2. Count 'em. 2 Finishes!

Yesterday I finished hand sewing the binding on the little "Funky Monkey" mug rug.

And last night I finished knitting my third (full size) pair of socks. The pattern is from Knitting Addiction's Volume 1: Yarn Junkies' Favorites a great collection of patterns that I picked up this past June while on vacation in the Outer Banks.

We're expecting lots of snow this afternoon so I'm off to get some food essentials and stock up on milk and toilet paper.

Another day off with the munchkins & hopefully another finish later today.

Snow Day

It hardly seems like enough snow for West Virginia to call a snow day, but they did. I won't complain. It gave me the chance to go back to bed and snuggle with my munchkins.

I haven't accomplished much since my last post. Even my socks have been neglected. We found out earlier this week that my 7 year old nephew has diabetes. What a major adjustment for everyone. It has been difficult to encourage "Mom" as she struggles to take in an overwhelming amount of information.

It does remind me of how blessed we are to only be dealing with broken down vehicles and not life altering health issues.

I will try to finish the binding on a little sock monkey mug rug that he can put on his tray. He is such a trooper.

Hope you are having a day full of peace and appreciating the fullness of your own life.

Hugs!
~kristy

Crabby

Just finished my crabby apron.

The fabric is "Fisherman's Catch" by Dan Morris for Robert Kaufman with "Sweet Liberty" stars by Pat Sloan for P&B Textiles.

Ugh!

3 sewing machines in this house and not a single one is working!

I give up.

I have taken to my bed with my "Pink Sugar" socks to knit and Season 1 of Castle.

Kids will have breakfast for dinner since they can fix that for themselves.

What do you do on days like this? Come on. Admit it. You know you have them. I know I'm not the only one.

Lost!

I texted an update to blogger over the weekend. It was a lengthy test post & it seems to be lost in cyber-space. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to keep up with my blogging (including pictures) from my iPhone.

So far, it ain't been easy.

If you are interested in my January purchase update, pop on over to Flickr and check out my pics.

Okay. Here's a new dilemma...how to post a link...you might need to copy & paste this one. I put everyone to work...no free rides with this mom!

Guess what! You're going to have to hunt for it. Here's your clue: I'm registered as Kristy's In Stitches on Flickr.

Let me know when you find me!

I broke my machine last night so it's all about my little wooden needles for now. Look out socks...here I come!

Uh-Oh!

I dug through my stash (it's not very big so it didn't take long) to find the fabric for my SIL. I found all three fabrics and 2 more.

Notice the green on top. It's less than 3 inches wide...SEW not going to make a border like I wanted.

I did find 2 other reds that might work. I'll have to play with my left over blocks and make a small table runner to match.

Ok. I'm off to my knittin' & stitchin'!

It's Officially THE FLU!

Yep, we've got it!

It's been a crazy day, but so sweet to watch Thing 1 taking care of Thing 2.  Last night Thing 1 was feeding Thing 2 Ruffles & sips of water, today he is monitoring fevers & letting me know when Thing 2 needs more medicine.  They are just the sweetest!

I played around today with a little free motion quilting.  This is a first for me.  I had to take my feed dogs out...they don't drop & it took a couple of tries to get my "little Bigfoot" attached.  I'm not going to show you any pictures...OCD...and all that.  But I am hoping to spend a little bit of time each day taking my machine apart, putting other parts on & practicing my FMQ.

After two really sorry looking pieces, I took everything apart and worked on my UFO wall hanging for my sister-in-law.  Now I'm off to see if I can find the rest of the fabric to finish the borders and cross it off my list.

This one was scrapped a couple of years ago because I didn't like the floral print.  It is too light and fades into the ivory background.  I didn't have the money to purchase new fabrics and I was tired of looking at it so I didn't rip it apart. 

Since this was one of my first quilt attempts, my seams are no where near consistent and I pressed every which way.  I opted to finish this, by flipping and clipping seams.  It's not pretty, but the center is done.

Alrighty then!  I'm off to budget...(another new project for me!  I'll let you know how it goes.)

Let me know if you have any budgeting secrets.  Right now, the biggest thing for me is to KEEP IT SIMPLE!



2013 UFO/WIP List:
Quilting/Sewing:
1.  Small Blue Bag (stitch the bottom closed)
2.  Sock Monkey mug rug (hand stitch binding)
3.  "Ole Glory!" mug rug (attach binding)
4.  "Ole Glory!" mug rug (quilt)
5.  "Ole Glory!" mug rug (quilt)
6.  Mom's Red, White & Blue table runner (quilt)
7.  Kelly's Quilt (hand stitch binding & return)
8.  "Prairie Paisley" 1/2 square mini (finished top)
9.  "Prairie Paisley" 1/2 square mini-mini (finished top)
10.  "Prairie Paisley" piano key mini (finished top)
11.  Christmas mini (finished top)
12.  Colleen's 9 Patch wall hanging table runner (needs borders)
13.  Star table runner (hand quilting project)
14.  Bird house Kindle cover (finish piecing)
Larger Projects that I started last year:
15.  Paper Piecing for the Terrified (log cabin block finished)
16.  Morgan's Sampler (1/2 of the blocks are finished)
17.  Craftsy Block of the Month (stopped at Hexies)
18.  Stella's 4 patch (4 patch blocks are finished)
19.  Barrister's Blocks Farmer's Wife (stopped somewhere around October)
20.  Cinnamon & Nutmeg (mostly cut...3 strip sets need cut)
21.  Morgan's Flannel Quilt (flannel is cut; needs batting cut)
22.  Rapha's Fireman Quilt (pre-printed blocks are cut)
Knitting:
23.  "Spice" socks for Sidney (1 sock scrapped; 2 sock finished; 3 sock working heel flap) FINISHED!
24.  "Spice" sock gauge with size 3 needle FINISHED!
25.  Kelly's 2nd "knitted knocker"
26.  Crocheted market bag
27.  Pink Sugar socks (sock 1 cast-on) NEW!

