Carolina22nStitches

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

2011-11-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

something old:

I made this quilt for my boss's daughter ~8 years ago, and when I was at their house for Thanksgiving to my delight she still has it on her bed! She's in 8th grade now and I thought for sure she would have re-done her room in some trendy style but nope it's still there. And even better it looks worn and well-loved.

something new:

I decided to make a lap quilt for my friend that was recently diagnosed with cancer so I emailed her daughter to find out her favorite colors (peach, dark reds and greens) and these are the fabrics I came home with:

I'm making a triple irish chain quilt with the floral in the center similar to my blue and white quilt. Over the weekend I cut the first set of strips so I'm ready to start sewing:

something borrowed:

This is the best I can come up with. . . it's a photo of the my boss's wife's Thanksgiving table arrangement. Her table is always beautiful and this year I finally remembered to take my camera.

something blue:

Inspired by a friend's Vodka Gimlet sweater, I decided to make one too with yarn I already had in my stash. I'm getting married in February 2012 and while I won't be wearing it with my wedding dress, I thought it would be fun to wear around on my wedding day as I get my hair and make-up done. I made a lot of progress on it over Thanksgiving so am hoping I can get it done before the wedding. Working on it also so helps relieve some of the wedding planning stress :) The color in this shot is terrible because I waited until last night to take it so had to use the flash. In real life it's a very pretty pale blue.

And after the wedding, I'll post what I wore for my something old, blue etc :)

Thankful

2011-11-22T11:09:00.001-08:00

As Thanksgiving approaches I have so much to be thankful for:

1. I'm 44 today

I was thinking "oh man 44, that sounds so old" but then a really good friend got diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer and that knocked some sense into me. I'm so thankful to be celebrating another year and I aim to appreciate that every day.

2. Finding the love of my life!

I waited 43.5 years for this sweet man and he waited 46 for me. Neither one of us has ever been married but after dating for only 3 weeks we both knew it was the real deal :) He was definitely worth the wait and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!

3. My family

Here is a photo of my sweet family (minus my dad and brother-in-law) taken at my recent bridal shower. They have been so excited and supportive in helping me plan the wedding. I'd never have be able to do it without them! I love them all dearly.

4. My health

I'm extremely lucky in that I get to swim in this beautiful pool 3 times a week.

5. My friends

I have awesome friends that make me laugh, cry and who love me unconditionally. And they are the ones with whom I share my love of knitting and all things Carolina. I am blessed.

6. My job

I am so grateful that I get to do something that some day might make a difference in someone's life.

Back to School Giveaway

2011-09-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

No knitting photos today because the Hey Teach sleeve I made over the weekend is a tad too small so I'm re-doing it but at least I figured that out before I knit the 2nd :)

Caffeinegirlknits has a great giveaway going on - check it out to win some really great stuff!

Hey Blocking!

2011-09-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

After languishing in the U.F.O. pile for nearly 2 years, I finally finished the left front of Hey Teach and a mere 2 weeks later I finished the right front. Now it's on to the sleeves, seaming, then the button and neck bands. I'm not sure I'll get this sweater done before it's officially fall but at least I'll have another F.O soon!

Summer of U.F.O: Finished Object #3

2011-08-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend's manager got married last May, so he thought it would be fun to make them a grocery sack holder, using fabrics representing each of their interests, as a wedding present. Of course, I ended up making it but he did help and did a great job choosing the fabrics. I thought it would be really hard to find fabrics that matched their interests, but my local quilt store had a fabulous selection.

Her likes: Boston Red Sox, cooking, Eric Carle books [The Hungry Caterpillar], and purple

His likes: NY Yankees (and yes he did wonder how they made it past date #1!) and space.

Here are the fabrics sewn together:

And the finished bag:

Summer of U.F.O: Finished Object #2

2011-08-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

For some unknown reason for ~8 years all this quilt needed was the binding hand stitched down on the back. I finished it up on Saturday! This quilt was going to be for a friend's baby, but I realized (actually it was my mom that noticed) that it matched the colors in my house so I decided to keep it. I did make a blue and white double irish chain quilt for her son and he's now in 3rd? grade but was ~6 months old when I finished it. This quilt is likely going to be a wall hanging. Hopefully it won't take 8 more years to get that done.

