Category: sewing

One to go.

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I’m starting to see the light at the end of the make nine tunnel. I did a fair amount of sewing in late August and early September, and now I’ve got a few new garments to show for it.

First up, is the Stasia Tee. I had hoped to make the dress but I just didn’t have enough fabric in stash. So I decided to practice up on my knit sewing with the tee version. It comes out pretty cute.

This was my first version. I sewed a straight size 18 with a cap sleeve and no adjustments. This fabric is deep stash remnant of unknown origin and I do not recommend! It was a beast to sew, my thread broke constantly. I changed needles, tried different types of thread, all kinds of things. After sewing a few other knit garments, I am fairly confident that the fabric was the issue. This is number 7 of my make nine, and I’ve finally caved and purchased fabric to try out the dress version, hopefully you’ll see that soon.

And my second version. Another unknown cut of fabric, purchased in the ago, and much nicer to sew. Same size, no fit adjustments other than to shorten the sleeve. My pattern piece was labeled as 3/4 sleeve but it was quite long, so I shortened by 4″ before hemming the cuff. I thought that the neckline on this was going to be really low but it turned out just right. By the way, this is the Stasia Dress & Tee pattern by Sew Liberated. The pattern is really great, very easy to sew.

Finally, i have made a Blackwood Cardigan, a staple pattern in the sewing world by Helen’s Closet. I have wanted to make this for years and years. I actually made my sister-in-law a pretty bad version of this many years ago – sorry Madelyn! But now we’ve done a bit better. The fabric here is from JoAnn’s back in 2021, purchased to go with my ill-fated purple Hinterland. I cut a 14 graded out to an 18 at the hip and I think it works pretty well. I am very pleased with how straight the front hangs without pulling around the hip. This cozy cardigan is number 8 of my make nine and don’t you worry, I’ve already made another one! I just haven’t gotten a good picture of yet, though you can see it here in this fancy car selfie:

And finally, I decided to try the in-seam pocket version of the Gypsum Skirt by Sew Liberated. I made it up in this cotton poplin from Blackbird Fabrics and let me tell you – it is a lovely skirt to wear. The fabric is the perfect weight for a cotton skirt.

For this one, I read through the pattern notes and realized that it directs you to pick a size based on your hip and then use the elastic length to get the waist size you want. I went up from the 16 to a 20 and based on my experience with the previous Gypsum, I went with about 2″ of negative ease in the elastic length. The fit here is just right. Oh, one last change, I did a narrow rolled hem rather than the turn and turn method the pattern calls for. I just felt like I needed that last inch of on the skirt.

And there you have it. That’s number 7 and 8 of my make nine plus some duplicates and all from stash fabrics! I’ve started my last make nine project – a handknit cardigan – and I’m about to split for the sleeves. Right now it just looks like a lump all bunched up on the needles, but I’ll share some progress on it soon. I am really pleased at how all of this coming out. You know I love a good stack of makes and this is going to be an especially good one, I think.

Happy making!

Hinterland, revised.

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It’s been a while since I actually made a dress and it didn’t actually go all that well. A couple of years ago, I made a Hinterland and…

Still can’t believe I caught a cicada on my dress in this one, but that’s not really the point here. Bottom line: I’ve only worn this dress once or twice. It’s been hanging in my closet the whole time and I never reach for it. I’ve never gotten Hinterland out of my mind though, I even put it on my make nine list for this year.

I knew it was coming and so this last week, I decided to finally dig in and try to figure out Hinterland. I started with the less than happy task of trying on the old one to try and diagnose the issues.

Ok, maybe I lied about it hanging in my closet. Clearly I meant to say it’s been balled up on the top shelf. Putting this on, the fit wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting. The biggest thing was the tightness across the bust and in the sleeve/shoulder. It doesn’t look so bad in the picture, but the buttons definitely pull and look pretty bad if I lift my arms. First idea, more room in the bust. I even talked about the sleeve cap in the first blog post, so that’s another issue. Second idea, more room in the shoulder/bicep. The third is a little less obvious but something that nagged at me immediately is the skirt. I’m just more drawn to more swish. I’ve seen the designer in a version where she just made a bigger, more gathered skirt – boom, idea three.

