I made my mommy some pillows. I didn’t have a lot of time today thanks to Kitten Watch 2007. However, I did manage to finish the pillows. They turned out really cute. I was surprised that my sewing skills kicked back in as fast as they did.

I love the fabric. I just wish the shop I got it from had more. I wonder if one of the chain stores would have it.

Tonight I sat at my treadle and threaded it properly. I ran a few scraps through to check the tension and it was horrible. After fiddling for nearly 30 minutes, I finally got it. As my foot found its rhythm, I remembered something. I can sew. I’ve been able to sew for over 25 years. My great grandmother taught me to sew when I was very small.

My current project is just some cute little pillows for my mom. Really I found a great foliage themed fat quarter while in New Hampshire, but they only had the one quarter left. It would have looked odd as a single pillow, so I cut it down and I am making two cute accent pillows. I just need to stuff and close them up. Pictures when they are done. I want to finish them before my mom comes over this week, so I’m hoping to finish them in the next day or two.

Back in February, she brought us the olive. Now, just in time for Halloween, she brings us knitted eyeballs.

Mmmm. Fiber. I stopped by the Fiber Studio while up in NH. For years, while passing through I’d seen the signs pointing the way but had never been in. I’m glad I finally did. I picked up some roving and some felting needles. I had baggage space issues, so I didn’t go crazy. I’m going to be taking pictures later, once the needles come. I had to mail them to myself since I had no checked luggage. I only got four colors. I was being indecisive and figured I’d go primary colors + purple.

They had lots of lovely yarns and at decent prices. Of course I loved all of the wools but had no use for them. I would have loved to make garments from them, but it doesn’t get cold enough to justify it. The fact that there is no sales tax in NH makes the prices even nicer.

There were tons of spinning and weaving related items, including dyed and undyed roving. They had some small and medium sized looms that made me almost drool. I absolutely love weaving looms. I would love to have one but the size I want won’t exactly fit in our home right now. The spinning wheels weren’t bad either, but again, space is an issue with me. Not to mention a wool sucking/fiber loving cat.

I really wanted to go back (so I could pick more roving to ship to myself), but they weren’t open during my free day. I was consoled by the fact that Josh’s aunt is going to mail me hanks of wool from Nova Scotia. She can’t knit anymore, so she said she would send me her wool. I don’t know how much she has, but anything will be awesome! We are hoping to go up and visit them sometime next year. They want us to come in April, but I’m still not sure of the reasoning behind that.

I’m working on a basket. I found a pattern for a Red Hat Lady Pill Box Hat and realized it was the perfect sized bowl. Because hats are basically just bowls you know. There were some errors in the decreases, so that kind of frustrated me. So last night I fixed the pattern, reversed it and made it a little bigger. Now I have knit it bottom up and I to the point where I am debating a handle. This is generally where I have always had issues. I am too darn picky. I have written the pattern up to the point where you should start a handle. It only took a night to knit the “body” so I may just make quite a few with different handles.

I bought a Sizzix Die Cutting Machine at the hospice resale shop a while back. I bought a tag die to make little ornaments and some embossing plates. I got it for a steal, so the four cards I have made put me on the “saving money” side of things. Yay for me.

So that’s about it on the crafting front. I’ll report back with pictures once I have some.

I started following PumpkinKnits after discovering her Rogue grafting cheat sheet. Then comes the Spidey hat (see this entry for Spidey hat pictures). Seriously, how awesome/adorable is that? I kind of want to knit if for AJ, but will it translate well in acrylic? It isn’t nearly cold enough here to knit it in wool. I know he would like it, but I’m torn regarding the wool. I actually have the colors in wool and have set them aside.

In other craft news. I saw the most awesome craft tables at the hospice resale shop. Unfortunately, neither of them would fit in either car. Oh the humanity! They were P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Not to mention that they were only $14.99 each. That place doesn’t mess around with pricing stuff high. They get in more than enough stuff to sell. Unfortunately, it is rarely crafty. I always check though. Just in case.

I live about a minute drive from the library. I am on one end of the road and it is on the other. Seeing as I am so close, I have been checking out knitting books to weed out the books I do and don’t want to purchase.

This morning I picked up: Speed Knitting: 24 Quick and Easy Projects

What makes most of the projects quick and easy is the use of bulky weight yarns or doubling up on the worsted weight yarns or the fact that they are fairly small items. The patterns are fairly quick and straightforward and there are items for both genders and various ages. I’ve found myself interested in the scoop neck vest pattern and possibly the a cotton summer “shift”. It isn’t quite a dress, but it is longer than your average shirt. Towards the back you’ll find explanations of some of the techniques you will encounter in the book.

It is worth looking at, but I’m not sold on purchasing it for myself or anyone I know. The patterns are quite generic. For me it is serving as a gentle reminder that quick gifts can be knitted if two strands of yarn are used!

The second book I picked up was: Christmas Stockings: Holiday Treasures to Knit (Christmas)

Holy adorable Batman! Interweave Press does it again. There are felted, celtic, aran, fair isle, silly, sweet and even funny stockings. Who wouldn’t want a stocking and a matching sock monkey? There are 18 patterns that are sure to cover everyone in the family, including the pets. The patterns are all top down and feature kitchener toes, but the heels vary. If you are scared of knitting socks, these holiday stockings might be a place to start.

Last week I picked up Knitting on the Edge. Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that impressed. I found more information in a book I purchased some time ago, The New Knitting Stitch Library. The only difference is the pictures are larger in the Epstein book. Needless to say, I took the Epstein book off of my Amazon wishlist. After spending some time with it, I realized I had a book that already covered everything in this book.

The other book I checked out last week was Knit One, Felt Too. I wasn’t too overly impressed by this one in the end. Many of the patterns are very similar to patterns available online. My main purpose of checking this one out was to serve as a reference. I want to make something for someone for Yule, but I wasn’t sure of the details. It might be helpful in inspiring your creative bug, but don’t rely on it too much.