BHA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Yep, I did it!

It was an interesting adventure to say the least.  The tension on my sewing machine has been acting up.  At first I didn't know what was going on, but when I looked at the manual (DUH!)  I figured it out.  I may need to find someone to look at it though since it's pretty much at 9, which is the highest, which I'm sure should not be.  I got into a fabric shopping spree and want to make some more things but I have to be patient with the machine . . . . . . or learn to hand sew . . . . . . . . .

The funniest part about the entire experience was Whitacre. Every time it was on the floor, he was on it.  As you can tell from the photos.  And he is still there.  I guess he likes it.  Not very manly though, but he's never really been able to be manly.

However, the blanket is awesome.  I got inspired by this pattern but once I cut and sew the pieces together I was not going to sew them all together so I improvised and it turned out good.  Oh and here is the back.

:)

Other than that life is pretty good right now.  I'm sure more projects will show up here soon!

The Knitter that Occasionally Quilts

Good Morning to all,


Yep, you saw right, quilting.  My dear friend Shannah, taught me to quilt in college and I have made two quilts and I am ready for another one . . . . I think.  My hubby finally got his christmas bonus, so he let me use some of that to buy some fabric.  I bought some to make some placemats for our new table and some fabric for a quilt.  I have dived into the placemats first.  Here are some pics of them.

Here is a pic of the two that I have finished for now.  I embroidered around the pink and green "Flowers or leaves".  However, I tried machine quilting this time.  But,  it's been a journey.  I bought the cheapest sewing machine they had at walmart at some point and I don't feel the need to spend the money to buy a nicer one since I only get the urge to do this every so often.  I am also very limited in my knowledge of sewing period so instead of using the foot pedal to sew I used the knob on the side.  Hand cranking each stitch gives me the control that I love and the look that I love but it takes a little longer and it hurts my back and shoulders if I do it for two long.  But hey they look pretty!

The first mat I stitched color on the front and white on the back and then I got a wild idea.

For the second one I decided use white on the front and color on the back and I think it turned out really good.

YEA!  I have two or four more to make.  Depends on how much stuff I have.  Now for the quilt.

This is what I bought to make the quilt but I am brainstorming what I want to do with it.  Thankfully, my quilting friend posted on her blog yesterday about her husband's quilt and another blog that helped her.  So I went over to it and was excited.  Lots of wonderful quilting ideas to help me on my way to being a better quilter.  I think I might try to make a quilt out of this pattern.  Now this pattern requires a few more  fabrics but don't worry.  I have been remnant shopping.

If I get brave enough to start the quilt I will let you know.  But for now I will continue to work on the placemats.  I think my idea is to have one a little different than the other.  I am a little nervous but I think I want to try this.  I always seem to have a problem with the edges of my quilt so maybe this will help.  :)

Thats it for now.  Everyone enjoy their weekend.  My hubby and I are helping a new friend with lighting a high school play.  Which is reminding me of my high schools days.  

New Year, New Adventures

Well here we are in 2011.  I am still finding it hard to not write the 0 on the date but we are far into 2011.  So far our new year has been very busy.  After returning from Dallas for christmas my parents tried to come in for New Years.  They got here but because of a snow storm they got stuck in Tucumcari and got to experience small town New Mexico which is kind of like small town Texas but New Mexican.  Which for us is not normal.  The next weekend our lubbock friend Meredith came and visited for a weekend and the first day we had fun.  Then I had a kidney stone and made the rest of the trip not so much fun for anybody but we survived that funness.  We will have to have her back so that we can really show her a good time.  :)  Then the next weekend my husbands parents came to visit.  I was feeling much better and we had a good time.  The rest of January flew by fast with relaxing weekends.  Then February happened.


A massive snow storm flew into New Mexico and left a rather deep blanket of snow.  Whit was made to go out in it.  He was not a happy camper:

The snow was taller than he was.  As one snow day turned into four and gas ran out in New Mexico.  We saved energy during the day by turning down the thermostat, covered our windows with: blankets, pillows, towels, and Whit and I stayed in bed with the electric blanket.

He was much happier with those days that were filled with naps.  The snow stayed around for two weeks but is all gone now.  New Mexico winters are different than we have had but they have been a nice surprise for all of us.

Last week was my birthday and I got to go home!  I ate Tex-Mex and drank a Margarita every night that I was there.  I went shopping which was tons of fun.  I got to spend time with my sister and momma at Northpark mall seeing a movie and doing a little more shopping (H&M Preview).  Then my husband and I spend the night at a hotel in Plano where we had an interesting experience.  I don't think we will look back badly on the experience but we probably won't stay there again.  I am waiting for the day when ABQ becomes as familiar as Dallas.  I bet there are lots of shopping places I have not experienced but can't wait to find them.

Now for the knitting update:

The church that we have been going to had a Chemo cap day where you donate and spend time making caps and blankets for patients at UNM.  They call it Chemo cap but they offer these gifts to just about anyone in the hospital.  I was so excited to find a place where I can use my knitting skills to good use.  So I went with my knifty knitter and was the talk of the day.  No one had seen one and they were all excited about this new thing.  Several people have bought them and made hats.  After that I took some yarn home and made a couple of blankets for the event.

