of quilts and bunnies

Okay, I forgot that I didn't ever show you the table topper that I finished up last weekend! 
I don't c ompletely love it but, eh!  I gave it to Kristin last night she likes it so that's all that matters!  I think it's because there's too many patterns?  Not enough solidness?  IDK.

I finished this little bunny yesterday. He turned out super cute!  I used the body of the fuzzy lamb pattern except I worked it in the round and then the head from the Mother Bunny pattern and then I just made the ears like the mother bunny pattern except with one strand of yarn and then extra long.  I sewed in some felt on the under side to keep the ears from curling in on themselves.  I also did the little spot on the ear. 

Aaaaand, I know I said I wasn't going to start another quilt, but I caved! 
I'm totally digging it!  So, I saw this quilt and I really liked the way the backround was muted but all different prints and that the plus signs really pop.  But, I'm not a big fan of the plus sign quilts so I really hemmed and hawed when I was drawing up my pattern.  THEN!  I remembered a quilt from the Winter 2012 issue of Quilty that had a churn dash with all muted creams and gray and beige and I thought I could mesh the two ideas!  I've been wanting to do some churn dash blocks for awhile but just haven't had the right inspiration.  So the pattern in the magazine was for 5" blocks and I have quite an aversion to the little blocks so instead I'm doing mine 10.25" which works up faster and not as fussy.

discovering Gene Kelly

Did I mention that a couple of weeks ago I watched Singin' in the Rain for the first time?  I LOVED it!  Adored it.  I realized that I had mixed up Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in my mind so really I had never seen Gene Kelly dance or sing before.  I kept waiting for a guy looking like Fred Astaire to come on the screen and when he didn't I checked the cover of the DVD and realized my mistake.  I could watch him sing and dance forever.  What a joy!  And, almost every day the Good Morning song gets stuck in my head.  If I could really belt out songs I would and at home by myself I tried it out but, um, I'm not a belter :)  I had borrowed the DVD from the library and it was a  2 disc set that had a bunch of bonus features so it was cool to watch interviews and choreographers discuss the greatness of the musical.  And the easy-breeziness of it, love.  It's so true that shows are just not made like that anymore. 

jam

So last weekend when I went to the store I noticed that strawberries were on sale and I bought a basket of them and enjoyed them. And then the wheels started turning in my head and I realized that I have rhubarb in the freezer! You guessed it, I decided I needed to make some strawberry rhubarb jam. It's funny because I usually associated canning things with summer/early fall and never think to can things at other times in the year. Usually my jam has turned out really runny so it's more like a syrup with chunks in it. Still delicious but not great on a peanut butter sandwich! This time I used a little more pectin (like 1/2 tbsp more) and cooked it for longer. I think it set up better this time. I still had the froth as per usual. It's super chunky and I think it's going to be delicious! In the craft house I am working on a table topper in the trip around the world pattern. I just finished the piecing and will work on quilting it a bit today maybe. I am also knitting up a new rabbit.  Maybe, maybe after this knitting project I might try my hand at socks.  I'm still pretty intimidated by socks but feel that I should give them a go!

I have to say that I haven't been reading as much as I was hoping I would. But. I have been listening to books on cd while in the craft house so I'm counting those books as reads on my list. I just finished listening to Eragon by Christopher Paolini and am now on the second book in that series called Eldest. I had read all of the books in the series before as they came out but it's nice to hear them. There are parts that I had forgotten.

Stegosaurus

And so I have knit a dinosaur!  My pics are all super blurry because I took them last night and I was either too close or it was too dark, idk.  So.  My friend Charese had asked me to knit it because her *kind of* grandson came to visit and was sleeping with a hard plastic dinosaur that the kid's mom had sent with him.  I figure he must really love that dinosaur to sleep with it!  I found a pattern on Ravelry and knitted the body and scales at the knitting retreat.  Here's his funny little face.  The pattern just had button eyes, I think, but I really like to use the safety eyes.  I think it gives them a little more personality.  And the nose is two french knots.  I debated about the mouth and in the end I'm glad I gave him a smile. I propped him up on the candle trying to get a better view of his face and you can also see his little toes that I sewed on with yarn.  Here's the other side view.  You can see a bit of white on the neck there where my stitches were a little too wide or "laddered".  The whole dino was knit in the round so it's kind of easy to ladder stitches.  Even the scales were knit in the round, which on the little ones was tricky keeping the yarn on the needles.  I think it turned out well though.
I gave it to Charese today and she loves it!  Next time the little boy visits he will get a fun treat! 

starry runner

Yesterday I finished up a runner that I started awhile ago.  This finish kind of crept up on me!  I've been working on it a little here a little there and then yesterday afternoon I was done!  So then I was like what else do I have to do except quilt it?  So then I switched to the darning foot and before you know it it was donezo!  This is for my friend Kristin.  I had made her some hot pads awhile back and I thought a runner might be nice to match.  Her house is kind of tuscan colors and I thought stars would be fun. I just made up the pattern. I knew I wanted a big star on one side and then little ones on the other. Then I thought it would be fun to alternate which side the big star is on. The cream backround polka dot print is the one that Kristin originally started with for the hot pads and then I've just kept adding on to it. I really like the way this turned out and I hope she does too! The only little bugger was the thread. I think it kept getting caught on my darning foot or something because every once in awhile it would be kind of snaggy. But, not too big of a deal I think. Here's a little close up:
I'm almost finished with the dinosaur I'm knitting.  I have two more legs to go so I might finish it up today.

knitting retreat

I don't know if anyone else does this but after a conversation with someone I will sometimes mull over the conversation forever.  Like why didn't I say this or that or why didn't I just shut my mouth?  A lot of time shutting my mouth is the best idea :)  Anyhow, last weekend was the knitting retreat, which was awesome! but there is one leeetle question I was asked that I wish I could have a do-over on.  It was put to me like this "You're religious, right?  What do you think?"  And I said yes, blah, blah, blah......and it continued.  BUT!  what I wish I had said was "no I don't consider myself 'religious', I have a relationship with God."  Because, really, for me, that is a much more truthful answer.  It's not perfect and I don't have everything figured out but isn't that what relationships are?  And really I consider "religion" as having a lot of rules and possibly rituals and I don't have that.  So, I guess that's my do-over.  Ha.

Okay, so the knitting retreat.  Awesome!  I've been to the same campground for the scrapbooking retreats that I've gone to like twice a year for the past 6 or so years.  But as a knitting retreat it like morphed into something altogether different and COZY and intimate almost and quiet and kindred.  There were only 8 of us and the couches that don't usually get any use were pulled in around the wood stove.  It was possibly a little too warm even with short sleeves, but eh.  It was snowing and tons of snow on the ground.  There were a couple of ladies crocheting.  Two ladies just brought up magazines and their company.  The other 4 of us knitted.  I've longed for awhile now to watch other people knit and this really fulfilled that longing.  You see, I learned from a book and not really anyone I know knits.  So it was really nice to watch the way they held their hands, the needles, the yarn and just the technique. 

One of the ladies brought up some board games and we played Taboo on Saturday night, which was really fun!  I hadn't played it before so it was fun to learn and get to know the ladies a little bit more in a fun way.  I love playing board games!  So, I am almost finished with the dinosaur I started knitting there, I just have the legs and then it's done and I'll show some pics. 

This morning was ballet and it was my 4th class.  It really is such a great weight loss motivation!  I think I am going to try and go more often, even without Charese.  I think I'll catch on a little bit more that way.  I also found a book at the library, so look out!  I really think you can learn almost anything from a book!