New Red Socks!!!

I finished up my red House Targaryen socks while I was at Mom's!

Aren't they JUST TOO COOL???

This was a really fun pattern to work, and I just love the effect!  I had a lot of the yarn left over, and once again I wish I had made the leg section longer.  Will I never learn???  Also, because I made them with dpn's, the top edge of the cuff was the cast-on row, so it is tighter than I really like.  I didn't think of that or I would have researched a more stretchy cast on for it.  I figured with the ribbing it would be fine.  I can wear them, but they'd fit a lot better if I lost about 20 pounds LOL!!!

They have a very pretty lacy look :*) 

Anyway, my focus now is going to be on finishing up the Swing Cowl which is over halfway done and looking marvelous!  And I'm hoping to start giving Rocio some love as well now that I'm home again :*)

I like to have at least one pair of socks on the needles at all times, so I've cast on a new pair out of this yarn....

I have already made one pair out of this beautiful yarn, but I gave those to my sweet daughter for Christmas, so I need to make a pair for me now :)  They will be just plain jane socks, and I'm using my favorite Toe-up, Two-at-a-time, Magic Loop pattern.  I'm off to a great start....

Stash Report:  I'm adding 300 yards of yarn to my "Stash Used" column for the red socks, which leaves me at 1,500 yards stashed for this year so far.

I'm linking these fun knitty projects up with On The Needles at Patchwork Times!

Just a few more things to share before I go.....

Jacquelynne Steves of The Art of Home is putting the final touches on the next issue of her free e-newsletter!  You won't want to miss it, so if you are not already receiving it, visit her blog HERE to sign up.  Remember - its FREE :*)  I love Jacquelynne's artwork, so whimsical and happy.  She'll be coming out with a new fabric line too very soon!  She has an Etsy shop HERE that sells her lovely artwork in various products - my favorites are the adorable notecards....

And I really want to say a huge THANKS to a few generous friends!  

I won these gifts in a giveaway from Clover & Violet just before I left for my mountain break.  Jennie and Clara are a mother-daughter team that design the most adorable things and share lots of fun tutorials.  I love their blog :*)  Wow - I was SO excited!!!  Both of these are very handy tools to have around when free-motion quilting.  I'll be sure to let you know how they work out for me :*)

And my friend Carla gave me this totally CUTE needle-keeper that she made.  Isn't this the most beautiful fabric - YUM!!!  She sure knows my colors, doesn't she :*)

When you lift the flap, it opens up into a very roomy needle keeper!  I can actually organize my needles by size or type!  The beaded necklace is for "reading" glasses, but I think I'm going to adapt it to hold my guild name tag.  That way I'll think of her and remember her kindness every month :*)
      Thanks again Carla!!!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!  

I think our weather is supposed to warm up a little....

 - will Spring ever get here???

Hugs &  Blessings!

Teresa

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The Beginning of the Story.....

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

I've been a very busy little girl in the quilting studio this past week, but unfortunately I still don't have a finished quilt to show you, but I am working on it!

Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt posted today about Essential Quilting Skills and the importance of continually growing our skills.  If you don't follow Lori, you might want to go over and check her out!  She shares amazing FMQ designs every week, and she is currently doing a fascinating series on the importance of a quilting notebook, how to organize and prioritize our UFO's, etc.  Very good stuff!!!!

My current project is a perfect example of finishing off a UFO and growing my skills in the process!

Scheherazade - without final borders

Meet Scheherazade!  This quilt was started at a Guild workshop way back in 2007.  We learned how to do the Buzzsaw block in the workshop and then went home with instructions for finishing up the rest of the blocks and putting together the center of the quilt, which I did at my very first retreat later that year :)

Since then, this poor top has been sitting on my UFO shelf, just waiting for me to give it some love!!!  All I really needed to do was add a few borders to give it enough size for a lap quilt, so I put this "quick and easy" project on my Guild UFO Challenge list.  And honestly, my only intention when I pulled it off the shelf was to slap on a couple of borders and call 'er done.....

Ah well....the best laid plans of mice and quilters often go awry, right?

I've loved these fabrics since I first laid eyes on them in my first year of quilting and stash acquisition.

Doesn't this just scream "Arabian Nights" to you?
It does me!!!

