Summertime fun.

Making slippers in the summer! 

These are a pattern on Ravelry. Basic slipper pattern. 

I have more info on Ravelry, yarn type etc. the cool thing was i knit them on a long weekend, so a pretty quick knit! 

I also found some earrings i made a long time ago and actually put hooks on the fish ones. Today i ordered more hooks as i have several pairs of cheap-ish earrings that need the hooks replaced and i want to finish these!

I am also working on placemats! Almost done. I just have to sew up my short seam holes where i flipped them right-side out. These are reversible paisley/stars. They ended up a bit smaller than i had intended but they are fine. Can't wait to use them on our picnic table!  

And dreaming about a new embroidery project and about 10 other things!!

May

Things have felt really busy lately. Jury duty, family events on the weekends. I have made some progress on my knitting. Just past the heel on my second sock. I think i will have plenty of yarn but at first was worried about that so i was trying to work them to the same stage in case i run out. 

Hitchhiker. On the 32nd bump. So 10 more to go!!

Finally working on the cat cross stitch i started a long time ago. I bound it today with  masking tape and added some grid lines to make things a little easier. It takes concentration to count so i don't think i will take it to the women's retreat i am going on. 

I do plan on bringing my knitting and hopefully making headway on our retreat. There are a few crocheters, and usually at least 3-4 knitters!

Knitting Project Bag

I made a knitting bag today! I really only have one sewn project bag that my mom made for me. It is pretty small. Good for socks etc. i have been working on my vortex cowl which means 2 balls of yarn. I have been keeping it in a paper bag which keeps ripping as you might imagine. So i made this free pattern by very shannon. www.veryshannon.com/blog/2013/04/free-tutorial-reversible-sock-knitting.html

Here is the lining. I like that you can use scraps. I also added a pocket which may not be super functional, but oh well.

I'm so happy it turned out so well! The outer fabric is a batik I got at fabric depot. I cant wait to make more and already have some fabric cut for the next one but I do not have any interfacing and im not sure how floppy it would be.  I bought yarn today for two upcoming sock projects. I will need lots of project bags! 

Hopefully tomorrow I will get some curtains finished for our house. 

Continuing with Cats...

This cat sampler project is pretty fun. I have been taking it with me to work sometimes to work on my lunch. It also goes with me when we visit my father in law who is in hospice care. I have been trying to figure out the outlines. Sometimes it makes it look more pixelated. I love all the mice and birds. I will have to re-learn how to do French knots for the eyes. 

 Here is a photo of my grandma's hydrangeas. So pretty. She lives at a lake and we had 4th of July there and ate way too much food, including huckleberry cobbler. Yum! 

I thought I would share a previous cross stitch project. It was a pre-printed pattern. I made it for my husband before we were married. I chose the colors (brown, blue, orange, gold) to match this 1970's-ugly ship painting he has. I mean, it's so ugly it's cool.

Kitty Cats

Beginnings of an Alphabet embroidery! 

Sneak Peek!

Just a little look at a baby quilt I am working on. I cut out many squares. (Maybe 80 more than what I needed, oops!) But I wanted lots of options and wasn't quite sure how big it would be. I did 4x4in squares. The fabric was random vintage kid fabric from my stash, along with greens and grays as requested that I got as fat quarters. I also got some random fabrics at SCRAP which is a great place to find fabric. More pictures when it is finished. I sewed the whole quilt top in the afternoon today. I find it is best to power through quilt tops if possible, even if I get a little tired. I'm so glad that the quilt top is done because I can get it off the floor and fold it neatly! 

 I bought this cassette flannel fabric several years ago, thinking I would make PJ pants. I have grown out of large prints on my PJs, so I have already used some of this fabric for the lining of an awesome laptop case I made several months back. It will be perfect for the back of the quilt.

The good thing about all the extra squares is that I can make some more quilts and there are Plenty of friends and acquaintances having kids now. Sometimes I wonder if I should just start making items for my (hopefully) future kids. To try to get ahead while I have some free time?

Podcasts Listened to today:
  Stuff You Missed in History
  Stuff You Should Know
  Knitmore Girls
  Knitting Pipeline

Upsidedown Cat Show!!!!

Upsidedown Cat, my long-napping Casio band, has a show on  May 10th. If you are in Portland you should come! There will be some cds for sale... and it should be lots of fun!!! Visit upsidedowncat.bandcamp.com to listen to our music.
The last few days have been pretty busy with figuring out show details, practicing, and stressing out a little. I'm really excited to play!

New stash items!

Just thought I'd share some recently purchased fabric. On the left is a white and light blue/teal print that I'm hoping to make a Sobetto top by Colette Patterns. The black and white Gingham is for Colette's Hazel dress. The kitty fabric I got for free and maybe will go into a future baby quilt. With some tax return money I got an invisible zipper foot, so I am hoping that will make zippers much more easy to put in.

The yarn, hand-dyed by my friend at Bumblebirch... so pretty. It is fingering weight and I am going to look for a perfect project for it. I also just ordered a yarn winder to make center-pulled cakes. I have a swift already, so I will be set!

Still working on the denim quilt. More photos later.
Happy Valentines day!! (We're making strawberry waffles with whipped cream for dinner!)

Vacation time!

 I went on vacation over the weekend and finally got to meet Oscar! He is a very fine (yet a little wild) cat.

 While there, I did not get much knitting done. It was soo nice to have a break and just relax. I did finish hiding ends in one of my red slippers from this pattern everyone has done. I still have to do the second one and then felt them. I also started an Afterthought Heel sock from the pattern by Laura Linneman. I'm pretty excited about it, it was a perfect project for movie watching and driving. I just got past the first heel placement marking and I will be driving a lot tomorrow, so I will try to keep working on it.

(Ignore the dirty windshield.)