Darned math

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Suzanne

I was trying to do this crosshatched border as mathlessly as possible, however, I just dove in and didn’t think about the corners, and as you can see: when I did get to a corner, I horked it up. I’m using the IQ to actually do the cross-hatching, which is awesome, but it’s only smart enough to do what I tell it do, it can’t say “You moron, you did something stupid there and your lines aren’t going to come out even.”

Of course, it probably SHOWED me that on the screen, but on the screen, I thought it looked right. And even though I’ve remeasured my tick marks several times, I still can’t figure out what I did wrong.

So, I’m going to channel Scarlett and worry about it tomorrow.

Well, maybe not tomorrow, but definitely later. When I figure out what I did wrong, I’ll be sure to report in, so none of my fellow quilters repeat my mistake. Not that they would be tempted to make the mistake to begin with. They are all smart enough to make sure the corners work out before they blindly start quilting an entire border.

Another quilt teaser

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Suzanne

I’ve got a mountain of bookkeeping to catch up on (there’s another lesson I keep having to relearn: if I did it as I went along I wouldn’t have these soul-killing marathon bookkeeping sessions to suffer through…), which means that I got exactly ZERO quilting done yesterday (plus I had to go shopping, didn’t I just feed everyone yesterday?), but today I got a little more done on my quilt. I have the outer border and the center section left to go.

For the record, the knitting I did was LATE last night, I was up until midnight, and I suppose I could have quilted instead, but I decided it would be fun to surprise Mark with his hat — I had told him it wasn’t going to happen (see above, many things to do yesterday…).

Today was another busy day and included a Lego League practice. I know, I know. We were done with that before Christmas.

Except, oops, we weren’t: we got randomly selected to be a wild card entry at the state competition in Ames on the 15th of January. Unfortunately, we found this out two days AFTER we took the robot apart, but luckily my boys were able to put it back together over the break.

At least that means we’ll get to wear those crazy orange hats I made one more time. And then we really will be done.

And with any luck I’ll be done with this quilt I’ve been teasing you with tomorrow, and will be able to show it off in all it’s glory!

Most Boring Thread Order Ever

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Suzanne

I have lots of lovely brightly colored thread, but it’s the neutrals, the whites and creams and tans, that make things go around here.

Boring? Possibly — but lovely, nonetheless. Look at all of the possibility in that pile of thread.

Practice really does make…

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Suzanne

I would say “perfect” — but that’s not really true, nor is it really my goal (well, it is, but I try to fight my perfectionist tendencies…)

When I started really knitting, I wanted to be good RIGHT THEN. I wanted to knit quickly and nicely and make really fancy things lickety-split. Now, there are some prodigies out there, but I’m not one of them, and it made me crazy to not be faster, better, stronger, smarter, etc.

But I kept knitting, and guess what? Without realizing it, I achieved the level of competence that I wanted to have at the start. I still have a lot to learn, but I am thrilled beyond belief that I can now knit fast enough that I started a hat for Mark Friday night while waiting to ring in the New Year, and after 3-ish evenings of knitting:

The man has a new hat.

Perfect? No, but good enough to keep my poor husband’s shaved head warm.

This is a lesson I have to keep relearning, made even more annoying by the fact that I am constantly giving my quilting students permission to be beginners and to not be perfect — I have to keep remember to practice what I preach: that you have to put in the work and be patient with yourself.

I offered to make a cabled hat that matched his scarf, but he was of the opinion that cables are great, just not on hats. He wanted plain stockinette with a ribbed cuff, and the pattern I found was perfect.

Now, he wants mittens to match his new hat and scarf…he says the mittens can be cabled.

Project Notes:

Yarn: Cascade Greenland (Aran weight superwash wool)
Needles: US 6, bound off with US 8 (Used Magic Loop technique)
Pattern: Top-Down No Math Hat: The Manly Version Mark had pretty specific requirements: plain stockinette to a certain length (8.5inches), with a 3 inch ribbed cuff.

Feather Boot Camp is Back

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Suzanne

Feather Boot Cam 4caf3c4816e10 Feather Boot Camp is Back

Spread the news, my online class, Feather Boot Camp, is returning for a fourth session this February!

Class starts February 7, 2011 and lasts for 5 fun-filled feathering weeks.

For all of the details, visit MQResource.

If you took the class in 2010, go to the Online Classes section and check out the Alumni option. (If you took the class in 2009, send me an e-mail or post a comment and I’ll help you out…)