A Little Yarn On The Side

For winter, we have some snowflakes Andy made to hang in the entryway, because otherwise it's really sort of stark and bare.  For spring I've often hung some flower garlands across the top, but then it's a constant battle with the cats to A) keep them off the railing, and B) keep them from beating up the flowers while ON the railing.  So I got the idea today to make some big fabric flowers to hang.  With, of course, my fearless assistant: I made a flower petal pattern on some scrap muslin, scrounged in the quilting fabric bin for some spring/flower colored material and discovered that I had enough fabric for a seriously anemic flower or one side of a reversible flower.  (Note to self:  unless one is actually serious about quilting, 1/2 yard is a pretty stupid amount of fabric to purchase).  Next came deciding how many petals the flower should have, and I just didn't think 6 worked that well, so I opted for 7: which would make it a fuller f...

I have become a monogamous knitter. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it????  I don't think I have touched any knitting except the blue sweater for at least a week now--perhaps since I started the sleeves.  That makes it sort of sad that they aren't farther along, but let's recap the week: Monday:  Physical therapy appointment, managed to twist pelvic bone before even getting home, got home and took Valium for the pain and went to bed. Tuesday:  30 minutes on the elliptical machine, 2 circuits on the weight machines, 45 minutes in the pool, forgot about the damn hip and hopped to a rock in the garden, twisted pelvic bone out of place AGAIN, dashed upstairs to twist pelvic bone back INTO place again, then celebrated Valentine's Day with friends Wednesday:  Exhausted and just trying to break the throwing-the-hip-out streak I seemed to have been on Today:  Appointment with the spine doctor, 2 circuits on the weight machines, 1 hour in t...

It's February 15, which kicks off Spring Stashdash 2012.  This time, we are filling a basket with: 1 finished item from yarn that makes you think of spring 1 finished gift 1 finished gift for yourself 1 item in your queue (if you have one) 1 item from a pattern you already own 1 item from yarn (or fabric, beads, etc. if you’re including other hobbies) that you have owned for more than one year The "dash" ends on May 31.  Since I did such a spectacularly poor job of EMPTYING my Valentine's basket, I thought I'd be safer with a filling the basket dash.  I can hardly do worse.  The categories are very broad, so I'm hoping to keep myself motivated by being able to pick projects as I choose.  If I get the current blue sweater done, it can be the finished gift for myself.  The yarn is from November's self-pity yarn binge, so it certainly wouldn't qualify for the yarn owned longer than a year item, nor does it make me think of spring in any way.  ...

And I can stop pretending (as if I were) that I am working on anything even remotely related to the Valentine's Stashdash basket and move on to other things (as if I haven't).

Though I can't think of any of the 12s they fit into, so they're just an "extra."  Bummer.  However, there is hope on the horizon for another 12: The sleeves for the new sweater are in progress and ALL stockinette!  I don't know why--perhaps just because they're usually what I do last--but sleeves are always my least favorite part of a sweater.  So I'm doing those now and saving the front, and since they'll go pretty quickly, I think I'll stay motivated to finish this by the end of the month.  Whoo hoo! Did I mention that I was not buying any fabric this year?  Well,  ..... ahem.... there might have been a moment of weakness brought on my a bit of self-pity.  I hope my hip improves soon--if for no other reason than for the sake of the space in the sewing room.  I'm thinking either knitting bag (like I need more of them) or a jacket.  At least I'm hoping it will re-motivate me in the sewing department.....or maybe being abl...

...and Valentine's Day being just 4 days away, it was time to revisit the place mats. I like the idea of whimsical swirls and hearts to secure the batting, but I decided not to sew them by hand as that never seems as secure as machine stitching, and my capacity to sit is not improving much after last weekend's choir escapade, so... concentric hearts it is.  I put a piece of masking tape on the throat to use as a guide (the sewing machine's, not mine) to do the first stitch, then added more seams in different colors: I was hurrying to get all 6 done, so there are a few wonky bits that need to be ripped out and done over, but I was hurrying to get them done before I ran out of ability to sit, so if all else fails, all 6 are ready to be used if I don't get time to clean the seams up.  Theo was on-hand to help with the sewing, though he's still displeased over the new table height.  For a while he had taken to sleeping on the floor near  the sewing room tabl...

Saturday I attended a gospel singing workshop.  I'm not a religious person, but I do sing and I was really excited to do ANYTHING that didn't involve home, the gym, or physical therapy, and I thought it would be one of the better choices as I assumed we would be standing rather than sitting.  Who sings while sitting? Apparently, gospel choirs.  Even with the strongest pain medication I'm allowed, I had to duck out early and take part of a Valium to even get myself home, and Theo and I spent Saturday night and Sunday pretty much like this: except I'm not quite that cute when I do it.  Nor, thank heavens, that furry. I did get a little work done on the new sweater, but most of the time was spent finishing up the socks I started for my birthday: which are now FINISHED!!!!!  Since they were in progress before the start of the year, I'm counting them for one of my 12 WIPs since they MUST count for something on my list, and I have used up one of my "prec...