Then there are other kits, pre-cuts & a variety of ready to go projects:
"Prairie Paisley" throw (basted...still not sure if I want to hand quilt it)
"Pinwheels in my Garden" (waiting on quilter & cash)
Halloween wall hanging
Kansas Troubles jelly rolls (2)
Small bags (cut & waiting for batting or a coordinating fabric)
Denim squares
Basket of sock yarns (Morgan, Meredith, Sidney, Me, Darren, James & John)
John's blue scarf (He's been asking for one for the last couple of months)
Ruffled scarves
knit dish cloths
weaving projects (3 are on the rug loom...need more rags to use up the warp)
spinning (wool is in various stages...some washed, some picked, some still in laundry bag on the porch)
spinning (purchased locks...needs combed)
spinning (purchased roving)

Spice Finish

Well...sort of.
I did get both socks finished last night but I forgot to pack my yarn needles. So that leaves 1 sock still on the needles but it will only take about a minute to stitch the toe closed and weave in the ends.
I'm not crazy about the sock yarn I used but before I give up on that brand completely I am going to do one more pair. I cast on "Pink Sugar" last night. I am using size 3 dpns this time. I gauged and I'm pretty sure that this pair will fit me.
We will be packing up to head home shortly but I'm going to get a few rounds done.

These will be my 3rd pair. I am on a limited budget and have purchased my sock yarns at Joann Fabrics and AC Moore. I am saving the yarn that I purchased at Knitting Addiction, the lys in the Outer Banks, until I am more comfortable with the sock knitting process.
So, my question is...What is your favorite yarn for knitting socks?
(My birthday is in February & I just might have to treat myself to something nice.)

Ready to knit...Enjoy your day!

First List of 2013

I have been trying to learn to do most of my computer stuff on my iPhone.
It hasn't been easy.
I don't always have the time to research and apply new found knowledge...and sometimes it is best to just keep it simple.
I have Blogger on my phone, and I am slowly figuring out the little quirks to posting.  I still can't post pics where I want them in the blog, but I know there has to be a way to do it and I'm going to figure it out.
Just not right away.

So, here I am.  I have my internet up and running (for now). And, I'm going to get my list of UFOs and WIPs on here so that I can keep track of what I accomplish in this new year.  Mostly these are my crafting, knitting, quilting & other sewing projects.  But, I want to do some family research & work on getting my photos organized if not scrapbooked.

I've already taken time to list the projects that I have laying around my room.  I've even taken those projects and sort of arranged the list by category & the easiest finishes.  Great start, right?!

Quilting/Sewing:
1.  Small Blue Bag (stitch the bottom closed)
2.  Sock Monkey mug rug (hand stitch binding)
3.  "Ole Glory!" mug rug (attach binding)
4.  "Ole Glory!" mug rug (quilt)
5.  "Ole Glory!" mug rug (quilt)
6.  Mom's Red, White & Blue table runner (quilt)
7.  Kelly's Quilt (hand stitch binding & return)
8.  "Prairie Paisley" 1/2 square mini (finished top)
9.  "Prairie Paisley" 1/2 square mini-mini (finished top)
10.  "Prairie Paisley" piano key mini (finished top)
11.  Christmas mini (finished top)
12.  Colleen's 9 Patch table runner (needs borders)
13.  Star table runner (hand quilting project)
14.  Bird house Kindle cover (finish piecing)
Larger Projects that I started last year:
15.  Paper Piecing for the Terrified (log cabin block finished)
16.  Morgan's Sampler (1/2 of the blocks are finished)
17.  Craftsy Block of the Month (stopped at Hexies)
18.  Stella's 4 patch (4 patch blocks are finished)
19.  Barrister's Blocks Farmer's Wife (stopped somewhere around October)
20.  Cinnamon & Nutmeg (mostly cut...3 strip sets need cut)
21.  Morgan's Flannel Quilt (flannel is cut; needs batting cut)
22.  Rapha's Fireman Quilt (pre-printed blocks are cut)
Knitting:
23.  "Spice" socks for Sidney (1 sock scrapped; 2 sock finished; 3 sock working heel flap)
24.  "Spice" sock gauge with size 3 needle
25.  Kelly's 2nd "knitted knocker"
26.  Crocheted market bag

Then there are other kits, pre-cuts & a variety of ready to go projects:
"Prairie Paisley" throw (basted...still not sure if I want to hand quilt it)
"Pinwheels in my Garden" (waiting on quilter & cash)
Halloween wall hanging
Kansas Troubles jelly rolls (2)
Small bags (cut & waiting for batting or a coordinating fabric)
Denim squares
Basket of sock yarns (Morgan, Meredith, Sidney, Me, Darren, James & John)
John's blue scarf (He's been asking for one for the last couple of months)
Ruffled scarves
knit dish cloths
weaving projects (3 are on the rug loom...need more rags to use up the warp)
spinning (wool is in various stages...some washed, some picked, some still in laundry bag on the porch)
spinning (purchased locks...needs combed)
spinning (purchased roving)

I'm sure there are more projects hiding in a variety of places...I didn't dig too deep into the closet.

I have already seen lots of lists from the other bloggers that I follow.  I've also seen a bunch of mosaics (I going to learn how to do that this year too!)  Leave me a message if you want me to check out your 2013 to-do list & I will try and be a cheerleader for you!

Get busy & Have fun!
~Kristy