Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Treasures

We spent 11 hours yesterday going through Moma and Daddy's house sorting and dividing.
Bittersweet.
I left last night with a trunk full of treasures that was my Great Grandma's, left to my Grandma. These same treasures were then left to Moma when Grandma passed away. Last night they were passed to me. 




Saturday, November 16, 2013

Finished and he likes it!

 I stopped the original hat that was on the needles and started this one to try a new shorter needle to see if I like it better than the longer needle and the magic loop method.
I like the shorter needle and it is easier and faster to make without the ML method, until...
you get closer to the end. I got confused on what to do so I went ahead and put the long needles with the long cord back in service and finished up the hat.
It looks like it works!  :)

I think the next hat with this yarn will be knit on a smaller size needle. This hat was made on US-8 for the ribbing and US-10 for the hat. Joseph thinks it will be fine for our warm Florida winters.

Friday, November 15, 2013

On the needles

I'm so excited I just had to show what I'm knitting.
I'm taking a class on Craftsy called Knit Lab- Knitting in the Round (I think that is correct) with Stefanie Japel and I really like it. I have taken an earlier class with the same instructor and I learned a lot and felt so good afterward I thought I would take this one when it was recently on sale.

I watched the first two projects and liked them pretty well, but the hat was what I wanted to do. Joseph told me when I knitted a hat he would wear it. So...

My first knitted hat...or almost.
I have some small ladders and one stitch is large because I did a yarn over and when I didn't mean to and noticed it on the next round, but so far so good.
I have learned knitting in the round with a design is not for perfectionist. I don't care for the jog in the design where they join up, but if you don't look for it you won't see it.

Today I am going to try and get to a knit shop that is not too far away, but they have such hours that I never get to go. I was thinking about looking for some soft warm yarn for my niece a hat. She lives in Oklahoma and walks every day. Last week it was one of the coldest spots in the lower 48 states. She needs a cute, warm hat. She will have to buy gloves, I haven't learned them yet.

Later,
Diane

Sunday, November 10, 2013

It's home

I picked up my machine on Friday and couldn't be more happy. It is so quiet, I keep checking to see to make sure everything is stitching along properly. He even cleaned the outside! I mounted one of those bendy necked bright lights that you can point right on the needle area. Can you tell I forgot the name? :)  Anyway, those lights come with little adhesive mounted clips to hold the electrical cord out of the way and they are notorious for falling off or breaking leaving the adhesive stuck to the machine.  I thought once the machine came home I would remove those bits and replace them with some better 3M clips. Well! When I put the machine in place and gathered the adhesive removal stuff I saw that he had already removed them. Cool!
My only hesitation is...if I had to name one...he put a sticker with the store name and phone number, on the right side of the harp! If he would have just put it on the back or by the plug or some place I don't have to see it constantly. I understand why he put the sticker, but the placement...yuck! So I have decided to remove it. When I take my 1001 in for cleaning I will request they put the sticker on the back. I don't know why it bothers me so much but it does.

If you hear noise in the sewing room, it won't be the 1230!

Later,
Diane

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Organization, that dirty O word

I agree and like the idea of Leaders and Enders. I just am not organized enough to practise it.  Just in case you don't know about Leaders and Enders here is a link to Bonnie Hunter's website where she explains what they are and how she came up with the idea.
http://quiltville.com/leadersenders.shtml

The L&E idea is probably one of the best ideas in quilt making. To me it is right up there with the rotary cutter and the quarter inch foot. It really is one of those V8, head bonking, light bulb moments. I'm sure Granny ( my original quilt mentor) would have made 300 quilts in her lifetime instead of a mear 150 if she had known or thought of the L&E idea.

or·gan·ize (ôrg-nz)
v.or·gan·ized, or·gan·iz·ing, or·gan·iz·es

1. To put together into an orderly, functional, structured whole.

Organization has always been a weakness of mine. If I could just get organized...has been a whine of mine since I have been married. Before I got married I never knew I was unorganized because I didn't have anything to be organized. We packed all of my belongings in two cardboard boxes and my suitcase.
Put my few items with my husband's few more (he had many boxes) into a 800 sq ft apartment, add in wedding gifts, furniture and two people who have no idea of what should go where and you have a mess. Thirty two years later...well you get the picture.

When we moved I did get my sewing room organized. Then we moved into this house and it has never been as nice. I just don't seem to have the skill to put things in a way I can use the room and walk in it at the same time.
Now knowing that, can you imagine me trying to organize a project and also a L&E to work on during the project?
BUT...I have so much happening in my extended family and friends lives that I find myself needing many items made and completed in a quick fashion.

1. Wedding quilt that is already overdue. (Don't ask!)
2.Cousin quilt (Just needs small amount of hand quilting and binding!!) 
3.Baby quilt for December birth (I think I have a top made already)
4.Wedding quilt for June  ( have design idea, just need to know what colors they hate)
5.Retirement quilt  (retirement end of this month! Just heard last week.)

Now mind you three of the five I learned about very recently and one of them I was not intending to make at all but feel I should.

So today I will go into my sewing room and try to get some work done in the O area.
If I get any O accomplished I will then try and decide if any of the tops I have made will work for gifts (I hope!). If not, I will look for some easy but pretty patterns that I can get in and out of the machine quickly. Maybe I can actually work with L&E to accomplish this. Fingers crossed!

Diane

Monday, November 4, 2013

No sewing here...

I've been home some but so has the husband, so no sewing (in the sewing room). I have knitted, and torn the papers from my Pineapple Crazy blocks, but no actual sewing in the sewing room.
 


I took my Bernina in to be looked at. The man at the shop was born in Switzerland and spent his first  working years at the Bernina factory and now repairs them here. It was beautiful to watch someone so familiar with a machine work. He asked me what the problem was and before I could finish my sentence he had started opening things, listening to it sew, feeling of areas, removing more parts, listening, pushing buttons. He said "your gears are worn". I looked at him and almost blushed! I almost said, "I'm sure yours are too at this age!" but then realized he was talking about the machine. He said that is very common for these machines and may not be too much of an issue. He might can just tighten everything up. I said, OK! Then he said, but they could be worn too badly to tighten so they might need replacing. My heart sank. I got this machine for a song, so I don't mind paying to have it repaired, but I also know Bernina is well known for costing an arm and a leg for not just repairs but parts and pieces.

I asked for an estimate if it was the gears and they did have to be replaced. The price made me wince a little but then I remembered the price I paid for it and added together it still didn't come to the value of the machine on the resale market. I HOPE this is all it is and I will have it back in a short amount of time, but we will see.

While Ray was home we went to Disney twice! Yep twice. I definitely need new sandals. My feet and legs haven't hurt like that in years. It could be I need to loose the equivalent of a small child in weight but I like the idea of trying new sandals first.
 

It was food and wine festival time at EPCOT so we had lots of happy parents and grandparents. I heard a couple of time while at the Magic Kingdom, adults strolling little whining kids around and a parent say "when do we get to go to EPCOT?" LOL
To tell the truth, during Food and Wine festival you do see much less adult whining and meltdowns.  I'm just saying.


Today...I MUST SEW!

Diane