Summer of U.F.O: Finished Object #1

2011-07-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

Since the number of U.F.O around my house is staggering (last count I had 5 quilts in progress and 7 projects on needles) so I decided that this summer I would not start anything new, but I would work on the project closest to being done then go on the next closest etc. Even though it's nearly August and I've only got 1 finished object to show, at least I haven't started anything new!

Here are a few photos of the Blue and White quilt completely done and on my bed!

And a few photos without the flash (this room faces north so it's hard to get an accurate representation of the colors):

I have a lap quilt that just needs one side of the binding sewn down (it's been that way for far too long!) so I hope to post photos of it soon!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Spring 2011

2011-05-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all who are visiting from the Blogger's Quilt Festival and a big thanks to Amy for hosting it! This is my second time participating in the festival and this time I choose a quilt I finished a few years ago.

It's called the Elizabeth Quilt because that is the name of the pattern design by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. I bought the pattern and fabric when I was with my mom (Elizabeth), her best friend and my best friend at the Houston International Quilt Show in 2004. I debated a while about buying the fabric but my friend said it is so "Laura" you must get it so I did. The designer named the quilt Elizabeth because the fabric line is named Wuthering Heights from Moda's Three Sisters line. Since my mom is also named Elizabeth and was with me when I bought it we've always called it the Elizabeth quilt.

My fabulous machine quilter Margaret did a super job machine quilting it with variegated thread:

Here is a picture of the back:

hats, hats, hats

2011-02-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

I've been in hat-making mode lately:

I finished up the 2nd snowflake hat

made another umbilical cord hat for a friend's grand baby

and I started another hat for my niece, in light blue of course.

I'd originally planned to use a different yarn even though I didn't think it was quite the right shade because I'd used the same brand (Cascade Bollicine Baby Night) to make her several pink hats. She is, after all, related to me and is very particular about the shade of blue she likes [that's a UNC vs. Duke reference for all you non-basketball fans]. My sister said she liked it but she wasn't too excited so I'd been looking for something else.

On a recent trip to Williamsburg, I went to the fabulous yarn store Knitting Sisters with my mom and found Plymouth Select worsted merino in the perfect shade of blue. I sent her a piece of it and my sister emailed me today that she said: "Let's write her back and say I like the blue. Please make the hat". So cute. I'm on it.

Problem Child II

2011-02-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

After I reknit the ribbing on a smaller size needle (size 2!) and had about 5 " inches done, I decided I still didn't like it so I went to Ravelry to see what other hems had been used with this yarn (why I didn't do that initially I have no idea). I found the pattern Grapevine, by the same designer as Peasy, and that several people had added the lace trim to the hem and sleeve cuffs which looked fabulous, so I cast on yet again - hopefully for the last time but the way this project has gone who knows:

Problem Child

2011-01-29T10:51:00.000-08:00

This sweater was supposed to be my easy/winter project but it's been anything but. After I started and frogged two different cardigan patterns, I called my mom (which I clearly should have done to begin with) to get her thoughts on what to make and she suggested a pullover because this yarn tends to stretch after blocking.

I found a simple V-neck pullover pattern in a Patons book and I thought I'd add the Peasy lace pattern to it to dress it up a bit, if it's not too hard but the at the rate this project is going I have my doubts. At last I thought I have a plan so I swatched and I knit the ribbing only I really don't like it. It looks too loosey-goosey so I've decided it frog it and go down a needle size. By the time I get this thing going it will be spring and I'll be in the mood for spring colored yarn. . .

And ironically my Dark and Stormy sweater, which requires more concentration, is going along smoothly:

F.O. Sampler Quilt

2011-01-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

Some quilt projects (like the blue and white triple irish chain quilt) go together easily and quickly. This one did not. It was the quilt with issues. I bought the pattern at Tennessee Quilts 2 1/2 years ago and glanced at the size and thought "oh that's close to a double bed size". It was not. Thankfully before I added the borders I laid it out on my bed to check the size and discovered it was several inches short on the sides. After racking my brain for a while as to how to fix it, I called my mom in a panic - what to do??? Add more blocks? Another border? In about 2 seconds she came up with idea of adding the half square triangle border and whew problem solved! She is SO good at that it's unreal. Note to self: next time just call her right away.

