Southwest Grumpasaurus, ready to head toward Arizona

At the request of a reader, I’ve just finished knitting this Grumpasaurus, and it is ready to be sent off to be loved in the American Southwest.  This one is knit in Cascade Super wash Sport yarn, purchased from my LYS (local yarn shop, for you not in the knitting know), Yarnology.  These are always a fun little knit, and I especially like the picot edge bind off that is used to make the “mane”.

As I may have mentioned before, I got this pattern on Ravelry, and it was designed by Kat Lewinski, and published on Just Crafty Enough.  I love this pattern, and have had so much fun making these.  I’ll be popping this one in the mail soon.

Peas and Spoons Zip Bag

Out and About, by This & That patterns, Fourth & Main fabrics, and yours truly

Saturday was the WAQG annual bus trip shop hop.  I supported local businesses (quilting and yarn shops) in 5 different towns in Minnesota, and I came back with enough raw materials to keep myself busy for the next year, I think.   Today I spent most of the day in the sewing room, digging around through my stashes of stuff,  cutting, sewing, and pressing.  With the exception of about an hour and a half of time spent reviewing the owner’s manual, and testing, retesting, resetting, and attempting to reprogram buttonhole functionality, most of my time spent was creating new things, hoping to get ahead on the gifts for the holidays.

I made several  drawstring project bags for knitting  (thus the time spent with buttonholes, so the drawstrings have a good way to enter and exit).  I still have to find some good cording for the drawstrings.. Wouldn’t want to waste any YARN on that, would I?  Hmmmm… maybe some I-cord?  Another mindless knitting activity for a few bus rides. Might work.  Might not.

Oh, yes.  Back at the finished projects…. I made two zipper bags – one from a kit I bought at Fourth & Main Fabrics in Cannon Falls, MN, a place I’d love to go back to sometime, if I ever use all the stuff I got the first time.    The kit was for a pattern, the Out & About bag from This & That patterns, which I also got.

A great excuse to use last year's shop hop purchase

My second bag is based on the first bag, though I modified the construction some, so that there are no zig-zag edges visible on the inside, and I made the outsides of one fabric, rather than two.  By digging around in the stash, I found something I bought on LAST year’s shop hop- some lovely ribbon that goes well with the fabrics.

More veg on the inside.

I’m preparing for the holidays (who wants a hand-knit scarf or cowl?) and for cool weather that I know is coming.  I plan to knit a bunch of mittens for donations this winter- they’ll be easy to knit on the bus, and fun to give away, especially since I use them as an excuse to get silly with the color choices.

Batman! Batman! It's going to be a Batman Hat

Here is a photo of a current work in progress… to be a holiday gift for a certain young boy I know who’s into Super Heroes.  I got the pattern by way of ravelry, which was posted by Ann Donovan, a knitting mom of a small boy similarly into Batman and Robin.  You can find her free pattern on her blog, Portable Knitting.  Thanks, Ann, for making this available to us.  It’s even cooler to know that Ann does a lot of knitting while she commutes by bus to work.  Yes… all the cool kids do it! 

Loaded Cannon at Fort Knox

We did a little hiking on Mount Desert Island (MDI)

Overlooking Somes Sound

and had a few lovely meals, like a great lobster roll at the Quiet Side Cafe (mentioned here) in Southwest Harbor, and an amazing dinner at Primo, in Rockland  (A lobster poached in butter is a thing of beauty on many levels), which we first heard of on No Reservations on Travel Channel.  Tony wasn’t kidding.  The place is terrific.

Now that we’re back at home in the heat and humidity of Minnesota, I’m back to working on some fiber projects.  When last we left the wedding quilt, I was about to assemble the first big group of blocks.  That step is now complete:

Steps 4 and 5, now sewn and pressed.

This past week or so, I’ve been using Triangle Paper to make some half square triangles.  I think now I’m in Step 6′s collection of sub-steps, which involves making 72 half square triangles, then sewing pairs together, then making the following four-patches.

click image for larger picture

These are the centers of the next group of big blocks.  I’ve moved onto the next sub-step in Step 6, which involves making a bucket load of larger half square triangles.  I’m really hoping I can get most of the units assembled before the WAQG fall retreat in September.  I’m hoping that I can get the top done by then.  I think it might even be possible…..

