FO: Boy's Polo

 

Pattern: Boy's Polo (rav link)
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport
Needle: US 4 (US 3 for button band)

Another test-knit. Super quick and fun little sweater. I think this pattern will make a great palate for lots of different designs. I made the 18mo size as a 1st birthday gift and it seems to fit well, while still leaving a bit of room for growth.

 

Blocking with wires

Just about the second that I got those floral strips off the floor of my craft room, I busted out the blocking supplies so I could fully finish my Daybreak Shawlette. For me, this includes my Knitters Block interlocking tiles, blocking wires and pins. After getting the shawl nice and wet, then rolling it in a towel to remove excess water, I ran the wires through the edges of the shawlette (not gonna' lie--this is really tedious). This pic is crappy, but I tried to capture what I was doing, basically weaving the wire through each stitch.



For this project, I used two wires for the lower edge of the shawl and two for the top.



Then I gently pulled the wires out, making smooth arcs along the top and bottom. It only took a few pins to keep the wires in place. If this was a more severe blocking job, I would have had to use more pins, but I liked the size of the gently blocked shawl, so stuck with that.




Patience, now. Tomorrow it should be dry and ready to come off the wires. I'll write more about this project later. I really love it.

Floral log cabin blocks

I'm pretty sure that this was my first foray into log cabin piecing. It was pretty fun. I re-used some fabric that I had initially sewn together into a little tablecloth for my window sill back in NYC, when I used to get dirty dirty dirt everywhere bc the air was so icky. So I could just throw this little tablecloth thing into the washer every so often, instead of scrubbing grimy dirt off my window sill. Oops--tangent! Anyway, you can see the original item in the background of this pic of socks:



So, I pulled out my seam-ripper and got busy. Then I cut the strips into smaller strips, and 4 small squares. And a few hours later, I had those blocks--yea! I'm planning to make them into a small wall hanging for a friend's birthday that's coming up. The blocks all ended up slightly different sizes, so I'll do a bit of sashing between them--probably unbleached muslin...stay tuned!

The Circular Solution

Last time, I talked about my nifty DPN case. Today, I present my solution for the mess that was my circular needles.



This 13-tab expandable file folder from Target ($6) works just great. I do like those hanging circular needle cases, and I thought about making one, but my cat would likely be too fascinated with all those dangling needles. And let's not forget, he has a taste Addi cables--RAR! I'm still annoyed about that.



I've got all my needles in here, in their appropriate sections, sans the cases they each came in. And it folds up nicely to be tucked away into my shelf. :)

FO: DPN Case

A couple months ago, I ordered a set of double pointed needles from ebay and since then, they've been a mess in a mug. Well, no longer!



I whipped up this puppy today based on some cases I saw online. The fabric is from my stash (I used it to make a skirt a few years ago) so this project cost me $0--yea!



The flap there keeps the needles from falling out when it's all rolled up. (I still need to rinse out the blue marker.)

Today I like...

• Great tunes. Specifically, Local Natives, Miniature Tigers, and The Watson Twins.
• My new bike! I'm all smiles when I cruise around running errands.
• Homemade dishcloths. I've been making a bunch.

• The latest Masterpiece Classics show: South Riding.
• My new standing desk.

FO: Awesome Bag

I spied this bag tutorial a couple days ago and knew instantly that I had to make one! A quick glance at my fabric stash and I had the fabrics--some quilters cotton that I bought last year for a house project that went awry and the remnant from some Ikea curtains that I had to trim down to fit our living room.



I considered omitting the canvas lining called for in the pattern since the curtain fabric is about as heavy as canvas, but in the end I zipped over to JoAnns and got a bit of duck cloth (thankfully, 30% off) plus the buttons--navy for the gray side and black for the print.



The sewing went quite quickly. And with my sweet Bernina, the buttonholes were a snap. But did I ever have a dickens of a time with the buttons! Jeepers, it took me struggling through 4 sets of buttons (you sew two on at a time) before I developed a system that involved a small bamboo double pointed needle. (Side note: I was amazed at how much the duck cloth softened up once I washed it. Also amazed at how much it shrunk--I barely had enough for the project.)



With the double pointed needle there, I didn't have to stress about having the buttons too tight on the fabric and now the strap's button holes fit easily over the buttons.

Yea for a new bag for spring! And yea for the sun which actually made an appearance today!