2/101=1.980ish% Of The Way There

I’ve completed a second project from my list of 101.  I have only 99 more to go. 

Ugh.

I do love this quilt, though, and I really dug in to finish it as fast as I could.  It took me just under 4 weeks, which is super fast in mom-of-a-toddler-time.  It’s made with Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannel, and I feel like I could rub my face on this fabric all day long. Sooo soft and so warm. Perfect combination for a winter quilt.

Even though we’re heading into spring (50’s next week–yes!), I think the quilt will still prove useful this season. It’s only March, and in Wisconsin that means we could still see some snow over the next two months.

I have to admit that I almost love the back of the quilt as much as I love the front. It’s backed with Kona Cotton in Slate, with a pieced row in the middle. I love the contrast of the dark gray with the yellows, greens and blues of the fabrics on the back. There’s a lot of pink in the Folksy Flannels line, which is just fine by me, regardless of the fact that the quilt was made for a boy. Still, I thought the dark, cool colors on the back made it a bit more masculine, and the gray and light blue binding fabric tie in well with the front of the quilt.

Now if only I could get my son–the intended recipient of the quilt–to actually sleep under a quilt (or a blanket or sheet or anything), we’d be golden.  I’m sure as he gets older, he’ll enjoy the heavy warmth of his flannel quilt.  Until then, it may have to reside on Mama’s half of the bed.  Darn.

Though it seems a bit slow at times, list progress is being made!  For the next while I’m going to (try to) focus on crossing off some of my WIPs.  If you read the list, you may have noticed that a lot of those tasks started with the word finish.  Yes, about that.  I’m fabulous at starting projects–it’s such fun to start a new project!  Alas, I really don’t want a bunch of half-finished projects sitting around for years, so I’m going to buckle down and get ’em done. 

If I keep telling myself that, it might almost happen.

Toddler Mitts

It’s not right that my boy is a toddler.  It’s just plain wrong.  What happened to my baby? 

Alas, a toddler he is, and toddlers need mitts with thumbs. 

Toddlers like to scoop snow and eat it.

Toddlers like to help shovel the driveway.

Toddlers like to clean off the car.

Toddlers like to push and pull the sled.

When you’re a toddler, most outdoor activities require the use of thumbs. Since I had some yummy red yarn sitting around unused, I figured that I’d give knitting a pair of mittens–with thumbs–a try. I’ve been wanting to knit a pair for myself, so I thought the best place to start would be with a smaller version.

Thumbs aren’t so hard. I’m finding that to be true of most of my knitting hang-ups. Circular needles? Awesome! Kitchener stitch? Fabulous. Attaching arms to a sweater? Piece of cake. Knitting mittens with thumbs? No problem.

(Truth be told, and I think I’ve mentioned this before, I rely heavily on YouTube when I don’t know how to do something. YouTube video tutorials are amazing. I highly recommend them.)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will also divulge the fact that, in my first attempt, I knit the thumb inside-out.  I knew it would happen, because once I picked up my thumb stitches, the mitten was underneath the needles. But it seemed so awkward for it to be above the needles! I went on knitting the thumb inside-out, figuring I’d just leave it that way, because who was going to notice? It might even look “decorative.” However, I ended up with a large hole in the thumb as well, and I just could not stand for that. Out came the thumb stitches, and I knit it properly the second time. Such is the life of a recovering perfectionist.

I do think I’m ready to move on to my own mittens, which is a project that’s actually on my list. I think I’m going to use the Bella’s Mittens pattern. They’re long and lovely, and I think the gorgeous pink yarn that I picked up on a whim at my LYS will be perfect for the project.

Coming Along

I’m slowly but surely chugging along on that list of mine.

The problem, of course, is that there are other things, things that didn’t make it onto the list, or things that I just didn’t think of at the time, that have found their way onto my WIP pile. Hmm.

There are several list projects in progress, but this is the one I’m most excited about.

I finished my twin-sized flannel quilt top! I used a fat quarter stack of Anna Maria Horner’s Folksy Flannels. That fabric stack has been on my wish list for quite some time, and I finally received it for Valentine’s Day! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it (since I had been expecting it as a Christmas gift, which is a story for another time–and perhaps another blog :-)), and I cut right in.

The photos aren’t the best–the day was gorgeous, but windy. My husband was a trooper, holding the quilt top as high as he could, his arms out as far as they would stretch.  By the time I realized I was shooting in RAW, and I don’t have RAW editing capabilities at the moment, his arms were about to fall off. 

Now I just need to find some backing fabric and some binding and I’ll be all set to quilt. Woo hoo!

