It was a short month, but I think I did pretty well on my goals.

1. Finish Amy’s Quilt.   Done and mailed.  Yippee!!!

2. Sew Mom’s Bag and mail out her goodies.  The Fabric is already cut, just waiting to be put together. Finished, now I have to pack up the box.

3.  Get to halfway point on Basketweave afghan.  Yup, pulled that bad boy out.

4.  Create something.  I did a floral applique.  I was inspired by a pillow I saw in House Beautiful that was done in brown.  I’ve never done anything like it, so it qualifies as a creation in my world.

I should have used stabilizer to avoid the major puckering that I’ve got, but I’m hoping if I iron the crap out of it and make a snug fitting case that it won’t look too bad.  I’ll have to finish this tomorrow.

5.  Lose 5 pounds. Still struggling with this one.  I’m down about two pounds which is better than a sharp stick in the eye.

6.  Finish ‘75 and’76 photo album.  Done!  This was a beast.  The project started because the albums my mom did a very long time ago were starting to fall apart.

I bought pages where I could slide in the photos, added some color and redid the comments.  It was more time consuming than you would think but I think it looks good.  I only have three or four more to do.

7.  Read 3 books. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear, and Trixie Belden and the Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell.

8.  Read my book and edit the first 3 chapters.  Didn’t get to this one, but I did spell check it and print out a copy of my story.  That’s progress.

9.  Finish my Valentine’s socks.  Perhaps I am not meant to be a sock knitter.  They take me for. ev. er.

10.  Finish Billington Bag.  ”Ding dong, the witch is dead, the witch is dead, the witch is dead…”  That’s how I feel about this bag.  It was such an ordeal for me.  I think it turned out ok, but more than anything I’m just happy I don’t have to work on it anymore.  The pattern was good, it just didn’t agree with me.  Took a long time to knit, worried I overfelted but ended up looking ok once it was dry and then the lining and feet just gave me fits.

I finished 7 out of 10 which isn’t too bad.  Especially when you think about the other things I did during the month.  I worked on a new shawl which is about 70% complete, and I made a pillow out of my sashiko embroidery.  And, I made myself a necklace and my aunt a pair of earrings.  The earrings were requested a gajillion years ago (last May) but now they are done.

That’s a pretty productive month.

Now to mull over March goals.

I went from not being able to make a decision to not being able to turn down a project.  Yesterday, I started a new type of embroidery.  It’s Sashiko, which I read about on The Purl Bee. They have a great tutorial.  It’s not hard and moves quickly.

On Monday, I started some Granny Squares.  I’m going to start with two pillows, having been inspired by this project.  I’m using Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK.  It is D-Vine.  So soft. I luuuuv the way it feels in my fingers.  I can’t wait to squoosh my face up against this pillow for a mid-afternoon nap.

I also started working on my February to-do list.  I finished my mom’s bag today.  I’m mulling over the “thing” I’m going to “create”.  And I’ve been working on my scrapbook which turns the coffee table into a paper filled disaster area.

Finally, in my last post I mentioned how Gracie likes the mohair I’m using for my scarf.  I had the project on the couch while I sat on the floor.  At some point, I turned around to find this:

That cat cracks me up.

That’s it for me.  I’ve got projects to finish.

I’ve been a little restless this week.  Not sure what my problem is. I have plenty of things to work on, but none of them are talking to me.  I’m also trying to figure out what my next quilting project would be, and I just can’t decide.  Too many options. This sometimes happens to me.  When there are too many choices, I sort of shut down instead of just picking something and going for it.  I end up doing nothing when I could be making progress on something.

