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a quilt for michael and heather!

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I got it in my head to make quilts as wedding presents for my two cousins getting married last summer, despite not having any idea what kind of decor they have in their homes, or even, really, their taste. Would they like them? Or would they get shoved in a closet, only to be pulled out when a guest was in town or something. I was most unsure about my cousin Michael and his wife, Heather, because though we spend a week together every year down the shore, I really had no idea what they would think.

Well, they loved it and I am so relieved! Because we’re at a beach house, Heather immediately took it to her bed. (We take whatever beds we can get in this house, hence her single bed.)

The palette of mustards, grays, and blues was chosen for its sort of masculinity and its modernity, and log cabins were chosen for their traditionality. I think the combination worked well! All the center squares were given to me by JulieFrick, who cut me a little “charm pack” of her own fabrics when I said I needed more mustards. I worked concentric squares until each square measured 15 x 15, and then sashed all of them with the blue. I knew I couldn’t really make it all that much bigger without making more blocks, but I tried my best, because Michael and Heather are both so tall! (Both were basketball players in college.) The quilt finished up at 70 x 70. Wavy quilting lines and Kona butercup for the binding finished it off.

I pieced the back in the same way I pieced my other cousin’s quilt. I like the look, plus I sort of liked the idea of this being my signature backing for wedding gifts? Maybe? We’ll see what happens when a third couple gets hitched and I plan the back! Without real time to embroider and affix a label, I used a pen to personalize it. Since it took me more than a year to make (I started it before their wedding, but only finished it up shy of their one-year anniversary), I put the years that it was created. I hope they get many more years of comfort with it!

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photoville

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I was completely out of the loop on Photoville—I must not follow the right photography sorts of people on Twitter—so I didn’t know what it was or that it was happening until I saw the photos of a few friends and contacts who went while I was away on a business trip. But their photos didn’t really tell me anything, either, just that one was checking it out, and that another had a photo up. Whatever it was, I wanted to see it. Tania and I went on its last day.

Turns out, it was a pop-up museum of photography, set up in old shipping containers scattered around an empty lot by Pier 3 (currently unfinished!) of Brooklyn Bridge Park. (This, apparently, is the new thing—repurpose an old shipping container into something else? See the DeKalb Market.) But I’m down with that, although they are stiflingly hot when they don’t open on both sides and the mercury has exceeded 90°F. No matter, there was a misting tent (ahhhhh) and a “hydration station” (a girl with a cooler of water bottles for sale) and the atmosphere, while being baked in the oppressive heat of the day, was genial.

Everyone had a camera slung over his or her shoulder. Were we checking out the make and model of our fellow photographers? I’m sure we were.

The work shown was quite varied, and all interesting. Some of the containers were outfitted further, to set the scene. All of them were food for thought. If I hadn’t been so hot, I probably would have read more of the descriptions. As it was, I just soaked it in. I loved that it was free and available to anyone—and I hope it comes back!

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twitter bee picnic blanket!

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Yesterday I finally—finally, as this blanket was begun 2 years ago!—debuted a picnic blanket that was made for me by friends, using materials bought with friends, and that will probably always be used in the company of friends!

(Photos above by my friend Jodi McKee)

Two summers ago, Andréa and a few others of us got to talking on Twitter about having our own bee. There’d been a handful of bees amongst knitbloggers already, but this one brought together a new group of crafty folk—some experienced quilters and some novices. My month was right in the middle, and I chose the disappearing 9-patch. On a trip to the burbs with fellow city friends (periodic visits to big box stores are crucial for city survival! And the Santa Fe Salad at the Cheesecake Factory, about the only thing that I truly love about the suburbs), we hit a Joann’s during a 99-cent fat quarters sale, so I stocked up on yellows and oranges with this project in mind. I invited my bee-mates to add their own fabrics (in oranges/reds/yellows, of course) but one rule had to be followed: The center square in the 9-patch had to be in the provided Kona Snow. This way every block would end up with four small white squares. But I wasn’t picky about how the patches were rotated and sewn together (however, any ones that came in with the same fabric next to itself were picked apart and tacked onto another square).

