Little Chaos

Finished!!!! And given to the recipient.....who absolutely LOVED it. :.) It now resides with my youngest in her dorm room. She says it makes a great snuggle quilt.

Been working on Christmas gifts. It's that time of the year.....for me anyway. I'm nearly finished with one quilt.....and almost done with sock #1. Hope to finish the quilt up this weekend.....and hope to have the pair of socks done by mid-month. I only have one more knitted project to make for Christmas.....and two more quilts, plus a quilted tote. I'm hoping to get everything done with time to spare.....and very little stress on my part. Just have to keep reminding myself that I have plenty of time in which to do everything.

As an added bonus, my first kit arrived from Quilts for Kids. I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to get started on it. Just need to set a day aside just for that. Shouldn't take more than a day to get the quilt made, quilted, and washed. I would love to be able to send two completed quilts back. It's just a matter of squeezing another day in there to make another quilt. I already have the fabric for the second quilt put aside. It's times like this when I wish I had a second machine set up. Then I could be working on two projects at once. Oh well. Maybe some day. :.)

Quilted Tote

I learned a new technique and was wondering what to do with the block that I had just created, when it dawned on me......make a tote!! I don't make totes very often as I really don't have the need for them (have way too many), but thought that this might make a nice surprise gift for a friend. So a tote was created. :.)

The design on this tote was created using the embroidery unit on my sewing machine. Some other amazingly creative person digitized the design. All I had to do was learn how to stitch it out correctly.....which took a bit of doing. I had never done applique with the embroidery unit before. I did manage to get the block stitched out and really love the way it turned out. The design in the center is colored with colored pencil....and heat set. The very center of that is beaded with tiny purple beads and a bird charm was then stitched to the center of that.

The front of the bag was quilted using a neutral colored quilting thread....outlining the applique design and stipple quilting around the stitched design inside of that. The background of the applique was quilted using a decorative stitch and the neutral colored thread in one direction. The same decorative stitch was used only with a clear metallic thread for the other direction. The entire bag was lined with the same fabric that was used for the applique on front. The bag was done with a box bottom and I put buttons made from recycled plastic on the bag bottom to act as "feet". This is suppose to give the bag something to sit on so the bottom doesn't get dirty.

There is no pattern, per se, for this bag. This is my own design....for the most part (applique not included). I'm sure that there are probably patterns similiar out there on the market somewhere. I have never seen them....nor have I looked for them. This is just something I will make from time to time....improving upon it each time. I hope to get it to where I can make any size bag needed without a bunch of trial and error. As for the recipient of this quilted tote......she was totally surprised and totally thrilled with it. I was informed that it will be her constant companion when she goes out. How wonderful is that!! :.)

The day after.......

......a creative day is always hard for me. Things just don't seem to "flow" as well. It's not that the creative ideas don't keep coming. Because they do. It's just that things don't go as smoothly. I had finished up a pair of socks (that I had been working on for way too long) the night before last and it was time to choose a new knitting project. It was a no-brainer that I was going to start another sock project. After all, I had discovered how portable of a project it makes......and how calming it can be knitting on a pair of socks when the stress levels are a bit high (I had a procedure done about a week ago and knit on my socks the entire time........made things a bit easier to endure). Anyway, while looking for that perfect sock pattern (couldn't remember exactly where I saw it)......I came across a pattern for thrummed mittens. Perfect!! It was something I had been wanting to make and I even had the perfect yarn for it. Problem was I didn't have the needles needed. So I pulled things out for the thrummed mittens knowing that I couldn't start on the project until I got into town to buy the needles needed.

Well, after getting sidetracked with the mittens for quite some time (even pulled out the fiber for the thrums....black llama) I finally got back to looking for that perfect sock pattern. Once I found it, I photo copied it and then settled down to cast on. Did my swatch and my gauge was off by a stitch. Went up a needle size and my gauge was still off.....by half a stitch. Any larger and the fabric would be way too loose looking.....the yarn just wasn't heavy enough for larger needles. So I thought I would cast on and see what happens. Turns out it wouldn't work. If I had continued knitting the sock it would have ended up fitting a child. So everything was undone and the search for a new pattern began. I did find one pattern that I really liked and cast on for it. The gauge and needle size was a good match. The ribbing even turned out really nice. The problem was with the stitch pattern itself. Did nothing for me. Luckily I had only knit two rows.....so out they came. Found another pattern that was okay. Wasn't real crazy about it, but it did fit what I had done already. It calls for 1 1/2" of ribbing instead of the inch I had already knit. So I knit a couple more rows of ribbing.....and that was pretty much it. Not real crazy about the stitch pattern. So I think I may spend a bit of time seeing if I can't find something that works with what I have knit already. I really don't want to knit a "plain vanilla" sock. The yarn calls for something more. Just not quite sure what yet.