One thing I didn’t have trouble deciding on was fabric for my mystery quilt.  I’m doing a mystery quilting weekend with a girlfriend which I’m really excited about, but also a little nervous. Julia is a friend from college and we’ve managed to keep in touch over the years.  We reconnected at her wedding and it’s so great to have her in my life again in a more meaningful way.  So I am really excited about spending a long weekend with her and that we’ll be doing some crafting is icing on the cake.  What I’m nervous about is the actual quilting.  I consider myself a beginner quilter, but I’m always up for an adventure.  I’m also nervous because I hope I like the quilt when it’s all put together.  The fabric was a bit of an investment, although really it only cost me $30 out of pocket because of a birthday gift certificate from my mom and a groupon I happened across (and was the reason I joined groupon).  I picked fabrics that I love so I think I will be happy with the end result.  Right?  I was also a little nervous because I’ve never had to pick out a palette of colors for a quilt before.  My instructions were to find 16 “darks” and 1 “light” for the background.  Yeesh!  Actually, I think I lucked out because it wasn’t that hard to find 1 light and a bunch of darks; all I needed was enough contrast because the 16 and the 1.  I think it would have been much harder if I had to find 8 of each.  Julia sent me a photo of her palette which was very helpful to me.  (She’s done a couple of these.)  These are her fabrics:

Our color palette is pretty similar, huh?  I didn’t intend it to be that way, it just kind of happened.

Now I’m having the great internal debate of “to prewash or not to prewash”.  I don’t know why this is turning into a debate.  I always prewash.  As soon as I buy fabric I throw it in the washer through a rinse cycle and toss it in the dryer.  It seems like every step of this project has me questioning myself.  I think that’s part of the restlessness.  I hope it passes soon.

Maybe part of it is rain induced.  It’s been a pretty gray week. Sunday was really our last beautiful day. And it was gorgeous.

I cant’ really complain about the rain because we need it.  But rainy days make me want to curl up on the couch with a book and not be productive.  I’ve been trying to do some knitting.  I started a new project because I couldn’t resist.  I bought the yarn on my trip to Petaluma.  I saw a sample of the shawl in the store and loved it.  Had to have it, couldn’t live without it.  But it has been a pain in the buttocks.  I started it on Superbowl Sunday and had to frog it.  I could have sworn I was supposed to knit it with two strands together but after doing one repeat of the pattern, I thought “how am I going to have enough yarn” and then I read the pattern instructions.  All the instructions.  Nowhere does it say hold two strands together.  It was a $&!#% to rip out.  It’s mohair and silk and the fuzzy yarn likes to stick together.  So I restarted and it has just been slow going.  It’s knit the long way, and for 10 rows in the project, I have 600 stitches.  Those are some long rows to knit.

I also made the mistake of leaving my yarn cakes on the coffee table and Gracie found one in the middle of the night and played with it.  I’m lucky she only played with one.  I was mad and amused at the same time.  There’s something about the mohair that she really likes.

I’m roughly at the halfway point of this project.  I hope to finish it soon.  If I didn’t know how great the end result would be, I think I would have given up by now.

And that’s that.  It’s Friday and I’m looking forward to the weekend.  I’m hoping Bill doesn’t have to work (he’s been super busy) and that we’ll have some time to chill.  I hope you all have great plans for the weekend!

Finishing a project always brings out so many emotions.  Usually it is happiness and pride (is pride an emotion?).  Sometimes it’s plain old relief.  And then there can disappointment and frustration.  Every project is a roller coaster of emotions, I think. Even the little projects.  The intensity of emotions is directly related to the purpose of the project.  Knitting a hat isn’t quite the emotional experience that is knitting a vest for my mom for Christmas.  Sewing a pouch isn’t the same as making a quilt for a friend’s daughter.  And maybe the more you do something, the less of a journey it becomes.  The first time I flew home to Chicago from college brought out more emotions than any other trip.

I finished Amy’s quilt yesterday and wrapped it up to mail today. I originally started this project in June and it took me until yesterday to finish.  First emotion:  embarrassment.

I knew it would take me awhile because it was the first “real” quilt project I had done in a long time.  I warmed up with a lap-sized zig zag quilt and then jumped straight into a twin size bed project.  The pattern was easier and yet it wasn’t.  The pattern was also an original idea though you can find a similar one in the book The Practical Guide to Patchwork (Snapshots).

I got frustrated in August because my corners weren’t lining up and it wasn’t turning out as nicely (ie perfectly) as I had hoped. Second emotion:  frustration.

