What happens when I’m left alone with my new toy

On Friday I had the extreme joy of picking up my new favorite toy:

It’s a Pfaff Select 3.0 bought from the Button Box Quilt Shop where I take my quilting class.

3 days later I had accomplished the following:

A finished quilt top for my quilting class

A pair of coasters that just needed assembling

Another box bag with Heather Bailey Freshcut fabric. This one didn’t come half as nice as the other one. It’s extremely lop sided although you can’t really tell from this picture

And last but not least an apron for a friend’s b’day. I followed the Sew Betty apron tutorial and used Alexander Henry Apples and Pears fabric from Lucky Kaeru Fabric & Supplies

Front

Back

If you’re interested in a review of the pattern just let me know in the comments.

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Don’t forget! My 3 favorite things contest is ending tomorrow night at midnight. You’ve got one more day to participate!

Anticipating Project Spectrum’s greens

I know that I’m a few days early for the start of Project Spectrum’s Earth Element but I thought it would be a great introduction to my latest single sock : )

This is a Simply Cables sock from the Sockamania KAL in Farmhouse Fannie’s Fingering in Caribbean. I added a picot cuff to the top-down pattern and a short-row heel as I didn’t want to interfere with the striping of the yarn. I really love how the sock came out and look forward to knitting the other one.

To continue on the green theme here’s a picture of some scrappy log cabin coasters I made a couple of weeks ago.

I started with some charm squares and just added strips of random scraps and squares I had in a yellow and green color scheme. They came out a bit wonky but I quite like them nonetheless. I look forward to making more of these and bigger log cabin projects.

The coasters also match this roving I got in a trade on Ravelry:

It’s 8 ounces of Creatively Dyed Yarn Merino Wool Top in cool greens, yellows and reds. I think it might be a great roving to practice my Navajo plying skills on…

I love all these greens, they remind me that within the next few weeks the grass will be turning green again and that the trees will start getting the pretty green glow of new leaves. I’m really about done with winter!

Sweet Treat Survey for Special Swap

Let’s talk about sweets today!

1. What were your three favorite treats in your Halloween bag?
I’ve never really celebrated Halloween but I would have to say that my favorite treats would be Peanut M&Ms, Twix and Skor bars.

2. What were the three treats that you would trade away?
I guess I would trade away any kind of peppermint patty, peanut butter cups or Hersey’s chocolate.

3. Do you bake?
Yes, yes!

4. Do you order dessert in a restaurant? If so, what is your favorite dessert?
I love the molten chocolate cakes! Especially Finale‘s Molten Chocolate.

5. Tell me about your favorite Candy-colored yarns, and what candy are they inspired from?
This yarn is Sunshine Yarns in Mocha. I just love the chocolatey color, it makes me want to eat chocolate!

6. When you knit a special “icing on the cake” accessory for your outfit, would you knit …… socks, a scarf, a hat or a bag?
Socks of course!

7. Describe the perfect ice cream sundae.
Soft serve vanilla ice-cream, warm chocolate brownies and lots of warm chocolate syrup.

8. Are there any knitting treats that you would love to add to your collection?
A book you would like for your library?
I’d love the Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes or the book Folk Socks by Nancy Bush

A knitting gadget for your notions bag?
I would love to try out the Harmony dpns from Knit Picks… I especially would like the 2.5mm : )

A sweet yarn?
I would love some handspun sock yarn, because I’m still quite far from being able to spin my own!

Roving that looks like Cotton Candy

9. Think about the best homemade dessert from Mom or Grandma. Do you have the recipe to share? I don’t really have a recipe to share but when I was a kid my grandma would pick raspberries from her garden and serve it with freshly whipped cream and sugar. That was really the best!

10. What local or regional treats would you insist your swap partner try if she visited your town? According to a recent Family Guy episode (I don’t watch that show but DH does) there is a Twinkie factory in Natick, the town next door. Other than that I would really suggest a trip to the local above-mentioned Finale, they do have the best desserts.