A local Hancocks Fabrics was going out of business and fabric was $2 a yard - whoohoo!!!!  I bought every last scrap of these fabrics - yep, ALL!!!  I think there were 8 yards of the above print - enough would be left over for the backing!  :)  And then these amazing coordinates - like FIRE!!!!

But I have to say, I was kind of surprised when I pulled this off the shelf to find that I still love these fabrics.  You know how time often has a way of separating us from our first fabric loves?  I've found myself saying, "what was I thinking!" more times than I can count!  But these vibrant fabrics still speak to me - they almost seem to have a life of their own.

So I suppose I shouldn't have been too terribly surprised when I found that ideas for more complicated borders kept popping into my head.  After all, I loved it enough in the beginning to actually MITER the first borders!  And for a timid newbie quilter, that's saying a lot, right?

Just look at that perfect miter :)  Nailed it!!!!

This quilt deserved something more than just slapping on plain borders, didn't it?  

I finally decided that yes, indeed, it did!

But that is just where this story starts..... come back for Design Wall Monday where I'll share the rest of this story about how I decided to polish up a few old skills and create the perfect finish for this lovely quilt - sneaky, huh?  Just like the original story of Scheherazade, you will have to come back to hear the finish...... go HERE to read the fascinating story about this legendary Persian Queen and her story of One Thousand and One Nights!

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And just so you don't think I've been a slave to the quilting studio this week, I share my progress On the Needles - my red House Targaryen socks!

This is a fun pattern to work!  It tended to twist a little on me, but I'm sure that will straighten up in the blocking process.  I was so excited to finally get to the point of working the heel on these!  I'm trying to work these both at the same time so I can be sure they are the same size when I'm done.  I love using the Two-at-a-time Magic Loop, but I just couldn't get it to work right for me with this pattern, so I went back to the dpn needles.

I don't think it will be long before I can enjoy wearing these wonderful RED socks :*D

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Now before I leave, let me steer you toward a great quilting event going on over at my friend Kevin's blog!  Kevin is hosting a challenge for the Quilts of Valor effort!  You can participate by making some of these really quick, fun blocks -

Photo courtesy of Kevin the Quilter

...........and maybe win a gift certificate!  

Go HERE to learn all about it!!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles - 1/24/14

I managed to sneak in a little needle time during my evenings this week, which always makes me a happy girl! :*)

I started the Swing Cowl!!!!

Last week, Denise really encouraged me to go ahead and start this project because "it is so much fun!"  Of course, I couldn't resist that, so I sat down that night and started it.  If you've seen her gorgeous Swing Cowl (go HERE), then I'm sure you understand why I was so anxious to start one too!  And she's right, this one is a lot of fun and holds my interest easily :)

Here is another picture of where I am so far.... even though this is a night pic and not so great, it will give you an idea of how far I've gotten and the lovely movement in the design!  The colors appear much darker here than they really are....

This is the yarn I am using, so there will be many lovely variations of color transitions - YUM!!!

I did my first provisional cast-on for this - I love learning new things!!!

By the way - pay no attention to those fingernails which are in desperate need of a manicure!!!  

I think I need to hire a fingernail stunt double -- Anyone interested?  

The pay is lousy, but you'd get to play with lots of lovely yarns & fabrics! :*D

I also managed to show some love to my red House Targaryen socks......

This one is just about ready to start working on the heel - yippee!!!  I really enjoy working on socks.... I sure do hope this pair fits me :)

And last but not least is confession time..... I bought yarn!!!  Although I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to do that, and I really want to knit from my stash, I caved in to the pressure of a pattern I want to make and a SALE!!!  Okay, I admit it, I'm a sucker for a sale!  Knit Picks had this lovely deep royal blue fingering yarn on sale last week...........

.....  so I bought enough to make a Rocio Sweater - see it HERE on Ravelry.....

Of course, the color is not quite right, even taken in broad daylight :(

So that will add 2,200 yards to my stash report on the side banner.  I'm hoping to finish up Wingspan soon which will counterbalance that number soon :*)

Used this week:  0 yds
Used this year:  0 yds
Stashed this week:  2,200 yds
Stashed this year:  2,200 yds
Net Stash:  2,200 yds stashed

So what's on your needles?  

