{My First Quilt is DONE!}

YAYYYYYYYYY!!!  I just finished stitching the pieced binding on and now it's in the washing machine so it's nice and soft and fluffy!    But of course... I got pics first!

Front

Back

Detail shot

Another detail and a handsome man.

I'm already planning my next one! tee-hee!  I think I'm addicted. :)

{Is the Whole World Sick?}

(gratuitous kitty picture. bonus - can you spot two kitties? hehe )

Hey Folks.  This has been a particularly long delay between posts for me, hasn't it?  Tuesday I was hit hard by a particularly malicious and sneaky bug that knocked me on my butt for the rest of the week.  Fever and soreness abounded and I wasn't even able to KNIT! UGH! What's the point of being home from school if I can't spend the whole day knitting? hehe

This has consequently put me a tad behind in my homework. Thankfully I was working ahead before I got sick so I'm not as behind as I could have been.  All my teachers have been great in helping me figure out what I missed.

I did manage to start the garter stitch Pea Coat for Niece #3!  A LOVELY lady from Book Destash & ISO Library forum on Ravelry responded to my In Search Of post and ended up sending me the little magazine that the pattern was printed in for FREE!  Niece #3 is a tad big for mot of the patterns now and I'm sorta cheating to get a bigger size (larger needles with larger gauge yarn and same # of stitches as the largest size. Hope it works!) so if anyone would like the "Knits for Boys and Girls" magazine from Knitting issue 63 (may of 2009) they are welcome to it. I'll pass it along readily!

Also, My quilt is done!! I have the pieced binding sewn together and I need to iron the seams before I can sew it on (eep!) . Maybe I'll do that this afternoon? hmmmmmmmm...

Ooo! And I bought more quilting fabric!  Have you guys checked out MissouriQuiltCo.com??  They have these AWESOME fabric deals, one a day, and flat rate shipping!  I paid $1.33 for a turnover pack from Moda, and then added a charm pack that looked to be coordinating for $7.95, add on $5 shipping and BAM!   I'm sooooooo pleased!!

 

I thought looking at them online that they'd be more Fall-ish but it turns out the Botanicals are more rustic Christmasy! YAY!  I'm on the lookout now for some kind of easy quilts that use a turnout pack and a charm pack.  Any ideas? :)

{Done... and They Are Gorgeous}

My Andalus Mittens are done, I JUST cast them off and ran to take pictures because they are sooooooooo beautiful.  I actually can't believe *I* knit these! They look so impressive!

Andalus Mittens

(rav link)

I used Knit Picks Palette in Masala and Oyster Heather. Now, I just need some fall weather. UGH - stupid 80 degrees still.  Up next will be more Christmas knitting.  I feel good about getting everything done this year. hehe

{A Quickie FO - No Looking Jimmy!}

I have no idea if my brother even reads my blog.... but...

If you are the Brother of the Writer of this blog... No peeking!  (It's okay if you look, Mum... as long as you don't tell. ;) )

{School Woes and New Yarn}

As you can probably imagine, school is now in full swing for me.  It's all wanting to get hot and heavy and demanding my full attention, which has in turn taken away from my relationship with my knitting.  I'm still chugging along on those colourwork mittens that I'm SO thrilled with, but I haven't even finished the thumb gusset on the second one yet. It's getting there.

BUT, that hasn't kept me from buying yarn and planning for my other Christmas Knits.  Are you ready for a wild ride of Yarn? hehe

I started out with a Walmart trip because that's my best source for Acrylic yarns for the kids stuff I'm knitting this year.

I've had good luck with Caron's Simply Soft line in the past, so I bought some of this pink for a little girls' cardigan.   I'll need buttons for this one soon.  I also grabbed my first stuff from the Vanna's Choice line because it was a great lofty acrylic (as opposed to the above silkier acrylic) for the Pea Coat that's on my Xmas list.

Isn't it a great yellow colour?? It'll be GREAT with the little cargo pants I have planned to go with. You haven't seen those yet because I was waiting on this yarn to do the finishing.

THEN. Dudes.  I contacted a lady I know through Ravelry who has sold me yarn before to ask her if she had any black and red yarn for a scarf that's on my list since I knew she was still looking to do a lot of destashing. She said yes, she had a couple of hanks black and one in red of a wool blend, would that be okay?  The recipient of said scarf doesn't know his fibers too well, so I wasn't worried about the "blend" part.  She quoted me $15 for a couple of black and one red. I was THRILLED!