When I distributed the blocks I worked to keep the red squares scattered around. I sewed lots more squares to fill out the blanket—it can seat 2–3 people comfortably. I finished the top about 8 months after my bee month, but there it sat while I figured out the backing. I wanted waterproof, or something like it, and wasn’t sure how best to accomplish it. Then while in Boulder for a dear friend’s wedding, in line at a hardware store for sunscreen, I turned and saw large bolts of oilcloth for some amazingly low price (I think less than $2 a yard?). A yellow with green plaid lines seemed to be the right choice, so I bought several yards and smashed it into my suitcase. But I only finally got around to putting it all together a few weeks ago.

TwitterBee Picnic Blanket!

I didn’t put any batting between the top and backing—I figured, whatever padding I’d put in wouldn’t be any match against a rock, and I certainly wasn’t seeking warmth. But I did quilt the two together, just to be sure there wouldn’t be any shifting. I went on the diagonal in each direction. Stitching on the oilcloth was so easy! It moved through the machine just fine, and I had it all quilted in no time. I used another orange fabric as the binding, and machine sewed it down. This was my first time using the machine, and while it wasn’t a perfect job, it definitely did the trick; I was pleased with how successful it was!

While sewing down the binding I added two ties so that I could roll the blanket up and tie it shut. Ingenious, I think! This weekend I got to use the blanket at the Big Apple BBQ. Five friends and I sampled some amazing meats on the lawn at Madison Square Park and relaxed on our blankets—it was perfect! This was my fourth visit to the BABBQ but my first with a truly wonderful blanket to sit on. So big thanks to Sara, Nova, Sarah, Chawne, Kate, Stacey, Danielle, Carrie, Andréa, JulieFrick, and Caro for your contributions to my summer of fun with friends! I love that I can have my friends with me in so many ways. Just do not spill anything on my quilt, or I’m never hanging out with you again. You’ve been warned!

TwitterBee Picnic Blanket!

(Photo taken by Jodi McKee)

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the seven year itch!

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Today is my 7th blogiversary! This little corner of the internet actually began on Blogger—it was a bit more than a year later that I bought my own domain. I can’t even believe all the changes I’ve gone through—and the FOs I’ve made! I’ve gained more friends than I can count because I became a knit blogger, and I’m probably working at my current job because I slowly but surely devoted myself to this industry over the last seven years. I couldn’t be happier that I joined the blogging fray, and thank all my readers for participating over the years!

I bought us cupcakes!

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elephant!

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Look what I found hiding in the grass today!


I finished putting her together on Saturday after slowly knitting all the pieces over the course of about a month or so. I’ve had some significant pain in my left thumb since I knit the Bulky Topper and the two berets over two weeks in February, so I’ve been laying off knitting for the past two months. I even bought a thumb brace and have been knitting no more than half an hour at a time; most days I don’t knit at all in an attempt to get my thumb healed. A visit to the doctor this past week indicates it might “just” be tendinitis, but that’s better than the scary arthritis Dr. Google told me it was. I need to make an appointment with a hand specialist for a week from now. Anyway, all this to say that this elephant took a while to make.

But it still took me far less time to knit than the pattern would have had me: The pattern inexplicably has you knit every piece flat. Every. Piece. The body alone is made up of 3 pieces. The ears? Two pieces each. Lazy pattern development, if you ask me—so I knit all the pieces in the round. I even picked up stitches and knit the base of the body directly to the torso. The ears? Knit in the round and finished off with a three-needle bindoff. I had some trouble with the head because I never checked all the abbreviations before diving in: In the head you work a kfb when it says “inc” (as opposed to the M1 you use in all the other pieces), but I didn’t realize that at first. That was a case of user error, but I’m sure others have been thrown off by it. I did a short little (not pictured) crochet chain for the tail instead of the called-for braid. All this to say, if you are looking to knit out of Knitted Wild Animals, I recommend rewriting the pattern entirely to save yourself loads of seaming.

Still, all in all, it’s a cute one! See all the details on Ravelry.