Knitty Gritty Thoughts

European Bread Basket Sew-along: Part 3 Sewing up the sides

Ok so you're all caught up now right and ready for the sewing??? =)  If you missed any part of the bread basket tutorial you can find the project supply list here in step 1, and step 2 here.  Now if you're ready, let's begin! =)

I guess I should start by saying that this part is really easy, it took me less than 15 minutes to sew AND take pictures of the tutorial, so this is a really short step.

Last time we left off where you had put together your "bread-basket sandwich" and pinned the layers together.  Next, make sure to square everything up, that all layers are lined up and trim off any excess.  I get a little lazy when I cut my batting so I always have to trim a bit off the sides.

Once that's done you're ready to mark your sewing lines (zoom into the picture below if you are having trouble seeing them).  What you will do is mark a line with chalk or fabric pen 3 - 3.5 inches from the outside  (depending on how high you like your edges, I did 3") on each of the 4 sides.  What this will do is form the sides and bottom of your basket, you will end up with markings creating a smaller square.  Clear as mud?  If you're confused, scroll down to the finished sewing picture and it will make sense.

Now you're ready to start sewing!  Change to a walking foot on your sewing machine if you have it and start quilting the 4 lines you just marked.  Be careful to keep the fabric taunt in this step so you don't end up with gaps in the middle.

Once that's done trim any threads.  Now you're going to round the corners (this step is optional, if you would like to keep the corners squared than by all means, go for it! =))  I used a small jar to mark my corners, if you have one of those fancy round templates than this would be a great time to use it!  Finally, trim your corners round using scissors or rotary cutter.

Ok that's it, now step back and admire your work!

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will answer them there as well.  Next and final step, attaching the border and ties!  See you next time! =) Oh and don't forget, I'm still running my "blog friend discount"!  15% off anything in the store from now until this Saturday night! =)  Simply put coupon code BLOGFRIEND in the comments at checkout and wait for a revised invoice from me before paying.  Just my little way of saying THANK YOU! =)

European Bread Basket Sew-along: Part 2 Cutting out the pieces

Well hi there!  It  sure feels weird blogging two days in a row but we have a breadbasket to make! =)

Ok, so you gathered your supplies right???

Good - Let's get started.  As a quick FYI, each step should only take you about 15 or 20 minutes, 30 minutes at the most if you're a perfectionist so these baskets go quickly.  I'm the type of person who likes to break up my sewing projects into short steps and this tutorial is reflective of that.  OK?  Good! =)

So, first off you need to cut out your fabric:

• Cut one 13.5 inch square of both your top and bottom fabrics
• Cut two 13.5 inch squares of your heavy-weight iron on interfacing
• Cut one 13.5 square of your batting (now this could depend on your batting choice, synthentic is fluffier than the natural cotton so 1 layer would be fine.  I'm using the heirloom cotton batting so I decided to do two layers so it's fluffy enough, the choice is up to you.

Now set your iron on a hot steam setting and attach each piece of the iron-on interfacing to both the top and bottom fabrics so they're reinforced.

Once they're good and attached you can start building your quilt sandwich or what I like to call my breadbasket sandwich ;) (ok, ok bad joke!)

Put them together like this

• Put your bottom fabric right side down on the table
• Batting goes in the middle
• Your top fabric goes right side up on top of them all

Ok, now pin the layers together and you're done!

Didn't I tell you it was easy?

Ok, I'll be back here on Wednesday for the little bit of sewing and then we'll finish up on Friday with the binding, easy peasy, right?

European Bread Basket Sew-along: Part 1 Supplies

Whew, boy the weekend went a lot faster than I was expecting, wow!  It feels like I just blinked at it was Sunday and I was late putting up the supply list for the bread basket-along.

Anyhow so here it is, you should have most of it lying around your house so hopefully you won't have to go searching too far...all the ingredients are pretty common.

• 2 fat-quarters of fabric or anything at least 13.5 inches wide, in coordinating colors (or you can get creative here and do a patchwork top, which would be quite pretty!)
• at least 15 inches square of batting
• 3/4 yd of the heaviest weight you can find of iron-in interfacing
• Timtex (optional for a smaller size but if you decide to upsize this basket I would recommend it, the larger the basket, the more bread you put it in, the more reinforcement it would need)
• Matching thread
• 1 matching packet of double-fold quilt binding (7/8 wide)
• 1 matching packet of extra-wide double fold binding (1/2 wide)
• Straight edge
• Walking foot (optional, but it will definitely make the quilting process easier)
• Pins

OK, now go gather those supplies!  Step 2 will be posted tomorrow evening sometime, after I get done with work.

