Mom's Christmas Shawl

She liked it!

Completed Shawl (before blocking)

I just finished knitting this shawl last night, and today I'm going to try blocking it to smooth it out. This is going to be a present for Mom (phew - I just got it done in time); I hope she likes it!

Stitchin' Duo

Heather and I got together last night to do some stitching; nobody else made it this time because we had a foot of snow yesterday!



Here is a shot of the shawl I am starting....







..and here is Heather with her almost-completed woolen bag - to be felted shortly. Apparently it will shrink to a much smaller size. I'll be interested to see her final product sometime soon!

Caslin's Quilt Completed!

I finished Caslin's quilt a couple of nights ago, and I was pleased with the product. It's big enough to fit a single bed, so she will have a choice of using it as a snuggly TV blanket or putting it on her bed - whatever she likes.

I think I'm going to put quilting on hold until the new year now, and I'll focus on some knitting projects instead; they'll be more portable for our California trip, which is coming up in four weeks.

Knitting needles, here I come!

Caslin's Quilt in Progress

I really splurged this week and bought myself a new, computerized Janome sewing machine. Today I finally had time to read all the directions and learn all about the different stitches - it's fabulous! Now I'm really excited about tackling my projects.

This afternoon I started working on Caslin's quilt again, and here are the results. Eventually it will have a blue outside border and back. In addition, I think I may try some machine quilting on this one...gotta try out what this machine can do!

My First Design with EQ5

I recently purchased a quilting computer program called "EQ5" from another teacher in the school district. Here is my first attempt at a simple design (I thought I'd start with squares on their sides). Tonight I started piecing it together, which is going fairly quickly.

This quilt will be for Caslin's birthday in February, so I have lots of time to get it done!

Stitch Night With Heather & Jennifer

Heather hosted a stitching evening last night; it was great to catch up with her and Jennifer and work away on our projects. I resumed work on a knitted afghan that had been gathering dust out at the cabin for a year or two, Heather finished off some slippers and started a new mat, and Jen stitched away on a hat for her daughter, Grace. There was a wee bit of wine drinking going on as well!

Angora Scarf Completed

There's no question that life has been busy since the school year started; it has been three weeks between posts!

Nevertheless, I have found a few moments to get those needles clicking, and yesterday I completed this scarf for myself. Now the snow may fly, and I'll be ready!

A Change of Pace

I can feel that summer is over now, because I packed up most of my quilting materials and took out an unfinished knitting project. I started this angora scarf last winter but put it away when spring arrived, as a winter accessory just didn't feel relevant right then. Now that the autumn fogs are starting to roll in again, though, I've picked up the scarf again. It's done in a "seed stitch," and is meant to go with my royal blue winter coat.










In addition, I sewed a personalized gym bag for Jon this evening....he'll need one now that he's starting Grade 4. I don't think there's any danger of him misplacing this one!

Rag Quilts for Stuffies

The girls couldn't stop sewing, so they've created their own rag quilts: Jenna for her Webkin named Snow and Caslin for her Horsie. There's Jon as well with his blanket for Turtwig. He was busy building a huge K'nex roller coaster while the girls were stitching (and clipping!).

Nine Patches with the Kids

I had Jon, Caslin, and Jenna each make their own nine patch today to form the tops of pillows; they had a lot of fun doing it and were amazingly handy with the sewing machine. I'm trying to pass along my quilting bug, and it seems to be working!

Wall-E / Turtwig Blanket

My son, Jon, and his friend, Adam, are very fond of their Turtwigs and, more recently, Wall-E. When I found some Wall-E fabric on my latest excursion to the US, I couldn't resist making a small blanket for the Turtwigs. Jon was pleased! I'll be making one for Adam to take home as well...

Bluesy Completed!

At last - the finished product! I'm not sure what's coming next, but I'm delighted to have this one done before I head back to work tomorrow.

Hand Quilting Done on Bluesy

I got the hand quilting done while I was at our cabin this weekend. Just the binding to go!

Bluesy on the Quilting Frame

I couldn't leave Bluesy alone last night until I'd pinned together the three layers and set them up on my new quilting frame. It sure makes hand quilting a lot easier than with a smaller embroidery hoop!

Border #2 for Bluesy

The picture says it all!

Next step: put this together with the batting and backing, and hand quilt it on the new frame I just bought in the US. Stay tuned.....

Border #1 for Bluesy

As my sister-in-law, Kris, predicted, I had to get at my quilting when I got home from my trip yesterday, so here's the result: the first border on Bluesy is completed. Two more to go!

And while I was downloading some pictures off an old camera, I found these shots of our first Stitch Club session in January '08. Carla (on the right) is giving Michelle and Lisa some knitting tips......

Bear Claw is Complete!

Well, I had to fly back home to Prince George this morning, but we got all the hand quilting done yesterday, and here's the finished product. Alice was pleased to finish this quilt and already has plans for the next one. I think my quilting bug was contagious!

The Last Bit of Hand Quilting

Alice and I decided to finish up the last hand quilting around the edges of her almost-done bear claw quilt. We'd both love to see the project done before I go home in a couple of days!

This is a beautiful wall hanging/table decoration that Alice made a few years ago. I really like the geometric pattern.

Alice's Bear Claw Quilt

I have a new appreciation for my mother-in-law, Alice's, talent for quilting. This is a bear claw quilt that she has almost completed - I love the colors!













She has carefully handstitched the whole creation. It's a real delight to look at this one closely. Someone will be the lucky recipient one day soon.

Stitch Night With Carla and Heather

Heather, Carla, and I got together tonight to do some stitchin' and chattin'. Here's the knitted mat that Heather was working on. I really loved this concept, because it seems a perfect blend of knitting and quilting.

Heather knits well without looking - not bad!

Carla brought her hand loom along and showed us how that all worked. She's already made a couple of triangle pieces and plans to create a poncho out of them.

Here she is hard at work on her looom. It looks like a fun project.

Heather and I watched in fascination as Carla showed us how to do a "Russian Join" to splice together two skeins of wool without a knot.


Step one: divide each of the two ends into two parts - about an inch and half long.


Step two: Insert your darning needle into the "fork" of one divided section - also about an inch and a half in.


Step three: Insert half of each divided end into the darning needle.

Step four: pull the inserted ends through the yarn. Repeat on the opposite side.





Step five: smooth it out and pull it taut - VOILA!







One more shot of Carla's loom to get an idea of how the pegs are set up.........


I had fun tonight and gained some good ideas about new knitting projects to make. We'll see if I can manage that Russian Join on my own!