August 2022

 The knitting/crocheting for Project Linus continues. 

 

This blanket was knit using 2 skeins of Lionbrand  Cupcake in the colorway Diagon Alley. I really like how this turned out using the variegated baby yarn.

 

This blanket was crocheted using a one pounder of baby blue yarn that I purchase from a thrift store. I used a stitch that I found in a stitch dictionary.

I finished this quilt. Finally! It is a vintage kit quilt that included everything except the batting and backing. This is the second kit like this that I've completed and I hesitate to say that I won't be doing another. The blue dye that is used on these for the cutting lines and quilting lines does not totally come out. But, all-in-all I am pleased with the results. It is hand appliqued and machine quilted.

 

July 2022

July was so stinking HOT! I work in the yarden in the very early morning (from about 6-8 am) and then come indoors for a shower. The rest of the morning is spent doing chores/errands. The afternoon is spent in the cool basement sewing room working on a quilt top. Then the evening is when I knit/crochet because it is a bit mindless and a good time to brain dump and slow down.

I've been working on a quilt named "A New Slant on Snowflakes" by Tina Curran. The pattern is from an Etsy shop. I'll show it when I get the top pieced.

Project Linus Blankets

I go to Project Linus meetings and pick up yarn for blankets. Most of the yarn is donated so there isn't a lot of one yarn which makes a person very creative to be able to get a decent sized blanket. It is a challenge.

Did I show this? It's Half Double Crochet Baby Blanket. All the yarn was 'sparkly'. Unfortunately the mylar in the white yarn was strange so I pulled it all out before I started to crochet.

 

And the Garter Stitch Baby Blanket. This one is knit from corner to corner and has a drape that is very nice.

Fast and Easy Baby Blanket is crocheted. I started with the green and just crocheted until it was gone. Then I divided a partial skein of white into 2 balls. I weigh the yarn on my kitchen scale and then wind it off into another ball until I have 2 of equal weights.

June 2022

I made another crocheted Project Linus blanket: this one is a corner to corner. I love this pattern when the yarn is limited. I have found that weighing the yarn allows me to use it all - half for the increase side and half for the decrease side.

And here's another Project Linus blanket. I found this pattern on Ravelry. It is called the Blanket Stitch afghan. The pattern can be found here.

 

I also finished this blanket for Project Linus. It is a simple single crochet and used up the left-over yarn from the previous afghan plus two skeins of that sparkly magenta .

I've been on a roll! Final blanket for the month of June for Project Linus is one using half-double crochet. It used up all the sparkly blue yarn and a lot of white left-overs.

I need some new dishcloths so I'm taking a break and knitting up some using the dribs and drabs of cotton yarn that is on hand.

I also made a shabby chic diaper bag. I added some antique buttons and a brocade napkin. The inside has two zippered pockets that can accommodate a package or two of baby wipes.

It's been a productive month!

May 2022

 I have some sewing! Well, after a fashion. I had these pieces of fleece; so I did a rolled hem using my serger and Voila! six blankets for Project Linus. The smallest is about 42x54 and the largest is about 54x68.

I have another Project Linus finish -- a premie blanket. This measures quite small at 24"x28". I used one cake of Lion Brand's Cupcake yarn in Robin Egg colorway.

The husband and I don't like to travel on holiday weekends so we did a Memorial Day camp at Carter Lake (in Colorado) for the last several days. It's wonderful to get away and just listen to the hummingbirds. The first day rain forced us indoors. The second day was glorious if a bit windy. 

April 2022

 What can I say about this month other that it has been very very windy. And super dry. This is the driest April in over 100 years. Last Friday there were 15 reported wildfires. I wish people would be fire aware and stop doing stupid things during fire alerts. Okay, rant over.

I've been quilting but there is nothing to show yet. 

OTOH, I do have two shawl/wraps to share. They both use a 100% wool yarn that was given to me and I'm delighted to say that ALL of that yarn is used up. 

This shawl is call the Best Loved Garter Stitch Shawl. It is a super easy triangular shawl. I used the aforementioned wool yarn held together with a lace mohair yarn. This is just so warm and cozy!

This is the November Wrap and is a rectangular shawl. I is knit from side to side in stockinette stitch and the ribbed ruffle is knitted on. It, too, is warm.

March 2022

It's been a busy month for some odd reason. I've been knitting this for the last 6 months and just finished putting it together. It can be used as a ruana (shawl) or a lap robe.

When I finished the ruana, I started on some hats. Two 100 gram skeins of each color resulted in two hats.

I was organizing my fabric stash and found a boat load of Laurel Burch fabric. So I made quilts for my great-nieces who are 7, 9 and 14.

Every 7 year old girl likes mermaids, it seems.

 

A 14 year old has a little more refined tastes.

 And purple for the 9 year old.

February 2022

 Yikes! So I had the second surgery. To remove more of the margin of the melanoma, doc had to totally remove the healed portion from the last surgery. To say that it hurts like h**l is an understatement. I'm taking it easy for a week or two until the bandages come off and then it's "watch out world"!

I was able to make a tshirt quilt from some hot rod shirts. These shirts are from a collection of one of the members of the Road Knights car club. I used 20 shirts, stabilized with Pellon911FF. Because I was fitting it to a 60" wide backing fleece. the quilt has no sashing or borders. I quilted it with an allover freemotion jagged zigzag. It turned out pretty nice, if I can pat myself on the back. I gave it to one of the organizers of the car club's annual event for a door prize and she was blown away.