shana's blog

I came across the process pledge last night, and since I've been hemming and hawing over what's going to be my most ambitious quilt yet, it might be a good one to share what I've been thinking.

Usually, I find inspiring fabrics, buy random amounts, fiddle until I find a block or two that I like, make a bunch of those, lay them out on the floor, take pics, and look at the pics until the right layout rises to the top. The alternative layouts in my most recent square baby quilt pattern and my tetris quilt pattern show that.

I want to make a quilt for my bedroom. My hope is that it can be a gorgeous, well-made piece that I can show off for years. And, holy crap, I'm intimidated by that.

My original inspiration was a tile I saw in a museum in Istanbul. I couldn't take pics there. I tried to sketch it (and failed) and kept my eye out for the rest of the trip for the same design, and never saw it again.

But, hooray for the internet! It took all my Google-fu, but I found this -

You're my inspiration

From there, comes the graph paper. I figured each square would be an inch and layed out what a block would be. I had to shift around where the blocks would end a couple times. I want to find the block that would be the easiest to construct. I'm SUPER worried about my seams lining up, so the easier I make it on myself the better.

It's going to be two colors, and since it should be a more intricate design, I didn't want prints that were distracting. I'm doing grey on grey, which is quite the change for a lover of color. My thought is that by going more neutral, I will create something more timeless. I might use a bolder fabric for the backing. I'm thinking a red batik - bold color, but mellow, organic and hopefully stands the test of time.

Idea to measurements to fabric

From the graph paper, I moved onto paper templates. I've never done this before, but I really wanted to touch it and work through the specific. I think it was helpful, and at a minimum, it saved me a lot of fabric.

In theory...

I'm thinking about finishing already. I might use this as an excuse to get a walking foot so that I can have neat, crisp outlines of the tile pattern. Or, if I feel up to it at the time, I might hand quilt it, another first for me.

Intense. Why do I do this to myself?

Every year my company does a drive for cash and school supplies for Della Lamb, a local women’s and children’s organization. I might have opened my big, fat mouth and told the rest of the department that my team loves children more than they do, and that we could raise more cash for the kids.

Four days in, and things are heating up a bit. One group is offering tango lessons for $10 a pop, another is selling baked goods, and another is soliciting donations from their vendors. I’m glad my little challenge is helping out the kids, but would love for my team's ego to survive.

So, for a donation of any size, I will send you copies of my paid patterns Inside Out Socks, Jupiter Socks, and Dine & Dashing Scarf and Hat. I will send the last 2 asap. The inside out sock I’ll need to photocopy, so that will come next week. (psst, here are all my free knitting patterns).

If you can’t pitch in a couple bucks, but have ideas for how we could raise funds in the next week using a Polynesian fire sword dancer, that would be helpful as well! We have until August 4th.

I tend to knit popular patterns. I see them often enough to remember them, but since I don't hang with many knitters, no one I know owns the finished object. Still, I think it's time to round up some of the more obscure, yet still lovely, patterns I want to try. These three patterns all have fewer than 10 projects on Ravelry, but are worthy of many, many more.

Green T by Holly Priestley

Love this. It looks really easy to make - lots of stockinette with a little pattern to keep you from going insane. I think the neck line is nice and elegant. If I could ever get sweaters to fit, it might be worth a try.

Box-Pleat Top by Zoë Scheffy

I am so tempted to make this. Maybe a little longer than the pattern suggests and cinch it with a thick belt? Hotness.

Danube Socks by Cailyn Meyer

Sock knitters are pros at knitting for their own enjoyment. You put endless hours into socks, just to shove them into shoes and not have anyone notice them. Admire the socks - they deserve it. Oh, and this is a free sock knitting pattern. Nice!

I spent three weeks in Turkey, checking out the local sites, enjoying good food, and picking out some goodies to bring home. I figured I'd share some of the craftier things I found here. I did post on Any College about my study abroad experience.

This was my biggest find. A bowl from Ephesus Ceramics, a shop that's been making traditional Iznik tiles for a decade - yesterday by Turkish standards. It's a one of a kind piece, and I love it. The tulip is originally from Turkey, and you can see them everywhere throughout the country.

I'm afraid to use this.

The table cloth it's sitting on was picked up on a tiny island near the Sunken City outside Kaş. The Sunken City was less impressive than you'd think, but the island was pretty cool. The only way on or off was via boat (we kayaked there). There were lots of little shops with handmade things - crocheted bracelets, embroidery, all sorts of cotton goodies.

Afraid to use this, too.

These are a bunch of cheap-o tiles. They're cheap reproductions of traditonal prints. I picked them up to be coasters and trivets.

