novamade

xo(xo)

Okay, so the birthday quilt isn't done yet, but you know what is done?  This set of two baby quilts.

 

If you remember my string pillow from last year, then this should look familiar.  The funny thing here is, these quilts aren't even the main attraction, as it were.  These quilts were put together from leftover blocks that I didn't need for a twin-sized bed quilt (that one just needs binding--which is, honestly, becoming the story of my life).

 

I originally started these last year for a friend of mine with twins but her twins are too big for these now, they are toddlers.  These are "baby" baby-sized quilts (as in tiny!)--approximately 27 inches square.  Fortunately, another friend of mine has decided to accomodate my gift-giving needs and is having twins in two or three months.  So if she is reading this, when she opens these next month at the baby shower I am throwing her, she should just pretend to be surprised. Ahem.

I mixed strips from "vintage" linens (I have discussed this already, go clicky!) with some coordinating solids to make the string blocks.  I did an "x" and an "o" because I could; and, well, it seems like a good idea at the time. The quilting was done on my old trusty Kenmore, so it was basted properly and then quilted with straight lines...a little echo quilting action, but really, "a bunch of straight lines".

The baby quilts are infinitely cuter than the twin-sized quilt will be when it's done (it is a proven thing, small things or things in miniature are just cute); but, when I finish the bigger quilt, if you all could just ooh and ahh, a little, it will make me feel as though it was time well-spent.

the second of twelve :: irish coffee

I was a little iffy about the whole short-sleeved wool sweater thing, to be honest. But now that I have actually knit a short-sleeved wool sweater and worn it about, I totally get it. It's a seasonal conversion piece, really. And when one works in a library, particularly in special collection and archives where temperatures are always chillly (especially when that "one" is me)--a piece like this is terribly useful.

The road to this sweater was a long and winding one. I bought this yarn at my very first Rhinebeck (Little Mister did not exist yet and Little Sir--the one who will be 6 years old at the end of this week-- was 7 months old); that, my friends, was a long time ago. Anyways, when I bought the yarn, the intention was that it would be my first sweater. It was supposed to be a Cardigan for Arwen, and for a while, it was.

I knit the back and one side...but I blindly followed the pattern, as you do when you are a new knitter and don't know what's what. There were variant gauges , the sleeve was too long and I was also about three sizes larger than I am now when I started it. I put it down because I knew there were some issues. So it sat in a bin somewhere for years. I found the project last year while clearning and finally decided to rip it all out. I usually hate frogging projects, but honestly, it was taking up space. So I ripped it out and was, surprisingly, rather unsentimental about the whole thing. 

I have wanted to knit one of Thea's patterns for a while, and hey, green yarn, Irish anything...it seemed like a good match.

I really enjoyed knitting this. It wasn't difficult, nor was it all that time consuming. It was an enjoyable knit. The pattern was extremely well-written and the alternatives for customizing the piece to fit your particular brand of body are a nice touch. I wish the yarn (Wild Apple Hill Farm wool--no website--it's rather Bartlett like) had a little more drape in it, it did soften considerably after a soak and the first block. I suspect that it will soften even more and drape the way I want with another soak.

So that's two down, ten to go.

1/24 :: a test, and an explaination

Some of you are probably wondering where the sweaters and quilts are.  I have them (some), but today, let's talk about quilts since I haven't really done that and it's March.  The first quilt I am trotting out is a small test quilt I made (pretend like the quilt is on a white wall or that the background fabric is not the same color as my family room wall.  Apparently, beige is the color of my life right now).  It's a little wonky (the way the quilt is hung on the wall exacerbates the wonkiness) and has some minor imperfections.  It doesn't really matter.  The whole point of this quilt was to practice quilting on a quilting frame. 

I spent the last year buying a mid-arm quilt frame system.  Instead of buying a package like a normal person, I bought the components of my frame over the course of a year because...well, that's how I do things, apparently.