Beyond that, this just isn’t a great quality make. I tried to shortcut the neck binding and it was a five alarm disaster. There was cutting involved with the repair and I’m sure that doesn’t help the bodice fit in the end.

Bodice muslin! This fabric is a little more stiff than what I’m using, but I didn’t have enough scraps in anything similar, so here we are. I also havent’ sewed darts in a million years, so this is not the best try. All that aside, here we are with a full bust adjustment, sleeveless, no-placket version. I’m hoping this will solve the bust and bicep issues – in any future sleeved versions, I’ll probably explore a bicep adjustment. I also wanted a simple look on this one, so no buttons.

I’ve really enjoyed the process with this dress. I’ve done a little bit most nights this week and then finished it up this afternoon. And, drum roll please… Volia!

I given you Hinterland, version 2. This is more like it. I can’t wait to wear this all summer and fall long. It’s so drapy and comfy right now and I think it will look great with a sweater under or under it.

I think I’ll still futz with the bodice – maybe I just need to raise the arm scythe a little? Everything I make shows my bra and I have to wear a tank underneath. Anyway, I can’t complain, I feel soooo me in this.

So details – my current measurements are 41″ – 35″ – 47″ and I cut a 14. I did a 1″ FBA , added 2 inches to the skirt length, and added 16″ total to the skirt width. I was looking for a much more gathered version and that did it. The fabric is from Blackbird Fabrics, the same linen / rayon blend I used for my Metamorphic Dress and Gypsum Skirt; this colorway is called cactus. This is number 6 of my make 9 for the year and another year of stash project.

Last but not least, I want to give a huge shoutout to my darlin Joshua – the best FO photographer around. You make your old mom with no makeup and dirty hair feel great.

Happy making!

Sweet summer time.

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I have sat down to write this post so many times and just keep getting distracted. This last month has been a bit of a whirlwind with travel all over and not so much making. I’ve got a surprising number WIPs going but I don’t think there are any finished objects to be found here.

Well, just kidding, but this is it – I finished these so long ago they hardly seem to count. These were done on July 8, before I even started my Canopy Shawl. They’re cute though, I do love speckled sock. The yarn here is Hobbitses by A Homespun House.

Ok, ok, but these are all things I forgot or wasn’t able to show yet – like these socks. I finished them in June, but they were Mom’s birthday socks so they stayed secret until I got to visit her. This is Rhubarb Pie by Woolberry Fiber Co., gifted to me by my dear friend Hannah an untold number of years ago.

Speaking of visiting my mom, you may have seen that was in NC for a bit to see family and hang out with my brand new nephew and I got to see my mom:

And we got to go see my brother and sister-in-law play:

You should really check them out if you’re in Western North Carolina – Crystal and Judge are a singer-songwriter duo that will warm your heart and knock your (handknit) socks off! After that, we headed back down the mountain to visit with the new little family.

We had some time to kill so we piddled around Winston Salem, went to some gardens, the library, and even a beautiful downtown church. Judge picked up a 50 cent copy of Jurassic Park for me on the condition that I read it – I devoured it in about 4 days. Good pick.

On the trip I was working on these socks for Judge – I started them and they were too narrow, so now I’m trying a different pattern. This is the DRK Everyday Socks by Andrea Mowry and I’m pretty pleased. Only mildly worried that they’re too long.

Before I even left on that trip, I’d gotten to a pause point on my No Frills sweater. I ordered a beautiful skein of yarn from Stress Knits that seems like it will be perfect at the next stripe, so I’m waiting for that order to land. On the plus side, I’ll split for the sleeves on that next stripe! Can’t wait to get back to this one.

I cast these on for concert and baby-waiting knitting and I’ve been slowly making some progress here and there. This is some yarn from Lichen and Lace that I ordered a few years ago.