This quilt top also had several more trials along the way: blocks sewn together in the wrong order, borders sewn to the wrong side, etc. But at last it's done and out of my house and is now at my fabulous machine quilter's house! The back will be a flannel that's very similar to the outer border and the batting will be wool, which I've never used before so am anxious to see what it's like. Margaret is going to custom quilt each block to match the block pattern. It's going to be gorgeous and warm!

People at quilt shows always seem to come up with really clever names for their quilts, but all I've come up with so far is The Pink and Brown Sampler Quilt which is really lame. Maybe by the time I get it back from Margaret I'll have come up with something else. . . I'm also open to suggestions. . .

Dreaming of Spring In the Bleak Midwinter

2011-01-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite songs is In the Bleak Midwinter because it sums up well the bleakness of winter perfectly. Back in December, I searched and searched for yarn that felt like winter and I finally found Rowan Felted Tweed grey mist. Then the search began of what to knit with it and after frogging the Transitions Knit Cardigan (the yarn was too fine for the garter yoke) I think I've settled on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.

Here is the swatch for it:

And while I love the slow and quiet days of winter it, the dry skin, constant sinus headache, weather etc can be wearing, so I thought I'd start a quilt that would remind me of spring. After 2 bed sized quilts I decided a small wall hanging would be a nice change of pace and something that I wouldn't get too bogged down making. Today I started cutting it out - this quilt is fun in that I'm using charm squares (ie precut squares) given to me for Christmas last year by one of my closest friends. The other 2 fabrics are for the borders:

Here are the center squares:

for this quilt pattern:

F.O. February Little Lady Sweater

2011-01-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

Three posts in one day - it's amazing how much I got done when I didn't have to go to work!

Here are some pictures of my niece wearing her new sweater and close-ups of the buttons I chose for it. My nieces LOVES blue so I tried to find blue buttons for it but none really matched. When she found that they were purple she was less than pleased but my oh-so-smart- brother-in-law quickly jumped in and told her that "purple is the friend of blue". I'm not sure she was convinced but hopefully she'll still wear it. . .

Nearly FO: Peasy

2011-01-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

All I have to do is sew on the buttons hooray! I will post pictures of me wearing it after that's done unless it looks horrid on me then I may not. . . It was cloudy this morning when I took these so the pictures are a little dark. The picture of the sleeve in my previous post is a more accurate picture of the true color.

Going in circles

2011-01-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

For some unknown reason it worked out that every project I worked on over the holidays involved knitting in the round:

#1) Peasy sleeve

#2) Snowflake hat #1

#3) Snowflake hat #2

#4) Cowl with a Little Twist

#5) Mittens for my niece (I made one, my mom made the other):

Weekend's best: January 1st - 2nd:

2011-01-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

Worked on quilt borders, Peasy, and started a cowl made in Baby Alpaca - it's so soft!

Seemingly random

2010-12-31T08:03:00.001-08:00

I'm adding a border of half-square triangle squares to a nearly finished quilt top (pictures soon!) and I wanted the colors to look balanced but not too balanced if that makes sense. I discovered it's hard to make something look random that really isn't. I thought about throwing all the squares into a bag and laying them out as I pulled them out but a) I was worried all one color would end up in a corner and b) I'm way too much of a perfectionist so I laid them out randomly but not too randomly. . .

Weekend's best: Dec 24th - 26th 2010

2010-12-31T07:12:00.000-08:00

White Christmas in Virginia:

Weekend's best: Dec 18-20

2010-12-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

At my sister's house - view from her front porch

Knitting - photo taken by my niece :)

Watching my niece watch the train go by

Reading books with my niece

Weekend's best: Dec 10th - 12th 2010

2010-12-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

My weekend started out with a bang because I found out Friday evening that I'd won contest on a blog I'd entered! The blog is written by Olympic swimmer Mark Gangloff's wife Ashley about what it's like to be married to an Olympic swimmer.

Last week Mark was resting up (ie spending a lot of time on the couch watching movies) for Short Course World Championships in Dubai this week so the contest asked for a movie that was inspiring. I chose Miss Potter even though it's not your typical inspirational movie. I loved how Beatrix went against Victorian society and chose her own path.

I won an autographed copy of Mark's new book:

And on Saturday I finished my niece's February Lady sweater! Well except for sewing on the buttons which I couldn't do because I haven't bought them yet. . . I'd talked to her earlier in the day and told her I was nearly done with the 2nd sleeve and she said " Yipeee" so cute!

