Socks!

This gorgeous hank of yarn is from Button & Needlwork Boutique in Victoria, BC.  

The plan is to turn it into socks similar to these but with shorter cuff.

freevintageknitting.com

Yesterday, I wrestled the yarn into a ball.  It put up a pretty good fight.

I hammered a hole in the top of a mason jar and fed the end of the yarn through, so I don't have to chase the ball around the apartment.

Now the stitching (and hoping that I have enough yarn for both socks)...

Finishing Loose Ends

I finished crocheting this piece a while ago.  Last year?  The year before?  Since then it's been sitting around with several dozen loose ends.  This week I finally mustered up the energy to weave them all in.  I gave it a gentle washing and blocked it out to dry.  The plan now is to get it framed.  Hopefully that won't take another year.

The pattern is a replica of a doily in the collection of the Laure Ingalls Wilder/Rose Wilder Lane Home & Mueseum in Mansfield, Missouri.  I began working on it quite a while ago, and now I can't find the website where I originally found the pattern.  Apparently it's since been published in the May/June 2008 issue of Piecework magazine, so there are lots of blogs and websites with the pattern and photos.  Here's the image I worked from.

Summer Pie

What is summer without fresh homemade pie?  Pear is my favorite.

Shall we play a game?

"Love to.  How about Global Thermonuclear War?"

This is my first cross stitch piece since I was about six years old.  I used grid paper downloaded from the interwebs.  It didn't print as small as I wanted, but oh well.  Next time.

Emma's Awesome Quilt

Today was quilting day with Emma.  She worked on the white squares for her quilt.  When she was done she laid all of it out on the floor.  It's gorgeous, doncha think?

Clever Stitches

Don't you love clever needlework samplers?
Like these...

I think I'll add cross stitching this image to my list of projects:

More State Flowers

 Alaska - Forget Me Not

 Hawaii - Hibiscus

 Utah - Sego Lily

 Arizona - Cactus Flower

 Wyoming - Indian Paint Brush

First Quilting Project--Finishing Touches

I finished the quilted table runner the night before Jason and I left for our anniversary vacation.  I messed up the backing, as you can see, but the top turned out just lovely.  Thanks to Selina and Monica at the West Seattle Fabric Company for a great beginning quilting class!

Brainstorming

Gone Stitching

My friend Val and I packed up all our projects and gear yesterday and headed up to my parents' cabin for a few days of stitching.  Together we've brought the following to work on:

• embroidering state flower squares
• a granny square blanket
• a jumbo sized blanket in double crochet
• getting table runners ready for quilting class
• finishing the yoke of a summery top
• sewing a large handbag
• sewing a skirt
• piecing the top a blue/white quilted table cloth
• designing things to make in the future
• and 5"x7" canvases for painting

Since the weather isn't cooperating, we're working inside and watching old musicals from my dad's vast VHS collection.

"Conical" Cuteness

A mini project for the day...

Yesterday I found this pattern for a "Conical Coin Purse" in "The Feisty Stitcher" by Susan Wasinger.  (It's not really a cone, it's a triangular prism tetrahedron, but that doesn't have the same ring.)  This morning I picked up some ribbon from Northwest Art & Frame and several zippers from West Seattle Fabric Co.

How To Spend a Sunny Afternoon

That's my quilting buddy showing off her freshly pieced and pressed quilt at class Tuesday night.  The sunshine yesterday afternoon made it difficult to get good photos of my quilting progress.  I also finished piecing the top in class and yesterday I pinned it to the backing and batting.  Apparently I shouldn't have cut these down to the size of the top, but oh well.  I'll make it work..

I checked out a bunch of books on knitting, quilting, and sewing yesterday, and perused them while enjoying one of my favorite beverages (strawberry milk).

For dinner, it was what I'm calling "Turkish Nachos"--toasted pita chips covered in tomato sauce, Greek yogurt, lamb meatballs, and sprinkled with pine nuts.  So tasty.