AND the reason the weekend went by was so fast was I spent it head-first in fiber, carding up a storm.  It was so much fun!  I had such a great time coming with all sorts of new color combos!  Anyhow, I wanted to thank you all for your support by giving you a coupon for 15% off anything in the store from now until this Saturday night! =)  Simply put coupon code BLOGFRIEND in the comments at checkout and wait for a revised invoice from me before paying.  Just my little way of saying THANK YOU! =)

See you tomorrow!

Ripple me this, ripple me that.

Thank you so much for all the info, advice and support on my satellite internet conundrum...many of the people who responded brought to light my greatest fears, potential big issues/spotty connection.  So...it may mean that I need to find another favorite house that has high speed internet.  I think we're going to trek up there this weeked to look at more housies. 

Are you utilizing your local library for knitting books?  I was at the library a few weeks ago and spotted many books I've been wanting read, including an afghan book, finishing techniques and this little gem, look at the bottom right cover, it says Starmore!  I've heard a lot of buzz on the internets about this particular designer and her books are usually pretty expensive.  I can't say if this is an expensive one or not, however it did have a lot of interesting designs in it.  Very 70's style including full on knitted baby outfits.  It had a lot of good history of Scandinavian Knitwear that was fun to learn about too.  Hey - you learn something new everyday, right?

Progress on the ripple is progressing, it's just starting to get big enough that I'm having a hard time to fit it all in one frame for a photo.  I've been debating about how long it should be...how long do you like your blankets?  Long enough to cover your toes?

I'm spotted a color pattern when I was taking pics....doesn't the ripple colors look suspiciously like the mitered blanket colors?  Hmm??  Oh well, can't teach an old dog new color tricks. =)  I do it subconsciously. =)

Above are my last few sewn items before I had to pack up my sewing machine for the pending move.  It's a set of matchy zippered pouches/artists cases for my boss' kids.  (See miss RFG, this is photographic proof I tackled that darn zipper! =))  Aren't they cute?  The boys has twistable crayons and the girls twistable colored pencils.  I didn't even know they made twistable color pencils (found all the accessories at Target.)  The interior of the girls is a kaffe fasset print that I just love.  If you look closely at the buttons you can tell that they match the theme too, fun!

As I pack up I'm coming across a lot of yarn I can't use so I think I will start posting a "free yarn friday" or something like that and put it up for giveaway.  Just a heads up if you think you would be interested.

Have a great day!

Calling All Woven Cables!

Hi there- I'm feeling back to normal now, thanks.  It's amazing what a little restful weekend full of sleeping, laundry and errands can do.  I feel like I'm back on schedule and raring to go!

But first, CALLING ALL WOVEN CABLES SCARVES! =)
- I'm working on a photo album of finished scarves, and Fredabeth (sadly blogless so no linky) sent me in a photo.  I even saw one in the wild over here, how exciting!  So, if you happen to be knitting one, send me a pic and I'll post it in the album along with a link to your blog if you have one.  It's so much fun to see other versions knitted up!

Anywho - people have asked how the Seattle trip was.  It was really nice, we had a great time seeing family and eating at some great restaurants.  Unfortunately, we didn't find what we were looking for so we're still on the hunt.  It's making it a little bit harder because hubby was only home two days before he left for another month.  I'm working hard on cleaning/organizing/finishing up projects to get the house ready to sell in the meantime.  Our house is actually pretty clean on a daily basis, but you know how it is when you have people coming in to look at it - it's gotta shine!

I didn't buy yarn in Seattle even though I did go to a few yarn shops, but I did find fabric instead, including that Linen I was looking for at Stitches Seattle.  I used two of the prints and turned them into a project pouch.  It actually was supposed to be a small project bag with straps, but the straps were NOT working out so I had to rethink it.  The bottom is boxed up so it supports itself open like that.  I like the way it worked out and love love love the fabric, the outside feels very "french" to me, with fun matching dots on the inside.

Ms. Nuttnbunny and I had a fun, improptu swap and she sent me the yummiest goodies!  A lovely handmade japanese lunchsack, super soft suri dream yarn from knitpicks, a wonderful, handknit washcloth (such a treat when people handknit things for me, LOVE IT! =)) and not pictured is chocolate (it lasted about 5 mins!) and fun new music to try out, to get me out of my music rut.  Thank you so much, I love it!

Above is my new start on the second knee sock, after some consulation and support from Sarah, she helped me on my way to finding some good elastic thread to use on them.  I don't know how other people knit in elastic thread but I can tell you how I do with mine.  I simple carry along the elastic in my left hand, as if it's a CC in stranded knitting.  Every knit stitch I catch the elastic as if I am weaving in a color on a long float.  I did that for a few rounds, just enough to give it a little shape.  It's invisible on the right side, I'll show you how it looks when I get further along.

The knee sock hit the brakes suddenly on saturday.  Poor little STR yarn, it didn't stand a chance against my dogs who fished it out of its little bag.  If you look closely you can see all the chewed off ends and slobber spots.  I'm working to see how much of it is salveagable.

