Sunday, July 29, 2018

Moving Right Along

It was a very long week, but I was able to distract myself a bit with my projects. Thank goodness.

I'd been doing reasonably well with all of my goals, but a health scare, thankfully nothing, did me in for a little over a week. Add in some fairly healthy family drama, and instead of hanging tough, I blew it. That eliminated 3 weeks weight loss and added another .8 pounds, darn it. Despite doing everything I could to contain the stress, I am nothing if not a stress eater. Between comfort foods and ice cream, it wasn't my finest goal action week.

As far as the goal of the Suzy Furrer custom bodice, I ordered three 30" long zippers from zipper stop, so I will have a couple on hand moving forward. But because I want to have the zipper installed to better critique the back of the moulage, I'm waiting on any further work until those are here.

Since I hadn't knitted anything for about 30 years or more, and wasn't sure what I was doing, the initial blanket turned out to be a mess and in a fit of pique, I tore the whole thing out. That one is going to be saved until I have done more knitting and am better able to concentrate and follow a pattern. It was pretty complicated for a novice (again) knitter.

But, I am moving forward rather quickly on a new knitted baby blanket. One of my friends who goes to a knitting club told me about free patterns on various yarn websites, and talked about a shawl that some of the ladies have made that is a great re-entry project. I found a super easy pattern on the Lion Brand yarn website. It was free, and it's all just knitting! Hooray. You start with a cast on of only five stitches and add one stitch each row until you have 99 stitches, and start to decrease one stitch every row until you're back to 5 stitches. It took me some mulling to figure out how that was going to wind up in a 30" square blanket. Then a light bulb went off...duh! You're starting at a corner.

I didn't have the proper yarn or the right size needles, but I went barreling forward as is my wont. I actually like the blanket a lot! The yarn is kind of a chenille type and the needles used are a size 15 instead of the 13 called for in the pattern. I decided if it turned out crap, it could be a trial piece, but it's not. Since it's so easy, I purchased the right size needles and the right yarn to make another. This one is kind of lacy, so will be good for a summer baby, but with the correct needles and yarn, it's going to be much heavier, and will be perfect for a Christmas gift. The pattern is http://www.lionbrand.com/knitting-pattern-cuddle-tight-baby-blanket-3.html

Here's a preview about half done...

That wasn't quite enough to distract me, so I also decided this baby needs it's own quilt. I did a very easy and quick patchwork using 8" squares. It went VERY quickly, and it's now clipped together with the batting and backing ready for me to start doing the quilting. Here's a preview:


I used some fabrics I'd purchased for the other quilt to audition for the bindings, and added in a "caterpillar" fabric to get a quilt approximately 40" X 50". The backing fabric is a jungle themed with a white background, so they can have primary colors or a little less bright. I'm hoping to get both the knitted blanket and this one completed this week. 

My friend was over for another couple of sewing lessons this week and when she heard I was knitting a blanket, (she also wants to learn how to knit) the second day together, she brought some yarn and needles given to her by her granddaughter. She picked up crochet in nothing flat, so I expect starting with an easy knitting project she'll surpass my skills in no time. She not only learns how to knit but how to knit left handed just by watching! She is bright and quick and learns a lot each time we're together. She's now got a pair of shorts and two tees completed. She doesn't have my OCD, but is doing fine for initial projects. I'm trying hard not to make her tear everything out that is less than perfect, as I don't want to discourage her forward progress. Next up will be a simple-ish sleeveless A-line dress from an Octobre magazine. It should go quite quickly once we get the pattern traced off. 

We also decided that we need to do a Hatha Yoga class together in addition to the Aqua Aerobics, so we've got our initial foray planned for next Friday. My pain is gone from the knees, but the muscles have atrophied after 10 years of not walking correctly, so I'm thinking the yoga will help get them stretched out. I figure it's never too late for yoga! I do know my practices will take a lot more effort and my progress will go much more slowly at 71 than they did at 35! But always moving forward is the way to go IMO. 

So my week was a lot of reading, knitting, and sewing, with some visiting and teaching added in. Thoroughly enjoyable! 

The goals for next week are to finally finish my navy linen shorts, finish up the knitted blanket, finish the quilt, and start on some baby clothes. We'll see how it goes! 

Hope you're enjoying your summer! More later...



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