Moving. Again.

So it seems only about a year ago that we were moving from Ottawa to Whitby. (It was). We are moving further South/West to Burlington.

This seems like it may become a familiar sight once again.

Things will be a bit quiet around here. Possibly more so than it is now.

Moving at the beginning of the year. Must start packing.

Road to Rhinebeck

This time last year I was a Rhinebeck Newbie and had no idea of the wonders I was about to see, and famous (knitting) people I would meet. It was awesome. So much so, that I only took two photos. You may remember...

Louise and I meeting Ysolda!


and..

The chicken pot pie. (Sadly they will not be there this year)


I can't make any promises but, maybe this year I'll take a few more photos. Or I'll be so caught up in everything and not. We will see.

Have a great weekend friends! It's going to be a great one!!!! I'm so excited that I can hardly wait to get there!!! I'm hoping for cool-ish weather so we can all wear our fab knitwear! Fingers crossed!

Lots of !!! sorry. :P

New Hat

Just a quick pop in to say that I finished a hat. and almost a Leaflet sweater too. 4 ends left to weave in, and needs to be blocked!

Going to Rhinebeck on Friday for the NY Sheep and Wool Festival!!!! I can't wait! and may have been telling everyone I know, who then look at me like I may need to be committed for being so excited about a sheep festival.

Fun times!

The hat is Wild is the Wind pattern by Lee Meredith of leethal fame. I did pattern testing for her. This hat is pattern is now for sale in the Remixed E-book, and awesome!! So if you like it, I say go for it and buy the book!!

Greetings

Well, I don't have much to say for myself. One minute it's May and then all of a sudden it's become the end of August.

Wasn't planning to stay away for so long. Just got caught up in other things. I've also not been doing much sewing, so not many photos to show. Knitting has been progressing, but as you knitters know, unless I'm making simple one skein projects, knitting takes time and doesn't have much to show for itself until it's done.

There will still be a a giveaway of a pouch, I am in the process of making more stock for the etsy shop. I have really just been selling them locally because when I started this, the Canada Post strike was just happening. There are plans to add some to the shop though, and some of the other project bags with the button and ribbon loop. You'll be the first to know when the giveaway happens. It'll be pretty low key, but will be rewarding those who have stuck by.

I went to PEI for two weeks at the end of May to visit my parents at their Bed and Breakfast. We did lots of renovations!

I will leave you with a funny photo of my dad. It was taken in 2009 when we visited PEI to look at the Bed and Breakfast they ended up buying. it cracks me up.

Take care friends.

New Items for my Etsy Shop

I feel like I've finally found my 'thing'. That sounds weird so I will clarify. I really wanted to make things to sell in my etsy shop, but I'd start and then get bored with the process. This week I came up with a design for pouches that you can use to tote around just about anything. And it just hit me! These are fun to make, and they are quilty and they are super bright, and useful. And I may finally be over my fear of zippers! Cue the snazzy enlightened music and the stars aligning. :)

So here they are in my Byneedleandthread Etsy Shop


The Medium GG Pouch $26



The Small GG Pouch $20



And since you're reading my blog, I'll let you in on a little secret. Ok two little secrets. One, I made most of these while watching Gilmore Girls, so I named them GG Pouch after that. Silly I know, but then I realized that would also work as Grab & Go, which is perfect for the concept of the bag.



Second secret, once I get more made, I will be giving one away. So stay tuned for that.

You may wonder why there is a heap of them in the photo, but I don't have any on hand, well they are now available for purchase at the Kniterary in Whitby, they are having a studio tour this weekend, and my bags are hanging out with other wonderful knitted pieces, sculptures, beaded jwewlery. Lots of nice things to see!



And if you love the look of the pouches and think they would work well for your needs, I'd love if you'd order one up from my etsy shop. :)

Thanks friends!

Quilt for Japan and the Easter Bunnies

Just thought I'd share a little of what I've been working on.



First up, this is the quilt I made to donate for Quilts for Japan. There is still time to make one if you are interested. Here is the info for Canadians and Equilter is collecting and has additional info for Americans.

Happy Easter!



Here are some bunnies I knit using the Bunny Nugget pattern and embellished in a class at the Kniterary. This was my first go at needle felting, and it was really fun. I'll be doing it again!



Sewing, sewing...I tried out the block for the Japanese + and x quilt along. This is starting in June, but the instructions are up, so I thought I'd give it a go. The good thing is that the small squares are 2" so that means I can use up small scraps as long as there is enough to cut the required amount. Should be fun.

Have a great weekend friends!

Wordless Wednesday

Bee FF March - Lucinda, a photo by byneedleandthread on Flickr.

I finished some socks...

..in March..

Here they are.

Blue Monkeys for my Mom


The pattern is Monkey. It is a free pattern from Cookie A. Super popular! (it has been logged on Ravelry as knit 14,135 times) It's very easy and the socks are fun. I need to make another pair of these.

Pi Socks for me.


The striping on these is based on the 3.141...math thing. Notice I don't sound like I know what I'm talking about. Well that's because it's true. I just googled it to get the number sequence after seeing a pair on Ravelry.

I've started some other knitting projects too. Socks for my friend Chantale. Hers will also be a Cookie A. pattern. I also started the Candelia cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. I love her patterns! If I had a zillion dollars for yarn, and 10 arms, I would knit tonnes of her patterns! So far this is my first one of hers. I lied. The scarves/cowls I knit from New England Knits were also her pattern. Love her!

