May was an extremely fruitful month! Here's the recap:
My Triangularity Quilt is finished! It is absolutely stunning, I am so happy with all the work I put into it.
I finished my Cute Little Houses calendar and it is everything I was hoping it would be. It was with much exertion, brainstorming, and research, that I was able to patch together a solution to my linen calculation error, and the result is far from perfect.
This project got a frame, a custom mat, and a prominent place in my home, because it truly brings me so much joy.
Completed this month are a pair of socks I knit on request, these are Fairy Maiden by This Handmade Life in English Lavender Socknado by Ancient Arts. I have passed the socks to the requester and heard that they were then passed along to the recipient, who's feet they did indeed fit.
This month I was requested to knit a pair of socks for someone to give as a gift. Information: size 9.5; Favourite colour: purple; Taste: feminine.
After conducting some thorough research, I landed on Fairy Maiden by This Handmade Life, because the pattern felt seasonally appropriate and lovely, especially with a solid colour yarn to highlight the stitch texture. The yarn I chose English Lavendar by Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts Socknado.
Huge headway on my hand quilting! I got the scrappy binding sewed up and ironed, and I've started hand stitch the binding in place. I've decided to use a visible ticking and to switch out the coloured threads along the way, because it's more fun.
More hand-quilting, I can see the finish line here and it's very exciting!
Lots of sock knitting this month, the pattern I chose was Traffic Island Socks by Nicola W and this Sweet Clover Candy by Candy Skein is perfect for March.
How cute is the Halloween Cute Little House!? I am humming Thriller and wishing to skip right over the impending Summer to Fall. Alas, unfortunately I am not a time traveller, yet.
New socks on the needles, September usually causes me to feel like casting on something fall feeling. So I did! These socks are Cozy Autumn Socks by This Handmade Life and the colourway is Leave a Penny by Crafty that way in a 80/20 Merino Nylon.
A continuation of alternating hand quilting and resting my fingers, wrists, and forearms.
This month, I attempted a very challenging project on my rigid heddle loom. This pattern is the 2 Cubed Tea Towel by The Rogue Weaver and was my first attempt to used two heddles on my loom. I figured if anyone could step me through warping two heddles, it would be Tammy... and I was correct. There was definitely some hurdles and some evident mistakes, all my own fault, mostly losing my place in the weft pattern as I have (documented([!]) challenges with my working memory But that's OK! That is literally how I learn, and I like to think the little bloops that I notice won't be noticed by the kitchen appliances.
I chose pink and green 2/8 Cotton by Maurice Brassard in, I think, Rose Pale 1768 and Vert Fonce 1152 for the first and my plan is to switch out the green for a red, maybe Framboise 5193 to make a set of Christmas themed towels that have a vintage feel of pink, red, and green.
This month I determinedly set up to make some serious decisions so that I could progress on my Triangularity Quilt by Jeni Baker.
With this in mind I ordered some Aurifil 28wt and some fresh Colonial Super Glide Quilting Needles, found a comfy spot to nest in and got to hand quilting. There was some respectable progress made, but after hours of quilting, I am needed to take frequent breaks to rest my hands.
Remember that quilt I finished last month that I had the top sitting around for 10,000 years without reason, well, someone mark the calendar because I am on a roll.
I am ashamed to admit that I had another quilt, in an even sadder state of unfinished. This one had all the cutting done, but still required some piecing, and it had been sitting around even longer than 10,000 years. Literally. Ok so! I finished piecing! Most (almost all) of the fabric used for this quilt was from stash or leftover scraps. The pattern I used is called Triangularity by Jeni Baker.
Every month or couple months, I look very forward to catching up with Arne & Carlos and all of their adventures and shenanigans, seriously, if I am in a less than sunshiney mood, these two can have me hitting replay and gut laughing in minutes, I absolutely adore them. Anyway, I felt inspired to knit one of their patterns and try out the famous Norwegian yarn, and so I purchased the Redd Barna Unisex Jumper and knit this in Rowan wool and simply chose the (near) same colours that was in their original design. This month, I got a good start on that sweater.
I found myself with some waiting time this month and so cast on a new pair of socks in fun summery colours and since it was so hot, felt to make a pair of shorties for summer.
Finished knitting my Rainbow fish socks in an unknown yarn with my made up pattern.
I wove a scarf start to finish and used pick up sticks on my loom for the first time. There is a ton of terminology that comes with weaving and therefore things can sound really scary because the names and concepts are foreign. But after reading through the instructions from The Rogue Weaver's pattern Easy Waffle Weave Scarf, I felt confident I could do it, and I was right!
