Labor Day Holiday Weekend

So happy to have taken a couple of extra days off to total 5 days.  yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy  It's been so nice to just relax and knit.  I have been doing a few other things and will do some garden stuff tomorrow morning at least and organize some stuff in the garage.

Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair is over for this year.  It was truly wonderful to be inside the Arena at Salt Lake County Equestrian Park this year.  The best part?  No canopies to set up.

To catch up on projects:

The Chocolate Sweater

The Rockefeller Shawl as it is getting Clue 2

I also have been reworking the Ophir Creek yarn sweater:

Ravelled and skeined

5 minutes later after it was steamed

I steam with this fabulous tool

I also finish my skeins that I am to enter in competitions using the steamer.  So slick.  This is a Presto brand Tea Pot.

I had something special happen a couple of weeks ago:

 And:

The only thing I did to make them bloom really was to water them with warm water a couple of times.  Magic.

I have been doing a bit of applique.  I didn't finish the center medallions for the Red Aunt Millies Garden Quilt.  So, I have been cutting tons of little pieces and hand appliqueing them together to form the rounds.  I will post a pic of the quilt top again with all of them.  Blurry!  yikes.

That's it for today.  I think I will be working on the 2011 Civil War quilt tomorrow.  One more set of blocks, then sew the whole center together.  Then, a ton of border blocks.  That will be a project.  Just cutting the pieces will be a marathon, let alone sewing them all.  I think there are 64 blocks?  sheesh

OH!! I almost forgot, I was awarded the Best In Show rosette for my Gray Handspun Bluebird sweater.  I am so happy about that.  I have it entered in the State Fair, so I have my fingers crossed.  When it returns to the house I will take a pic of the finished project.  So proud.

J

omg

I cannot believe it's been so long since I posted.  I tell ya right now, this job I have been working at is for the birds.  I need to have my life back!

I have some eye candy.

This is the Mystery shawl for 2012 from Stephen West on Ravelry.  This is the first clue.  I have reknit this piece almost a couple of times.  I get distracted by tv or by thinking about other stuff I guess.  The darker yarn is Ebony from Fleece Artist.  The background yarn is an Elann.com yarn Dankai Sock It To Me yarn.  It's a singles and I would never have knit socks from it but it's perfect for this project.

This is the other project that has my interest for now:

The pattern is the Fireside Sweater by Amber Allison.  This pattern is also from Ravelry.  Whenever I get bored at work, I look at patterns in the Ravelry library.  Someday I would so love to get some designs out of my head and publish them.  This is one of the fronts.  I have them done and am now on the back of the sweater.  This yarn is the New Zealand Woolpack that I bought from Paradise Fibers.  This yarn is kind of frustrating because there are neps in the singles every foot or so.  ack!!  

Quilting?  Yeah!

This is the 17th block of 20.  I will be sad when these blocks are done, but it's sure been fun.  Our applique group is going to be finishing a project that they were working on when I joined the group a long time ago.

Yup, another Piece'o'cake pattern.  This project is such a kick.  There is glitter, trims, braids, buttons, etc. added for effect.  You can see the glitter that I have added to one fabric.  Welcome To The North Pole

So, that's it for today.  It's the weekend and anything can happen.  :>)

J

Stitch, stitch, stitch

There has been some knitting and stitching going on here in the evenings.  I have been working on the sleeves of the flax colored sweater a bit.  At night I am usually so tired and brain fried that I needed something simple, the sleeves are mostly stockinette stitch.  Easy peasy.

But, mostly I have been back at the Whimsical Garden blocks.  They are so much fun, how can I resist?

This block was kind of different.  I wanted the pink and turquoise flowers to pop and also wanted the basket to take a back seat.  I finally found this print.  Loved it and I think it works.

This fabric is so much fun by itself.  I had ordered the backgrounds from Piece'o'Cake and this was one of the best.  I had chosen a white with blue circles on it for the bird, but didn't like that when I got it sewn on, so changed to this.  The birds look better in a color with a print rather than the opposite.

Quite a few of these blocks have elements that sneak over into the borders that will be added.  It will be fun to do these borders.  They are more like picture frames with a 1/4 inch mock-piping next to the block.  I haven't decided which colors to use yet.  In the pattern, they suggested a gold/yellow next to the block and then different greens for the frames.  I don't know yet.  :>)

I did pick up some new fabrics for the other older version of the civil war series so might be back to that someday too.  So many fun things to work on and not much time.  When this job is over around the end of this year I will work part time if I decide to work very much at all.  Burned out?  yeah.  There is a Phase II to this project and don't know yet what's going  happen as far as people needed for that.  I guess I will find out.  Don't know if I will be interested or offered anything.  If I do work that, it will end the same year I can retire and not work anymore.  Something to think about.

