Redwork

After all the dinners, festivities and celebratory brunches it's hard to come home to the old routine. It reminds me of a quote by Anne Shirley of Green Gables - Anne with an 'e' - "I'm positively certain this will spoil everyday life forever..." I agree Anne.

So I've been putting my feet up, going through the pictures on the laptop a little at a time and trying to recharge. Handwork seemed like a good companion. You can find the free pattern here. The Cal King quilt for the newlyweds is well under way but of course I can't show pictures just yet. Stay tuned...

Mr and Mrs

The ceremony was beautiful and the reception went by much, much to quickly. I'm glad I have the pictures to remember the day. My husband took 300+ photos and we haven't seen the professional ones yet, so here is just a sample. Best wishes to the happy couple!

Best Wishes

 2000

 2007

2009

My youngest is getting married Saturday. Best wishes to my favorite #2 son. Love ya!

Felted Hot Pad

Every knitter ends up with remnants, little dribs and drabs left over from projects. That's bad enough; but I've started buying other people's remnants! I browsed the Senior Center Thrift store again and came home with a bag of worsted and bulky wool, perfect for felted hot pads.

I felted it in the washing machine in a zippered pillow case to catch the lint; on a hot, heavy duty setting for extra agitation, one complete cycle. It’s thick and still soft and works great!

Then I tried it with these yarns, but there was a lot of variation in yarn thickness. Sometimes I held two strands together, sometimes three.

I wasn't surprised when it felted unevenly, but I love the colors. Fun exploring fibers and felting.
 

And Now We Are One

We celebrated Evan's first birthday with a BBQ in the park.

 

Evan meets Rudy Bunny

Yaaaay, cake! - His cousin Katlyn thinks so too.

Rudy Bunny

I found this adorable knit bunny while browsing Ravelry last month. Then the idea struck. My grandson's turning one soon, perfect!

Meet Rudy Bunny.

Knit from two strands of reclaimed alpaca and stuffed with corriedale roving. The pattern is also available on Etsy.

When a friend of mine saw the pictures she said I should write stories to go along with the gift.

The Adventures of Rudy Bunny.

When the gift was opened, he was oooo'ed and awww'ed over. My grandson seemed to like him and Rudy almost went home in the pocket of one of the party guests. She said he could come live at her house anytime...

The End

Startitis

Love of knitting and fiber is so similar to love of quilting and fabric. There are so many wonderful yarns and so many terrific colors and patterns; I want to try them all!

I finished the lambswool shrug, bound off and washed it. It needs sewing up but there it sits while I cast on for something new. 

I finished knitting a gift for my grandson's 1st birthday which is at the end of this month, but it's still in the knitting bag waiting for finishing touches while I worked up a felted hot pad.

Then I found 8 skeins of cotton-rayon at the thrift store for a song and jumped in with plans to begin a summer cardigan, bought the pattern, swatched in two different size needles, practiced the lace pattern and got gauge.
 

But the LYS's annual summer sale is coming up and I've had my eye on some yummy RED Madeline Tosh dk. It would look great in this pattern.

Oh! And I've drafted the California King-sized quilt for the bridal couple, but I'll show pictures of that after it's been gifted.

Do I have enough going on yet? Yeesh...

Autumn On My Mind

I can show the Bride's quilt now, the Bridal shower was last weekend!

 

I told her my son has his own TV quilt and this one is hers. She doesn't have to share unless she wants to. :)

Too Good To Eat

Now THAT'S a cake!

Bento

I'm still plunking along sewing the HST borders together, but I just needed a new color scheme to get me through the tedium. So yes, I started another quilt.

How do you select colors for a quilt? I usually pick a favorite multicolored print and then start pulling related colors from the stash and laying the chunks of fabric out till it 'looks right'. I've been asked what my method is for selecting a fabric palette, but it really feels intuitive. It's not just color, it's balancing the values, the visual texture and whether the feel of the print blends with the overall statement I want. Not too many tone on tones or it looks boring, not too many large prints or it looks busy. Not too many deep darks or it looks heavy, not too many from the same fabric line, or it looks too planned...

I'm using this strip pieced method to piece the Bento Box blocks. What a dream. They go together so fast and easy. I sew HST's for the other quilt as leader-enders as I piece these. Git r done!