I thought about working on the quilt all through the fall and then I got caught up in other things, but started thinking about it a lot in December.  Finally, in January I pulled it out again.  I think about 1/8th of it was put together and it was seeming too wide to me.  I measured it, compared it to another quilt and decided I didn’t need two columns and I cut them off.  Just took the scissors and got rid of them.  I added on a few more rows and a couple of days later, started wondering about how wide the quilt really needed to be.  I re-did research on quilt sizes and realized that indeed, I needed those two columns.  Third emotion:  intense frustration at own stupidity and rashness.

I fixed my “mistake” and in doing so, I realized that I had done a horrible job of planning.  I had no idea how many squares of each print I had, how often I was using them, if I had enough…  I got organized.  I created this crazy spreadsheet where I named each print, figured out how many I had already used, how many I had, how many total squares I needed, then how many more of each fabric I needed and then I was a little more systematic when I laid it out.  Probably a bit of overkill, but the project started humming along after that.  I’d lay out three or four rows at a time, take a picture (because once I started sewing I’d get confused) and then add it to the body of the quilt.  It took me about a five days to get the quilt top done.  I already had a plan for the quilt back and that was an evening and morning’s worth of work.  Then I made my sandwich which went a lot more quickly than I expected.  Except that once I had the quilt back taped to the floor I realized that my batting was in a closet that was inaccessible because all the furniture in the room was pushed up against the door.  Brilliant!  I managed to get it out, which entailed quite a bit of swearing. That roadblock notwithstanding, the sandwiching went well and then it was on to the quilting.

I wish that I could undo the early passes I made on the quilt. About a quarter of the way through the first round of quilting, I started to get the hang of it.  Fourth emotion:  joy!

The quilting took me two days.  That went a lot faster than I anticipated.  I did a relatively simple lattice design.  Interesting without being too difficult or too busy.  Next up was the binding which also went well.  I machine sewed it on, and then finished it by hand.  I thought it would take me a week to do the binding, but that took less than two days.  The next day I made a simple quilt label and sewed it on and she was done.  But she wasn’t feeling exactly done to me.

She needed a pillow.  An embroidered pillow.  I went to bed making up the design in my head, and in two days, the pillow was done.  Then the project felt complete.  Fifth emotion: contentment.

I’m always super critical of myself and my work.  Could my corners have lined up better?  Yes.  Could I have quilted straighter lines?  Yes.  Will anyone notice the imperfections? Only experienced quilters and me.  Could this project have been made with more love?  No.  I am truly proud of this project.  It is one of the nicest things I have made.  It has been a roller coaster of a journey, but I learned so much through my many, many mistakes.  And in the end, when I looked at it, I don’t think I could have done a better job.

P.S.  I used 5 – 6 squares of 44 different prints.  Finished size is approximate 68 x 100 inches.

I remembered the other things I want to accomplish this month.  I feel kind of silly for forgetting them.  The new additions to the list are:

1.  Read my book and edit the first 3 chapters.

2.  Finish my Valentine’s socks.

3.  Finish Billington Bag.

The Valentine’s socks are kind of obvious as a February goal. My book might not be as obvious, but it’s been on my mind as I did put a lot of time and work into it and I don’t just want to forget about it.  As for the Billington Bag, I finished the knitting in November but I need to do the construction.  It’s another thing just sitting there.

One thing not sitting there is a baby blanket and hat that I finished today.  Just in time because the shower is tomorrow. Thankfully, it is knit in cotton and doesn’t need any blocking.  Just wrapping. It’s a simple blanket, all garter stitch, with a crocheted edge.  The hat I improvised as well.

I realized today that I only have three projects on the needles. That’s a pretty low number for me.  I have so many projects I want to work on and I have been super disciplined at not starting new projects.  I might just have to cast on a new one though…

I unexpectedly ended up cleaning up my craft closet a bit yesterday afternoon.  I’m trying to make room for some sewing machine accessories which led to pulling down containers, exploring the contents, putting them aside, pulling down more containers… You can see where this is going.  Ugh.  So much crap.  But I might use it again…someday.

