I am a very fickle knitter

So last Friday I said I would be working on my Ma Belle Amie scarf as I watched the Olympics. You can see the free pattern for it here.

And I did work on it a bit. I'm into the third section of stripes. Love that orange!

But on Saturday afternoon this yarn ended up on my front porch. (We aren't going to discuss how it got there since there was some crazy declaration earlier this year on this blog that I was going to knit from my stash. What was I thinking???)

It insisted that it had to be cast on right NOW and once I did that I couldn't put it down. Oh what wonderful color and squishtastic smooshiness (those are technical terms don'tcha know - LOL).

This yarn is Schoppel Wolle Ambiente, colorway 2208, and oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn! You can find it here on Webs. The colors are mouth watering, the yarn is nice and round and in the entire sock there is NO repeat of pattern. My idea of an absolutely PERFECT striping sock yarn. Now there is one negative aspect of this yarn. There is only 170 yds. in a ball. I did this sock with my usual vanilla stockinette pattern - 64 stitches and 2.75mm needles- and I don't have enough yarn to do the toe. I wear a size 7 1/2 to 8 shoe so my feet aren't huge but that little tail of black and white is all I have left. I can do the toe in a solid black. I'm okay with that, but overall this pair of socks is a bit thick and I think I may have to frog it and start again.

But before I did that I thought I'd see if larger needles - 3.25mm - and less stitches-56- would make a thinner sock. So to find that out I had to cast on another sock...in another colorway... did you really think that first ball of yarn arrived on my doorstep alone? Ha ha ... not a chance!

This is colorway 2184.

And it is making a very lovely sock. It is a bit thinner but it seems plenty large enough. Hopefully I'll have enough for the toe.

This yarn seems to just fly off my needles. The excitement of seeing what color is going to show up next has me totally enthralled and I wonder if this colorway will have any repeat of pattern. I won't find that out until I knit the entire sock - it is so addicting - and I have NO willpower as evidenced by the package that was on my porch this afternoon.

Colorways 1860, 2183, and 2205... and the stash keeps growing... but oh it is sooooo pretty!

Happy knitting-
carol fun

Working away on Wednesday

I had a bit of time to sew and decided to work on some more of the blocks for Lori Holt's Quilty Fun QAL. Now I am still missing a couple of weeks but I'm not as far behind as I was.

Looking at all these blocks together is showing me that somehow I made this a very busy quilt. I'm pretty sure it is that background that is contributing to this vibe. I hadn't planned on making a busy quilt, but then I never do, and yet somehow almost all of mine are a bit on the crazy side.

Here is my version of Lori's tulips.

The trees are growing nicely -- isn't that green lovely? Makes me think of Spring.

And these are the chubby chevrons. I was able to work in a bit of fussy cutting with that teddy bear.

I have a twist I want to add to this quilt but I'm not that far yet. I'm thinking this quilt will look great in my living room this summer. I'm hoping to switch out the slipcovers on the sofa and my comfy chair and use several quilts made with ,more of my American Jane fabrics to decorate the room. But before I get to the summer decorating I need to spend time on my Spring decorating ideas. I am determined that the beginning of March will find Spring inside my home even if it isn't outside.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Everything's coming up.... on Design Wall Monday

Hit Ethel... everything's coming up tulips??? Yes it is! (and apologies to Miss Merman.)

I have made about 38 tulip blocks - each a unique pairing of a polka dot flower and green leaves. They are not all in this picture... I sewed some into my first two rows shown here.

Now figuring out how many tulips and how many rectangles I need for this quilt is taxing my little pea brain. I'm making it larger than Lori Holt did in her book Quilty Fun. I want this to grace my bed very soon as they may be the only tulips I'm going to see for a while.

I guesstimated that I need at least 36 tulips and somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 rectangles. Don't ask how I came to that conclusion. I don't think these figures can be replicated. So I decided that I would be using 5 different colors in the rectangles - red, orange, pink, yellow and green. Just like the tulips. I cut 12 different fabrics in each of those colorways and cut 3 to 5 rectangles from each fabric. So I figure there are about 100 different fabrics in this quilt.

Here are some close up of that first two rows and you can see some of the fabrics I've chosen. All this fabric comes from my stash.

Nice bright happy colors for a gray cold week. Hopefully I'll find time to squeeze in a little sewing time. It is one of those weeks where I have an someplace I need to be out of the house every day.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Another Snowy Slow Stitching Sunday

Just like in the movie Groundhog Day, the weather is a repeat performance of snow and cold - yuck! So I'm hunkered down with my needle and thread and have a little something to show for my time.

First I finished my BBD Stitcher's Companion. I'm not sure yet how I'm finishing this one. Maybe a little frame, maybe a little cushion.