I bought the frame first...and then I stained it.  As quilting frames go, I have found Grace frames to be 1) affordable, 2) reliable, and 3) well supported (the customer service is beyond fantastic).  I think it does need to be said that I am in no way affiliated with the company (aside from being a customer), nor am I am paid endorser of the company or its products, okay, so now that that's out of the way...  The frame is sturdy.  It holds a sewing machine and it works!  Regarding equipment of any scale, I am  sort of like the Dyson man, I feel like th thing should just work.

The reason it took so long for me to get this thing operational is the sewing machine situation.  I thought I would use a machine I already owned on it...but then thought better of it, so bought another machine (a Juki--it's a workhorse), but then I needed a new carriage (the carriages are machine specific, fyi).  I was getting a new carriage at the same time as the Grace company started making aluminum pro carriages (as opposed to the wooden carriage)...so I ended up having to send a carriage back and getting  a new one (well, I didn't have to, but that's what the company offered to do for me...see, they are good like that).

And then I tested a Juki/frame set up at the International Quilt Festival last year and realized that my quilt-frame life would not be complete without a stitch regulator.  K got that for me for Christmas because he just became annoyed with the monster in the room.  Seriously, it's huge.  I have the queen set up (I now wish that I got the king set up (I bought this well before the new versions that can easily convert came out)--learn from my mistake.  If you can accommodate a king set up, get the king set up).

So I practiced.

And then I practiced some more.

 

And then I thought I would try a quilt.

I love this thing (the quilt frame...the quilt, like I said, was just a practice piece--I like it, but am not enamored).

And that's why I feel pretty confident that I will finish 24 (not 48) quilts this year.  They won't all be quilted on the frame...but well, most of them will.  I am okay with that. So one down, 23 to go.

mittens are not sweaters

 

While it might appear that I am expertly avoiding the task of sweater knitting or quilt-making, do not be fooled. I am going to wow you with brilliance shortly (I am not kidding about this, prepare for a craft attack of shock and awe); but, for now you can be underwhelmed (or at least average-whelmed) by some mittens.

Little Mister loses mittens like it's his job. He is down to one store bought pair for the rest of the season (which has actually been pretty mild, if we are being honest); and, everyday we pick him up from school, the big question is always, "where are the mittens?" It's taken me a awhile to realize the stupidity of this conundrum, because here are the facts:

• I know how to knit (I know, shocking),
• mittens are actually pretty easy to knit (I am speaking of basic mittens without bells, whistles and accoutrement),
• mittens, particularly those for a child, are a pretty quick knit.

So yes, I knit a pair of mittens. I had to do something with the extra skein of handspun that I wound up for the Valentine's Day hats. The yarn was supposed to be Little Mister's hat, but the gauge was off, the yarn weight was more of a dk-light worsted yarn, and the hats were for heavy worsted, or aran weight yarn. In any case, I did a gauge swatch (I know, I do gauge swatches all the time now, I am just as surprised as you, really), and just knit based on a hand tracing of Little Mister's hand (which leads me to believe that Little Mister has big hands for a three year old; but, there you are).

So, while a pair of mittens do not a sweater (or a quilt) make, I made something pretty functional for Little Mister. And lets be honest, they are pretty fabulous (she says humbly, ahem).  He is a little annoyed that they are red and not green or some other color that he loves right now (like brown, or white--I have no idea), but really, he is just going to lose them anyway, so I suppose I will get around to a green pair eventually.

"wouldn't you love to knit me a hat?"

 

Little Sir has a birthday coming up. He has been talking about it for months now (probably since a week after his birthday last year, if we are being honest). He pretty much has an expectation that he will get something mom-made for his birthday (pressure, what?). But now all gift-giving occasions seem to warrant handmade gifts as far as he is concerned (somewhere along the way, making someone a hand made gift became equated with love and care for the giftee, which, well, yes). So now I am crafting goodness for every occasion imaginable. A week before Valentine's day Sir and I had a conversation, it went like this:

Sir: I love you mommy, don't you love me? [honestly, I should have known.  Nothing good can come out of a conversation that begins this way.]

Me: Of course I do.

Sir: Since you love me, wouldn't you love to knit me a hat?

Me: Sure, I can do that. Would you like one for your birthday? [obviously, he has no idea about the sweater and quilt things...]

