In the Scrap Pile

 

 

I've been making more baby and children's quilts for donation.  I was cleaning up some scraps and started cutting odds and ends into 2 x 3.5" pieces, which make nice leaders and enders when you're sewing up other projects.  Just pair these pieces randomly and soon you have a nice pile that can be made into a quilt.

It's the perfect mindless sewing: very meditative.

This next quilt began as a test block.  The big 20" stars are made from 5" half-square triangles, and squares were culled from the scrap drawer.  A friend gave me several yards of the navy border fabric, which has come in handy for unifying scrappy quilts.

You can't get any simpler than strip piecing.  I culled  primary-colored fabrics from my stash, cut them into width-of-fabric strips, and sewed them together with the same navy border.  This one sewed up in a flash.

Some of these quilts will be quilted using flannel for the batting and/or backing, and some will be quilted to fleece remnants, which makes them extra-cuddly.

  

As an alternative to sitting at the sewing machine, I crocheted this baby blanket from bright yarn left over from another project.  

 This knitted baby blanket was the result of my effort to use up some dusty pink yarn that the same friend gave me who gave me the navy fabric.  It's not my favorite color to work with, but combining it with a darker color made a nice blanket I think.

My box of baby blankets is now stuffed to bursting and will be sent off soon to Pine Ridge.  I feel the seasons beginning to change here in my area, so they'll arrive in good time.

Quarantine Projects

So much has happened in the world since my last post in February.  All in all, I and my family are doing well, and making things is one constant that helps me give order to my immediate surroundings.

I pray for those who seek justice during these times, and I'm doing what I can in my community to support these efforts, as well as to give support those displaced by the economic inequality that the pandemic has deepened.  The crib-sized (35 x 50") afghan, above, will be sent to a program for mothers and infants on the Pine Ridge Reservation.  There is an active group on Ravelry, For the Children of Pine Ridge, that supports various organizations on and around the reservation.  The pattern is called Classic Granny Square by Purl Soho.  I have a stash of acrylic yarn, mostly passed on to me by a friend, that's perfect for crocheted afghans.

 

For myself I sewed up new pajama pants from my stash of vintage sheets.  I used a basic commercial pattern, New Look 6233.  I skipped the pockets so as to finish faster.  The fabric has a wonderful soft hand as the sheets have been through the laundry many many times.  

 There's something reassuring in making things from stash. It gives me a feeling of abundance during these otherwise challenging times.  I hope you and yours are well.  I've added a link to the blog so you can get my posts in your email so we can stay in touch.

Pokey Dots Throw

I wanted to make a baby gift for a young couple expecting their first baby and I found a free Red Heart Yarn pattern Pokey Dot Throw.   (This link is to the Ravelry page as the Red Heart page was down when I wrote this post.)  It's a very easy pattern, perfect if you have a bright group of small bits of yarn.  It was fun to make all the circles at once, and then to add the background stitches that would make them into squares.

This made up very quickly and it left me with the desire to make myself a granny square afghan, but in bright colors.  So since I had to buy some white to finish this blanket, I treated myself to a few skeins of bright colored yarn for my dream afghan.  I'm researching various pattern and when the fancy strikes, I'll be ready to begin.

Ketjusilmukkahuivi (scarf)

I recently crocheted this fun scarf from a free pattern.   Ketjusilmukkahuivi(scarf) is written in Finnish, but other folks have decoded the  simple pattern and have very helpful notes on Ravelry.

You can either cut the yarn for fringe at the end of each row, or you can just crochet continuously.  At the end I hand sewed some tiny leaf beads onto the edges for added weight.

My scarf was made from a discontinued microfiber yarn with long color repeats.  I've seen others made from crochet cotton, which is often plentiful in thrift stores.  Use the hook appropriate to your yarn.

My scarf was made roughly as follows:

Chain 350 stitches, the pattern repeat is 10 double crochets and 15 chain stitches. 

At the beginning of each row, chain 3 (for the new row) then follow with 2 dc, and proceed with the pattern.  

End each row with 2 dc.  

This is a very flexible pattern.  If your math doesn't work out, go with the flow.  You can also vary the numbers of chains and double crochets to make the scarf more or less solid, for example, 5 dc and 5 chain stitches. 

Japanese Knot Bag

Cloth project bags are all the rage in the knitting world.  I usually use those clear plastic zippered bags that linens come in:  They're very practical, but let's face it, they're not cute.  Plus, they don't have handles.