Not a Finale dessert but a Chocolate Trifle I make sometimes. It feels like you’re eating 3 tons of chocolate but it’s so good!

11. Cupcakes….talk amongst yourselves.
I’m not sure what this question means but I’ll assume it’s asking me what I think about cupcakes… Lynne, let me know if I’m wrong! I like cupcakes, especially chocolate cupcakes! I don’t particularly enjoy frosting so I like my cupcakes plain!

Etsy Friday

I’ve been buying lots of fabrics lately, mostly from etsy. I’ve gotten some great stuff from several vendors and am really pleased with what I’ve gotten.

If you’re not interested in fabrics, you’ll just have to scroll down to the bottom where I’ll show you a picture of my latest sock in progress!

Here are my latest purchases:

From Bee Square Fabrics:

A fat quarter bundle with fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Aviary collection and from Kaffe Fassett’s Paperweight collection. The lower picture is 2 fat quarters from Alexander Henry’s Aviary collection.

I’ve always loved the woodgrain print fabrics and decided that I needed one in every color! The brown and the yellow woodgrain come from Caty Lou Quilts and the others are from Craft-O-Rama.

I also like some whimsy! A mushroom Japanese print by Fabric Supply who also gave these cuties. Lower down you’ll see a Russian Dolls and Gnomes fabrics by Heather Ross from Starlit Nest.

And, finally, my latest obsession, Tina Givens Zazu Collection also provided by Starlit Nest.

There’s more here and here .

I really can’t wait for my new sewing machine to get here so that I can start sewing all these beauties!

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For those who’ve read this far to see some knitting, thank you. As promised here is my latest sock in progress.

For this sock I am using the Simply Cables pattern from the Sockamania KAL. The yarn I am using is Farmhouse Fannie’s Fingering a new sock yarn coming soon to yarn4socks. This yarn is really beautiful. It’s a merino/nylon blend but it feels silky and is not “hairy” like some other merino/nylon blend I’ve used. I’m really loving knitting with it and it’s coming out really good in this pattern. I’ve got one repeat left to do before I can start the heel, maybe I’ll even have it done before the end of the month!

Yes, I still knit

I still do knit sometimes, don’t worry. I even finished a pair of socks this week! I finally finished the Ripples socks from November’s Sockamania pattern. They’re intended for my friend Kelly, I hope they fit her!

They might be a bit tight around the ankles but I gave them a good soak and I think they might have stretched out a bit. I wont know for a few weeks if they do fit her as I need to mail her the socks and she’s on vacation at the moment.

I also finished another sock, my first Red Dwaf sock in HandMaiden Casbah Sangria. The pattern really was a lot of fun and I had them knit in no time at all.

I started knitting again on my other Red Dwarf sock, the one in Schaefer Lola. I’ve reached the leg now and I should have it done in a few days.

This sock is destined for my May Day Sock Swap pal. I hope she likes the color!

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After spending more time sewing on my sewing machine, I realized that it really didn’t work very well and that I needed to buy myself another one. I am in the process of destashing quite a bit of yarn to pay for it. I have some new yarns listed on my destash page . Let me know if something strikes your fancy!

Spinning, oops, Sewing Monday

Today I’ve got no spinning at all to show you. Although I do have a good spinning news to tell you about. Remember the Iron Horse Farm I mentioned last week? They have a once-a-month knitting group (tonight, and I’m going, yay!) and they have a bunch of fiber related classes (knitting, crocheting, quilting and spinning). I’m going to be able to have them teach me how to Navajo-ply… I’m really thrilled about that, I wont have to figure it out myself! : ) I don’t know yet when I’ll be able to go but I’ll let you know how it went!

