Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Craft On - John Deere Green

Linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams and her Craft On blog hop.

It took me a couple weeks, but I did finally make a decision on the colors for the 'John Deere' baby blanket that I'm making for a friend of my husband. I have to say I'm not a fan as I like pastel colors for babies, but I think they will be happy with it:) And really that is all that matters. Here is the progress so far...

I'm using the Triplet Ripple pattern by Marie Segares more or less. I am doing 4 rows green and 2 rows yellow. Not sure if I'll do a boarder or not yet. Part of that will depend on how long this takes as the baby is due mid May:)

I've actually only met the father once and never met the mother, but I'm hoping I can this time as I know how excited the father is about getting to choose the theme for baby boy:)

Off to see what everyone else has been up to!!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Craft On - Half Way Mark

Linking up with of Nicole of Frontier Dreams and her 'Keep Calm (Craft On)'.

After finishing up the pink baby blanket last week I was at a cross roads as to if I would work on existing projects (like a good girl:), or start a new project - or two or three!! So far, I've been a good girl and have gotten myself to nearly the half way point, or a little further, on three existing projects!! GO ME!!! 
Above: I am just a bit further than half way on my afghan. This one is clearly not going to get finished for this year's cold weather, but there's always next winter:0)

The top left is just a bag project I'm playing around with. No pattern, and I'm not even sure if it'll come together or not, but it is just past the half way point either way.

And I pulled out my Tidal Sands Cowl which if I hadn't slipped off a stitch while trying to fix another problem, that then made me have to tink back 320 stitches to fix, would be at the half way point too. I'm only 4 rows from the half way point now, so we'll call it good!! :)

While I haven't officially started a new project, I have been playing around with yarn colors for a new project. My hubby has a friend at work who's wife is expecting a baby boy in May. I made a blanket for his two daughters and now he just let us know that this one is a boy (he is pretty excited!!) and that he got the go ahead from his wife to do the room in a John Deere theme. I didn't know how hard it would be to get the colors matched up on this one, but I've been to the store 3-4 times now and only *think* I have colors that will work. I also looked on line, but it's hard to tell if the colors are just right, so I was kind of limited to what Hobby Lobby had this time. Plus I really like this yarn for baby blankets, so...

The green is just about right, it could be a bit deeper, but it's close. Neither of the yellows are quite right. The one on the left is too light, but the right kind of yellow. The one on the right is about right in intensity, but a bit too orange/mustard/something?? I only bought one of each for now and will play with them to see if I can make it work. Hubby says the one on the right is closer, so I'll play with it first. So that is my next project and I will crochet this blanket which should go pretty fast.

Off to see what others are working on!! 

Saturday, March 18, 2017

March FNSI

I'm joining in with Wendy @ Sugar Lane Designs with this month's Friday Night Sew-In!!!

I started off with finishing a small zipper pouch. I made one last month that was a bit bigger, and I wanted to play around with making one a bit smaller. This one is just the right size for a small pair of embroidery scissors, a tape measure, some extra needles and any other odds and ends you may need. I just love it!!  
After I finished it, I decided to play around with some other fabrics and see if I could come up with a good size for a larger zipper bag. I'd like one that would hold a med/large-ish size knitting or stitching project. Since I keep my stitching projects in ziplock bags, I want to make sure that will fit in the bags I'm making. I purchased a 14in zipper and after cutting fabric, I realized just how big that is. I think I need to find 12 in zippers and see how that goes. That notebook ↓ has a bunch of notes for different types of bags in different sizes. Lots of ideas going on!!
I picked up some Paris themed fabric the last time I was at the store as my sister in law has always dreamed of going to Paris and I thought she might like a bag made out of this. Also a new friend that my sister in law and I made while stitching at a coffee shop used to be a French teacher -
pre-children, and taught for a while in Paris, so maybe one for her as well? We will see:)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Yarn Along - And It's Done!!!


Linking with Ginny of 'Small Things' on her Yarn Along/Read Along blog hop. 

I finished the Baby Shawl (aka blanket - why Debbie Bliss calls it a shawl, I'm not sure?) All that's left to do is wash it and block it. I wouldn't normally block a baby blanket, after all I hope it gets lots of use. Hope it becomes her favorite blanket to be carried around everywhere, through mud puddles and to cover up her enormous dog. But for now, I'd like it to look nice to present to her momma:) 
I did finally get over my 'book' block. I still find listening to books is way more convenient, especially if I'm going to ever have enough time to knit!! This book - The Bird and the Sword is by Amy Harmon (if you remember back, I've also listened to Sand and Ash by her), and this was excellent. It didn't leave me quite as gutted emotionally as Sand and Ash did, but was still very good. It has a bit of fantasy in it, but not so much as to not be able to visualize what was going on. The only thing that bothered me a little is the use of Biblical quotes that got twisted around to fit their spiritual beliefs. It wasn't a lot, and didn't get twisted much, but it was there. Either way, it was an excellent story and the 'reader' did a great job of bringing the characters to life. 

