Figs and Ginger Quilt-a-Long

I've made lots of progress on the Figs and Ginger quilt lately, especially today!  In case you missed my first post, this pattern is from Karla Alexander's book, called "Stack the Deck Revisited", and I've decided to make two, one being the mirror image of the other, so that I can put them on a pair of twin beds and they will point towards each other, creating a chevron of sorts.  I thought it would be nice to do a quilt-a-long, hoping to see other people's versions of the same design.  Next time, I do a quilt-a-long, it will be one of my own designs, or a take-off from my book, making another project with those flowers.......

Enough talk, right now I'm piecing the red / yellow decks:

Here is my collection of pieced blocks, stacked  by color:

And the remaining decks are green / tan, but are the last pair of colors!

Once I have all the blocks pieced, then I'm going to have fun choosing where to crop the blocks as I trim them down to size, but right now, I just need the rest of the blocks pieced!

If you missed my last post, go back and read it, and then leave me a comment to be in the draw for a copy of my book!

Garden, Quilt, Knit, Knit, Weave... and Book Giveaway!

Since April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, I thought it might be time I offered to giveaway a copy of my book!  Post a comment to this post before April 15th, and on April 15th, I'll draw a winner, so you can start making a floral quilt in May! 

This year, my gardening started indoors, planting seeds in flats, but is now moving outside.  Space has been cleared for the peas, and they're now all in the ground. There are two kinds, snow peas and snap peas, and we're looking forward to eating the fruits of my labor in the future.  In the meantime, I'll be watching over these, as well as the other babies that will be to small to go outside for a while, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and some others.

The stack of sewn blocks for the Figs and Ginger quilts is growing, and I get a feeling of satisfaction every time I get to change to the next set of colors!

I've ripped back to my mistake on the Aquitaine Cuffs, fixed the error, and am now ready to move on:

My green Oatmeal Sweater, is moving along, and for those that were wondering what I was going to make with the yarn I'm spinning, this is the project that inspired the wool purchase, but since I'm making it in the green yarn, I'll probably choose a pattern when the yarn is finished.  The sleeves have been attached, and I'm now working on the pattern at the bottom of the yoke and working up, so I'm nearing the finish line! (Sorry, this isn't the best picture - the sweater is really green.)

On the weaving front, I've finished the scarf I showed you last time, and have begun to weave the last scarf on the warp.  This one will go much quicker, because the treadling pattern is easier, and I'm only using one shuttle!

Oops!

Last night I thought I was making such great progress on my Aquitaine Cuffs, and was nearing the end of the charts, when I noticed the little *** symbols by the row number.  Oh no!  I had wondered why my first hooked bead wanted to sit at an angle, but figured it was the double decrease, and kept going.  Later, I noticed that the decreases seemed a stitch offset from where it looked like it should be on the chart, and still I kept knitting.  Why?  Because I was trying to follow a chart and knit, while watching a sub-titled movie!  I almost didn't do it, but couldn't stand the idea of sitting and watching the movie without something to keep my hands busy.  Lesson learned, and next time, I'll choose something that is either garter stitch,  a hand applique project that is either already basted into place and I can just stitch, or something else that is super easy, that I can just keep going!  At any rate, here's where I discovered what I did wrong, and now I need to rip back to that first hooked on bead (or maybe a row or two more, once I carefully compare the chart, instructions and my work):-(

Quilt, Knit, Weave, Spin...

Between yesterday and this morning, I shuffled and cut decks for the Figs and Ginger quilts:

I decided the quickest way to go, would be to cut each deck and place the sections onto card stock to keep everything in order.  These can then be stacked, ready for sewing.

Three stacks have been sewn into blocks, so I'm making progress:

My Aquitaine Cuffs are coming along nicely, and I'm halfway up the second chart!

I'm weaving some grey scarves in between other projects.  The warp is long enough for three scarves, each will be woven with a different pattern, and the first is finished, it's the swirling stars design in medium and light grey.  Now I'm working on the second scarf, which I would describe as interlocking tabs, as I don't know what the pattern would really be called, as it is only a number in the book, I'm using, which is A Weaver's Book of 8-shaft Patterns:

I'm also trying to do at least a few minutes of spinning each day, since I've decided to spin for a sweater.  When I was at the Allyn Knit Shop, I purchased a 3 lb bag of wool, which I seem to have lost the tag for:-(  It's soft, and I think it is a merino blend that is from local sheep.  There is some veg matter, which is seriously slowing me down, but otherwise, it is a dream to spin!  I'm spinning this wool woolen style, as it is a roving, and almost spins itself in that method, but there is so much wool, it is going a long way, so much so, that I feel like I'm spinning an endless bag of wool!  This is what I've spun so far (the numerical tags are to help me decide the order of bobbins to use when plying):

I still have quite a ways to go, and am wondering if I'll have enough bobbins, or if I'll need to start plying to empty some bobbins so that I can finish spinning.