The one on the right I used two different cables and made up my own pattern.  On the left I used a chalice pattern that I found on ravelry.  Most people at church are crocheters.  I have been a lone knitter but I think there are some more they are just hiding in the woodworks.  I have just started a new blanket with a butterfly stitch and a knit hat.  I like the knit hat pattern and may make several different colored hats.

On a yarn update, when I moved to New Mexico I emptied my yarn stash into a cedar chest that my grandfather made for me and found that I had stuffed it to the brim.  My husband pretty much told me no more yarn purchases.  I have bought some yarn but have been pretty good about mostly using what I have.  In fact, I have been so good at this I can now see the bottom of the chest.  I have lots of odds and ends that will be used at some point but for now I am trying to use all of my simply soft up.

So more knitting ensues and time is flying by but we are taking it as it comes and enjoying every minute of it.

The Holiday's are fast approaching

Christmas always seemed to come late for me because of college.  I wouldn't let myself enjoy the holiday season until I was home with family.  While I was home for Thanksgiving we decorated my Parents tree and felt the need to start my own.  So several weeks later our patio is decorated for Christmas.  A few decorations are filling our one bedroom apt.  but for now it will do.  :)  

Proof that Christmas is coming even faster . . . it's snowing in New Mexico, finally.  Apparently this is a late storm but a welcomed one for the natives.  It has been snowing all morning.  The roads, I'm told in ABQ aren't too bad.  Outside of ABQ might be another story but we don't have any where to be.  

On the knitting front I have been a very busy girl.  I was trying to think of something that I could give to some new New Mexico friends and came up with this:

I found the pattern on ravelry and became inspired.  The leaf is knit in the round so that you have the pattern on both sides.  Great idea right?  Well then this came from that idea:

I'm pretty sure Shannah will like these.  :)  But that was all that I have made.  I have had a lot of scrap debbie bliss yarn lying around.  I still have more so we shall see what comes of those.  Then I have been working on my very first pair of . . .

Gloves!!! The first one came out pretty easy, however . . . . the second one because it is a different hand is being knit backwards.  Which if you can imagine screws up my head with the pattern.  GRRRR So this one has been a little harder to do.  If you can't tell from the picture I went button crazy at hobby lobby.  :)  But before this I did start something else:

This is a sock that I hinted at in previous post.  Spring pools.  I used some autumn colored yarn that I fell in love with when I bought it and found it quite hard to pick out a good pattern to use it on.  This sock is toe up and my first try at that.  I think this sock is the best fitting sock I have ever made.  So at some point I will do the other one and be done.  I think . . . .

Well I guess I must get going.  Christmas cards to send out, presents to wrap and or buy.  Lots of things to do.  But from our house to yours a happy holidays.

Yea I stole the Penguin idea from Shannah.  :)

Electric Blankets

who ever invented these things were like the smartest people in the entire world.  I have been an avid fan since the fall of 2004.  It kept me warm in my overly cold dorm room.  It has continued to help keep me warm and saving energy at the same time.  At this time, Whitacre and I are enjoying the warmth.  This blanket makes it hard to get up and do important things before 10am.  It keeps me warm all day long in the cold New Mexico winter.  Makes it hard to do much of anything really.  It really only adds to the laziness.  But in any case thanks you.

Now time to get up and do the dishes.

Nah I'll wait it's too warm . . . .  

What a busy, thankful, jolly season!

What a crazy busy time of year!  Traveling, eating, shopping, thinking (Presents, cards, etc.)  What to do what to do. . .

Well to start off Thanksgiving was a wonderful day.  When I was growing up we would travel to my Grandmother's house in Little Rock.  Going to the house where my mother grew up.  Reliving the great depression through my grandmother's and house (If you have never been inside a house of someone who lived through that, you have missed out.)  But since the early 2000's she passed on and our thanksgiving tradition was in limbo.  Some days we spent at our house, just our family.  Other times we spent with the Jacobs family either in Corsicana or in Mesquite.  But this year I got to spend my Thanksgiving with my parents and my in-laws.  It was a wonderful new tradition to start.  I absolutely love spending time with family and can't wait for these new things to become traditions.

Now on to traveling.  Texas is a large state.  I am beginning to think a little too long.  Traveling home takes way too long, way too long.  This time around we took a different route which didn't take as long but was still long!   However,  the weather in New Mexico decided to show off that it can get quite cold here.  Oh and it snowed, didn't stick but made the trip a little interesting.  I am starting to worry about our Christmas travel but we will cross that road when we need to (hoping that it is not icy).

I am excited about this season and I hope that I will be able to decorate soon, put presents under the tree and fully enjoy what this season is all about!

