Still chugging along!!

So I guess today is the wrap up of our Single Girl Quilt-along. My big confession: This is about as far as I've gotten. One big finished block and lots of pieced arches, some of them ready to have the curves  sewn. I certainly was crazy (blame pregnancy hormones, yes, Katy!) enough at the start of this quilt-along to think I'd be able to keep up pace, but as soon as that misleading beginning-of-the-second-trimester-energy-spurt petered out, it quickly became apparent there was no way on earth I'd have this all finished up by today. So, all of you other Single Girl laggers, don't worry. Katy, Nova and I will all still be around and active here and in the Flickr group. I have a deadline to finish this one up by June for a special gift, so I had better pony up my giant belly to the old sewing machine and get going. Because at this rate, I'll need every second! Oh, and who wants to baste and quilt it for me???

A big huge thank you to all of you who joined in all the fun for this quilt-along. Never in a million years while we were hatching this plan did we ever think over 250 Single Girl-ers would pop up! And thanks so much to my partners in crime, Katy and Nova, not only for holding me up and dealing with my slackness on this project, but for your incredible quilt-y genius!

So while I have been decidedly NOT sewing, I have still been doing lots and lots of knitting, and even more yarn ordering. An embarrassing amount, I fear. My latest thrill is the beautiful hand-dyed skeins of Rohrspatz & Wollmeise. These beauties are very difficult to get your hands on and now that I have some of my own, I know why. The color saturation is so incredibly vibrant! I can't wait to cast on. I think the blue is going first, to be knit up as a pair of socks my father-in-law requested for his birthday.

And in other news, I must take a moment to once again lovingly brag about my very talented husband. That's him, Mr. Winemaker of the Year! Our local Seattle Magazine (it's the same publisher that I believe most of the bigger cities have) just hit the stands and we couldn't be more thrilled with this honor. It's a publication that keeps big tabs on the Washington wine industry and holds it to very high standards. Mark works so hard and I'm so proud of him for earning this honor.

Happy Monday all. If anyone needs me, I'll be sitting on my bed drinking tea, knitting and reading book two of the Hunger Games. And thinking about working on my Single Girl:)

A pile of girly goodness

I'm just popping in to say - look at me! I'm actually sewing something! I didn't forget how to use my machine! And I'm having fun!

I stayed up late working on this new, out-of-the-blue project and my legs and feet are paying the price (I guess it's time to finally invest in support hose, but who wants to spend their spare $60 on something so dreadful and uncomfortable?) but it's worth it. My progress on my Single Girl quilt, and sewing in general, has been stalled significantly due to this issue, but it was high time I made something for my little girl on the way. After I saw this gorgeous quilt, I was inspired to pull out my yet unused Handmade Beginnings book and get to work on one for baby. 

So, we'll see how far I get before it's back to feet up with tea and knitting. I've also jumped on The Hunger Games bandwagon for my very first read on the Kindle to keep me company during lounging time.  I made this little pouch for the Kindle awhile back but I don't think I've shown it here. I used the tutorial from The Sometimes Crafter - my dimensions are wrong since I have difficultly following instructions, but it still works and keeps it cute.

I'll hopefully have my newest big knitting project to show you this week - yay! - and I'll be back for sure next Monday when we wrap up the big Single Girl Quilt-along. I guess that means I better get moving on mine!

Flying Geese Baby Boy Quilt

Hooray! I actually finished a sewing project! Admittedly it's a pretty small quilt, but a finish nonetheless. This little quilt was a shower gift for a very special baby boy. Of course, all babies are special, but we couldn't be more excited for the safe arrival of this particular one after the heart-breaking journey to parenthood his mom and dad to be have experienced. And these friends of ours appreciate hand-made very much, so it was a joy to make.

I hoped to get some more cheery photos to show you, but our weather up here has been downright craptastic (word of the day!) with no signs of letting up & this has already been gifted so here we go.

I started pulling lots of boyish fabrics from my stash before we knew the gender of our own little one on the way, and even purchased a few "just in case". And I finally got to use lots of favorites that have been just sitting unused for years, like old Heather Ross goldfish and dogs. A simple flying geese pattern to show of the colors and prints seemed like a good way to go. The quilt finishes at roughly 30x36, was backed with a soft flannel from Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannel collection, free motion quilted and bound with a Park Slope leaf print in blue.

We topped the gift off with a little store-bought something, and these tiny baby boots I whipped up last week. Aren't they adorable?? I'd already forgotten how little baby feet are! I found this wonderful pattern, Stay-On Baby Booties and used some Koigu PPPM, which is a great yarn and comes in tons of delicious colors. Our own baby will be getting many pairs of these little socks!

Now that this gift is taken care of, I can turn my attention back to my sorely neglected Single Girl quilt. If you've joined in our Single Girl Quilt-along too, don't forget to hop over to Nova's blog today for the latest installment - Hand Quilting!

The Effortless Cardigan

While only minimal amounts of sewing may be going on around here lately, LOTS of knitting has been making up for it. I've been off my feet, knitting close to five hours a day (usually late into the night), and I finished my new sweater in two weeks! This is record-breaking for a slow knitter like me.

The pattern is called The Effortless Cardigan, designed by Hannah Fettig and it's very hot amongst all the Ravelers right now. And really, it was fairly effortless if you don't count all the hours logged and aching muscle joints. A great sweater to try if you're comfortable with knitting but haven't yet made the plunge into sweater-knitting.

Mine was knit with the gorgeous madelinetosh dk in the color Gossamer. I love grey and this one has a beautiful, very subtle lavender hue to it. It's super comfy and wearable and will get tons use use during the rest of my pregnancy and beyond.

I'm looking rather grouchy here showing off my growing rear, but I wanted you to see how the back of the sweater hangs. Modeling is never my idea of fun and certainly not at 23 weeks pregnant!

In between knits and purls, I'm trying to squeeze a little sewing machine time in, and I really need to get to work on my Single Girl quilt. I confess I've fallen behind. If you have too, make sure you hop on over  to Katy's blog for inspiration to get you going again - she's leading us through step 4 today in the Single Girl Quilt-along.

Happy Monday Everyone!