What am I working on now?

I've been working on a quilt. I know... it's been awhile. I'm using this free pattern sent to me by a quilt magazine trying to get me to subscribe. I didn't but I am enjoying the pattern. 

They suggested using dark and light fabrics but as I've mentioned before, I've been craving the colour orange during this pregnancy and so I decided to make our little guy an orange quilt with some accent fabrics thrown in. The fabrics don't look very babyish or boyish and I'm happy with that. The seven fabrics on the left are some of the orange fabrics my dad picked out for me for Christmas - I think he did a great job. 

Over the course of the past week I've been able to iron, cut and sew the blocks together. I finished piecing them last night (sorry for the bad picture, lighting is terrible in the basement). Here is what they looked like before I cut them in half diagonally. After I took the picture I cut them and paired up the triangles to make 12 unique blocks. Still need to sew the pairs together and then decide on a final layout. That is my goal for this week. I have the backing and binding fabric already picked out and I think I know how I want to quilt it. Now all I need is for the little guy to get his feet out from under my ribs so I can enjoy sitting at the sewing machine.

Yarn Adventures

Finally placed my first order at The Looy Ewe. I've looked plenty of times but have never bought before. This little knitting needle inventory came free with my order. I think I've put almost all my needles on there now.

Here is what I ordered. I needed more green to finish the Creekwood Shawl (which I did the other day and is currently being blocked. pictures later this week). The orange for a special gift.

I have a ball winder but not a swift so I have to improvise. Usually I put the hank around a chair but thought I'd give my mini ironing board a try this time and it worked really well.

Took a while but I was able to get both the green and orange done as well as the yarns my mom gave me for Christmas that I shared in the last post. Aren't they pretty?

I did take some time away from yarn to finish the initial embroidery for my niece - still need to mail it.

And I was able to complete another one. I have the next one traced and floss picked.

Used one of the yarns from my mom to make this scarf. Think I'll be mailing it as a gift. It is the Ric Rac yarn by Berrocco. I did the scarf pattern on the band using a crochet hook.

Finally finished the cardigan for my nephew. My son (who turns 7 today - Happy Birthday!), modeled it for me after I washed it. It's a little big on him, which is good.

I might have to change that top button. I'm not happy with how it is sitting.

Side view and sleeves.

It really softened up after washing. Hope he likes it even more now that it is a cardigan and not a sweater vest, like it was Christmas morning.

Progress

Made some serious progress on the Creekwood Shawl. So much that I ran out of yarn and had to order more. Should arrive by the end of this week. I only have 17 rows left but after adding so much to the cabled section there are a lot of stitches on the needles.

Another view. This is more what I had in mind - a cable shawl with a lace border. Instead of just doing charts ABA at the top, I did charts ABABABA. An extra 48 rows but I love the cables and am so happy I frogged this and redid it. I do plan on keeping this for myself and use it as a nursing shawl after our little guy arrives. No need to cover up with an ugly receiving blanket when I could use a lovely, machine washable shawl - as long as he doesn't spit up like his brother did after every feed, then he gets ugly receiving blankets. It'll also help hide any leaks :) I hope to make a couple more shawls for this purpose before the end of April.

The sleeves are getting bigger, slowly. Still working on increasing - have about 28 more rows. Trying to force myself to work on them. Besides the shawl it is the only thing I have on the needles.

However, I can always find a way to procrastinate. This is for a niece whose birthday was Monday. Yes, it will be late as well. This is working up quickly and I hope to mail it by this Saturday.

I love the embroidery so much I may be thinking of doing this for my other nieces this year for their birthdays.

Last post I didn't share some of the lovely things I received for Christmas this year. Above is the yarn gifted to me from my mom. I already have plans for 3 of the 4.

Charm pack from my SIL. My dad picked me out some fat quarters, mainly orange as that is the colour I have been craving during this pregnancy. And yes, you can crave a colour. I think I have washed all of it (forgetting to take pictures when they were are beautifully folded) and picked some out to make an orange quilt for the baby. Picked out an easy pattern, just need to start working on it.

Finished this Pixie hat for the baby during the holidays. My son's Dinosaur Dragon is a great model. It is a size 3-12 months. The ribbing really stretches.

Side view. I have 2 pairs of socks using this yarn and had enough leftover for this hat. I think I am finally out of it. I bought it on sale when I was first learning to make socks from JoAnn's. Now I'm willing to spend a little bit more for better quality yarn.

Here is the crescent shawl from the previous post all blocked. Can see the lace pattern a bit better.

My husband bought a mannequin during the holidays from a store that was going out of business. I, and most of my family, thought he was a little crazy, although the kids liked the idea. Here she is modeling for me so I guess she was a good purchase. 

The shawl is more of a shawlette and the sock yarn I used makes it very light. This is how I am most likely to wear it under a coat or cardigan.

Gifts!

Alright, here they are. Finally. Some of the finished and not so finished gifts from Christmas.

My daughter is modeling the cardigan I made for a niece. Happy it fits.

Minecraft Creeper hat made for a BIL. My nephew (who is still waiting on his cardigan-oops) has taken the hat, even though it's a bit big for him. There was also a request for matching gloves and scarf. How about another hat, so they can both have one?