It’s great when you can use “organizing” as an opportunity to make something new.  If you can have fun doing it, so much the better.  Since I’ve been doing a lot of knitting this year, I’ve collected a lot of needles.  I have a lot of double pointed needles (DPNs in knitter-speak), and the case that I have only holds a small portion of the DPN collection. So…. into the sewing room I went, with my tentative list of requirements:

• One case for all bamboo DPN sets
• Separate pockets for each size needles
• Rolls up and stays closed, for storage
• Flap to keep needles from falling out of their pockets

This project also provides opportunity for:

• Quilting practice
• Cuteness factor in fabric choice

Here is the prototype needle case.

Rolls up for storage

Stays closed for storage

I used Velcro on this one, and sized the strips so that it would close at a smaller circumference if the case didn’t have all of the needle set pockets filled.  A good thought, but not necessarily a clean and elegant execution.

Quilting on the back to echo the snakes on the inside

Here’s where I was playing with cute fabric, with snakes on the inside, and grass on the outside.  Note that the Velcro only goes partway down, since I had sewed the needle pockets  before the Velcro.  Sewing a strip of Velcro on the pocket end afterward wasn’t possible by machine. Oops.  I didn’t think far enough ahead on the fastening.

"Bolt-on" to fix another goof

Other side of "bolt on" to fix flap shape

I knew I wanted to have a flap on the top to keep the needles in place when the case is rolled up.  I had thought that tapering the flap edges on the ends would reduce bulk during the rolling process, so I tapered the edges when I made the flap.  Once I had sewed it on, however, I realized that the size 1 DPNs (very tiny) in the first pocket wouldn’t be held in, due to the taper of the flap.  I needed to add on a side flap with some more Velcro to make sure that the little needles would stay in the roll snugly.  Effective, but the elegance factor of the case took a major hit.  I finished the case up anyway, since it would allow me to test out holding the needles as a set, and see how it worked in practice, before making another.

The finished prototype case, unrolled

Felted and finished French Press, size 10ish

These were knit in pieces, seamed together, then felted (except for the strap, which was felted separately, and sewn on last).

Before felting, sewn together, but with strap pieces separate

The second pair was knit very quickly, as they are knit in one piece, with short rows, then seamed up the back heel.  They are knit of a bulky weight yarn, Cadena from KnitPicks.  The pattern is free, from the Knitting if Not Eccentric blog, written by Mindie Tallack. I added some ceramic buttons to these to add a little detail interest, as they look like basic ballet slippers when felted.

Green Duffers, felted and embellished, size 8-ish

These look a bit blah when they are knit, but are much cuter when felted up.  I was amazed at how quickly this pattern goes.

Knitted and seamed, ready for felting

The last two pairs were using the same pattern, and they use a lot more yarn, as it is held double, and they have double thick soles.  The pattern is Lorilee Beltman’s Felted Loafer Slippers, which I bought through Ravelry. These were also knit of Cadena (bulky weight), and required a little more time (and concentration) to knit.  It did, however, make me learn Judy’s Magic Cast On (used with toe-up socks usually) and love it.  I knit them in two sizes, the Adult Large, in brown, and the Adult Small, in dark red.  I’m going to make more of these.  I like how sturdy they are.

The smaller of the two pairs of loafers

Larger loafers, felted

These are a bit more furry than the other slippers… there’s lots of yarn here. Here’s what they look like before they were felted.

Red Loafers Before

Larger loafers, before felting

I hope that the slippers keep feet warm down in Virginia this winter, and I sure hope that they fit!  Now, just to get them shipped off….

A Better Bucket, in Atlantic Cascade 220

I’ve been working on a mess of knitting lately.  I’m not sure if it is due to procrastination on other projects, or a desire to get holiday presents ready, or just a desire to do something while watching sports on the tube.  I’m collecting a bunch of items to felt, and I’m working on socks in the meantime.

From the Side

Here’s the best of the items I’ve made this month, modeled by Corinna.  It’s A Better Bucket by Amy Swenson, with some other modifications as suggested by other members on Ravelry (more increases on the brim, so it’s wider, etc).

I’ll definitely be making another of these hats, possibly a bit smaller, for Corinna’s mom, and a few others for gifts.  This one is likely to end up on the head of one of my best knitting friends, I hope.

“This laundry stinks.  This pile is a mess.” – Grumpasaurus Blue

Grump on a Lump

“This is a precision Swiss machine, and it doesn’t make CHOCOLATE?” – G. Blue

Here’s the green one with Patty, as they put on their Game Faces to take on another class in upstate NY.  Go ahead, students, I dare you.

Can’t you see I’m BUSY with 1040s????

This grumpy tax software stinks!  grump grump grump