In other news, I had a birthday! The kids and I took the train up to Boston for a concert and I cast on some birthday socks. I really like the yarn, but these are probably on the back burner for a while in the face of my other sock WIPs.

We had a great night out and took the train back down the next day. Other than that, I decided to do a little testing of the Stasia dress and tee pattern for my make 9.

This is a very poorly lit picture of the unfinished tee – it’s still not finished a couple of weeks later. I have been struggling with my twin needle and I think I’ve figured out the problem. Fingers crossed this will be done soon.

Well there you have it, much of what’s been happening over here in knit1, make2 land. I’m itching to get into more garment sewing and hopefully my twin needle will be solved via mail delivery today. Until then, we’re just hanging out.

Happy making!

Make four.

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Buckle up friends, it’s going to be a long one. I’ve not shared my make nine progress so far so that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I’ve completed 4 of my nine projects – 2 sewing and 2 knit – and I’m here to tell you all about them.

The first project I started was the Zelda Crop by Olga Putano. This was a really enjoyable pattern; perhaps except for the 3 color rows, but there aren’t too many.

I’ve loved this pattern from the first moment I saw it and I’m so glad I finally gave it a go. It is very well written, with clear charts and instructions. I used Stress Knits yarn in Dusk (light pink), Mountain Mama (dark green), and Eucalyptus (light green).

I knit a size 3 and my bust measurement is currently 41.5″. That should leave me with nearly 0 positive ease but I’ve noticed that my gauge is teensy bit looser working on a sweater than when I swatch. I usually pick a size down from recommended or something fairly close to my measurement. I’m very pleased with the fit overall.

The one thing I agonized over was the length. No shade on the pattern, I am just quite short waisted. My natural waist and the bottom of my bra are best friends and are surprisingly close. I usually shorten all my sweaters by a few inches and planned to do just that here. I hadn’t really thought through how that might work or not work with the color work.

Honestly, this is a hair longer than I had wanted but it wound up ok. I knit the body (the plain knitting part) to 3.5″ – a full 5″ shorter than called for in the pattern! Definitely something to think about in the future for sweaters with a band of colorwork or patterning at the bottom hem – remember this for later. I’m wearing it here with one of my favorite garments I’ve ever made, this cute little chambray Estuary Skirt (pattern by Sew Liberated).

Next up, I made the Metamorphic Dress by Sew Liberated.

I used two colors of this amazing linen/rayon blend from Blackbird Fabrics. I had in stash 5 meters of the lighter purple, Wisteria, and two remnant cuts of the darker color, Deep Mauve, 1.2 m and 0.9 m. This is just enough of the dark and way too much of the light to make the dress so I decided to try to get a skirt out of it as well.

I was able to get everything cut out, but I did have to modify a bit and add a seam to the back bodice of both sides of the dress. Small price to pay to use up basically every bit of all three cuts.

Anyway, this dress is amazingly comfortable. I cut a straight size 16 and it’s quite a bit too big. I think I need to go down a size and futz with the shoulder and arm holes.

I do plan on making this again sometime, I really like the look and versatility of the two sides.

The skirt I cut was the Gypsum Skirt, also by Sew Liberated, paired here with my brand new Mount Pleasant Tee:

First, the skirt. I used the same linen/rayon in Wisteria as the Metamorphic dress above. I cut a straight 16 and I really like it; the length is perfection. I do think I could have gone a bit shorter on the elastic, it’s pretty loose at my waist but still pretty comfy. Additionally, I need to work on the waistband sewing itself. I don’t know if it was the fabric or my general lack of patience, but it’s not the best. It’s uneven in some places and not evenly gathered all the way around.

Now, onto the top. This is a new favorite, I think.

