More Sewing, But Still Not a Quilt

In March of this year, I was given a large collection of fabric samples, by a woman I know who works for an Interior Design firm. (I blogged about it here, if you're curious.) Among the things I received, there were quite a few pairs of large (bigger than a FQ large) pieces of upholstery fabrics. All of them that were paired, I've now turned into grocery bags. I blogged about the first set I made here, and today I'll show you the rest of them, which I very recently finished.








I still need to make bottoms for them, to stabilize them and help things stand upright in them when they're in use, but the really time-consuming part is done, and they can be used as they are now, if need be. Actually, I think they're going to come in quite handy for this move, both to move pantry items and stuff out of the refrigerator, as well as to move all kinds of little things that don't really need to go into a box, just need to get transported over to the new place somehow. That's why I took the time, in the middle of the moving frenzy, to go ahead and get them made.

I'm still hoping to quilt one or two tops before the end of the year. I have one loaded, that's been loaded since some time in the spring, and I'd like to be able to take it off the machine because it's done, not just because we need to move the machine. Gotta really get it in gear now, though. Everything unpleasant that must be done always seems to take three times as long as I think it will....

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How Does This Happen?

So, it's an established fact that I don't need any more yarn. At the rate I knit socks, I think I have sock yarn SABLE (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy), probably at least twice over. But I'm weak, what can I say? I went to check out a site for an Indie Dyer, and absolutely fell in love with a lot of their colorways. There were a lot more that I wanted -- believe it or not, this was an exercise in restraint for me:



All that yarny goodness came in the mail the week before Christmas. I also received my Hazel Knits sock club shipment that same week, which was these two lovelies:



Sigh! So much for my intention to not buy any more sock yarn! I'd be okay, if I just didn't go look at dyer's websites, or sign up for clubs. I don't think either one's going to happen. I'm just going to have to learn how to knit a whole lot faster!

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More Sewing

So I did a bit of sewing over the weekend, and I made this zippered tote bag. I can't remember where I got the fabric, but it was in my stash, along with a white polished cotton which I used to line it. The size is just the size I could make it based on the piece of fabric I had.


I like it, though I need to make a stabilizer to put in the bottom of it. I've got a lot of x-ray film, so I'll probably cut several pieces of that to size, and tape them together, and that'll do the trick nicely.

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One More Pair of Socks

I finished another pair of socks for DH last week:



This yarn was a prize I won in the Year of Stash Socks group on Ravelry, over Labor Day weekend. As soon as I received it, I thought it would be great for socks for DH, and I like how they worked up, with those sort of spiral-y stripey things. DH likes them, so it's a win.

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A Project Bag for Socks

With all the socks I've been finishing lately, you might not think I'd need another sock project bag. But in fact, I have a lot more socks in progress, that I don't yet have project bags for. So this one will help to fill that void a bit. Nothing too thrilling, just a piece of upholstery fabric from the large windfall I had some time back, a zipper, and a little bit of webbing for a handle on one end, and a zipper tab on the other.


I probably won't post again until next week -- if you celebrate it, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. I'm looking forward to finishing up more of my UFOs in the new year. I invite you to come along and see what I get up to.

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I Sewed! I Sewed!

I finally got a chance to do a bit of sewing, and boy did that feel good! I didn't work on a quilting project, but finished up some grocery bags I'd started a while back, from some large pieces of upholstery fabric that were in the batch of stuff I was given some time back. They're a bit more interesting, and probably quite a bit more sturdy than the plastic bags at the store. They were a fun project, but a lot more time-consuming than I'd expected. I have another 7 started, and hope to finish them up soon. Want to see? Here they are:





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And Another Pair of Socks

I'm starting to feel like this is turning into a sock knitting blog, to the exclusion of anything else. But I plan to do some sewing this week, so hope to be able to show some results of that soon.

In the meantime, late last week I finished this pair of socks for DH. The yarn colorway is called "Rasta Man," but I think they also look somewhat Christmas-y. Anyhow, DH likes them, and is already wearing them.


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Another Pair of Finished Socks

Even in the midst of packing and moving, there's down time, waiting time, and that equates to knitting time. So last week, I finished another pair of socks. These are a bit more teal-y green in real life. They're for me, and I just love them.

