Quilt Inspirations

1. Yellow Brick Road Back, 2. Yellow Cross Quilt, 3. red and yellow stripes, 4. Cross quilt, 5. deutsche quilt finished - front, 6. bubbs quilt top, 7. Orange and Yellow Zig Zag Quilt back, 8. Yellow Blanket Throw Roses, 9. Orange and Yellow Zig Zag Quilt

You know it's summer when you start thinking about...quilts. Ok, maybe that's just me. But lately I've been thinking a lot about making my son a quilt. Yellow is his favorite color, I've been wanting to try to make a zig-zag quilt, bam! I should do it.

But yellow is probably my least favorite color ever. Orange might be worse, depending on the shade. Warm colors are just not my thing. This is not for me though...but I also have to look at it.

What to do? Anyone have any favorite yellow fabrics out there?

Circle Socks

 Pattern: Circle Socks by Ann Campbell (it's free!)
Yarn: Paton's  Kroy Sock FX in Cameo Colors
Needle: size 2 DPNs

 Modifications: I worked these toe-up over 56 stitches, with the stitch pattern over the instep. I would not have added the pattern to the instep if I was planning on wearing these with shoes. Also, I only worked 2 rounds of purl stitch instead of 3 because I hate purling in the round.

Verdict: I love these socks! They fit well and will be cozy to have around when the weather cools off again. The stitch pattern is simple and easy to memorize, but it gives dramatic results. The only thing I'm bummed about is that even though I bought yarn from the same colorway and dye lot, the colors don't match as closely as I would like.

Box Bag Bonanza!

Remember when cute little box bags were all the rage on the crafting blogs a few years ago? Well, I never forgot and I have spent the past month or so making some. Shows you where I am on my crafting to-do list!

Anyway, these are fun and quick little projects that make nice gifts (unless, of course, all of my friends with Spring birthdays are lying to me to spare my feelings). I used this tutorial as a starting point for mine, and adjusted the dimensions as necessary. Also, I zigzagged the edges between steps 6 and 7 so the edges wouldn't fray inside and get all over your stuff.

The first one I made was for my good friend, crafty partner in crime, and birthday buddy Tiffany. She is a voracious knitter so this one was made with a 12" zipper and 16" of length to make it a good size to hold all of her sock projects.

She's set a goal to knit a pair of socks a month in 2011. Holeee crap. You can see her first three pairs here.



Open it up and it's always spring inside!

The next one is for my friend Jenn, who dosen't knit, but loves pedicures and is an amazing photographer. I made hers a bit smaller - a 9" zipper and 13" in length. A good size for nail polish, make up, or any other odd and ends you might want to keep together.

I added some complementary bias tape to the handle this time. I love bias tape.

The lining of this one is the same fabric, just with a pink background.

Finally, I had to make one for myself. It didn't quite turn out as planned. I kept running into issues with tread tension or interfacing (the extra thick kind did NOT want to play nice) so I had to keep cutting it down. I don't know what the dimensions are at this point, just that it's to small to be a knitting project bag but too big to something else.

Then, in my frustration and my craze to just. get. it. done. I forgot to add the handle. Blargh. Is anyone else cursed this way, or am I the only one that can't seem to make anything nice for myself?

On a positive note, I am completely over my fear of making things with zippers now!

Spring at My House

I spent a happy weekend in the yard planting. It's so nice to see green again. I am slowly working towards a yard full of native plants...one day, I think it would be neat have my yard become a certified wildlife habitat. I did find a dead mouse head in the backyard, but I don't think that counts.

I spent some time Saturday at the nursery with my Grow Green Guide in hand, trying to get a good variety of plants. I came home with an Anacacho Orchid tree (center), verbena, jasmine, a beautiful Coral Drifter rose bush, lavender, and pink salvia. Most of them ended up in our front bed, heavy duty landscaping in the back will have to wait for another season. The tree and the jasmine are back there though, and I really enjoy when the wind blows the jasmine smell my way!

I'm out of the yard and back in the craft room, I'll have more to say about that later.

Wedding Season

 I've been doing a little crafting for my friend's wedding this October. This is the ring bearer's pillow. (Ben is the ring bearer. I can't wait to see him in a tiny tux!) The project idea came from The DIY Bride.

 We made some modifications to the original concept, such as using silk flowers instead of real ones. Also, the original is all stephanotis flowers. Her pillow is mostly cream Phalaenopsis orchids, with the spaces filled in with small white hyacinth flowers. I think the result is so pretty! It's frilly and girly, yet still modern and elegant.

The rings, by the way, are mine and will mostly likely be the only real rings this pillow will hold. There's no way I'm going to trust my almost two year old with theirs!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"May the road rise up to meet, may the wind always be at your back, may the sun shine gently upon your face, may the rain fall softly on your fields..." - Irish Blessing

There has been more yarn dyeing afoot! This is just one of many skeins my friend and I colored last weekend. It's a sock blank from Knit Picks, dyed in a gradient using teal dye.  The darkest end turned out almost shamrock green, while the lightest end is a happy aqua.
The blank is actually two separate stands, so when you knit with it, you will have identical socks. I am planning on making them into Kalajoki socks .

The warmer weather has my thoughts turning to sewing and doll making, so the socks may have to wait.

Hand-Dyed Yarn

 

The other day, I spent a happy nap time in the kitchen with steaming pots of vinegar water, yarn, and dye. I haven't dyed yarns in years (some previous attempts here and here), so I refreshed my memory of the process with a few tutorials and then jumped right in.

 As everyone knows by now, I love making a mess. Dyeing your own yarn is a great way to make a mess. I suggest gloves at the very least, but a full body hazmat suit wouldn't be overboard. I got dye everywhere. Luckily it came out of my jeans, off the floor, and didn't stain the counters. The trick is to get it up quick before it sets.

Anyway, this round was done with food grade dyes on a bulky 100% wool single-ply base yarn. All of these little skeins are destined to become doll hair. Fairy doll hair.

Aren't my pictures nice? I rigged up a tiny home photo studio for about 10 dollars and 20 minutes worth of time. As you can see though the window, there was almost no natural light to be had that day. Ha, mother nature! I got good shots anyway. The how-to for the photo light box is here.