Also on Saturday yarn for my next couple of projects arrived from WEBS.

When we were in Scotland we stayed at a super B&B so I'm planning to make semi-matching snowflake hats for the couple out of Cascade 220. His will be blue with a white snowflake and hers the reverse.

Dark and Stormy requires a fair amount of concentration so I wanted another sweater project to have going that was easy peasy but didn't want to make another Peasy, so after much searching on Ravelry I finally found Transitions Yoke Cardigan pattern (rav link):

I had been searching for a color with a "winter" feel to it and finally I found one: Rowan Felted Tweed - grey mist.

I'm not ready to start it yet so left it sealed in the bag. It's a beautiful pale grey with bits of black, darker blues and purple. The pattern is a little vague and the gauge is a quite a bit different so some knitting math will be involved. I'm planning to use Peasy as a guide since it was also made with Rowan Felted Tweed.

Weekend's best: December 4th, 5th & 6th 2010

2010-12-07T09:09:00.001-08:00

I finally decided to join in LoriNY's idea to post a photos summing up my weekend mostly because this past weekend was very busy but also fun!

Saturday I went to the UNC- UK basketball game. Here is a pic from a couple of years ago showing where I sit and yes it's quite high up! As an employee of UNC I can get basketball season tickets and my seat is determined by how many consecutive years I've gotten them. It's a very mysterious process though. Some years my seat stays the same but others like this year I moved down 2 rows!

This is the final score so I was very happy along with 20,000 other screaming fans:

Unbeknownst to us it had started snowing hard while we were at the game. This is what it looked like as we were leaving:

On Sunday my handbell choir gave a concert at my church:

And last night (which wasn't part of the weekend but it felt like it) the handbell choir played in the lobby, oncology and pediatric units of Duke Hospital. I stupidly forgot my camera but the director took pictures so I will post some later. We put the bells on gurneys and rolled them around the hospital. People took videos of us with their phones so we might be on you tube!

The neatest part of the evening occurred in the pediatric ward. We had just finished playing and were about to go back downstairs and pack up when one woman realized a teenage girl had just made it out of her room to hear us play so we halted the roll out and played Jingle Bells for her and she rang the jingle bells for us (we always ask someone listening to ring them). Her parents were there and said she played the piano and loves music. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Two down two to go. . .

2010-11-29T08:14:00.001-08:00

sleeves that is. Somehow I reached the point of knitting the sleeves on both of my top-down projects at the same time which although a little boring is fun because it means the end is in sight!

First, here is my niece's February Little Lady sweater:

I realized if I get my act together I can give it to her for Christmas along with something fun because even though she always squeals with delight whenever she sees it, a sweater really isn't all that much fun to play with when you are 4. . .

Second, here is Peasy:

And to break-up the Sleeve Monotony, I also swatched and CO Dark and Stormy:

The color in the top picture is closer to what it actually looks like. It was dark (but not stormy) last night when I took the 2nd picture so I had to use the flash.

Birthday Cakes

2010-11-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

For my birthday last week one of my coworkers made me a FABULOUS Nutella cake!

I had been searching Ravelry for what to knit next but nothing seemed quite right until I saw LoriNY's Dark and Stormy - it was EXACTLY what I had been looking for but couldn't seem to find. She had received the pattern for her birthday :)

I decided to make it with Cascade 220 in a purple heather and the yarn arrived on my birthday:

Sweet Sixteen

2010-11-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

Last week I finished Umbilical Cord Hat #16! A few years ago I started making these for friends, coworkers and of course my niece and it has become "my thing" to give to expectant mothers. This latest one was for a coworker and at the baby shower someone commented that people could recognize a baby from our group by their hat.

And here is my niece sporting her auntie hand-knit goodness on the first cold day of the season. It looks like she might need a new set of mittens soon :)

Katherine's Quilt

2010-11-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is my first year to join in the fun and enter the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy.

I chose the quilt I made for my niece Katherine. It's called "Many Trips around the World" from the book Tradition with a Twist by Blanche Young. I love everything about this quilt. . . the soft colors which remind me of an English garden. . . the simplicity of the pattern. . . and the joy I had in making it for my niece-to-be. At the same time as I was making it my mom was also making a quilt for her so we had a great time comparing notes on where we were in the process.

