Time flies when you're having fun... or Who Took My Year?

How did that happen? I blinked and it's almost the middle of January, and I haven't posted since September! Where does the time disappear to? Did someone else need it more than I did?

Okay, I need to recap what I've been doing (mostly for myself because I don't think anyone is left out there reading my rambling).

In my crafty life --

There has been knitting:

In October, I finished 3 hats for Shanti's Mom's Ships Project to put hats on the heads of sailors on her ship. Those are down the left side.

From next column clockwise: Fingerless gloves for The Dork, Bryony tank, Handspun Scrunchable Scarf for me, Striped scarf for Hubby, Purple socks for me, Hawthorne shawl (yes, it takes the entire width of our queen-size bed).

In progress now: a Pretty Thing cowl in cashmere!


Quilting:
Only one this year, but there are a couple more in the works that I can't show you yet. Remember I had bought some blue fabric back in 2008 for an ocean themed quilt? Well, I added to the fabric stash... and then this:

Blue batiks

became a quilt/playmat for Reuben Jeffrey James Miles
 

Spinning:

Ahhh, spinning! I've done more spinning in the last year than I've done in a looooong time, and that includes the Tour de Fleece. That's because I enrolled in SpinU, a 12-week intensive class at Purlescence taught by the incomparable Sandi. We did all kinds of spinning, from understanding the basics of worsted-style and getting our hands to do woolen-style spinning, to working with long- vs short-staple fibers, to various art-yarns. I've got a better understanding of my wheel and how to get it to do what I need.

My favorite spinning was the laceweight cashmere/silk and camel/silk blends in the upper left photo. (I loved working with the good stuff!) And, The Dork Boy says he's getting me a high-speed flyer whorl for my spinning wheel so I can more easily spin the finer stuff.

In other crafty things, my sister-in-law made this embroidery for her mother (my MIL):

Lovely!















School has been busy and we're heading into what I call "research season" starting with the 3rd graders this week. We're also involved with accreditation reports for the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), and I'm heading a committee. Add to that supervising a part-time librarian (who used to be my boss - she's semi-retired), and I'm sometimes silly busy.

In the home improvement area, we've had 2 fences go down in a windstorm before Christmas. The backyard was quickly repaired by our neighbors who propped it up. The side fence, which we knew was a problem, will be replaced probably in the spring when it's warmer. There also have been washing machine problems, a replacement water heater (tankless!), a new-to-us TV, and some reorganization and destashing of stuff. Another run to Goodwill needs to happen soon.

The holidays came and went too quickly. I blinked and the time between Halloween and the New Year whizzed by.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to Stitches West, which will be in just a few weeks. Hmmm, what can I make before then...?

Whew! I guess I was pretty busy, wasn't I?

Quilt!

My 2nd baby quilt was made in 7 days. I was told "red, white and blue", and couldn't quite come up with the right crochet/knit blanket pattern and yarn.





But then I saw some fabric that I couldn't resist. Do you recognize the book this came from?*







And then I realized that I had a few coordinating fat quarters and it came together very quickly.

Actually, a little too quickly...
(Do you see the "oops" at the bottom of the green section?)








Problem fixed, machine quilting done, Mommy happy! I work with H's mother-in-law at the public library, so it was the perfect project for me.


*Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle. By the way, Happy 40th birthday, Very Hungry Caterpillar!

We now return to our regularly scheduled knitting - onward, to Marta!

Yet again, I play catch-up

Yes, I know that I've been a bad blogger. Yes, I know it's been another whole month since I last posted. But it's not for lack of content or lack of planning. You know you're a blogger when you make decisions based on whether or not your actions make good blog fodder.

However, the combination of lack of time and a top-secret project that I finally finished and gifted this past weekend is really the reason.

You see, CJ had a baby shower yesterday. She is excused from blogging duties because of baby brain. I knew she had knit a baby blanket for herself, and I knew that at others were knitting for her. So I decided to do something differently.

Behold - the Very Hungry Caterpillar baby quilt/playmat! The caterpillar and all his food is on the front and the butterfly appears on the back.

I had so much fun making this quilt!

Considering that I've never made a quilt before, I learned several things about the process:

1) I really need to do more sewing. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

2) If you're machine quilting, you really need a walking foot for your machine. I thought I had one, but if I did, I can't find it! There are a couple places where the fabric puckered more than I'd like.

3) This is another slippery slope that I could easily slide down and get lost in!

I went to PIQF a couple weekends ago and bought some gorgeous fabrics for a quilt for our house. Hubby wanted something with an ocean feel to it. What do you think?



I've also been spinning - mostly because I was on the phone last night with my best friend who lives in Las Vegas. It had been a while since we talked, so that's what cell phone minutes and bluetooth headsets are for. I'd show you a picture of my bobbins, but they are black and grey, with just a hint of lavendar and orange; in other words, not very easy to photograph. But it's the Black Sun colorway of Corriedale Pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms.

On the yarn front - yes, there has been yarn action: Cleite is coming along. I've just started the 6th repeat. The crocheted hoodie has reached the 12" point, so I need to divide for the fronts and back. And I've finally restarted the Susie cardigan, but in Dream in Color Classy. Pictures on all of these will happen at a later time.

We had a day off from school, but now I need to get going and run a few errands. Spinning and blogging and it's already mid-afternoon. Or, maybe I'll just take a nap...