This is the Mount Pleasant Tee by Megan Nodecker. I used yarn from Backyard Fiber Works in the Shell colorway (they don’t dye yarn anymore). I knit a size L and the fit is amazing. Again, I agonized over the length. This one is knit from the bottom up, so it’s not really possible to try on and truly judge, at least for me. I based my guesstimate off of how the Zelda Crop fits. I knit it about 2 inches shorter than called for and also decreased the shoulder length by a half inch. I was worried that it would be too short, but it’s pretty dead on.

Let’s pause for a second and talk crop tops. I never wore crop tops when I was a teenager and having a baby didn’t add to my tummy confidence. I’m working on that. I have played many body shaming and age related internal scripts to myself over the last 20 years and I’m ready to shut that down. My tummy deserves it’s moment in the sun.

So here it is, my first ever crop top and I’m in love. This little tee is so soft and comfy – I’ll definitely make more of this pattern. I sandbagged a bit on it because I had some gift knitting and major indecision over the length but otherwise it was a super quick knit.

All in all, this is a great start to my make nine and I think these are all good wardrobe pieces. Happy to have used some serious stash and made up some patterns I’ve had in my mental queue for years.

Happy making!

Wardrobe dreams.

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From time to time, I find myself looking back over a particular year of making. Something will spark my memory or interest and I’ll reread the blog or scroll through my instagram grid and reminisce. I found myself deep in the long ago of 2018 Cortney’s making adventures the other day and came across my finished Make Nine from that year. There’s just something about a little grid of completed projects that is so satisfying.

The idea got to rolling around in my head and I pondered doing one this year. Of course it would all need to come from stash but I’m not really hurting on that front. In all of this mulling over I had the thought that nine items could be a bit of a mini-capsule wardrobe. I’ve got some patterns in my library that have been waiting for me to try them out as well, so… I went stash diving, as one does.

I started with a pretty big initial pull and edited from there (something I am learning in quilting). I pulled everything in my apparel fabric stash that went in this mauve, purple, olive, mustard palette and that felt right together. By that I mean, the fabrics themselves are all soft knits and sturdy but drapy wovens – no fluid challis here. The yarns came from sweater and shawl quantities that seemed to work with these fabrics.

I arranged and futzed and thought and looked at patterns and thought some more and then, after one terrifying moment where I considered doing two make nines, I made some decisions. The plan:

Margot (cardigan) by Along Avec Anna in Plies and Hellhounds (old stash from before her business name change) Rose Gold

Zelda Crop by Olga Putano Designs in Stress Knits Yarn in (l-r) Mountain Mama, Eucalyptus, and Dusk

Mount Pleasant by Megan Nodecker in Backyard Fiberworks in Prairie (I don’t think they’re dying anymore)

Canopy by Melody Hoffman in Woolfolk in Gold

Blackwood Cardigan by Helen’s Closet in a dusky purple possibly terry knit? picked up at JoAnn’s a few years ago

Hinterland Dress by Sew Liberated in a 30/70 linen viscose blend from Blackbird Fabrics in “Olive”

Metamorphic Dress by Sew Liberated in a 30/70 linen viscose blend from Blackbird Fabrics in “Dark Mauve” and “Wysteria”

Gypsum Skirt by Sew Liberated in a 30/70 linen viscose blend from Blackbird Fabrics in “Wysteria” (planned for leftovers from Metamorphic Dress)

Stasia Dress / Tee by Sew Liberated – here’s we’re things get a little hinky – This pattern has a tee option and a dress option, I want to do both so I’ll likely start with the tee as a bit of a muslin/test case and then go on to the dress. I’ve got a handful of stretchy knits from all over the place so if I like the pattern, I might make multiples.

And there you have it! Nine projects to make one dreamy, cozy wardrobe of layered dreams. I’ve already started my first project! After my Pink Fizz, I was just itching to start another sweater so I did! This is my Zelda Crop – so pretty already!

Happy making!

Stop and smell the… projects?

