snapdragon crafts: July 2015

finished cheater string quilt!

My sewing stashbusting roll continues! My cheater string quilt is officially done. This is the first time I did a machine-sewn binding, and it worked fabulously. I cut a generously sized binding, which I'm sure helped! (three inches wide, with the edges pressed to the inside at approx. 1/2 an inch) The pattern I used is the Wishes String Quilt, a free tutorial published on the Moda Bake Shop website. It was super fun and an easy way to make a string quilt. I ended up using all three of my jelly rolls ("Spring House" from Moda) and almost two whole jelly rolls of Kona Cotton (colorway: snow). That's a lot more fabric than the pattern called for. But .... my squares ended up a little smaller and I needed more to make a generous king sized quilt, so I'm not that surprised. Love, love, love these colors. Lots of turquoise blues, yellows, pinks, and greens. Super happy colors. This is by far the prettiest quilt I've made to date! Initially I thought I'd need to make new shams for my pillows, but the old yellow ones go pretty well with the new quilt. On to my next sewing project! Next up: placemats. Lots and lots of placemats!

testing, testing 123

progress on Friday

Like I need a new WIP, right? sigh. Sometimes I just can't resist the lure of test knitting. A pretty pattern, for free?? Sign me up! As I mentioned last week, I've signed up for two test knits this month. One is almost done, and one I need to get moving on! The one that's almost done is the twining cowl by Jennifer Weissman. What I love about the pattern is that it's reversible! Normally I find garter stitch in the round annoying, but not on this project. (it helps that I'm finding this yarn--Western Sky Knits Willow DK in the lilacs colorway--to be simply gorgeous in garter!) Only have two more cable repeats and a ribbed edging to go on this one ...

progress as of today

But wait, there's more! Remember the blanket wrangling I did last week? I moved on to a long-neglected project, my cheater string quilt. I delusionally thought I had worked on this during the spring ... nope! Last November! Ay yi yi. Well the good news is now it is thisclose to being done! Over the weekend I pieced together a quick edging using the scraps, made the sandwhich, and did some simple straight line quilting on the diagonal. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll get the binding attached and she'll be DONE!

Last but not least, is my test knit for Brandy, the City Lights beanie. I promise to devote plenty of love to you too!

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 21

Making slow, but steady, progress on my Leyburn socks (a pattern I've had in my possession since 2011!). I know it's the dog days of summer, but I'm hoping your progress on your personal Love Your Library challenge hasn't been stalled like me!

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stashbustin, the quilt edition

Just call me the finisher. After realizing in a panic at the beginning of the week that there were only TWO weeks left in July, I was determined to finish something this week. Anything. I had received a minky quilt kit from my sister for Christmas last year, and had it pulled out as something I wanted to sew up this summer. And now I'm DONE! Yes! I love fast project like this. No need to cut anything thanks to the kit, and I used up some fun yellow and gray chevron flannel I've had in my stash for easily four years now as the backing. Win and win! I ended up doing the use-your-backing-as-your-binding method on this one (first time in at least 8 years) which worked out perfectly and also sped up my finishing time.

Now for my second finish, which has been sitting since June waiting for the binding to be finished. I decided that clearly hand-sewing the binding wasn't going to happen anytime soon at this rate, and used the machine to finish the binding.

Talk about Christmas in July, eh? Next up: finishing a king-sized quilt top that just needs edging!

life lately

Life lately is looking like this for me ... big 'ol piles of blanket in my lap! Which is super ironic given how stinkin' hot this month has been. I've got my sewing machine cranked up again, and slowly moving along on my third garter squish blanket. Sooo happy with it now that I've added a couple of new colors into the mix! Also signed up for a couple of test knits in the past month that you'll see pop up here next week ...

WIP Wednesday: garter edition

In news that will shock no one, two out of the three projects I'm actively working on right now are primarily knit with garter stitch. I have another WIP that I'm thinking about resurfacing AND a potential birthday gift I'd like to start that also feature--you guessed it--garter stitch! What can I say? I just love garter stitch, lol!

