Quilt Camp 2011 - take two

If it's May, I must have gone to quilt camp. Which I did, last weekend. Have I mentioned how much I love quilt camp? I love quilt camp. A whole weekend of uninterrupted sewing time - heaven!

Of course, quilt camp doesn't negate the fact that I'm an idiot. I remembered my clothes, my towels, my bedding and my sewing machine. I forgot my main project bag. I spent an evening packing it, then left it sitting on my sewing room table. Grrr....

However, a couple of the"regulars" were supposed to come down Saturday morning, so I called one of them to beg her to go to my house and get it for me. Thank goodness I'm a long-term idiot and installed a locked key box on the house. I gave her the code and she picked up my bag Friday night. She brought it down Saturday morning, but she didn't stay. That's right, she was sick and instead of telling me "I'm sick and not coming down" on Friday, as she could have done, she delivered my bag to me and went back home. I had no idea she was sick or I wouldn't have even called her. Anyway, thanks to Margaret, I have some things to show you.

I did take an extra project bag with me, so on Friday night, I was able to put this together.



It was a pre-pieced panel that I got on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics last year. I just sewed it to a piece of fleece, turned it right side out and stitched around it along the outside row of blocks.

After that, I was out of sewing projects, so I played with yarn and beads. You might recall that I started a mystery shawl KAL (knit-along) last month. I never got past the first clue, and after watching the posts on Ravelry about it, I decided it wasn't for me. So I frogged it and started a new mystery shawl KAL. I knew I wanted to add beads to my shawl, so I took all the potential beads with me, along with the yarn, and strung all the different beads on the yarn to see how they would look. When I had chosen some, I knit up a little swatch of the first clue with the beads where I wanted them.


Wendy D. Johnson's Summer Mystery Shawlette in Madeline Tosh Merino Light in the Tart colorway.

That's actually one repeat of clues 1 and 2. I like the way swatch came out, so I started knitting the actual shawl. I got 4 rows in (plus the 3 setup rows) and decided I didn't like the way I'd done my double decreases in the center. I tried to just drop the offending stitches and fix them, but that didn't work well at all. So I ripped it all out and started over. I'm almost done with the first clue, which ends with first row that only has one bead in it. I want to at least finish that before I post pictures, though. The beads add just a bit of sparkle to the edge without standing out too much.

Anyway, back to quilt camp. Saturday morning, after I got my stuff, I put together a few blocks for my guild's community service group. Then I put this quilt top together.



The blocks were community service kits that I'd made a year or so ago and finally got around to putting together. I'll most likely return the top to the committee to get completed.

Once that was done, I spent the rest of the weekend putting these together.


Fabrics from the Jinny Beyer Rosewood collection

That's a front and side panel of a bag I was kind of hoping to finish. I got the pattern last February and have taken it to quilt camp a few times but never got around to working on it. I did all four pieces - the back and the other side panels look just like these. They take a long time to put together because you have to sew all those lines each time you add a piece, quilting as you go. I also quilted the handle pieces (4 of them). Now I just have to trim these to size, get the bottom finished, put zipper pockets in the lining, and put it all together. Piece of cake, right?

All in all, it was a pretty good quilt camp. When I got home, Max was happy to see me.


"Top of the world, Mama!"

Yes, he's on top of the entertainment center. No, I didn't put him up there.

Once he got down from there, he and Blue camped out on the couch with me.


"We're glad Mama's home."

Hey, for any of you in the Akron area, we went to see the M.C. Escher exhibit at the Akron Art Museum yesterday. It was fabulous! This was supposed to be the last weekend for it, but they extended it for another week. I highly recommend checking it out, his work is truly amazing. I'll have to dig up the picture of the Escher lizard quilt my friends and I made for a baby in the group for next time.

Knitting time!

Projects

As I might have mentioned in the last post, I went to a knitting retreat last weekend. :) A 9-hour trip (each way) and two whole days of knitting. Heaven! I've shared the goodies I brought back with me, now I'll tell you about the knitting I did.

