Category: life stuff

Eye of the tiger, anyone?

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Well friends, it finally happened. I got COVID. I’m staying tucked away in the house, nice and isolated, which isn’t the worst thing since we’re smack dab in the middle of this east coast heat wave. 99 degrees F outside? No thank you. Thankfully, I’m vaxed and boosted so even though I feel poorly, it’s like a bad cold.

As I sit here on the couch all day, I’ve realized that I’ve hardly posted to the blog at all! You know what that means – less text, more pictures! Cue up your 80s music, it’s montage time!

First off, I finished up my travel socks – these are in Stress Knits Yarn in the Sunflower colorway.

I finished my other travel socks – these are in A Homespun House in the Sugared Sweeties colorway

Last sock finish – Mom’s Mother’s Day socks. I knit these out of some Norah George Yarns in Apple Blossom – pretty deep stash from at least 4 years ago.

Kevin and I went up to Boston for a concert and I cast on another pair of travel socks. This is their current state, but it’s been a bit since I’ve worked on them. The yarn is A Homespun House again – main color is Pastel Paint Princess and the contrast is Marigold.

In early June, I took a little trip with my Mom. I had planned to make us both dresses, but only hers were successful. And really only one of hers was successful. This is the Popover Dress from the book Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses. I just didn’t love the finished product on me and I made one of mom’s dresses a bit too small. Anyway, the green and purple one turned out great and mom loved it! She’s such a cutie patootie!

We really had a blast. We took walks, had port in the library every evening, and generally enjoyed just having lots of time together. Oh, and we went yarn shopping.

We went to A Likely Yarn in Abingdon, VA where they were having a Red Stag Fibre trunk show. One of the samples was Exploration Station (pattern by Stephen West) – a long time to-knit of mine – and mom just loved it! We decided to get yarn and cast them on together!

That’s about how far we got on the trip. Once we got home, I became obsessed. I have loved knitting this shawl. I made one yarn substitution, switching out the beige. All my current colorways are listed on my Ravelry project page.

This is the current state of the shawl, about halfway through the third section – so enjoyable.

I tried to balance shawl knitting with hand quilting my Norah Quilt, but it really didn’t last.

Continuing in the world of log cabins, I put together another month’s worth of blocks for my Avonlea quilt.

Next, I took a quick interlude to bind these two beauties, which you can read about here and here.

Looking for another quick finish on the #yearofwips, I finished hand piecing one final block for this ancient (oldest WIP I own) log cabin project. I hand pieced the blocks together and voila!

It’s a mini quit top! It’s currently sitting all basted and ready to go for some hand-quilting, which I just haven’t gotten to. Quick finish, right.

Not feeling like hand quilting, I picked up some this WIP. Needle turn applique is still pretty slow for me and I haven’t gotten any momentum going on this project, either.

Last but not least in this little train of get out the project and promptly put it down – we have Fairytale Forest. I finally decided to trim and assemble all the blocks I had done – a whopping 6 of 25.

They are pretty, though aren’t they? I am looking forward to getting back into this one.

You may be wondering what on earth I’ve been really been doing with all this a little bit here and a little bit there. Well, I have been working on these socks – they’re a secret gift so I can’t spill who they’re for – in some mega deep stash (dare I say 6 or 7 years old?) from lolodidit in the colorway Don’t Stop Believing.

I’ve also been obsessed with this quilt I’m making for mom. She knows I’m making it and has even picked out some of the fabrics, but that’s it so this is about all I can show you. Cosi really likes how the quilt is turning out and he’s helped a lot.

And there you have it folks – months of making in a flurry of pictures. I hope you are having a great weekend and until next time!

Happy making!

Wrapping up, one more time.

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Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you are all ringing in the next trip around the sun in a way that makes you smile. We had a joyous (and intensely packed) trip home to see family and then my brothers and their wives (and our dog nephews) came home with us. I’ve had my siblings here most of the week and that has been filling my cup to the top.

This is going to be a big wrap up – I’ve finally gifted a bunch of socks that I knit over the pandemic – and I’ve got my advent knitting FOs and WIPs to share. Just like 2022, let’s dive right in.

