Soon fall will be here

ISo honestly... I have found Instagram to be a great way to post projects and things I'm working on. I still love blogging but find it difficult to do on my phone sometimes even though that's where I'm taking most of my pictures these days. 

But here are some photos of recent things.

My mom's printer's drawer that I have always liked. I guess I will be filling it with dusty miniatures...

I have done just a few entries for #sewphotohop. This one was for essential kit. I have never really had a travel sewing kit so I was inspired by the challenge to make one. I recovered a jewelry box with bookbinding paper.

Here is the hat I started working on last night.  Quick Ombre Hat by Emily Dormier, a free pattern on Ravelry. My very very very first color work pattern. I have never really tried to do anything like this and it's been really fun even though I know it's a very simple design. Using up my stash as mostly I have small amounts of yarn in different colors. There is probably a way to make the row jump more pretty but oh well! My wrist does hurt so i am contemplating someday buying those compression gloves for crafters. 

The colors on this are kind of close... But I wanted to show off the socks I have been making for my dad off and on since January. Navy blue yarn from Black Trillium Fibres with a touch of I think it's Madeline Tosh at the toe. I am so happy they are done and blocking right now. I'm not really sure what else I will be working on coming up but I am trying to think ahead to Christmas and see if there's a project or two I can get started on so that I won't be so rushed right before then. I am feeling like I don't have a lot of money to spend on yarn this year. But I have lots and lots of quilting cotton so maybe I need to sew something for everybody.

OK so with the talk to text feature on, this blog post has taken a very short amount time and hopefully it will inspire me to keep on blogging! Have a good week!

@weareupsidedowncat

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!!

Socks!

Tada!!! Socks for my brother in law! 

This is maybe not the best photo of the colors, but here they are!!!

Yarn of the month vl. 1

My awesome brother & sister in laws got me a yarn of the month subscription!

I got 2 yarn samples! I decided at least for these 2 to try seed stitch. I may not do all the squares that way but i like the looks of it so far! Good purse knitting! Assuming someday it will be part of a blanket! 

Sneak peek of a present for someone... :)

I need to block it still. Now that project is done I am back on the trusty blue-green

socks!

Achoo!

Travel kleenex cozies, or whatever you call them! 

Today i figured out a better way to resolve the bias tape, carefully folding it under in a tricky way! They turned out good and i plan to give them as gifts! 

They take a very small amount of fabric. That pattern is from One Yard Wonders, available at your local library. 

I think this one is for my Grammie. :)

And! I spent last night, the eve of my 30th b-day making a mix cd, later watching Sense and Sensibility and knitting the toe of this sock. For the 2nd sock i picked up stitches last night. (I am just after the heel) It will probably bemy lunch  break knitting! I sort of feel like the cuff seems short. If i have leftovers I may try to lengthen it a bit. 

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!

Sea Turtle Power!

http://stitcheryprojects.com/2011/03/21/basic-baby-hat/

I made a basic baby hat out of some gray. It is an acrylic yarn, washable. On ravelry there are lots of crochet animal applique patterns for free. Chose to do a sea turtle. It made me remember some crochet and i had to look up some of the secret code :) 

This is for one of my friends babies which will be here soon!

Hitchhiking

I started the Hitchhiker by Martina Behm. So far it has been really fun! 

I have been working on it on my lunch breaks. 

The colors are more beautiful in real life of course. It has been fun to work on a knitting project that is simple yet keeps my interest. 

Ripping

Here is a glimpse of the vortex cowl i slowly have worked on for the last months. If you look at the authors pattern she uses 4 colors for the stripes. I had tried to get the same effect by using a varigated yarn. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vortex-cowl/slideshow?fullscreen=1&start=29991217 I was also trying to save money and only got two colors. With christmas etc i put it down for a while. Recently i grabbed it and took it to work for lunch break knitting. The colors weren't working for me. It looks cool but is not the effect i wanted. Plus i probably only had 8-10 inches and it is a long cowl!  I believe i heard something on the knitmore girls podcast like " if you don't like it now, you won't like it in x amount of rows". I realized it was probably true. I didnt like it enough to continue working on it and had started thinking socks might be a better use for the two skeins. 

