Dear Jane A5, J4, G3, F3, A8

I went a little crazy making Dear Jane quilt blocks yesterday…

A5 Cathie’s Campfire (45/169). Note to self: PAPER piece, and save yourself the trouble!! I tried to just cut pieces the proper size and piece it and it was a mess. I had to scrap and redo half of the block to get it to fit together properly.

J4 Adelaine’s Apron Strings (46/169). After that debacle, I thought, “This one will be easier… I don’t need to paper piece…” Not true. Scrapped the whole thing as I was just being sloppy. Lesson learned for the day was to take my time and do it right the first time.

G3 Four Leaf Clover (47/169). This is one I’d started in May of 2008 and then put down. Hand appliquéd. I had the bias strip almost completely sewn, and just had to finish it and add the clover (which I already had cut out.).

F3 Buffalo Tree Hopper (48/169). Changed this one ever so slightly from the draft in the book just to make it easier to paper piece on the machine.

A8 Florence Nightingale (49/169). I managed to get this one done with just one little charm square of the blue fabric. I think I had all of maybe 1.5 sq. inches of the fabric left, but in little scraps.

F4 Old Windmill & F2 Kaleidoscope

Here are block numbers 43 and 44 completed.  Getting my quilting legs back… F4 was surprisingly difficult.  It probably didn’t help that the orange I used was only a charm square, so I was trying to make it work.  Still didn’t quite have enough and the middle square ended up being a different fabric.  It’s a little wonky around the edges (which I like to hide from the photo), but it’s good enough!

F2 is one of the ones that I’d started 3 years ago. I had all the paper pieces already traced and cut out, and some of them half sewn. I think this one was done in about the same amount of time as the first because of that and my not worrying about making a tiny bit of fabric “work.”

A2 One-Two Buckle My Shoe and Furniture with Personality

What’s this?!  A quilt block?!  For the first time in 3 1/2 years!  That’s right, boys and girls.

I’ve had a super productive week, while my in-laws were in town, no less (not that that had anything to do with it).  On Thursday, I made my way to the American Classic Marketplace, which is a huge antique mall here in the Springs.  I scored a nice bookcase for pretty cheap – it’s got a thick layer of glossy off-white paint, but it’s got curvy lines and personality – kind of shabby chic.  Last year around this time, I scored a cute bedside table (more personality) and headboard/footboard for my daughters room.  I sanded the bejesus out of the table and repainted it.

This weekend, I finally got around to finishing just the headboard. But I did get a bed frame and got it attached so that my daughters mattress is finally off the floor!

She’s looking a little crazy…

I went back to the antique mall today on a hunt for a coffee table. I found a really cute one, with personality! for cheap again… and I realized that I bought the bedside table, bed, coffee table, and an end table all from the same vendor about a year apart. I must like her taste. So this coffee table looks like a bench though. That was the first thing my husband said when I brought it in, “You bought a bench?” “No, I bought a coffee table with PERSONALITY!” The jury is out… it really does look like a bench, but it was clearly marked as a coffee table, and will be used as such. She styled it so darn well in her booth! The more I stare at it, the more I kind of love it.

All that to say… I bought a bookcase on Thursday. Which means I had all this space for books that are shoved in closets or on the tops of our other overloaded bookcases. And I have space for all my craft books now. As I went through all of them, I got an itch to sew. I have so many great quilt books! And when I was done getting all the books in place I pulled out the Dear Jane book, and all the fabrics, and my spreadsheet… I had 3 blocks already in the works, so A2 is one that I’d started and messed up. Then when I went to redo it I just got all my freezer paper pieces together and then put all of it away for 3 1/2 years! It took a good hour or two to reorganize myself again, but I have great intentions of knocking out a few of these blocks.

Tiare Shawl & Scarf

I’m very excited to finally be sharing with you my Tiare Shawl & Scarf.  This baby has been in the works for over a year, and is long overdue.  As a shawl, Tiare is triangular and worked from the top center out to the lacy edge. As a scarf, it is worked from the center out, from a provisional cast on. Both feature a simple eyelet mock cable that is quick and simple, with the beautiful corona lace scalloped edge. Options are given for both a crocheted and knitted bind off. Instructions are written and charted.

If you aren’t on Ravelry already… you should be so that you can view what will be some awesome projects.

The shawl measures 46”/117cm wide by 21”/53cm long. You can add repeats to adjust the size – each repeat would add about 3”/7.5 cm of knitting, so will require more yarn than stated.  The scarf measures 13”/33cm wide by 63”/160cm long. The length of this can also easily be adjusted as each repeat is only 1”.

Tiare is available for purchase through Ravelry for $6.

Demalangeni is on Her Way

Update 12/19: She’s available for free download now. Go get her!

