn manufacturers out there (as if they read my blog). Why does this happen?

I was knitting away, cheering Canada at the Olympics, when I felt a lump in my yarn. It was a knot. I had to undo the row, so I could cut out the knot and make a flat join. I pay for good yarn, I expect my skein to be one continuous piece of yarn. This is the second time I have had this happen lately. When it happens in a striping yarn, it messes up the stripe pattern. I ended up paying full price for a ball of yarn that I would consider a second. Could you mark the ball, so I can look for it? Give me a choice on whether I want to use the ball for this project? If this happens in fabric, I expect the store to skip that part of the bolt and give me a continuous piece. Why do we put up with this from yarn companies?

I cannot remember ever finding this in yarn I have bought from a small independent. I suspect if they get this in a skein, they turn the skein into two minis or use them for samples. They don't sell them for full price to their customers.

Okay, rant over.

Retreat Bag #3

The weather is very February. Some sun, lots of clouds, and snow and freezing rain thrown in, for fun.

This was my bird feeder, the other day.

The snow was on top of ice, and the sun caused enough warming of the metal, for this to happen.

I finished my bag last week.

It was a gift for a special friend.

I worried that Hello, Kitty might be a bit juvenile, but it turns out that it is retro.

More kitties on the inside.

Even lining the zipper pocket. You cannot have too many kitties in one bag! This is Retreat Bag #3 for me, as well as helping to make two others. I still have three frames in my stash, so there will be more.

My three baby sweaters in February is progressing, nicely.

The first one is nearly done.

Just One Of Those Weeks

On Sunday, I was greeted by this in my dining room.

This gorgeous hibiscus flower thinks it is in the southern hemisphere. You can see the snow from the window behind it.

On Tuesday, a terrible accident occurred.

This is my two week old tablet. It needs a glass screen, but it is too new to be able to buy one in the after market parts sources. Maybe in another few months. Meanwhile, it is shedding bits of glass, so can't be used.  Having it replaced at the authorized repair places costs nearly twice as much as a new tablet. I have no idea how they can justify that.

So I am actually buying a new tablet. And, I am buying one of these :

A pink drop resistant case, because $27 seems like cheap insurance. It will also make the tablet thicker and easier to hold onto.

I started another Retreat Bag, because I love them. This one has a cat theme.

Hello Kitty, purchased on a whim last year, and some music fabric from my stash, that suited, for the handles, make up the outside.

More kitties for the inside, these are also from my stash. The black and white is from a couple of years ago, and the pocket was in my scraps from too long ago to remember.

I figure I need about another hour to finish the bag. I have a Hot Pink zipper for the top.

I attended three funerals in January, so I have decided to knit three baby sweaters in February. I am hoping that will balance things out. Weird, I know. I have the first one started, but I need to get going or won't get all three finished.