So. Last night I ripped it! I started with the varigated purple to make a hitchhiker shawlette. Martina Behm is the creater. I also like the Trillian pattern she has.  I hope the colors will look okay. So far (I have only done one pattern repeat) it looks good, but time will tell. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker/slideshow?fullscreen=1&start=14067097

Hopefully this links will work (Blogging on my phone) but you can also just google them for pictures. 

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. 

Decorating

Well. An update. Still no new house. Maybe by December 4th. It is hard to keep waiting but i am glad we got out of town this weekend to visit family and relax. 

Today we help my mother in law decorate for Christmas. This involves removing the thanksgiving/fall decorations. This year they have a new kitten and I will not be surprised if she tries to climb the tree. She is so active and playful. Anyway, I have been looking forward to helping with the decorations. It is always fun to arrange items and try to remember where things go. We are talking about like 6 or so giant tubs of stuff and other items too. 

They also are sending us home with some things for our new house. (Feels like early Christmas). I got a ton of vintage crocheted doilies and some pillows and picture frames and mirrors and some curtains and fabric. A main hobby of theirs is garage saleing. We also got a few rugs. So grateful to get stuff for our new house! It makes it seem more real. 

About the vintage doilies. I plan on using some around the house, and maybe some for an art project. I have seen curtains and and adding them to lampshades etc. There are lots of cool ideas online. 

I brought some knitting on this trip. A cowl for me. I barely had any bandwidth yesterday because of my cold. Feeling a little better today and hoping to get more done. I do have more Christmas presents to make but could not bring them because then family here might get an idea of what they are getting. 

Here is the cowl. It is called Vortex Cowl. The original pattern is for 4 colors but I am only doing two. I think I like how it is working out. I already have so much blue in my wardrobe but I hope it will go with lots of things. The colors are a little off. Navy stripe and variegated blue & purples. 

Daylight or lack there of.

Started this post on 11/3/15 and realized tonight that I had not published it yet...

 My Pumpkin this year...


Daylight savings time was halloween night. Ever since then I seem to be tired at 9pm and wake up at 6:30? And once I am awake I start thinking about our move and the new house. We looked at carpet and paint colors last night. Everything seems so relative, color wise, and of course hard to tell in small rectangles. The carpet that is there does need to be replaced, since the previous owner smoked and it is 1970s carpet (that textured brown stuff so many houses had). We think we are going with a speckled style of carpet which we hope will wear well over the years. It is a neutral with flecks of red brown an gray green. We are planning on painting all the walls too. Trying to keep the house feeling light but also add some interest.

Anyway lots to think about. 

I am knitting a lot this week for Christmas. It is annoying because one of my thumbs is cracked and dry so I try to not do too much, but I really want to be knitting as much as I can. I bought some new yarn for two projects and already started one of them (it will be perfect lunchtime/keep in my purse knitting). I also started a different project that requires a little more attention to the pattern so I am making progress when I have light to see my work. It is a completely different style of project than I have done before and so it is fun to try something new. Today I am hoping to finish up a sewing project I was working on last week, and maybe finish up mike's big present which involves painting and stuff drying so I can hide it again. 

I need to be taking photos as I go to get everything documented for Ravelry etc. I generally handmake things for Christmas. Often it is just ornaments. This year I tried to start early and I am also doing some sewing projects which can be a little faster. So hopefully I will be able to finish things, since I know once we get the house we will be painting!!!! 

It is so so crazy to be getting our first house. I am really excited yet nervous and it will mean a lot of hard work. The good thing is besides painting and flooring the house doesn't need much else. We do need to reinvent the two garages to be a recording studio though! And budget it all, of course... 

More later. I will try to share photos of what I can so it doesn't become too boring. 

Almost November

Well. I am knitting and sewing as much as I can but don't want to get into too much detail because it is the Xmas season, and I am trying to work on presents. I guess I will just try to get good photos to put on Ravelry/the blog later. I can tell you I finished a cowl. I had previously knit a few lengths of scarf-like knitting, hoping to sew them together as a rug, etc. I then looked at them one day and decided to turn a few into cowls. Here is a not-great photo. I have been wearing it on my walks to work and on my days off. It has finally turned to Fall, after a long dry summer.

I also can tell you I finished a hat. A baby/kid hat for no one in particular yet. One of those single skein purchases because the yarn was so pretty. The pattern is from purl soho. I love their simple palate and get inspired when I look at their site. The yarn is Noro silk garden which was rough on my hands. I may think about sewing a lining in case it would feel rough to a kid. Of course, now i have left over yarn and no idea what to do with it.

