A Little Yarn On The Side

DRUM ROLL PLEASE................ Project 41 , which puts me on target for the year, is done: Did I mention project number 40? More napkins!  Becoming a bit like the coasters, isn't it? Technically, I think I might look like some sort of Pepto-Bismal mascot in the new ensemble, but it really is one of my best colors.  AND it used up 4 1/4 yards of material that has been in the stash for well over a year, so perhaps I just won't wear it around anyone suffering from a hangover or nausea....... There HAS been knitting, I swear!  The second monkey sock is progressing and it is my fondest wish that this is at least a teensy bit smaller than it was at the start of the week.  I have been knitting from it for the last two hours and I swear that it looks exactly the same, but I keep hoping...... Meanwhile, Theo is finding all his new fame a bit exhausting And Calisto, out of jealousy and a desperate need for attention, has started posing for skanky kitty cal...

Tonight Andy was out in the driveway and a neighbor driving past stopped to say how much everyone loves our cat. As if someone weren't hard enough to live with because of his blog popularity......

.....this "knitting blog" of mine has contained a great deal of sewing recently.  Partly, this is due to the fact that I--in some insane moment of optimism/daringness/inebriation--decided to finish 100 projects within 365 days, and it's much easier to crank out a finished project every 3.65 days when one can throw sewing into the mix.  Don't get me wrong--I love knitting with all the passion that I always have, but unless you usually do even slower hobbies such as cross stitch or painting the Sistine Chapel, knitting is not likely to be one's fastest hobby. A second reason for my new sewing dedication is that sewing can provide one with clothing.  Not to sneer at sweaters, by any means--I must personally own around 50 by now if not more--but I do firmly believe that knitted pants are wrong for anyone over the age of potty training.  It may be just prejudice on my part, but I do feel quite strongly on this point. The third reason:  a friend of mine recently d...

Late Sunday night I made these which you might be thinking are a desperate attempt to add to the project tally.  Nope--they are a desperate attempt to add to the FABRIC tally.  I have currently used up just over 28 1/2 yards of fabric this year, which puts me on target to use up just under 75 yards of fabric in 2010.  If I can make it to 100 yards for this year, I'd feel much better about the little clearance fabric incident I had last month.  And be able to see the floor again..... So today's big question is...... just how many napkins can we have before some sort of intervention is necessary?

It's finally spring here, and I felt the need for a new summer dress.  And, since the sewing room had many, many, MANY options, I was able to make this today without much bother.  I couldn't exactly estimate how much fabric I own, but let's just say that I've been in some small-town fabric stores with less selection......I'd be thrilled to use up 100 yards of fabric by the end of the year, but then again, I'd like to be taller.  :) I bought the material several months ago., and was a bit appalled to find two tears in the material--in the same location but not symmetrical, oddly enough.  If I had caught it in time, I could have put it on the front skirt of the dress & done some embroidery over the top of it, but as it is, both tears are on the back of the skirt, so this will be a wear-around-the-house dress, but since I spend most of my summer in crop pants & sun dresses anyway, it's fine.  AND.... one Monkey Sock is done!!!!!  I think I made th...

In spite of someone's  best efforts and best efforts at ignoring me, I have finished the wall hanging today! Andy is making a dowel & finials for it, so it isn't up yet, but it IS project number 37!!!! With my little sidekick's "help,"  I made a little progress on the Christmas quilt today but gave it up when it started to strain my elbow.  Instead, I'm working on the Monkey socks and this which is going to be a surprise.  :)  So, if you were wondering why there has been less knitting than usual on the blog--it's because I've been in stealth knitting mode .  Aren't you impressed and/or amazed?  I'm not usually very good at keeping ANYTHING quiet, but this is over half finished and is just NOW surfacing on the blog--which has to be some sort of record for me.  This probably won't appear on the blog again for a while, but I just HAD to show it to you right now--I'm getting close to finishing a 600-yard skein of laceweight on t...

If I knew how to attach sound to my blog, you would be hearing the theme for Rocky right now.  I have gimped! In case you didn't guess from the days without blogging, the idea of gimping on the wall hanging was frightening me.  I mean, decorative stitching is a commitment that one can't really back away from--ripping it out usually leaves a mark, if it doesn't ruin the material altogether.  Yesterday, just to make sure, I marked a corner of scrap tan material with one of my "disappearing" markers.  I put it in quotes because I've learned the hard way that it may not disappear from really fussy material.  Luckily, it worked on this one, so I drew a little freehand curving, got in touch with my spine, and jumped in.  It isn't perfectly symmetrical or anything, but I'm okay with that.   It was a successful learning opportunity, and my drawing skills have always pretty much stunk, so I don't expect much of them. If this were any other year , I wou...