Not really afraid to use these.

Finally, here's a scarf I picked up from a street vendor. She was actually selling snack, but I think she'd make these in between customers. You'd see lots of older women crocheting trims on scarves, and selling them for a couple lira.

This either.

Turkey is a pretty amazing place, and these couple of random things I brought back in no way express the level of awesome contained in it's ancient street and modern buildings. Plan a trip!

As of yesterday, I'm older.

I think it's a sign you're living a good life when your birthday rolls around and all you want to do is the same thing you do nearly every free weekend. Walk the dog, coffee, Buffy marathon, finish a shawl and a tasty dinner. Nothing exciting, but nice in a comfortable way. Not a bad way to end a year who's dominant theme was settling in.

I got myself a couple skeins of Sappho II and the Barbara Walker Treasury of Knitting Patterns and it's sequal.

Happy Birthday to me.

Here's the shipwreck shawl I finished with a wool/bamboo blend. I planned ot use it as a table cloth for the kitchen table, but apparently I should have read the pattern. I ended up about 25% short on yarn and had to stop about 20 rows short. Still love it, though, so what else can I do but find a new table?

So... when wearing a circular shawl, do you look like you're wearing a table cloth?

The new nephew got not only a qulit, but a hedgehog and a mushroom. I'm trying to buy his love. I feel no shame about this.

What more does it take to win Favorite Aunt status than a mushroom and a hedgehog?

Still plucking my way through Mom's madli shawl. I'm hoping I can get it to the smooth sailing point and do the bulk of it on my trip to Turkey. Meanwhile, I'm working on a new pattern for this skein of Malabrigo sock.

Grapey.

On our grand adventure through the South, we kept seeing these awesome upright swifts in the museums. It was pretty clear I needed one like that, instead of the ubiquitous table top ones. For all you non-knitters out there, swifts are used to roll yarn into balls so it doesn't get tangled.

I was thinking that I'd have to dig through a lot of dusty antique stores to find one, but nope one popped up on Craigslist on my first try. Destiny.

Yeah. Grimy.

Disassembled, scrubbed with Murphy's oil soap, replaced and tightened the screws, reassembled and now it's functional. It's still missing some slats. It'll be a lot more involved to fix that, since I'd have to do all of them. It'll probably never happen.

Behold, the power of Murphy's soap.

I've been reordering and prioritizing my long, long list of projects. Spring is beginning to flirt with Kansas from across the room, so the need for warm things is waning.

Next up are a silk lace stole for Mom to wear to Michelle's wedding. I'll do Madli's Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia. This will be the most difficult and most luxourious thing I've made to date. It will be the start of a long and fiscally dangerous love affair with silk.

Are you in love? I am.

I just picked up this yarn today to make a Shipwreck Shawl. It's a wool/bamboo blend. I plan to use it as a table cloth. I don't really understand wearing circular or square shawls.

This photo is really an excuse to show off this gorgeous bowl I picked up in Jackson, MS. Envy is appropriate.

I have finished things as well. The ubiquitous Traveling Woman with 4 pattern repeats from some yarn that was well over due for GTFO my stash and a slightly modified  Mulnomah prayer shawl for Grandma.

Made while traveling. Appropriate.

Cancer, this is my way of saying I'd appreciate it if you'd die in a fire.

Also on my list of potential projects for this summer -

• New washclothes for the kitchen
• Fancy guest towels for the bathroom
• Freshly embroidered towels for the kitchen
• A red Spanish Armada for another table cloth, possibly in silk I dye
• A new quilt for my bedroom
• Finishing those stupid socks that have been around for over a year

Whatcha making?

I've been overcommitted. Completely over-scheduled and over-extended in every area, and nothing is coming together quite right.

Somehow, I skated past the holidays with almost no gift crafting. Selfish Knitters would be proud.

My sister got a pair of Snapdragon pop-tops that I contemplated keeping. I really liked them and loved the yarn. Ysolda is on my short list of favorite designers, and her patterns are really well written.

I have another skein of this yarn. I'm planning to make a lacy cowl out of it, using one of the charts from the Estonian Lace book. That is, if Amazon ever delivers it.

Snappy and warm

I've been wanting to make the Hemlock blanket for a while. I'd been thinking I'd make it for some baby, but somehow a hand-knit getting beat up bothers me more than a quilt gettting tattered. So I decided to make it for my other sister for her b-day. She'll treat it well.

Keeping the floor toasty

Finally, when snowed in over Christmas, I finally made my first Saartje booties. I have no idea how I've avoided making these for so long with all the tiny people entering my life. This went to my cousin's new baby, Sophie.