Because this is such a large project, and the roving is quite thin, not needing to be pre-drafted or split, I'm spinning right out of the bag, only breaking the yarn when I get too thin, or have filled a bobbin.

A Little Progress

The fabric squares have been cut for the Figs and Ginger quilts, but I've cut them an inch larger, so I could cheat and just unfold and cut squares from my fabrics, and save pressing for later.  Well, now is later, and I'm pressing and sorting the squares into decks.  Sorting decks for two quilts will take longer than if I was just making one quilt, but I'll do it all at the same time and be ready for cutting and sewing.

Here are my squares, and fabrics I'm considering for the borders on the right:

Even though I was tired last night, I couldn't resist knitting  a few more rows on the Aquitaine Cuffs:

Aquitaine Cuffs - class with Sivia Harding

What a great class!  Today, I was able to take Sivia Harding's Aquitaine Cuffs class with my friends Ellen and Lucy, and we learned so much!!!  She began the class showing us different kinds of beads that could be used in knit projects, then continued with all the techniques we needed to know.  She even demonstrated other ways that we could add beads to our other projects, and I am so happy I was able to be there!  Some students made more progress than others, and at least one came with the project already started, so was already ahead of the rest of us.  Shortly before the class ended, we were encouraged to walk around to see everyone else's work, and I thought everyone's colors were beautiful, and sometimes combinations of bead colors and yarn were beautiful combinations that I probably wouldn't have thought to use together.  Of course we all have a lot more knitting to go, but we now know what we need to know to finish our cuffs.

My progress:

Ellen's:

And Lucy's progress:

Aquitaine Cuffs

The first thing I did as I was picking out the beads, was to test them to see if the crochet hook would fit through the bead holes, and then if I could pull the yarn through.  I found that my size 14 hook wants to split the yarn, if I’m not really careful about pulling the yarn down on the hook to thin it out before sliding the bead over it.  I have a little larger hook that works better, and will pull the yarn through the larger holed cubes, so will probably end up using it for them (the hole in them is sort of diamond shaped, so I turn the bead as I’m pulling  it through, to get it oriented correctly.

My wrist measured 6.5”, and I couldn’t decide which size to knit (I'm exactly between sizes), so I measured about an inch or two up my arm (because the wrist part is knit about 3” long) and found it to be 7.5”.  The pattern says it should stretch up to 1.5”, so I decided to make the middle size which is 7” finished, because I didn’t want the cast of end to end up tight on my arm.  Therefore, I marked up my instructions, underlining all the numbers for the size I’m knitting.  

In the beginning of the instructions it tells you how many beads to put on the “outer” thread of the thread ball, for the beading options.  I’m doing option 1, which calls out four bead types, but in looking at the pattern picture, I only see 3 beads used (I even compared the picture and charts to see which beads were what letter – I think C and D are separated, just because the D beads are put on with the crochet hook and it was easier to chart), and laid out my bead packages on the table A = drops for edging, B = round size 6 seed beads, C and D = cube beads (mine say 3S at the right side of the number on the tube, so I don’t know if they are a bit smaller than yours). 

I laid the packages on the table with A on the left and C/D on the right and then counted out piles on the beading mat in the same order.  Once I knew I had the right number of each one, I started threading the piles of beads onto the thread from right to left, because you need them in the opposite order, so that the A beads can be used first on the edge, as you are casting on, and the others are used later, as you are going up the cuff.  If you look closely, you might notice that there are some cubes that will be on the cuff that will be added in between the seed beads, but those are the ones that we add on the decreases with the crochet hook.  

Before packing it up, I made a little butterfly at the end of the yarn with two half-hitches to secure it, because I don't want to chance losing any beads as it gets moved around in the bag, before I get it cast-on!

Here's my basket, loaded up and ready for knitting....