As I was putting the last stitches into this the name of the linen popped into my head. It is called Alma cloth and I remember purchasing it at a little cross stitch show on the west side of Cincinnati probably close to 20 years ago. Now how come I can remember this but I can stand in the kitchen and can't remember which drawer I put the potholders in? Sheesh..

And this is the bit of progress I've made on my BBD Bittersweet September. It is coming along. Those oval spots are sunlight...glorious sunlight...the only sun I will probably see today. If you want to see a pretty version of this piece check out Catherine's blog, Bramblewood Stitches. Just click here.

Since I did get out and about yesterday, in comparison to today where I'm in and staying put, I picked my finished BBD piece from the Maria Selby Humphrey 1831 book. I am very happy with this frame. I like how that darker part is carved. It is part of the wider frame, not a separate filet.

Here's a bit of a close up.

I'm going to add this to my wall of yellow house samplers on the left side of the stairway into my sewing room. I'll try to get a picture of the grouping but it is hard as you can't get back real far to take the photos.

So I have a roast ready to pop into the oven. Side dishes have been prepared. Just need to bake the rolls before my son comes over and we'll have a lovely Sunday dinner. Since I've been in this house we have had dinner together almost every Sunday. It is a tradition I hope to continue for a long long time.

So stay warm and happy stitching-
carol fun

Some knitting for the Olympics is On the Needles

Did you see the Olympic coverage last night? I watched a bit of it at my son's house. The Opening Ceremonies are tonight and I can't wait to see them. And like lots of others who have hand work projects for Olympics watching, I have selected this scarf as my Olympic endeavor. I know that you are suppose to wait till the Opening Ceremonies to start, but hey, the competition in Sochi started already and I couldn't wait to jump into this scarf.

This is Ma Belle Amie... My Beautiful Friend. A free pattern on Ravelry that you can see here. I love all those stripes.

I'm using Paton DK Superwash Wool. I bought these skeins on sale at Joanns.

My color progression is gray/apple green, apple green/turquoise, turquoise/orange, orange/purple, purple/yellow, yellow/gray. When I get finished I will kitchener the ends together and it should make a very long infinity scarf that I can wrap a couple of times around my neck. I am making it narrower than the pattern called for. I only cast on about 50 stitches and I think it will be plenty wide.

As for last week's work, I did get my latest Urban Lace cowl knitted but not blocked. This is the Aurora colorway of the Lion Brand Amazing yarn.

So I will have my butt parked in my happy chair watching the athletic performances of those in much better physical shape than me for the next 2 weeks. Its a hard job but someone has to do it - LOL!

Happy knitting-
carol fun

On the floor on this Design Wall Monday

My tulip quilt was on hold while I finished up a couple of other projects. First was my Kaffe Fasset Pineapple Blossom quilt. I got it back from my long arm quilter, Terry and couldn't wait to get the binding on it.

I was happy that it met with Big Dude's approval when I laid it out to photograph it. This quilt will be warming my bed as soon as I get it washed and dried. I love that crinkly texture it gets once its been through the washer and dryer.

Here's a close up of one of the blocks and you can see a bit of the pantograph. It is called Fern Gully and I like the swoopy-ness of it.

Here's what it looks like on the back of the quilt. I pieced 3 different fabrics together to make this back.

And this is another project I worked on... I made logs! Ok they look like logs but what they are is draft stoppers.

I found some cute woodgrain fabric and made a tube about 9" around and a few inches longer than the doorway. I filled them with kitty litter. Here's is one in action in front of my front door.

My son saw them and asked if I would make some for his house so there well be a bit more wood working in my week.

Well, this is going to be a busy day. Lots of engagements and running to and fro today.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Slow stitching on Groundhog's Day

So Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter, while my homegrown groundguy Buckeye Chuck says we'll have an early Spring. I'm listening to Chuck on this one. I'm sure he's correct, Spring is just around the corner, right after the MAJOR SNOW EVENT they are predicting for this week - ugh!!! Somehow I think there will be groundhog goulash on some one's menu tonight...just kidding.

Yesterday was nice here -temps in the 50's - today back to freezing which seems balmy in comparison to the last couple of weeks and it is gray gray gray. A good day to stitch.

This is as far as I've gotten on the BBD Bittersweet September.

I LOVE that border. Isn't it fabulous? And it is a good thing it is fabulous because it took me 3 tries to get it to meet up correctly. This is a kit from Dyeing to Stitch and I'm hoping I don't run out of the Chamomile floss. It wouldn't be their fault as I have stitched and ripped several times. Somehow I got off one whole stitch the first time I messed up and the second time I was one thread off, both of which required lots of frogging.

So I've got my butt parked in my stitching chair. Dinner is ready to pop into the oven and I'm in for the day. I'll be watching the Super Bowl tonight -- go Peyton! And checking out all of the commercials. And recording Downton Abbey. Hope you have a great evening too!

Happy stitching-
carol fun