Disappointment

I think my Braided Hooded Tunic is going to be too big. I was almost a stitch under gauge on the seed stitch part on my swatch, but on the actual garment I'm a whole stitch off. I also think my yarn is growing...it's pretty springy and has been stretching a bit as I knit. I'm right on gauge on the reverse stockinette part, so maybe it won't be so bad. I'm really bummed about it, but I'm going to finish it to see how big it is. Maybe putting it in the dryer will help??? I doubt it since it's a cotton/acrylic blend. If the dryer doesn't shrink it, I can always eat Ben and Jerry's every day for a month. Then it'll fit!!!


Whatever happens, it'll be a good learning experience. I love this pattern and if this one looks bad, I'm going to knit it again. Do you think it'll go faster the second time around???

Progress on the Braided Hooded Tunic

It is taking a while to knit, but I like it so far! Hopefully I'll have it finished by this weekend so I can start on a cardigan. I'll have to go yarn shopping for the cardigan....darn! We all know what a chore it is to shop for yarn.

Patterns I Will Never Sew

Everyone usually blogs about the patterns they love, so for a change of pace, I'm going to show you the new patterns I will never sew.

The first one reminds me of the early 90's. I love Bananarama as much as the next 40 yr old, but I don't want to go there again. Ever.

What the heck is this? Is it really in style? My great grandmother used to wear stuff like this. Only she called it a house coat*. She also used to slug down a case of Hamm's beer every day while wearing it. Needless to say, this pattern does not appeal to me. And look at the model wearing it. Does she look happy? I rest my case.


I didn't like the song Walk Like An Egyptian the first time it came out, so I don't want to revive it (or relive it) with these pants.



This next one looks horribly sloppy to me. And home made. Ew.


That's my list. What do you think?


*I know a caftan is not the same as a house coat, but my great grandmother obviously didn't know that. It was probably all the beer!

The New Knitty

Have you seen the new issue of Knitty? Unfortunately, nothing really rocks my boat except these, which I TOTALLY love!! After I finish the Braided Hooded Tunic I'm currently knitting, I think I'll knit a pair! The Braided Hooded Tunic is on the cover of the current issue of Interweave Knits.

It's been a rough two weeks, so I still have Sunny's quilt to finish, too. It looks good so far, but it's just taking a while to finish. Hope you all have a great day!

Preview Of The Sunny Bunny Doggie Ruff Quilt

So far, I love Sunny's quilt! It's a hexagon quilt featuring her favorite animal. Almost all of the hexagons are cut and ready to be sewn, so I'm fighting the urge to stay up all night and sew. But, I know I'll be better off if I go to bed and wake up early to sew. I don't function well when I'm tired! Here's a preview of her name:

The hexagons aren't sewn together yet in the photo. In fact, the applique isn't done yet, either. I'm still trying to decide if I want to satin stitch the applique or use a blanket stitch. I'm not turning my edges under, so I'm leaning towards a satin stitch. Or maybe just a short zig zag. I'm also not using fusible web this time. I'm going to experiment with a few applique edge finishes to see which one I like the most. What do you all recommend? I'd love suggestions/advice. Usually I turn my edges under and hand stitch (needle-turn) when I applique, but I'm trying to branch out and try different (and quicker) techniques.

Here's a close up of Sunny's FAVORITE animal. The girl can't get enough of them!

Doggies!

I let her name her quilt and since I call her Sunny Bunny all the time, she decided to name her quilt The Super Duper Sunny Bunny Doggie Ruff Quilt. How I'm going to get all of that onto a quilt label is beyond me. It's going to be a rather large quilt label, I think!

PS: I won a giveaway from Clothworks fabric!! WooHoo!! It's a beautiful fabric, too, called Hungarian Blue. I already have a quilt pattern in mind for it. As soon as I receive the fabric, I'll post pics! Click here to go to their blog.

Once A WIP, Now A FO

Love those acronyms! I finished binding the baby quilt I started back in the middle of December.
This one is going to charity. It is 34" X 48" and is flannel backed. I love using flannel to back quilts. It's so soft and cozy!

I also used high-loft poly batting, so it's warm and fluffy. It took me forever to decide on the binding. I tried to find either a solid pink or purple that would look good, but had no luck. In the end, I decided the polka dots were the best choice. You can't go wrong with polka dots, right? :)

Lost Generation

Well, this has nothing to do with sewing or knitting, but I had to share this because I thought it was so cool. I discovered it through a Facebook friend who had posted it on her wall. Thanks Connie! It's a really cool video and very short (only about a minute), so it won't take up a lot of time. It's worth watching. Let me know what you think of it.

It's National Craft Month

What do you have planned? I have lots planned. February was a month of growth for me (read: emotionally and physically difficult, but resulted in growth and insight), so I'm looking forward to March. There will be warmer weather coming our way and I will have more time to spend sewing. Yay!

This week I plan to finish knitting my hat (which I will likely not need much longer...isn't that always the way?) and I'm going to finish the linen top I have planned for Sunny. I didn't start it last week because since it's actually a cardigan-type top, I want to underline it and I need to decide what to use as underlining. Initially, I wanted to use silk organza since it will combat wrinkling the best while giving the linen some body, but I don't want to dry clean the top. I hate dry cleaning. So, that leaves cotton batiste or organdy. Since organdy is really expensive and, for the most part, only comes in white, I'm leaning towards cotton. Or maybe I should just line the cardigan? I'm still undecided. I've posted a question about it on the Stitcher's Guild site and am hoping for some advice from more experienced sewists. I love the internet. Isn't it great that you can go to a site and ask for help and there are women and men out there who will answer your sewing questions? I think it's fantastic!

I'm also hoping to finish an afghan I've been knitting for the past 3 months. It's a very simple stockinette and seed stitch afghan designed to use up 9 balls of Lion Brand Thick & Quick that has been in my stash forever and I have no idea what to use it for other than an afghan. Boy, I'm out of breath just typing that run-on sentence!

I also need to make progress on the Super Duper Sunny Bunny Quilt. She keeps asking for it and I must deliver!

So, what do you all have planned for the week? What are your goals for National Craft Month? Get busy!! :)