Sir: I think it would be better if you knit it sooner. Maybe for Valentine's Day. And since it's for Valentine's Day and red is my favorite color, you could knit my new hat with red yarn. Maybe with some of that merino yarn the you made with your spinning wheel.

Me: That's a very specific request.

Sir: Yes, you should probably get started on it soon.

Me: Well, if I make one for you for Valentine's Day, I will have to make one for your brother too.

Sir: Well, I guess so, but mine is the one that needs to be done on time. [oh, snap!]

Two red hats were not in the cards, which was all for the best since Little Mister had no desire for a red hat (as it is not his favorite color right now). He wanted a green hat, because that is his favorite color right now.

So that's what he got,  a green hat (or, sage, if we are being specific).

Special K did not want a hat, actually, he probably didn't want anything; but, he got some handmade handkerchiefs made with the most ridiculous fabric I felt he would tolerate.

And while this post is many days (weeks, whatever) after Valentine's Day, know this: I finished these hats and the handkerchiefs on the 13th. All of it. Okay, maybe I finished the handkerchiefs at 3 in the morning on the 14th, but everybody got their gifts on time.  So there's that.

with a little help from my friends

I have been crafting my little heart out.  I mean, really, if I am going to make a dent in that goals list, high productivity is a given, right?  I get stuff done during the week, but mostly the magic happens on the weekend.  Over the past holiday weekend, I got a lot done, and had serious fun as well. 

I got together with my internet knitterly friends in the Outer Banks (OBX) for a weekend of friends, food and craft.  This was our sixth get together.  We did a swap and could make anything we wanted, I decided to make Ms. Bestitched a Figure 8 scarf. 

She loved it. I used some Anna Maria Horner fabric (it's folded in and faces her neck) with some burnt orange silk dupioni.  You can make one for yourself or a friend (or a bunch of friends) by using this tutorial.

**
It was a good weekend.

**Photo by Julie of Fricknits

the first of twelve :: cobblestone

Considering that my goal is to complete twelve sweaters this year, this hardly puts a dent in the list, really; but, hey, finished sweater.    It's not like I am covering new ground here, the pattern has been around for a while; and, according to Ravelry, it's the 2,436th Cobblestone sweater in existence (and the 1808th one to get finished).

This sweater fits and looks exactly the way I expected it to.  I took Jared Flood's (aka Brooklyn Tweed) pattern and cast-on for the medium size and modified as needed based on Special K's measurements and comments from the last sweater that I knit for him (shorter sleeves and torso lengths).

K really likes the sweater, which is a good thing since I knit it and I hate wasting my time (and, of course, every stitch was knit with love and all that).  The one problem we had with the sweater was the neck opening (tried the sweater on too, you know, in case it was an epic fail...someone was going to wear this sweater).  I followed the pattern for this because I wanted to ensure that I didn't have a gaping neck opening; but, it is; quite frankly, too small.  I was going to rip back a few rows, but K decided that it's not that big of a deal.  It's not uncomfortable to wear, just a tight squeeze putting the sweater on and taking it off.  So if you haven't knit this yet, and you think you want to, you should probably keep that in mind (or, if you don't have a huge head, just ignore this alltogether).

Also, the shaping of the back of the sweater by the addition of short rows to the knitting in the round is rather a nice touch too.  Very clever.   If I were a person who liked to knit patterns more than once, I would knit this sweater again in a heartbeat (albeit with a slightly wider neck opening).  Actually, I might size it down for a little boy..or two; but, maybe not...we'll see.  So yes, first sweater down, eleven to go.

hey, it's a new year!

I think I unintentionally started a new tradition last year. Instead of my first post of the year being about goals, hopes, dreams and what-have-you, it was all about the things that I did the year before that I forgot (or was too lazy) to blog about. So without further ado, this is the cool stuff that I did in 2011 that I never talked about.

knitting

Log cabin baby blanket. I had a ton of Mission Falls Cotton so I just started knitting with it. And I produced this really tiny baby blanket…but now I don’t have anymore MF Cotton taking up space on my shelves, so win.

