It's All in the Name

Dawn from As Sweet as Cinnamon wants to know why the different blogs are named what they are.  She is even holding a contest if you are willing to blog why your blog is named what it is.  Go here to link up your post for the contest.

When I started my blog, I already had a website called KyleAnn's Kreations. I was a fledgling knit designer and showcased my new and kustom knit and krochet designs. I didn't think I could call my blog the same name (I wasn't computer-savvy enough then to know I could, but also wanted to avoid confusion), so I named my blog Knitting with KyleAnn (it's all about me, you know!)

Of course, back then I wasn't into quilting yet, but I saw no reason to change the name. Although, if someone were to come up with a name that I can't resist, then I just might consider changing my blog name! If you have a suggestion on what I could rename my blog, leave it in a comment below! Be nice, tho! This is a family-oriented site. :-)

Back from N.C. and Progress!

Tom and I spent nearly a week down in the mountains of North Carolina - just 10 miles away from the Tennessee border. We were at one of the TVA lakes (Hiwassee) at the "cabin" of Tom's cousin and his wife, Michael and Ann. They spent the weekend there as well. We had a wonderful time. It was so beautiful there, so relaxing, and the weather cooperated. Thanks, Michael and Ann!

I spent most of the drive down, during the visit, and the drive back knitting on the 3-to-2 Any Gauge Sweater I mentioned in a previous post. The back is just a rectangle - knit on the bias. And I got it down! Yay!! And I have started the front. Here is a picture of the back on the blocking mats I bought from KnitPicks.com. I can't wait for it to dry. Hopefully it won't take too long to finish the front and I can get it on the mats. In the picture, the black/white tweed looks gray. I think i will make 3/4 length sleeves for this sweater.

Almost finished with the laundry from the trip. Better go get it done!

Block Swap! and contest

Encouraged by my daughter-in-law, Mary, I joined a block swap on the internet. There are five other people in the swap. We all listed our favorite colors and our dislikes, and now we make a 12" (finished) block for each of the others. I just finished my first! And I LOVE it!!! I'm really going to hate mailing it, but I must.

I now have a few entries on my Quilt Book Club blog. If you are having trouble posting a comment, make sure your name is in your comment and set your ID as "anonymous". I now have to approve all comments, but at least they are being posted without error messages! If you name is not in your comment, I will no longer be able to approve it. And remember, you have four opportunities to win the drawing, so make sure you make a separate comment for each one that applies to you!

Hope to see tons of entries!!

Time for a New Knitting Project

Peggy Shawl by Heartstrings Fiber Arts

I haven't been knitting much because I am having to re-train my left hand. But I finally completed another Peggy Shawl that I started in February with a sport-weight yarn. Been playing a little with another shawl in a DK yarn. Now I am going to try a tried-and-true sweater pattern. It's the 3-to-2 Any Gauge Sweater by Heartstrings Fiber Arts. I have made several of these but have, (throat clearing), outgrown them. They are such a joy to make - so easy and fairly quick. You can use any yarn with appropriate size needles to create the sweater that correctly fits YOU. No worries about meeting gauge, etc. You really ought to check it out!

3-to-2 Sweater

I have no idea what the yarn is that I am going to use. It's just a HUGE cone of yarn, probably synthetic, MAYBE a blend. It's a black/gray tweed and I am using size 7 (US) needles. Don't know how long my hands will last, but I will certainly give it a try!

New Blog!

I have created a new blog for an online quilt-along! Be sure to check it out and tell all your quilting friends - there is even a give-away contest! If the "blog" link does not work, go to KyleAnnsQuiltBookClub.blogspot.com.

Great Day!

Had SO (maybe that should be SEW) much fun today! Three of my quilting "buds" came over for a sew-in. Loretta, Peggy, and my beautiful granddaughter, Jenn, brought their machines and a project or two to my house and we sat and sewed all day.

My goal for the day was to make a cover for my major expensive (50 cents!) pocket calendar. Used my quilting software to print off a foundation pieced pattern for the Ohio Star block - but I wanted it to be three inches square. I thought foundation (paper) piecing would be easier than cutting those tiny pieces and sewing them together. I am very pleased with the result!

Thanks, guys, for a great day!

MY chair

Sorry, Mom. It's MY chair! Guess you'll have to sit on the floor!

Love my featherweight!

Today's been a relatively quiet, yet productive, day. Had my last insurance-paid therapy this morning.  :( I will miss the therapy, but I will miss my new friends more. We all had so much fun (why should physical therapy be miserable?).

Cut fabric for the July fabric swap at Goodtime Quilters in Circleville. Cut the July mystery quilt for Always In Stitches. Then I brought out the little Singer Featherweight I just bought from a friend. It's SO cute! Nothing fancy. Only does straight stitch. But it's small and lightweight, making it easy to tote to sewing events. Got it all cleaned up (it really needed it!) and started working on a quilt.

Then prepared Homemade Gourmet Skillet Lasagna for dinner. Didn't have everything it called for so made lots of substitutions. It's tasty. Tom and I are sitting and eating it now. [Deep, contented sigh] Can you feel the relaxation and satisfaction?

Prize Winning Student!

CONGRATULATIONS to Kay Melvin, who took a first place ribbon at the Pickaway County Fair on her bag from the Felted Tote class at Always in Stitches! (Along with several other ribbons on items she made!!) Good job, Kay!

Quilting Can Be Therapy Too!

As you read in my previous post, I had a wonderful "quilting weekend." Granted, most of the sewing was done on the machine, but I had a lot of "fine motor skill" practice on the quilt pictured on the previous post.

On Monday, some friends came to my house to sew and we had a lot of fun! I did not use my machine yesterday. I did hand-sewing. I had to finish the binding on another jelly roll quilt. This quilt was done in scarlet and gray fabric, with a little white and black thrown in for good measure. I made it for the brother of one of my therapists, John. Joe, who is currently in the hospital with Stage IV cancer, is also an OSU fan. John, on the other hand, is a Michigan fan. So I had double the fun making it!

Sewing the binding on did  require fine motor skills with my left (sore) hand. With the quilt being approximately 68x50, I got lots of therapeutic practice (with plenty of breaks).

As you can see in one of these pictures, I also quilted in a cancer ribbon in one corner. The others are of John receiving, and proudly displaying, Joe's folded quilt.

Thank you, Heirloom Quilters of West Jeff

A friend invited me to join a weekend quilt retreat in Piketon, Ohio. Her mother is a member of Heirloom Quilters of West Jefferson, Ohio, and the guild had opened up their retreat to other quilters. There were a couple members from the Mt. Sterling guild there, and my daughter-in-law, Mary, went with me. These women are lovely people and they were each-and-every-one making beautiful quilts. Mary and I were made to feel very welcome and we had a wonderful time.

Before my surgery in March I had started a Fun and Done quilt named Easy Diamonds. This pattern is, indeed, an easy and fun quilt  to make. Basically, you quilt-as-you-go, sash-as-you-go, and self-bind. When you are done, well, you are done! Having said that, I didn't get it finished before surgery. I took it to the retreat with me this weekend and it is DONE!  YAY!

None of these pictures show the colors at all well. I used 3 shades of gray and 3 shades of red. The sashing/binding/backing is a dark charcoal.

Thank you, ladies, for a wonderful weekend and for new friendships.

New Project from 1 Choice 4 Quilting

1Choice4Quilting has a Quilting Book Club. Basically, they pick 3-4 projects from the book and you have a month to complete each project.  This month's selection is  Posie Patch from Modern Basics. Here is mine - ready to be quilted by next week It's not a great picture and SO doesn't show the colors at all well. But it's the best I can do right now.

Little Wallet

Always In Stitches just got in a new pattern - a sewing card - for the Little Wallet. It's so darned cute! They made up about 20 kits. I had some scrap fabric with me so I made one out of my scraps. Now it matches my Kindle cover that I made and it will hold my Bluetooth that I keep misplacing. The picture on the left is the inside, or "opened up" view. On the right is the closed or outside view.

Physical Therapy (aka Pink Ribbon) Socks Finished!

Here are the socks I've been working on! John got a preview of them on Tuesday before I was finished putting the pink ribbons on, but I will give them to him tomorrow. I had a lot of fun designing and making them. Excited that I can knit a little, though not up to my usual standard. But it's progress!!!  (Doing the happy dance!)

Something Old, Something New

I mentioned in an earlier post about making a pair of white socks with pink ribbons for the mother of one of my physical therapists. My hand hasn't healed enough for me to get the tension correct to knit the ribbons in the socks, so am using the duplicate stitch to add the ribbons. Work like this goes much more smoothly, and easier, if you use a darning egg. I remembered the one my grandmother used - doesn't look like an "egg" at all, but is perfect for this project.

My grandmother was born in the late 1800's and died in the early 1970's. So that gives you an idea how old this "egg" is. At first, all I could think of was how pleased my mom would be to know I am using it. Indeed, I wanted to call and tell her! I still have many moments like that. But I am sure she knows anyway. :-) Don't you?

Great New Giveaway

1 Choice 4 Quilting is another getaway! Go to their blog for all the details and to see their great new line of fabrics and new notions.

Quilting the Jelly Roll Race Quilt

I am having too much fun with this quilt! As you can see, I have started quilting it. I really want to finish it tomorrow, but I have physical therapy tomorrow for my hand and will probably not be in any condition to do much of anything. :( However, we'll see. In the meantime, I really like the quilting pantograph I chose and the way it looks on the quilt!

DONE (but not in 35 minutes!!!!)

Participating in the Jelly Race at 1 Choice 4 Quilting was WAY fun! Even if you aren't interested in the contest/race, I encourage you to check out their blog and review the pattern for this quilt. She was so imaginative in incorporating Indy 500 race preparations with the instructions. Great read and delightful project.

Here is my Mr. Wonderful holding up the completed quilt top. I used fabric strips that my daughter-in-law, Mary (Quilt Genius) cut for me and made into a jelly roll.

Jelly Roll Quilt Contest!

Do you love Jelly Rolls as much as I do? Check out the Race Day Contest at 1 Choice for Quilting. It's a really cute idea, based on Indy 500 racing and offers a great way to make a quilt really fast using a Jelly Roll or your own 2-1/2" strips. I'd tell you more, but the website covers everything much better than I ever could and I have to get quilting! I have less than 24 hours to complete my quilt so I can enter the contest, although the website says the fastest done was 35 MINUTES!!!! Oh my! I better get sewing!

Knitting is Therapy!

After my cast was removed following the surgery on my thumb, I had to have physical therapy. I was told that most insurance companies will only pay for 70%-90% recovery. I informed the therapist that I expect 100% recovery and I don't care what it takes! I told them that knitting and quilting are very important to me. So they had me bring in my knitting so I could show them what forms of dexterity are required. That was a couple weeks ago. Now I have progressed enough that knitting is part of my therapy homework - along with massaging the scars with Vitamin E cream to help stretch the ligaments and exercising my wrist with 1# weights.

One of the therapists has a twin brother who was very recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. :-( John (therapist) was asking me how long it takes to make various articles. Then he wanted to know what I would charge to make a pair of white socks with the pink cancer ribbons for a woman who wears a size 7.5 shoe. His mom? His sister-in-law?

I never gave him an answer, but when I got home, I ordered a cotton-blend sport yarn. It arrived today! So I got busy designing the chart for the pink ribbon and cast on the socks. I have about an inch done, but my hands are exhausted and sore, so i need to quit for now. Hope to have time to work on the socks tomorrow! I will post pics when I get a little more done.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

My daughter-in-law (Mary of Quilt Genius and Our Hoppy Place) is always finding neat websites and blogs with fun and interesting posts. The most recent is Amy's Creative Side post about her Blogger's Quilt Festival.

So far, my all-time-favorite quilt I have made is Debbie Caffrey's 911 quilt, so named because someone who made it thought they counted 911 pieces. I don't know if they miscounted or if I made a different size, but there were well over 1100 pieces!

I made this at a quilt retreat, spending about 36 total hours on the pieced top. My son, who dropped by the retreat site to say "hi" to his wife, even stitched a few pieces. :-) She (Mary) is truly a genius, especially when it comes to colors. Determined to move me out of my comfort zone, Mary selected batiks in orange, yellow, and a pink? magenta? (The picture is really BAD!) BUT, I did get a first place ribbon at the 2010 Goodtime Quilters Quilt Show in Circleville Ohio.

Last day before heading home!

Weather is really yukky today. But we are not about to stay cooped up in the condo, no matter how nice it is! Not raining - yet - but the wind is ferocious.

We drove into town (New Bern) and found yet another quilt shop. Woo-hoo! The New Bern Fabric Center is a very nice shop with wonderful staff, and they are the local Bernina rep. There was a Pfaff dealer down the road but they weren't open. At the fabric center, I picked up some seersucker to make me a summer dress and some quilt fabric as well.

After that, we headed to our main destination for the day - the New Bern Antiques & Collectibles Mall. Nice shop! A lot of stalls for individual/independent vendors to display their wares.

We were deceived by the size - it seemed small from the outside - but it has several wings! I found a Spode thimble to add to my collection and a Pfaltzgraff cake plate (for $5!!!) for a friend. Not a bad day!

Got back to our condo to find a message from the welcome center - the weather is to get rather ugly and we need to be on the watch for it! OK. We can do that.

All right, no more posts till we get back. Happy weekend everyone!

More of the"tourist thing"

OK, it is now Wednesday. This time, we drove to Aurora to the Fossil Museum. Very small, seemingly dead town, but a nice little museum. Seems to focus mainly on sharks. To be fair, they do have other exhibits, but those were in the minority. Across the street they have the Fossil Museum Learning Center where they have exhibits of fossils that they believe to be 500 million years old. AND, they have a small parking lot filled with gravel, sand, seashells, and fossils that you can dig through to see what treasures you can find. nuff said!

Doing the "Tourist Thing"

OK, yesterday's weather was a bit "iffy". In fact, it rained off and on most of the day, but that might have been our "new" location. Tom and I drove about 45 min to go over a bridge to one of the islands, not far from the Outer Banks. Atlantic Beach to be exact, to the historic site of Fort Macon. By all accounts, this fort was really a kind of a waste, protection-wise, but it's certainly interesting. Look it up sometime! And wouldn't Tom be great as the next Vanna? lol


But I forgot something! (How on earth could I?) BEFORE we went to Fort Macon, we stopped by one of two quilt shops in the area (Morehead City). Sew It Seams is a charming little shop filled with brights and batiks - loved it! Didn't buy anything there, but wouldn't mind going back.





After visiting Fort Macon, we drove back to Morehead City to another quilt shop - The Quilted. This shop is half designer fabric and half quilt shop. Beautiful fabric! Brights, Orientals, Batiks. Picked up some fabric there. She had a beautiful quilt that she had designed and made for their shop hop 2011. SHOP HOP!! Did you hear that? I couldn't believe they'd already had their shop hop, but it seems it's the first week of February to help beat the winter doldrums. (Shall we compare "winter doldrums" notes?) But I gotta figure out the dates - looks like the hop is held Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon. Hard to get a condo for those days. it's usually Fri to Fri, Sat to Sat or Sun to Sun. hmmmmmmmmmm

Well, anyway, after that we ate lunch at Cox's - good home-cookin'. Tom and I shared the pot roast with baked sweet potato and corn (asked for carrots, but that's OK). Then on to our next adventure . . . . . . . .

The Maritime Museum in Beaufort. It was interesting, fun, short, but want does one want for free? The museum's focus was on Blackbeard and his ship, Queen Anne's Revenge.

After that we were two tired little puppies, so we decided to take the free ferry back to the mainland. By this time, the wind is really picking up. If we were required to stand on the deck, it would have been quite interesting. As it was, the captain (or whatever you call him) was finding it quite challenging to line us up with the dock so we could drive off. The wind just wasn't cooperating.

Obviously, we made it back to the condo for some rest. See you tomorrow!

Cap'n Tom

Went for a walk before lunch, after the meeting at the Rec Center to welcome us and tell us all about everything available in the immediate area and fairly close by, as well. We can even get on the ferry to the Outer Banks, if we choose.

Well, we spent part of this afternoon on a sailboat with Captain Melinda. She is one awesome sailor. Very enjoyable sail on her 43-foot sloop. Center is a pic of Melinda talking to one of the other passengers. You can't tell from this pic how TINY she is. She has sailed this sailboat to the Bahamas and back, by herself. Above is Tom, enjoying the cruise.

Below is Cap'n Tom! Actually, he was the helmsman. He spent a good 45 minutes steering after we were in full sail.

It's been a glorious day! Beautiful, sunny, nice breeze, great day for sailing!! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

New Bern, NC

Home of Pepsi-Cola! It's beautiful down here!!!! Warm, sunny, interesting. Our condo is on the Neuse River. Sorry, no beach! There is a pond right outside our unit and there are a total of 3 "observation decks." Here is a picture of me, last night on the deck right outside our door.

There is a trail around this particular pond that is about 5/8 mile long. Tom and I have walked it a couple times already. You know Tom, he's already ridden his bike (included with the condo) seveal miles.

We have no internet in the condo - have to go to the recreation center behind our unit (couldn't get connected, though, until one of the staff helped me!) or back to the welcome center - over 5 miles away.

We attended a wonderful Easter service yesterday morning at Tabernacle Baptist Church in New Bern. Saturday, we walked around historic downtown New Bern. Saw the pharmacy where Pepsi Cola was first made. There are several different tours we want to check out, too. Shortly we are going on a sailboat around the river. Don't know if it will take us to the ocean or not.

Getting lots of reading and resting done! We've been fixing Homemade Gourmet-very easy, very quick meals. So far, we've fixed Corn Chowder and Tres Queso Breakfast Skillet. Yummy!!!! And Saturday, we picked up fresh produce at the Farmer's Market for a great salad!

Gotta get off here and start having fun! Watch for more tomorrow!!!!

Scarves and Shawls

I haven't posted anything about the Sausalito scarf since my last trip to the frog pond. (deep sigh) Well, it is FINISHED! and I love it!!!! The scarf is feather-light and oh-so-soft. I am very pleased with it. :-) If this yarn isn't in your LYS yet, it will be soon!

Now that I am done with the Sausalito scarf, I needed something else to work on during TV-time with hubby. So I started my 10th (yes, TENTH!) Peggy Shawl, designed by Jackie E-S of HeartStrings Fiber Arts. Jackie describes this shawl as "An easier-than-it-looks triangle shawl featuring feathered radiating columns of subtly textured lace." And it is easier-than-it-looks! I recently taught a class featuring this pattern to a group of knitters who had not yet accrued much experience in knitting. Their results are impressive!

I love learning!

Yesterday afternoon was my day to work at the quilt shop. Had a good day, got a lot done. Then realized that last night was the class on Cathedral Window Quilts. I had notice this class when the class list was being drawn up and was mildly intrigued, then promptly forgot all about it. Then Brooke arrived at closing time to set up for the class. Don't know what grabbed me, but I immediately called my Mr. Wonderful, told him he could say "no" and promptly gave him all the reasons to say "yes." He so didn't mind if I took that class so I did. Here is completed step 1:

Doesn't look like much, yet! My completed step 2 didn't photograph well because of the black fabric and not-so-great lighting, so Peggy held hers up for me. Here it is, although it is not yet pressed:

And here is the first completed "window" -

far from perfect but a lot more fun than I thought it would be. And please don't tell my daughter-in-law that this means I am learning the basics of applique!!!! She has always encouraged me to learn and I have dug in my heels. I'm thinking I might like it!!!!

I will another picture when I get the other 10 "windows" done.

One last trip to the frog pond!

Well, I think I have finally found a lace stitch that I am satisfied with. But when charting it, I made a mistake, and so, for the first several repeats I made a mistake. Throws the whole thing off. So will frog this one last time, and then I think I am ready to make - AND FINISH - this scarf. Still enjoying this yarn and it is still forgiving. I think Crystal Palace has a real winner with this Sausalito!

Rip-it, Rip-it

When, oh when, am I going to be satisfied with a lace motif? Had about 7" done and just frogged it all - again! Wonder how much more this yarn is going to forgive me? I've frogged a ton of times already. (deep sigh). Maybe I'll go through a stitch dictionary and see if something strikes me . . . hmmmmmmm.

On another note, I made two blocks today for the 2012 raffle quilt for the Goodtime Quilters Guild of Circleville. Each star is the Ohio Block and, if I remember correctly, there are to be about 72 blocks in this quilt. I also finished quilting a shop sample. Will take it in and have the "Binding Queen" - Pat - bind it. AND, I got the directions written up for the Double Diamond class I get to teach at the GTQ retreat in March. Is it a sin to have this much fun??

OK, back to the stitch book.

Back to the Frog Pond

Got up this morning and picked up my knitting. Decided I wasn't all that thrilled with the stitch I had chosen to ripped it all out. Started again. Once it is blocked, I think I will like the "new" stitch better. It's hard to see the lace in this picture, but after it is blocked, the lace should be much more visible.

Love Sausalito!

Well, I started playing with the new ball of Sausalito yarn from Crystal Palace Yarns last night! Love it, love it, love it. I am working on a very easy lacy scarf but keep changing my mind how I want it to look. Sausalito holds up well to frogging! lol But I now have about 4 inches done and I love the drape or "hand" and I am pleased with how soft the scarf feels. I'm still thinking this yarn would make great socks.

New yarn to play with!

My goodness - 2 posts in one day!!! I received a ball of yarn in the mail from Crystal Palace Yarns. It's their new Sausalito yarn and I can't wait to play with it. It's really soft - and durable, with fiber content of 80% Merino Wool and 20% Nylon. I am going to play with a lacy scarf but I am thinking this would make nice socks, too. The good news is that first shipments of the yarn should arrive mid to late February - in other words - SOON!

Will try to post progress of the scarf. Think I'll make another mug of tea and start knitting!

Never say never!

My dear daughter-in-law, Mary, and a friend, Holly, have decided they are going to make the Dear Jane quilt. They suggested I join them and my response was, "never! no way, no how!" Wellllllllllll, they have completed their first block and posted about it on their new blog, OurHoppyPlace.com, and I now I am intrigued. I am going to have to try. Need first to decide my colorway and Mary is my color expert. She and my son just left to celebrate their anniversary and will be gone a few days, so may need to wait till she gets back. However, that block is SO calling to me that I may have to start without her.

Be sure to go to their blog by clicking on the word "blog" and check their progress! You might even want to be a "follower" of their blog.