Reindeer Games

Reindeer Games is project number nine on my list of 12 UFOs for 2017. Nine was the number picked for March.

I designed and stitched the label onto the backing fabric.

Loaded it all up and got stitching! I covered the quilt with swirls both large and small.

Look at all that texture!

I do apologize for the poor lighting in this photo, but I wanted to share that it was done!

Three months, three finishes! Keep that magic moving!

Catching Up

Last week I blocked my latest Dotted Rays Shawl. You can also see my first attempt at sewing up Hawthorn from Colette Patterns. That is still a work in progress and will get a post of its own when I get around to finishing it.

I pieced a charity quilt for Annapolis Quilts for Kids. If you're local and you want to help out with this wonderful group you should check them out. They'll give you a pre-cut kit to sew a quilt top. Great for individuals that want to learn to make quilts, all sorts of crafty people, and clubs looking for a community project.

The daffodils in my front garden decided it was close enough to spring no matter what that groundhog said.

I loaded up project number 9 on my UFO challenge list and got quilting. It will be covered with a collection of swirls in many sizes. Finishing things is more satisfying than starting them.

I made it through the first clue of the Hale-Bopp Mystery Knit Along. I'm not terribly behind on this one, but I don't see myself catching up any time soon. Clue number three has been released and I've made it to clue number two.

DH and I tried something new this week. I heard about spatchcocking from Megan (The Bitchy Stitcher) and I had to try it out with this Cornish hen. It worked out great and shaved more than a couple minutes off the cooking time of this tiny bird. They say it works with birds of all sizes.

Have you tried any new techniques or tools for cooking or crafting? I would love to hear about your experience.

Crochet Experiment: Dragonfly Wing

Remember when I shared this project? that was before I found a giant knot part-way through the ball of yarn. Now, if it had been a simple knot that kept the ombre color-change going I would have just kept right on crocheting. Sadly, that isn't what happened. That knot took me from the darkest color (near the top of this piece) to the lightest color in the ombre- not even seen in this sample. This is Shawl in a Ball from Lion Brand Yarn. I was sad, but I did learn an important lesson: always re-wind your ombre yarn before starting your project (I had something similar happen to another ball of ombre yarn last year). I ripped out all this work, rewound both sections of yarn, and took a chunk out of the middle so I could get the color to flow as cleanly as possible from one to another. (I did fill out the form on their website to let them know about my issue. It has been more than a week and I still have not heard from them.)

I started again and the join is almost unnoticeable now that I have done all that extra work, and had to leave out a few grams of yarn.

This is an attempt to make a specific shape shawl. I couldn't find any that were this diamond shape when I looked through some of the hundreds on Ravelry. Plenty of triangle shawls, and rectangular shawls, but none that were somewhat like an elongated diamond. The shape of a dragonfly wing. If I can pull it off, I'll make sure to write up the pattern to share. Right now it is simple double crochet. I wanted to let the yarn do the work of making it shine. I may decide it needs fancy stitches the next time.

Knitting Update: Dotted Rays

About a month ago I shared another shawl I was making. This is a variation on Dotted Rays from Stephen West.

It starts off like a Dotted Rays.

Then you stripe yarns to create a blending effect.

Until you shift to the second color.

Then more striping with another color.

At the end you make some fun chevrons with the dark and the light colors.

After about a mile of i-cord bind-off you have a lumpy mess that still needs the ends woven in and blocking. It will still be pretty awesome, though.

Yarn is Hawthorn in fingering from Knit Picks.
Pattern is Dotted Rays - Speckled Fade from Stephen West.