Now to decide what to work on next. I already have another Amy Harmon book to listen to, so that's covered, but not sure on the knitting. I have several projects still on the needles, I have a crochet afghan that won't get done in time for the cold weather, and I have several projects waiting in the wings just screaming my name to start them!!! I really should finish up some WIPs first, but hmm, not sure what will win out:) 

Until I decide, I'm off to see what all of you have been working on. I'm sure I'll find some inspiration!! 

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Fun with the sewing machine!!

I'm so excited!! I've been able to do some sewing, and it turned out so cute!! But our darn internet has been acting up again, so I haven't been able to post!! I think we have that issue all figured out now. Verizon had an unlimited plan now, and while it's not cheap - especially on top of the bill we already had- it isn't much more than paying for our internet and phone bill separately. We are giving it a few days and if everything looks good, we will be telling our current internet company to come and get their equipment!!! So far, everything looks to be working great and I'm so happy to be able to watch shows at the same time the rest of the family is watching theirs (we were having to take turns and even that didn't usually work). And it looks like blogging will be a lot faster as well!!

Okay, on to what I've been 'making'..
I finally got a couple more bags made, and yes, they both have knitting projects in them already!! :)  I have been playing around with changing up a pattern that I'm using (actually at this point it's a combination of about 3 patterns) and working on sizing that I like as well. The small one is perfect for a hat or sock project. I was hoping that the larger one would work for everything else, but it might be just a bit small. The baby blanket is getting too big for it, but I expected that. I will have to put a larger shawl project in there and see if that will fit or if the bag needs to be a bit bigger. Also, while I think mid-weight interfacing works really good for the zipper bags, it makes the draw string area too stiff with these, so my next bags will have lighter interfacing.

If you are wondering, yes, I'm hoping to start making these to sell soon. I want to perfect my technique and also be able to provide a couple different options before opening up a Etsy shop. I think these are just about ready, next up will be zipper bags:) I am hoping to be able to have a give-away in the next week or so too, so please keep an eye out for that!!

Linking up with Nicole of Frontier Dreams and her 'Keep Calm and Craft On' blog hop. 

Monday, March 6, 2017

Stitchy Update

I finished stitching another mitten this week!! I really like doing these small projects along side the larger ones as it helps to feel like you are actually accomplishing something with all the time it takes. Here are the projects I've been working on lately...
The mitten is Nordic Reindeer by Bent Creek and the other is 'May Wordplay' by Brenda Gervais. I'm changing it to a 'Spring Wordplay' by leaving out the word 'May' and this will become a seasonal series that I'm making for my mother-in-law. The plan is to have this one done by her birthday (early April) and the Summer one done (I'm using the August Wordplay for that one) by Mother's Day. I'll figure out the others as I go.

I also played around a little with my blog's header picture. I think it looks nice and ready for spring!! :0) Hope you like it too!!

I probably won't have a knitting update this week as I'm still just working on the baby shawl and it doesn't look much different than last week. I hope to have it finished in the next week or two, it is at the half way point right now. Then I can start something new!!! I'm already planning for the possibilities:) 

However, I should have some project bag progress to show off at the end of the week. I worked a little on a couple of them this weekend, but then had to put everything away as we had company yesterday. Daughter has a class today that I need to go to as well, so I probably won't get to it today, but the next few days should be mostly uninterrupted, so I plan to finish up a couple of them and maybe get a few more cut out and ready to go. Goodness knows I have enough projects on the needles to fill them up!! Once I have a bit more practice sewing them up I may do a give-away on my blog;) So keep an eye out for that!!

Well, it's time to start getting ready to leave for the day. I hope you all have a lovely day and can fit a bit of 'making' into it:) 

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Yarn Along - It's All About the Pink



Linking with Ginny of 'Small Things' on her Yarn Along/Read Along blog hop and with Nicole of Frontier Dreams and her 'Keep Calm and Craft On' blog hop. 

I have very little to show off this week as I've only been focused on one project...
This is Baby Shawl by Debbie Bliss. I'm a little over 1/3 of the way done now and have high hopes that this won't end up being a High School Graduation present for my cousin's 6 week old baby:) Thank goodness for momma's who are okay with pink for their little girls. I was one of those momma's who didn't want much pink for my daughter and I didn't understand why everyone was so upset about that. But now I know just how much fun pink can be!!! I guess lesson learned - almost 18 years later!! :) 

I've been so focused on this that I didn't even start a new book!!! So no reading update, but I think that will change for next week:)

Off to see what you have been working on...