Seriously, if you are having any trouble or want to dip your toes into weaving and have access to a rigid heddle loom, I highly highly recommend The Rogue Weaver and she has so many patterns to chose from that I'm certain you will find something that appeals to you. Bonus, she sometimes offers online classes and in house classes (if you live in her area).
And the big news is that approximately 10,000 years ago, I made a quilt top called The Good Old Hockey Game by KristaOCD and for reasons I don't understand, I never got around to taking it any further. Not drumroll, I managed to sandwich and quilt and knock this quilt out in two days! So, that felt really really good, and I made a little human very happy!
So this month I finished the requested quilt, I had used a quilt kit for this one and the batiks are really gorgeous some of the fabrics have a glint of gold. I was hoping to make sure that the finished quilt would appease the person who requested it. They seemed happy enough, but it is hard to tell.
For knitting this month, I started on the pattern The Weekender by Andrea Mowry, for this sweater, I decided to use Knit Picks Wool of the Andres Worsted because the suggested Brooklyn Tweed yarn was out of my budget. I have completed the body of the sweater and have started working on the sleeves, knitting the, two at a time so that they end up being identical.
I started a new pair of socks which are being knit from a double knit sock blank, which means I can knit them two at a time. This sock blank was one of a kind for sure! I purchased it from Black Market wool and written across the blank among pinks and yellows, was written "I AM A F*****G UNICORN". The way it knit up was a total surprise and I love it.
So I really enjoyed working on my Onward by Shannon Cook and got it finished and blocked and it's done! There really isn't enough that can be said about how perfect the Quince & Co Honey colourway is. Is is truly gold.
I really spent a lot of time this month ironing fabric to prepare it for cutting, then cutting out all the sizes needed for a quilt that I actually ended up purchasing a kit for. Sometimes I find it really hard to meet people's expectations when they ask me to make something, especially something that costs so much and takes up an incredible amount of my time. So in this case, by purchasing a kit, I was able to get approval beforehand to hopefully avoid disappointment, after going through all the steps to make the quilt. This will be a queen size quilt and all the fabrics in the quilt are coordinating batiks. So now that the cutting is done, it's time for me to get sewing.
Ok, I'm sharing what I think is my favourite quilt I've ever made! This quilt is a baby quilt created in anticipation of a new little one arriving in a few months.
This quilt top is pieced together completely with scraps. The bird blocks are made with Lynne's Liberated Birds Tutorial. To mix it up a little and make the quilt visually more interesting, I added some blocks of paper-pieced feathers. And then since that seemed to work great and I was on a roll, I added to the theme with a little birdhouse.
I really love this little quilt and would definitely consider doing something similar in a larger version for myself.
I participated in a swap last month by sending a pair of knit socks away and I received a very gorgeous Swoon wall hanging in exchange. How lucky am I!?
A finished pair of socks using my favourite heel, a heel flap with eye of the partridge. Even though this is just yarn is just a Knit Picks yarn, I think they really nailed the speckles. These socks are a perfect finished for February for sure.
This month I finished and blocked my The Call Me Pine. Tahoe Pine. socks by The Unapologetic Knitter. I used some yarn from Knit Picks which was yarn that was generously gifted to me. I love these socks.
My On the Grass by Joji Locatelli was completed this month using Malabrigo Rios in Teal Feather.
I can't say enough how much I love the quilt I completed last month. It had been bringing me constant joy all month long.
I used my lumpy, bumpy first attempt at spinning yarn to make a hot water bottle cover and it sure does the trick.
To keep my earbuds clean and untangled, I used some leftover fingering weight yarn to quickly make a small and handy Earbud Pouch by Mary Keenan. It functions perfectly and was exactly what I was hoping for!
After finishing a pair of socks, I cast one new pair using Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering in a colourway called Confetti Speckle.
This snowy month, I finished knitting my socks that I knit from a sock blank.
I cast on and finished a second pair of socks this month using a self-patterning yarn I grabbed from the discount bin at Micheal's.
There was a lot of sewing this month! I finished the top and free-motion stippling was done for what might be the best quilt I've ever made. I am very much in love with the fabric in this quilt which is from one of my absolute favourite designers Lizzy House. I again chose a quilt pattern that had large blocks of fabric to show off the prints. The pattern I chose was Flag by Katy Jones. I've got nothing but good things to say about it.
I cast on another pair of socks, I used the pattern They Call Me Pine. Tahoe Pine. by The Unapologetic Knitter. This is the second pair of socks I knit from this pattern, it's a really fantastic pattern that came in a collaboration kit I purchase awhile back.
