Finish It Friday

Posting on a Saturday:)

I spent a little time with the sewing machine yesterday. I think I'm starting to not hate sewing on a machine quite as much as I use to:) I was hoping that spending some time here and there would lead to being more confident and familiar with it, and it seems to be working. I still much prefer stitching in hand though.

I worked a bit on finishing up some stitching projects. First off was finishing off a mitten I just stitched up last month...

This is 'Kitten Mitten' by Cross Eyed Cricket and is a freebie on their website right now. I stitched it on 18 ct Aida which made it an itty bitty mitten and sort of a pain to sew up into a mitten (also the stiffness of the Aida didn't help either). But after a couple attempts to get the thumb part right (ish), I think it turned out very cute!!

I also finished up a stitching project that I did years ago...

This is Summer House Pincushion by Black Bird Designs. It can be found in their Honeysuckle Manor book. I changed the colors from the original, but honestly, it's been so long since I stitched this that I don't remember what I used. I really love how this turned out. 

I'm really excited to be making something out of my stitching projects and hope I will continue on with this. I have already pulled out what I hope to finish off in the next week or two:) 

Yarn Along - Various Projects

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. 

Getting back on track after having hubby home for a few days working on the house. We now have a new window in our back room instead of a sliding door. It looks so much better, but he's not done yet. The outside is all done, framed in, sided and painted now, but the inside needs new sheet rock and new flooring where he had to tear it out. It'll get done in time, but maybe not before he rips more out in an effort to have a level floor back there:) It's been a long while since I've had to live in a construction zone, funny how I didn't miss that!! :) 

We also got our daughter's vehicle fixed so she is back to driving herself to work and other places. It is amazing how much time that frees up for me!! I worry about her driving, of course, but man is it nice not to have to wait on a call all the time that I need to leave to go pick her up (especially since she doesn't have set work hours, it can be anywhere from 2 hours - 4 hours before I need to pick her up). 

I was able to get some work done on my knitting/crocheting this week... 

Reading: I gave up on trying to read, but I did load up another audible book so I will start on that this week:) I have been looking at seed catalogs as it feels like spring is already here. Even my tulips are coming up. It's way too early yet, and I'm sure we'll have a freeze that will kill everything off, but for now, it feels great!! Hubby wants to have a larger veggie garden this year, so I'm getting excited about all the things I can grow!! He mostly tends to the flower patches - otherwise there wouldn't be a flower patch as I'm not into flowers so much, and other than some initial help with tilling and sometimes planting, I do most of the work in the veggie garden. 

Crocheting: Crocheting was a lot easier to pick up between helping hubby this week, so our afghan got some love. It's at the half way mark right now, sitting at 36in long. I'm going to 6 feet since hubby is just over 6 feet tall and we want it to cover him too:) 

Knitting: I've made some progress on the Baby Shawl from Debbie Bliss. I'm really loving how this is knitting up in the 'I Love Cotton' yarn I'm using. It's actually going a lot faster than I thought it would. Other than making sure I'm right about the pattern, I've pretty much got that down too, so I'm thinking that I will be able to get this done before my cousin's baby is fully grown;) 

I'm also playing around with some sparkly yarn that I think I'll be making into a project bag. I have an idea of how I want to finish off the bottom of it (with some crochet rows) and how I want the closure to work (draw string - finishing the top of it with a bit of crochet as well so that ribbon will string through it) and then lining it so that nothing will poke through. Of course these are all just ideas, I'm not sure I can make them work out. It's fun to play around with either way!!

I'm off to check out the links and see what everyone else was up to this week:0) 

FNSI - Bags and More Bags!!

This sew-a-long is hosted by Wendy over at Sugarlane Designs. It's just a time to sit down and sew up some projects, knowing that others are doing the same thing at the same time. I actually started working on Thursday since my hubby was home and doing home repair projects and I didn't know how much I would be helping, thus interrupting my sewing time. It turns out it was good I started on Thursday because that was the only time I was able to sit down and sew at all. 

I only got one of the bags done that I had wanted to work on...

This is the one I tried to work on last month, but had a zipper/dimensions problem. As in I bought the size of zipper the pattern called for and cut the fabric to the width that it called for, but then the two did not line up. So I cut new fabric and this time it worked just fine. I love how this turned out and the zipper wasn't as hard to put in as I thought it might be. However the size isn't very useful for me. It's a bit too big to use as a 'tool' pouch - as in to hold embroidery scissors, tape measure, etc. But it's too small for a stitching or knitting project. So my plan is to take the other fabric I had cut for this a couple months ago and size it down - using a 7 in zipper instead of a 9in and seeing if that works better for a tool pouch. Then I want to make a larger one to for a project bag.

