When you can't sit, you don't waste time on the PC. There has to be an upside to a bad back doesn't there? So while I've not read blogs or posted here, I've been trying to stay creative while walking, standing or lying down.
Socks are good for knitting while flat on your back. Fell in love with these tiny needles. Cherry Tree Hill merino and the Knitty Spring Forward pattern. One down and one to go.
This yarn is a little heavy for this pattern, but nice and springy, so these will be good Birk clog socks. I'm also not a big fan of varigated yarn with lace patterns and this is a bit too much big pooling for my taste. Still, already had the yarn and my knitting group was doing a KAL, so here I am. I've had fun so far and now that I know the pattern I think the second will go much faster.
Before my back twanged out I was sewing this Friendship Braid quilt from Jelly Roll Quilts. I had fat quarters from an old Heather Bailey line, but I liked the pattern with these prints so I cut the strips. This will be a housewarming gift for my SIL, so I must finish it in two weeks before we visit her. The backing arrives today so I should finish in time.
Had to put it aside after piecing, so I'll have to re-iron -- that's the only reason I'm letting Miss Raven have her way here.
I'm in a 15" x 15" quiltlet swap group on Flickr and my partner's been very nice about waiting for her quilt. I had the design and fabric organized early in the month, but again had to put it away until I could sit at the machine. The theme was hearts, which I must admit pushed me out of my zone.
Then I got Julie's, which is so colorful and well sewn and quilted that I felt even worse about my lame idea and the delay. I really like how she did a kind of bargello/watercolor effect with the little squares. It glows in natural light, especially a bit of sun. Full sun doesn't photograph well, so you'll have trust me.
Thanks Julie. It's beautiful.
Lately I've been attracted to patterns that use triangles, so I thought this would be a chance to play with traditional blocks in a miniature format. The tic-tac-toe idea just jumped in my head and every block has triangles, so that stuck. I had a little pack of valentine themed fabric from way back. Also wanted to play with my new EQ6 design program, so I searched for X, O and a heart blocks, sized them, built the quilt design and printed cutting guides. When I'd finished piecing the quilt was good in that all the seams were straight, etc, but it was boring. I was happy for the education of cutting and piecing tiny triangles and I took my time learning to handle them. I really enjoyed that process, but didn't want to continue on the safe road with ditch quilting.
Leafing through Cloth/Paper/Scissors and Quilting Arts magazines has left me itching to do something more experimental, so I went out on a limb and did wild, no-mark free-motion quilting. I know I'm not that good at that yet, and to be honest, I'm really not sure I improved the piece and probably to some of you I flat out ruined it, but I did have fun.
I told Julie to feel free to line her pot drawer with it. When I do bed quilts or throws I consider what looks best and will please the user, so I usually stay on the conservative side. I'm a very precise cutter and piecer, so free-motion quilting is still very hard for me because I don't want to "mess up." Trying to break out of my self-sealed box, but that tape is strong! So, what you're reading here are the words of a conflicted artistic perfectionist.
Started this sweater about a month ago, but found I couldn't do cables on my back, so it got put aside. This is Norah Gaughan's Tweedy Aran Cardigan from IK Winter 01/02. I've got the magazine, but they also sell the pattern PDF on line now.
The yarn is Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed that's been stashed forever. Picked it up again this past weekend and am finally getting the rhythm of the cables. No rest for the wicked on this one -- the wrong side has lots of through-the-back-loop stitches to keep you on your toes. I'm thrilled to be making a smaller size because I've finally started to lose weight -- almost 15 lbs since the beginning of July! Because of this I"m rethinking sweater WIPs. More on that as I decide.
Well, time to stand up before I seize up. Still don't like bucket seats (the car's the worst), but have found a lumbar pad helps. We took the girls to the last Padres game this past weekend (horrible season, but beautiful day) and I added to my Lizard Ridge pile. I get the pitch-n-stitch thing now - the knitting covers all the dead time - but I could still skip the baseball part of it.