I have also been spinning!  It's been awhile but am finally getting to the pile of fiber in the living room that has to be spun and not hidden away in the stash downstairs.  My imposed rule.  What I have been spinning is a pink/purple/orange alpaca that came from Altamist Alpacas.  I was thinking that I had too much of it, but as it turns out is easy to spin.  I have one bobbin done and am working on the second one.  All this using the Louet bobbins that hold 8 ounces.  :>)  Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my desire to spin?  stomach?  ha!

A bit blurry, but you get the idea.  Really pretty, it will be fun to ply it and then make some fingerless mitts to keep my hands warm at work.  The fiber:

Pretty eh?

The wind is really blasting today.  It's also very warm out there. Supposed to be in the 80's.  Ugh, too soon I say for that heat.  A good day to stay inside and just play.  I am headed to the sewing machine to work on some civil war blocks.  I still have 3 more months to get done and then the never ending border of blocks (68 of them, yeah, 68 12 inch blocks).  

Party on friends.
J

New pics!!

The quilting continues, just not so much.

Cute huh?  These are all fabrics that I ordered from Piece'o'Cake.  Love them.  They were moving their shop and put a bunch of stuff on sale.  So, I couldn't resist their grab bags.

I am still working a LOT so I really don't have the energy to post here, nor have much fun at all really.  I will post as often as I can though.  I started some new things.  I think it's the after-the-holidays-startitis.

This sweater in white and aubergine.  Baby silk.  Yes, it's that soft too.

Not only soft but fuzzy like angora too.  Just Alpaca and silk.

This is handspun that I have dyed at Kathy's Meadow over the years.  The browns were dyed with Cutch, black walnuts and madder, the pinks with brazilwood and cochineal and the greens were from various yellows dyed with goldenrod, rabbit brush and weld, then overdyed with indigo.  I love, love, love dyeing with yellows and then indigo, the greens are really spectacular and all so different and amazing.

These projects are added to all the others.  Some of them are easy to knit so that's for nights and weekends when I can't concentrate and other projects are for nights and weekends when I can take on more complicated stuff.

This job will last until the end of the year or so, maybe a bit longer, then I can breathe again.  I will sign up with Medicare this year and then hope to just work part-time jobs or at least regular 40 hours a week jobs until I retire.  I am truly tired of working for other people at this point and I will just spend time working at my own business selling dyed fibers and yarns and then the spinning wheel bags.  That might be enough for me.  :>)

Onward.  This is Sunday morning and I do have one thing that has to be done today, but otherwise, just sit tight at home and enjoy the day.  ta
J

It's crazy

It is crazy how fast the time goes whizzing right on by sometimes.  whew!

Holidays are over for 2011 and 2012 is here.  And people thought the end of the world was going to be 12 years ago?  doh

The job is still taking up most of my time and will until later this year.  This is a contract job even though they give full benefits and I won't know exactly how long I will be working this many hours (or maybe even more) until the job is finished.  I am sure I will get another job after this one.  And, for my sanity and energy level, I hope a 40 hours per week job.  Or maybe part time.  hmmm.   I will be on Medicare this year.  yay.  I won't have to worry so much about insurance anyway.  So part time might be perfect.

I have pictures.................  Ready?

Remember this project?  It's all knitted and ready for seams and buttons.  This is closer to the real color as well, the above picture was so yellow and pink and I give up trying to figure out cameras for color anyway.

I hope to do that soon.  Seems attainable, but I really can't tell when I will grab the pile of blocked pieces and do it.  Maybe this week?

In the mean time, a new project happened.  I have had this bag of yarn and the pattern ready for way too long.  It's fun to knit so now that I am started, it will finally get done.  The sweater is for me.  I also am still working on the sweater shawl sweater and quilting.

This is a new block of the month that I am working on.  It's called Kansas City Star and will be totally pieced.  The fabrics are similar each month, this one is called Posie.  Don't you also love my ironing board cover?

I also am working on the 2011/12 Civil War Revival quilt top and we are almost done with that one.  I will get some pics of that soon.

The Whimsical Garden blocks continue:

I am almost halfway done with the blocks!  They are so much fun and easy to make.

I have joined two new blocks-of the month groups.  This one starting soon:

Sarah's Revival 

And this beauty starting in April:

Baltimore Beauty 

I put together my one of the quilting swap projects that I did a very long time ago.  Chickens.  It's wonderful and will take a picture of it very soon.

Today, I am preparing the header cloths for my Grace Quilting Frame.  I gave myself an upgrade to the metal carriage for Christmas, so now it's a go for the whole thing.  Pictures will happen as soon as I get the first quilt ready to work on.  yippee

An engineer that I was chatting with at work asked me what I was possibly going to do when I retire.  hahahahahahahahahahahahaaha
J