Just for fun, I sewed up a cute stuffed unicorn from a tutorial in a crafting magazine I purchase.
To combat the dreariness of a dark, chilly month, I was actually able to hunker down and be productive.
Both shawls I knit with the pattern Hitchhiker by Martina Behm have been finished and blocked and both turned out fantastic.
I finished two (!) pairs of plain stockinette socks that I knit while reading, at the same time! Go me.
When I saw the pattern Linnaeus by Kemper Wray, I thought it was so gorgeous and really appealed to my taste and just had to cast it on right away. I chose this radiant purple DK from The Wacky Windmill called Cosmic. The garment was so fun to knit and in the DK weight, it flew off my needles.
I challenged myself to spin something different so decided that would be a single ply. I had this brillant fibre from Kim at The Wacky Windmill called Costal Retreat in a superwash merino, which I do find a bit more difficult to work with. The colours in the fibre were so beautiful, I really didn't want to risk muting the colours down, so a single ply seemed like a reasonable choice. Now that the skein is complete, I'll have to keep my eyes open for the perfect project for this handspun.
Since I've always been curious about knitting from a sock blank, I decided to nab one when I saw one I loved from The Wacky Windmill. This fun sock blank colour was called Saturday Morning Cartoons.
This month I started knitting a new sweater. The sweater I chose to knit is On the Grass by Joji Locatelli. I am a huge fan of Joji and her patterns and the boat neck of this design really appealed to me. I chose to knit this with Malabrigo Rios in the colour Teal Feather.
I even spent some time at my sewing machine this month and did some piecing for a new quilt top.
This month I finished spinning my Hippy Dippy fibre and started on a new fibre called Minty Fresh. I am good at fingering consistency, which is what I am usually going for, but for this second spin, I wanted to see if I could get to a sport or DK.
In an attempt to satisfy a request for a quilt, I bought a little fabric bundle that was on sale at my local quilt store, added some of my scraps and sewed up a quilt top using a free block from I'm a Ginger Monkey that came together really quickly into a queen sized top.
Quite a bit of progress on my Leaf Stole by Annie Rowden. Still loving how this knit forces me to slow down and be present.
Started up a new sock. This one I'm excited about because there is a lot of hype around Monkey Socks by Cookie A, and it definitely lives up to it! The cheery yarn I am using is a colourway called Call Me Cupcake by The Wacky Windmill.
I have another finished quilt under my belt! I am really proud of this one, I think it turned out just stunning and I really think the Liberty of London fabrics takes centre stage.
Finished the cross-stitch project I started last month. Were you able to recognize the characters? They are from the series Arrested Development! This is cross-stich pattern is literally so clever and so cute, I love it.
I cast on and knit another pair of socks, this was yet another challenging skein of yarn, the colour is as bright neon as neon comes, so much fun! But what pattern would pair well with this epic neon pink? I found one! And this pattern is truly a keeper, what a wonderful stretchy fit, the pattern is Vestigial by Beata Jezek. The delightful yarn is suitably named Pink Panther by Lynai Yarns.
Finished knitting and blocking my Mama Vertebrae by Kelly van Niekerk!
Newly cast on shawl, I've always wanted to knit one of these and that is a Color Affection by Veera Välimäki. I chose to knit mine in Red, Orange, and Grey.
Well this month I finished an entire sweater! It's cozy and snuggly and warm and oversized, not at all appropriate for July, but I can't wait to layer up in the winter months. The sweater is Antrorose by Shannon Cook from the collaborative book with Jane Richmond called Journey and features a unique funnel neck.
Cast on a new pair of socks. This pattern is called Papillotes by Yvette Noel, only I knit them toe-up. I love this subtle muted pink and purple in the yarn I chose from Black Market Wool called Please Don't Tease.
Also from Journey, I knit up a pair of wrist warmers using the pattern Spate by Jane Richmond, using my leftover yarn from my Antrorose sweater.
In an impromptu desire to cross-stich something, I stitched up another pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery called Sweet Tooth.
I got a grand start on a new quilt, using my precious Liberty of London fabrics. I really wanted to use big fabric blocks to show off the delicate patterns of the fabric and I think I picked a really great option.
Another pair of socks on and off! I decided to make up a matching pair of socks for my Antrorose sweater, so I used the same chart, just stuck it on the insole of a sock. The yarn I used for these socks is by Candy Skein and the colourway is called Watermelon. These socks are extra squishy because I knit a garter heel and toe.
