Mermaids!

Having finished the Celtic cross cross stitch, I was ready to go on Carol and Karen's mermaid piece. I pulled it out and got settled in and -- feeling incredibly dumb -- could not figure out the chart. So after a couple of weeks hiatus because I wasn't available to drive half an hour to get to the store I made it to the counted cross stitch store, yes, we do have such a thing around here, and found out I had the wrong kind of cloth and needed to be working over two stitches instead of one, so now the first row of waves is almost done! Meanwhile, I am almost done with the angel needlepoint except that I am running out of blue yarn for the background. I need a new column "waiting for others" to put that on while I get in touch with the store in Florida and see if I can score more the same color. Also got the xocks back on track. If they are short then the fact that they are kinda skinny will be ok. I have substantial calves and very small ankles. We'll see how this goes.

Onward

So, I finished the celtic cross stitch cross, for my office eventually. Now I need to figure out how to mount it, because I really can't afford to have it "framed" for $100. I found a book at New England Mobile which will hopefully help me learn how to do this kind of processing of finished needlework. Also finally took a good look at how much I had done on the "shapely tee" from White Lies Designs. I began a "draft" of the short row shaping in yarn I would never wear, just to see how it worked out. And it had gotten to the point where I could see how it would work without any further (fruitless!) knitting. So tonight I pulled out the stitch holder and had a look and a fitting. I think it's a great shape, and will certainly look for yarn I like to make it up. In the meantime, it can now come off my "UFO" list. Yay!

Taxes Done!

This was taxing, the computer ate a critical file and to get back on track I needed new anti-virus for the PC, which took forever to load, but got done with 20 mintues to spare.
Also finished this part of Jenn's quilt, now I need to get the Superquilter set up to quilt it and other tops in the file/pile.
And just finished knitting the blanket for Jacki's new baby, need to sew off the ends and then call her to visit and deliver. Yay!
On to finish the tiger needlepoint and celtic cross cross-stitch, my next up projects.

Saturday

Saturday, April 14. Finished blue tote bag yesterday, way more work than I'd ever thought, but I really like it. Am working on getting Jenn's quilt together and ready to consider quitling, but not quite there yet. Baby blanket will be done in one more skein which means it's 75% done. And I'm contemplating what to do with the fabric scraps and stash fabric. Coming along, coming along.... Just need to keep from starting anything new...

Easter Monday!

Definitely a day of rest! Woke up at 11. It really does feel like a new season, a new time, new hope, new possibility. Finished projects! Didn't get the Celtic cross done by Easter, oh well, hope to have it ready to hang in my new office, whenever the job actually begins. Dragged out the quiviuk sweater (going for many years and stuck because the directions for front color work were wrong). Have concluded that I needed to rip out a lot of the front and redesign what was left to make it work, but first would cheer myself and get the fit right by sewing the rest of the sweater together. That's happy work, even though I hate finishing. Getting that project done will be immense, I think.

Also opened the box for a portable machine quilting frame I bought a number of years ago, just before lot of life changes. Now I'd like to set it up so I can finish the collection of quilt tops waiting for assembly and quitling. Unfortunately, I peeled open the end of the box when I received it, and pulled out the instructions, which of course I cannot find and don't remember seeing, ever..... Luckily, the pieces I have have one branded label on them, so if -- after a final search -- I don't find the missing instructions, I can contact Super Quilter and see if they can help me! But things are really moving along...

Snow in April and a great haircut

The title says it all. thank you Michael and Stephani. You guys really rock!!!!
Ok. So a lot has gotten finished up, and I've gone through and pulled out what I think is all the projects stashed away in my sewing room closet and supply drawers. It feels good to have it all out in front (I think it's all, or almost...)

Froggy froggy

Ok, pulled out one sweater in process -- Eliz Lavold silky wool green -- lovely sweater, would look awful on me and I'm sort of stuck anyway. So, not brave enough to frog without a safety net, I went to Lucy Lee's today and found another use for the lovely yarn, and just have frogged the sweater except for the celtic knots at the bottom which might become a hat if there's enough yarn left. So, add to stash, reduce UFO's. Very good. Meanwhile, I'm working along on a quick afghan in Encore for Jacki's baby who I plan to see after Easter. And I'm off to do writing alternating with Celtic cross cross stitch.

Is it spring yet?