Knitting wise, my ADD knitting syndrome has kicked in.  I did make one of these.  I LOVE them.  I have never made a sock that fit so well and it's my first toe up.  I think I may never make a top down sock again.  I have also been working on some presents for some new friends but darn you ADD.  I also made an infinity scarf from some left over thick and quick yarn.  It is quite warm and made of my favorite colors.  Hopefully more knitting will come and maybe I will find a pattern that will keep me entertained but until then other projects will keep me entertained.

Well so long for now, I feel a few more smaller post on the way and possibly some pics.  Long posts are hard to put together, however I tend to go long periods of times in between posts so . . . . here's to hoping!

Oh Fall . . . It's a Different Story Here

Hello again to all!

Fall has arrived here in New Mexico.  Well, it has actually been here for a couple of weeks.  But the trees are in the middle of changing.  It's nice to see fall here verses Texas.  It is cooler and will continue to get cooler (like tomorrow, super cold).  But in any case it's nice to be enjoying this weather.  My favorite part of fall is the red leaves.  Which I somehow I've always missed in Texas but I haven't missed it here.

See I told ya!  :)

But anyways, on the knitting front this past weekend I became an extremely busy knitter.  I have been, wait for it, designing (Gasp!) purses and headbands.  It all started on a walk.  I went walking with a hat that I had made recently and found my head to be hot but when I took my hat off my ears were cold.  So this first design was made.

A very large headband.  The pattern I used from my pink hat that I made earlier called Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson.  I am kind of in love with this pattern.  Really kind of in love.  :)

After I made that I thought, you know it would be fun to make stuff and then sell it right?  Especially these easy to finish in a day patterns.  I have tried to start many different kinds of patterns that I have found on Ravelry but have gotten extremely frustrated with the project and gave up (I think I just like instant gratification but who doesn't?)  So I pulled out my new stitch book, Super Stitches Knitting by Karen Hemingway ( I am also in love with this book!) and came up with this smaller headband.

The stitch that I used is called asymmetric cable.  I really enjoy this cable cause it's not normal, it's a little off but pretty in it's offness.  :)  This headband ended up coming out a little too thick and too loose.  I am thinking about adding some elastic to the inside so it will fit better but I think I will wait.  I was about to make another headband when I thought well what about a purse.  

Now, a side story.  I am not a purse person.  When we moved I packed up my purses and well about 6 months later.  They are still in the box and I think they will stay there.  Why you ask?  Well since college I haven't carried a purse out of simplicity.  I didn't want to carry around a purse and a bag of school stuff in the inevitable event that I would forget my purse and freak out.  So I found ways of keeping my keys and wallet attached.  I have now graduated to a very small 'clutch' that even holds my phone.  It's like ten times easier to keep up with everything when it's all together.  But on occasion a purse is needed.  Especially when you go out on a grown up date, which I now occasionally go on.  So my first version of a purse ended up like this.

Very cute right?  

Again I used the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret pattern and am really pleased with the knitting end result.  So right after I casted off I casted on another purse.  Now this purse has it's definite problems.  

It is a pretty wide purse and since it is knitted it's pretty flimsy.  I have conversed with my engineering husband about options to make it not so flimsy but I'm kind of stuck right now.  I think I might just put this one to the side and think about it later.  I do love this idea and the pattern in the middle is called Twin Leaf Pattern from my fav book super stitches knitting. 

I have started on another purse that is bigger than the first but smaller than the second and has the asymmetric cable involved.  I have only made like three rows so no pic for you!

This morning I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and bought some fabric to line the purses that I have made and purses that are yet to be made.  

Since the purses I have been making are all black and made out of one of my favorite yarns Caron Simply Soft.  I wanted to add a little pop to the inside.  These choice were kind of held back.  I love, love, love color and wanted to add an awesome print on the inside but most of the fabric that I saw needed brown or I thought maybe someone else wouldn't want to buy.  

So a busy weekend and week behind and ahead.  I am really excited about being in the experimental phase right now.  I have not sold anything yet and I still have lots of things to try and also research.

Research?  why research?  Well the star crossed pattern's designer has asked that if we use the pattern for profit to buy the rights to the pattern.  I haven't done it yet since I am still in the experimental stages of this project but that pattern would be easy to sell without the worry of being sued if I bought the rights from her.  But some of my purses are based off of patterns that I have found in a book.  So the question looms, do I have the right to sell a product with another person's pattern in it?  Because I bought the book did I buy the rights to the pattern?  I want this to be an enjoyable experiment and possible journey for me and getting sued well would not be enjoyable for anyone.  I searched some on Ravelry but I didn't quite get the answer I wanted.  So I will do some more research and see if I feel comfortable putting a product out on the internet for the world to find (Scary!).

Basically, a very large Pandora box has been opened on this quest for an activity to do.  As an artist, I completely understand a person's need and want to reap the benefits of their creativity.  I would want the same.  But in this day and age, it's easier to get ahold of patterns from people that you may never really meet and  it is especially easy to just put something out there.  Which makes it easier for someone else to find it and go, "Hey that's mine!  I'm gonna sue."  

SOOOO to end this post a pic of Whit.

Eating grass.  In the cool weather.  Nice.

See y'all next time!!!