First up, a pair of socks for my mom: This is the Woodland Walk pattern by This Handmade Life. I used Stress Knits yarn in the Mountain Mama colorway.

Next, Judge’s socks: This is Paton’s Kroy sock – a favorite for brother socks – in the Dads Jacquard colorway. I knit a simple 3×1 rib for these.

Noah’s socks: Another pair of Paton’s Kroy in the Blue Grey Marl colorway.

Madelyn’s socks: The pattern is Heather by This Handmade Life but I messed it up and did the cables a bit wonky. The socks turned out lovely, so I’m not mad. I used Brooklyn Tweed Peerie in the Butte colorway for these.

Crystal’s Socks: Another pattern from This Handmade Life, this is Sixpence. This is also Brooklyn Tweed Peerie in the Klimt colorway.

More socks for mom: This is the Coast Range pattern by Lindsey Fowler. Once again, I used Stress Knits yarn in the Eucalyptus colorway.

Bridging the gap between gifts and advent – more socks for mom! If you recall, I was knitting two pairs of socks out of my Cozy Knitter Advent Stripe 2021 skein. I finished these early Christmas morning. I managed to get all the stripes on both pairs! I love them.

I finished all four socks on the evening of Christmas and wore my pair the day I gifted them to her. I’m a bit ridiculously excited to have a pair of socks that match my mom’s.

I got a bit burned out on the other advent projects so they’ve been put in a little basket until I feel like picking them up again – more on that soon. Kevin decided he wanted a toasty warm hat so…

I wound up these beauties and cast on a Kennecott hat on the car ride down south. The yarn is from Sweet Sparrow Knits – top is the Chickadee base, suri alpaca and silk, in the On Softest Wings colorway; bottom is the Phoebe base, tweed DK, in the Blanketry colorway.

In small time news, this is also the fifth anniversary of the blog! I started off five years ago today, with a picture of – you guessed it – socks and the idea to have a year of making. I’ve been doing years of things or a word – and I’ve been throwing ideas around all month long. I think I’ve finally got something that has stuck, more on that to come.

Cheers, friends.

Happy making!

Out of time and floor space.

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Well, we are really in the throes of moving now! Pretty much everything is packed or close to packed except for the kitchen and bedrooms. We’re officially two weeks away from moving but we want to finish packing early so we have time to paint and do other fun stuff at the new place. With all of that, my crafting has slowly been grinding to a halt.

I finished my Dust of Snow wrap a few weeks ago. I quickly realized that not only are the blocking mats packed, there isn’t really a place to lay this bohemoth out unless it’s in a walk way. I’m packing it up to get blocked at some point. It is awfully pretty though, huh?

I managed to make up a whole stack of blocks for a pretty little jelly roll quilt and then quickly realized there is no where free of boxes to lay out the quilt. So, this one has gone into the WIP box as well. I’ll write more about it when I get it back out, but I used 2 jelly rolls and this tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew- it’s dead easy.

With all of this, it’s no surprise that I’ve turned to the old portable standby of knitters everywhere… the sock.

I finished up my Nightwish Socks! I cast these on for a virtual concert and then knit them over a few weeks while Kevin and I watched Nightwish documentaries and past concerts. If you haven’t heard of Nightwish go check them out if you’re in the mood for a bit of symphonic metal. Anyway, the yarn is from A Homespun House, this is a sock set that I believe was dyed by Molly’s sister Amy a couple of years ago; the colorway is Fat Bottom Girls.

I’m in a real mood friends – with concerts coming back to our lives, I’m just getting too excited. I’m going to see my favorite band, Eagles, in September, so I pulled out this skein of Tequila Sunrise for my next pair of socks. The yarn is by The Cozy Knitter and I adore how it’s knitting up and I love the coordinating mini for the heel. If you’re still in the mood for some music, I’d recommend this version of the song to go along with the sock.

I’ve still got this pretty little stack out to deal with. This is four quilt tops and their backs to prep and send off for long arm quilting. My hope is that they will get back to me around the time we’re settling in a bit so I can do some relaxing hand stitched binding.