I didn't end up making it to see Scrooge last evening -- I decided that packing, and making a trip over to the new place with some stuff, was more important and more pressing just now. I would have just been thinking about all the moving chores that need done all through the performance, so I decided to save myself that aggravation.

Today will be a day of moving some of the big stuff. Not looking forward to it, but looking forward to having it done.

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I Knit Something Besides Socks!

My feet weren't the only things that have been cold lately. My hands are always cold of late, as well. So I made my first pair of fingerless mitts. Here's the first one, on my hand:

The color is really off in this picture, it's a lovely gray/green/blue colorway called "Loch Ness." Not nearly as dreary gray as the picture makes it look. Here's the pair:


DH liked them, and I'd been promising him a pair of fingerless mitts as well, so I gave him these. Then I immediately cast on a new pair in the same yarn for myself:
This picture shows the color somewhat better, but it's still not completely accurate. The second pair, I made longer by one pattern repeat, and I went down a needle size to get a slightly firmer fabric. I love these, and love the longer arm length -- I often get a breeze up my coat sleeves, and these will help with that tremendously. Then, because these were for a KAL (Knit Along) in one of my groups on Ravelry, I took a picture of both pairs together, just to show there really are two pairs. Mine are on the sock blocker legs, and DH's are on water bottles:

These were fun and quick to knit, and I'll most likely be making some more mittens and gloves, and a cowl and a hat for me are also on the agenda.

This evening I'm attending a performance of "Scrooge" at a local church. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do with it. For now, back to packing and organizing. This move seems to be interminable.

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One More Pair of Socks to Show

My feet were really cold around the middle of last month, so I dug out some heavier-weight yarn, and made this pair of socks in just 8 days. I think this may be some kind of record for me.


I only had two balls of each color, so I added in the darker color to get the leg length I wanted. They're soft and cozy and warm, and I've got another pair started, that may go to DH. But I've got more sport-weight yarn, so I'll be making myself some more heavier socks, too. My feet have always tended to be cold, but this year it seems worse than usual for some reason. The other thing is that those socks from heavier-weight yarn knit up quicker, so that's a really good thing.

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Another Pair of Socks Finished

I finished another pair of socks on November 12, and haven't shown them here yet. I haven't done any sewing to speak of this fall, but I've found time here and there to do a bit of knitting. These are for me, and they're just a plain pair of ribbed socks because no pattern stitching would show in this yarn, for whatever reason. I've used it, in two other colorways, and it's always fought with any pattern stitch -- so any more yarn like this in my stash (and yes, I have to admit there is more of it) will be plain socks. But it's lovely, wool and silk, and feels just great to wear. So plain socks it is. Anyhow, here's this most recent pair:


I like the rolled cuff on these -- sort of a fun little touch. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Another Finished Pair of Socks

Here's another pair of socks I finished last month. These are also for DH. Just plain ribbed socks, but they're cozy, and he likes the colors, so he's happy. I finished these on November 7, but never posted them here.


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Moving = MIA Blogger

Well, there's been a lot going on here, but not much of it's been crafty. DH ended up in the emergency room with some chest pain the Tuesday night before I was supposed to leave for my retreat last month, and they admitted him to do some testing, so I decided not to go to my retreat after all. Sad, but I was where I needed to be.

Then, we've decided (some time ago, actually) to decrease our financial footprint here, since we still own (and are paying the mortgage on) the house in Ohio. Our rent currently is about 2.5 times our mortgage payment, and we decided that was a bit too much outlay every month. Plus, the house we're renting here is really poorly insulated, and has the whole back wall of windows, so the house is constantly cold, and our utility bills are pretty crazy. So we've found a larg(ish) apartment, and we're in the process of moving there. Some of the stuff from the house here will go to the apartment, and some will go back to Ohio, so we're doing the move piecemeal. We've got until mid-January to be out of the rental house, but we're thinking we may see if we can extend that to the end of January, just to give us a bit more wiggle room.

On a crafty note, here are the "Stashbuster" socks I made for DH, with leftovers from other completed socks.




I finished them on November 2, but never remembered to post here. The cool thing is that, when he's got his shoes on, no one can tell he's not wearing plain navy socks.

I've got some other things to share, but I'll do that in more posts later this week. I'm still trying to finish up a few quilts before the end of the year, but the moving stuff has got to get first priority. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.