I have several other WIPs and completed projects (some actually from the list!) to share soon. Here’s a sneak peek:

1 Down, 100 to Go!

One day after posting my list, I’m able to cross off one of my projects! In all fairness, the list has been in the works for a while (it’s not so easy to come up with 101 goals, even when I know I have at least that many ideas floating around and projects to finish), and the project has been sitting in a nearly-completed state for some time now. Regardless, I consider it a good start, and I’m so excited to have this one done! Here it is:

This is the Child’s Placket-Neck Pullover. The pattern was originally published in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, but it’s now available as a free download on Ravelry. The pattern is definitely a good one–this is my very first sweater, and I’d say it turned out pretty well. I would not call myself an experienced knitter at all–I used so many YouTube videos to help me along with unfamiliar stitches, etc., but for the most part this sweater came together nicely.

 

Baby boy seems to like it, and it goes so well with his mama-made Christmas pants.  The arms appear to be a bit, um, short, but I haven’t blocked the sweater yet, so hopefully that’ll help out a bit.

Now that I’ve finished my first sweater, I feel like I could knit anything!

101 in 1001: Crafting Edition

A couple of years ago, I saw a lot of these 101 in 1001 lists around the internet. I’ve wanted to make one, but 101 goals in 1001 days is pretty intimidating, especially for someone like me! I’m awesome at setting goals, but not always so great with the follow-through. This time, though, I’ve decided that none of that really matters. I’m going to make my list of 101 craft goals, set a limit of 1001 days, and see how much I can accomplish. If I cross a few things off the list, excellent. If not, so be it.

My primary motivation for creating this list is not to stress myself out or to feel pressure to create, but to have a record of all of the crafty projects that I’m already creating in my mind. Of course, I don’t have to put a time limit on it, and it needn’t be limited to 101 things. I do think, thought, that there is something fun about seeing how many of the things on my list I’ll be able to cross off in those 1001 days. I also think it’ll be interesting to have a record of my crafting mindset at this moment and to see how it changes over the next 1001 days.

KNITTING

1. Knit a sweater for myself
2. Knit a sweater for my husband
3. Knit myself a hat to match my winter coat
4. Knit something with my size 50 needles
5. Finish knitting husband’s scarf
6. Knit myself a pair of mittens
7. Knit a pair of baby booties
8. Knit a stuffed bear
9. Finish Finn’s sweater Finished 1/15/11
10. Knit something lace.  A bookmark will do.
11. Knit a pair of socks
12. Knit a pair of pants for Finn
13. Knit a scarf for myself
14. Knit a blanket–at least 30 x 30
15. Knit something for myself with the single ball of blue Malabrigo Worsted that I absolutely had to have
16. Knit some baby blocks
17. Knit a few balls for Finn to play with
18. Knit at least 3 wool soakers for the next baby (whenever that might happen)
19. Knit myself this nursing shawl. I’m still nursing number 1, and who knows when number 2 will come along.
20. Knit a Norwegian sweater (or something that, you know, resembles one)
21. Make some felted bowls. These would be awesome for Finn’s kitchen, as well as for use around the house.

QUILTING

1. Finish quilt for full size bed
2. Finish my grandfather’s lap quilt
3. Finish my dad’s lap quilt
4. Finish JJ’s lap quilt
5. Make lap quilt for my mom
6. Make lap quilt for my mother-in-law
7. Make quilt for king size bed
8. Make a christmas quilt, possibly along the lines of this quilt
9. Make a lap quilt for Finn
10. Quilt a tree skirt for our Christmas tree (I’m toying with the idea of having, um, several Christmas trees next year.  In our tiny, tiny home.  Oh, yes.  If that’s the case, we’ll have to have a skirt for each one, of course.)
11. Make a second, truly twin size, quilt for Finn’s bed–perhaps flannel this time.  Finished 3/12/11
12. Finish Christmas table runner
13. Make a quilt for BB (something along the lines of this quilt)
14. Finish B-i-L’s potholders
15. Finish the binding on purple quilt Finished 3/16/11
16. Make a twin-sized blue and yellow argyle quilt
17. Get started on a spiderweb quilt (didn’t I mean to do that in September?  oops.)
18. Get started on my American Flag quilt
19. Finish up the pink and green baby quilt
20. Finish the cotton/linen hedgehog quilt
21. Finish Finn’s family tree quilt
22. Make a Christmas tree quilt (as in, a quilt with Christmas trees on it)
23. Lap quilt for Finn using a fun airplane/car/boat flannel piece I received from a friend
24. Make a yellow and purple quilt using the very first piece of cross-stitch I ever did (and, OK, the only piece of cross-stitch I’ve ever done) as the centerpiece (or at least the inspiration)
25. Make a disappearing nine patch quilt
26. Lap quilt for M, (a 2nd cousin of my husband) whom we will meet this summer!
27. Lap quilt for C, (sister of M) whom we will also meet this summer!
28. Lap quilt for ?, (sibling of M & C, to be born sometime this month) whom we will (say it with me now) meet this summer!  Yea for babies!
29. Make a full-size log cabin quilt
30. Make a quilt using only solids

GENERAL SEWING

1. Sew some curtains (for any room)–this one is contingent upon us having our own house sometime in these next 1001 days
2. Make a book sling
3. Finish Finn’s winter coat (um, preferably this winter, while he’ll still fit into it)
4. Finish Finn’s 12-18 month pants wardrobe
5. Sew 4 or 5 bags for the Farmer’s Market and grocery shopping
6. Make a large fabric basket for the wooden blocks
7. Make a large fabric basket for the MegaBloks
8. Make a large fabric basket for our winter hats, scarves, mittens, etc. (perhaps this one will become three separate projects–one smaller basket for each of us)
9. Make a knitting bag
10. Make a knitting needle holder for my straight needles
11. Make a knitting needle holder for my double pointed needles
12. Make a knitting needle holder for my circular needles
13. Make a set (8 or 12) of placemats
14. Make a set of napkins
15. Make an advent calendar
16. Make 4 pillows for living room
17. Make a raincoat for Finn
18. Make a rain hat for Finn
19. Make a raincoat for myself
20. Make a stash of fabric snack bags–we’ll say 10 is a stash.
21. Make a tie for my husband
22. Make at least one embroidered handkerchief for my husband
23. Make a celebration bunting in time for Finn’s next birthday
24. Finish a set of bean bags for Finn
25. Make some felt food for Finn’s play kitchen
26. Make a felt/wool nativity
27. Make a new camera bag for myself
28. Make a camera strap cover
29. Make a sunhat for Finn
30. Make a sunhat for myself
31. Finish cushion for desk chair
32. Make a summer dress for myself
33. Make a Halloween costume for Finn
34. Make a bathmat–definitely fun, bright and absorbent
35. Make an apron (and chef’s hat??) for Finn

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Make a braided rug
2. Learn to spin wool
3. Dye some yarn with natural dyes
4. Build a banging wall. I love this one on SouleMama’s blog, but I’m thinking of something smaller for inside. Am I crazy?
5. Finish embroidering tablecloth
6. Make a set of embroidered dishtowels
7. Make a play tent for the living room
8. Design some fabric on Spoonflower
9. Refinish the bathroom dresser
10. Build a farmhouse kitchen table (Um, yes.  Pretty sure the last thing I built with wood was a birdhouse in 8th grade shop.)
11. Learn how to do needle felting
12. Make some felted soap
13. Create a 12-month Christmas present for my mother
14. Create a 12-month Christmas present for my mother-in-law
15. Make Finn a dala horse ornament for Christmas
16. Make a silhouette of Finn to hang on the wall.

Whew.  There are my 101 things (102, actually), in no particular order.  I have noticed that there are tons of quilting projects on here.  Hmm.  The truth is that, when I get down to it, I can finish a quilt pretty quickly.  It’s the getting down to it part that I actually have trouble with–even before I had a child.  I’m quite the procrastinator.

We’ll see how it all goes.  I have until October 11, 2013 (or so timeanddate.com tells me) to finish as many projects as possible. I’m excited to get started!

 

New Traditions

I’m often inspired by the activities I see over at Soule Mama. Fore some time now, I’ve been a fan of her new-hat-for-the-solstice tradition, and I thought we’d try something like that this year.

Now, we don’t officially celebrate the solstice, but there are lots of other winter happenings, and here in Wisconsin we definitely wear hats! So this year, we’re all getting new–mama-made, of course–hats for our annual day-after-Thanksgiving-Christmas-tree-cutting expedition.

Here’s Finn’s hat, all ready to be worn!
This is the Gnomey Child’s Hat, which is available on Ravelry for free! I’ve been wanting to make this hat for so long, but the idea of using circular needles had me frightened–why, I don’t know! They’re awesome! Much easier than double points, I think.

I used a beautiful yarn that I found at Coolclimates on Etsy. The yarn just screamed gnomey hat, and it’s terribly difficult to ignore screaming yarn.

My only complaint–and it’s really not such a big deal–is that the yarn thickness varied quite a bit. For this hat pattern, it really didn’t matter, because the stockinette stitch really hides the variation well, but it’s very noticeable on the inside of the hat.

Oh, I can’t wait for the day after Thanksgiving (for so, so many reasons, actually)! I’ll post my hat when I get around to finishing it (maybe starting it would be good, too). Dadoo’s (that’s what Finn calls him–but not really, because he can’t talk) hat will remain a surprise (I hope!) until the day.

Slowly but Surely

Scrappy September has gotten off to a slow start.  It’s already the middle of the month, and I don’t have a lot to show for it.

That doesn’t mean I’m not making progress, though.  I’m ready to sew my 2-ish inch strips together for my rug!  Yea!

Bright, happy flowers are a must for my sewing room.  The walls fake paneling–in gray–and they depress me.

It’s always nice to have some help on a project like this.

We took the scraps out of the bin,

we sat and sorted them (by color and size, of course.  Then we decided that they didn’t need to be sorted by color…),

and then we ate them!

Huh?

Here’s hoping there’s a bit of sewing time in this mama’s future!

Scrappy September

Since my husband is back to work as of today (well, officially as of last Thursday, but today is the real deal, with students and all), I’ve decided that now is the perfect time to take on some new scrap-bin projects. You know, with all the free time I have, being the mama of a very attention-demanding 10-month-old.

It’s OK, though. I think Scrappy September will be a month we’ll both enjoy. I’m sure Finn will love digging through my scrap bins just as much as I.

Here’s my plan.

I have had two projects in mind for a while, and I’m just going to break down and start them. The first is this spiderweb quilt, which I’ve been wanting to make for a couple of years now. I was recently inspired by Amandajean’s finished spiderweb quilt. She does beautiful work, and now that I’ve seen hers, I must have my own.

I harbor no delusions of finishing this baby anytime soon, but I really think it’ll be satisfying to get a start on it.

The second project I have in mind is a braided rug. My great-grandmother made beautiful braided rugs, and I really want to carry on that tradition. Of course, hers were made with heavier fabrics than the quilting cotton scraps that I plan to use, but I think that’ll be OK. A good friend of mine has a braided rug (made by her sweet grandmother) which looks to be made from lighter-weight fabrics, and I really like the floppiness of it.

There are several motivating factors at work here. First, I have two tubs full of scraps, and I really need to start using them. Second, in addition to being Scrappy September, it is also Spendthrift September (or Stingy September??) in our house. I do, in theory, have a monthly fabric allowance, but I’ve been trying to resist the temptation to buy stuff the last few months. It’s not easy, let me tell you, but it’s certainly been worth it to, you know, keep food on the table.

Kidding.

Maybe.

In any event, I’m very much looking forward to using up some of my scraps and decorating my home in the process.

Think Spring

Before I get too far into creating Finn’s summer wardrobe, I wanted to share some cute mama-mades for spring.

While I’ll admit that he looks a bit like a tiny jailbird, I’m totally in love with green and white stripes!

Both the hat and the pants were made from an old long-sleeved t-shirt. I used the sleevy pants tutorial from vegbee, which is a fabulous, quick and easy way to make some pants for baby, especially if you have old shirts lying around. To make the matching hat, I used the sweater hat pattern from Amanda Soule’s book, Handmade Home. Another quick and easy pattern–perfect for a mama with precious little time to spend at the sewing machine!

Oliver + S Playsuit

I’ve been planning for a while to make a summer wardrobe for Finn. The Oliver + S playsuit pattern (which is actually packaged within the tea party sundress + bloomers pattern) looked so adorable, I just had to try it. I figured that a summer wardrobe consisting of playsuits and bloomers (though, not worn at the same time!) would be perfect for both the Wisconsin heat and humidity and our time at the ocean.

This is my first attempt at the pattern. It’s actually not quite finished–I need to add snaps and finish the seams, and obviously it needs to be ironed :-)–but I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

I didn’t add any of the extras on my first try–things like snap tape and piping can be added–but I definitely plan to try the snap tape on the next version. The pattern has very few pieces, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. A person can’t really ask for much more than that! I’m not a garment sewer; I definitely prefer quilts, mostly because the margin for error (or at least the ability to cover up mistakes!) is so much greater. However, constructing the playsuit definitely has me itching to make more clothes for the babe, and maybe I’ll even try some for myself!

As for Finn, I think he’s rather enamored of the playsuit as well. He’s definitely ready for some beach time–he’s already practicing his lounging!