I also cut up some fabric for the next bags I want to work on...

I ran out of the red/flower print fabric so I needed to go to Hobby Lobby when I was in town and pick up some more. While I was there I found MORE fabric that was screaming at me to bring home as well...

This picture shows it a little more dull than it actually is. I love the teal/gray combo!!

I have a couple loads of regular laundry that needs doing before I can throw the fabric in. Not sure if all this fabric is going to make it to the next FNSI or if I'll have to get started on it before that!! :) We'll see.

Question for you all - I know many of you use project bags for various crafts. So far I've only used mine for knitting/crochet projects and I've liked the draw string bags since the yarn can't get caught in anything. But I know many project bags are made with zippers. If you use the ones with zippers (which I think look a bit better), does your yarn or other parts of your project get caught in the zipper? Do you prefer one to the other?

Okay, time to go help hubby. He is replacing a sliding door - that was put in wrong years ago - with a big window and there is still a big gaping hole in the back of our house! Thankfully it's been really nice outside during the day!!

Stitching Progress and New Starts

I've been trying to post this all week, but our internet has been horrible lately. It's 6:00 in the morning, and it's finally working well enough to upload the pictures. We don't have many options for internet where we are, but that's just part of living so far outside of town. I'd rather live out here than live in town and have good internet, so I guess I'll live:)

Here is my progress on 'Spring Snapperland' from Bent Creek...

I finished the first block in the row and got the last one started. It won't be long and I'll be working on the boarder of this one. Which reminds me, I need to get the boarder for it. I had a on-line shop send it to me (it's free, but must be requested from a needle work shop), but they printed it super tiny and I can't see it very well. I'll have to go to my LNS to get a better copy, that's where I bought the charts anyway, but forgot to get the boarder for it while I was there. That's okay though, it'll give me an excuse to look around a little;)

I started a new mitten ornament from Cross Eyed Cricket a couple days ago. This one is called Nordic Reindeer and can be found in booklet # 166. It was originally stitched on black, but I don't have any black fabric right now, so I'm hoping this scrap of mystery fabric will work. So far I'm thinking it will. These stitch up quickly, so I'm hoping to have it finished soon.

And I kitted up the 'May Word Play' pattern by Brenda Gervais. I'm making this one for my mother-in-law who requested that I stitch up something she can hang for each season. I'm going to take the word 'MAY' out of this and replace it with 'SPRING'. The April one has 'Spring' in it, but it is also heavily Easter themed and I'm trying to choose ones that represent the seasons rather than holidays and my MIL is very much into flower gardening (she got her Master Gardener's license last Autumn:), so I think this will suit her better. Hoping to have this one ready for her birthday in early April.

That is all for now, maybe I'll have a finish or two when I update next time!! 

Yarn Along - A Finish and a New Start

A quick post this morning as I am getting ready to head out the door. I really was enjoying my daughter being able to drive herself to work and her volunteer jobs, but her car needs some work, so I'm back to being 'taxi mom' once again:)

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. 

Reading: Still slowly reading through Knitting Pearls from Ann Hood. I'm thinking it's getting close to time to start another audio book. I just don't have the time to read, knit, crochet and stitch:) And I'd rather do those things than read, so I'm not getting very far, very fast.

Knitting: I finished my Knit Night Hat. It's still a bit too big for my taste, but not so much that I can't wear it. I really do love the stitch design on the brim of it.

I bought some fun sparkly yarn and I'm thinking of making a project bag with it. I'm just playing with it right now, not really using a pattern. We'll see how this one goes:)

I started a baby blanket for my cousin's daughter. 

The pattern is Baby Shawl by Debbie Bliss found in her Knits to Give book. THIS is the project page on Ravelry. It calls for using Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino, but I just can't - too expensive, so I am using I Love This Cotton in Rose. I've had good luck with the washablity of this yarn, and we all know how important that is when it comes to baby items!! :) So far I'm loving the way it's knitting up. Hoping to get this done before baby girl turns 3!! (She's only 5 weeks old right now:)

Well, need to head out now. I'll be back to check out what everyone else has been working on!! 