Other than those quilt backs to sew up, this is a view of all my making for the next several weeks. I’m actually hoping to stop by the blog with some more household related craftiness in August – Kevin and I are going to learn how to finish furniture! I hope you are all having a lovely summer and as always, happy making.

Happy, happy making!

Househunting socks and many other updates.

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Ok, I’m just going to come out and say it – we found a house! We closed this week and move in early August.

I finished these socks right after we found out our offer was accepted and I’ve been holding on to them for good luck ever since. I’m so pleased with that contrast toe color, that’s a bit of leftover Sunflower by Stress Knits that I had from my Waiting for Henry Socks. The main yarn is Mermaid of the Black Lagoon from A Homespun House.

With all that’s been going on with house hunting, I’ve still managed to spend quite a bit of time crafting over the last couple of months. Back when I was finishing up a bunch of quilt tops in a row, I decided to pull out an old WIP and do something about it.

I started this project way back in the summer of 2019 with the plan to make a rainbow bargello quilt. I lost interest pretty quickly and just never felt like picking up the project again. Well, I was ready for this to be off the WIP cart one way or another so I just decided to finish sewing the strips up and sew them together. I used 2 Kona Cotton jelly rolls in the Bright Rainbow colorway. It turned out pretty huge so I’m excited to get it quilted up!

My next finish was an Ogden Cami in the midst of frustration over my Hinterland Dress project. Once I took a few deep breaths, I went back to the dress dand finished it up.

Real life here – I just realized there’s a cicada on my dress in this picture! Can you spot it? Anyway, this is the Hinterland Dress from Sew Liberated in the same fussy and finicky cotton/rayon blend from Joann’s that I made the Ogden Cami up in. I cut a straight 14 and after a bodice muslin I lowered the darts by about an inch. I’m not overly thrilled with fit in the shoulder and sleeves, a bit tight with full motion of my arms. Nothing terrible, just something to look at next time. It is super comfy otherwise, light and cute. I’m pretty pleased with it.

With the Hinterland done, I went straight for another Sew Liberated pattern – the Estuary Skirt.

Ok, now I love this one. So very much. This is a different fabric but is still a cotton/rayon chambray. I cut a straight size 16 and did a real placket – you can do a faux placket and just pull the skirt on, but the pattern advises you to go for the real deal if you have a significant difference in your waist and hip measurement. Hello! Real button placket for me. Anyway, you guys. The swish in this skirt is for real and those pockets? They’re about the size of a small project bag. Heaven and perfection in every way, I can’t wait to make more of these.

I don’t think these socks ever even saw the light of the blog – but here they are! So pretty. This is the Spring Honey pattern by This Handmade Life. Honestly, I just adore Olivia’s aesthetic – go check out her instagram and see if you aren’t inspired. Anyway, my only change to the pattern was to use a slip stitch heel flap in place of the plain one suggested. I think I’ll always use the standard slip stitch heel flap and gusset, it just fits the best. The yarns are some real deep stash and a recent-ish purchase. The deep stash is the speckle, Hush from Peepaloo Fields. It’s the same color as the main yarn from my Sunset Highway sweater from way back in 2018. The pink contrast is My Jam by Stress Knits. This pink is just perfect!

Of course, while I was knitting the Spring Honey socks I needed a vanilla pair on the go. These were an impuse cast on for a couple of virtual concerts that Kevin and I were going to, so I’m calling these my Nightwish Socks. The yarn is Fat Bottom Girls by A Homespun House – this was a sock set from a year or two ago.

In the middle here, we decided to start doing a little packing to get ahead of the curve. So we packed up the spare bedroom, which is where the yarn stash is stored, and then I started working on the craft room. I’m sure you can guess that I was not planning to pack up everything but saved myself out a few projects to work on until my next craft room is set up. A few.

There you have it – everything I can possibly work on over about seven or eight weeks (IF we’re being really generous about getting the new craft room set up quickly). There are about 6 WIPs plus 4 quilt tops and backs that just need to be prepped for the long arm quilter. I’m planning to pack them up and mail them out a few weeks before they move so they have a good chance of getting back around the time I’m done with the craft room. Anyway… now I’ve been plugging away at those WIPs. I also left out some knit fabric in case I got the bug to make another garment or two (or 5). And then there’s the sock yarn.