Fingerless mitts for my daughter. She picked this yarn out over a year ago and I finally got around to making them for her. 

Here she is wearing them while doing a little stitching.

Cardigan for another nice. 

Irish Hiking hat and some fingerless mitts for my MIL. I made her the Irish Hiking scarf last year so now she has a matching set.

Made another Irish Hiking hat in bright pink for my son's teacher who LOVES bright pink. She loved it. This hat might become my go to hat for gifts. It works up quickly but interesting enough with the cables that I don't get bored while knitting it.

My nephew's cardigan. This is what he received on Christmas day. No buttons. No sleeves. (pattern here)

Sleeves are started. I apologize that these aren't finished yet. I'm a bad aunt.

But at least I've bought buttons. Just need to put them on.

I have been working on other things since we've returned home. This might look a little familiar. This is the mystery shawl from November. The pattern is now called Creekwood and is available for purchase on ravelry. This is my second time knitting it. I got to the last clue the first time and decided it wasn't going to big enough and that I would really like more of the cable section of clue 1 so I frogged the whole thing and have started over. I am now done clue 1 but am going to repeat it once, maybe twice before moving on to the rest of the clues. (Mom, I'm using my new triangle stitch markers for this. They are taking some getting use to but working well.)

And a finish. The beginning of this shawl was the last picture of my last post back in November. I finished it this week. Obviously I still need to block it. I think it needs a new hat to go with it.

I also knit another baby hat for our little boy who will be here in just over 3 months! Still need to take pictures of it. I also started crocheting a blanket for him but noticed a mistake and am deciding whether I am going to frog it and start over or try to fix it as is.

On The Needles Friday

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for On the Needles Friday.

This is my little finish from last week that I wasn't able to share as I hadn't taken a picture of it. This is for my mom, as she requested. Definitely a quick knit. Might have time to make some more.

I finished one of the cardigans for a niece, all it needs is buttons. Feels great to have this done. I love the stitch in the bodice that I might make a scarf or something else using it.

The other cardigan is almost done. All seams are done, except pockets which the pattern suggests to leave to last. Need to do the neck and button bands but they shouldn't take me too long.

And I was so thrilled to almost finish both cardigans that I may have cast on a little something last night that isn't necessarily a Christmas present. I might keep it, I might not. We'll see how much I love it and if I can get it done by December 24th.

This week I made a list of all the things I would like to make for gifts this Christmas. There were 19 items on the list, including the two cardigans above. That leaves me with 17 left to make - some are started but not many. Some are really small and would probably take less than a hour and one of them is a cardigan for a nephew. I numbered them in order of priority but for some reason I don't feel like working on any that are in the top 10. I guess I need to wait until December 15th or so to work on those. Then I remembered teacher gifts which brings the list back up to 19. I will have the kids help with those and I'm trying to think of other gifts they could help make. I was trying to do a complete handmade holidays this year but I don't think I'll be able to . I guess I should lower my expectations in a year with a move across the country and a pregnancy:)

On The Needles Friday

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for On the Needles Friday.

Here is the only finish I remembered to take pictures of from the past two weeks. I have another which is a gift so I'll post it another time... and I forgot to take a picture of it. This hat is also a gift but I don't think they read the blog so I'm sharing it.

Finished clue #3 of the mystery shawl while watching the parade yesterday morning. This knits up pretty quick if you are interested in joining. The last clue will be released next Friday.

Finally forced myself to start putting this cardigan together. Yesterday I was able to get the shoulder seams done and one sleeve attached. I then decided to do the sleeve and side seam on the left. I hope to add the right sleeve today. Then all that remains is the neck and button bands. This is a gift for a niece.

This is a cardigan for another niece. I have made some progress on it. I finished the right front and have the back on the needles again ready to be worked. This is a pretty fast knit, I don't know why I've slowed down on it.

I didn't post last week for On the Needles Friday as we were headed out of town for a wedding. This is the quilt I finished last week to give to my cousin and his bride. Pictures aren't great. I threw the quilt on the living room floor just before wrapping it up. It's perfect size to cuddle under on the couch together.

This is the main quilting I did in each black square.

The back. 

A UFO Finished!

Yesterday I finally finished another quilt UFO. I started this quilt last summer when we got home from holidays and just wanted to piece something. I used most of a Just Wing It layer cake.

I finished the quilt top before we moved this summer. I even basted it but never got around to quilting it  in Idaho. I finally quilted it last month during Friday Night Sew-In and even though I had the binding sitting there waiting to be put on, I didn't get it attached until yesterday. 

As soon as it was done, I tossed it in the washer and never got pictures of before it got all crinkly. When I started this quilt over a year ago I wasn't sure who it was going to be for. As I finished piecing the top a few months ago I finally decided to give it as a birthday present to someone very special to me so they will get the quilt this weekend. A little late but hopefully still appreciated.

The back.

Something that is starting to become normal for me is to write the "label" directly onto the quilt back. I use to hate stitching the labels down and they never looked as nice as I wanted them too. This way the information can never be separated from the quilt.

After I finished this quilt yesterday, I basted another and started quilting it. It's also a gift I need for this weekend. Fingers crossed I get it done on time.