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The blog and I have a complicated relationship. I love her, she’s a great listener when I feel like rambling and she’s the best at reminiscing. We just don’t hang out as much as we used to. Back when we first got together, we wrote together often and it felt great. Over the years I feel like I’ve lost my direction and wind up just dumping a bunch of FO photos on her every few months. This is something I’d like to focus on in 2023 – reflecting and documenting the process and not just the finished projects. It honestly sounds a bit silly but I really enjoy going back and reading through old posts. This is about as close to journaling as I’ve ever gotten and I want a bit more of it.

As we’re winding down (careening toward, more like) the end of the year, I’ve got a few posts planned to get you, me, and the blog all caught up and wrapped up. If you’ve been here before, dear reader, then you know as well I do that there’s a photo dump or two on the way. Let’s get to it.

First up in sock news, these were born out of frustration over the large number of OG socks that I need to darn. I’ll be doing some mending this winter but in the meantime, these squishy worsted weight socks are a bright and warm treat for my feet. I used Summer Lee’s Thicksgiving Socks pattern and the yarn is Knit Picks Felici Worsted in the Aquarium colorway.

While we were on Thanksgiving holiday, I cast on cuffs for advent socks. I used Stressknits yarn in the My Jam colorway, leftover from socks I knit a while ago, for mine. Mom’s cuffs are leftovers from my Zweig Sweater (scroll down for that one) – it’s the Endless Ocean colorway from Woolberry Fiber Co.

Since then, I started strong but got a bit behind. Mom’s are caught up to yesterday but I’m planning to finish mine over our Christmas holiday trip. I’m really digging the contrast colors with the fun stripes. This is the The Cozy Knitter 2022 24-Stripe Advent Skein. It comes in two 50g skeins and I split those in half to have 4 little balls of ~25g and 24 stripes each so that I can use up every milligram of this yarn.

Ta-da! You guys. This outfit is my dream. I’m so glad I went for it this fall. I saw a post on instagram with this general vibe – floral skirt, colorwork yoked sweater, tights, handknit socks, boots and was just in love. I had the yarn and fabric in stash and I was off to the races.

Sweater: Zweig by Caitlyn Hunter in (main) Endless Ocean colorway by Woolberry Fiber Co. and (contrast) Glacier colorway by Farmhaus Fibers. I wanted a more fitted garment than the oversize look in the original pattern, shocker, I know. My bust measures at 40.5″I knit the size 3 (40″). I also omitted the X pattern, knit the body 2″ shorter than called for, and added sleeve decreases in. Full modification details are over on my project page.

Skirt: Estuary Skirt by Sew Liberated. The fabric is a printed cotton poplin, purchased from Blackbird Fabrics. I cut straight size 16 but cut the back waistband elastic to the size 18 length. I just wanted a softer, easier wear than my first one. I think I prefer the longer elastic but may split the difference in my next one – and there will definitely be a next one. This skirt is amazing.

Other outfit pieces:
– Tights – Snag Tights which I highly recommend. Proportionally, most of me is in my legs and butt, and finding good hose and tights has always been a problem. Not only do these fit but they are actually opaque! Miracles
– Socks – knit earlier this year, Stressknits yarn in the Sunflower colorway
– Boots – I finally took the plunge and went for some real boots. These are the Captain from Thursday Boot Company in Walnut – I’ve had them for about 6 weeks now and just love them.

I finished before we left for Thanksgiving and this was my outfit for the big turkey day – even though it was a little warmer than expected down in North Carolina. This outfit was one of those times, rare for me, where I truly felt like myself. Expect more skirts and sweaters in this space.

It warmed my heart to get to spend some time with our families. 2022 has been a tough year and little things like a walk with my SILs just filled my cup. Plus, check out all that knitwear!

Once I finished those advent sock cuffs, I dove into my Pink Fizz sweater. I cast this one on right after Christmas in 2020 and it’s been mostly languishing since. I got a lot done on our Thanksgiving trip and right and got it to this point – split for the yoke and a few inches up the front panel. I had a lot of quilts to finish this month, plus the advent socks, plus some major personal stuff to focus on. This is on deck once the advent socks and quilts are done.

