Hot Waffles Mitts and Hat

Yes, I'm feverishly working like a busy beaver, trying to get ready for Christmas and also finish a new quilt pattern.

For this red set of hat and mitts, I used Cascade 220 yarn and the Hot Waffles Mitts and Hat pattern from Knitspot. It was great to be able to find a quick to knit project, download the pattern and get started right away!

These were small enough a project that I could take it along, and managed to finish rather quickly, even though I worked on them between other projects. Tuesday, while working at the gallery, I managed to make one complete mitt, and about 1/ 3 of the second, which I thought was great, especially since I have never knit a mitt or glove. This morning I finished darning in the loose ends, so now the set is finished and ready to wrap!

A little time for spinning

In between everything else that I've got going on, I did manage to take a little time out to spin up some new wool batts. Spinning from a batt is new to me, but I was drawn in by the beautiful pictures that I've been seeing in Spin-off Magazine, and onliine posts by others, so of course I had to order some and try it. Some of it spun very nicely, some parts were a bit more difficult, and I am not going to decide how I feel about it until it is plyed and I have a chance to knit something up with it - because if I can't knit up something for a gift or me with it, it isn't worth spinning more, is it? The batt was created by Crosspatch Creations and is in the Kaleidoscope colorway, however I purchased it from The Bellweather.

Water Quilt - finished!

I was working down to the wire on this one, as I really wanted it finished in time for the gallery opening last night, and managed to make it happen, but just barely. In fact, I wanted it to be there so much that I was up until 3am Friday night, finishing the beading, and then the binding and sleeve still needed to be done yesterday before heading to the galery to hang everything. Yes, I ran a few minutes late, but it was finished and ready to hang. Since I ran out the door the minute it was finished, I took this photo of it hanging at the gallery (hey, at least I remembered to take a picture).

Of course it could have been finished without staying up that late if I hadn't volunteered to bake cookies for last night's opening, but it turned out ok, the quilt was finished in time, and we had chocolate chip, coconut oatmeal, and ginger cookies to snack on too.

Now today is my day to put my feet up and take a break, but since it's really difficult for me to just sit and do nothing, I'm going to be knitting a christmas gift. Of course it probably won't be finished today, and I won't be able to post it for a while (don't want to spoil the surprise), but I'll remember to take a picture to post later.

Featured Artist at Gallery 113!

Don't forget, tonight is the gallery opening! Karin, the other featured artist was kind enough to write the press release for the Woodinville Weekly newspaper, and also create this beautiful flyer that showcases our current favorites. We're not sure why they only printed the photo of her watercolor, but I'm guessing it's because my quilt was printed in color with the press release of it's acceptance in the APNQ Quiltfest quilt show, earlier this year.

Please plan to stop by and say hi, we'd love to meet you!

Home and Studio Construction - update

Now it's been so long since I uploaded the picture of the living room after the demolition work was done on our house, but the work is slowly progressing. As the smaller changes we had planned to make, ended up growing as we found things that needed to be fixed or brought up to code, eventually we ended up basically gutting the house and starting over on the inside. It was so bad they had to jack up and level the floors, and replace 3 major beams that hold up the roof! If you look closely, while they have decided where the outlets will be, there aren't any wires going to them, since this room is one of those that hasn't been wired yet.

At least I'll eventually have a great studio in the space above, and a second laundry room with old upright washer and dryer so that I can dye fabric more easily again, as well as store all my dyes and fabric paints. We also managed to gain a loft for my husband in the attic space above part of the garage, entry and a bedroom, so he will have his own space too. The rooms have been framed out, and the new windows have been installed, along with new plumbing above the slab, and they are working on the electrical work. Eventually it will be finished, but it's going really, really, slow, and right now, I'm just looking forward to seeing drywall being installed so that we can get a better feel for how it is going to turn out.

Mermaid Forest Socks - finished!!!

Since we haven't been spending as much time on the road lately, these have taken quite a while for me to finish, but tonight I was able to finish the toe of the second sock and now have a pair! They are called Mermaid Forest Socks from SuzisKnits, and I love the way they came out (although I did decide not to continue the lace pattern down into the foot). The yarn is Jumbo Gems superwash fingering yarn by louet, that has been hand painted in the Key West Waters colorway by Cherry Tree Hill. I really love the way they turned out, and can't wait to wear them.

Kreativ Blogger Award

While I was busy hosting Thanksgiving and off checking on our building project, Sherryl nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award! Her blog Having Fun, showcases her long arm quilting projects, as well as other things she is working on, and she has another blog called Fields of Color to showcase her beautiful hand dyed fabrics.



1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.

2. Put a link to the person you got the award from in your blog.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.


As you may know, I have varied interestes, so here are my 5 nominees:

Jane LaFazio's Janeville - I love her sketches and art quilts, and not too long ago took an online class from her. Her sketches inspire me to take my sketchbook along with me so that I can practice my drawing skills, as well as using them when working on my quilts.

Jenny Bowker's Postcards from Cairo - I started following Jenny's blog quite a while ago, and love being able to almost visit another country through her blog on my computer, as well as admire the quilts she makes that reflect

Carol's blog, Carol Lenthall Dreamstitcher, is full of her awesome bead and textile art. What can I say, but lots of eye candy!

Glennis Dolce, known as Shibori Girl, dyes the most gorgeous shibori ribbon and other silk products and shows them off on her. I've had the pleasure to take both an online class with her as well as one in person at Houston Quilt Festival this year.

Lisa is an art quilter and fabric dyer, as well as teacher, and it's very inspiring to see what she and her students are up to. Her blog is called Dyed and Gone to Heaven, and I think it fits - I'd love to be able to take one of her classes.