On the way down, I spent a few hours working on these:


Spring Fern Socks in Knit Picks Stroll Tonal, Springtime

I posted a picture of these on Facebook and got some interesting comments. One friend said it looked like the socks have piercings, and another friend's boyfriend thought they were a bikini top.

When we got to Blowing Rock, we checked into the hotel, then went to dinner at the Six Pence Pub. The food was good, and we each got a free glass of champagne in honor of the Royal Wedding. We went back to the hotel and got our goodie bags and I worked on homework for one of my classes.

Saturday morning I took a Beads and Cables class with Antje Gillingham. She wrote the books I use for knitting two socks at a time on two circular needles, so I was very excited to take the class. I'm sorry to say that the class project is already frogged. It was a headband, and I don't really wear headbands, but mostly the yarn I got in class wasn't speaking to me. I took a picture of it before I ripped it out.


See what I mean? Who put these colors together?

Colorblind yarn designers aside, I enjoyed the class. I learned a new provisional cast-on that is a lot easier than trying to knit into the bump on the back of a crochet chain. I also just really liked Antje. She was a lot of fun.


She signed my books for me

She also designed the mystery socks I've been working on, so I took them with me for show and tell. I only had the beads and cables part done with I got there, but I since I got back, I added the first repeat of the latest clue.


Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Golden Glow

After a delicious lunch, I had an entrelac class with Miss Babs and started this little hat for a friend who has a baby due in September. I worked on it on the trip home and finished it Thursday. Can you tell my friend's DH is an Ohio State fan?


Simplified Ashlar Cap in Miss Babs sport wt, Sandi's Red and Luna Granite

Sunday morning's class was Fair Isle with Nancy Shroyer. I was a little nervous about this one, because it required holding one yarn in my right hand as usual, and another yarn in my left hand. I had tried holding my yarn in my left hand before and failed miserably. This time, it worked!! I started this headband, which I finished on Tuesday. I'm still not much of a headband wearer, but this one I decided to keep, even if I don't wear it.


Pattern by Nancy Shroyer, Mission Falls DK superwash yarn

When I wasn't working on class projects, and when my brain needed some rest, I worked on my CHRISTMAS! socks.


They scream Christmas, don't they?

In keeping with my lucky streak this year, I won the Pamper Me basket at work on Friday! This is just a sampling of what was in it.


Wow!

There were also two more pairs of flip-flops, four washcloths, more Mary Kay products, a book, a bamboo beach mat, and probably some other things I've forgotten. I shared the spoils with my coworkers and gave the Satin Hands kit to my mom for Mother's Day.

Friday evening I did some shopping after work. While I was in the store there was a torrential downpour, so bad I couldn't see the cars in the parking lot. When I got out to my car, I found this:


Yep, hail

Emma says:


"I'm glad I was safe inside. Princesses don't like water."

Thanks, I needed that

The weather here has been really crappy lately. Lots of gray, rainy weather. I had water from the storm sewer back up into my basement (nothing damaged), and a week ago we had 67 mph wind gusts overnight. I swear I thought either my roof was going to blow off, or the tree in my back yard was going to come through it. Neither happened, thankfully.

So Friday morning, three of us hopped in my friend's car and drove here:


The Meadowbrook Inn, Blowing Rock, NC

As you can see the weather was MUCH better there.


No gray skies or rain here

And there were lots of ducks - none of which were swimming in my basement.



We went there for the Unwind Getaway and had a great time! We each took a three classes, which I'll get to next time. This post is all about the loot.

Everyone got a goodie bag on Friday when we checked in.


Yarn, patterns, Addi circular needle, coupons and a mug from a local potter

Everyone got a door prize, and I got an extra one for being one of the newest knitters.