Please share with us at Judy's Patchwork Times linky party!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles - 1/17/14

Not a lot happening On the Needles for me this week.

I made a little progress on my first bright red House Targaryen sock.....

Wow - you can tell I haven't worked with those DPNs in a while!  My tension is wacky in a few places there  on the cuff - LOL!!!  I tend to have some problems with purl stitches from one DPN to the next.  Hopefully that will repair in the blocking process :)

I haven't started the Swing Cowl yet because I want to be able to give it my full attention until I get comfortable with it, and there just hasn't been an evening this week where I could do that.  I really want to start this one soon though, before the cold weather is over.  UPDATE:  Denise has finished hers and shows a picture in today's post - YUMMY!!!!!

This was one of those weeks where I had somewhere else to be other than at home almost every day.  Fun stuff usually - sit-n-sews, bookclub, etc. - but it does cut my days up and leaves me feeling like I'm running behind in the evenings.  And instead of peacefully knitting as usual, I spent most of my evenings preparing quilting projects for the next day.  I've also been spending some quality time with my new EQ7 software, learning how to use it - yikes!!!  Talk about a learning curve!!!  But it's beginning to come together :)

And speaking of evenings, was anyone else devastated by the events in this week's episode of Downton Abbey?????  I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but if you haven't, be warned - it's very emotional!  There was quite a lively discussion among friends on FB this week!  I had real difficulty getting to sleep that night......

On a brighter note, I'd love to share a photo of one of my grandkitties that I took while visiting with family during the holidays.  This is Willow.....

Isn't she beautiful?  And the sweetest little creature on earth!!!  Willow belongs to Hudson and his mom, and she has a cat-brother and a dog-sister.  She couldn't be a better pet for a little two-year-old!  I was truly impressed with her patience with Hudson; she never lashes out when he gets too rough.  She and I became great friends during the visit :*)

Now, I'm off to play with the EQ7 some more and then maybe jump into my blue scraps for the January Rainbow Scrap Challenge .... I'm hoping to share a BLUE Owl tomorrow :*)

Do you have anything On The Needles to share?  Check out Patchwork Times today!

And if you have a wonderful kitty you'd love to share, go to Sarah Did It for Feline Friday!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles & a Winner!!!!

First things first.....

The winner of my giveaway of the Terri Stegmiller pattern is:

Barb of Mountain Quiltworks!!!!!

Barb chose Paws in the Garden for her pattern and will be receiving it very soon.  

Congratulations Barb, and thanks so much for following along :*)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

On the Needles.....

It would probably be easier for me to show you what's OFF my needles!!!!  I'm still trying to make myself a pair of RED socks.  Remember the last pair I made ended up way too big and I gave them to my husband.  So I bought more yarn - the actual correct size yarn for socks this time LOL!!! - in both the desired fire-engine-red and a wonderful royal blue....

....... and I got them started in my favorite method for making socks - on the circular needle for Magic Loop, Toe-Up and Two at a Time.  Then I realized this yarn is very solid-looking and would look great in a pattern.  Of course, I had gone beyond the point where you would normally start said pattern, so I tried to add in a lifeline - what a mess!

So that was the first tearing-out session LOL!!!  Starting over, the second time .....

Test Swatch!

The pattern I decided to fall in love with was this one I saw on Denise's blog, Justquiltin.  Isn't that a neat pattern?  It's called House Targaryen after the Game of Thrones books, and it's free on Ravelry.

Denise calls this an easy pattern - and I have to agree, the pattern itself is not hard at all.  It's actually a fun stitch to work.  But I guess I haven't made enough socks to be able to easily change anything in the pattern, because I tore these darn socks out THREE times!!!!   Thankfully I never got very far before it became clear I wasn't doing something right and my brain was not wired right for what I was trying to do :*)  My problem stemmed from the purl stitch carrying over to the other side on the circulars.  It kept leaving really big holes, no matter how tightly I tried to join them there.  I'm sure it was just something stupid I was doing, but I finally gave up, cast one sock onto the DPN's and got started yet AGAIN!

Yep, this is as far as I've gotten!!!

I picked up another pair of #2 DPN's so I can at least do them both at the same time and not risk different sizes like my very first pair LOL!

What kind of adventures are on your needles?  

Check out all the fun yarn eye candy over at Judy's Patchwork Times today!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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