Maybe by Valentine's Day?

Maybe by Valentine's Day, I'll be done with the Red Cardi. Or maybe not. I did rework the shoulders on the front and back panels and now just have to stitch them together to make sure they work. Sleeve #1 has been started, but I'm wavering on whether to make them 3/4-length or full-length. Like I said, maybe by V-day.

But at least my Christmas trip project has been completed and blocked. Citron was a great knit: fun and fast. The only problem I encountered was trying to find a cat-free place to block it out. Those cats are lucky I love 'em.

Reuse, recycle, and some lemonade

Linked to Kimba's DIY day

One of the first projects I made with my new sewing machine was a duvet cover. Here in Vermit, the nights get chilly early and last well into the spring. I sewed two flannel flat sheets (the fitted sheets had long worn out - why IS that?) together on 3 sides.

Since one sheet was a bit longer than the other, I folded it over, envelope-style. I created buttonholes on the top of both sheets, and sewed buttons to the duvet itself. By buttoning through both sheets, the duvet stays in place and is easy to shake out when I make the bed.

My lemonade comes from another project I'm working on: an aquarium. I was a bit impatient and purchased some plants before reading up on what I actually needed. 2 of the 3 plants I bought are not suitable for full submersion. So I put on my thinking cap and came up with this:

I'm 'lucky' to have an antiques mall within walking distance of my office and during my lunch hour this week, I went exploring.The terrarium itself is a heavy glass canister with a ground glass stopper. Hopefully, this little habitat will survive the cold weeks that are still ahead of us!

Learning my lessons

Over the past year, I've been disciplining myself on frogging a project at the point when I realize it's going south. This has been extremely difficult in some cases, but well worth the added hassle when I finally finish.

Two projects right now are at the frogging stage. #1 is the red sweater set: I realized the shoulder decreases were not going to meet up properly, so I've frogged all the panels back to the pre-decrease point. *sigh* The other project is my quilted headboard. I didn't properly baste/pin down the quilted lining and now, even though the lining will be concealed, I'm ripping out stitches to fix it.

The main problem with do-overs is the momentum isn't there. So I've imposed a "no new projects" rule until I finish these two. Yeah, we'll see how that goes!

Vacation finds

Today is the first DIY of 2010 - yippee!

I found this ironstone soap dish during our PA trip - $2.00 for almost pristine condition! The fabric is another find during the same trip. I've been brainstorming an idea for a larger pincushion...

And this is what I came up with! I made a cardstock template for the base, used leftover fiberfill and then handstitched a little pillow. I applied two little Velcro dots to the bottom of the cushion and the bowl of the dish to keep the pillow stationary as I add/remove the pins.

During the same trip, I found this fabric. Again a little fiberfill to puff up the top slightly, some Elmers glue, and a piece of scrapbook paper on the underside of the lid to cover up the edges of the fabric and I'm done. Total time for both projects? 30 minutes tops! Total cost? Less than $5.00!

Let the resolutions begin!

Here's resolving that 2010 will be a better blog year for me! To get this party started, some FOs and WIPs. First, the finished stuff:

Two neckwarmers! The multicolor one uses Opal's Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince sock yarn in the "Lupin" colorway. The pattern is a lace rib done on #2 circs. The solid warmer is Elsebeth Lavold's Eucool (75% wool, 25% eucalyptus) in a broken lace rib on #6 circs.

On our annual holiday trip to PA, I worked on Citron.

I'm a few rows away from the ruffled edging and very excited to see how it will turn out after blocking. The yarn is a $2.00 cone of mohair that I picked up from the Essex Community Yarn Sale this past summer. As with most coned yarn, it looks like I've hardly made a dent in it!

I realized I'm hurting on the sock front, so I snagged a few balls of Deborah Norville's Serenity Sock yarn (superwash wool/bamboo/nylon) at Joanns for $2.50/skein. This is Tanzanite. I hope it knits up as nicely as it feels/looks.

After reading about mirasolperu.com's Miski Peruvian baby llama on Ravelry, I had to make a stop at Stitch Your Art Out in Pine Grove Mills, PA (right outside State College).

The yarn did not disappoint. In addition to picking up the celadon and the chocolate (with purpley bits) yarn, I also scored 2 skeins of the 100% merino wool in this gorgeous hand dyed colorway. Must be the post-holiday onset that makes me gravitate to these colors!

I'm back to work tomorrow, so I'm off now to see if I can finish Citron today! Happy New Year!