Poncho

My last finished project of the year, the poncho. I needed a crafty something to take along in the plane, for my trip to Nairobi, Kenya and to Jakarta, Indonesia. Still not done, I took it with me to the Netherlands early December, the flight was very bumpy and it kept my hands busy. Rather knitting than showing my kids I was not at ease. It worked, they did not notice a thing and while knitting I could tell them that we were doing fine.

I was almost done after my family trip, just needed some 20 rows of knitting. They were done rather fast. Last night I sewed all parts together and am ready to wear it to the office after the holidays.

The yarn I bought on-line when I had to buy two balls of yarn to finish my cognac colored cardigan, after all, only ordering two balls and paying postage was not really cost effective. The pattern and yarn were sold as a package, and it went straight in to my shopping cart.

The yarn is from Filato, Lana Grossa, Allegro made in Italy. I knitted with two strands at the same time and used a circular needle size 8 mm, 80 cm. The pattern was pretty simple, knit two rectangular pieces and sew these together.

The end result is a very colorful poncho that will look nice on a pair of black pants or jeans.

Linking up with FAL 2018, project 6 of my list, 7 out of 10 done.

Legwarmers for my daughter

Alesya wanted socks, just not ordinary socks, no she wanted hand-made socks by me. And although I was happy to make her socks, the thought that they might be too small in a short time and therefore only used a few months seemed to be a pity. Legwarmers were the perfect answer. I used WYS yarn, Pink Flamingo cocktail sock yarn.

They became my on-the-go project, while stuck in traffic jams, or at the GP. Before Christmas one was done and during the holidays made the second one. Every time I had some 10 minutes, I took out the second legwarmer. I used dpn's 3mm for the rib part and a small circular needle 2.75mm for the knit part. I set up 54 stitches and knitted a total of 35 cm. The second one was done in no-time. Holidays are great for finishing projects.

Linking up with FAL 2018, project 7 of my list, 6 out of 10 done.

Cognac coloured cardigan

In December 2017 I bought lovely recycled yarn in a shop in the Netherlands. Already that summer I had eyed the yarn (Lana Grossa, Solo Lino), however was not sure if it would go well with the silk fabric I had waiting to be made in to a skirt. So when I went to the Netherlands again ended up buying the necessary yarn (well, I was one ball short). I started knitting, shortening the front and back panel to compensate that I was 50 gr short. Then knitted one sleeve and realized I was not going to make it, not enough. While in the Netherlands over summer (2018) went back to the shop, and none available. Went to the site of the manufacturer and out of stock. In October the yarn was available again and I ordered two balls. Meanwhile I had knitted the two sleeves top down, at least if there was a colour difference, it would be the same for both sleeves.

The aim was to finish the sleeves and assemble all before Christmas, which was the case. Am quite happy with the cardigan and the yarn used. I will definitely be making a cardigan with this yarn.

Linking up with FAL 2018, quarter 4. Project 5 of my list is done. Five out of ten, not bad am halfway and still have 10 days left to see what I can finalize.

Bella Skill Builder - A big finish!!!!

I did it ..... I dove in and managed and finished.



In March 2017, I started the Bella Skill Builder quilt designed by Sherri McConnell and hosted by the @Fat Quarter shop on their blog (insert link). The explanations were very well done and I enjoyed the journey, learning new blogs, designs that I would not have dared to try so quickly after discovering quilting if on my own.

To ensure that I would progress, each month became part of Elm Street Quilt's OMG, the final sewing of the top was my November 2017 OMG.

And then no more progress, no idea how to tackle the next steps. I looked up quite a bunch of videos on youtube ..... still no progress. Sending the quilt to a long-arm quilter is not really an option, did not know where to find one, and wanted absolutely go through all steps, especially as this quilt is all about building skills. Throughout 2018 I made a few baby quilts to practice and some decorative small quilts. Confidence grew and in November I decided that I had to finish before the end of the year. No more postponing, no more being scared, time to dive in. If I was to finish one WIP, the BSB it had to be, also because my daughter had stopped asking when I would finalize her quilt. The only option to ensure that I would actually finish BSB was to make it my December OMG.

I brought my (new) sewing machine to the kitchen and for a few weekends FMQ-ing was all I did. The kids knew not to disturb me if it wasn't important. For lunch and diner all was put aside, only to go back on the table to continue. I was on a roll. For the quilting itself I used the circular pattern, following Patty's instructions on her website.

It wasn't easy, the quilt is huge, however I was determined to finish before Christmas. The first circulars were difficult, and the thread would break and the quilt would fly in all directions. So I changed to my walking foot and this was better. Also imperfection is ok, if looking at the quilt from a distance the imperfections do no really show up. And the circulars go perfect with the graphic design of the quilt.

Proudly presenting my December OMG.

Linking up with FAL 2018 project 2, four out of 10 done.

OMG December - Diving in

For a few months now, easily, have I been postponing and putting off the basting and quilting of my Bella Skill Builder quilt. I finished the top ages ago ..... it was my OMG of last year November ..... so now no more delaying.

I wasn't sure how to tackle it to be honest. The top is pretty large and I have never FMQ-ed such a large beauty. I practiced on several small quilts to get familiar with my new machine and with FMQ in general. Still I wasn't sure how to go about, what patterns to choose or if I should use rulers. Well, as I don't have any rulers that part was quickly solved.

Patty from Elm Street Quilts sends out news letters, in one she had a link to a tutorial on how to make a spiral design. The moment I had read the post, I knew this is what I should do. The spiral would look good with the graphic design of the different blocks.

My One Monthly Goal for December is to spiral quilt my BSB quilt and make the binding. I can then gift the quilt to my daughter (finally).