Be*mused

Can't.stop.making.these.

There's some irony here.  Bored with sock & scarf projects languishing in the bottom of my knitting bag, these flowers were a spur-of-the-moment whim, a small diversion to keep my hands busy during a knitting slump.  And now I can't stop.  They're multiplying like rabbits and little hexagons are popping up in every room.  My real gardens are screaming for some attention...ok, ok, this weekend, I promise!...but I can hardly put these down.

The interest in my little project has been surprising.  Grandmother's Flower Garden is hardly a cutting edge design, but I guess everything old is new again and sometimes it's fun to interpret old patterns in new ways.  Jennifer's been working on a similar project and has sent some links that might be of interest if you're falling under a hexagon hex.  A video how-to, free down-loadable hexagon graph paper, and my personal favorite, layouts & charts to figure hex-to-finished-project ratios.  I'm not planning anything now, though...just churning them out.

   

Meanwhile, Silk Stream's been wound and is in danger of becoming a permanent still life if I don't get something cast on soon.  It's threatening rain, though, so I think the gardening will get first priority this weekend!

That time of year

Did I ever mention that I'm a rubber stamper?  Was, actually.  I haven't done much in the last few years but for a long time it was a big part of my creative life.  I taught workshops and classes at rubber stamp stores...stamping on fabric, using window templates, designing pop-up cards.  But that's fodder for another post.  I mention it because yesterday it struck me that we're nearing that time of year again...graduation month.  And I have a great idea to share, especially for those who are facing the 'multiple graduates' gift dilemma.

When Molly & K were 'around the age' and late spring signaled the yearly barrage of high school graduation/party invitations from friends, cousins and children of friends, I designed this gift certificate, somewhat out of exasperation.

8 1/2" x 11" cardstock, with return card/SASE insert

Don't let me hear, 'But I don't haaave rubber stamps...'  The main idea could be translated in many ways.  Stick with me!  This particular card was stamped (and colored in with Prismacolor pencils...I love an excuse to color) on a piece of cardstock in which I cut 4 slits to insert the return card/envelope.  The inside of the card requests the recipient's college address and asks to allow for a 2-3 week delivery time.  I write my address on the return envelope.  When we give one, I sign our names in the lower right hand area of the cardstock (below the inserted return card/envelope) with a small notation that it's redeemable anytime during freshman year.  I then purchase white or colored (8 1/2" x 11") envelopes to use (and sometimes decorate) so that the certificate can be delivered flat.

Click for closer view

This may just have been my best idea ever.  Aside from not having to come up with individual gift ideas or that magic, appropriate monetary amount which is *enough* but not *so much* (especially when gifting a group of friends), everyone gets one of these and when they're redeemed, recipients are off at their own colleges...no comparing!  It also relieves the expense of a gift-heavy month. 

Remember that however many you give will eventually be redeemed.  It goes without saying that it's usually the day before you leave on your African safari trip or you've just returned from having a root canal that one of these will arrive in your mailbox.  (Hence, the 2-3 week delivery advisory note on the return card, also a subtle hint not to redeem it a week before the end of a semester.)  In anticipation, I always tried to have a few mailing boxes and plenty of brightly colored tissue paper on hand.  My care packages varied in size and content, depending on the recipient, but always included at least one type of homebaked cookie.  Additional insert ideas I've used at one time or another include:

• snack foods (nuts, fruit leather, chocolate)
• phonecards
• dorm toys (frisbee, foam boomerang, etc.)
• mug, hot chocolate, teas
• notecards/stamps
• seasonal holiday items/decorations (depending on redemption time)
• cold hard cash (always popular)
• funny items appropriate to the individual (I was always *on the hunt* ahead of time.)

Often a return card would arrive with a excited note that it had been forgotten and just found in a desk drawer...like getting a gift twice!  If you're stumped for gift ideas this graduation season and you don't mind sending packages, think about your own version of this.  What student doesn't love a care package?    

We love a good chat

I've been crabbing for months about the gray skies so when the weather turned positively perfect the last few days, it was quite disappointing to be housebound, suffering with several unpleasant side effects of my sinus antibiotic until a switch in meds took hold.  I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full type (*some* might quibble...whatever) so despite my feeling that time was a-wastin', there were some highlights. 

