Finished batik strings!

I finished this back in November, but what with all the weird computer and camera problems, never got to post it.  So, here it is:  A batik string quilt.

I couldn't get the color to come out right.  So, somewhere between the bright blue pics and the orange ones is the real color.  And I can't take more pics because it's now happily residing in Minnesota.

I had such fun with this!  String quilts are my favorite quilts to make:  no fuss, I get to pick out tons of colors, arrange as I go along.  The bias edges make it easy to match up, sort of.  Matching points is not my forte, but picking out colors and mishmashing it all together is easy to do.

I'm working on another quilt right now, but the morning light is pretty crummy at the moment, so no pics.  And, I'm thinking of doing a Jacob's Ladder next.  Oh, my.  Points to match.  Eh, if they do, they do.  The fun is putting it all together.

Lili Lace Yarn is the easiest lace yarn to work with!

Do you like lace but are a bit afraid of really thin yarn?  Do I have a yarn for you!

This is Lili Lace Yarn:  875 yards of a 2-ply, slightly heavier lace wt yarn in 100% merino.  It knits and crochets up so easily.  I've done so many shawls from "regular" lace yarn, and I love it, but for ease and speed, Lili yarn tops it.  There's just enough weight to it, so that you don't feel as if it's going to slide off your needles, and the stitches are really easy to see (especially if your eyes are not as young as they were.)  Price is a very competitive $30/skein.  Needle size can go from a 2 or 3 to a 6, if you like your shawls to be really lacy.  It is a glorious yarn to work with, I can promise you that!

Cameras and lights and monitors being what they are, the colors in the picture are pretty accurate (at least on my monitor).  The upper left hand yarn, the purple one, is move vivid and so is the upper right hand one.  That one is called Paprika, and really looks like the real thing.  Given that I'm Hungarian, I know the color of paprika, and this is it.

Where?  In my Etsy shop, of course!

A hint on working with any lace yarn:  use needles with a tiny bit of drag to them.  The Knit Pro wooden ones are perfect.  A good sharp point, and the yarn doesn't slide off the way it would with a metal needle.  Addi lace needles are also very good.  Bamboo will work well provided that the point is sharp.

Good grief!  It's been almost 3 months since I last posted!  And where have I been?  No place.  Just hanging out, knitting, quilting, reading, exercising, visiting the MN folks, the usual stuff.  I just didn't have either the blogging or dyeing mojo.  BUT, I think they are both back.  Yippee!

Part of the problem was that our old computer died, and we bought Windows 8.  I do not like Windows 8.  It can't make up its mind if it is a tablet or a desktop.  Drives me crazy.  Tasks that were so easy to do in the older Windows became cumbersome.  And then I couldn't get my camera to work with this software, etc, etc.  In short, I said Piffle upon it all.  But then, my dear Hubz got an older version of Windows, and this one I understand.  So, I'm writing this on the old new computer because I have my pics loaded here now.  Does this make any sense?  Nah, not to me either.  Suffice it to say, The older Windows and I get along very well.

PennyRose Yarns has been on hold for a few months.  I just didn't feel like dyeing.  I'm so enjoying my sewing and quilting that I lost the desire to dye.  But Wed, the mojo hit, and I dyed up 10 skeins and loved every minute of it.  So, for you sock knitters, here are the latest and greatest colorways.

The first batch are Rachel yarn.  400 yards of 100% superwash merino in a yarn with a lovely little twist to it.  Very soft and woolly.  Soft enough to wear next to your skin, and even though there is no nylon in the yarn, it works very well as a sock yarn.  I know this because I have a number of socks knitted from Rachel yarn, and they wear very well.

$23/skein + first class shipping.  Etsy:  http://fritzl.etsy.com

Next are 3 skeins of Rachel Sparkle.  Same base as Rachel (above) but with Stellina added in, which gives it a lovely little sparkle.  And 437 yards.  Price is $24/skein.

And last, but not least, one skein of Lyric yarn.  400 yards of a single high-twist yarn.  Skinny stuff and probably best for smaller feet, but it crochets up to a very pretty scarf, and knits so beautifully.  Don't let the kinks in the yarn scare you; they smooth out as they flow through your fingers and will not get in your way at all.

Walnut at $23/skein.

Brrrrrrr

It's 50 deg outside, and 64 in the house, and I'm not going to put the heat on!  Brrrr.  I'm freezing.  But I'm not putting the heat on.  Every year I try not to rev it up until Oct. 15.  I've never made it yet, but I try.

Hard to believe that only a few weeks ago I was roasting.  Now I'm freezing.

Piffle!

Finished Scrappy Trip

Rachel's Scrappy Trip Around the World is finished.  It's just a little jobbie, a lap quilt.  I tied it because I wanted to try that, and it was so easy and quick.  If she changes her mind and wants it hand quilted, I can do that before she washes the quilt.  But she really likes the ties and is not fond of quilted quilts, so I think it will stay as it is.

I used 3 different skeins of embroidery floss, and just made it.  Cut the length of floss I wanted, stripped it, put it back together and then tied.  I have 3 extra skeins of the floss should we ever want more.

The question is whether the cats will attack the little ties.  Cats being cats, who knows?

Thanks to Bonnie Hunter and her fabulous instructions!  This was such fun to do, and very easy.  I opted not to do a border.  I'm not into borders at the moment. My favorite part?  All of it. 

Whoever knew just how much fun making quilts could be?  I've loved quilts from when I was a teenager, but there is no quilting history in my family.  The women all sewed, but only clothing.  So I'm the pathfinder here.  And I got the courage to start from when Miss P, at age 8, brought me a quilt she had made.  I figured that if an 8 year old could do it, so could I!  Thanks, Miss P!

Just off the needles.

Aleh Shawl:  2 sizes in 2 different yarns.

First is a little shawlette, more like a scarf or fichu.  Knit in Lyric yarn, which is this amazing singles fingering wt yarn.  Singles can be a pain to knit with, but not this one.  This one just knits up so easily.

Here it is in Lili Lace, which is a slightly heavier lace-weight yarn. Considerably skinnier than Lyric, but not as skinny as "regular" lace, and much easier to knit up.

I had so much fun doing these.  The border is a very easy leaf pattern, and the ground is a tiny leaf pattern, also.  A bit more work than garter or stockinette, but very much worth the extra effort.

The Hubz' Shirt Quilt is finished!

I did it.  I actually finished a large-ish (for me) quilt!  I started this way back when, and then put it aside, and then went back to it.  And now it's done.  Quilted, bound, and washed and crinkled. 

Here's the beginning of it.  Strips sewn together and then trimmed.  Mindlessly soothing and so easy, and given that I cannot match points very well, not stressful at all.

Chugging along with it.

Finished!

Why didn't anyone tell me how much fun this could be?  Even my crummy hand quilting was fun.  The part I liked the most?  Sewing the squares.  I can do this forever.  The part I liked least?  Sewing the squares together.  It's called "Fear of not getting points to match", but I'm content enough with the final results.