Idea for the Day

Yesterday, I went to the movies with my husband, brother and sister in law. We saw Thor in 3-D. Definitely a fun movie to watch, though not a great classic by any means. My hair was bugging me, and I needed something to hold it back out of my face, but I couldn't find any hair bands, so I made one. I found some nice silvery yarn that I got as a sample, (from Yarn of the Month Club, www.yarnofthemonth.com) twisted it and added some big-hole beads (from Fire Mountain Gems). The result was just what I needed. I like the fact that it is is very gentle, and has the advantage that it stays on and doesn't slip off of your head. Normally, hairbands hurt my head after a while, but this one is very comfortable.

It was simple and quick to make, so now I want to find different sorts of novelty yarns and play with some designs. I think that along with hairbands, maybe some novelty jewelry (like necklaces and bracelets) would be fun too.

I'm off to Google to search for supplies!

On The Needles Today

I recently took a trip to Vail, (see previous post), and wanted to take along a project that was small and portable, so I chose a sock project. Small enough to fit in a little zippered bag, ready to pull out whenever I had the opportunity to knit. The sock pattern is half made up, in that I used a toe up sock pattern from Ravelry as a base, and then added my own rib and cable pattern. It's an easy pattern to remember, so I don't always have to go back to any pattern, just knit, knit, knit!

You may notice that the color of the yarn is similar to my Colorado Colors photos from the previous post. As it turns out, I bought this yarn on Ebay, (one of my first Ebay purchases) several weeks ago, long before I saw the willows in Vail. I guess I do really like the colorway of gold, brown, russet.

My socks are about 1/3 of the way done, so there will be more posts as the project approaches the finish line. Stay tuned.

COLORADO COLORS

On a trip to Vail, Colorado, I came across these beautiful willows in an open, high mountain meadow. The colors are gorgeous, and since I am thinking of dyeing yarn in the near future, I thought immediately that this is the color combination I will strive for. The photo doesn't really do it justice, there are so many hues of gold, brown, russet, purple, red, a little green. It's really lovely.

My challenge, of course, will be to recall the colorway, since the photos don't really show all the colors. I'm sure I will have tons of fun trying different combinations.

The Quilt Project

I like to make things, but sewing is not really my thing. When I was young, we used to make all of our clothes, since we didn't have the money to buy new clothes, and of course, I felt like the oddball at my school. Maybe that has something to do with my aversion to sewing.

Quilting, however, is a horse of a different color. My sister-in-law gave me a pattern for this quilt, so I thought I would give it a try. It was actually kind of fun! I should say here that my mom is a super quilter; she makes fabulous quilts. So I have the advantage of her expertise, not to mention her quilting tools, when needed. Here is a photo of the quilt, in progress. Using my Mom's stretcher, we just finished basting all the layers together, and now it is ready to hand-quilt. Now, my Mom is 85 years old, and she doesn't do much quilting anymore, but she is looking for something to do besides read all day, so she offered to do the quilting of my project. What a deal! I can't wait to see it finished.

The quilt pattern is by Jillily Studio, Needle Arts, designed by Jill Finely. Item #1014. You can visit her website at jillilystudio.com.

Introduction

This is all new to me.... I have never been a tech savvy kind of person; I am much more of a do it yourself, use what's on hand, make it yourself kind of person. My husband calls me "The Queen of Make Do". So, because I do make a lot of things, and I want people to know about it, I decided to start this blog.

These are the things that I make: knitwear and knitwear patterns, fused glass, quilts, bread, pottery on occasion. I also do many things myself rather than hire them out. for instance, I just finished installing an irrigation system to water my garden. (With help from relatives.) We also just completed a fence around our property. (To keep the dogs out!)

I just finished a sweater for my 2 year old Grand Daughter, my design and pattern. It had to have pockets, because she LOVES pockets! And bright colors.

Here is what I'm working on now: Socks, for myself, since I make everybody else socks, and I don't have any yet. A knitted tank top/beach coverup, my own pattern. A quilt that I've had since last year, three quarters of the way done. I'm working on this now, because my mom has volunteered to do the hand-quilting. Can't pass that up, so I want to get it to her before she changes her mind.

More pictures to come, and updates on my projects. Stay tuned for some of my knitwear patterns, too.

Busy girl. But I love it.