But YOU GUYS. I just got the box yesterday and it was MUCH bigger than I was expecting! She didn't just send me a couple black and a red, she said me a TON of Cascade Montera and a bunch of Cascade Pastaza!!  It's 50% Wool and 50% Llama!! Soooooo incredibly soft! Check THIS O.U.T:

9 skeins of black.

one red.

 one red painted.

two purple.

one green.

one green painted.

PLUS she added in a Debbie Bliss pattern book that blows my socks off!!!

I want to thank Cindy from the very bottom of my heart for this gift.  I am blown away by your generosity and am humbled by it at the same time.  I promise that when I'm a seasoned knitter I will find ways to make younger knitters feel special the same way you've made me feel oh so VERY special.

Thank you.

{Second Mitt Syndrome In Action}

I seriously should have tried knitting these two at a time.  SMS hasn't totally set it, but I see it coming on the horizon.  I have the cuff finished of the second mitt, but I'm just not super duper excited about knitting it, ya know?

So I did a little other crafting yesterday afternoon instead.  It's not cheating if I'm not knitting, right?  I pulled out the Banana Republic tank tops that I bought at the outlet mall in Charlotte, North Carolina and decided to do some t-shirt painting.

I'm not sure if I'll end up keeping this one or selling it. hehe I love it!

Then today I went and bought some acrylic washable yarns for a couple of the kids' projects I have planned for Christmas knitting.

This Strawberry Pink Simply Soft is for my niece's Fresh Picked Cardigan .

And I grabbed a great yellow from the Vanna's Choice line for my other niece's Duffle Coat. (Ravelry link)

Oh, and I don't think I told you guys that I got the buttons sewn on the Hey Teach, did I?  They are totally cute and add just the right amount of whimsy for a little girl's garment. :)

As soon as I'm done my mittens I'll definitely be sure to take pictures and show you guys.  They're pretty darn impressive. :)

{Okay Mum.... No Peeking!!}

Are you my Mother?  If in fact, you are the Mother to the writer of this blog, I insist you close this window now.  I will be showing off details of your Christmas gift, and I don't want you ruining the surprise!

{Warning: Fair Isle In Progress}

I started these mittens last weekend I think as a potential Christmas gift, but I think they're going to be for me. hehe I haven't knitted anything for myself in a while. Plus, they're in my favorite colours!   These are being knit in Knit Pick Palette.  The orange is called "masala" and the whitish is called "Oyster Heather" (though I don't see the heather, myself).  

This is about 10 or 12 hours of work:

Andalus Mittens

I'm not sure I'm going to be keen on doing the other one right away, but I'll just have to force myself to cast it on the second I'm finished with the first!  I'm seeing the parallel to socks already. hehe

{Balance}

... is sometimes a thing I have problem finding.  But today on my first day of official Homework, balance found me!  TWO fun things happened this morning while I was working!


#1 - I was featured by Larri at Seams Inspired!  It's a super fun website where Larri writes about sewing, mothering and her religion.  I'm so honoured that she picked up some yarn and needles and is trying her first dishcloth because of me! Everyone go wish her good luck on her first projects, k? :)

And the SECOND fun thing that happened this morning is I went and got my newest etsy order from the post office!  I ordered three sets of buttons about 2 weeks ago and they got here today, right when I needed a great pick me up!

All super cute, right? They came from Stephanie Style.  She has TONS of super cute fabric and buttons and now iron on transfers!  You should check that store out too!

The pink ones are to go on my dark green Hey Teach to make it a little more girly and the totally wood buttons are for the manly flip-back mittens I knit for my brother-in-law.  I'll of course post pics once the buttons have been affixed. :)

Now - back to reading about International Politics.

{Super Fastest FO Ever!}

Yesterday, my last day of school free bliss for some months, I decided it was time for a super fun quick knit just for me!  You know I had that lovely Malabrigo Chunky I bought on my trip home, right?

So yesterday it turned in to a Foliage hat! (another free pattern from Knitty I might add)

Yes, it was 94 yesterday and I was modeling a chunky winter hat. hehe  What do you think?? Mr. Pie thinks it makes me look like a mushroom head, but I'm totally okay with that.   I kind of purposely did a tight bind off so that it hugged my head under my ears. SUPER cozy!