Monday, November 16, 2009

Kathy & Wavy's quilt


Kathy & Wavy's quilt
Originally uploaded by pfeifferini

I know. Let's just not talk about how long it's been, okay? Moving on...

So, way back in June, my little sister Kathy married Wavy. They asked for a quilt, which I was happy to make. I went stash diving and came up with a beautiful copper batik with lines of turquoise, light green, purple (my favorite), and tan running through it. I chose a pattern from Karla Alexander's New Cuts for New Quilts book; it's the cover quilt, in fact. I pulled lots of fabric from my stash and even bought some at the quilt shop. Then I procrastinated.

Well, to be fair, I did have the Small Quilt Auction coming up the weekend before Kathy's wedding. I am in charge of this event, so I had to do stuff for it. But still, the fabric languished for a month or two before I got started. Once I started though, it went very well and the quilt turned out beautifully. I made the quilt larger than the size in the book, and even made pillowcases to match.

I hand-delivered the quilt to Kathy & Wavy when I went to the wedding. They loved it, and I even got to sleep under it one night. It was very nice.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Small Quilt Auction


Today, La Plata Quilters Guild had its 10th Annual Small Quilt Benefit Auction. We raised over $13,000.00 with 126 quilts! We had a gorgeous day (as usual, I forgot my hat and my poor head got sunburned). I've been in charge of this event for nine years now, and I am always amazed at the quality of quilts donated by our guild members and others.


Some quilts are truly wonderful, and bring in lots of money for our beneficiaries, and other quilts are a bit more humble, but find a loving home. It's a really wonderful event. I have a few photos here, and more on my flickr page.


Also, check out our guild's website - there's lots of information about the auction and the rest of the guild's activities there.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Startitis



John and I are remodeling the kitchen and living in chaos. Since we started, I have cast on six new projects and learned to crochet! Luckily, I am a dedicated knitter, and I have acutally finished two of the scarves. Above, you see one of two Chevron Scarves (rav link) cast on just as we started the remodel. I helped a couple of friends start this project, and of course, I had to start one too. This scarf is made of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Mediumweight sock yarn in the Backstabber and Fire on the Mountain colorways. This yarn really is ideal for the scarf - it's soft and smooth with lots of color changes.



The other is made from just one ball of yarn with lots of yardage. It is Noelle's Noodles in the colorway Colliohe; 560 yards in the ball. I went up a needle size because this yarn is a bit thicker than the Socks That Rock, and was able to break up the color pooling with this needle size change. I like this yarn too, it's a bit fuzzy and the color changes are really lovely.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Etsy Shop is Up!


At long last, I put the owls up for sale on etsy. Check them out here!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Koolhaas Hats

Although John keeps insisting he has plenty of hats now, I made another one for him. This is Koolhaas by Jared Flood (rav link). I made this hat from Rowan Cotton Wool in the color Moonstone. The yarn is slightly thinner than that called for in the pattern, so I cast on an additional 16 stitches for two extra pattern repeats.

After finishing John's hat, I went stash diving and came up with some Rowan Cotton Jeans in the color Hemp. So, I decided I needed a Koolhaas for myself. Of course, I like a turn-up ribbing on all of my hats, so my ribbing is 3.5 inches. I love the color of this yarn, but it's pretty easy to split with your needles.


I've also finished the Horcrux socks by Susan Lawrence (2nd in my Harry Potter Sock Series) and I love them! The yarn is Regia Cotton Color and they are soft and comfy.
Finally, after 53 attempts, I got a photo of my other cat, Louis the shy one, doing her best impression of a lima bean with feet.

Don't be fooled by her docile appearance; she is watching every move of the needles, biding her time (shiny Addi turbos are her favorite)!


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh - the Cuteness!

I have a sister who just had a baby, and another sister who's due at the end of May. They are having their combined baby shower this weekend, and I finished my gifts in time (yay me!). Of course, I was so excited I ran down to the post office with everything, then realized that I had forgotten to take photos. Luckily, my car was pretty clean, so I spread out the ensembles on the hood and took these photos before I sealed the box. I created quite a stir at our local post office, trying to find the right angle so the glare of the sun would not blind us all. People do love to look at cute baby things.
This set is for my brand new nephew, Mac.

And this set will be for my little niece, whenever she arrives.

The sweaters are the One-Piece Baby Kimono by Christine Shiffman (rav link) from Mason-Dixon Knitting (fabulous book). The hats are the from the pattern I use to make newborn hats to donate to our local hospital. It's a pretty simple pattern - if you need it, just let me know. The little socks were made from the leftover sweater yarn. The yarn is Cascade Cotton Rich DK - very soft in the finished product, but hard on the hands when knitting.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Have You Seen My Hairy Monkeys?

So I made these socks, Monkey by Cookie A. in December and somehow they weren't posted to the blog. I'm not sure how this happened because you all know how I love to show the handmade socks!


The gorgeous yarn is Bearfoot by Mountain Colors. It has some mohair in it, making my socks a little fuzzy. That's why my Monkeys are hairy. I bought this yarn in Bozeman, Montana - it was my souvenir yarn for that vacation. I wish I could remember the name of the shop I visited - it was really nice.

This pattern is terribly popular on the web (8190 projects in Ravelry) and is an easy, fast knit. The finished socks are really cozy!


I can definitely see myself doing another pair of these in the future...

Friday, January 16, 2009

Lots of Little Knits

I've been knitting a LOT - but not taking photos (sorry!). So here's a few things I've finished lately:





This is Bridget by Woolly Wormhead (Ravelry link). It's a lovely chunky alpaca yarn and this hat is warm and very jaunty. I love the feel of the pom poms as they bounce on my head!




I made these Socks of Kindness (Ravelry Link) from Sophie's Toes by Emily Parson. For some reason, I had trouble with this pattern - mostly with counting to eight over and over. I had to go back a lot to fix my errors. Sigh. I love the socks though, now that they're finished.



Next, I tackled Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat in some no-ball-band cashmere yarn. I made the ribbing longer so I could turn up the brim, but otherwise followed the pattern faithfully. I really like this hat, so much so that I had to make mittens to go with it:



These are the Cozy Cabled Mittens by My Life's Work. I've never made a plaited cable like this, and I love the way they look and fit. They're perfect.