@#*(@#$(@#)$()@#$@(!!!*
Is all I can say.

I'm feeling "Rogue-ish"

I probably shouldn't have mentioned anything about straight lines, now y'all are probably staring at the computer, trying to see it =)  I have to say that I work hard at trying to cut straight and sew straight, and as Sasha had mentioned, they do have little tools.  I bought one of those magnet sewing guides that works well with my machine from Joann's (40% off coupon of course!)  If you have a computerized machine you probably don't want to use one of those things as you probably know. =)  It definitely helps for seams that are close to the edge of the fabric.

Practice makes perfect, what can I say?  I am a perfectionist and I HAD to get that zipper down right.  A few days ago I picked out some cute fabric, this little pouch is a present for grandma for her birthday.  The puppy fabric looks alot like her beagle, starla.

It turned out pretty cute! 

I also received the cutest card from Kate as a little pick me up, sadly her stitch markers which I am sure were gorgeous got slit out of the envelope and lost in the mail.  I know somewhere, some mail sorting lady is probably knitting away with those lovelies on her needles! =) AND I received the loveliest virtual present from Miss Nuttnbunny herself, she sent me a itunes pressie of one of her favorite bands.  Finding new music is such a pick me up and I'm rather in a music rut myself so it was such a treat to listen to something new.  I'm always looking for other new stuff also, so if you have a favorite, will you tell me so I can try it out???

And here's the status update on Rogue, just finished the first chart for the hood and moving on to the next.  The construction on the hood is really smart and I LOVE the cableing details, it looks really neat in person.  Sadly the combination of yarn/cableing is just really hard on my hands, so I only knit on it here and there.  The yarn is bartletts yarn 2-ply in medium sheeps gray from kpixie and I think the rawness of the yarn really makes the cables pop so it's a double-edged sword.

It may drive me to pick up Rona again, that yarn is silky smooth!  BTW have you seen Angelika's?  Very lovely and very motivating to "git'r done!"

A bit of this, a bit of that.

The name of the game today is all about random.  I've been doing a great deal of sewing the past week, fufilling one of my goals this year to sew atleast 1 day a week.  I've churned out a few zippered pouches, inspired by Joanna, but nowhere near as nice.  My zipper is always wonky and the lines never appear straight.  It probably has to do with the fact that I can't sew or cut a straight line to save my life.

Everyone knows this, even when I called my mom to tell her I was sewing again, she said, "But Keri, you can't cut a straight line.  You've been that way since kindergarten."  Thanks Mom.

So - I sent her this zippered pouch.  Love the fabric, it's a japanesy- mix from a old quilt shop I used to haunt in monterey when I lived there.

I've also made about a ka-jillion sock bags, each one improving upon the last.  I've experimented with interfacing, 1 pocket or 2, reinforced pockets and finally the mother of all sock bags - 2 pockets reinforced, with sewn slots for DPN's or Magic Loop needles complete with elastic to hold the tops in.  It's pretty darn nice if I do say so myself.  I've made more than a few to get to this point but I won't subject you to pictures of those.  Suffice to say the next iteration will probably be tweaked for colorwork with snaps on each side to hold your yarn in place and elactic to hold your yarn in.  One of my petpeeves in colorwork is the balls constantly tangling. 

More sewing continued - I made my first practice Artist's case with cheapy fabric to get an idea of the construction.  Both fabrics are from JoAnn's $1/yd clearance sale that's going on.  So I think that it cost me about .75cents to make, plus drawing paper and twistables.  Now that I know what's going on I have some nicer fabric from the local quilt shop to cut up.

Which finally brings me to crochet.  CROCHET?!?! you might be thinking, I thought she was going to show us some knitting!

I actually "crocheted" long before I knit and I'll use the term crochet loosely because that was sort of what I was doing but I wasn't very good at it.  I made hubby a blanket out of Homespun and it was rippley.  Not in a good, doing it on purpose way, but more of a I have no idea what I'm doing way.  I've come back to it many times- there's that crochet edging on charlotte's web (note - I almost didn't link to it since it's on my old blog and the pics are so bad they make me cringe but why the heck not?  One of these days I'll get my old photo albums updated) and I've tried to granny square with no luck.

There are two blankets in the world I have always wanted to crochet.  I was deeply inspired by Yarnstorm's gorgeous ripply blanket and now Miss Posie is making one as well.  Last weekend when I was at AC Moore with a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket, I found the book that they're making it from.  It's 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns by Jan Eaton.  I sat down and practiced all my stitches, then started swatching for the blanket in Rowan Cashsoft. 

The second blanket that's been on my list is flapjack from the colinette marmalade book.  Once I learn how to spin, I'd like to make it out of handspun.  Notice how I decide I'm going to make things without knowing how?  In this case I need to get good at crochet AND spinning before I take this one. 