I am torn.  I’ve been inspired by Gran who recently emailed me that she’s trying to get rid of something every day, and is trying to be very honest about whether the item is really going to get used. Keri made me think about how we use 20% of our stuff 80% of the time.  I have some things in my closet that I have not touched in years.  I think I just need to bite the bullet and let them go.  I need to make space for the things I do and will use.  So I should throw out the craft paint that I bought 7 years ago and only used once, right?  I’m usually able to make these tough decisions. For some reason, it is easier for me to do with clothes than craft supplies.  Sigh…  Even Bill has made some tough decision with electronics recently.

*****

I took a break for a couple of hours and came back with a fresh perspective.  I emptied out a bunch of things and ended up with two shopping bags worth of stuff to purge.  The closet doesn’t really look all that different, but it is.  I’ve put new stuff in to replace the stuff that I took out, but I guess that’s the point, isn’t it.  To create more space?

I put together a list of the stuff and Bill’s going to put it up for sale at work.  Whatever doesn’t get sold will get donated. Bottom line, I’ve got less stuff to deal with.

I wish there was a way to take a picture of me, huddled in the corner of my craft room, tucked in by the garage door and laundry room, waiting for my floor to dry.  At least I’m in my comfy chair.  I moved the furniture and washed the floor in preparation for laying out Amy’s Quilt!  YAY!!  It’s a Mir-acle! I started this bad boy in August and am just now finishing it. Shame on me.  Truth be told, I got a little frustrated with it when I was having trouble with my corners lining up.  When I picked it up again it started to go a little better and I powered through. And now, here I am waiting to lay the whole thing out.  I’m a little nervous to be starting the quilting part, so if you can, please send positive thoughts my way.

While I’m here waiting, I thought I would let you know how I did with my January goals and set February’s.

So for January:

1.  Lose five pounds.  Not so successful.  I’ve neglected my cardio even though I’ve gotten back into the gym routine, and my birthday was more like a birth-ten-days which included Margaritas and cupcakes and all the yummy food I could get my hands on.  But I am down a pound so that’s better than nothing.

2.  Figure out how many skeins of yarn I currently have.  Yeeesh…a lot.  364, and that number has gone up by a few.

3.  Finish Amy’s quilt.  Not done, but I have made so much progress on this one!

4.  Finish Bill’s mittens.  They are done, but I fear they are a little too tight.  I just don’t have it in me to knit another pair right now, but I have enough yarn and might do so in the future.  He insists they are fine, but he knows I’m burnt out on the pattern.

5.  Finish green apple cardi.  Yay!  It turned out ok, but wearable.  It’s a little too big, and I even made a size smaller than I am.

6.  Read 2 books.  I actually finished 5, one I started in November, No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty (it’s about NaNoWriMo), and another I started in December, Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler.  The other books were Winter Study by Nevada Barr, Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell (a book from my childhood), The Game by Laurie R King.

7.  Finish ‘75 and ‘76 photo albums.  Didn’t even touch ‘em.  But I did think about what I need to do and and how to do it.

8.  Clean out closet in Bill’s room.

9.  Get to halfway point on basketweave afghan.  - Didn’t get to work on it because I started a baby blanket for a friend and I’m ok with that.

10.  Make master bedroom valances.  They are so cute!

So I accomplished 6 out of 10, made serious progress on another and one goal was swapped out for another more important project.

For February I want to:

1.  Finish Amy’s Quilt

2.  Sew Mom’s Bag and mail out her goodies.  The Fabric is already cut, just waiting to be put together.

3.  Get to halfway point on Basketweave afghan.

4.  Create something.

5.  Lose 5 pounds.

6.  Finish ’75 and’76 photo albums.

7.  Read 3 books.

I feel like I am missing something on this list, but I can’t think of what it is.  Since February is a short month, I’ll keep my list short. And I’m sure other projects will pop up.  I even got started on those 5 lbs.  I took the photo above on my walk this morning.  I found the little burst of yellow to be quite cheery.

Here’s to a productive February!