1. A new cast on for the month, the Ily shawl in Madtosh Tosh Merino Light (colorway: fathom) and Dream in Color Jilly (colorway: tart).

2. I'm starting to turn into one of those knitters that always has a pair of socks on the needles. This pair is my monthly project for my Love Your Library challenge. The pattern is Leyburn (a freebie!) which I've had in my library since 2011! The yarn is Your Mom Knits in the colorway Girls Just Want to Have Fun. (typing that know puts that song in my head ...)

3. Last but not least, I've picked my third garter squish blanket back up! Originally this one was going to be exclusively orange, gray, and black--but that was boring me to tears. I'm sooooo glad I added this neon lime green in. I have a nice, bright cobalt blue that will get tossed in eventually after I work another orange section. This blanket will end up in my little guy's room, and I'm happy with how "boyish" it's turning out. I wasn't sure how much I'd want to work on this blanket in the middle of the hot hot heat of a Mississippi summer, but with how cranked we keep the AC I'm surprisingly happy to work on this lap warmer!

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 20: mid-year progress update

Holy cow, July is on us! Which means ... half the year is over already. Eep! So I thought this would be a good time to check in on how my Love Your Library challenge has been progressing so far.

As you can see, so far I've finished 9 projects from my library and interestingly, four patterns I liked enough that they are "repeats" (I've knit them before this year, or loved them so much I immediately made another within rapid succession). My Neon Tune is a repeat (made my first fine tune cowl last summer), as is my second and third Riverbank cowls. So is the undersized Twilight Sparkle unicorn from the 50 Yards of Fun book. Lullington is the only "repeat" that I hadn't made prior to this year, but liked enough to make more than once already. I have completely and utterly lost the focus I started the year with ... I had promised to make toys the theme of the year, and specifically toys from these books:

Itty-Bitty Toys: How to Knit Animals, Dolls, and Other Playthings for Kids

Knitted Farm Animals: 15 Irresistible, Easy-to-Knit Friends

50 Yards of Fun: Knitting Toys from Scrap Yarn

The Big Book of Knitted Monsters: Mischievous, Lovable Toys

The good news is that I've already knitted more from my library this year than I did in all of 2014! In 2014 I only knit six (sigh, that sounds so pitiful!) projects from my library. Even if I don't count "duplicate" projects, I've knit seven different patterns from my library this year. So I'm cutting myself some slack in terms of losing my initial focus. Just looking at these books is giving me the toy bug again, so I'm sure I'll get back on track eventually.

How's your personal progress on this challenge going?

FO Friday: Mont Royal socks

Happy dances here, because my "happy" socks are done!

Pattern: Mont Royal socks (link to my Ravelry project page)
Needles: Size 1 Addi Sock Rockets
Yarn: Spinningfates Megara (colorway: the bees knees)
Mods: Nada! Super super fun pattern! Toe-up, short-row heel with fantastic instructions if you've never done either method.

And congratulations, Lise, you are the lucky winner of the Mont Royal pattern giveaway! I've forwarded your contact information to Brandy and she'll be in touch. :-D

Linking up with Freshly Finished Friday at Hard Knit Life--see what everyone else has been making!

pattern giveaway: Mont Royal socks

Almost done with my Mont Royal socks! I finished the first sock and have turned the heel on the second, so now I'm in the home stretch! If you haven't been following my progress on these socks, I was lucky enough to test knit this fabulous pattern for Brandy over at Stitched up in Toronto. I can't say enough good things about this pattern--it's toe up (fantastic if you hate kitchener-ing the toe), has a fun and intuitive leafy lace pattern, and the instructions for the short-row heel are impeccable for first-timers like me! I've been thinking of these as my "happy" socks, as I've always wanted a pair of happy yellow socks in my sock drawer! And to add to the happiness today, I have a giveaway! One lucky person will win a copy of this pattern from Brandy! To enter, post a comment telling me what color you'd make these socks in if you win! (and send me an email at snapdragoncrafts AT yahoo.com so I can send you the pattern if you win!) With any luck, I'll be finished with these by the end of the week!

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.