More yarn and a Port-A-Pocket bag

A long-distance member of our knitting group lives in NC, so she and a friend of hers drove over on Sunday afternoon for some shopping and dinner. There were yarn, pattern and tool purchases, both from the teachers at the getaway (Miss Babs, Kitchen Sink Dyeworks, Fairie Knits, Nancy's Knit Knacks and Antje Gillingham) and the local yarn shop.


There might be another sweater's worth on the way from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks


Boy, I have a lot of knitting to do....

We also supported the local non-fiber-y businesses.


Traditions Pottery, local preserves, and a pair of earrings

Here's a closer look at the earrings. I got them at a local gallery and we all thought they kind of looked liked knitting needles and yarn, in an abstract kind of way. :)


I LOVE these!

When we weren't in class, shopping or eating, we were knitting and listening to programs about knitting. There was also a fashion show on Sunday night. Did I mention we had a great time? You might be able to tell from this:


Photo shamelessly stolen from C since I didn't take any

We drove home Monday, back to cold, rainy weather. On the plus side, the yarn I won last month was waiting for me when I got home.


Miss Babs sport weight in Luna Granite colorway

Also waiting for me? Some of my favorite furry people [this is an old picture - I was too lazy to take a new one].


"Miss Ali took excellent care of us while you were gone, Mama!"

Next time, class details and other knitting progress.

Progress

You know what's great? Hiring someone to clean your house. Not only do you not have to actually vacuum, mop or dust, but you also have a really good reason to de-clutter your house. I've been an organizing demon. I bought new shelves for the basement, cleaned off the workbench and organized all the stuff that used to be on it. The cleaning lady isn't going to clean the basement, but it freed up space for other stuff. I cleaned out my bathroom cabinets, and got rid of a bunch of stuff. I cleaned out both of the desks in my computer room and moved some stuff that didn't need to be in there to the basement shelves. I still have some work to do in the closet and put in some shelves to store my quilts, but I've made a lot of progress. It's very refreshing.

When I haven't been shuffling stuff around my house, I've been knitting. I'm caught up on my Mystery Socks:


KnitPicks Stroll Tonal yarn in Golden Glow

I forgot to cross a cable above the last bead and didn't notice it till I'd already done the next cable round and the increase round. I had to drop those stitches down 8 or so rows, cross the cable, add the bead, cross another cable and re-do the increase on them. It was a very scary prospect, let me tell you. BUT, I did it and I can't remember which cable column I had to fix. Success!

I started another KAL (Knit ALong), but I'm behind on that one already. Here's Clue #1.


Madeline Tosh Merino Light, Tart colorway

The pattern is based on the movie Roxanne, but whenever I hear that name, all I think about is Eddie Murphy singing the Police song at the beginning of 48 Hours. It was kind of a problem when I had a sister-in-law named Roxanne.... Anyway, I finished Clue #1 on the start date, and haven't touched it since. Clue #2 came out last Thursday, but I'm still trying to decide if I want to modify Clue #1 like a friend of mine did. I can't decide. I need to look at it closely. I know I did my pfb (purl front and back) stitches wrong, thanks to an online video. If I go back and modify it, I might be able to avoid those crazy stitches. Decisions, decisions.

I finally got back to my Spring Fern Socks and got a few pattern repeats done.


KnitPicks Stroll Tonal in Springtime

I've done more on my Christmas socks, too, but I don't have any pictures of them. I kind of think I made them too wide but I really don't want to rip out 1.5 inches on two socks to narrow them down by 4 stitches. They fit, but they aren't very snug. I might put in a decrease when I get past the widest part of my foot, but we'll see.

I got the scarf from my bookmark scarf exchange partner.


All folded up


Cable/lace detail.

I was a little worried when I got it, because while the knitter said it was wool/nylon yarn, it feels like cotton to me (and everyone else who's touched it). It was kind of scrunched when I got, but I soaked it really well and laid it out flat to dry. It blocked better than I expected.

