Snow Bliss

Where I live snow is a rarity, so this weekend was quite a thrill for us. My dog has never seen snow and you would have thought by the way he was jumping and leaping that he was still a puppy. I think the snow brings out the kid in all of us!

With the snowstorm, my nesting instincts appeared and I found myself quite busy around the house. I finished my niece's birthday present, along with my sister's birthday present but I can't show it here just yet or I'll spoil the surprise! I have also been working on painting my bedroom... the project that never ends! I am one step closer though.

Because I can't show what I have done this weekend, I will share one of the items I made and couldn't blog about before Christmas. I knit this beanie AKA "Rib-A-Roni Hat" for my son, and also for my brother in law for this past Christmas. I found the pattern on Ravelry and was really happy with the results. I used Lion Brand Wool-ease yarn worsted weight.

My son actually loves it and wears it often. It's always nice when you get rave reviews from a teenager. They are hard to please!

Bitty Bags

I found a cute little pattern for these zippered pouches at Moda Bakeshop and you can find the "recipe" here. It's a great way to use up those scraps you have around. I use one of these little lovelies to put my knitting accessories in. The other one has yet to find a home.

Of course I can't leave well enough alone and the pattern morphed into these "Bitty Bags" you see below. They are a wonderful size for makeup or odds and ends you put in your purse.

I like the way I did the lining on these better than the Moda Bakeshop pouches. The first ones I did had the zipper exposed a bit and I didn't like it as much so I changed it!

How cute is this little cherry wristlet?!

And since I'm on the subject of Bitty Bags... my sister made this for me to put my ipod in but I put it to another use. It stores my flash drives that I bring back and forth to work and it is just awesome! I just had to share it with you. Thanks Kim!

Sock it to Me

Happy New Year to everyone! I have been very remiss in my blogging. I haven't posted since October... yikes!!! Typical excuses: work, family, Holidays blah blah blah... I've been getting "jabs" from my lovely sister Kim: "So I checked your blog AGAIN and still nothing. What's up with that?" Well, I got the hint Kim. I guess the first step is just to jump in again and do it!

So here they are. I finally finished these wonderful socks. I'm so happy I could screech! I spent so much time in the last few months working on gifts for Christmas, it was nice to do something for ME! I know I'm so selfish. I had blogged about them here as a work in progress.

I used a beautiful wool finger weight Araucania hand dyed yarn. The pattern was a simple one I got from my local yarn shop when I took a class there. By the end of the 4 week class I had finished one sock, but with Christmas creeping up on me I had to put the other sock aside so I could finish Christmas projects. I was not about to fall victim to the "one sock syndrome" so after the holidays I got to work and found that single sock a mate! Aren't they cute?

I'm so crazy I started on another pair which will probably be gifted to someone else of course :)

Well there ya go! Hopefully it won't be another 3 months until I blog again. I hope not because I have so much to share.

Have a great week!

Finished or Not Finished?

This quilt top is finally finished , or so I hope. I am having mixed feelings about whether I should add a white border around it about the size of the sashing. It's sized to fit a double bed so I don't have to have the extra few inches. What do you think?Now I have 3 large quilt tops to quilt! It probably won't be until after Christmas that I get around to quilting them with all of the Christmas gifts I need to make.

I'd love your opinion about the border...let me know what you think.

Christmas Tablerunner

I made this table runner for Christmas last year as a gift. It was wonderful because I used fabric I had on hand. I got the pattern from the Quilt Sampler Magazine by Better Homes and Gardens the Fall/ Winter 2007 edition.The pattern was from a much larger quilt featured on the cover. Inside they had also modified the pattern to suit a table runner. You really could do that with so many different patterns that you already have on hand. I'm all about trying to use what I have. Especially in this economy.

I quilted it in an all over meandering star pattern. Quilting with stars is one of my favorite ways to quilt. This 3 block table runner I made for my Mom. She wanted something to put on her coffee table and this fits perfectly!

I would love to make the actual quilt that is on the cover of the magazine but I've got to many other things on my to do list! There is never enough time.

Well, I'm off to stitch!!

Cotton Dishcloths

Last summer I purchased some cotton yarn at our local AC Moore to make some dishcloths. I was sick of purchasing paper towels and using them to wipe down the counters. I'm all about reusing. I just throw these into the wash with a load of towels. You can even pre-soak them in white vinegar and water (vinegar is my friend!!) to freshen them up.

I used a large skein of natural along with a skein of sage green and a multi colored yarn. There are so many patterns out there to chose from, but I did my own thing. I chained about 28 stitches and used a single crochet throughout because I wanted the stitches to be dense. When my piece was square I simply made a border by stitching a couple rows of single crochet around the square doing 3 stitches in each corner.

There are so many fun ways to make dishcloths. I've done several different ones but have already gifted them and never took pictures. This was a wonderful project to do while I was watching TV. A very mindless project which I need at the end of the day when my brain feels like mush!

Works in Progress

So I got a bunch of stuff done in August and now that I am almost half way into September and I haven't finished a thing. I have a bunch of things in the works, but nothing complete yet. I even have one of those "mistakes" I need to unravel and start over again. I have been knitting a beanie for my nephew, and it's just too big. I was in denial and just kept knitting hoping foolishly that it would miraculously work. I just hate checking my gauge for knitting and I suffer the consequences! I should know by now but I'm just a rebel!

I'm taking a sock knitting class at my local knitting shop. Yes, I've knitted socks before. I have even posted about them on my blog. The thing is I wanted to push the envelope a little farther and work with actual sock yarn. The yarn I'm using is a gorgous hand dyed wool. The photo doesn't do it justice. I'm so excited to finish them, but it is very slow going.In my quilting world I'm working on a version of "Stacked Coins". I'm modifying it a bit and flying by the seat of my pants. That's usually how I work best. I'm using charm packs of "Chocolate" by Moda. I'm hoping I'll have enough fabric to do a queen sized quilt.

Well, I better get back to work if I want to finish anything this month!