What have I done?

I saw this on a few other blogs and it’s a good idea…kind of a list of goals and accomplishments, and you know how I love those!

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Needle Roll

It’s finished!

I wanted to make a mini quilt (it’s about 11×18) to practice the quilting and binding steps before I quilt/bind Ezra’s quilt. It took me a few hours to sew on the binding, but I think it’ll be much easier the second time around. It turned out lovely, too. I think Tripp was really impressed! A few more photos:

I made it into a needle roll for all the lovely bamboo needles Tripp got me for Christmas last year. He’s amazing.

Speaking of Tripp being amazing, he got a job today! We moved to Austin a month or so ago with hopes that he’d get hired at an entertainment company, and today they offered him the job! We are so jazzed! We’re going out to dinner this week to celebrate. Hoorah!

Now on to lunch and then…Ezra’s quilt is calling to me. 🙂

-K

Practice makes…perfect?

Today I (finally!) got my even feed foot in the mail. For my fellow newbies or you non-quilters out there, an even feed foot, aka a walking foot, looks like this:

It’s kind of a huge and awkward version of a normal presser foot.

Every sewing machine has feed dogs, which run underneath the cloth as you work, and they keep the fabric moving away from you as you sew. The walking foot allows you to cover or lower the feed dogs and keeps the layers of quilting moving at the same speed; essentially, it allows you to quilt without the bottom layer becoming shifted during quilting (even though everything should be pinned down well in the first place).

I put off ordering an even feet foot until I was actually ready to finish a quilt, because they usually run about $30 and I didn’t want to buy one until I had a reason to need it. I found a good price on one, and it came in today, so I’ve been practicing. I threw together a doll sized quilt (which will actually serve as a needle roll for my knitting needles and crochet hook) out of the Hello Betty! charm pack I received last week. I have to say, the colors are amazing. Have a looksie:

I have quilted it but I need to rip out some of the stitches. Stippling is much more difficult than it looks. I stippled for a while but decided straight lines would look better with simple patchwork.

I poured over this tutorial on Oh Fransson! but I don’t think her methods are meshing well with my setup. Oh well, you know what they say. Eventually my stippling, with much practice, will be…a bit better. Ha!

Any stippling tips for a newbie? Leave ’em in the comments!

-K

P.S. I think I’m going to go with the handkerchief corner style for my Land and Sea quilt. My piecing isn’t neat enough to do bento boxes quite yet.

Goals of all sorts

I am one of those people who’s always got ideas ideas ideas floating about my noggin. Yesterday, for example, I was looking for oil for my sewing machine and walked out with new fabric. Oops! I am finally beginning to realize that without a list of things I need I am nearly hopeless, unless I’ve got hours to wander about and remember everything.

In that spirit, I’ve decided to make a list of quilting and sewing techniques I’d like to try/various things I’d like to make.

(from comfortstitching)
1. Hexagons. They’re so cute, and everyone is using them lately. I’m liking them as decoration on simple items like moleskines, or just as an accent to a quilt, like Ashley at Film in the Fridge has done.

2. Circles. They seem like they’d be difficult to sew, but they look so nice!

(from A Commonplace Life)

3. Wonky log cabin style blocks. All the excess trimmed fabric can be made into hexagons! (Can you tell I despair over throwing away any scrap, no matter how small? And that I love hexagons?)

(for sale here)

4. I have a sudden urge to make a potholder today. I might just do that right now!

(for sale here)

There are many more goals of mine with quilting, but I’ll stick to these for now. Don’t want to get too ahead of myself!

-K