Let's see what else can I mention. I am embroidering something secret. It is a fun Aunt Martha's  pattern and hopefully I can do another one. Just look at all of them online. Hard not to want to buy many more.
I am also sewing something which means currently I am hand sewing binding on. I always seem to end up hand sewing bindings, but it allows me to have more control. The binding is so thin to use pins that I have been using my extra Bobbie pins and it is working quite well. I hope to get a good deal of the binding done today if I can. 

I know when we close on this house I will not have much time for presents (besides the hour long lunch break I have at work) so I am trying to get what I can done now. 

There are some people I have no idea what to make for.. And some people that I have an idea for but wish I had started a long time ago. Like socks or something.

Anyway, we are getting excited about the house. We will be painting and replacing carpet and moving in. I kind of wish it was not going to be winter with all the cleaning/painting but I guess sooner is better than later. And maybe we can decorate for Christmas a little! 

Speaking of which, I need to find out what my pumpkin will be because it is this weekend. As far as costumes I think we may just do a low key year as our costumes are packed up, and we haven't been invited anywhere. I guess we are getting old, haha.

Oh! Just remembered the yearly Xmas print I do. Sigh. To get it done this year I guess I will have to pick a simple design/process. I generally screen print or block print. Maybe I can carve stamps? It is always the lining up that takes the longest. 

I may mention it every few posts - I am hoping one day to have a more streamlined blogging system. To get photos and links in correctly and in a timely way, I feel that the laptop is the best. (I have also tried my phone and ipad). I may just have to get in the habit of taking photos with my digital camera and transferring them at least once a week. It's amazing how much of a chore it seems, but I think it will be easy once I get it worked out. 

La la la

Trying to finish something. Anything. Starting to try to work on some Christmas presents but not feeling like I am making a ton of progress. Here are some cup cozies. Super quick, though not really sure how many I will realistically make. There is a pattern on Ravelry of course. I will have to link to it. Also trying to graft 2x2 ribbing on a hat. It is slow going and not looking as seamless as I was hoping. Working on another hat which I may rip out. Not sure what I really want to do with that yarn still.

Hoping to sew a few Christmas projects that I will keep secret. And making a secret present that includes painting and lots of glitter. Waiting for it to dry more before I hide it again. Anyway, not feeling like I am making much progress but my hands have been dry and cracking so I have been not doing quite as much knitting as I'd like. 

I was working on ornaments but made one and not sure I like it. I will invent some other kind of ornament with the pieces I cut if I have to. 

House news: Looks like we are going for it! And I am so excited to someday set up the craft room! I also hope to make some curtains and pillow covers. 

Excuse the iPad photo. Once we move I hope to have a better location to take photos/upload. 

A few things

I guess I wrote this a few weeks ago and never published it...

Music:
If you like music and want to support my husband's CD, here is a link to pre-order (and there is also a link to listen to a few tracks.) He has been working on it with his friend for over two years.

Knitting:
Another link to my Ravelry projects. I am trying to be better at posting to Ravelry. A lot of it is the same as on the blog, but it helps me stay organized a bit. I am so bad at taking good photos (I blame the last two years on living in a basement apartment, and trying to use my cellphone camera). But as I have said before, in the past I often gave presents away before taking a photo of them. So at least they are documented in some small way. I'm sure I will improve someday, right?

I use the favorites of Ravelry a lot, but not so much the queue. I often don't know what yarn I am using as I lost the label long ago. As I am knitting up a lot of stash, I hope when I buy new yarn I will be slightly more mind-full and try to notate things better.

As you can see from my projects - There are several patterns I knit over and over. Practical patterns are good presents.

It is the last day of my Staycation/Recovery. I succeeded in finishing reading a real book. (I tend to re-read things and often don't read much at all). Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read. The perfect type of book to read when you are not feeling very well. I just googled the book and found she has written many Thrush Green books and others besides. (It is my mom's book I borrowed, I think she has at least one other one in the series.).

I also watched too many movies including The Labyrinth, a newer version of Anne Frank, Julie & Julia, Bride & Prejudice, some Granite Flats, Miss Annie Rooney (with Shirley Temple), Chocolat, State Fair, etc. I am on the mend, and have to return to work tomorrow. I am hoping to get close to finishing the sleeve of the Stella sweater, so I should go have some lunch and get knitting. Yay!