I got a good start on my handpiecing project.  And much of it was accomplished during a marathon 2-hour conversation with Molly on Sunday.  We've been somewhat incommunicado the last few weeks but now that her computer problems are resolved (a new hard drive fixed that), we were able to catch up...she, knitting on her yoga bag and me, piecing hexagon blooms...while using Skype.  Skype, Skype.  How do I love thee, let me count the ways.

I've been meaning to write about Skype for a long time.  I've told many people about it over the last year.  Most, around my age with young adult children overseas, initially can't believe it.  A free internet phone service, computer to computer.  All it takes is a (free) download from their site and you're in business.  And, if you use a desktop PC, you'll need to purchase a microphone.  (Ours is something like this one, purchased at Best Buy for around $10.)  After years of paying a monthly fee to our phone company for an international calling plan that would drop the price for a 1-hour call to Japan from $200. to around $35. (this while K lived there for 3 years), we now talk over the internet.  For nothing! 

Molly IM-ed me one day shortly after she arrived in Japan and the conversation went something like this:

• Molly:  Hey, someone just told me about this.  Go to this site, download this and we can talk.
• Me (of the *now what is it she wants me to download to my computer, it sounds too good to be true, are you sure you read the fine print* generation):  Ummm.  Let me look at it and maybe I'll do it later.
• Molly:  It's fine.  Go do it now.  It's great!
• Me (ever cautious): Hmmm...I'll check it out and get back to you.
• Molly:  Go...now!  We can talk!!

Ten minutes later, we were chatting away.  The clarity is always as if we are sitting in the same room, although I am in the heartland and she's in Japan.  We sometimes add in a video feed (webcam, around $50.) on the holidays or if we need a consult on a knitting project or an occasional haircut/outfit issue, but usually we just chat.  And knit.  Or handpiece.  Jump up to pour a cup of tea or boil water to fill the yutampo.  The clock is never ticking, there is no bill accumulating.  It's a wonderful thing. 

I see blurred people

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to my earlier post.  When I first noticed the blurry photos, I thought maybe it was just my sinus problem.  (On meds now. Feeling better, thanks.)  I probably came across as a little nutty, especially since some of you couldn't see any difference, but I found find it unsettling that photos that were clear when posted are deteriorating several days later.  And since it's only on the last 3 posts, it can't be my computer or monitor.  I was a little panicky (still am) as I envision all of my archived post photos gradually melting away.  If Typepad provides any more info, I'll let you know.

How heartening that so many of today's comments were from knitters, who must wonder what's been going on here.  Nothin' much.  The knitting blahs.  A serious slump.  Any help for that?  I have baskets full of gorgeous yarn and stacks of bookmarked patterns.  Eh.  Do I just need to cast on and get something started?

Prepared hexagons, basted over paper

In the meantime, I'm busying myself with fabric.  Kaffe's fabric, mostly.  (Looks like Nancy's fallen under his spell, too...so much to drool over in her new post. No knitter's block there!)  I've decided to go ahead and start making some flower garden units after all.  They could end up as a pillow or a quilt, or (probably), something in between.  Several of you asked about this method, English paper piecing, which is preferred to ensure accuracy when sewing complex shapes like hexagons.  It involves two sewing steps...basting the shapes onto paper supports and then whipstitching the pieces together before popping out the paper.  More clear illustrations and directions can be found here and here.  *How do you find the patience!?*  Like so many types of needlework, it sounds tedious to the uninitiated but moves along quickly once you get started and is a great takealong project. 

Prep work

Those annoying subscription postcards that flutter from magazines are the perfect weight for the paper patterns.  I've made plastic templates in two sizes...one, the actual finished hexagon size to trace onto the paper and the other, a generous 1/4" larger all around for the fabric.  Something to occupy my hands and imagination until I get my knitting mojo back!   

Conundrum

A question for you Typepad people.  Yesterday I happened to view my blog and noticed that the photos in my last three posts (April 18, 14 and 11) were degrading to fuzzy approximations of what I had posted.  I made out a help ticket at Typepad and have been having an ongoing conversation with a tech, but so far, no answer as to why or how this happened. 