Just keeping up with what's done knit-wise. Now I've finished blue, white and pink scarves, swing coat, Prism sweater except for shoulder pads and buttons (which I seem to have lost). Wigwam shawl is on the blocking board, it's so big I have to block it by haves and I'm very curious how it will drape when it's done. I also got the E Zimmerman workshop tapes from the library o-- watched tape 1 and made a cute hat either for Afghanastan or for me -- but the knit in design was easy as was the decreasing, so now I can finally make a hat. I'm back to the learn to knit afghan and need to get more yarn for it. And i bought yarn at Wild and Wooly yesterday for a sweet baby afghan Jacki's baby. Will probably do the same in a different color for Amy's this summer. I want to get the shapely tee back OTN so I can work on it while I watch movies at Newbury this afternoon. Still haven't figured out how to get photos up on the site.....

Emily's Home!

Emily is home for a few days for spring break. Great to have her here! She loves the afghan. I love that I actually got it finished. We have to take it over to show Lisa at Creative Warehouse today. Also finished one Guatemala sock except for the kitchener toes. Used the Hobo bag yesterday -- the lady in the diner loved it.

Real Progress!

Well, this procrastinators' craftalong is proving to be a great inspiration for me to finish things, and more to the point, not to start new ones. So..... let's see, I've finished (and worn) the blue scarf from Lavish Lace, and the pink and gray horseshoe lace scarf, very very soft, but strange to have a right and wrong side in a scarf. And the cashmere "cat's paw" lace scarf is sitting waiting for soaking and blocking. It feels great to have these three more lace pieces done. The cashmere has been OTN for several years (since '04, I think). It's very interesting that the fabric made with the same yarn, pattern and needles, is much looser in the portion I've done now. Alice points out it's all about learning to make (and be comfortable with) lace.

This has been an opportunity to see how fickle I really am, and how much more I am a "starter" than a "finisher". I must have not started 10 projects in this couple of weeks -- knit, crochet and fabric. So, I've gotten a ton of books out of the library on all of these subjects! And that's been fun. Also found a Kaffe Fasset video which was neat -- of course made me want to try intarsia....

So it's on to the two pairs of started socks. One pair has been OTN for a while, the others (pink mixture) I began in Guatemala and that's what I'm working on now.

March 5

Busy day yesterday on the computer front. I upgraded to the new Blogger, which has let me put lists on the blog, and hopefully I'll figure out how to get buttons (KAL's, etc.) on too. Also found craft site with a great "craftalong" for procrastinators to publish and finish ufo's. It's 63 pages long (the thread that is). So I took a deep breath and confessed my sins (which added up to the 30 UFO's I could remember while I was sitting there) and published it. When I surfed the site later, I realized this was the longest list on the blog. Do people REALLY only have 5 or 6 UFO's??? What world do they live in? What world do I live in? Oh, well...It felt good to get them out there.

Today I should finish the crocheted hobo bag (with yarn Alice re-gifted me, it was her Knit-Out doorprize last fall) -- LIFO (once a bookkeeper, always a bookkeeper, I guess). I'm thinking it would benefit from some kind of binding around the edge of the straps, so I'll try a knit on I-cord, and see if I can make that work.

And I'm wearing the Cherry Hill swing jacket which in fact only needed to have a thread cut (though blocking would be good). I'll try to get a picture up tonight.

So, maybe two down and 28+ to go.

March already

Haven't been on for a while. I went to Guatemala in early February with CCIMT -- a medical mission group from my area. It's something I've wanted to do for years and really glad to be able to go. I am now trained to do rural medicine exams for eyeglasses (mostly reading). It was great to help people see again -- 'was blind but now I see' -- hey, you can't beat that.

On the home front - massage school is done and now i've got to study for licensing exam. I'm thinking I'll look for a space to sublet in my area and try to develop a small practice with knitters, spinners, weavers, stitchers and musicians.

Vocationally, I am in serious conversation about a job that will be 15 hours a week until next winter, then full time to cover a sabbatical through the summer, then over but with a continuing relationship with the institution. that's perfect for me, and I hope it all works out It will start sometime between April and July.

In the meantime, I'm still doing the school job -- not teaching til fall but advising, counseling, doing some program work and running my charity knitting project.

All this means I have a little more free time -- and want to use it to get through projects underway and move forward with more freeform fiber work of various kinds. I started scrumbling yesterday and I see addiction on the horizon! Pictures soon.

I've been busy making hats for kids chemo cap project at LYS. My latest: