WIP Wednesday: Crochet-a-Palooza

Is it Wednesday ALREADY?  Yesterday I went through the whole day thinking it was Monday.  That was really fun.

So, I debated calling this post "I AM CRAZY."  Because I'm pretty sure I am.  I got the itch to make a nice cozy (yarn) blanket.  Probably because temperatures have been in the single digits!  So I started to join all those crocheted African Flowers together that I have been working on for an eternity.  I joined about 6 of them.  It took me the entire length of a movie.  I then realized that I cannot stand joining African flowers together.  I have never been so disheartened!  6 down, 114 to go?  The agony!!!  I'm debating what to do with them all, now.  I have no idea.

Meanwhile, I started an easier one - I don't know why, when I have such a mile-long queue of WIP's already.  I just got the itch!  I'm doing the Granny Stripes Blanket, by Lucy of Attic 24.  Her blog is such eye candy, I love it.  It always makes me want to go crochet something.  This one goes really fast, and it involves virtually no counting or concentration, which is awesome.  I'm using Caron Simply Soft that I've had in my stash forever; it feels good to use it up.  Aren't these colors great?

So my 9yo DD got inspired, and asked me to teach her to knit again.  I tried to teach her about a year or two ago, but I think she may have been a little young.  She has a knitting loom, which is fun, but she wanted to learn "the real way."  I suggested that she try crocheting instead, because it goes faster and might be a little easier.  She has totally blown me away!  Look what she has done so far!  It's going to be a blanket for her 18" dolls:

She's 9 years old.  Are you amazed???  I am!

And then in the MIDST of all this blanket-making, she asked me if I'd whip her up a pair of fingerless mitts.  I had to laugh because she thinks more highly of my "just whip something up" skills than she probably should.  But how could I say no?  Here's one out of two so far:

That is my hand.  But it fits her too!  Just a wee bit loose...

This pattern looked really easy, but it was a gigantic pain the butt! It called for some kind of "post stitch" something or other, and I was pulling my hair out trying to do it.  So I modified it to be easy and THUS, not as cute as it probably could be.  But I'm not torturing myself over it, either, which is always a welcome relief.   And I think it's plenty cute - just in time for Valentines Day, too!  Again, just using acrylic from my stash.  Gotta remember to do the other one now.  :)

Still working on the Scrappy Tripalong Quilt; I finished the last block, last night.  Yay!  Now to lay it out and complete the top.  Not sure when/how I'll quilt it, but I feel no rush to get to that part right now.

It's been a lot of "use what you have" around here lately.  DH has been off work for months, on short term disability (which seems to be turning into "medium term"?)...so no fun fabric shopping trips for me just now.  Too bad, too, because I just found out about a second quilt shop in our town that I haven't been to yet!  Soon...I hope!

WIP Wednesday

(WIP = work in progress)

Good morning everyone!  I have SO many irons in the fire right now...but it doesn't feel overwhelming yet, so that's a good thing!

1. I've been slowly working on a "Scrappy Trip Around the World" quilt.  PRAY TELL, what is that, you ask?  Well...it all started with Instagram.  (Are you confused yet?  I'm sure my mom can follow along; our minds work the same way. Right mom? :)  Long story short, there's a big huge unofficial "quiltalong" going on the blog/flickr/instagram world.  Here's where it started, and I thought I'd try it!

I will make 20 blocks; I have 7 done so far.  That seems humongous to me, but there are many who are making 36, 42, and even more blocks. 

This is going to be a(nother) cozy "tv blanket" for our family.  The blocks come together pretty quickly, actually, and I've learned new things here and there.  I have a quilter friend "in real life" and she gave me the tip to sew the strips together NOT all in a row, but on every other side.  I'm sure that makes no sense.  But some of mine were coming out like parallelograms instead of squares, and apparently I was sewing them together wrong!  I'm definitely trying this on the next few squares!

Want to keep up with my progress?  (Oh, who wouldn't want to do that???  You've got nothing better to do, right?)  I'm RACHELHAV on Instagram.  :)

2. Downton Abbey Mystery Knitalong
OK, more proof that I spend a leeeeetle maybe too much time online.  On Ravelry (I'm applecake33, don't ask me why), Jimmy Beans Wool is hosting a Downton Abbey knitalong.  It's supposed to be a mystery KAL, but with the first clue they told us what we were making.  So...not such a mystery.  But they only give us one clue per week, on Sundays, and the idea is that we all knit while watching DA.  I personally have to have eyes on the screen at all times during that show, so unless the pattern is to just knit all the way around, I'm pretty much sipping wine and intently watching and not really knitting.  But here is what I have so far, I'm loving it! (Oh - the project is "Dowager Countess Dinner Gauntlets" - basically fingerless mitts of some kind.)  Instead of the (gorgeous) suggested yarn, I'm using Knitpicks Felici - the same weight & fiber content, but more "Rachel-budget-friendly." 

I really hope that's right.  It doesn't seem right...

3. I just started this yesterday, and stopped when it came time to sew in the lining.  I'm making the Fabiola Clutch from I Think Sew - if it all goes well, I will put some in my shop (which is "on vacation" at the moment). 

So that's pretty much it, not that it's not MORE than enough for now!

What are you working on?  I'd love to hear!

My Foray into Quilting

Hey, I made a quilt top - my first one!

When people ask me about my sewing, I always tell them that I sew, but I do not quilt.  Quilting has always seemed like it would be so tedious and involved - like, too much time spent on too-small details.  Like scrapbooking (to me!).  But lately, I've been having a change of heart!

It all happened like this:  I was messing around, wasting time on Pinterest one day.  (So MANY of my stories start out this way, really.)  I was checking out Sara Lawson's boards and just couldn't stop looking at her quilt links.  Such gorgeous-ness!  Such awesome colors!  The designs!  I was totally hooked.  Well, it snowballed from there.  I spent about a week just looking at quilting blogs, flickr groups, Pinterest boards...and I knew what one of my 2013 new years resolutions was going to be: to learn to quilt. 

I'd finish up my UFO's, and then I'd learn to quilt.  

That's what I'd do.

Yep.

Oh, screw the UFO's, I couldn't wait that long!

I wasn't feeling quite ready to dive into a queen-size Moda Bake Shop advanced level quilt or anything (tempting though it may be), but I remembered that I'd won this pattern from a sewalong a while ago.  So I dug it out of my pattern stash, and decided that it looked fairly easy...and it was!

It really helped that I already know how to sew.  And that I already had a bunch of fabric!  The only thing I actually had to go out and buy was the batting.  I know everyone out there seems to like Warm n Natural, but not knowing how this was going to turn out and all, I went with a slightly less expensive one...something like 80/20 something?  (You can always count on me for accuracy and specifics, right!)  Oh and I got basting spray because there is no way I'm messing with all those pins. 

These owl appliques...they look really cute.  They weren't my favorite thing to do, though.  I thought the applique part was a little bit tedious, especially the smaller pieces.

Did I make it hard on myself?  I sewed around the edges, and had to "pivot" every time I wanted to go around a corner.  I'm assuming there's an easier way...?

But I did enjoy the "sketch" technique; it was nice to not have to be too precise, and I love the way it looks! It'll be neat when I wash the quilt and the edges fray.  I think that will look really cool.
 

After the quilting is done, I'll sew button eyes onto the owls.  So cute!

The pieced blocks were really easy; they were just large strips of fabric sewn together.  That I can do.

Oh and check out the mitered corners!  :) 

So the top is done.  I was shocked at how not long it took to do.  Just two evenings.  Now it's ready to get quilted, and I'm not sure what to do!

Those of you who quilt:  How should I do this?  

I could do all vertical lines.  That seems like it would be easy. 

Or I could dive into the deep end and try the free-motion thing.  That does not seem easy.  But it's totally in my nature to get in over my head like that. 

Or I could do something else.  What, I don't know! 

Suggestions?

I think this will be a Christmas gift for my daughter, since the dog has since commandeered the last blanket I made for her.  :)

Linking to Freshly Pieced