Applique, I missed you

This past weekend I went to my Annual crafty retreat. As always, I brought too many projects. I did bring less than last year though.

Mostly I started and finished the applique blocks for Tia in our Bee FF group. It was fun.



The red bird is from the Piece O' Cake book Applique Outside the Lines. Love them and their books!!!



I tried to draw a bird and it looked like an Easter peep. Then I found this bird in the book but facing the other way. This prompted a whole group giggle fit, when my friend Chantale innocently suggested 'just flip the bird'. Hehehehe. Yes we are 8 years old. :P



The venus fly trap was a midnight suggestion that was still fun in the morning so I went with it. Sleep deprivation and quilting is fun. Just stay away from the rotary cutter!



I love handwork. All those tiny stitches. Fun, fun!



I am thinking of getting out the applique project that I put aways a while ago.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

In case you were all wondering how to take an amazing photo like I just did.The trick is to...



...push all the stuff covering the table into a big pile so you have room to set your block down. :P

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day

To celebrate I'll show you the Love in NYC quilt I made a few years ago.



I'd show you the snazzy new Valentine's things I made this year, but I didn't. Am I the only one who only gets the urge to make something for the upcomming holiday on the actual day of said holiday? Must get better at that. I may still make some Valentine's placemats. We will see.

Since my last post I've been making quite a few things.

Two baby quilt comissions.



These make lovely handmade gifts even if you didn't make it yourself. If anyone is interested in getting a quilt made, please contact me.

I've also been working on getting up to date on the block groups I'm in. Only two groups, but it's really easy to get behind schedule. I'm trying to start the year on time!

Bee FF for Laura. She wanted a romantic look to her blocks.





This is also for Laura. We are partners in Sarah and Molly's Free Piecing Study. One of the January blocks is a Log Cabin House. I still need to make a heart block and a mondo bird.



Knitting has also been occupying a lot of my time. I'm in a sock knitting group with my local shop. It's called Pull Up Your Socks. We are aiming to each make 6 pairs in a year. 1 per month. I'm trying to finish at least a pair per month, but unofficially of course.

These are my December/January Socks



I also made some zombies.



and a Gnomey for my man. His request.



The patterns for these are from Mochimochi Land. Her stuff is amazing!

I'm going to try and blog more. My Ottawa buddies are giving me a hard time because I don't blog as much. I will admit that lately I've been struggling with blogging. Mostly because I feel like the blogging world is so saturated right now. And it is very hard to compete with all the giveaways and quilt-alongs. What's a girl to do? I'm in no way fishing for comments, but I wonder who's out there reading?

So here's my PSA (public service announcement) If you read a blog, but tend to lurk instead of commenting. Why not comment. Let the person writing know they are not alone. And who know's you might just make some new friends.

Take care friends. Till next time.

Happy New Year Friends!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and A Happy New Year. I'm excited that the new year is upon us and can't wait to see what it brings.



As usual, I plan to participate in a few quilty things.

1. Row10 has now become Bee FF as we will be making blocks for each other this year. This is my favorite group as it contains my real quilting buddies. The fact that I have only met two of them in real life does not mean that they aren't the best quilting friends a girl could have.

2. Sarah and Molly's free piecing study. I am teaming up with Laura and we will swap blocks back and forth. This study is open to anyone, so if you are interested in getting better at wonky liberated quilting, this is for you!ddd (note: i'm not the Sarah that's running this project. It's Krommama.)

3. Scrapbuters Challenge 2011. This is a group that is just challenging each other to make scrap projects. No pressure or deadlines for this one. I'm excited and am currently working on some scrappy wonky blocks that will become one quilt or many small quilty things. Not sure yet. And I think that's the best thing about it. No pressure, just sewing and fun. The photo above is just some of my scrappy blocks.

4. Dear Strawberry Jane. This is my own project that you may remember if you have been a longtime follower. I've been blogging here about my project to complete a "Dear Jane" quilt. This is a reproduction of a quilt containing 225 unique blocks. It's a pile of work. but so pretty.

5. Knitting one sock per month. This is a challenge with my local yarn shop (the Kniterary) knitting group. It will help me get my sock stash down, without taking over my knitting life.

6. Also planning to use a lot of my fabric and yarn stash. I would like all of my yarn to fit in one bin by the end of the year. And I'd like my fabric scraps to go down by at least one bin (I currently have 3 huge bins). I'd also like to make a dent in the yardage.

Since we are now living in a smaller place, the goal is to have more control over the stash in general.

7. Bee Quilts. I am in the process of working on old bee quilts. The most recent is the Row10 Quilt. I have it all pieced and ready to quilt. I plan to combine machine and hand quilting on this one, as it is so special. My house quilt (AQB1) is also ready for quilting, and I am working on piecing together my Ten Make Two blocks as well. So stay tuned for photos of those.

I spend a good part of today looking for my camera. It has vanished, yet the memory card is plugged into the computer, so how far could it really have gone? If you find it, please send it back home. Although it drives me nuts, I miss it and need it to post photos!

I leave you with a mosaic of my favorite projects from 2010. Hopefully next year's mosaic will be even larger, as my sewing mojo has finally returned!!