Stella Sweater

Stella Sweater progress. I think I will need to do Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off, since I bound off the sleeve, and it is so tight for being such a wide sleeve. I also may use the tiny amount of yarn I have left to lengthen the body. 

It is going pretty well and I may do this pattern again. I know a lot of the people who have done the pattern say that the neck is really wide. not sure how to fix that. Can't wait to see it when it is all blocked!

A Little Sweater

 I finally uploaded a few photos from my digital camera. Here is a photo from I think May, when we went to Cannon Beach.

 Here is Stella  One of my friends hand-dyes yarn. Her brand is Bumblebirch. I have hung out/helped out during a few busy times. Anyway, I was trying to find a really good project for this yarn. The colorway is called Innocent and it is a light pinky purple. Very pretty. I decided to try to make Stella and so far it is going pretty well. I am making the 12 month size. I did have to start over once, but now I am even further than these photos show. I am pretty excited, especially since we are going to the beach next weekend and I should get some extra knitting time.

Crazy Times

Yep. We moved temporarily in with my folks. House hunting still. I have been knitting through some yarn that was in my old room. Basically making short scarf-like rectangles. Not really sure what I am making. I guess a rug, though probably not too practical. Hoping the colors may work out somehow. (Maybe adding black panels to space things out?) But mainly knitting just to knit. I am trying to work through the majority of my yarn before I buy more. I will post a photo when I can, my phone doesn't want to email it for some reason.

The knitting I carry in my purse is a spiral pattern baby hat. I do like the pattern but find the whole thing a little boring, maybe because I'm not sure if it will be sized right, it is really stretchy so I'm not sure how tall to go. Also I have no specific baby in mind for it. Oh well if it doesn't work out I still learned a cool pattern. 

Also starting to brainstorm some ideas about how to release my husband's next cd. They need to get it mastered and duplicated. I have been trying to think of some merch ideas. Like a poster or printed book, something do-able yet awesome. They may do a preorder to raise some money to get it made. 

The dream continues that if we do get a house with enough rooms, I can use one for a craft room. This would be amazing because then I can get all my stuff in one place and organize it, hopefully use it too! I do want to make clothes still. Colette patterns is putting out so much good info and I have so little time to absorb it. I have bought several of their patterns but have yet to buy fabric etc.  I have a fabric depot gift card so I hope maybe to make some curtains, or pillow covers etc if we get a house. Something to make it feel like home! I kind of am also interested in the black-out curtain idea, for light and also to see how much sound it blocks out. 

I think some getting-back-into-sewing projects could be simple things like PJ pants or a simple top. Or of course one of the quilts I already have the squares cut for. ;)

Finally finished knitting

 Yep, you guessed it, I did finally finish the fingerless gloves, and the Blue Green Socks.
They were finished last week, (I wove in the ends on a beach daytrip) but I have not gotten photos til now. Slightly washed out, I believe I mentioned previously they are a pretty/ugly green/brown.

The heels look funny in the photos, but feel pretty comfortable.

I started another rainbow toddler sock, but have not made a lot of progress. I also started a toddler mitten in a pretty colorway that goes from navy to dark green to purple. It is in my purse, and I did a little bit of knitting on it, not a ton of progress...
BECAUSE...

We have moved in with family for at least a month and I have been cleaning the old apartment, and then today trying to organize all the piles of stuff in our bedroom, plus do laundry, cook etc.

I am hoping to knit from some of the random stash that has been in a box here... we'll see. Once we move to our house, I will probably primarily do lunchtime work knitting.

Finally finishing?

I did a quick project to replace one of the wine-colored kid mittens I had made for my cousin's kid. I also finally gave her the rainbow socks!

Green socks: Last night I got through the toe decreases of the sock. I first blogged about them in February, so it feels good to be finally finishing them.  Now to do one last heel and I just Kitchener'd the toes last night. It has been so great to have a take-a-long knitting project over the last few months. After this I am not sure what new project to do. 

Fingerless Mitts: I am in the middle of doing the half-fingers. I need to sit down and write out the instructions so they are more portable. Hoping to finish soon (Today?!) to give them as a present. (This is an army green/brown much prettier than in the photo.)

House: We are moving very soon, living with family for a few months. I have packed up most of my craft stuff.  It may be best to stick with the knitting projects & embroidery projects I have been doing. 

Here is the progress so far!