February Baby Sweater. I originally started this in pink yarn, which was a knitted nightmare, and then realized that is was confining the creativity of my soul (or something akin to that). I had some Dream in Color Smooshy, I think it’s Candy Apple Red (I could be making that up, is that even a colorway?). I think it’s fabulous. It’s going to give it to a friend of mine scheduled to have a baby in three days. She asked for something knitted; and you know, I like to make wishes come true.

I also made some baby socks. I had a hank of Koigu yarn that I bought when I was pregnant with Little Mister…thinking I was going to have a girl. Yeah, not so much. The fact that I bought pink yarn should have been the first clue, really. Why would I want to look at pink baby feet? I wouldn't.

Stockinette Socks of awesome. So they are just plain and simple stockinette socks; but, they are awesome. I started knitting them last May when I hung out with some knitterly friends of mine, and they make me smile whenever I wear them. Yarn is from the Barefoot Spinner. There is no colorway on it, so let’s just call it “purple” shall we?

quilting & sewing

I sewed my kids some pillowcases. It wasn't rocket science, but easily, probably the highest impact gift I've made in a long time. Every time we pull one of them out of the linen cabinet, it's like Christmas! It's a fact, kids love ridiculous pillowcases.

 

Locked Squares. So I made this baby quilt. And then thought, it might be a nice quilt to try pattern writing. So... still doing the pattern writing bit, but the blanket was a huge hit. It was really fun to make (and quite easy), actually.

 Lilly’s Quilt. A friend of mine from library school asked if I could make a full sized quilt from her daughter’s baby bedding. Her daughter was moving up to a full-sized bed and she wanted to save the baby bedding. Because I don’t really think things through sometimes, I said “sure!”. Um, I have never made a bed-sized quilt before this quilt. In case you were under the impression that a full-sized quilt is “no big deal” let me dissuade you from this notion. Cramming a full-sized quilt into the throat of a domestic home sewing machine pretty much made me want to gouge my own eyes out with a dull pencil. But, it came out really nice and I was unspeakably proud of myself after I shipped the quilt off last month. I really was. I should probably get out more.

embroidery & x-stitch

Every summer I get interested in embroidery, because, well, it doesn't involve wool and it doesn’t make my hands sweaty. I was involved in various quilting bees last year (more on that later, this post is getting long) and when Chawne’s month rolled around for one of the bees (I honestly can’t remember which one since she and I were in three bees together, no, I am not kidding), she asked for redwork, we could do anything we wanted. Since I am bookish.... Well, yeah.

 

I did a little drawing, traced it onto some Kona cottong and then stitched it up.  I ended up doing a multi-color version and framed it because I liked it so much, so now I can look at my handi-work (ha…did you see what I did there, oh, nevermind) everyday at work.

I also did some cross stitch last fall.  I needed something for my dining room wall, so I stitched an appropriate eating area command.  I am a fan.

So that’s it. That was the hidden craftiness of 2011. I also went to the International Quilt Festival, but apparently, I was so overwhelmed by it, I never blogged about it (but here is a photo set in flickr). But, I am getting my blogging house in order now, because, well, I pay for this space, so I might as well get my money’s worth. I am all about getting my money’s worth.

In my next post, I will tell you all about my hopes, dreams, and goals (or whatever) for 2012. I just need to think of something to share with you first. While I think of an unfeasible list worthy of my frustrations and energies, check out my studio shot of the Littles that I foisted upon friends and family for Christmas last month.

Next year, the Christmas shot will feature knitted sweaters, I mean, the Littles in knitted sweaters (or course that’s what I meant). Oh, that’s a goal, right there!

big love

 
Are you amazed?  I am not going to go all falsely humble on you, this quilt is fantastic; but, feel free to drop comments of praise, should you feel so inclined (I always appreciate a heartfelt "attagirl").

Every year I make one thing that climbs the scale of "best thing ever?" and stays there refusing to be toppled, this might be the thing for this year.  Babette was 2009, Ruby was 2010 (though Starry Night, did give it a run for its money).  This year, it's probably going to be Big Love. 
This quilt was made for Little Sir's former Pre-School teacher.  She was a fabulous teacher and we consider her a friend, and well, my children love her.  So when Little Sir asked if "we" could make a quilt for her to give her as a wedding present, of course it was the best idea ever, and I said of course "we" could.  

