Unfaithful Gal

I have been cheating on my sewing machine & fabric stash with my knitting needles. I learned to crochet when in middle school and have been a crocheter on and off thru the years, I mostly crochet baby blankets for my nieces and nephews, almost a tradition that every new baby in the family would get a blanket, but I've never really knitted. I was taught to knit and purl the continental way by one of my neighbors, I've tried to teach myself to knit "the normal" way unsuccessfully, I suppose I thought that collecting needles sets would turn me into a proper knitter. Earlier this week, I wanted to do something with my hands and decided to give knitting another chance, would not try the normal way but just do what I know. The first yarn skein I pulled was a black and brown boucle, the label said 5 ounces, well, I knitted two and purled two and kept on until I used all the yarn. This is the result, all 88 inches of it:And a little detail of the texture. Are scarfs supposed to be this long? Maybe it is too long, but I love it! What I love the most is that this is my first ever completed knitting project!

By the way, last Sunday and before the affair with the needles, I put together my Jacob's Ladder blocks. I'm happy with the layout and how it turned out.

Not forgetting that today is Stash report Sunday, I have to say there was no change in the quilting stash..... BUT I gave away two - full to the brim - 30 gallon bags of fabric, including what looked like almost twenty (didn't count) commercial garment patterns. I had major heartache while filling the bags and had to keep saying to myself "if you have not sewn a garment in more than 10 years, it's likely you won't in the near future". Not that I ever was a serious sewist, just another well kept collection. I didn't count and don't care how many yards of fabric left my house, but I can honestly say that my heartache left with the bags, the fabric went to a great home and left a very nice empty spot in my hall closet. I'm happy.

Another source of happiness in my life is the little peanut, here's a picture I took of her before she went to church on a Sunday.

Maybe I'll continue the affair with my knitting, What is that saying?..... You always return to your first love? Doesn't sound like the right saying but it sure sounds appropriate in my case. I hope to pull from the stash for a couple of new projects that are tempting me, might as well do it while and happy and content.

Stash Report Week 45

Fabric Added week 45: 3 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 86 yards
Fabric Used week 45: 2 1/2 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date: 76 1/8 yards

I finally finished something!. Made a little bag for my daughter with some tiny scraps from a very generous friend, Juanita was getting rid of her leftover pieces (I posted about her quilt here ), but instead handed the little 1 1/2" inch strips to me. I pieced them randomly and let it grow as it wanted, the new fabric grew enough to allow me to fold it in half and box the corners. I just had to add the linning, handles and a small front pocket. That's were my three yard purchase came in, perfect print to finish this off. Of course it didn't require all three yards, but the other 2 1/2 yards would be used to make that apron I've promised my daughter.

My Saturday sewing group is working on a Jacob's ladder project, I choose a two color way and non scrappy, I thought I would be bored with it, but found two fabrics that play together very nicely. Here's a block:

There was only one yard of the tan piece and a little less than 2 of the navy blue, that yield 12 12" blocks, I wanted this layout, but it just didn't work. Instead I will set the blocks in a 4 x 3 straight grid with navy blue sashing, it will be finishing at about 44" x 56", perfect for a little boy's baby quilt. It feels good to enjoy and want to sew again, finishing a project is even better.