25 January 2006

Charity crafting

I managed to actually clean out my craft room a little after it's been used for storage of whatever needs to be put away when company comes over. There's still quite a bit that needs to be done and the majority of stuff has just been moved to other rooms so the mess has spread out, but most of it is out of my craft room! In the cleaning process I found 2 blankets I had made for Project Linus when I first learned how to crochet. I also found a few premie hats I crocheted. I gave it all to my friend Erica who will drop it off for me at our local Project Linus volunteer.

These discoveries, along with my overwhelming amount of scrap yarns and fabrics, has inspired me to make more charity things. I found a baby quilt top that was pieced for a friend in wild colors, but then I saw she registered for all Classic Winnie the Pooh stuff anf wild colors just wouldn't go. So, I layered and tied it last night and will sew on the binding Thursday. I also found an extra panel I had made for a kittens in mittens quilt for my niece. I'm going to add some fabric on both sides and turn that into a baby quilt as well.

In terms of my other projects. I'm making a baby blanket for my cousin's baby. It's a very simple lace pattern that will have three stripes of color (green, white, and yellow). I'm using the Bernat Baby Coordinates yarn and the pattern is from one of the skeins. It's going pretty quick, but it is my first ever knitted blanket. It's quite a jump from working on size 11 and 13 to working on 7s. It seems like this blanket will take forever, but it will be adorable when it's done!! It's the main thing I'm working on now. I'm really enjoying it now that I have the pattern memorized and it's starting to get some length to it.

I'm still working on my running mittens and scarf. I've got the hat done and use it almost every day. It's just perfect, not too tight, not too loose, and just the right breathability.

After the hat and mittens is my socks, they're kinda boring, but they are a very portable easy project for now. I'm just working on the top part and haven't gotten to any shaping.

My niece's pullover has hit a wall. It's just too boring. I finished the back, but am kind of dreading starting the front. I'm sure my interest will be revived soon, but for now it's just sitting in it's pretty little bag waiting for me!

I finished my hat, scarf, and mitten set for everyday wear. It's just adorable. I'll post a picture soon, it's hard to get them away from the dog though. He likes to steal them and hide them under couch cushions or in the bed! I finally gave in and let him have a hat of his very own (one I made that was too big for me and too girly for my husband), but he still likes to go after my stuff. Luckily he doesn't chew or destroy my knit or quilted stuff, he just carries it around the house. He was born to be a crafter's dog!!

That's it for now, except for a little self reflection: I think I'm turning into a real knitter. When I first started quilting I would start a project and actually finish it. Then I started getting too interested in a million different projects and started every one I wanted to. Not that's happening with my knitting, too. I think it's time for a bigger craft room!!

02 January 2006

Holiday Crafting

I somehow managed to finish my knitted gifts just in time for Christmas. I made a little bag for my sister. It was a kit from kyarns.com. The pink lady bag, using manos yarn, color: stellar. It's a felted bag that came out really good, except the little bulges on the sides which should have been smoother, but it looks good none the less.

For my other sister I made a hat and a pair of mittens. It was going to be just a hat, but then I saw the pattern for the matching mittens and decided hey why not! So I made them too, the hat turned out really nice. The mittens were ok, not my favorite. They have a seam that runs in a weird place that makes them a little uncomfortable. But they're cute enough that I made ones for myself. I'll have a picture once it's blocked. The ones for my sister are made of collinete prism yarn, color: moss. The ones for me are the same yarn, color: velvet leaf, a grass green color.
I think that's all I've actually accomplished. While I was home for the holidays, I helped my parents clean out their basement and came across quite a yarn stash. I'm keeping some of it to make a baby blanket for my cousin's baby (8 months to finish that one!) and the rest will be donated to the trust run by a woman in my knitting group. She will sell the yarn and use the money to buy food and supplies for the poodles she raises for assistance dogs. While I wish I had the space to store it all, it's going to a great cause!