The time has come…

…the walrus said, to switch to a different blog location. Nothing too major. In fact, just a few letters different: RebKnitz

You can also follow my crafty tweeting at, big surprise here, @rebknitz

 

 

 

Quilt status

First of all, when I wrote my last post, I forgot that this is a long weekend! So I have today AND tomorrow to dedicate to finishing my foster daughter’s quilt.

Also when I wrote my last post, I didn’t realize that I was going to end up in bed with a terrible headache all Thursday night.

Nevertheless, all of the embroidery is done for the four baby blankets, and baby A’s blanket is DONE. It is adorable, if I do say so myself. Pics are on my camera, not on my computer. Sorry.

And the quilt. The quilt which is terrible for many reasons including that I did a terrible job of sandwiching the front and back and batting. So it’s not symmetrical and I’m going to have to do quite a bit of hacking large swaths off the sides trimming. BUT. The quilting is DONE. “All” I need to do now is: 1. Trim loose threads. 2. Trim (cough) the sides. 3. Risk my life in my foster daughter’s room to find the iron. 4. Cut and iron the fabric for the binding. 5. Bind it. I’m going to be incredibly lazy with the binding and machine sew it; no point in the binding being higher quality than the rest of the quilt!

Time

I know I’m not the only person who thinks that there are just not enough hours in the day. And I’m not the only person who wastes some of those precious hours by doing things that don’t get done what needs to get done. And I’m surely not the only person who thinks she can get done a lot more than time actually allows.

But here I am, realizing that there are only three weekends between now and when I go on vacation (shhh, don’t tell anyone I’m going away), and on two of those, I have to work to make up for a Jewish holiday. “When I go on vacation” is, of course, my benchmark for when certain projects need to be done. Not that those are the only projects I’ve been working on.

So I need to be more focused. I’m finishing the embroidery for the last of the four baby blankets I’m making (who knew you could sew on a moving bus?) and only one of the blankets needs to be done by my vacation. That needs only some hand stitching to close it where I turned it right side out, and a few machine stitched border seams. That’s the plan for tonight. (Along with going to the store to buy challah. Must. Not. Forget.)

Then Saturday night and all day Sunday I must must must work on my foster daughter’s quilt.

That will give me time in the evenings to futz around with the binding (I hope) and to take some bits of fabric I bought and turn them into skirts.

My sister’s bag is done (ooh, you still need pics! sorry ’bout that) and I’m thinking that I need to hold off on making myself a backpack. I can’t figure out how to put all the pieces together myself, and I didn’t find any patterns that I liked when I was at the fabric store on Sunday.

This is all difficult to maintain discipline about, though, because I have my shiny new Silhouette to play with and I’m LOVING the scarf I’m knitting. But neither of those have deadlines.

Wish me luck; I think I’ll need it!

Apples

Playing with my new Silhouette. I am clearly too stupid to use it, as it took me three tries to put the paper on the carrier mat (don’t ask) and in those plus one more try, I didn’t get the whole sheet to feed and cut correctly.

I did get an R and a G, however, which I needed for the baby blankets I’m making, and it isn’t the end of the world that I didn’t get two different Rs. If Ryan’s parents and Raya’s parents compare, well, can they really complain? I don’t think so.

But you want to know what’s up with apples.

I’ll tell you.

I want to buy an apple image from the Silhouette store (yay Rosh Hashanah in only five months). But there are too many choices! Do I want an apple with a stem? With a stem and a leaf? With a bite taken out of it? Exterior or interior? Did I ever tell you that the less consequential the decision, the harder time I have?

Thank goodness each download is only a dollar!

Shopping success!

I spent a good chunk of time shopping today. First, for clothes that fit and a few things for my vacation, and then for some crafty stuff.

For vacation I bought a new pair of running shoes, a new umbrella (I love my big huge umbrella, but it doesn’t fit in a suitcase), and a new pair of jeans (we’re going to Alaska–I need more than one pair of jeans).

Clothes that fit, I bought: 2 skirts, 1 dress, and five tops. I am incredibly proud that I left my shopping expedition having bought only the one pair of shoes on my list.

