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I have finished taking Miss R’s quilt apart. I painstakingly removed the hand-quilting, then cut off the binding and removed the strips from the sides. I decided to be easy on myself and not do pieced sides. I’ll just put wider side strips on and machine quilt them. I’ll use the extra pieced strips I have sitting around to make her a cushion, which has always been the plan.

So today, I will do as much as possible to put the quilt back together. After I finish this post, I’ll iron the quilt top sides to prepare it for stitching, then cut the strips to widen it. I want to put the back on and at least machine-sew the binding on so that I can hand-stitch the back of the binding while watching TV with DH tonight.

The quilt is long enough, but too narrow for her bed. I want it to be about 7″ wider on each side (I learned my lesson about measuring twice instead of trusting the measurements in the book!).

Here is what I’m going to do. I will make strips to add to both sides of the quilt. It won’t be the same 9-patch pattern since I think it will give the quilt more character. I have some leftover strips cut (thank goodness I decided to buy extra fabric to make a bedskirt and curtains!) so I laid them out. I think I like #1 best, but I’m all about getting feedback

Option #1:

Option #2:

Unfortunately, I don’t have much of the purple leftover, so I don’t know how I’m going to manage the backing of the quilt. I don’t even know for sure if I have enough to make more strips for the sides. I may have to just alternate narrow strips of the two patterned fabrics. I’m also going to be stuck for binding since I know for sure there’s not enough of the purple left to do that. I’ll have to pick up some new fabric.

Feedback is appreciated and welcomed!

In no particular order…

I dyed yarn yesterday. Unfortunately, it is a tangled mess and I will likely spend several hours balling it up. I will knit a swatch, just to see how the colours pool, but I’m thinking about knitting double-stranded since Swish is not as heavy as most worsted yarns.

This was done using Teal and Spruce Jacquard acid dyes. I soaked it in clean water, then put it in an old roasting pan, and randomly applied dye using a haircolour bottle. Some of the Spruce areas are almost black. The two colours do go well together though. I wanted a subtle varigated yarn, and that’s what I got. I will use it to knit a hat and a scarf.

I’ve also made some clothes for the kids. Fleece pants for the boy (and two pairs of jeans that I haven’t taken pictures of).

Denim skirt for the girl.

The kids want to be pirates for Halloween, which is only a couple of weeks away. I have all my fabric cut out, so all that needs to be done is the sewing, which is going to take a while. I’m not sure why I agreed to this – each costume has several pieces, and not all of them are simple! Oh well! They’ll be cute.

I’m also working on a sweater for myself, but I’ll put that in a separate post. I haven’t taken pictures of it yet, but I will later today.

The only problem is that they’re adult-sized, so it will take some modifications. I found a couple of good child’s sock patterns that are plain, so I can just add the cat face and paw lace to them. I’ve never knit socks before, but that’s going to change in August since I’m doing the 2008 Ravelympics. I’ve signed up on Team Knit Girl, and my event is the Sock Put. Too cute. Anyway, the point of the Ravelympics is to challenge yourself, and to cast on during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and finish your project by the time the torch is extinguished. My project will be Express Lane.

Then in September, I’m going to make myself a pair of stockings. I’ll be modifying the pattern some, like not adding the contrasting colours, but aside from that, I’ll be keeping true to the pattern. This will be a Bad Knit Girls knit-along (KAL) on Ravelry.

After that, I ought to have the yarn for the shawl I’m designing for Jenn. I won’t post details yet, since I’m still in the design stages, but I’ll definitely be writing about it since I’ve never designed anything before, so it will be an adventure!

At some point, I want to make my own sweater. I have too many knitting projects and not enough time!

I’m making a sweater for my daughter, and it has been a real adventure. I decided I wasn’t crazy about the lace pattern, so I experimented with cables and a couple of different lace patterns, until I tried tulip lace. It’s really pretty. Now the sweater doesn’t even resemble the one in the pattern! It is a top-down raglan sweater, knitted entirely in one piece, with no seaming. All I have left to do is picking up stitches around the front & neck so that I can add a button band (not called for in the pattern, but I don’t like the rolled neck).

I’ve blocked the sweater to make picking up stitches easier. Those aren’t beads, by the way, they’re pins.

Here’s a closeup of the lace pattern:

Oh, and Jenn? I’m working on your yoga socks right now!

Look here!!!
Swish DK is one of my favourite yarns, and they have 15 new colours!
I’m also in love with these new kettle dyed sock yarns.
And these Imagination hand painted sock yarns are wonderful! I am lusting over Wicked Witch, Evil Stepmother, and Seven Dwarves. I might get a hank of Pixie Dust to make socks for the girlchild.

So many beautiful yarns, so little time.  I love Knit Picks!

Had I known that the frames are available up to 18″, I probably would have gotten a 16″ frame instead of 14″, but I do think that the bag is big enough for me as it is. I just need to figure out a way to make the sides more rigid. I’m actually considering inserting a piece of wooden dowel down the sides. Hmm.

I want to start making socks, and will probably have socks on the go while doing other projects, so I made myself a little lined pouch to keep my socks separate from my other project. I used these awesome instructions.

I’m off to sew my bag now!