Speaking of quilt binding, at the beginning of December I had six quilts to bind. I’m now down to only two left! Cosi really bemoans the loss of this fluffy stack on the cutting table.

This beauty will get her own full post but I had to share a sneak peek. Granny’s Garden is done!

Three of the quilts I finished are gifts, so they’ll need to wait for their time in the sun. I’m currently working on finishing my Split Nine Patch quilt from yore.

Finally, and this is what I’m talking about when I’m a little discombobulated, my Exploration Station is done. I finished this shawl on August 28 and I just wove in the ends and blocked it a few weeks ago. Mom and I both cast these on back in June on our vacation. I used Red Stag Fibres Highland Fingering in Great Hall (dark pink) and Castle Suri in Gilded (gold), Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok Light in Quartz Crystal (light pink), and Hedgehog Fibers Kidsilk Lace in Teacup (white/cream). This pattern was honestly one of the most enjoyable knits I can recall. I might just knit another one.

I purchased the Red Stag Fibres and the Blue Sky Fibers yarn at A Likely Yarn in Abingdon, VA. If you are ever that way, they’ve got some fun local finds and the people are just so sweet. If southwest Virginia isn’t in your plans, they have just started an online store. That Hedgehog mohair was some deep stash that I dug out at home.

Happy Wednesday from my corner of the world to yours, friends.

Happy making!

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!

Because of course I did.

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Hi friends, it’s been a while. February felt like a bit of a blur – I always feel like I’m going to hunker down and get a lot done in February, but it doesn’t always pan out. This year, I’ve been making slow and steady progress on lots of things (most of them WIPs). Once I finished the Granny’s Garden quilt – it felt like a whole new world had opened up! First off, I didn’t have much to go so I just powered through the socks I had on the needles.

They turned out pretty cute! These socks are plain old vanilla, my regular go to. The yarn is Opal in the Juniper Height (9851) colorway. They’re cute and comfy. I cast these on back in October so it’s nice to have them finished. They are WIP 5/20 for my year of wips.

I finished those right before I took a quick flight down to NC to go to a concert with my brother and sister-in-law. I was only there for about 22 hours, but I knew the flights would need a sock. I wasn’t really ready to take a blanket or cross stitch, so I just had to pick out yarn for a new sock cast on.

I picked Stress Knits yarn in the Sunflower colorway because the yarn was wound up (can’t remember why) and I thought socks in this color will just be amazing. I spent that day with the sibs in Charlotte where we wound up checking out the NASCAR museum first…

and then hit the concert at the end of the day…

I had such a good time just escaping for a day to hang out with these two. I was up the next morning at 5 to catch the plane home, so I didn’t knit quite so much as usual. This sock is tucked back away waiting for next weekend – my first work trip in two years!

After all of this, I was tooling around my sewing room, putting away some scraps when I suddenly came across a plastic baggie labled, you guesed it, “projects.” Luckily there was just one in there, but still…

This isn’t too bad, just a wee clamshell panel. I fancy I’ll do a bit better on it now that I’ve got so much more applique experience under my belt, but needle turn is still a bit of magic to me. I started this project back in 2019 and this makes 21 total projects on the list. I really really think that’s it.

With this project added, I saw I have 10 hand projects (hand-sewing, knitting, and crochet) on the list and 10 months left. Not too bad, just need to finish one a month and I’ll be golden. I decided to pull out a cross stitch project for March.

And this is my progress to date. I’ve added the sheep, barn, and grass so far. It’s slower going than I expected, but that’s the way it goes. This is a pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. I started this back in 2017 – I spent a solid 6 or 7 months enamoured with cross stitch and then never picked it up again. I’m not in love with the process, but I’m finding my rhythm.

At the sewing machine, I’ve been working on catching up with my Avonlea quilt. I’ve completed January and am working on February now. These four blocks are the very center of the quilt. I just love how log cabin blocks come together.