After a bit of procrastination, I have the Demalangeni Shawl in the test knitting phase now.  I love this shawl for its simplicity. It is a triangular-crescent shaped shawl, worked from the bottom edge up. The lace border is worked along the full width of the shawl, and then short rows are used to fill in the body with a simple textured stitch that resembles mock cables.

This one was worked in Yarn Love Elizabeth Bennet in Shiny Penny. This yarn really looks like shiny new pennies in person, and is a dream to work with.  I hope to have the pattern ready and available by mid-December.  Last minute Christmas gift knitting, anyone?!

Aidez Progress

So remember how I was all, “I’m gonna work on making sweaters!” Yeah, kind of hasn’t happened yet. I keep getting distracted by sock yarn and shawls. It’s a serious problem.

But I did join the Aidez KAL (in the Selfish Knitting Sweater KAL group on Ravelry) last month in hopes of getting some more, if not all, done on that one.  This week is our catch up week.  The group is doing the sweater as one piece, so they are now done with the fronts up to the pits, and the whole back.  I now have done one sleeve, and I finished the back last night.  Yay!  It really does go fast, it’s just a matter of doing it.  Yesterday I only had 2 of those diamonds done on the back, so I literally knit the other half in one afternoon.

Timbali

I am very excited to show off my latest design, Timbali, which is included in the Twist Collective Winter 2011 issue! I am quite honored to not only be in Twist, but to have my name included among so many other wonderful designers.

Photo courtesy of Twist Collective and Jamie Dixon

Photo courtesy of Twist Collective and Jamie Dixon

My vision for Timbali was as a stole with an intricate lace center square. I love lace, especially anything that resembles blooms and leaves.  When I knit these triangle panels together in a square I was so pleased with the delicate curving lines it created, due to the different types of increases used along the “spines.”

My swatches:

Finished Product

In fact, I loved this lace so much that I decided there needed to be a triangular shawl to show it off as well.

Maui Salad

I had this salad while in Maui, which at first did not seem like it would be that impressive. It was just romaine with some dressing, some fruit salsa, and a grilled chicken breast. But I swear it got better as I ate. And though at first glance I thought I’d never finish such a huge salad, I ended up scarfing down the whole thing.

So tonight I made a pretty good duplicate. But I ate it so fast, I don’t have a picture!

Start with some nice crisp romaine lettuce. Lightly dress the salad with Creamy Oriental Salad Dressing. Can I just say I’ve been looking for this very salad dressing in bottled form forever?! (Ok, only since I was a server about a decade ago…) Who knew it was so easy to make at home?

Throw a big spoonful of pineapple salsa on top of that. I used this recipe, which turned out great. I also had some peaches and strawberries on hand, so those got tossed in as well.

Cook yourself a chicken breast. Or use some shredded rotisserie chicken. I just baked one which I’d let marinade in the dressing for 30 minutes. Threw it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet, for easy clean up.

Yum!  Super tasty, bright, fresh salad.

Maui

I just got back yesterday from my 10 year wedding anniversary Maui trip.  It was fantastic, and I’m trying not to be depressed by the realities of every day life now!!

Here are a few highlights:
The view from our 10th floor balcony, and Ka’anapali Beach.

We drove the infamous Road to Hana with the purpose of hiking the Pipiwai Trail. The trail was fun and beautiful and made the drive mostly worth it (it’s just scary and slow).

We had a day on boats. One boat out to a sub, then a sunset “dinner cruise”.

We went to the obligatory Luau.

Snorkeling… sorry, no underwater camera. But aren’t I cute? There was a great snorkel spot just 100 yards up the beach from our hotel.

I got to open an oyster with a pearl inside and gained a pretty piece of jewelry. On the down side, the husband lost his wedding ring in the Pacific Ocean… Booooo!!

And yes, I’ll be missing the daily breakfast buffet, other yummy food, and the maid service, of course.

And I’m Back… again

I got my computer back today.  It’s like brand spankin’ new!  Apple basically replaced the entire exterior of my MacBook at no cost to me… though, they said it’s a “one time, complimentary” thing.  They obviously don’t want to admit that this white plastic stuff is a joke.  I’ve had this Mac for not quite 2 years, and I’m planning on being extra careful now, but not holding my breath that I’ll not end up with more cracks.  And seriously, how careful do you need to be with a computer that stays at home and is only used on your lap?!

So to reward Apple for their mediocre customer service (ie. customers don’t like being told they are liars that don’t properly handle computers….), I bought an iPad.  I’ve wanted one for a few months, and since I was without my computer for a week, well, yeah.

In knitting news, I heard back from Knitty.  I didn’t make it in the Deep Fall issue, but they are holding on to my design for consideration in the Winter issue.  The wait might seriously kill me.  I’m so excited about this design… my test knitters loved it, and I actually completed the prototype almost a year ago!  This baby is ready to be born.