As for the picture above......well, that is a picture of the socks that I finally completed. Actually it is the only picture that turned out fairly decent. Turns out the socks don't photograph very well. Or maybe it was me. Anyway, I hope to have a better picture of the socks soon. Maybe yesterday just wasn't a very good photograph day either........

Creativity Abounds!!

Have you ever had one of those days when you have the impulse to create, but don't know what? Then something catches your eye......and it's just enough to get you off and running. Before you know it, the afternoon has passed and you've created something amazing.

Well, I'm having one of those days. Woke up with an amazing amount of creative energy. Thought, "okay, time to work on this month's block" and as I was reaching for the monthly kit something caught my eye. It was a stack of brightly colored blocks. While I was working on the first of two blocks for this month that stack of brightly colors kept calling me. Before I knew it, the block of the month was set aside and those brightly colored blocks were laying all over my sewing table. Wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them....until I started laying them out. Then it all just came together of its own accord. Once the blocks were laid out I started sewing. A couple of hours later I had a wonderful little quilt top. A few minutes later the perfect backing appeared.....the batting joined......and a quilt sandwich was born. :.) I call it "Little Chaos". I even know exactly how it will be quilted.

As I stood back admiring the morning's burst of creativity, it dawned on me how amazing it was to have everything I needed for this little quilt right at hand. The perfect border fabric....perfect colored backing in the right size.......and the perfect thread for machine quilting. Not a single thing was lacking or wanting. It's as if it was meant to be.....and this was the morning for it to be created. Gotta love days like this!! :.)

Of course I did have a very good night last night, too. Actually finished combing a lamb fleece. It was the very first fleece I have ever combed. I was simply amazed at how beautiful and clean the fiber is. And this is from a fleece that I thought for sure would be tossed. There was so much vm in it!! Definitely not a fleece that I would have even thought about picking and carding. It was that dirty. Of course now that it's all clean time to move onto the next step....blending it with some white baby camel top that I have. Just haven't quite decided whether I will be adding blending nylon to it or faux cashmere. It will all depend on how the nylon that I ordered looks. It's supposed to resemble silk. We'll see. I will be spinning sock yarn from it. I thought my hubby would enjoy a pair of shetland lamb/baby camel socks. :.)

On to fair spinning........ pictured below is the bobbin on my Ashford Country Spinner. On the bobbin is a Shetland lamb/kid mohair blend that I spun up at the fair. I used the Country Spinner to ply all the singles thatI had spun. The first skein (pictured below) ended up being about 500 yards (weighing about 13 ounces) of a nice worsted weight yarn (10 wpi). The second skein still needs to have the twist set, but it is also a worsted weight yarn.....with about 490 yards in the skein. Then there is a third smaller skein of about 78 yards. Haven't decided what I will do with all the finished yarn yet. Thought about a vest.....maybe thrummed mittens and a scarf......or maybe a felted teddy bear. The possibilities are endless. :.)

I also spun up some sock yarn at the fair this year. It was all spun on a drop spindle then plyed on a wheel. It's a polypay x/icicle top blend. There is actually a story of sorts behind this yarn. My youngst had died up all these short pieces of polypay x roving and then left it all in a large ziplock. I had asked her what she was going to do with it all. Her response "I think I will spin it up. Well, that was eons ago. She has since then graduated high school and moved out (college dorms). I was cleaning up the fiber room right before the fair and noticed this large ziplock filled with all these short pieces of dyed roving. Was a bit upset when I saw it......then thought "why not spin it up myself". The idea was to spin up the ugliest, gaudiest yarn I possibly could and then make her socks from it......which I would give to her for Christmas. (insert evil mom laugh here) Well, things didn't quite turn out as I thought. She saw the fiber as I was spinning it and absolutely LOVED it!! When I was spinning it, the fiber was in about six different batts and each one was a different color. I decided to "blend" the various singles together when plying in the hopes of creating a very colorful, very cohesive sock yarn. I think I actually accomplished that. :.) And I even found the perfect sock pattern for it. Oh, happy days!!!!

Tumbled Apples

It's been a bit of time since I last posted. September is always a busy time around here. It's fair time. Things went really well at the fair this year. There were lots of demonstrators so I wasn't stuck behind the "wheel" spinning for ten or more hours a day. And there wasn't the normal drama that there usually is in the barn. Reason for this......no sheep!!! The sheep numbers were incredibly low.....and the goat numbers were incredibly high. So the barns were switched. The goats got the big barn and the sheep were moved into the little barn. The wool department (which is what I run) is located in the big barn so I didn't have to worry about being moved. I did, however, get quite a bit of grief from the "sheep people" because they were "kicked out of their barn". I honestly couldn't believe how rude they were!! It's not like I had anything to do with it either....because I didn't. It was sheer numbers. When you have close to 500 goats and barely 100 sheep.....well, which one do you think will be getting the big barn. Goats, of course.

