summer jack of all things

the kid has been gone for 2 weeks and hubby has been working nights just a bit longer.  so what do i do all alone at the house after my 40 hours of daily grind?  oh... a little of this and that.

i have a helper while attempting to iron the top for my "happy pill" bed quilt.  

i went to sandwich and baste it 2 weeks ago, only to find out that the online store i purchased the backing from last year cut it a little short.  so i ordered another yard and i'm still waiting on that to arrive... grr...  i could have had it quilted and working on the binding!

then westychic and i finally started cutting out of collection of prints for a collaborative quilt project. she brought the original bundle of FQs over and during quilt fest, we purchase one yard cuts of other prints we liked.

then it took forever to get to a point post-Harvey where we could start work on it.  then we had to decide on what we were doing.  the pattern she brought over didn't quite work with our fabrics, so i pulled out my entire book and magazine and pattern stash.  few hours later, we had it narrowed down to two and then a trip to the store for template plastic.  cutting all of those wedges took quite a bit of time.

i'm at the point all my rows are complete per the pattern.  but i have enough cut to widen the quilt a little before i choose a border fabric.  i think i'll widen it by 2 wedges each row.

i started purl soho's notched hem tank top for a summer knitting project and garment.  i'm using knit one cotton yarn in a fingering weight.  it's a bit odd... lots of marls so it doesn't knit as smoothly and consistenly as i'd like.  

it's taking foooreeeever it seems.  i'm about 8 inches in of knitting in the round.  this pattern has a lot of firsts for me:  knitting section and putting on a holder, then knitting another duplicate section, then doing a cable cast between those two knit sections and joining in the round; short row knitting and soon.. somehow i'm splitting the knit fabric into the armhole sections and crochet edge finishing?  um ok...

while i'm not fretting over the tank, i'm working on a blanket for a gift, plus i broke out some beautiful hedgehog yarn.

this will be a shawl for me, in a pattern called "twisted stripe" that i found on ravelry.  it's got a fun "twist" in the contrast yarn - a silvery grey fuzzy lace yarn i had pulled from a long-time stash.

and now for the bigger project.... kitchen cabinet redo.

my kitchen has been under one stage of construction to another for a year and a half.  too many things got in the way (loss of a job in the house, kidney stones, heat, too busy, funerals, etc).  now that i've got quiet time and i'm not hurting from the kidney pain all day, i'm setting myself to doing it.  i filled in the raised sections of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts with a compound, now i have to sand it all down to minimize wood grain.  now i'm working on a few sections at a time to keep the nosy cats out of my cabinets.  sand, prime, insert beadboard in center panel, prime and final paint.  

i need new hinges still.  i don't want to attempt to clean off the old ones that were damaged by previous owners/tenants of my home.  i do have cabinet and drawer pulls though.  then after the cabinets are finished, it'll be time for the concrete countertop and floors.  and lights.  then it'll be done!

fox tails shawl is finished!

after a start on an airplane, lots of office lunch knitting and even some on-location NASA knitting, my fox tails shawl is complete! this is my first shawl knit with malabrigo yarn, my first lace knitting (successful too!) and my first time to block something.

it was quite a bit of fun.  i had easy rows mostly, but then i got to practice counting all the repeats for the lace.  i learned some knew knit stitches and i think i did a lovely job.  i can hardly tell i knit it myself, so that's a plus.

forgive the weird angle thing with the camera and my face.  something moved as i was taking the picture and it looks very long and angular.  i'll wear it with a nicer shirt or dress later...this was my i-was-too-excited-to-change-my-shirt photo.

while i have a few welding caps to finish and my happy pill quilt for the bed, i also picked my next yarn and knitting project.  i'm going to try a tank top from purl soho with this lovely cotton yarn in "lipstick" color.

i even wound that yarn by hand.  :) 

lunchtime knitting at NASA

this is the t-38 talon park at johnson space center.  sometimes i go there to eat my lunch, to get away from my office and coworkers and just have some peace of mind.

today, i continued working on my "fox tails" shawl.  it was gorgeous outside - a light breeze that was cool with the sun shining through the oaks.  to the left and out of view are the talon jets.  in the center is the shuttle mock-up and an actual cargo plane that carried the shuttles back.  

i'm back...

i had all sorts of knitting on the plane time.  thought i'd knit in the funeral home, but i was kept busy enough with family (good and bad) and rude old ladies.  

i made all sorts of progress on the fox tail shawl though.  but pretty much only while on the plane.

the snow from 2 - 2 1/2 weeks ago was still there.  melting a little each day as the sun was out, but then refreezing each night when it dropped to 25 degrees.  my mom and i had a very short-lived snowball fight my first afternoon back.