I pulled out some sock yarn out of the stash in a nice little variety and then I had some leftovers and frogged projects at my desk that got missed in the initial stash packing. So here you go, my potential socks over the next month or so. Now, if you’ve been keeping score you’ll be thinking there’s no way I’ll knit or even cast on that many socks in a month, much less while moving. And you’re right, but you just never know what could happen. Better safe than sorry, I say. We’ll see how all these projects are shaping up by the time I’m unpacking the stash again.

I definitely kept out my new block of the month quilt – Fairy Tale Forest. I was 100% behind when I took the pictures above, but now I’m completely caught up and ready for month three to get here next week. This is a fully foundation paper pieced quilt in Liberty tana lawn and it’s turning out to be really fun. I was super intimidated to start, but once you get going, the units just fly by. Here are the first two months in a series of terrible, late night pictures.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

So there you go. Now, I’ve not been sewing the units up into the actual blocks so that they are easier to pack and move when the time comes. I really love this project – it’s so easy to get into a rhythm with the process.

I recently pulled out my Dust of Snow wrap and have really been enjoying working on it again. It’s been in hibernation since before Christmas but I definitely want to finish it up this year.

In Year of Minis news – we’re on hiatus at the moment. When we found out we’d be moving I decided to put it on hold because of not knowing if I’d have a craft room, what wall space we’d have, etc… Now I’m just going to pick the project back up in September or so. Who knows if I’ll get the full twelve in, but I’ll be back on the mini train before long. It was fun taking down all my minis from all over the house and stacking them up – what a cute pile!

Well, I think that’s everything for today. That was a long one! Lot’s of progress going on which feels good amidst the chaos. We’re slowly amassing a box kingdom over here, which is definitely making Cosi quite pleased.

Happy making!

Big news.

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April has been a bit of doozy. Right around a month ago, we found out that we have to move. This was a pretty big shock to all of us and had us kind of reeling for a few days. Now we’ve been in house hunting limbo for weeks and it feels endless. I’ve been crafting and there, but today was a big day in my sewing room so I wanted to stop in and share the news.

I finished my Green Gables quilt top! Right before we found out about the move, I signed up for the next Duckadilly Block of the Month and decided it was high time I finished this one. This was last year’s block of the month, I did the 6 month rainbow version, as of wriitng, they still have kits available. It’s all Liberty fabric and I fussy cut all the centers.

I started in back in July of last year, but once I got down to business it really flew by. I’ve been piecing the blocks in sets, and finished the last ones last weekend. Today, I sat down and put it all together. I’m over the flipping moon, this is hands down the prettiest thing I’ve ever made.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate some fresh green grass? I look out at that gorgeous tree out of my kitchen window and I couldn’t help but take snap a picture of the quilt on the grass with the pink petals all around.

I finished Joshua’s socks and he let me snag the record to take a picture of his inspiration and my creation. He reports that they fit great, are supremely squishy, and will be well loved. This yarn is Hedgehog Fibres Sock Yarn in Teacup. I went up a needle size to a 2.25 mm for these and really like the fabric so I might have to try that on some socks for me in the future.

After that, Joshua suggested that I cast on a pair of house hunting socks to channel the tension. He had the right idea. I finished the first one a few days ago and really dig the look. The main yarn is A Homespun House in Mermaid of the Black Lake, and the contrast is a scrap of Stress Knits Sunflower leftover from my Waiting for Henry Socks.

Finally, at the beginning of the month I had also decided to join in the Homespun Quilt-Along. I got hopelessly inspired by a rainbow version by quiltyobsession and just couldn’t get it out of my head. I’ve gone completely scrappy with a lot of fussy cutting thrwon in, so it’s not going as quickly as I’d imagined. The blocks themselves take to time to sew up, but the cutting…. Yep, that’s slowed me down, so I’m only half done. I’m doing an in-between size (also inspired by that OG rainbow quilt) so I’m about to get into the mint/teal/blue phase. It’s super cute so far, though!

