Creature of Habit: October 2012

Saturday, October 27

Head Start

I know I don't celebrate Christmas, but seriously, I cannot resist the super fun holiday fabrics!

Blitzen, by Basic Grey for Moda

I ordered a whole bunch last month, and finally received them the other day. I was so happy with everything!

The only problem was that I had mistakenly ordered the wrong amount of one fabric. All's good though, I'm sure I'll find something to do with it!

Blitzen, by Basic Grey for Moda

This weekend, after a long break I finally sat down at the machine. The whole darn day. I had to stop early so I could take pictures. It gets dark here so early. At 16:00 I was pushing it. I have to start sewing more during the week though, I just can't find enough time.

Joy, by Kate Spain

All fabrics were bought from Sew Lux Fabrics, which had awesome customer service, and great selection. I will definitely be back!

You can find all the bags in the store. Don't forget you have a 15% discount when using the code HALLOWEEN12 at checkout. Good until October 31st.

Sunday, October 14

Weekend FO

This Friday I finally finished my Imogen Cowl.

I cast on in May, and somehow threw it into a project bag and forgot about it.

I lost my knitting mojo back in June, and the cowl went with it.

Imogen cowl, pattern by Carrie Bostick Hoge

Yarn used- Madelinetosh TML,

colorway- Betty Drapers Blues

Ravelry project page

The pattern is quite easy to remember, but took me a while to "get into it". Until I memorized it, I stopped working on it.
Knit with 3.5mm needles, I'm still not sure if I should have gone up or down a size.
I also used the three needle bind off. Could not be bothered with the Kitchener stitch.
The pattern shows through, but not as much as I'd have like it to. But it could just be the kind of pattern. When bunched up around my neck, it doesn't really matter.

I used 1.5 skeins, 18 repeats in the end. It turned out a bit long, I was afraid it wouldn't be long enough. If I lived in a slightly cooler climate, this would be awesome to wear with a T-shirt. I'll have to wait at least another month to wear this though. Maybe in the evenings?

I think this is going to get a lot of wear this winter, even though I'm slightly "meh" about it now. I'm not sure why though. I love the color, the yarn, drape, what's not to love? It might just be our never ending summer has me dreading anything too hot.

On another note, I LOVE madder patterns. Isn't the Immie baby blanket adorable? It looks like it's based on the imogen pattern, but knit with much heavier yarn. I think I'm going to have to make that blanket my next!

Saturday, October 13

Happy Weekend

So...
I was going to post a FO post today. I still don't have the pictures, but that was the plan.
I'm going through a bit of a rough patch lately, work, life, and over again.
It's a bit hard for me to be happy these days, I feel like now is the time to make THE change. Not sure what the change is, but it's time.
Today I came across three videos on Youtube which made me happy.

I know they are three very different videos, but they all give me a happy feeling inside.

I think it's also the music I listen too. I love the melancholy music, indie and beautifully sad. Bon Iver, Zola Jesus, Antony and The Johnsons, Angus and Julia Stone...It inspires me. But I need to know how, when, to listen to certain music.

Hope these videos made your weekend a bit happier, they have for me ♥

Monday, October 8

Well hello luscious quilt!

I did it! I finished!
Yesterday I finished sewing on the binding to my first quilt, threw it in the washer, and today have my very first 100% complete quilt!
I cannot express how proud of myself I am :)

So, from the beginning. I loved the Hello Luscious line (Moda, Basic Grey) since I first saw it, but had no idea what to do with it. I didn't know how to make a quilt. I googled "Hello Luscious quilt" and one of the first results was "Mommy by day, crafter by night" blog. Apparently, she had a Zig Zag quilt-a-long in July.

Plus, she had sewn an amazing zig-zag quilt from the Hello Luscious line. (Gorgeous)

I'm usually not late, but decided to join in anyways.

The whole tutorial she gave was so helpful, even if she used layer cakes, and I only used a charm pack.
You can find all the steps here.

I bought some acrylic filling and plain white backing. Since it was my first, I didn't want to try anything fancy. This time.
I really wish I could have found the exact same color for the back, but I guess it's OK, and after all, the beauty in homemade quilts. (The white I used was Bella Solid white)
Quilting was, well... tricky. I had to move my machine over to our kitchen table so I could have more room. The twisting and turning each corner was a bit scary, because I had rolled up each side, and with each turn the rest of the quilt loosened up a bit, and pins started to fall out. Now I know why safety pins are recommended. Towards the end I got the hang of it, but I think it will be a while until I make a bigger quilt.

Binding, the part I was most afraid of, was actually the easiest. I cut out 3" strips, and used Heather Baileys tutorial on binding.
I bought some extra fabric from the Hello Luscious line for the binding. That was hard choosing!
Connecting the ends was a bit tricky, but I got it right. Almost. I was a tad off and had a bit of extra fabric. No problem though, it was easily fixable and unnoticeable.
Sewing on the other side of the binding by hand was far less scary as I thought it would be.
We watched a movie and I finished it up during that time.

I always thought I'd like the free-motion stitches, but maybe because I just couldn't get it, I really do think I like the simple stitches, straight lined.
I like looking at the more complicated, hexagon, star, pinwheel etc. quilts, but I think I'd enjoy making the simpler ones. (You can follow my quilt love on pinterest!) Zig-Zag, triangles, flying geese, those are on my very soon to-do list. I already have more fabric coming my way and cannot wait to start sewing a quilt again!