Now on to the sewing part of this post:

If you thought that my passion for knitting has been replaced by sewing, you would be wrong, but not entirely. I have, temporarily, been lured by my sewing machine, and I now hear myself say: I just want to sew now! I have also realized that the money I used to spend on yarn, I now spend on fabric and sewing accessories. I went a bit crazy with buying fabrics lately and I still have some coming. But after that, no more!

But I have been sewing, not just buying.

Here are my latest experiments:

Last week I sewed on my first zipper with the zipper pouch pattern from Bend the rules Sewing. I used some fabrics that came in a Denise Schmidt quilting kit.

The lining is hand stitched to the zipper, let’s just say that was quite an experience…

A few days later I decided to try out the Box bag tutorial from Drago[knit]fly. I used the same fabrics I used to line my Charming Handbag and for the Zipper pouch. There were some frustrating moments trying to figure out how I was supposed to sew the zipper and how to get the corners to line up right but in the end I got something I can be proud of and that I can use.

In the picture above you can see that it is already being used. And proof that I do still knit!

This particular box bag comes out fairly small, although still big enough for a pair of socks, yarn and needles. I’ve started another box bag with a different length measurement. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Random Tuesday

Seen around the appartment.

These are a few of my favorite things:

This is an origami paper crane garland a friend made for me several years ago when I lived in Switzerland. After my move the garland was put into a shoe box and I never had a place to hang it until now.

I just love how they look in front of the window ready to take flight!

My new china cabinet holds my various dish collections. My lovely milk glass vases, my fancy glasses and my flower vases. I just love seeing them all together like that and not in a box in the basement.

Before I left Switzerland, a dear friend gave me this giant mushroom. She had a couple in her yard and I always loved them. A neighbor of her parents’ farm makes them out of tree stumps. It also had been into a cardboard box since my move. I just love the whimsyness of it, especially since I added the little gnome! I love gnomes! These two sit on a half wall between the living room and the dining room and I get to see them all the time. They just make me happy!

What are your favorite things? Maybe I should have a little contest… My two year blogiversary is coming up in a month so it could be fun to have a contest!

Contest details:

Please post on your blog 3 of your favorite things about where you live. You have until the end of the month to send me a link to your post. I’ll draw a winner on April 2 and the winner will win some sock yarn or spinning fiber according to preference. Have fun!

ETA: I want to see pictures of your favorite things!

Spinning Monday

Yet again, no spinning was done this week. I guess I really failed my February goal! But all is not lost, there has been spinning related activity during these last few days.

A few days ago as I was driving down the road near to where I live I passed by the Iron Horse Farm. First I noticed the sign; I thought it was nice looking. Then I saw sheep… and llamas…; I was like: Awesome! Then I saw a sign advertising “Store: yarn”; Double awesome! Then I saw another sign saying: “Open”; Foot on the break, signal left and drive into parking lot…

I walked into the little store just as they were opening. My eyes first saw the rovings, then they saw the yarn. There was also knitted items, pottery, jewelery, soaps, etc. This little store sells the wares of a dozen of local artisans as well as the farm’s yarns and rovings. They also sell machine knitted socks out of their yarn. I spoke to the owner for a bit. She sends her fiber off to be processed then dyes it herself. They do a few different yarn weights and carry a few other yarns like Schaefer, Hand Maiden and maybe a couple other brands.

The owner has a good eye for color and there were quite a few rovings that appealed to me. I decided in the end for this one

It’s 4oz of 70% Shetland and 30% Mohair. It is really hairy so it might be difficult to spin but we’ll see when I get there. I really liked the combination of the bright green and the brown.

I received in the mail something I’d been wanting to buy ever since I first saw it on Chappy’s Mom‘s blog. It was the exact thing I’d been needing but didn’t know existed.

It is a black walnut Lamb’s Tail Strandholder from Fibre Art. It holds your fiber when you are taking a break from spinning.

I like how it matches the darker wood part of my wheel and I love the sheep stamp on it! I think that as gadgets go,  it will be really useful for me. I recommend it to anyone looking for something like that too!