I will confess to really enjoying having the goats in the barn. The breeders were nice....the barn was always full......and it just made the entire fair really pleasant. Even the demonstrators for the wool department commented on how nice it was having the goats in the barn. And the fair goers really didn't seem to mind that we were spinning sheep wool in a barn full of goats. :.) Plus the breeders played games with their goats and invited the public to join in. Really filled the barn....which meant plenty of people at the wool department. Kept everyone busy spinning, carding, and answering questions. :.)

While the fair went well, things at home did not go as smoothly. Came home late one night only to discover that I was short a sheep. Did a head count to make sure.Then went walking the pature with a small headlamp on. Found my little yearling ewe. She had passed away sometime during the day.....from scours. My hubby had told me that she was off her feed and staying away from the rest of the flock. I was hoping it would pass, but had this awful feeling that I would end up losing her....which we did. She was buried out in pasture the next morning where she will always be with the rest of the flock. With being so busy at the fair and my hubby's long work hours.....well, it's just hard to always be there for the wooly ones. I'm not sure there would have been anything I could have done for her anyway, short of a vet visit. And even then........no point to dwell on should have's, would have's, could have's.

Well, it's been a week since I finished things up for the fair. I'm finally getting caught up on things around the house. I still have a lot of singles to ply and finish up. I spun a whopping two pounds this year at the fair. Most of it on a spinning wheel.....with about four ounces of it being spun on drop spindle. I didn't get to finish up the socks I have been working on. People wanted to see the 'Tank" in action. So no knitting for me. I do hope to get those done sometime this week though.

Last night I took the time and finally finished up my Tumbled Apples quilt (pictured above and below). It felt good to finally finish something. :.) I had bought the blocks already pre-cut so all I had to do was sew them into rows...and the rows into a top. I really loved the apple fabric and wanted to use it as a border. In order to tie the apple fabric in with the quilt center I decided to embroider the apple trees. Unfortunately, I didn't take into consideration the fabric background on which the embroideries would be. So they don't "pop" like I was hoping they would. Oh well. Live and learn. :.) It is something I will definitely try again. I'll just make sure the fabric background will enhance the embroidery, not hide it.

Sunflowers

I love sunflowers! Love the colors they come in....the various shapes and colors. While they may not be the prettiest flower (from ground up) they are very elegant and make me happy. :.) I thought I would share a few pictures of the ones that made it through the very hot summer we have had and are now starting to bloom.

Enjoy!!

Organized Chaos

And that is what it's been like around here the last couple of weeks. Between settling the boys in and helping the youngest get packed and ready for her move to college......it's just been plain chaotic. Well, the youngest has moved and is now settled into the dorms. She loves the campus and the town surrounding the campus. Her and her roommate get along well. .....and her "intended" lives on the floor above her. So all is well with her world. Oh, and class starts tomorrow....which she can't wait for. :.)

As for me.....well, I must confess that it is harder for me to adjust to an empty house than I thought it would be. I actually felt lost....and very, very sad. The lost feeling is slowly starting to go away. Still feel sad at times, but I'm not crying anymore.....and that's a good thing. :.) I started a new quilt project. The top is almost done. Just needs a bit more embroidery and then it will be ready for sandwiching and quilting. I've also done a lot of spinning. I just set the twist on the last of the plyed yarn today. That will make three completed skeins of yarn in the last two weeks. Quite a bit for me. :.) I've also been playing around with dyeing my batts. I've been using Border Leister for that. My experimentation hasn't quite turned out the way I was expecting....but it's still rather pretty....or at least I think so anyway. :.) It's encouraging enough that I will keep on trying until I get what I'm after. It's absolutely amazing how different the two skeins turned out even though I used the same dye colors. Didn't even mix new ones for the second skein. I had plenty left from the first.

I did finish the graduation quilt....which was aptly named "Organized Chaos". It looked absolutely beautiful on her dorm bed. Fit perfectly. :.) Her side of the room is done in bright colors....pink, turquoise, purple, yellow. Real sunny. :.) This was definitely the project quilt. There are something like 72 pieced blocks in all......and 26 embroidered blocks. The whole thing is set on point (which always gives me fits). The machine quilting is rather simple. Mostly straight line quilting using a serpentine stitch and variegated thread. The embroideries are outlined with meander quilting in the background. Pictured are a couple of the embroideries found on the quilt.

Now I will end this the same way it started.....with a picture of smiling Casa. He has a perpetual smile on his face. You can't help but smile and feel happy inside every time you see him. :.)