If you look closely in the picture below you can see that the quilt had not been bound yet because my niece was a month early!

On my next visit 2 months later it was finished.

As Peasy as Pie

2010-10-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Since I've been back from Scotland I've gotten quite a bit done on Peasy:

It's slowly coming along. . . The body is such a slog I made up a chart based on how much I have left so I can tick off rows as I go so I can see that I am making progress. I'm getting 8 rows/inch and decided I wanted about ~14" post sleeve-divide:

I've done more inch since I took this picture on Saturday!

My coworker told me about this blog so late last week I found a recipe for Buttercup Squash on it. It sounded so good that I made one this weekend sort of. I mistakenly read it as Butternut squash so that's what I bought and I cheated and bought pre-made pie crust. It was so yummy I'm planning to make it again soon with the right squash and make the crust from scratch (maybe).

Knitting in Scotland

2010-10-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't get as much knitting done on my trip as I had hoped (isn't that the way it always is) but I did get some work done on Peasy in some beautiful and interesting places:

On the Isle of Skye outside our B&B

In Oban waiting for the ferry to the Isle of Mull

On the train from Ft. William to Mallaig

In the lounge in our B&B in Crianlarich

And wearing my Central Park no-Hoodie on St. Andrew's Golf Course!

F.O Central Park No Hood

2010-08-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

If I hadn't had a deadline to finish this sweater there's no way it would have gotten done because seaming it when it was 105 was not fun but it was worth it because now it's done and even better it fits! Scottish Highlands here I come!

Packing, Peasy, and Pickles

2010-08-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

Packing:

I leave for Scotland in 2 weeks so this past weekend I began gathering clothes, rain gear, etc!

I know some people can pack in a matter of minutes but I'm not one of those people. I'd end up leaving out something really important like my underwear.

Peasy:

I'd been thinking about what knitting project to take with me (Alexandria and I have had enough adventures already so I thought it might be best to leave her at home) so when I saw LoriNY's Peasy I thought it seemed like a great project to take with me. And a tweed yarn? How perfect!

Given my difficulties in getting projects started correctly I thought I might be a good idea to get it going before I leave. I'm just about to start the lace pattern. The color doesn't show up very well but it's a beautiful blue with flecks of white and black.

Pickles:

This doesn't have anything to do with Scotland. I just felt like making pickles last weekend. I used my mom's Million Dollar Pickle recipe and they turned out great. It was my first time making them or canning anything for that matter so I was a little anxious until my mom pointed out "It's not that hard. You throw everything in together, bring it to a boil then put them in jars". I love how my mom can cut to the chase about a situation.

I let the cucs soak overnight (there is also onion but I forgot to add it until later):

And here they are finished:

Good news and bad news

2010-07-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

First the bad:

I had 3.5 inches of Alexandria done but now I have this much. . . .

The pattern near the bands was looking really strange so after much pondering and comparing the chart and instructions, I figured out that when I made a short-cut cheat sheet for the section I was doing I somehow copied the instructions for the section done in the round not flat. Der.

Last night I laid it out flat on my DR table and slowly and painfully ripped out 2 inches (sob!) then stopped 1 row above where I wanted to re-start. The next row I carefully un-knit 217 sts onto smaller needles. By some miracle I ended up with the same # of sts that I started with so I am good to go. . . . yet again. I called to tell my mom (also a knitter) my sad story and how stupid I felt and she said "well patterns are tricky". That made me feel better so thanks Mom :)

Now the good:

Error-free progress has been made on my niece's February Little Lady Sweater!

I'll see her next week so I can do a size check and if she's grown out of it just shoot me now.

Ready for the magic

2010-07-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

I finished the blue and white quilt this weekend so it's ready for my wonderful machine quilter Margaret to work her magic on! Here is a link to her blog with pictures of some the quilt's she's quilted. I am always amazed at the designs she comes up with.

But first here are pictures of a quilt she quilted for me last year using variegated thread:

the top pre-quilting

one section post-quilting

the center medallion

and the back which really shows it off.

And here are pictures of the finished blue and white quilt now with borders! And I didn't have a brain freeze when I measured the borders. Since my bed is fairly high off the ground, I wanted the sides long enough so that I could see the cherry side rails but I also didn't want a pillow tuck. In the morning I pull the sheet and quilt up then throw the pillows on top and head out. I think white pillow cases with eyelet trim would look nice with the top.