Well, that’s really where I’m at now. It’s been tough to stay focused and looking at houses feels like a full time job right now. I’m not great with unkowns, I am a major plan-ahead person. I guess we’ll see where May takes it and I’ll just put some more stitches into those socks….

Happy making!

Comfort food.

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I’m not going to dwell on world events today, suffice it to say that 2020 is not how any of us expected. I’m a cheerful introvert at the best of times, but I’ve been feeling quite withdrawn from everything over the last few months. I stopped writing here, I stopped posting on social media, and I nearly stopped knitting.

The only crafty pursuit I’ve been up to at all is sock knitting, and I’ve not even picked it up on some days. I do have a bit to catch up on with you here, as it’s been two entire months, but for weeks it has been socks and socks only. Here goes nothing, the last two months:

I finished my mini Happy Christmas Tree Quilt. This guy and the full sized one are sitting around here now, all quilted, binding attached — sometime I’ll get around to sewing the binding down on both of them.

Vanilla socks — “Electric Feel” by A Homespun House

Don’t look now, but this was another patterned sock finish! The pattern is Rhinebeck Roomies by the Crazy Sock Lady. I used Skein Yarn in the Early Morning Mist colorway.

Vanilla Socks — “Where does the good go?” by StressKnits

Joshua turned 15 in the midst of all of the quiet stay-at-home time, but we had a nice day. He had a mask wearing walk with a friend, we hung out and listened to records while I baked his cake (see below), and we just had a generally lovely day.

Ok, friends. This is hands down the best strawberry cake I’ve ever had. The recipe is pretty amazing. We enjoyed cake for breakfast for a couple of days after this and I’m not even a little sorry.

Yep, your eyes do not decieve you! Another patterned sock, another design by the Crazy Sock Lady! This is Heel Toe Do Si Do in Peachy Keen by The Cozy Knitter.

I cast on this cuff, started a pattern, messed it up, and started another pair of socks. Now that I’m almost done with those, I think I’ll come back to these. I actually think I might switch gears and knit this pair vanilla and cast on another pair of Rainbow Connection socks in something else for my pattern fix. This yarn is “Whale Belly” by A Homespun House.

Last but not least, the aforementioned other pair of socks. These have been surprisingly enjoyeable. This another pair of what I deem workhorse socks, turns out they’re awfully nice when you’re at the house all the time. This is yarn is ONline Supersocke 4-fach Neon Color in color 1721. This is some deep stash, so it’s nice to finally knit it up.

That gets us up-to-date. Thankfully, I’m feeling the funk fade a bit over the last few days. I’ve got a secret project for Astra for Christmas that I want to start and I’ve got 3!! quilts to finish (4 if you count the tree skirt). Other than that, I’m not minding the sock train one bit. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again — I’ll always come back to socks, my very own crafty comfort food.

I hope you are safe and well.

Happy making!

One month later…

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Well, I’d venture to say it’s been a fairly crazy March for us all. Four weeks ago today, I arrived in Denver for my organization’s annual meeting and it was canceled that evening. It’s been crazy with work ever since, and now I’m working from full time with the kids and Kevin all in the house. I know it’s a crazy, scary, uncertain time for many. I’ve been really finding joy and comfort in the simple motion of my hands creating things, so I thought we’d have a little photo montage of the last month.

My only finished object since we last spoke, and I don’t really have a picture of it! I need to attach the pompom and take some real photos, but the knitting on my Skiff is all finished up.

I’ve put a bit of work into these socks but not much. I still don’t have much drive to knit patterned socks, but these are sooo pretty that I really want to finish them. One day. The pattern is Rhinebeck Roomies by Crazy Sock Lady.

My first cast on of the month was the Calan Mai cowl. I completely misread the pattern and had to rip back about 3 inches, but now we’re moving on it.

I finally decided to frog my Prim socks, I spoke about my dislike of the yarn base last post. I dug some trusty 80/20 out of my stash in these fun stripes and they kind of zoomed for a while. This is Gynx Yarn (a retired yarn dyer) in the Magical Girl colorway.

Completely out of character for me, it seemed that two pairs of socks weren’t quite enough so some Christmas socks went on the needles! This is Once Upon A Corgie Handmade in the Marie Cutie base (a squishy corriedale nylon blend) in the Christmas like it’s 1882 colorway.