This past weekend I started practicing granny squares as well and by jove, I think I got it!  For the first time, my hands made the stitches and my brain was "reading" the stitches and understanding what came next. 

It's such a great feeling when you learn something new!

Sock Bags

You didn't think I was going to pop back in here with the finished anemoi mittens did you? =)  I got distracted by drawstring bags.  I had seen them all over the place, but finally, seeing them here I couldn't resist any longer, I had to sew one!  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a pattern, so I started cutting/experimenting with the size.  Of course, immediately after that I found this tutorial (although I did the construction alot differently on mine.)  I finished the first one yesterday after an emergency trip out for ribbon (and came home with waaay too much.)  I liked the first one a lot, so much that I started cutting up some sock monkey fabric (Joanna clued me in on where to buy it, although they appeared to be sold out now)...I did have a rotary cutter incident *ahem* and managed to cut my knitting finger up pretty bad, KNITTER DOWN! =(  What a bummer, I hate when things happen that get between me and my knitting! =)

Did you know that this week is national delurking week???  I couldn't resist putting up this image...

...and remember, no one can hear your reading in cyberspace...leave me a comment and let me know who you are! =)

In other news hubby and I have made a pact (that actually started 1-Jan) to not eat out for the entire month.  Yep, that means no eating out, fast food, or even buying a soda from the corner grocery place when you stop to get gas!  It's tough, but so far we're sticking to it.  We've calculated it out and we figured we will save about 400 dollars this month after reckoning additional food costs of eating at home.  We also will lose about 5lbs each!  I'm enjoying the challenge.  Since we have been eating at home I've been experimenting with new recipes, I've been making a ton of this salsa, and lots of fajitas as well.  Happy Eating!

Weekend Review

Update: For some reason bloglines isn't picking me up...I'm trying to repost this and see if it works.  Apologies if you've already seen this.

Overall this weekend was really nice and relaxing, I felt like I was getting back to my creative "roots."  I made some fresh cranberry orange scones (yum!) and drank them with tea and put my feet up and just vegged.  There was also sewing; I pulled out a new bag pattern this weekend.  One of my goals is to become a better sewer.  It took me the better part of 4 hours but I finally finished this cute little bag from simplicity pattern 9949.  It's a little over 8 inches long, perfect to put pens and knitting notions and made from Sock Monkey fabric and matching liner that looks like knitting.

I also got back to the basics on knitting, I was at WalMart buying a TV wall mount and noticed peaches & creme yarn in pretty blues and greens.  I matched it up with a background color from my stash, I believe it's King Tut, but it's old...scraps from one of my first FO's, a "peppy" fringe fur pattern knit with a strand of cotton (ok, maybe peppy is being too nice, it could be categorized as ugly!)   The ballband dishcloth pattern from Maxon Dixon knitting (link to knitalong) went fast and was easy to memorize.  I have it sitting on my desk to soak up the condensation from my new camelbak waterbottle.  I have a thing for containers, bags and bottles, I don't know what it is.  I also am trying to drink more water, and if a pretty bottle inspires me so much the better!

We had a crazy experience on Saturday night- I was home alone and a big lightning storm came out of nowhere.  All of a sudded the earth was rocking, the lightening hit so close!  I wasn't concerned at first until I looked out the front window and saw fire reflected in my across the street neighbors windows which meant only one thing, the fire was near/on my house.  At first I thought the roof was on fire, than the trees in our front yard.  I ran frantically around the house trying to find it.  Finally, I did.  We have a small forest/protected area behind our house.  Not 5 feet from the back of our fence the lightening struck and started a fire.  My heart started racing, it was big, and growing bigger, and ashes were coming down and the wind was blowing it closer to our house.  My first thought was 911, than I put the dogs in a backroom because they were quite upset.  Neighbors came out, and we setup hoses, then the fire department came.  It took about an hour to get it out. Meantime I called my husband to come home (he was helping people move) and he didn't quite get it at first, he's like "it's pouring down rain, how could there be a fire?"  Once he got home though he couldn't believe how big and how close it was.  I feel incredibly lucky, 30 feet closer and it would have hit my house, or 10 feet, my backyard. *Whew!*  It brought back memories of living in california during the brush-fires and evacuations.  I started thinking of what I would grab if I had to go, and besides the dogs, family documents, pictures, some clothes, I think I would grab my sock I'm working on...how sad would that have been if I had to replace all my yarn!?

Dish Soap Apron

I first saw these on Whipup and followed the link over to Super Eggplant, I think these cozies/aprons are very cute.  I used some spare fabric and it took less than an hour to whip it up.  Really cute and fun and for those who think it's not functional, I don't care!  Now my soap matches my kitchen, I feel all Martha Stewart'ish =)

(p.s. please ignore my dirty windows, I'm not that stewart'ish! =) )