Quilt In Progress, Post 1

Approximately 390 to 400 triangles cut, to be sewn into squares, and then put together to make the rectangular quilt top. All in shades of blue, or with shades of blue, to hold the final pattern together.

BREAKING NEWS

My old sewing machine, a Singer 6212, died yesterday. Her motor was shot. RIP, beautiful sewing machine that I got when I was 17.

Today I purchased a new (to me) machine. Montgomery Ward, UHT J1943. Monty's probably about the same age as the Singer, but he actually works.

Now I just have to get used to a totally different machine- side loading bobbins, thread that loads internally, new presser feet, new "buttonholer" foot, new bobbins (though the shop said they would exchange my old ones for me, even after I told Emmanuel I had about 15...).

I'd like to say "this will be easy! a breeze!", but the fact is that I was pretty attached to my old Singer, we'd spent a lot of time together, been at home in several different apartments, and worked on a lot of projects. Frankly, I'm still attached to her. It'll be hard to get used to a whole new machine with a whole new feel.

5 Hats

Five more little hats, waiting to be washed and sent off.

Baby Hats, cont.

Sent a bag full of baby hats off to the UIC Medical Center the other day, felt good, got yarn out of my home, and will feel good for the little babies and their parents. Fun for me, too!

More Babyhats, More Squares

Still working on babyhats- I'm not just limiting myself to the babyweight yarns though, now. I'm using babyhats as a means to finish off little scraps of yarn that I'm probably not going to use elsewhere, and to finish them off quickly! I suppose I could make another scrap square blanket, but that ends up taking a long time, between producing scraps and then piecing them together. 2012! Year of Less Things! Goal is to get the yarn out of my home.

Also to that end, I had most of a skein of a teal-green yarn, which I didn't foresee myself being able to buy more of (I don't know where it came from, and it didn't have a label, so who knows how old it is/what brand it is/where it came from). I made as many squares as that skein would let me, then used a heavier yarn that I had sitting around to edge it.

As before, all goes to charity unless otherwise claimed. The pink hat (center) has been claimed.

Baby hats and more Basketweave

I've been making a bunch of little baby hats recently- they're easy, and use up the last ends of some of my lighter weight yarn. And they're cute! All they are is a quick tube, then cinched and tied together on one end, and turned right side out.

I also made another baby blanket using the basketweave pattern, this one is about 20" square, and I used more of the same color for a smaller border than on the lavender one- I like how this one turned out a lot better.

As with most projects these days, these will all go to charity unless someone lays claim.

The Basketweave

A while ago, I was browsing a craft book's* crochet section, and came across the instructions for the basketweave crochet pattern. It looked pretty neat, and the pattern seemed relatively easy, so I gave it a shot. I had to teach myself how to do front post and back post double crochet stitches (fpdc, bpdc), but I already understood the double crochet, so it wasn't so hard. You just get the project started with a row of regular doubles, then alternate fpdc and bpdc stitches in groups of threes.

Ultimately, I learned that fpdc and bpdc stitches use up a lot more yarn than your average single or double, and the cloth ends up being pretty thick. That piece sat in the project bucket, unfinished for a good year or two, through a couple moves, until I finally ripped it all out and made something else with the yarn.

Eventually I decided to resurrect the basketweave stitch in an attempt to get rid of some relatively fine stranded baby yarn that was sitting around; some yarn that I'd had an idea for at one point, and then just got frustrated with working with because I was so used to thicker yarn. At this point I'm working on a second baby blankie with this yarn (this time in green, which I have more of), and I've gotten used to the weight of the baby yarn- though it helps that this stitch pattern ends up being pretty thick.

I used a white yarn that I had for the trim, and kind of wish I hadn't. I had a limited amount of the lavender (and wasn't going to buy any more), so I had an awkwardly proportioned and small rectangle when finished- and I wanted to gain some size, and even out the rectangle. But, the white is thicker than the lavender, so it stretched the edges out, which is especially apparent at the corners.

*I highly recommend the Reader's Digest "Complete Guide to Needlework"- so much information! Good instructional illustrations! Decent photos of how the patterns should look! Some project ideas are a little dated, as is the entire macrame section, but overall, a good, comprehensive chunk of instructions.