Though I had an idea what I wanted to do back in April, I didn't start making the quilt until a week before the wedding in July.  What?  That's how I work--if you only have a minute (week) it only takes a minute (week).  I know, the philosophy is flawed, but it has worked well for me for at least two decades.  In any case, I wanted to do something modern, but yet harkening back to tradition, because, well, love...it's an old concept....and, well, it's a big deal, right?  

 
I was thinking of making a traditional Double Wedding Ring (DWR) quilt, but since I am not sure I love even myself enough to go through the pain and torture of all that curved piecing, I nixed that right away (or, I dragged my feet until I had to do something else, you pick).  Also, the traditional DWR quilt is just so....traditional.  And well, modernity, I am all about it for the most part.  So I began playing around with the idea of wedding rings.  And then I made them big, terribly modern, right?

 
At somepoint in the design process, I thought it would be a great idea to hand draft the arcs for the rings.  I am pretty sure that stroke of brilliance occured on a night where I slept very little because any quilter who has embraced technology will tell you that that is probably the stupidest thing ever thought.  But it seemed like a good idea at the time, so that's what I did.  

The handdrafting makes the arcs not so perfect, which, to be honest, I kind of like.  The piecing in the arcs was entirely improvisational, which is so modern, it kind of hurts.  This is the largest quilt I have ever free-motion quilted on my machine (it measures 63 inches square--I intended to make a throw, and I like 63"-65" for a throw).  

The quilting was meander stitched (some people call it stippling, my sources lead me to believe these people are wrong, but there you are) pretty tightly and then I pieced the continuous binding with bits and pieces of fabric used for the rings.  

Backing was remnants with blues and purples prominent (the giftees favorite colors) and after attaching the top of the binding by machine, I hand sewed the binding to the back.  No, you read right, I sewed it by hand--who am I?

 
I hope that the quilt is well used and well loved.  And while this quilt design drove the development of other designs, I think I can safely say that I will likely not be making this one ever again.  

 
Notice I did not say "never."  

 
Now I think I am going to go and knit something.  Cooler weather, it is around the corner, after all.

regarding wedding quilts

 
A long time ago (more than a decade) I started quilting.  Most novice quilters latch onto the concept of miniature quilts fairly early on.  Though impractical (I mean really, who is going to be kept warm with a 13-inch quilt?), miniature quilts give quilters an opportunity to play with design, quilt a smaller area on machine or by hand (as opposed to a huge quilt), and offers a chance to practice quilt binding techniques.  But mostly, due to its size, a miniature quilt is doable. 

 
To be perfectly honest, miniature quilts no longer appeal to me.  Since my goals are usually to produce something pretty and functional, that's where I throw my time.  But eleven years ago, shortly after I got married and relatively shortly after I learned to quilt, I became fascinated with wedding ring quilts.  At the time, I did not have the skill to make a pieced wedding ring quilt, so I opted to try a miniature one, with the rings fused onto the quilt using fusible interfacing (my first time working with that too).  I found the pattern in an old issue of Miniature Quilts Magazine (no longer published--print run 1990-2000/2001) that I picked up at a yard sale somewhere in Maine (where I was living at the time).  In any case, the mini-quilt top got "lost" which, is pretty understandable considering it was, basically, a 13-inch square of fabric.  I found it during our move and decided to finish it, because, well, it was a quilt eleven years in the making.

 
It's a miniature quilt, not terribly useful, but there you are. 

 
Speaking of wedding ring quilts, I am in the process of making a wedding quilt for Little Sir's teacher from pre-school.  She got married last month and, not surprisingly, I am running a little behind.  While I now have the skill to make a wedding ring quilt (at least I think I do...), honestly, I lack the patience for it.  I designed something more modern but the project has become the bane of my existence lately, but I need to cross it off the slate and move on, so you'll likely see that sooner rather than later.  No really, I am basting the quilt tonight...so that's something, right?