I did re-upload the photos on the April 18th post so those are now clear again.  I haven't touched the Easter post yet (see how the subject edges are pixelating?), but I did re-upload the photo of my Project Spectrum quilt on the April 11th post and left the original *melting* photo for comparison.  Hopefully it elucidates the problem and will help me get an answer as to why this is happening.  My question is, have you ever had this happen on your blog?  Were you able to figure out why it happened?  I take so much time trying to get good shots for the blog and I shudder to think that they'll all start dissolving away.

**Note:  I really appreciate the comments that have been left this morning even though, so far, commenters seem to be in agreement that the photos look the same.  On my monitor, a flat screen, the two quilt shots look different...one blurred, the other quite sharp.  If there was a problem with my monitor, I'd think they'd both look the same since they are the same exact photo, uploaded at different times.  Also, the Typepad tech did see a difference.

Look at the Easter post photo of Molly and then click on it to see the original.  When I posted it, they both were the of the same clarity.  Now can you see what I'm talking about?  I'm happy everything looks good to so many, but I'd still like to know what's happening.  Does anyone else see the difference?  Thanks for any input!

Considering

One-patch handpiecing projects are the sock-knitting of quilting.  Easy to sew and requiring a minimum of materials at hand, these projects are like gumdrops.  Once you start, it's hard to stop.  And they grow so quickly!  While I've been humming along on my April PS quilt, I've been thinking about starting something to work on through the summer, but I haven't settled on a design yet.  I want to use some of the bold, bright Kaffe Fassett fabrics and I'd love to make have a black-outlined flower garden quilt like the one in this magazine photo I've saved for years.  After prepping just a few hexagons, though, my interest is already flagging.  I handpieced a tumbling blocks top a few years ago but when I tired of the colors, it was packed off to the ufo closet.  This graphic design would look great *bright and bold*, don't you think?

Tumbling blocks quilt top (section)

Or maybe I'll put it all away and work on finishing what I've started.  My sinus problem is back.  Could you tell?  The lack of concentration, the fuzzyheaded thinking.  I've finally cried uncle and on the advice of my (nurse) sister and (exasperated) husband, am going to the doctor's this afternoon.  I'll probably take along some knitting. 

Happy Easter!

I've been energized by these recent sunny days.  Most of my week was spent out of the house, considering rugs and window treatments that should have been decided upon long ago.  I wandered garden centers, debating new possibilities for our yard.  And I got a haircut.  All good things.  Yesterday these tulips were delivered, an unexpected surprise from M. 

We've lived here for over a year now and although I was up for the change, I haven't really warmed to our new location.  It's been easy to ignore...Off to Japan!...Off to New York!...Off to Sheep&Wool!...New York again! Japan again!...but now I really need to put some effort into settling in and making this place more like home.  Yesterday while dashing into the grocery store, the strong fragrance of lilacs stopped me in my tracks.  I made a beeline to the garden display and inhaled, flooded with memories of my beautiful, two-story high lilac bush at our last home.  Next to the lilacs were pots of forsythia, reminding me of the wild branched bush that sat at the corner of our old lot, always surprising me with that first burst of spring.  I came home with one of each, modest in size but strong.  I might go back and buy a few more.

 
Sniff...ahhhhhhh!

We'll have a quiet weekend here.  I'm heading out shortly to buy the ingredients for our traditional Easter morning antipasto. There'll be a number of long distance phone calls to family, many of whom we'll see in a few weeks, when we travel east.  No egg hunts this year, but lots of happy memories of Easters past.

Molly & K, 1987    

Have a good weekend everyone!

Spring forward

Could Lolly have chosen better colors for this month's Project Spectrum?  These colors are so warm that even when I'm tempted to veer off and pick up another project for a while, I find myself cutting another few strip sets or sewing up just one more block.  This when I should be finishing the March PS quilt, but I've been trimming and assembling those blocks a little at a time.  (Three sunny yellow blocks, sew a strip of reds.  Three more yellows, back to the reds.)