i'm sure this is the last snow i will see at my grandparent's house.  i've seen a couple good ones over the years for good memories.

and now that i'm back and attempting some normal again, i got to knit while watching the pre-UIL competition for the intermediate and high schools in our district last night.  i did stop while my son's group played and i clapped for everyone.

trying to keep up with the lace pattern in the dark is tricky, so i probably won't try that again.  unless it's straight-forward knitting.

the joys of ravelry

i really don't know why it took me so long to start using ravelry properly.  instead of just favoriting patterns and never starting anything, i'm moving them to my library.  and when i realize i indeed have yarn to make one of those patterns/projects, i'm moving them to my queue and linking my yarn.  

amazing things happen when the bins of yarn get sorted into your stash online.  it actually recommends projects!  or yarns to use with a project.... who'd have thought?  :)  

within my studio, i have bags and bins of yarn.  cheap yarns from the big box stores for projects just because i liked a color or softness (or price).  and good yarns from LYS when i've travelled.  i have a lot more to upload to my stash on ravelry, but i have a nice start in helping me use up some of the ever growing stash my family doesn't realize i have.

this is the year to get active in creating again.  i'm going to pick up my pencils and my paintbrushes too.  it's time to do things for me again.  and with doing things for me, that also means easier knitting and sewing for others so help hone my skills better and build up to the amazing projects i want to keep.

i hope you, dear readers, continue to craft and create as well if you hit a slump in the past.  keep your skills practiced and learn something new!  or find a group you can create for and spread some happiness along.

setting goals for 2018 - textile edition

once upon a time, i used to make a dozen quilts of valor a year.  this was on top of quilts for other people, plus clothing, plus some 2D artwork.  certain things have slowed down and other things are picking back up, so i thought this would be a great time to set a few goals for myself.

introducing...my textile goals...  or at least the start of it, all subject to change of course.

my best friend and i have been knitting a few of the big heart little hat red hats for the AHA and i should ship those next week.  late last week, she sent me a text with a link saying we needed to knit for "knots of love"once we were finished with the red hats.  looking into it - i agree!  helping chemo patients and veteran amputees sounds good to me.

i had a coupon for jo-ann's, along with their weekend sale.  off i went after church sunday to take advantage.  KOL has a very specific approved yarn list, and i knew i could get some of these from jo-ann in great color variety.  i walked out with this bag stuffed with 10 skeins of approved yarn in men and women's colors for chemo caps and stump covers for only $34.  i started an arm stump cover in that grey/white marl yesterday and should finish it today.

this will be my satisfying and easier knitting projects for the year.  and i'll throw in some additional tiny red caps for next year's AHA collection.

next up.... FINISH HAPPY PILL!!!!  

the pile above are the last blocks to stitch!  there's about 30 in the pile, so it's not too bad.  and then i have to trim all of them down to size before i can start laying out the blocks.  i will have a new bed quilt in bright and happy colors this spring!!  hopefully.  

the next goal is a huge one.  ok, yes, happy pill is pretty large as well.

i need/want to learn how to knit this maple leaf shawl.  someone, either my mother or my best friend, posted a picture/link to this shawl on my FB page a couple years ago.  i knew then i couldn't do it.  i'm not so sure i'm ready for it yet now.  BUT it is being added to my goal for the year.

i've purchased the pattern and stared at it cross-eyed.  thankfully, the first pattern part i opened was just the chart version and they have regular written instructions also.  i don't really know how to read charts for knitting.  somehow, you knit sections and then knit other sections and they all get added together??  no clue yet and i'm going to have to see about getting some of the more experienced knitters at church to help me i think.

shopping online for good quality wool yarn to withstand the extensive blocking process (which i've never blocked anything btw), while not breaking the bank was an adventure.  you can't have just any color for a maple leaf.  none of the decently priced wools were the correct autumn color for a maple leaf, so i decided to choose a spring leaf.  appropriately named... "a new leaf" green.  

the house my dad grew up in back in michigan had gorgeous maple trees out front.  the street was lined in them.  when i got the chance to visit my grandmother in early autumn, i'd spend time outside taking pictures of the leaves glowing in all shades of red, yellow, orange with just a hint of green.  i adored it.  the last time i got to do that, i brought home a leaf of every color combination i could find to press in wax paper to prove to my then-husband that leaves really are that color outside of gulf coast texas.

and somewhere along the way, get in a few dresses and skirts.  i need an update to my closet after all these thyroid and autoimmune struggles the past 2 years.