In this flurry of startitis, I also managed to cast on a sweater! I’m knitting the Rosemont Cardigan in Quince & Co. Lark in the Pea Coat colorway. I’m looking for a cozy go-with-everything cardigan and I think this fits the bill.

And then last weekend, I finally finally finally finished up my Happy Christmas quilt top. I’m so pleased with how it came out! This is a pattern from Maker Valley, and I got the scrappy kit from her as well. This cutie is out getting quilted and I can’t wait to get it finished up.

Once I was in the sewing room, I haven’t been able to leave much. I decided to throw together a cute little mug rug for my #yearofchristams plans and this one came together pretty quickly. It’s a single block from Lori Holt’s granny square inspired quilt pattern. I used random scraps of Lori Holt fabric and I think it’s just precious!

While I was at it in the sewing room yesterday, I finally, months and months later, attached the binding to my Arithmetic quilt. Now I’m ready for my favorite part of quilt making, hand sewing the binding!

Last, but certainly not least, I’ve been rather obsessed with my Granny Stripe blanket. I figured out a few weeks ago that is way wider than I intended. That discouraged me for a while with how long it might take. I had a really inspiring talk with Kevin the other night about the process of my making and now I just can’t stop. I’m really enjoying the rythm and the slow progession.

Well. that’s it in pictures. I’ve been kind of all over the place these days with making all sorts of things — I’ve even picked up my applique a few times! — but I’m letting it take me wherever my heart and hands need to go.

Wherever you are, be well and happy making!

Grown up days off.

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The truth: the kids went back to school on Thursday and I don’t go back to work until tomorrow. What on earth did Kevin and I cook up to do with that extra time? Clean the house? Take down the tree? Go to the casino?

No on all three accounts. We rearranged furniture. (I’m looking at you, Mom) I took over the dining room and turned it into a sewing room. I’ve been talking about it for a month and I finally just bit the bullet and did it. We eat in a different room and haven’t used the dining room other than to hold the liquor cabinet for years. I built myself a bit of a hacked cutting table and moved everything over the course of two days. I’ve hardly wanted to leave it since I finished.

Here is the before:

And the after:

Sewing table:

Cutting table – I built this table from two 3×3 cube shelves, non-slip shelf grip, and a hollow, flush door.

Storage for current projects, scraps, patterns, and favorite fabric collections:

My serger has a home, too. Complete with a lava lamp (Thanks, kids!!)

The iron is in the room, too, but that’s nothing to write home about. All in all, I am so happy with how it turned out. Major fabric and yarn storage is still downstairs, but hey – it’s a small room. Overall this is meant to just be a creative space. I can’t wait to decorate it with curtains and new minis for the walls.

I can report that I already love the new cutting table. I cut out my Happy Christmas Quilt and got started cutting out a tree skirt too. I’ve been sewing up a storm and that feels so good. I’m off to work tomorrow after this long vacation, but I definitely feel like I got some good stuff done.

Happy making!

Whatever I feel like.

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What happened to August? It felt like a whirlwind and here we are, a whole week into September. The kids are back in school and I’m back to cooking in a way that makes me feel good. Something has switched with me this week and I’ve felt motivated to make. Let’s catch up.

I finally finished my Christmas socks! The yarn is Lattes and Lllamas BFL sock in Ugly Christmas Sweater. That’s one off the #wipwipeout list.

I decided to try needle turn applique on soem clambshells. I’m using the tutorial from over on the Sunny Day Supply blog. I still need practice, but they’re super cute.

I finihsed a quilt top! I cut it out and sewed up the rows over my birthday weekend and then finished sewing the rows together a couple of weeks later. I really liek this quilt top, the pattern is great. It’s Arthmetic by Jeni Baker, I did the 4″ square version.

Pretty much as soon as the Arthmetic top was done, I started sewing up some rainbow strips for a bargello quilt. It’s still in the sewing strips together phase at this point.

I did wind up casting on another pair of socks, but these are a gift so I won’t say much.

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time in the sewing room and the stash shelves were starting to look pretty rough. That’s the before…

And this is the after! It’s pretty nice, if you ask me.