Almost as cute as Sophie... almost.

This weekend will be something for me. I'm going to finish my Vine Yolk cardigan that I've been working on since November. Just in time for Spring...

I told myself for every project worth's of yarn I bought, I had to finish two project from the stash. This has completely sucked all joy out of making things. I lazily jump from project to project, starting, but never finishing. I only have attention for small things.

Like booties.

Don't get too close. You'll get baby rabies.

These are craft felt, decorated with random stuff I had. They still aren't as cute as the examples, but they make me want to go steal a baby and put bows in its hair.

My attempt at punk and sporty

Some will be baby shower decorations, some gifts for my nephew and cousins' belly bumps. There's a lot of reproducing going on.

Purty

And... adorable.

I was highly productive while avoiding writing my final paper. Now that I'm trying to finish my sister's Christmas present, I'm working on everything but it. Deadlines are crafting dementors.

I knocked out my first clapotis for a friend. It's about 3.5 skeins of Cascade Luna. I still don't know how I feel about cotton yarn, but this stuff was nice to work with, and seems to wear nice.

Holy clap.

I think I only did two repeats, both horizonatlly and vertically. I finished it in a weekend, by far the fastest I've ever made a scarf.

All that's left to do is hand-sew the binding on the quilt I made from this fabric. I'm pretty happy with the result. The owner should be making her world debut in about 2 months, so I'll post the top after I give it to her folks.

I'm pretty pleased with my quilting, though. I did something other than stippling.

Back up.

I bought fabric for the nephew's quilt. It's fishy, so I think he'll grow up to be a marine biologist. Hopefully, I'll start that this week or next.

I made Oliver some catnip toys using scraps from the quilt.

Kitty toys

First wiff of catnip

Kitty approved

I have this.

I made it from cutting up 6 batik fat quarters and reassembling.

I was thinking about doing a paintbox-style quilt, and cut this up into squares and then put white sashing between the blocks. Not sure if I'm going to do that now.  I'm thinking vertical rectangles with white between.

Pico is judging me.

Whatever it is, there will be lots of white. That much I know.

Finished a damson last night. I do like it, but I fear that it's one of those things that knitters love and wear and non-crafters think are weird. There is something about making things that makes you completely blind to whether or not you should actually wear them.

I'll wear it 'backwards', so that the back bunches up in the front. Can't quite do the shawl thing. It's a little too 1940's Poland for my tastes.

Anyone else see a BSG raider?

I also finished the quilt top for one of the baby quilts. I went with a slight variation of Layout #3. I don't have any backing fabric, so odds are this one will sit on the shelf for a while.

I'll put up a pattern for this...soon...

I can't really decide if I'll actually give it away. I kind of want to drape it on Pico's chair, but that's all but a death sentence for the poor quilt.

From what I understand, most people working on their Master's read and write papers. I don't take that approach. Instead, I bring my laptop to coffee shops and make mix cds and surf the internet.

15 page paper due which means I've been googling my patterns. Narcissism is fun!

Found some people who've made monster booties. It's pretty sweet to think that so many people have been inspired to make something due to me.

The monsters have gone international.

Jen made the Tetris Quilt laid out so it actually looked like Tetris. Looks really cool, Jen!

Thanks to everyone who's made things from my patterns for stoking my ego. Vanity always was my favorite cardinal sin.

Couple finished projects I've been sitting on for a while.

I've been eyeing the owls sweater for many, many moons, and I've finally gotten around to making it. I did edit it to be a cardigan since I like them better. It only took a little finangling to move the start of the row to the middle of the front and then added 5 sts of garter st on each side, with a button hole every 12 rows.

I'm pretty smitten with it. It's pretty stinkin' warm though.

A hat and hooters

Here's the pattern on Ravelry.

Also made this hat, which was my first soiree with Malabrigo, my new bff. I'm not planning to write it up as a 'real' pattern, but here are my notes, if you're up for an adventure.

The hat

Supplies

• Size 8 needles
• Malabrigo worsted weight, about 2/3rd a skein
• Darning needle

Stitch Patten

Hold yarn to front, sl 2 sts to right needle, move yarn to back, move 2 sts back to left needle, k3- repeat

The last stitch will overlap the next round. That off-sets it each round.

Texture

Instructions

• Cable cast-on 96 sts
• 1.5 in 2x2 ribbing
• Next row - increase every 10 sts to 105 total
• Work 5” of pattern
• pm every 26 sts
• Decrease one each row at the markers, adjusting to stay in pattern (this is the part I really should have written down...)
• When 12 sts remain, pull tail through remaining sts and weave in ends