Progress...

The good thing about being mainly bed-bound for 4 days is how much knitting and reading one can get done.  Nothing complex -- just garter stitch and cozy mysteries (3 of 'em, including two new-to-me Canadian authors -- one with the nom de plume of C.C. Benison, and one under her own name -- Elizabeth J. Duncan, both of which I enjoyed very much) -- but I'm more than a foot ahead on the Dr. Who Scarf.  In fact, according to the scarf-o-matic monitor, I'm here:

Whoo hoo!

I've also finished the last red-work block for the Centennial Quilt, and assembly should begin before much longer.

However, my brain continues to tire easily, so this post is short and sweet -- just enough to let you know I'm still alive and will add photos from the Lacombe Art Show later this week.  G'night all...

The Doctor Says...

I'm half-way there!

A Quick Check-up

with Dr. Who:

I'm knitting the Season 12 version (stripes were changed depending on the Season of the program) and while it's relatively mindless, it's not as easy as it looks -- at least, not with the yarn I'm using.  The colours available are perfect for this project, and the hand and the drape of the Vanna's Choice Solids (Lion Brand Yarns) feels and looks good.  The pattern is all garter stitch.  Should be a piece o' cake, eh?

However, I'm a fairly speedy knitter, and sometimes the points of my needles, though reasonably blunt (Aero straights, #6 CAD/UK -- or 5 mm.) split the yarn.  I've had to frog up to eight rows a couple of times when I noticed -- too late -- a skinny patch caused by a split stitch that was too far down to correct with a crochet hook.

Lesson learned?  Even the simplest patterns require skill and care to turn out well.  While the intended recipient of this scarf -- a teen-aged boy -- will likely be oblivious to the evenness (or not) of his scarf, as the practitioner of the craft making it, I need to make it with less speed and more care.

Catching up With

the (relatively) mindless...

When I watch my favourite programs online -- that would be The Quilt Show and PBS' Antiques Road Show -- I keep my hands going with a variety of handwork, including the crazy quilt blocks I've been making for the CQJP 2012 and TAST 2012.  My Week 10 TAST block was submitted for my March contribution to the Crazy Quilt Journal Project, as it was TAST challenge for the first Tuesday in March.  Week 11 featured 'Whipped Wheels' for which I had to turn to my assortment of embroidery handbooks, as I don't do these often.  This week's necktie selection was so pretty, though, that I think it steals the thunder from the featured stitch.  :-)

Of course, there's always some knitting in the 'mindless' category, and right now, the Dr. Who Scarf is filling the bill.  Here's a progress photo, draped over my living room chair:

Since I took that photo a few days ago, I finished the gold stripe (top), added a purple one and have now moved on to a large band of olive green...

and the meaty...

(C) 2012 -  DesignMatters 

Having finished my Module 5 of the C&G this past week, my tutor sent me Module 6 -- the focus of which is to plan, execute and display a finished quilt no smaller than 18" square and no larger than 39" square, using piecing as the central technique but adding other techniques learned to date. There are only 11 assignments, but they include everything needed to produce the requisite result and have me beginning with serious thought and research as to what I want to do and how I want to do it.

Step 1: read through the 64-page Module, making notes, and getting the juices flowing.  Stay tuned!

Slow Quilting of a Different Sort

It's been all about embroidery the past few days chez 3F.  First, I finished my Week 10 Take-A-Stitch(on)-Tuesday block remarkably early.  The stitch de la semaine (of the week) was Running Stitch. (I had great fun with this since this was also the week that my jogging moved up a notch closer to running.  I've gone from an estimated 12 minutes/mile to about 10.78 mpm, and with warmer weather, have lightened up the layers and taken off my hat!)

The wee charm on this piece was resurrected from my jewellry box.  Back when I was a Serious Runner (30 years ago) I wore this on a chain around my neck and was rarely without it.  The cute tape with footsteps on it was a recent find (Wednesday) at a scrap-booking store in Stettler (Pages in Time -- sorry, no website to be found).

But the focus of my work this week has been the 12" square piece I've been working on for the SAQA Western Canada exhibit, "Meet the Best of the West".  This piece hasn't come easily to me, as regular readers no doubt know.  I've struggled and sampled my way through it, fighting the Voices In My Head every step of the way to get my vision from photo into fabric.  I began to make some progress, though, when I began to hand stitch on the piece.  Here's just a taste of it:

While I've stitched I've been taking in online Inspiration to Quilt Expo -- interviews with the nominees for "Most Inspiring Teacher of 2011", quilt galleries, a demo area and of course a merchant mall -- and some more episodes of The Quilt Show, which I absolutely love.

Third in the embroidery line up is a project about which I'm not prepared to say much, but here's a peek:

I'll tell you this much: it's red-work.  This is the first of six embroidered blocks, to be assembled into a quilt with six red-and-white pieced blocks, plus sashing. Stay tuned...

And for a break in the evenings...some knitting on the Dr. Who Scarf, on which I'm making very steady progress:

Checking in With the Doctor

Doctor Who, that is.  There's a really neat site that knitters of the Dr. Who Scarf (DWS) can use to calculate their progress on their scarves.  I cast this on for M's son, J, over the weekend, and this is where I am at the moment of this post:

Isn't this cool?

I'm making what's called "The Original" version -- from Seasons 12 through 14, starting in the bottom left corner of the diagram you see here.  So far, it's proceeding swimmingly, and as I've cancelled my usual Monday trip into town due to the steady, thick snow that's falling (with a low cloud ceiling and no sign of it stopping any time soon), I may just be able to make some headway -- in and around my sewing studio time.
 :-)