A Little Yarn On The Side

So it's time for the next Project of the Month bag. Technically, I'm cheating a little as I actually knew which bag I was pulling out. A few years ago I decided to try stamped cross stitch (and counted cross stitch, but we don't talk about that). I actually really enjoyed the stamped cross stitch, and finished the first pillow case in a reasonable amount of time. The problem? Yep, this would be the SECOND pillow case. To be fair, it's almost done, but it's been "almost done" for about 2 years. This morning I have already outlined three leaves, finished a little flower, and gotten a great big thread snarl. I also put this in the bag: which technically is a second project, but since this is all I have done on it, it can use all the help it can get. I picked this bag on purpose because lately I have really been in the mood to do some needlework--probably because I have a deadline to meet with that pink blanket and nothing turns me into a hobby-flake like...

Today is the last day of the month, and yesterday I finished the second skein of yarn for the pink blanket, so I've now knit 1645 yards of yarn for the month. Not on target, but not as far behind. Now I only have 23,355 yards to go.....

Ok, as anyone who is remotely good with numbers can tell you: 1. In order to reach my goals for the year, I need to knit 2,083 yards of yarn and sew 12.5 yards of fabric each month 2. I am not even CLOSE to that right now. So....did I work on the quilt today? Nope. Not one stitch. Instead, anyone remember this: In July of 2008 I cut out a dress and a skirt from this wonderful cotton fabric. I finished the skirt sometime after the weather made it totally impractical (I'm thinking November, but that's just a guess). Today I decided to finish the dress. It's from McCalls 4444: and I'm making the green option. Now the problem with setting aside a sewing project is that one doesn't really "set it aside." One just doesn't get back to it. If one did "set it aside," one might be able to find the dang second page of instructions.... Out of sheer frustration, I did get much of it figured out--and was quite pleased with myself to figure out th...

OK, so there hasn't been blogging in a couple days, but there has been knitting, sewing, and quilting. I know--how shocking is that? I haven't been that productive in quite some time, but if you look at the side tab you might notice that the goals are pretty high but the actual accomplishment is fairly low, so I thought I needed to pick up the pace a little. So, I finished the edging on another fleece blanket, assembled the Christmas quilt top which is actually pretty small--30 by 36 inches. I do have strips cut out that could make the quilt larger, but if I use this size I can actually make two quilts instead of one, which would give me two gifts for Christmas instead of one. So, I'm thinking of doing a larger border, maybe a narrow strip of green which I can do some sort of decorative stitching in gold on, then a wider red stripe What do you think? If I did about 5 inches on each side, the quilt would be 40 by 46 inches, which is still a small lap quilt, but not AS ...

OK, I came really, really, REALLY close to falling off the yarn wagon this week, thanks to this . The picture on the left shows the marvelous brown colorway that almost did it...BUT, luckily other knitters snapped it all up, leaving none to tempt me. I am trying to be a big person who is happy for those knitters who are possibly even now casting on....... Remember step 12 .........remember step 12............remember step 12...............remember step 12...

This morning while Theo took one of his naps, I finished Ice Queen . It's the first of the Project of the Month bags, and even though it's actually a fairly small project, I was afraid I'd be rushing to finish it on the last day of the month. Not that I don't like the pattern, but beading is a bit fussy, and the edging was very fussy, so it got a little tedious at times. I'd make it again--and in fact, I think there's another one in one of the remaining project bags--but it won't ever be a true favorite pattern. I have enough quilt blocks done to see how the pattern is going to look and I'd say it's okay. Not my favorite, but I wanted something fast that I could finish early in the year. Originally I was going to use a white solid along with the red and green solids, but once I had all the strips cut and laid out I thought the solid white made it look a little too much like an Italian restaurant. Not that that's a bad look or anything, but I...

Thanks to Herrschners, I'm back to work on the blanket for my niece, and I think it will be done in time to send off for her birthday in the first week of March. (And STILL no box from Joanns.com, by the way) My little sidekick is getting very bored with the indoor life, so we worked on a Christmas gift quilt which seemed to please him immensely I'm not doing the best job on this quilt, and some of the blocks aren't even lining up, and yet it's really not bothering me much--which is surprising to say the least. Usually I'd have to redo it--especially since it's a gift--but I guess 8 weeks of kitty sitting has taken its toll on me as well. Theo is back to kitty therapy tomorrow--and they have PROMISED to get pictures this time. He's walking on the leg almost without a limp, and it looks a little less chickeny every day! And the moss scarf has gotten more attention than it should have, because I'm enjoying how this stitch variation is looking. And of c...