mod sampler quilt along

I've been a little slacker in the sewing/quilting department lately. Oh Fransson's quilt along came along at just the right time!

I've given up shopping for Lent, oh horror of horrors. Don't worry, I'm still allowing myself to go grocery shopping (but, no magazines at the checkout stand). It has actually been a pretty freeing thing to abandon shopping for 40 days. I spend way too much time thinking about shopping, browsing online, arguing with my conscience over whether or not to stop at a store on the way home, and, well, you get the idea.

Because I'm on a shopping freeze, I pulled out my fabric stash and found a mix of fabrics that will work with the quilt. I'm not going the light/dark route as recommended, so I hope this quilt will turn out to be a little flowery and a little vintage-y. The fabrics are mostly from my visit to Japan (lots of Lecien and Quilt Gate fabric), with a few vintage reproductions thrown in for good measure.

Although I've been following Elizabeth's blog for quite a while, I just now realized how many great tutorials and patterns she has on her site and how thorough and well photographed her tutorial pdfs are. If you're a new sewer or quilter or just want to pick up some new skills, her site is excellent!

Central Park Hoodie

Oops! I didn't mean to go so long without a post. I actually had to remember my password to sign into typepad this time.

I've been busy lately mostly with school responsibilities but also with this sweater WIP. Thank goodness I live in Michigan and still have a good 2-3 months to wear this wool sweater this winter (ahem!).

Here are the details:

I started on January 30 and finished this afternoon (the hood and bands aren't blocked yet, but I couldn't wait to post pics).

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie
Size: 40"
Needles: 7 for ribbing, 9 for the rest
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers
Color: Satine
Mods: Lengthened the body from 14" to 15", lengthened the cables from 10 rows to 12 rows between, used an i-cord bind off for the button bands. I will eventually get around to sewing in a zipper on the button band.
Ravelry Link

Comments: I always thought Cascade 220 was too itchy, but it REALLY softens up after washing. I will definitely be using this yarn again.

Picking up stitches for the button band and hood was killer, but I'm getting much faster with all this practice.

This was a quick sweater to make. I really only worked on it during weekends, so it's definitely doable in less than a month.

Table Runner

Cami's aunt is hosting a raffle to raise money for the Relay for Life, so Cami put out a call for handcrafted items for the home. Originally I had wanted to put together a kitchen towel and potholder set, but the pre-made towels I bought were horribly crooked and I didn't want to have to remake them in order to embellish them.

Instead, I improvised this table runner with some of my new favorite fabric line, Lizzie Dish. I had the two solid fabrics already in my stash, so I ended up combining the three fabrics into the table runner top and then quilting it with diagonal stripes. I forgot to measure it before I sent it off to Cami, but it was about 40" x 14". I like this runner so much that I might even use the remaining fabric to make one for our kitchen table.

Recipe Binder & Oatmeal Jumbos

I was on a big organizing kick earlier this year and finally had the chance to set up my recipe binder. I've had this binder in the work for a few years now, having already put all of my recipes into plastic sleeves and into the binder. I went through the binder and took out recipes that I have never made and that don't look too appealing to me anymore and put all my floating tear sheets from the front pocket into plastic sleeves. Previously all of the ripped out articles were jumbled in the front pocket and hard to find. The recipes in the binder are from friends, magazines, websites, blogs, and photocopied from my personal cookbooks that I don't want to ruin with food splatters.

This time around, I added subject dividers with card stock and plastic tabs for ease of searching. For the tabs, I separated the recipes into the following categories.

Favorites
Breakfast
Appetizers
Breads
Vegetables
Soups
Salads
Asian
Main Dish
Fish
Pasta
Pizza
Christmas Cookies
Cookies
Desserts
Beverages





I added a new favorite cookie to our Christmas cookie lineup this year, although it could be used all year. These cookies are so peanut-y and really delicious.





Oatmeal Jumbos

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda*
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate pieces
3/4 cup chopped peanuts, walnuts, or pecans (I used peanuts)

* corrections to my previous post are in bold. Sorry for the error!

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Beat the peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugars, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in the rolled oats, the nuts, and candy-coated milk chocolate pieces.

2. Use a 1/4-cupmeasure or scoop to drop dough 4 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a preheated oven about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. (For smaller cookies, use a teaspoon to drop dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven about 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned). Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes 26 large or about 60 small cookies.

knitting projects

I've been knitting away lately when I have extra down time. Here's what I've been working on:

Fourteen Neckwarmer, a gift for my friend, Rachael.

yarn:Araucania Limari #556
needles: size 13
ravelry link: craftr's fourteen

Last week, my new stash of Knit Picks Palette yarn arrived and I started on my first pair of Norwegian mittens, NHM #3 from Selbuvotter.

Last night, cast on a knit a few rows of my new sweater project, the Central Park Hoodie. I've been wanting to make one of these for a while now, so I'm so excited to get started. I'm using this Cascade 220 in a Blue Satine color.

And, Oiyi was so kind to send me these 6 skeins of Lion Brand Color Waves yarn so that I can make an afghan like this one here which I really loved. I'm so excited to have another afghan project waiting in the wings. The color of this yarn is so rich and pretty.

baby quilt for baby Nathan

I made this baby quilt a few weeks ago and now that the shower has come and gone, I can finally post the finished project. Nathan's room is brick red, maize and light olive green, so this quilt was made to match the color scheme.

I played around with some improvisational piecing for this quilt and am really happy with how it came out. Next time, though, I'm going to pull out the scissors, put away the rotary cutter and go a little bit more crazy with the wonky blocks (thanks for the tip, Carissa).

The final quilt is about 27" x 38". I used a 100% cotton batting and did my standard free motion stippling on the top.

Zig Zag Afghan WIP

This is the afghan that will never end! In a moment of insanity, I did a little math to figure out how my stitches I will have to knit to complete the eight panels of the afghan. Are you ready...wait for it....124,080!!

Now I see why this is listed as a "group project." Knit one panel yourself and have 7 friends do the rest. But, I can't complain too much because this is great tv knitting (Lost, seasons 1-4 to be precise), the yarn is fabulous and I love knitted garter stitch. And, even though I'm only halfway through with the afghan, it still covers my lap and feet wonderfully.