Shamrock Knits

Machine Knit Baby Shower Gift

I haven't worked much on the crochet baby blanket or the quilt lately. I seem to go in phases of what I work on. Instead, I've been reading some books on time management and transitioning into a new environment for supervisors. I did, however, work on this baby blanket for a former coworker. It was done on my knitting machine (LK150) in about 5 hours. I could have shaved off some time, but it's been awhile since I worked on the machine.

I used Bernat Baby Jacquard yarn, so that's the striping you see. Instead of the garter stitch borders, I did ribbing. That's easier to do on the machine. I'm off to the baby shower this afternoon, so I hope she likes it.

Road Trip, My BFF Joann, and Mojo

Road Trip

I had an awesome holiday weekend. It started out by Robin and I taking a drive to Starved Rock. Along the highway, we see signs for quilting stores. Who are we to ignore that? We went to one store that was within 10 miles of Starved Rock. It was a little hard to find, but a really nice store. Both of us bought some fabric. Here are some pics of the day.

 Doesn't it look like there's a clock carved into the wood?

I've been getting into black and white pictures as well. Gotta love digital cameras so you can switch back and forth.

My BFF Joann

Joann's had a major sale going on this weekend. I spent about 2 hours shopping on Saturday and another hour on Sunday. I bought fabric, batting, and tools for the quilts I plan to make for my cousins for Christmas. Sorry, no pics of the fabric.

Mojo

I've got my sewing mojo back! Not that I had a ton to begin with, but I haven't done much after I took the sewing class at COD. I actually got a lot done. I would say that I have about 1-2 hours left for the top of the quilt. I've been going pretty slow and made a few mistakes here and there. I think I might be able to finish the top of the next one in a weekend, if I'm able to dedicate fully to it.

There will be a separating row above each square in the same black and white fabric. I got a little carried away with the chaining, so I might have to rip out a couple of pieces. All in all, I think it's pretty good for a second quilt. Kathy hosted a couple of quilting lessons at her house for our knitting group. We made a simple nine patch quilt and then I started a log cabin quilt. I don't have too many blocks of the log cabin done, but I'll get back to it after the holidays.

Beautiful Blogging and About Me

Someone nominated Robin for a Beautiful Blogger Award, which is definitely desired. She then nomiated me for some unknown reason. LOL

Here are some things that you may not know about me.

1) I have low/no self-esteem. I was fat as a child (nicknamed Miss Piggy) and grew out of it somewhat as an adult. More on the chucky and curvy side than fat. My weight fluctuates like a yo-yo.

2) I don't like to talk about myself much or like to be in pictures. This probably relates to #1.

3) I was recently layed off. I don't have any bad will against my former company, but items #1 and #2 are definitely a hurdle in a job search. It has made me realize how bad I was with keeping in touch with people. That's something I'm working on improving.

Enough with the Debbie Downer items ;)

4) I'm a collector. I collect first edition hard cover books (mostly mystery), DVDs (have about 300 movies), yarn and now fabric (as most knitters and sewers).

5) I support the troops through BooksForSoldiers. I used to be more active in sending care packages, but I got a little burnt out. I've got shelves of paperbacks, puzzles, games. pens, used DVDs in my basement ready to go. Each box is about $15 for shipping, which is not bad, but financially not a good time for me right now.

6) I'm a Facebook game addict. Right now I can't stop playing crazy quilt software. Ironic, right? I don't post very often (like here), but I go and play the games too often.

7) I'm an only child with an extended step family. I have a stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and two stepsisters. One of my sisters has been my housemate for over 5 years and we're three months apart in age. Made for interesting coversation during college bar days (same last name).

9) I've been trying to exercise over the last couple of years. I was doing extremely well between my personal trainer and starting to run on my own. My #3 item has put a dent in that schedule. You would think I have all the time in the world to exercise, but I find myself less motivated. I think it's a mix of guilt that I should be doing something more productive (looking for a job), no regular daily routine anymore (go to gym after work), and I really hate working out. I did feel better overall and was definitely looking better than I have in the past. I haven't stopped all together, but sometimes it's weeks before I get back to the gym.

10) I take pictures of flowers when I go on vacation. I'm having difficulties with my computer, so this is the only picture I can post right now. This is a picture from a California winery. They plant flowers and roses near the grapes as an early frost warning system. Effective and beautiful.

Update: My computer is feeling better now. This picture is from Arizona. My sister and I were walking up Camelback Mountain and this was on the way there.

Can't have flower pictures without one from Hawaii. This was in a strip mall parking lot.

Here's one from House on the Rock. There's a small, but beautiful, Japanese garden there.

 

Crocheting for Babies

Despite the lack of posting, I have been knitting/crocheting. I'm not as speedy as Robin or Kathy, but I do get something done occasionally. The first is a crochet log cabin that I finished in June. This is for a former coworker who had the baby at the beginning of July. Now I just need to get together with her.:)

 

This is a simple half double crochet throughout. I had wanted to do a couple more rounds of trim, but I ran out of yarn. GASP! This never happens to me as I have a tendency to overbuy. As in, "I don't know what I'll do with the yarn, so I'll buy 2 bags in case I make a cable sweater or something." So, I overbuy on the "good stuff" and only get 1 skein of each color for the acrylic baby blanket. Don't try to understand the logic here.

The next baby blanket is for a cousin. He just had a baby girl, but since he lives in San Diego area, I don't think they'll be needing it right away. My sister and I just went there in July and are thinking about taking a few days again before the end of the year if we can work it out with my miles.

 

It's a simple repeating fan that I found in a stitch library. It originally called for three colors, but I already had these four from a previous purchase (was going to be a knit log cabin). Using odd number of colors is the ideal thing to do so that when you're changing colors, the appropriate yarn will be there to pick up. I decided to do two rows of the muted pink in the first repeat and then it's skipped in the second repeat. I cast on too many stitches so this orientation will be reversed. In a baby blanket, I don't think it really matters which is the long or short end.