Crafts. Wow. I bought fabric to make FOUR baby blankets, a few remnants, magnets, glass marble things, a can of spray polyurethane, 2 cans of vinyl paint (that required a stop at the auto supply store)… just what was on my list.

I’ve washed the fabric and now it’s time to get sewing!

Well, that didn’t last long

Do you remember that plan I had last night to frog the lace scarf I had started and to try again with an easier pattern for commuting purposes?

Yeah. That.

It didn’t last long.

Instead, I started this. The pattern has lots of different pieces but I’ve discovered that it isn’t too hard to follow (as long as one can count to six, which I found difficult on the bus this morning due to my crazy bus driver’s pronouncements) and it is really fun. When placed in contrast with the slow going stockinette of the what-was-I-thinking sweater, it’s rewarding to watch it take shape. And the pattern is much better for the variegated yarn I’m using than the original pattern I had chosen (also a Knitty pattern!). Plus, I found my missing size 8 KnitPicks circulars.

I’ve also come to accept that my brilliant 35 by 35 plan is completely unrealistic and I’m scaling down to: finish 35 things that have been on my to-do list for a long time, and complete 35 projects. Since some of the projects will be small, I think that’s more do-able.

And now, back to my fun knitting!

Wednesday Woolens: the what was I thinking sweater

Right. Content related to, you know, knitting. I do that. You probably don’t remember the what-was-I-thinking sweater. It is a light fingering weight yarn. For an entire shirt-sized garment. Short sleeves, but still.

I’ve been working on it forever. (Not quite. I bought the yarn at last year’s Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and set the project aside when it became clear I wasn’t finishing it in time to wear before winter.)

I’m making pretty good progress on it but 1. I’m at the point where I need to do some measuring and 2. I’m at the point where I don’t understand the directions, so I’m setting it aside yet again. This time only until I can take it to where other people are who can help me figure out what I’m doing. (It’s just a question of whether to bind off or leave my stitches on a holder–it doesn’t say either way–and I could undoubtedly figure it out myself if I just read further in the directions.)

Next up: frogging a lace scarf I started and finding a better pattern for the yarn. (And a better pattern for commuting. Like, one with only 2 or 4 rows per pattern repeat. The one I chose long ago has 10 rows. Not good for on the bus.)

I know, I know…

A new project is happening. Well, a couple new projects. Because I am completely unrealistic in my life and every so often I get delusional. (Like, there’s no way I’m going to read 35 books in 40 weeks if they are all classics. Sorry.)

Anyway, I have a month to finish the quilt I’m making for my foster daughter for Christmas high school graduation, and I finished the bag for my sister (pics to come, I promise). My rescued-from-the-trash bag needs vinyl spray paint, which I’m hoping to get in a spate of errand-running on Sunday. (It also needs a stencil which I’m going to use my brand new Silhouette for. Once it comes, that is.)

So in the meantime, along with working on the quilt (by the way, stitching in the ditch? not good at it), I’m going to do some graphic designing (one of my 35 by 35 projects) (oh my G-d will I quit it with the parentheses?) and work on the pieces for a travel game inspired by this. I can’t wait to finish this one and show pics.

And then on Sunday I’ll buy material to make THREE of this blanket, 2 for twins G and R (these will have their initials embroidered on them) and one for a baby girl just born yesterday.

I want a nap just thinking about it all.

More on my 35 by 35 project

I. Love. GoogleDocs. I’ve created a non-powerpoint for my 35 by 35 project so I have it wherever I go (though I can’t figure out if it is possible to edit it on my phone) and it is easier to keep track of how many categories I’ve created.

I would share it with you (and even let you add things!) but I didn’t set it up to protect the privacy of my foster daughter. I may switch that up if I find that I really need help.

I hereby assert that even though the list isn’t complete, I can start marking things as done. I also hereby assert that it is really difficult to come up with 35 different categories of things to do, so I can do things like separate the “exercise” category into “walking” and “bicycling” where, for example, the 35 items within the bicycling category are “bike to work 35 times.”

Now: one of my categories is “movies.” As in, watch those classic movies (or not-so-classic) that I haven’t seen. Things like “Dial M for Murder” and “Gone with the Wind” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” I’m taking suggestions.

I’ve been following too many craft blogs

Earlier today, I impulse purchased a Silhouette SD.