A tatted bookmark

One craft that I would like to do more of is tatting.  My great-grandmother on my mother's side was a tatter, and my Farmor tatted also (both of them did many, many kinds of handwork).  Several years ago, my mom decided she wanted to learn, and she printed out some directions online.  I picked it up some, too.  It's a great project to have in a small bag to take with you, since it doesn't take up much space and doesn't unravel when you put it down. 

A few years ago, I brought some tatting with me to Denmark, and my Farmor told me about how she and her mother used to tat.  It was so wonderful to hear her talk about it.  My cousin saw my mom and I tatting, and she picked it up, too!  She's much better at it than I am - the last time I saw her, she was working on a tatted hat!

My skills are not so great - I pretty much only know the double stitch, picots, chains, and rings - no fancy split rings or anything like that.  But I have made a few bookmarks, and when I decided to make this bookmark last weekend, it seemed pretty fast and easy. 

I used this pattern.  My only complaint is that it wasn't always clear when to reverse work and when not to - but I imagine it would be obvious to a more experienced tatter. 

This bookmark is headed for a Christmas stocking belonging to someone who I am 99.5% certain does not read this blog.

The Jelly Roll Race!

My mom and I had a long-distance quilting date last night to start our jelly roll race quilts (but we're not racing).  We watched a youtube tutorial that claimed the top can be pieced in 45 minutes, but I took about two hours to sew the strips together, trim the bias seams, and press them.  I was a lot more meticulous than the woman in the tutorial, though: I pinned and marked all of my slanty seams, which I'm pretty sure she didn't do, but I didn't trust myself to eyeball them.  I'm pretty sure the tutorial didn't press any of the seams, either, and I just can't see how that wouldn't cause puckers all over the quilt top.  I'm extra glad I pressed, because I caught a mistake - I had accidentally sewed one of my seams "wrong side to right side," and if I hadn't been pressing I probably wouldn't have caught it until I sew the long seam, and by then it would be too late to fix!

I'm so excited for our next quilting date.  It's so much fun to do projects together, and this is a fun and easy one!

CMS knitting

We had no colloquium on Thursday, which worked out well for me since I had exactly one hour's worth of yarn left in the skein I was working from, and I hadn't brought my knitting tools to join the next skein.  It's coming along!

This was the last week of classes for the semester, so there will be no more CMS/colloquium until January.

Grey sweater finished!

I finished my grey sweater with lace edgings this weekend!  I'm quite happy with it.  I started this sweater as a reward for myself after I passed my advanced exam in June, using a pattern from a little booklet my aunt in Denmark gave me.  The pattern basically used the construction method that Elizabeth Zimmerman gives in Knitting Without Tears, so I referred to that as I was knitting and made a few modifications to the pattern based on her recommendations as I was going along.

I was a bit worried about fit, since the yarn specified in the pattern wasn't available in the States, and I chose a yarn that I ended up not being able to get gauge with.  But the sizes given in the pattern seemed unreasonably large to me, so I chose a larger size than I would normally use and knitted it with a tighter gauge than specified, and hoped that it would work out - and it did!

The yarn has a bit of sheen, and it didn't photograph that well - it's actually a solid color (and doesn't look shiny in person).  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can get a better view of the lace edging.

A productive day - and a Christmas tree!

After a lovely Thanksgiving on Thursday, yesterday I spent the day relaxing and working on some projects that I've been meaning to finish for a while now.  First I mended two sweaters that have been sitting in my drawer with holes since last winter, including this one that had a hole in the right elbow.  It's a delightfully warm and lightweight cashmere hoodie, so to fix the hole I needle felted a little heart over it.  Robert says he's never going to stop teasing me about "wearing my heart on my sleeve."

 I also finished the second of these two project bags.  They have a large buttoned pocket for yarn and a small sleeve for a pencil sewn into the lining.  I think they're the perfect size for sock projects.  One of them is headed for New York, where a new friend my mom and I met at yarn school last month lives.  She gave me some really lovely sock yarn, and I wanted to make her something to say thank you.  I hope she likes it!

Then this morning, Robert and I went out and bought a Christmas tree.  Then we went and got a simple felt tree skirt, six strings of white lights, a bunch of little red ball ornaments, and a lit-up star tree topper.  We also put on several gold and silver Rosendahl "Karen Blixen's Jul" ornaments that I already had.  Robert carved a little wooden tree ornament, and has plans to carve some more!

CMS/Colloquium - a mini sock!

This project was an impulse buy from my most recent Webs order.  It's a miniature sock blocker keychain, and it came with a pattern for a sock to fit it. 

I knitted the sock using some leftover yarn from a full-sized pair of socks that I knitted for my mom a few years ago.  It only took about an hour, and it's super cute!  Next time, I'll make the leg a bit longer.  I'm going to make a bunch of mini socks for it, so it can wear different socks on different days!

Shawl finished!

The summer after I graduated from college, my mom borrowed a large floor loom from her local fiber arts guild or adult education service, I'm not quite sure.  It sat in her living room, and my godmother, who is a wonderful weaver, helped us warp it and design woven shawls to make.  We were motivated to finish the weaving, since we had to give the loom back, but after they were finished and off the loom, they sat in my mom's house for over two years, waiting for us to finish the fringes. 

When my mom came to visit a few weeks ago, she brought the shawls (and a fringe-twisting tool she borrowed from my godmother), and I finished mine!  It's pretty large, and very soft and warm.  If I remember right, the yarn is some sort of tencel blend, so it has a lovely shiny sheen.