Click on pictures for a larger view:

on my LR floor

view from the side of the bed - I had to use the flash since it was cloudy.

View at the head of my bed.

location location location

2010-07-10T10:54:00.001-07:00

Since I hadn't started my blog back in April when Eskimimi did her Knit and Crochet blog week and location was one of my favorite topics from that week, I thought it might be fun to post pics of where I sit and sew.

Here is my recliner which was given to me by dad as it didn't fit in their house when they moved to Va. When he visits he sits in it :) I love it! It's the most comfortable chair ever and I dread the day I'll have to replace it. Since I eat most ok all of my meals in it, I put a soft fleece on it I picked up at the grocery store of all places. I learned from my mom it's much easier to wash a blanket than a chair.

I keep a basket by my chair and it holds my WIP, patterns, and various knitting tools. The chest with all the drawers was given to my mom by her dad when she was in 7th-8th grade to hold her sewing supplies. She'd just taken home ec and loved it (she taught me to knit and sew). It has funny drawers that don't slide in and out you just stick them back in. Each drawer held spools of thread of a similar color. I've taken over a few of the drawers but the rest I've left as is to remind me of my my mom sewing when she was young.

Here is a picture of my DR table where I sew - I pop the leaf up when I need more room for a big quilt:

My townhouse is built on the side of a hill with a deck off the back. My DR (and kitchen) face a walking trail and I love to watch people walk by as I sew, cook etc. Here are pictures of the view out my DR window:

And the view from my kitchen window (this is also what I see from my recliner):

And a picture taken from my deck:

Lost and Found: Motivation

2010-07-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Due to my excitement to finish CPH and start Alexandria, my enthusiasm to work on my niece's February Little Lady Sweater has waned. Here is what it looked like back in mid-May:

Since I'm heavily modifying the pattern and I was about to visit her in Ga for her 4th b-day I wanted to get it to the point where I divided for the sleeves. I did and thankfully it looks like it will fit perfectly! Phew. She was a trooper and stayed still while she tried it on and I did some measuring. Not easy for an active 4 year old.

Over Memorial Day weekend I divided for the sleeves and did a few rows and it's been sitting untouched since then.

After having to CO for Alexandria 5 times (I'm now up to 1075 sts!), I think I'll take a break for a few days and work on FLL. My sister sent me this picture of my niece yesterday which was just the motivation I needed! Is there anything more precious than a picture of a sleeping child?

She's holding a UNC bear I gave her a couple of years ago in my quest to brainwash I mean convert her into a UNC fan.

And here's a picture of her learning to knit with me taken a few months ago:

I just love her little hands next to mine.

Pretty in Pink

2010-07-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I swatched for the Alexandria cardigan:

I'm using the yarn/color suggested in the pattern Fleece Artist Woolie Silk 3 ply (65% wool, 35% silk)/ rose which is not very adventurous but hey why mess with something that already looks great. On size 6 needle I got 5.5 sts/inch and I need 5.0 so I went up to a 7 and that worked. I liked the look of the sts better on a 6 and the size I'm making may be a tad big so I considered using a 6 but I'd like my sweater to close in front and not gap like is shown in the pattern and several others on Ravelry so I'm sticking with a 7. Who knows if this will work. Gauge is always such a crap shoot...

Next time trust the math

2010-07-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Friday I had a couple of free hours so I sat down to knit the buttonhole row on my CPH. I got out my copy of this nifty book my mom gave me for Christmas because it has a handy chart for calculating the placement of the holes and my print out of one-row buttonhole instructions. Next I carefully calculated the placement of the holes:

1. Calculate the # of sts used for the holes: 4 sts x 5 buttons = 20sts

2. Deduct this from the total # of sts in the band: 138-20 = 118

3. Deduct sts above the top and bottom hole (I had the collar sts to account for so top was 24 sts and bottom was 6 sts): 118-30 = 88

4. Divide the remaining sts to fill the spaces between the holes (5 buttons = 4 spaces): 88/4 = 22

Per the instructions I started at the bottom of the band and after making the first hole, knitting the sts in between the holes then I thought I'd better check and see if I was going to end up at the right place for the last hole. I was worried it might end up smack in the middle of the collar. I measured and fretted and decided I had too many sts between the holes so I'd better go with less. For some unknown reason I went with 15 sts between holes. I could see going with 1 or 2 less but 7 less? I have no idea what I was thinking. But I carried on and ended up with 6 holes instead of 5 and it looked like this:

Not really the look I was going for - the buttons look too crammed together. So I ripped back to the sts after the first hole which was not fun as I had to unpick the cast -on/off sts around the holes and luckily I ended up with same # of sts as when I started. I did some more calculations and measuring based on the row I just did and I ended up with wait for it..... 22 sts between the holes! This is how it looks now - much better:

Click to enlarge

Der... next time I'll go by the chart!