There's a great tutorial with template on the Better Homes and Gardens website.   The bag is the perfect size for a small project.  In this case, I'm making Judy Marples' Knit Night Hat (yes, it's free) with a special ball of Malabrigo Rios that I bought in San Francisco in the Spring.

The downloaded pattern prints in five pieces and you tape it together.  I cut out the bag and lining at the same time with a rotary cutter.

There are handy pockets inside for small tools.

The bag is fully reversible, and I got to use a fun novelty print. 

I also finished my crocheted t-shirt rug.  In all it took 13 men's large t-shirts.  The last few did have seams, but they posed no problem: the overlocked seams were sturdy and held up to the cutting and stretching process.

Gratuitous dog picture with the rug.

Happy Holidays to all, and best wishes for a creative 2016!

The Finish Line

I've crossed the finish line with some projects.  First, these fun embroidered dishtowels.  These will be a gift for a former square dancer I know.  I love the vintage design of the patterns. 

There's a whole series of these dancers, but I decided two was plenty, though I personally would like a set a days-of-the-week dishtowels for myself.  They may be on the horizon, and I've gathered a lot of potential designs on Pintrest.

I finished yet another  Easy Ripple Afghan--this one's my fourth.  This one has a more controlled color palette, just 3 colors, and I used up a stash of Lion Wool-Ease, which is a nice acrylic and wool blend.  This will also go into my gift pile, as the holidays are coming.

For myself, I knitted up this super-bulky weight cardigan, Taiga.  I used worsted weight yarn held double and got a usable gauge, and I also used stash yarn.  This is a substantial jacket-weight garment, and it knit up pretty quickly with the heavy yarn.  I also got to use some of my stash of metal buttons.  It was fun to do the color work design in the middle of the sweater.  Again, in a bulky yarn, it pretty much flew off the needles.

Fleece-backed Quilts and Crocheted mittens

The fleece-backed nap quilts are a success.  I found some  1-yard remnants at the fabric store, and minimally quilted them wrong sides together.

The backing was about 2 inches larger than the quilt top on all sides, and I turned the excess fabric to the front of the quilt and zig zagged it down.  Easy as pie.

 ...And really cuddly too.  If I wanted to be fancy, I would've mitred the corners, but I'm not often fancy.

This week I also crocheted some scrappy preschooler mittens from Yarnville's free pattern Mrs. Murdock's Mittens.  It's an interesting patten with a few new tricks, but once I did one, it was easy going from there.  The pattern comes in three sizes: preschool, older kids, and women's and the mittens come out very thick. 

I put up a website for my book:  have a look and send me some feedback if you have any suggestions.

Project Round-Up

Between gardening, grading papers, and recovering from yet another cold, I finished knitting Different Breeze, which after blocking measures 6 x 74 inches.  Knitting the long color changes was fun, and the scarf is very stylish.  The blocking opened up the stitches very nicely.  I haven't decided whether to wear this myself, or save it for a future gift.

I did a bit of work on my butterfly quilt.  I finished cutting the triangles, and I'm slowly sewing borders on the butterfly blocks. The unsewn pieces take up my whole design wall, which is a flat queen sheet.  I even had to move the sewing machine table away from the wall to lay out blocks behind it.  Sewn together it will be considerably smaller, so  I'm starting to think about what kind of border will look nice on this quilt

I was one butterfly block short, and instead of making one more--something I really didn't want to do, I dug up four small applique blocks I bought some time ago in a thrift store.  I think they've finally found their true calling in this quilt.

And I spent a quiet Saturday morning crocheting up this throw rug from t-shirt yarn (the light blue) and strips of old sheets (light blue and tan).  This was an improvisational project: a simple single crochet stitch, I just added enough extra stitches in the corners to keep it flat.  Of all the rugs I've made, I've found knit and crocheted ones to be the most durable, and they're machine wash and dry.  This one will probably go to my daughter, who mentioned she needs some small rugs for her apartment.

Not bad work for a busy time of year.  Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to summer vacation from work.

Mondo Zig Zag Blanket (58 x 64")

 When you get a really bad cold, bad enough to stay in bed for a few days, you'll have time to work on you big crochet blanket.

The cats will cheer you on and keep you company while you do another row between coughs.

When the cold turns into bronchitis, you'll have time to crochet three or four rounds around the edges.  The cat will be so impressed.

 

When all's said and done, you'll have a nice blanket to lay with on the couch while binge watching episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford on Netflix.   

The free pattern is the Easy Ripple Afghan, and the yarn is vintage acrylic donated to me by my aunt.  I'm hoping that along with the antibiotics, it's a recipe for a cure.

Mexican Jenny and Other Poems

My new book of poetry, Mexican Jenny and Other Poems, has recently been published by Anhinga Press.  The book was awarded the 2012 Philip Levine Prize.

The book features the story of a Colorado prostitute who in 1913 killed her abusive husband and then served time for murder.  Legend has it that while incarcerated Jenny made a crazy quilt from the clothes she had worn as as a sex worker.  The long narrative poem about Jenny addresses the question of what we can know about events of the past.

Mexican Jenny and Other Poems is available now from Anhinga Press and Amazon  The Ahninga page has a sample of the book and my artist’s statement for your perusal.  I feel a sense of accomplishment that I've found a way to fuse my textile work with my writing, and I'm very proud of this book.

In the interest of keeping it real, here's a new project:

 

57 inches wide, I'm crocheting this chevron afghan from a basket of complimentary stash yarns.  I'll keep going until it gets to hot and big for my lap.  I've still got a ways to go.

Finished Zig Zag Afghan

This one's done.  This is a very satisfying project if you like to play with color.

And Michael said he wanted it.  Now it lives in his man cave.

I feel inspired to make more blankets and afghans, and I've got an acrylic stash to work with.  There may be another one before long.

Blue Afghan

The blue afghan is coming along very nicely.  I can get several inches done in an evening of television watching.  Michael and I are big fans of The Shield on Netflix, and of a new crime drama on FX called The Bridge.  TV watching is good for this project.

I'm going to keep working on this until I use up most of the yarn I've dedicated to this project: which should take it up to twin bed length.  Hopefully, this will happen soon, as I'm eager to work on something else.

The Calm Before the Storm

I was so excited about the color play possibilities (and the acrylic stash eating potential) of my zig zag baby afghan, that I decided to hook up another one right away.  I pulled all the blues, yellows, oranges and whites from my acrylic stash and set out to make a lap blanket.  Or maybe it'll be another baby blanket that I'll put aside for the next baby that crosses my path.  It doesn't matter, because I'm just thinking about the next row and what colors might come next.

This color scheme is appropriate: these are calm sea colors to meditate on as I restart the school year.  Classes start next Monday, so I'm gearing myself up for yet another year.

After I started the afghan, I sidetracked myself with some knitted mittens for an Afghans for Afghans campaign that's winding up.

These were all free patterns from Ravelry:   Marlene's Mittens by Alaina Privette,

Matrix by Kerry Palm, made in the child's size.

and Midwestern Mittens, Extra Chunky by Lion Brand Yarn, which makes up so fast they're like potato chips: you can't knit just one (pair).  The green-blue ones are made with one strand of worsted wool and one strand of vintage mohair held together, which makes for a very warm pair of mitts.

This has been a wonderful summer, but like all the others, it's ended much too quickly.  I always feel like I could use another month off.  Oh well, there's next summer to look forward to.

Crochet Summer

After I finished my granny square scarf, I jumped right into another crochet project: a baby blanket.  I dipped into my stash of acrylic yarn, babies needing things to to washable, and I used this free pattern. 

This blanket has used up lots of yarn and being that it uses a double crochet stitch throughout, it makes up very fast.  I'd be done by now, but I ripped out several rows because I hadn't planned properly for the color changes between the three shades of yellow.  I should be done soon, I'm going to repeat the three color section that I started with, and it'll be a nice size, about 35 x 42 inches.

I can see myself continuing to make a few more of these.  I'll have to see what's left in the box of acrylics.

Crocheting this blanket reminded me of some other zig zag afghan projects I've made.  Both were made with a single crochet stitch pattern, so they're not exactly the same as the one I'm making now.  The first one is a baby blanket I made for my kids.

This one I made for my son Alex many years ago.  You have to love these acrylic blankets, they hold up so well over time, and this pattern reminds me of a Missoni print.

On another note, I received this St. Francis pin, which I bought from Angela May, as a memento of finishing my St Francis quilt and showing it a Sacred Threads.  The collage image caught my eye when I first saw it, and I'm enjoying wearing it.  She has beautiful things in her Etsy shop.