The Big Reveal: Part One

So, you have asked what I have been doing for two whole months that I could not blog about. Well, here is part one of that project.

These were a joint effort with my mother doing the machine embroidery on fun fat quarters and sending them on to me for the scrappy finish to create the snack mats that you see here in my Monster Art Gallery. I gifted some of them in a blind pick at the knitting retreat in Buena Vista. It was fun to see what colors they chose because that was all that was shown to them, just the binding and backing.

The ones chosen have found fun homes with avid knitters that will give them a place of honor, no matter what they use them for.

Happy crafting to all~!

Sewing: Charm School

In February I went to my first Charm School. Yes, I did sit at my sewing machine with a book on my head (that is a reference for my mother to giggle about).

Since I started exploring sewing and quilting I have become obsessed  really interested in the precut fabrics, namely charm packs.

Those are the samplings of fabric lines that come in a packet of 42 squares of 5 inches. There are lots of fun choices and vary widely.

The class I took was for the tote in the picture. It is the Whimsy Tote pattern from Front Porch Quilts. I used the Bohemian Festival by Riley Blake, plus a green swirl fabric for framing and lining.

It was a really fun project where I learned about bag interfacings that work so the bag can stand up, prairie points, and that you should cut your pieces before class so you have more time for sewing.

The bag makes a great knitting project bag so will get lots of use. It is fun to combine both of these passions and create some really fun items.

Happy Knitting and other crafting to all~!

Spring Fling at The Loopy Ewe

It has been two years since the last Spring Fling and it was so fun to have it in Colorado.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Loveland which is about a 15 minute ride to the shop. And we rode in style. The limos were a nice touch. And, good news, they were big enough to bring all the shoppers and their bags of purchases back to the hotel.

The Fling had great instructors again this year and that included: Wendy Johnson, Ann Budd, Susan Anderson and JC Briar. I took the Fair Isle class with Susan Anderson. It was great. My roomie and I finished our hats at midnight that evening and took them to be photographed with Loopy at the shop the next morning.

All in all, it was a great time, good to see friends and meet new ones, plus ogling beautiful handknits that everyone was wearing.

The snowstorm to get there was not the best part but it was well talked about throughout the weekend. And going home was more springlike to everyone's relief. The news is the next one is scheduled for a Fall Fling. That will be a good time of year to come to Colorado too.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring~!

The Hats of January

By now, some of you are asking: Have I been doing any knitting? Yes, I have. 

For the entire month of January I knit hats. I fell in love with a pattern called Shroom after I had visited, in December, the much anticipated re-opening of Serendipity in Buena Vista. I loved that is was knit out of Spud and Chloe Outer yarn and, because of the sample, bought a skein to bring home and try. First mistake I made was not to read the yardage requirements. I ended up needing two skeins and had to order one online because the shops locally were not carrying this yarn. 

I knit the hat, it is a little big but the wide brim makes it great to fold on a really cold day. So, all in all, a great first attempt at this pattern. Then I knit six more out of various brands of bulky weight yarn, several I gave away, a couple I kept. 

Once I exhausted my fingers on this pattern I moved on to knitting a couple simple hats out of Malabrigo Rios as I wrote and tested a hat pattern of my own design. I am happy to report the pattern is complete, it has been offered to The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling group as a pre-event gift. I will be offering it for sale on Ravelry after the Fling. I am knitting one more to verify that all is correct in the pattern before I offer it.

It was a fun and productive month of hats and I have worn different ones to work each cold day which was lots of fun.

I hope everyone is having a great time with their knitting~!

In my absence, I started a beginners quilting class. It is done in three parts and I completed the first one in January. It was very interesting and I learned lots of helpful things.

My next class is in May and hope to finish in June. One of the things I had to work around is my continuing knitting classes that I do two weekends a month. Once we figured that out it is working well.

In the meantime, I have been practicing the skills I learned with my many sewing projects that will be gifts for the knitting retreat I put on each year. I cannot show you the pictures of these items until May so watch for the big reveal then.

Some of the skills I learned are how to match up the seams to make nice points, and how to do triangle blocks, that alone is ingenius. The picture here is a table runner that I will complete and take to my office later this year.

Don't worry, my knitting has not suffered too much. I do that for portable projects and evening with TV. It is much harder to sew and watch TV I have learned.

I hope everyone is having a great crafting year so far~!

I'm Baaaack!

First, I must heartily apologize for my absence. I lost my mojo for blogging for a while. It was the one thing I could let go of while I was so busy with my DJ (dayjob) and family issues. It is not to say I did not have things to blog about though.

So, with that said, I want to set up a blogging schedule so you know when you can expect to hear from me. This year my goal will be to do three posts a week with a focus on knitting projects/adventures, fabric projects and learnings plus a post for general, fun-filled weekend news about what entertains me in-between my many projects.

And, of course, the random post just because. I am not being lazy, I am just being mindful of how much time I have each day to devote to work and to my many projects.

I appreciate my readers and hope that you will continue to enjoy reading my blog. Happy Knitting and Crafting to All~!