knitters for obama

whew! all done with twilight. life can go on now.

so, this isn't quite knitting content (though i do have an fo to show off later this week...), but sort of knitting related. i've been meaning to blog about it for a week or so now (like i said...life is finally going back to normal...). anyway, a couple of weekends ago, my knitting group put on a knitter's for obama bake sale. it was awesome! we set up camp on a busy street right in the middle of all the bars in our area at around 10 p.m. on a saturday night, and hung out til the bars closed at 2 a.m. we sold a LOT of goodies to drunk people, and ended up raising $400 for the obama campaign. how cool is that?


in other knitting/obama fundraising news, i won a prize in the recent ravelry knitter's for obama fundraising raffle! i won two skeins of alchemy temple in secret agent blue, and some texas-themed stitch markers, which are now officially the most fancy stitch markers i own. also, the funniest. there's an oil rig one, and a cowboy boot! i love it.

anyway, if you're not an obama supporter, feel free to ignore this post, but if you are...have you donated in the new knitter's for obama raffle? there are tons and tons of cool prizes this time around. go do it!

twilight

oh my gosh you guys...i had the best intentions for september...getting my ez socks done and sent off to my brother, getting a good amount of the body done on my seamless yoke sweater, and even making another fun project, but ALL of that has fallen by the wayside since i got sucked (ha!) into the addictive-as-heroin world of the twilight saga. i am NOT proud, but there you go. i'm about a third of the way through the last book, so i hope to regain my life again soon. anyone else out there reading these too? anyone?!

back soon with some actual knitting!

my one-member ez fanclub

thanks, everyone, for all the kind quilt comments! i appreciated them all a lot.

so what have i been doing, knitting-wise? well, i've started two new projects! i haven't forgotten about my other two wip's...the vesper wee skein socks and the swallowtail shawl, but these two new ones were calling out my name. and i should have all four finished in the near future, if my knitting master plan works out (it probably won't, but i always like to have a plan anyway).


it's funny...i just realized that both new projects are elizabeth zimmermann patterns! and i'm really loving both, it should come as no suprise. first up is some woodsman socks, for my brother. i've owed him some handknit socks for over two years now, and have been held up by my terror of knitting size 13 (seriously) mens's socks on tiny needles. so these are fitting the bill nicely: knit on size 7s, in mission falls 1824 wool. it's my first time trying this superwash, and i'm pretty impressed. it's really, really soft, and so far seems to resist pilling. we'll see. i'm down to the heel on the second sock, so these should be done soon!

the second project is one i'm really, really excited about. it's a seamless yoke sweater done in peace fleece, in the lena's meadow color way. i can't get an accurate picture of this color, but it's a beautiful light turquoisey blue, with dark turquoise, purple and olive flecks throughout. i really like how this is knitting up, too. i blocked the first sleeve and it really softens up a lot. i have high hopes for this sweater!

oh! and the yoke! i'm going to try something i saw another person do on ravelry: a ribbed yoke. i didn't want to do any colorwork for this yoke, but i wanted something a little more exciting than a plain yoke. i think this works really well. i am almost done with the second sleeve, but after blocking the first, i got a more accurate sense of what gauge this is knitting up to, and the sleeve seemed a bit big. so i'm going to rip it back a little and do fewer increases. i really want this sweater to fit well and be wearable, so i'm taking no chances.

quilting lessons learned

my quilt is done! it's actually been done now for over a week, getting good use on the couch by both me and my kitty, but i've neglected to photograph it until now. so here it is:

(those columns outside my building look so formal!)

pattern: the lap quilt from bend the rules sewing
fabric: all from purlsoho.com. i used a few robert kaufman prints and rk kona cotton, as well as a couple of joelle hoverson fabrics, both from the cake rock beach series and the net of jewels line.

so, after completing my first full quilt, what did i think? well, i learned a lot, mainly that i don't really LOVE quilting. my yarn stash has nothing to worry about! i had quilted small projects before, but this was my first time wrangling that much fabric through my sewing maching (and maybe i would feel differently if i had a walking foot to aid me). so my quilting is, as the kids say, completely wack. in fact i'd venture to say there isn't a single straight line on this quilt, and that wasn't an intentional design element. plus, i can't get over the fact that i hate cutting fabric. it's so tedious! still, i'm glad i gave it a try, and despite its many flaws, i really do like my quilt. it's a good size for curling up on the couch, and once i gave it a wash and dry, and the fabric shrunk up some, the quilt took on a crinkly, wrinkly, vintage appearance that does hide a multitude of sins.

i expect that i will make one more quilt, at least in the near future: a hand-quilted baby blanket, and then, i think i will retire from quilting. if nothing else, this project reinforced my love of knitting. bring on the wool!


in addition to my quilting adventures, we traveled up to vancover, bc this weekend to visit my brother and sister-in-law. i had such a good time! we hit up several thrift stores, and i came away with two scarves (one hand knitted, and one hand crocheted), and this little cream and sugar set. couldn't you just die from the cuteness? tiny owls! trees! this is one of my best thrift scores in a while, and i can't wait to have a friend over for tea to break the set out.