High Fiber—Winter Projects

We were supposed to have Vintage Stitchers at my house last Thursday, but DH is still down with a bad cold, one we would rather not share with our friends. Barbara stepped in (she was my backup in case of snow) and hosted us at her house. Ellen is back in town and brought her Hibiscus quilt top to give to Julie for quilting.

Here they were holding up the top and the backing to see how much bigger the backing is to allow for the quilting process. Julie likes 4" extra in each direction, or 2" all around. She thinks this will work. The quilt top ends with the dark border all around, and the park hanging down at the bottom is the backing.

Janet brought another quilt top. She picked up these great fabrics at a sale on "Shop Small Saturday." It was a kit, but she didn't like the pattern. The fabrics alone were a bargain, though!

Barbara has finished a table runner top. She said the pattern was free, obtained long ago.

As I was arriving home after Vintage Stitchers, the snow hit. We ended up with about a foot from this latest storm.

I'm gathering fabrics from my stash and my new acquisitions to make a table topper for a table in my living room, but don't have anything to show yet. However, Soren's 1-yr. Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) is finished and blocking. As soon as it's dry, I will ship it off to him. The yarn is Comfy Worsted in "Serrano" and "Maize."

And DH's Christmas Waffle Cardi is coming along. If you're new to my blog, I purchased 20 skeins of Swish DK in "Lava Heather" on Cyber Monday to make him a sweater. He liked a design that had a waffle pattern. The gauge was a lot heavier, so I'm using Elizabeth Zimmermann's "Circular Seamless Raglan Sweater" pattern from The Opinionated Knitter (BSJ is also in this book), except that I'm working it back and forth. This pattern is actually easier worked back and forth instead of in the round. Here's how far I was as of Saturday night:

The red sts are waste yarn, put in place for the pockets. I'll take them out when I'm ready to make the pockets, pick them up with needles and work about an inch of ribbing on the bottom sts and a big flap for the pocket lining on the top sts. I'm working the back with both fronts attached. Here's a closeup of the pattern, so you can see why it's a "Christmas Waffle."

After the ribbing, the pattern is made by K across right side and P1, K1 across wrong side. I'm keeping three sts at each front edge in garter st.

In other news from my house, the pups often surprise me by knowing when Daddy is coming home. This was Friday: Daddy had been gone all afternoon. At 5:45, Sunny got a toy and began sitting on the back of the couch where she could see both the driveway and the front door. Occasionally she would wag her tail. At 6:00, Rocky suddenly noticed something and turned his head so he could see the door from where he was lying. Both dogs stared at the door until 6:20, when DH arrived home.

It's not like he always comes home at the same time. When I ask DH what time he left for home, Sunny's prediction is always close, sometimes later, but never before. Sometimes Rocky is the first to notice, but he's more subtle. Dogs are amazing!

Here's some adorableness for the week:

Soren letting his dad play with his new toy!

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan (for me) and DH's Christmas Waffle Cardi for...DH!

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving in "Pigeon." Hope to have some progress by next week.

What's on my iPad: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and catching up on Knit Picks and other podcasts.

What's my app of the week: KSL Weather Vortex. Temps were in single digits yesterday and are supposed to get up to the 20s today.

What's in my wine glass: Rex-Goliath "Free Range" Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

Tags: BSJ, Comfy, Swish, applique, baby, dogs, quilting, storm, waffle, winter

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Comment by Peggy Stuart on January 14, 2013 at 9:36pm: He was/is especially good at it. My mother had a cruel sense of humor, too. I remember seeing an early photo of her with her two sisters when they were kids. She was sitting in a ladder-back chair and the other two were standing on each side of her. The knob on the top of the chair back showed over her youngest sister's head. She told her baby sister (my Aunt Louise) that she was born with that growth on her head, and it had to be surgically removed. It made my Aunt Louise cry. I think my brother learned that from her. I'm so glad I'm not a kid anymore!

Comment by cherylbwaters on January 14, 2013 at 9:30pm: I do remember your brother told you your dad had donated the cameras because you were so ugly. Kids can be so mean.

Comment by Peggy Stuart on January 14, 2013 at 9:27pm: He does, doesn't he? I guess I looked older when I was a baby, because I was born with long hair that didn't fall out. I never saw a photo of myself as a baby, though, so I can't say for sure. The war (WWII) started shortly before I was born, and my father donated his cameras to the war effort. The earliest photos of me are from school, and by then, I looked younger than my age.

Comment by cherylbwaters on January 14, 2013 at 8:46pm: I still can't get over Soren's hair. It makes him look so much older than he is.

Comment by Peggy Stuart on January 14, 2013 at 1:12pm: Oh, Buffy! How cute! That was one of the projects I thought I might make from the book. The boys will be into toys, soon, too, so lots of things to make!

Comment by Buffy Joseph on January 14, 2013 at 1:09pm: Wonderful blog post, as usual. I love the quilts (especially the table runner). Your knitting is wonderful, as is your picture of Sunny. That's interesting when your dogs know when your DH is leaving for home. And, of course, I adore the picture of Soren. What a cutie!

I'm not to happy with my BSJ for me niece (the colors aren't doing what I want - I think I'm going to start over and do the color striping myself), but I did finish the monster booties from Rebecca Danger. Here she is (almost 2 months old) wearing the booties:

The booties were made with KP Swish DK.

Comment by Peggy Stuart on January 14, 2013 at 12:42pm: Susan, the table runner has gotten a lot of attention over at QWU! It's a favorite!

Frances, the inspiration for the sweater is/was the Men's Cardigan by DROPS, but it was much too heavy for DH to wear around the house. I did a swatch with my yarn (which preceded the pattern selection) using the suggested needle size for the yarn, then checked to see if I could use the EPS (Elizabeth's Percentage System). I found exactly my gauge already in her Circular Seamless Raglan Sweater, so I'm going by that. I haven't read Wesley the Owl. I'll look for it!

Maria, I think photo journalism is my favorite writing form! If you pick out some interesting photos, the stories just tell themselves!

Comment by Mrs. K on January 14, 2013 at 12:34pm: As always, I loved reading your blog, Peggy. You have a wonderful gift of making things come to life - it's just like we're standing or sitting right next to you when you tell of your exploits. :) Thank you so much for these wonderful pictures and tales.

Comment by Frances Tornese on January 14, 2013 at 11:26am: Another wonderful blog, Peggy. I love that waffle sweater. I am going to look up that pattern. Aren't animals amazing!? You dogs are beautiful. Have you red Wesley the Owl? If not get it and read it; it's wonderful.