Category Archives: Knit & Crochet

I’ll settle for that

Journal, Knit & Crochet

Thursday, February 5, 2015

My plan was to devote today to my final preparation for the House Concert. Since I did a bit of cleaning yesterday I took some time out this morning and finished off my Guild challenge project. It is ready to hand stitch the binding so I’ll take it with me to do at Christy’s. I would have liked to have been completely finished my quilting before leaving for Vancouver, but I’ll settle for being completely finished when I get home. Completely is really not true; I have my large Hubble quilt left. I’m looking for a large star template; my Lego quilt proved that circles were too hard, and my spirals really aren’t good enough yet. I’ll print a few copies of the Hubble photo, doodle a bit while I’m away and maybe come up with a solid plan.

Ray's HatI finished another knitting project last night – a hat for Ray. Ray normally gives himself a very close cropped haircut in the Spring. In a recent photo it looked like he had his “summer” haircut already. Elizabeth said she got new clippers for Christmas and she was testing them out before giving Gavin a haircut. I guess they were set a little too low and, once you start, you sort of have to continue. The hat looks huge. I bought the pattern in Ireland and I’m thinking we Irish have big heads!

Two Guild meetings tonight – one for the quilt show and then the regular monthly meeting. I’d better use the little bit of time I have to start packing.

Happy Birthday Kathryn

Cards, Knit & Crochet

Sunday, January 4, 2015

I’m not sure which of these items is Kathryn’s card.

Seat Belt Covers (white) and Luggage Handle Covers (blue)
Seat Belt Covers (white) and Luggage Handle Covers (blue)

Deloise and I were shopping on one of my trips to Saskatoon and she pointed out the nurse-related fabric. I picked up a fat quarter of each, not certain what they would become. On another trip (or maybe the same trip) Kathryn was looking for fabric and a pattern to make seat belt covers for a friend. She wasn’t successful in finding the right fabric, but I found a pattern and added it to my collection.

Pattern from Missouri Quilt Company
Pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company

I found a tutorial to make a tote bag out of charm squares so I decided to make one using the same nursing fabric. It was easy to make a small adjustment to end up with a bit larger bag and I had lots of fabric to cut my own charm squares.

Boot Cuffs
Boot Cuffs

None of the above items were done in time for Kathryn’s birthday but she did get these boot cuffs to open on her special day. Apparently there was much discussion and speculation concerning exactly what they might be before we had a chance to talk!

 

Christmas Recap

Journal, Knit & Crochet, Quilting

Friday, January 2, 2015

Although I didn’t make a lot of different things as gifts this year, I made a lot of the specific patterns I chose.

Taylor's Bag
Taylor’s Bag
Dylan's Bag
Dylan’s Bag
Alex & Will
Alex & Will
Gavin (left), Emma (centre), and Madison (right)
Gavin (left), Emma (centre), and Madison (right)

I started these bags in July and I can’t imagine having waited any longer. They were labour intensive (but not difficult) and I’m sure the Guild ladies didn’t think they’d ever be finished. There were times I doubted it myself. It was so worth the effort though when I saw the kids get off the plane carrying their bags.

Clockwise Taylor, Will, Dylan, Alex
Clockwise Taylor, Will, Dylan, Alex

I made socks for the grandkids that were here for Christmas. Everyone was able to get their socks on, but it was a struggle in every case. The size I made for Will and Dylan were a perfect fit for Alex and Taylor. I’ll have to go back to the drawing board and make a larger size for the older boys. Getting the right size for Elizabeth’s kids will be a challenge too, but I’ll go bigger rather than smaller.

photo-4I made about a dozen fabric baskets this year as gifts. I thought they would use up some scrap fabric and they did, but not nearly enough. I neglected to take a photo of the group before I sent them out, but Diane was good enough to send me a photo of her basket. Didn’t she put it to good use?

DylanMany of my evenings were spent crocheting this afghan for Dylan. It is a Jacob’s Ladder stitch and worked very nicely.

 

 

Super Mario Blanket

Knit & Crochet
Super Mario Blanket
Super Mario Blanket

When I visited Christy in July I took Dylan a pixelated Mario. I also took along some blue wool with a thought to perhaps starting a granny square afghan for my Tickle Trunk. When Dylan saw the blue wool he assumed I was making him a new blankie (that would be blankie #4, but who’s counting)!

Once I agreed to make him a new blankie with the wool, he started thinking he would like to have Luigi on his blankie. I knew this would be a challenge but I had the pixelated Luigi so thought it was possible. I secretly started thinking I could add Mario as well. While I was with Dylan he introduced me to the Yoshi character, and before I knew it all three were part of the blankie!