I Might End Up With a Sweater!

The sweater progress is coming along. I'm slow but what else is new? This sweater is knit from the top down in one piece. I've gotten just past the point where you put the stitches for the sleeves on waste yarn and join underneath the armholes. The part I'm really not liking about this project is that you have to keep trying it on to make sure it fits. To do that, all the stitches go on waste yarn so the stitches don't slip off the needles. Then you try it on. Then you have to put it all back on the needles. If I was small, I could just leave it on the needles. But I'm not. What a pain!

I played with the color a bit so you can see the cables that go on either side of the button band. It will need to be blocked out so it looks right but you can get an idea here.

I think my goal this year is to start as many new projects as I can without finishing anything. Here is the fabric for the next WIP. The bottom fabric is the backing and the background is on top of that. The fabric with the little diamonds I'm hoping to use as binding. More on this later!

Thank all of you so much for your comments on how to organize my over dyed thread. I think I'm going to organize by maker and then by color name. I'm not looking forward to the actual process but I am looking forward to it being done. This morning I shoved everything into a cubby hole to clear off my sewing table. I must deal with that this weekend. Otherwise, it's the beginning of the end of being organized! Ruh oh!

Need Your Organizational Words of Wisdom

First up, my progress on Quakers and Quilts. Half way through chart #4.
I think of Heidi every time I pick up my scissors!

My favorite LQS is closing due to the owners retirement. The shop had been up for sale but a buyer was not found to fit within the required time line. A small section of the shop is devoted to stitching supplies. Everything was half off so I loaded up on Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts.

As you can see, I got quite a bit. I know what I'm going to organize it in. But do I do it by name or by color? And what if it's a grey green? Where would that go? So I'm probably going to "file it" by brand and then by name. But if I need a lilac, how do I know where to find one? Or if I have one? Do you keep some kind of master list of your inventory?

I'm trying to have good organizational habits. So help me out. How do you organize your floss/thread/silks? What works for you? What doesn't work for you? Share your words of wisdom with me....I'd really appreciate it!

Mail Call

This past week brought the mail man back to my house with a gift from Simone de Klerk from the Netherlands. She made me this sweet sewing mat! I had not realized how handy it would be to have a thread catcher exactly where you need one! Excuse the poor quality of my photos as they were taken at night. Also, make sure you check out Simone's blog. She is a very talented quilter and stitcher.

I love this!

I've not seen many sewing mats but I love the way Simone made this all one piece. The no slip part is sewn right in.

Simone, thank you so much! I'll think of you every time I sew!

I also received my Quilts for Kids kit. As you can see, the kit comes with the fabric cut out as much as it can be at this point. Some sub-cutting will be required later. All of the fabric is included along with the pattern. This is a wonderful charitable organization. If you're interested, you can request a kit here.

I hope you all have a great week. Happy Stitches!

Another Dyeing Adventure!

Last weekend at Midnight Knit at my LYS, Jane put together another yarn dyeing workshop for us. This time, we painted the yarn. You can find what we did last time here. Here is the table Jane had set up outside for us to work on. Buckets for yarn to soak in, plastic wrap, gloves, dye stock and squeeze bottles. There is also a microwave to cook the yarn so the dye sets.

Here is Jane demonstrating the method.

Ellyse hamming it up for the camera. Not only is she a knitter, she is a wonderful quilter!

Wrapped up and ready to be nuked in the micro. This is my yarn.

Cooling down.

This is my yarn. Since it reminds me of a bruise (the pink is more vibrant in real life), I'm calling it "You Should See the Other Guy".

Everyone had a great time but I neglected to get photos of the other yarns. I find it a lot of fun to learn new ways to do things. It's good for the soul to expand yourself creatively. And time with friends is always good!

Special Delivery

Tuesday the mailman brought me a special delivery all the way from The Netherlands. A few weeks ago, Heidi asked her readers what project we thought she would start next. I happened to guess correctly. Heidi made me this scissor fob for guessing correctly. Isn't it adorable?! I'm a new stitcher and I didn't have a scissor fob. I attached it to my scissors immediately! Check out Heidi's blog - she is a very talented stitcher and quilter.

I love the dragonfly!

Thank you so much Heidi. It's just beautiful!

I'm finally feeling better. After recovering from bronchitis, etc I had a bad reaction to a medication that left me feeling dizzy and nauseous for a couple of days. I finally figured out what could be causing it, stopped taking the medication and felt fine yesterday. I'm hoping to feel like sewing, stitching or knitting a bit tonight. I've missed it!