As I mentioned, the kids started back to school this week. This was at 6:30 right before Joshua walked off to his first day of high school. Astra was up early for breakfast with us, but her first day of fifth grade was hours away at this point.

Something made me want to pick up my No Frills and knit a row or two and now I’ve been obsessed. I’ve only got a couple of inchs to go till the ribbing now!

And last, but certainly not least, I have started an Everest of a project. This is the first block of my Granny’s Garden quilt, a fully appliqued monster of a quilt. I’m excited but this is definitley a long term project. I’ll have to ellaborate in another post, but let’s just say it took me about 18 hours to cut the thing out. Yeah.

Well, there you go. Not very much making for six-ish weeks but I’m trying to have peace with that. I do what I feel like doing and that’s ok. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I don’t have some quota to meet every year.

Making feels a bit all over the place at the moment, but I’ve really been just picking up whatever feels fun at the moment. At any rate, I’ve got some enjoyable projects going on right now, and I’m digging it.

Happy making!

The wagon hath run me over.

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I’ve really fallen off the wagon with lots of things that bring me joy and it’s time to climb back into the driver’s seat. We’ve got a bit going on over here in my house; work is busy, we’re right in the middle of the birthday gauntlet, and Joshua is finishing eighth grade. I think it’s high time I get back into some good habits.

One of the things I’ve been slacking on is taking care of my body – eating well and getting enough rest. That’s just going to take a whole lot of intention and remembering that the easy eay out (hello Chipotle) doesn’t mean the best result in the run (hello tummyache). My eating habits have left me feeling out of sorts, which makes me not want to sew very much. I was starting to get in a groove, time to get my groove back.

I’ve really noticed missing blogging and sharing my progress on my makes. This feels silly to type, but I’ve been slacking on taking pictures. I enjoy seeing my making documented over time, looking back over what I’ve done, so I want to get back to that.

With all of that said, this isn’t my first reboot-montage, and it’s probably not the last, but let’s take a look at the last month or so…

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I swatched for a new sweater. I swatched with a 3.25 mm (too big) and 2.75 mm (too small) before realizing that I had a 3.00 mm and it worked!

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Joshua turned 14! I made a lemon cake with blackberry buttercream frosting. Joshua declared it the best cake I’ve ever made.

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My brother and SIL came up for Joshua’s birthday and we went strawberry picking. I didn’t preserve a single one. We made strawberry shortcake that night and then flat out ate the rest. Worth it.

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I got obsessed with a book series (A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas) and needed something to concentrate on while listening. I wound up binding this quilt (one of the things I need FO pics of)

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The obsession didn’t end after the first quilt, so I got started on another binding. This one’s not done yet, but at least it’s good and started.

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The garden is coming along nicely! See all that lettuce? That’s step one to taking care of my body a little more.

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We seriously have a million tomatoes coming on. I am getting uncontrolably excited.

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New sweater cast on! This will be a Beauty School Top by PoisonGrrls. The yarn is Backyard FiberWorks in Midnight – my sole MD Sheep & Wool purchase this year. In the interest of full disclosure, we were only there for an hour or so.

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The kraut is really getting there. I tasted it last weekend – three weeks in – when Kevin said it stank but it wasn’t funky enough for me. I can never smell it till my nose is in the jar, but Kevin can smell it from a mile away it would seem. He’s not a fan.

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A while back I cast on a pair of Rose City Rollers in some fantastic orange leftovers from Tempting Ewe Yarns, the colorway is Saftayy. Pretty stinking cute. 

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I did finish my Populuxe, but I haven’t taken pictures of it so I hadn’t worn it. I decided to just go ahead and wear it to work on Friday. It turns out I did a terrible job at sewing on the buttons – they’re all loose! – time for a fix and finally some FO pics.

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I got a wild hair and decided to swatch for a No Frills. I can’t wait to show you the swatch, it’s heaven. (top) Lichen & Lace Marsh Mohair in Natural, (bottom) Hue Loco Spun Sock in Pop Sugar

That might not be everything, but I think I hit the highlights. This little photo trail is giving me some inpiration for getting back on the wagons.

Happy making!