And then… I saw some quilters on instagram talking about pulling out their Betsy stashes and so I just had to pull mine…

It’s so pretty. Y’all know I have a love affair with the Betsy pattern by Liberty. Last year, I made a Betsy mini quilt last year and so when Bec of Sew.Be put out the idea of a Betsy nine patch quilt, I just haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Going through my stash, I pulled out a few solid pink fabrics that I thought might work for the background.

After a lot of hemming and hawing, I went with the middle color here. The sewalong aims to make four blocks a week. I’m starting with two blocks from each fabric and the results are pretty snazzy.

Well that’s it for now. How long do you think it will be before I discover another latent WIP? Start another project? Inspiration seems to be everywhere, year in and year out, so I’m not mad.

#yearofwips projects finished: 5 of 21

Happy making!

Granny’s Garden.

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Is this my Everest? Perhaps. It feels like I’ve slayed the beast.

Cosi feels the same way, we’ve been revelling in our victory. My Granny’s Garden quilt top is finished.

Can you believe it? Two and a half years in the making, a solid 60 hours of prep, and probably around 150 hours of hand sewing – this was a lot of work but the so very worth it. I just love it.

This was an insta-love pattern for me. The pattern and all the fabrics are by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet. This is called Granny’s Garden and I used the full quilt kit with all fabrics from Lori’s Granny Chic line. I hand appliqued all the flowers and the scalloped border. I used Lori’s suggested interfaced applique technique – you can read all her advice on her blog. I had never never never appliqued a thing when I started this project. I learned a lot and this method really did work well. My one gripe is that prep took a long long time – but sometimes that’s just the way.

The execution took some time, but once I buckled down and focused primarily on prepping in the mornings before work and appliquing in the evenings after supper it just started to flow. It took the better part of six weeks once I got rolling again this year. It’s finish 4/20 for my year of WIPs and what a finish it is! I’m shipping it off for quilting this week. I had toyed around with thoughts of machine or hand quilting it myself, but y’all – this sucker is heavy.

I love you, Granny’s Garden.

#yearofwips projects finished: 4 of 20

Happy making!

Happy Year of WIPs!

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In typical style, I’ve been brainstorming lately about what my new year should be. My 2021 year of minis got a bit derailed by moving and all and I still have those big projects I wanted to finish. I was chatting with my SILs about it the other day and we went down to take a tour of the craft room and some of my WIPs. I wound up having a bit of a moon over all the bits and pieces laying around so yesterday afternoon, I made a list.

That, friends, is the current list of all my works in progress, plus my upcoming block of the month or club projects. Take a deep breath with me. Some things are very close to finished – quilt binding or a hat, for example. Some, not so much – I’m looking at you, applique. Let’s take a look at the list in another way…

Wowzers. Thats a big pile. That is a total of 18 current projects: 6 quilts, 1 crochet blanket, 7 knitting projects, and 4 cross stitches. Oh that’s right, I said cross stitch. My oldest unfinished project dates back to pre-blog times in 2015.

I think I’ll pull out the old project pictures and their history as I get to each project, but I couldn’t help myself from sharing this throw back. That’s my sweet old Twiggy, she was such a good kitty.

Perhaps you’ve guessed by now, but my 2022 goal is to turn that big ole pile of WIPs into a pile of FOs. Let’s take a quick look at what that would look like:
Quilts: The finished tops I want to turn into quilts, bound and finished. The quilt tops that are still in progress, I just want to finish the top and have it ready to go out for long-arm quilting.
Knitting/Crochet: Finished, ends woven in, blocked as needed and done.
Cross Stitch: Completed and ready for framing.

A wee stretch goal would be to finish the year with only projects that need outside help for finishing (quilting or framing), which means keeping up with the two club / block-of-the-months projects I have planned. Since this is a tall, tall order I’m trying to not start anything new for quite a while (except socks, of course). I’m really excited.

Well here we go friends, my Year of WIPs starts today. I’ve got a lasagna in the oven and some cozy knitting just waiting. The supervisor even told me that he’s ready to get to work in the sewing room.

Happy making!