Listen to the expert

2010-06-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

Since all my quilt fabric is packed away due to the paint project and I was itching to sew something (there's something about those long summer days that make me want to sew!) what was I to do but buy more fabric! I've made a couple of blue and white double irish chain quilts for friend's baby boys like this one:

So I had this vision of a similar quilt with big white squares for a light and bright fun summer look. So off I went to my local quilt store and chose my dark blue, medium blue and white. I went up to the owner and asked what she thought. She said it was nice but had I thought of doing a triple irish chain pattern with a floral in the center? I said no and was thinking to myself I really wanted a white look although I do love flowers.

She went over to the blue section and picked up a couple of florals and although still doubtful (why yes I am slow to change) I could see where she was going. She said I should put the white next to the floral as that would really set it off. She added the floral and the transformation was amazing!

I love how this quilt turned out so I am glad I listened to an expert :) Next up is adding the borders.

Before and After

2010-06-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

My house was built in the mid-80s and had those oh so lovely popcorn ceilings (whoever thought those up should be shot!) so a couple of months ago I had all of it removed and the entire house painted minus the laundry room and closets painted.

After I recovered (mostly) from the upheaval I decided to go ahead and have the closets and laundry room painted and be done with the whole mess. My outstanding painter also does small home repair jobs so was able to fix several annoying issues in my laundry room.

#1) Several years ago I had the house replumbed since it originally had polybutylene pipe (big lawsuit over that kind) and my plumber left this nice hole above my dryer:

#2) It's hard to tell from this picture but a very small and fairly useless cabinet lived over the washer:

#3) A big ugly wooden shelf also lived over the washer and dryer that held the hot water heater until I had it moved under the house. Seemed to me a hot water heater over two electrical appliances was not best idea.... The shelf was narrow over the washer then widened over the dryer making the space above the dryer hard to use.

#4) My washer lid didn't clear the shelf so my dad cut a notch out for me so it at least opened most of the way:

#5) Space where hot water used to live was wasted and needed some improving:

And now after with new shelving and paint:

My washer lid now opens all the way!

I have SO much more storage and the room is so bright and clean. Although the rest of my house is now covered in drywall dust again...but so worth it!

29 and holding

2010-06-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend I worked on assembling the 31 "plain" blocks that go in the triple irish chain blue and white quilt. When I got done and I had 4 side strips leftover. I'm usually pretty careful ie anal when I cut the strip sets so I was pretty sure I wasn't off by 4. I counted the blocks and sure enough I had 29.

I went into the drawer where I keep all the parts to this project and found the 2 extra center squares. I just hadn't grabbed them all when I started assembling. I whipped up the last 2 blocks in about 20 minutes so I'm ready to start sewing blocks into rows.

One of the 31:

Click to enlarge

Blocking and a block

2010-06-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to yarn harlots recent post and advice from skittermagoo my first attempt at blocking sweater parts was relatively easy. I did discover the blocking mat I bought from knitpicks is only big enough to hold the fronts and back so I'll have to block the sleeves another day which actually works out well because I still have 5 more rows left on the 2nd sleeve. I blocked the fronts on top of each other to make sure they come out the same size.

Central-park-no-hoodie fronts and back:

Hopefully the seaming will go as well. I'm still on track to take this sweater with me to Scotland in August although it's hard to think of wearing wool when it's 95 out.

Last weekend I made 32 of these:

The pattern is triple irish chain and the fabric reminds me of blue and white china which I love. I'm working on the blocks that will alternate with this one and I can't wait to see it all laid out!

New Blog!

2010-06-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to Carolina22nStitches!

Stayed tuned for pictures of some nearly finished quilting and knitting projects!

So this first post isn't too bare here is a picture of a quilt I made for my sister a couple of years ago celebrating her first year as a mother: