For some reason, this past weekend I just wanted to knit! It's hot so go figure. I've found that if I limit the time on one project and swap with embroidery, my hands last longer.
Here's the progress on my felted diamond tote bag. It's about half-way there. I'm trying to knit one entrelac square per night.
While I was cleaning I found a small (knit and felted entrelac) bag with two skeins of yarn, some needles and a hat pattern. The pattern is the
Lotus Hat by Third Base Line. I sat down and swatched (what cleaning?--there's knitting to do!), figured out which yarn would work, and cast on for the hat. I knit two rows to get it going.
My circular needles in this size are too long for the number of stitches, but the stitches don't want to stay on the double pointed needles, hence the rubber bands. At a series of doctor appointments with hubby this morning, I completed three more rounds of ribbing. The rubber bands work well. The yarn is Lily Sugar 'n Cream.
Not knitting, here, but crochet is close (at least in my way of thinking--string into fabric). I went hunting for acrylic yarn leftovers--the Legal Loopers are at it again. This is a small group of crocheters from my office. Previously we did afghan squares for charity. This time we plan to make a whole afghan for
Warm Up America. So I began crocheting my first 7" wide square. It will be 9" long which should be 12 rows. I have four rows (and 3") done here. The yarn is Lion Brand, Homespun I think.
And, last, more clearing up. I have (had) a whole bunch of t-shirts from concerts (mostly
Johnny Clegg and
Kodo) that I liked--but don't wear any more. (I realized a while back I rarely wear t-shirts with pictures on them.) So I decided to make an afghan. I used a rotary cutter to cut rectangles with the pretty t-shirt designs centered in them (fronts and some backs, too). Later on I will measure them and pick a "standard rectangle size" and then add fabrics to make them all the same size and make up a quilt.
I tossed the shoulders-sleeves parts. (Hubby was fall-down amazed that I'd throw away fabric, but I've finally realized I just can't keep every scrap.)
I set aside the shirt bottoms to make "yarn." I'm cutting them into strips, approximately 1-1/2" wide, in a spiral fashion from the cut edge to the hem (those get tossed, too!) I plan to use my "yarn" for a tote bag. This big ball is just from three t-shirts!
(I'm glad the trash has gone out this week--it was very hard to let go of all of that perfectly good, nice knit fabric!)
And no photos yet but in my efforts to do short stints at one task at a time, I also completed two more "woven" bookmarks, originally shown
here, at hubby's doctor appointments this week (it was a long morning--preparation for some outpatient surgery coming up in July). My tote was larger than I usually carry, but it worked well to keep changing projects each time we moved to another waiting room or office.
A coworker left and upon her departure we exchanged gifts. I'll miss her--she's off to Africa to do some charity work for the next year. She found a lovely scarf and beaded felt flower pin for me.
And a set of lovely tea cups. 
I completed the entrelac section in my diamond tote and am back to working rows. The stripe pattern from the top repeats and then the base is knit. It seemed to balloon up in the entrelac section--I'm very happy to be bringing it back to manageable size with the knit rows.
I've shown two of these before but this photo is better. Here are the three Japanese pastries I made from kits sent to me by my niece. They're now hanging on my office file cabinet.
On our way back from the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair on Friday, we stopped at Village Needleworks in Westmont. I picked up this painted canvas keyfob and stitched it Friday night and Saturday morning. Mostly it's floss but I found a sparkly blue mystery fiber to add to the floss for the water. It will be a Christmas gift.
It was gray outside but everyone was still smiling, anticipating the fun inside. We smiled all day!
There was music both inside and outside--this is where we had lunch. Yummy Polish food. 
I found some treasures--handdyed rainbow fabric...
A tote bag and program came with the entrance fee (or a t-shirt if you preferred).
I got some needles to move my lotus hat from the dpns and rubberbands to circulars that were the right size and length. I brought my project along in it's little tote and made the swap while sitting in the large rest area. I've now completed two of the three lace repeats for the main part of the hat.
I found purse handles on sale. I realized I'll have leftover yarn from my felted diamond tote. These are short, purse handles that will work nicely for the smaller felted bags I like to make and use.
I'm already anticipating next year's fair!
I assembled the finishing materials this weekend, trimmed the fabric to size, pressed the pocket, trimmed the flannel, found a button for the closure (the rest of the materials were part of the kit) and pinned the insides together.
At Tuesday's long series of doctor appointments with hubby I basted the outer edge of the lining (to secure a layer of thin batting and the pocket), stitched a division in the pocket, stitched the flannel into place and pinned it for the final stitching. In the evening, I cut the silk threads for the edging cord to size. I still need to twist the cord, make the button loop, sew the front to the back and sew on the edging cord and the button. But it's the home stretch!
Here's the progress on my felted diamond tote bag. It's about half-way there. I'm trying to knit one entrelac square per night.
While I was cleaning I found a small (knit and felted entrelac) bag with two skeins of yarn, some needles and a hat pattern. The pattern is the Lotus Hat by Third Base Line. I sat down and swatched (what cleaning?--there's knitting to do!), figured out which yarn would work, and cast on for the hat. I knit two rows to get it going.
Not knitting, here, but crochet is close (at least in my way of thinking--string into fabric). I went hunting for acrylic yarn leftovers--the Legal Loopers are at it again. This is a small group of crocheters from my office. Previously we did afghan squares for charity. This time we plan to make a whole afghan for Warm Up America. So I began crocheting my first 7" wide square. It will be 9" long which should be 12 rows. I have four rows (and 3") done here. The yarn is Lion Brand, Homespun I think.
And, last, more clearing up. I have (had) a whole bunch of t-shirts from concerts (mostly Johnny Clegg and Kodo) that I liked--but don't wear any more. (I realized a while back I rarely wear t-shirts with pictures on them.) So I decided to make an afghan. I used a rotary cutter to cut rectangles with the pretty t-shirt designs centered in them (fronts and some backs, too). Later on I will measure them and pick a "standard rectangle size" and then add fabrics to make them all the same size and make up a quilt.
Last weekend I ran a conference at work. Some years I do many, this year just one, which is a nice break. I've learned I can't do any serious work while the conference is going on--I can pop up to my office and check e-mail and perhaps fill out some forms by hand, but that's it. Mostly I'm running hither and yon with conference things, with odd stretches just sitting and waiting for the next break.
Several months ago I signed up for the DMC Mentor program. A couple of us who teach at the YMCA did, thinking we could use the promised kits for teaching there. I had forgotten about it when this arrived in my mailbox. A shiny folder with a really cool pin (which would not photograph at all).
And stuffed full of goodies. Four ladybug kits that will be good for our kids at the Y to do next fall when we start up again. Plus a folder with several more advanced designs to use. It's quite a nice set of materials and makes me feel professional--business cards and all!
Crazy Quilt Exhibition 