New on the needles is a scarf pattern that I am really excited about in a colour that is on the spectrum of my favourite turquoise colour, which is also by Candy Skein and the luminous colour is Blue Raspberry.
I finished the quilt on my Sampler quilt and have gifted it. Unfortunately the new owner doesn't love the fussy cut hedgehogs as much as I do.
I cast on a new pair of socks. I am really in enamoured with this yarn from Lynai Yarns in a glittery version of Sugarplum Fairy. The pattern I paired with this yarn is Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku.
This month a new baby is expected in the family and I sewed another set of flannel baby blankets and crocheted the edge. I absolutely adore how they feel christmassy for a December baby, but not too much Christmas so they can't be used year round.
I've seen some mini zippered box bags floating aroung and I just had to try to make one myself. There are a ton of generous people who have written tutorials and patterns for box bags in every shape and size, the options seem endless.
For fun, I knit up a quick pattern called 2023 Soldier Hats by Channah Koppel using some The Wacky Windmill worsted weight yarn I had in a colourway called Orange You Glad. I gifted this one to someone's whose favourite colour is orange. This gift was a miss, perhaps the recipient likes to look at the colour orange, but not necessarily wear it on their head.
I had a request from someone to make a baby quilt. I was able to use up some fabric scraps and turn them into a lovely quilt.
Sewed up some more bags that will hold school supplies :-)
October might be the best month of them all. Here's what I got up to:
Last month I bought a book called 25 Patchwork Quilt Blocks by Katy Jones and I started scheming. With the leftover scraps from my Vintage Bear Paw quilt and the half-square triangle flannel quilt, I started at the beginning of the book and worked my way through the pages until I had done all 25. Then I picked 5 of my favourite blocks and redid the so I had a nice 30 blocks in order to made a fun sampler quilt with all the blocks. I haven't done a quilt like this before and I really loved it.
I finished up my Hummingbird knit socks by Sandi Rosner and good thing, because I had to return this book to the library.
I completed the free motion stippling on my Pow Wow by Cluck Cluck Sew quilt, got the binding on and it's been through the wash and dryer to install the delicious crinkling. I was really nervous that the red would bleed onto the white fabric, but my old way of adding vinegar to the wash must work. Or it was never going to be a problem. We will never know. I am not someone who washed fabric prior to using for quilt. Part 1 because I like how the shrinking makes it even more crinkly, and part 2 because I'm lazy, and I guess there is a part 3 because I had the additional ironing required and never have luck getting straight cuts on stubborn un-unwrinklable fabric. I rest my case.
I cast on a knit an entire pair of socks. This yarn colourway really made knitting these up so enticing. The yarn is absolutely amazing. For starters, its glittery, secondly Halloween themed, the colourway is Goblin by Lynai Yarns and I knit Vanilla Latte Socks which just flew off my needles.
I finished(!) my Horatio and Oren mittens. What I learned. Bamboo based yarn is a bad choice. They are super smooth, silky, and soft but so floppy and not really water repellant. Not sure these will be keepers.
Knit some very bold yarn up and I think I really nailed the yarn/pattern combo here. I knit the colourway Candy Corn by Candy Skein yarn into Pablo Blue socks by Knitting Pixie. Don't the socks actually resemble little candy corns. I was a bit nervous for this high contrast yarn but please as a peach with how the combo worked in my favour.
I knit a shawl start to finish! These gorgeous yarns are Honey and Midnight Mousse from Candy Skein and I knit the pattern Cameo by Paulina Popiolek with them.
Made a quilt sandwich for my Bear Paw quilt, did some free-motion stippling, prepared and did the binding, and it's not off to its new owner, my uncle. I just used this free pattern for the bear paw blocks and improvised the rest of the quilt top.
Started another new cross-stich project. Inspired by the beautiful fall weather and upcoming seasonal festivities, I decided to participate in the Halloween Spooky Sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. I used this gorgeous hand dyed 32 count aida and am totally thrilled with the results.
Made some progress on my current socks which are being knit with yarn from The Wacky Windmill in a colourway called Salt Water Taffy. I am knitting a pattern called Hummingbird from a book called The Knitter's Book of Socks by Clara Parkes, which I borrowed from my local library.
Got another project completed from Aneela Hooey's book Little Stitches, he's the sweetest little fox who has become a needle minder that I was able to assemble using a very strong magnet I found in the auto section of the hardware store.
Received some happy mail that will become future knitting.
I also made some headway on the second mitten for my pair of Horatio and Oren mittens by Barbara Gregory.