Right side, wrong side

For those who've asked, my block is 8" square, finished, but could easily be sized up or down because of the proportions.  The center square is half the size of the final block.  The side sections are half the width of the center square.  (My center square is 4", the side sections 4"x2" and the corner squares are 2", before seam allowances.)  I make my side sections by assembling 5 long strips and then rotary cutting them into 4 side sections.  The block is then assembled in the same sequence as a nine-patch.  The actual pieces one needs to cut for each block are (1/4" seam allowances included):

• Background color:
• (2)  1 3/4" x 11 1/2" strips
• (4)  2 1/2" squares
• Main color
• (3)    1" x 11 1/2" strips
• (1)    4 1/2" square

The strip sets require careful sewing because the little 'legs' are so narrow, but you could easily adjust the proportions and make them a little wider.  Also, although I usually press seams to one side, I do press open the strip set seams, to allow easier block to block assembly. 

Now that the sun's decided to stay for a few days, I need to get out and do some yardwork.  The house needs some tidying, too.  Like blacklight illuminating a Jimi Hendrix poster, that sunshine streaming through the windows has exposed my recent inattention to homely pursuits.  Where'd all that dust come from?

Any knitters still around?

Fleece Artist Silk Stream - Vintage

As I look at the uploaded image of this gorgeous Fleece Artist yarn, I can see that on a whim, this post could easy evolve in one of several directions.  It could go off on a tangent and try to explain my apparent unending attraction to multicolored skeins despite (or because?) of my understated (black, denim, occasional khaki) basic wardrobe.  As I tilt my head slightly to adjust my view, I could be tempted to ask if others who have plastic progressives have ever found the lens coating to quickly start disintegrating into a foggy blur?  But I think I'll be disciplined and go with the initial topic of *please suggest a shawl/wrap pattern*.

Does this make me sound lazy?  Like I haven't been reading knitting blogs all winter and taking note of all the wonderful things I've seen through the winter months?  Half of that's true.  I have been reading, commenting and applauding but I haven't been taking note.  Probably because I had just made myself a shawl in the fall, which I love.  And didn't really have immediate plans for another.  However, my Leaf Lace is a little *fine* and I'd like another shawl to throw over the back of a chair to grab on a chilly evening. 

Leaf Lace shawl at tea ceremony class.

I blame Carole.  It's all her fault.  In early March, I was doing my best to ignore RedBird Knits 20% off sale when Carole wrote about her new project, using Fleece Artist Silk Stream.  Kind of nubby and like raw silk but mostly like wool, she said.  That was it.  And now my hand has recovered, my secret swap knitting project is complete and I want to knit a shawl.  I'm considering a Flower Basket shawl, but it's pretty similar to the Leaf Lace.  I'd like a rectangular wrap, but not too intricate or oversized, though if the pattern is adaptable, I feel confident I could adjust for size.  Any suggestions?

If there are any quilters hanging in here, no photos this post.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so I brought the camera up to my sewing room in the afternoon with the intention of getting some nice shots.  By the time I got things organized, the weather had changed.

Cue the tornado sirens

How about that sky, Sandy?  Luckily, no damage.  No quilting photos, but no damage.  Melody has a new post, though, introducing a new-to-me dyer/quilter, Marcia Derse.  And if you're a traditional quiltmaker, you might enjoy Lucy's blog which I recently came across.  Lucy is a Dutch quilter and seems to post new quilts quite regularly. 

Day brightener

I've just had a rather busy two days of spur-of-the moment activities (very unlike me) and some lovely, unexpected surprises.  A long, long phone conversation with an old friend.  Some new thriftshop discoveries.  A kindness in the mail from a reader of my blog.  And sunshine.  Glorious sunshine.  I'm finally seeing some little buds spring forth outside my kitchen window.  So wonderful.

Today it's dark and rainy again, but not so bad, now that we have the visible promise of spring.  I have a box full of email to answer, I'm itching to stitch and it's too dark to get a good shot of anything I'd like to share today. (I've tried.) 

Except for one thing.  Because of a road detour Tuesday, I found myself in the neighborhood of a favorite little shop.  And because it was a beautiful, sunny day, I decided to stop and take a peek.  They were just unpacking some pieces from Julie Arkell.  It was meant to be, don't you think?