Yarn Along: Done and ???

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 was one busy knitter this week!! It resulted in a finish, and well, it would have been another finish but... I'll just show you...

I had just gotten to the point of starting the decreases on Knit Night Hat. It had looked really big from the start, but I had gotten size 4- worsted weight yarn-like the pattern called for, and followed the directions, so I just kept going. I decided to try it on at this point because I was sure it was too big, and I was right. If I shake my head, it falls over my eyes:) What I forgot to do was check the gauge of my 'worsted weight' against the gauge of the yarn that the designer used. It was off by quite a bit, mine being heavier - and honestly falling in the range of 'bulky'. You can see below how the size compared to the last hat I made for myself...

While the designs are different and the Sockhead Slouch Hat is a lot more stretchy than this one will be, this is clearly a big difference. I love this yarn though (Yarn Bee - Andes Alpaca in Rosalinda colorway. This is a acrylic/alpaca blend and so, so soft), and I really love the design of the rim of this hat. So I pulled it all out, did some math and started again...

I'm past the rim of the hat and working on the body of it now. I also put in a few more inches of my lap blanket and am at 27in long at this point. Oh, and the Kit Kat Hat for my daughter is already getting some loving use...

I'm slowly reading though Knitting Pearls by Ann Hood. I really did need a simple read that I can take slowly:) 

Off to see what everyone else is working on:0) 

Finish It Friday...

on a Monday. I had chosen a frame last week that I thought I could make work. It was a little too blue, but I thought with a bit of sanding it would look pretty good, and if not I'd paint it white...

The linen that I used has some blue-ish tints to it, but it is more on the gray side and it made the frame look bright blue instead of dusty/cloudy blue. So I tried to paint it, but it was kind of a plastic-y frame and even with sanding and cleaning off the dust, the paint just wouldn't stick right. It made it gloppy. So I bought a different frame for it and got it framed up today...

Promise of Spring by Silver Creek Samplers

 I'm loving how it turned out. Hubby will install the hardware to hang it, but it is all FINISHED otherwise:) Hopefully I'll have another project or to FINISHED this Friday to show off as well!!! :)

Yarn Along - Making Hats

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 stayed calm and tried not think of all the things I want to cast on!!! If you remember, last week I had SO MANY PLANS!!! But I reigned them in, set about working on the hat I started for my daughter and starting a hat for myself. I even put in a few more rows on my lap blanket. What I didn't do was work on my Tidal Sands cowl, which I really need to get back to. Here is a picture of this weeks' progress...

Reading - Audible book: Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon. This was an amazing book and I know some of the reason it was so good was the narrator that read it. She did a fantastic job. This is one of those stories that has tons of 'feels' and leaves you not wanting to read or watch anything else lest you lose those 'feels'. I really haven't been able to decide what to read next as I'm sure nothing else will match up. So I got 'Knitting Pearls' by Ann Hood to read here and there over then next week as this will be totally different. I also bought another Audible book by Amy Harmon for when I am ready for a new story.

I also picked up a few baby knitting books at our library. I still haven't decided what to make for my cousin's baby. A few of you suggested a sweater, and I'd love to do that, but have never knitted a sweater before and am afraid she's be 12 before I got it done:) There are a couple sweaters in these books that look like they might be doable, but I'm not convinced yet. Maybe a baby hat? Hmm, we will see.

Knitting: In the lower corner there is a blob of darkness which is a KitKat Hat for my daughter. Not sure why it turned out looking black, it is really dark brown instead. This one is well over half way done and I should have it completed by tomorrow. In the middle is a super soft hat I am making for myself. This is the Knit Night Hat pattern that I started in the multi colored yarn to begin with, but it was turning out too thick, and I'm sure the gauge would have been off. The green/pink yarn seems much better and while I really love the multi colored yarn, I'm thinking it'll be better off as a project bag:) So more plans in the making!!! And tomorrow starts Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade's MKAL on Ravelry!!! I'm super excited to finally get to see the beginnings of the shawl we are going to make:) Still not completely sure what yarn combo I'm going to use but I'm thinking it's going to be this...

I wish the gray was more of a warm light brown, but they didn't have that, so I went with gray. I still have time though as I will be starting the shawl with the cream color. I also won a free pattern from Helen Stewart in a drawing she did and I'm thinking I'm going to choose her Summertide Shawl pattern. I just love the different color combos people have done this one in. 

Off to see what you all have been up too:)