One day last weekend when I got in the shower, I tossed my socks down the laundry chute, like I always do. One of them apparently missed the bin at the bottom and I had the basement door open. When I got out of the bathroom, this was waiting for me outside the door.



That would be a crumpled hand knit sock, retrieved from the basement by my faithful "puppy cat," Blue. He's so sweet. Strange, but sweet.

The middle furry children aren't impressed.


"We don't fetch like dogs. Stupid 'kitten'!"

I really should play the lottery

This must be my lucky year. So far, I've won some $$ in two of the three Super Bowl pools I joined, opening night tickets for Shrek, the Musical from NewsNet5.com and now, a shawl kit from Yarn on the House. The kit is Liz Abinate's Luna's Shawl pattern (named after Luna Lovegood, of course), and enough Miss Babs yarn to make it in the lovely grey Luna Granite colorway. How cool is that??

Of course, my NCAA brackets tanked, but you can't win 'em all.

Oh, and if you're a fan of the show Bones, check out more of Liz's patterns. She has sock patterns called Temperance and Ms. Wick, a Saroyan shawl and a whole collection of Traveling Woman patterns, inspired by Angela Montenegro.

The cats are thrilled.


"Just let us know when you're done with the shawl so we can test it out."

Done and done

So, I finished a couple of things.

I joined a bookmark scarf exchange back in December. The idea is you pick a bookmark pattern that was meant for very thin yarn and tiny needles, and knit it with thicker yarn on bigger needles. I chose the Triple Chevron Bookmark pattern and knit it with a worsted weight cotton/acrylic blend yarn on size 10-1/2 needles. I used the cotton blend yarn because my swap partner lives in Georgia. I kept repeating the pattern till I ran out of yarn on one skein, then did the same thing with a second skein of yarn. When that was done, I grafted the two together to get this:



And folded up:



I sent it off last week, so I can post it now.

I also finally finished my purple socks:


Plain vanilla sock, eye of partridge heel, Koigu KPPM yarn



I was worried that I was going to run out of yarn, but didn't, thankfully. Now I just have to remember that these socks are NOT machine washable.

And since I finished one pair of socks, of course I started another one (because I really need to have 4 pairs of socks on needles at once.)



This is a mystery sock knit along, by Antje Gillingham. It has cables and beads (so far). It will have another 2 two repeats of those last 4 rows - one cable row and a row of beads, with a row of ribbing after each. After that, it's a mystery. :) I'm liking them so far, though.

And this is what happens at my house when you leave your laptop open.


"This thing is warm, Mama!"

In case you're wondering, a cat on a keyboard can press enough keys to keep the bell going for about 5 minutes after he gets shooed off. Ask me how I know.

North Coast Needlers Quilt Show

My guild's bi-annual quilt show was this past weekend. I forgot to bring my camera so I was left with my cell phone. And I didn't get many pictures with that. I did get a picture of my Big Blue quilt.


Or most of it, anyway.

I also entered my Christmas tree skirt.



I didn't get any pictures of the actual quilt show floor (bad blogger!), but I did get pictures of the challenge quilts. The theme of the challenge was "A River Runs Through It". The challenge quilts had to be the same size and use a common fabric as a river. The only other requirement was that the river had to touch both sides of the quilt and be 3" long. This way, they could be hung side by side, with the river edges touching, making a river run through the display. It looked awesome.




The cherry blossoms in the center panel are tiny yo-yo's with pink pearls in the centers.











I didn't make one, but they looked fantastic all put together like that. There was talk about displaying it in other places, at some point. If that happens, I'll post it here.

This was the view on my odometer when I got to work one day last week.


Six years and 106,000 miles. Still going strong.

When I cleaned up my sewing room a few weeks ago, I forgot to share this picture of my helper.


"That light bulb is warm, Mama."

And in other news, the cats still like the new tree.


They climb up the carpeted pole to get to the top.

Next time I'll share my latest finished projects and the new one I'm about to start.