Gettin the Groove back

Summer 2017 turned absolutely crazy for us! 

DH has been very sick and in an out of the hospital....In July he was diagnosed with Pneumonia and a week later ended up in the ER/Hospital with complicated pneumonia, which means his lung lining was filling with fluid.  This causes sever pain when breathing.

The last two weeks things have been settling down and he's doing better day by day.

I've taken baby steps to get back into my crafting groove.

Finally found the last project I'd been working on.  It needed pressing and triangle paper pulled off.  I was able to do that during some storm garage time with the pups. 

Last weekend I took the time separate the pieces into the blocks I wanted and started sewing. Along with each block, I worked on my 1.5 in leader and ender project.

This weekend I tried to get all of the blocks finished, I came close, only three left.  Now I need to get my design wall back up and figure out the layout and if I want sashing.

And yes... pictures ... I've been slacking on that lately too.  Slowly I'll get things back on a crafting track.

Well dressed man - quilt

Project quilting from Persimon Dreams had a well dressed man challenge this week.  

I picked this image as my inspiration.

This is my quilt for the challenge.  

The front is the suilt, the shirt and the tie.  

The black binding is the shoes.

The back is the boxers.  :)

Of course I included a size tag as the label.

I had a lot of fun making this project!  The top is simple but I really like how it worked to include all of the colors.  My favorite part is the back and the tag.  

Quilting, Knitting, blogging ... oh my!

To say it's been a crazy week here at the Blumen Craft House is an understatement.

This year I've been participating in the Persimon Dreams Project Quilting challenges.  This week is a challenge week and the challenge is Sharp Dressed Man.  In addition to their challenge I've had a personal challenge to use my stash.  I found something that was a possibility and headed to my FAVORITE quilt store Prairie Rose Fabrics (they are on FB and will mail orders!).


Why is this my FAVORITE quilt store?

1. They lots of bright fabrics.  One of the few in the area.
2. Holly the co-owner!
3. The amazing 3 shelf units of sale wall fabric, plus the fq sale washtub.
4. They are open on Sunday afternoons. 
5. The staff - I laugh every time I'm there.

 



2.26 stash additions a new 3 yd quilt bundle and 2 options for my sharp dressed man. 

Early on in the week, I was able to get everything cut and started sewing on my project.  I'm also working on another special project.... why does it take me twice as long to finish a miniature quilt as a throw size quilt?










Wednesday night I finished my challenge top.

I LOVE how it turned out.

Now to get it quilted and bound before Sunday at noon!











In my quilting down time, I also restarted my Road Map Scarf  A friend and I are making this together.  I'm so excited to see the first block.

I also decided I needed a work only project to work on at lunch time.  Something I could leave there ... so I started a dishcloth using the Grandma's favorite dishcloth pattern.  It was so fun to work on while watching TV that I ended up finishing one last night.  Now to start a new one that will hopefully make it to work.  Ha!

This weekend, I'm excited to go to a knit day with friends.  I need some girl time! And Sunday afternoon, I get to go to the championships at a wrestling tournament.  It's going to be a fun time!

What crafty plans do you all have?

Toe up socks... what have I gotten myself into?

As I was finishing my second sock for my first pair.  I decided I should try making socks with sock weight yarn.  Who knew finding sock weight yarn would be like finding a needle in a hay stack.

I finally landed at Three Oaks Knits in Waterloo (they are on facebook).  The owner is also allergic to wool and had a good selection of wool free sock yarn.  (Yay!) She also has a nice selection of needles and I was able to find some cubix needles. (double Yay!)

This is also where I landed in my first dilemma, I was asked, Do you knit from the top down or the toe up? .... um I've only made one pair and they were top down.  Then what size needles do you use... um... I've only made one pair with a heavier yarn so I used double pointed 5's.

Luckily the owner took me under her wing.  She helped me to find a toe up pattern and circular needles to work with my sock weight yarn.

When I looked at my pattern and saw three different cast on methods I asked what she recommended.  She said the figure 8.  So I gave it a try, I made some good progress.  Then I asked my friend at work, which is the front and which is the back because the toe doesn't look right.  I laughed when she said I had the cast on backwards so the seam that should be on the inside was on the outside.





So I frogged my sock and started over, three times.  I couldn't get the hang of the figure 8 so I set it aside for a few days.  When I was ready to start again, I decided to look up my other cast on options.

First I looked up "Judy's magic cast on"  I didn't get it, it looked like I would always have a hole in the toe.  I was very discouraged.

Then I looked up the Turkish cast on - my first thought was could it really be that easy?  So I gave it a try.  Worked great for me, no loose stitches or holes in the toe - the picture isn't the best but that's the start of the toe.

 

One other helpful hint I received for my top down socks - the kitchener stitch for finishing them. This worked wonderfully, I can't even tell where I did the stitches!

What is your favorite sock knitting method?  Toe up or top down....

As always, happy crafting!

Karen

Knitting socks .... really?

As a young girl, my mom taught me how to knit with the small plastic needles of the 70s.  I did not enjoy it.  I would cast on way to tight it was hard to knit and then once a row was done, it was still to tight.  Around the same time  my Grandma and a neighbor lady taught me how to crochet.  ... I decide I would rather play baseball with the boys than do the yarn thing.

In my mid 20s, I thought about picking up knitting again, only with the aluminum needles ... again it was not a fun for me craft.  So I made the switch to crochet because "it was faster".  I made plenty of baby afghans and tried my hand at a large afghan, but didn't  make it to completion.

One day as I was shopping at a crafty store, I found wooden knitting needles.  I remembered the well worn wooden needles that one of my great grandmothers used and thought if it was good enough for her it's good enough for me.

That rocked my world.  Knitting was fun, relaxing and I made a plethora of scarves.  Nothing too complex because it was a fun for me hobby.  I sent out a few as gifts but I still have a stack at home.

This year, I picked up the needles again to make a cozy seed scarf or three.. simple k1p1.  Then I had a dream that I was picking out sock yarn and needles.  Luckily I have a coworker who's an avid knitter.  She said go for it!

That night I stopped at a local yarn/quilting store, I walked in, rocking my seed scarf and told the owner.  I can knit, I made this and I want to try socks.  She replied I have the best pattern for you.  It's the one I started with. She set me up with double pointed needles (what?), yarn and a pattern.

And that's what started me on this great sock adventure.  And yes, I know, I can buy them for less than I can make them.  But where's the fun in that?


 My first pair of socks finished!  They are so warm and comfy I want to make more.

What is your favorite sock pattern and yarn???