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For years now, I've been wanting to make a quilt. The fabrics, the designs... I was smitten.  However, there was always something holding me back: I didn't *actually* know how to sew, which is sorta kinda important if you're going to make a quilt.  So I've heard, anyway.  Hah.

With Kate-the-Enabler's help and guidance, I eventually found my way around the basics.  I say "found my way" because, no, I don't think I've mastered them.  But I can thread my sewing machine and I can sew a straight line.  I decided I was good to go.

I chose a relatively simple design for my first project, Alice by Red Pepper Quilts.  It features 2 traditional blocks, log cabins and four-patch blocks, and looked easy enough to my newbie eyes.  I started sewing.

Here's the thing though: the finished size as stated by the pattern is 40.5 inches x 48.5 inches (about 1 meter x 1.3 meters).  And that's... small, you know? Now... maybe it's my newbieness talking here, but when I think "Quilt", I think "Blanket".  40.5 in x 48.5 inches is a lap quilt.  It's a decorative piece. It's not a blanket.

No worries, I thought.  I'll just make it bigger by making more blocks!  How hard can that be?

So that's what I did, my friends.  I made more blocks.

Lots more.

Holy freaking crap.

Happy Sewing, Friends!

There Were Birds

One thing that never fails to amaze me about the whole process of making things is how - usually - what you wind up with becomes so much more than what initially went into it.  As knitters, we know all about that, don't we?  We know that,  given a little time (OK, sometimes a lot) and a whack of patience, a little string can become a sweater.  Quilters know that scraps of fabric, thread, and time can turn into a blanket that will keep future generations feeling warm and safe.  Bakers know that flour, milk and eggs can become a delicious dessert.

Well as of today, my friends, this Mum knows that - given enough time (six days, to be exact) - strips of newspaper, glue, and paint can make a newly minted 5-year old and his friends very, very happy.

 

Red Bird piñata, inspired by this blog post.

Now... chocolate cake mix, food dye, marshmallows and fondant?  With a little time, they make EVERYONE happy!

You know, it has to be said: as much as I love it (and y'all know I do), knitting sweaters ain't got nuthin' on knowing you made something totally awesome for your son on his special day.

 Happy 5th Birthday, Maxime.  I love you.

Snag

Most of the projects I've taken on lately, be they big or small, have hit one kind of wall or another and been somewhat frustrated by failure.  It's as though my creativity and my Make-It drive keep getting snagged on something (Life?  The Universe?  Everything?), and whatever I do, I wind up with the same result: a FAIL.

To wit:

Pedicure? FAIL

Yellow looks fabulous! In the bottle, not on my toes

Putting the started plants for this year's vegetable garden outside so they can "soak up the sunshine and get stronger"?  FAIL. 

Yeeeeaaah.... If it's 9 degrees Celcius out? Sun-schmun. The plants are DEAD.  Sob!!!!

I really hope I have more luck with my current project!  An Angry Bird piñata for Maxime's 5th birthday party on Sunday. (The irony that this project will ultimately end up being destroyed is not lost on me, my friends.)

Happy Making, Everyone!

It had to be done...

That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it though.

Happy Ripping Knitting, Everyone!

Be Cool

It's highly possible that I'm completely out of the knitwear-loop here (perhaps even probable), but it seemed to me that the Big Thing this Winter was the cowl.  Specifically, the over-sized, neutral cowl.  Is it just me, or were they everywhere?!? Seemed as though you couldn't open your car door without hitting some hip gray chunky-cowl wearing Fashionista. Or something.

Anyway, while I'm normally fairly immune to your run-of-the-mill fashion trend (for instance, I can pretty much guarantee you won't see me wearing any neon coloured skinny jeans this summer), I do tend to fall down a wee bit when it comes to knitting trends.  I mean... I've knit a Clapotis, a Noro Striped scarf, not to mention a few Stephen West patterns.  It was only a matter of time before I started to get the cowl bug.

When I cast on, I had visions of a long, chunky, over-sized neutral cowl that would - in my mind, anyway - instantly transform any outfit I was wearing into something a hip, young, twenty-pounds-lighter 20-something model would wear to grab a latté before running off to the museum of modern art with a group of sassy friends.  You know... like something out of a Brooklyn Tweed photo shoot.

Not quite sure I achieved that goal (ahem!), but I did wind up with a pretty gosh darn nice cowl, if I do say so myself.

Pattern:Lispenard, by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Mission Falls 136 Merino Superwash, colourway 003

Needles: 4.5 mm

Modifications: None

I've been wearing it pretty much non-stop since I finished it about a month ago.  It may not magically transform me into a gorgeous-if-somewhat-twiggy worthy of Jared Flood model, but it keeps me nice and warm without making me look like a Crazy Knitwear Lady (you know what I mean). And that's good enough for me.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-Up

How was your weekend, friends?  Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

The Sitch

Here's what's going on chez Dear this week:

Watching... Cabin in the Woods.  Twice.  Saw it with some girlfriends last Friday, then saw it again on Saturday with Phil.  Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, people!  The fact that Chris Hemsworth is in doesn't jurt either.  Just sayin'

Reading... Wow.  Totally forgot about this one when I sat down to write this post.  *Squirms uncomfortably*  Ahem, so, um... I'm reading... um... Fifty Shades of Grey.  Right!  What?  *Blush*

Knitting... Émilie's cardigan.  Still.  Forever.  Does it make me a bad mum if I say I'm bored out of my f***ing mind and just want it to END ALREADY???  Probably, huh?

Listening to... the ice pellets raining down outside.  Yes, it was 27 degrees here a few weeks ago, and now it's practically hailing.  Let us not dwell, shall we?

Thinking about... what I'm going to cast on in a wild fit of glee once the never-ending mind-dulling time-suck of doom cardigan is done.

Dreading... getting on the treadmill at 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Planning... on finishing the blocks for our bedroom quilt (aka the quilt top I've been working on for over a year) this week.

Wondering... what the heck I'm going to do then???

Excited about... Émilie and my wee seedlings turning into actual plants.  It never ceases to amaze me that something from which we will get so much bounty comes from a tiny little seed.

Humming... Édith Piaf's Polichinelle.  Yeah, I don't know where I get this stuff either.

Drinking... the elixir of life, otherwise known as Matcha Green Tea.

Itching to... buy yarn.  Not because I need any, just because I want to.  *Sigh*  I miss buying yarn.

Needing to... buy Maxime's birthday presents instead.  Little dude is going to be FIVE in 3 weeks!  Unreal.

Organizing... my coupons by type (food, personal hygiene, laundry, paper products, etc.).  Because, why yes, I would be a dork.

Delighted by... the friendship bracelet I started a few weekends ago.  Circa 1990, baby!

Happy Knitting, Everyone!