Fishbasket Quiviut Hat

The ever handsome Smokey is kindly modeling a hat I think is finally done. I knit this for a SAR friend of mine, starting back in September or October. I just added an inch or so to the band and reduced it by a few stitches so it would cup the cranium slightly. It was a joy to knit and I can't wait to finish my quiviut hat in a light smokey purple with cables.

Quiviut is spun from the underfur of the musk ox, which are raised and roam wild here in Alaska. It is super soft, eight times warmer than wool, and really really expensive. My friend insisted on paying me to knit this for him and though I refused at first when he offered to buy me a skein as well, I couldn't hardly say no. The pattern is a traditional version from a book I allowed this project to provide an excuse for purchasing, Arctic Lace.

Christmas Table Topper

The only real decorating I did this year was a little on the dinner table. We had a bottle of wine I had been saving for a special occasion.

And at the other end of the table I put my pretty box of frankinsense and myrrh. It smells good.

My friend, KAES, made the pieced table runner and gave it to me a couple years ago. I had candles and spruce cones on hand. I love red berries; Smokey and I saw a bush with red berries a couple weeks ago in a store parking lot. He was gracious enough to retrieve some spruce sprigs for me from outside. I believe they are ones he knocked off a tree in the yard while attempting to retrieve a Tatonka toy that was lodged in a branch.

Card

I took my first stab at making a card since I was in elementary school. Mostly I have been collecting pretty paper and fun stickers and the occasional paper crafting magazine. But somehow a pre-made card wasn't good enough for Smokey's mom. So I flipped through the mags and ended up with something looking nothing like anything I looked at. And I really like it. I'm not seeing handmade Christmas cards in my immediate future or anything, but I may make another one soon.

Autumn Pumpkin Jumpin

I am determined that as long as there is no snow in the office parking lot, it is still Autumn. Therefore, to celebrate Autumn, I finally 'finished' this cute wall hanging enough that I could bring it in and hang it in my office. I started it a couple years ago on the island, where I bought the pattern and fabric and started tracing the shapes. Last year I got the background and pieced border sewn. This year I got all the shapes cut out and ironed on to the background and got the other borders added. In keeping with this trend, I think next year I will do the fancy stitching around all the cut outs and the following year I will quilt it. So with the binding and hanging sleeve I figure it will be another 3 years until it is truly done, but it makes me smile. I hope the snow holds off until I can get the snowflake one ready to hang. That one has been waiting much longer, but is finally cut out.

Tatonka is a great quilt weight

I recently found the most perfect solution to having my quilt take flight while I'm trying to work on it. Place one 82.5 pound black lab on the end of it.

Tatonka was gracious enough to demonstrate this for me. You can see that he is fully tortured by this task, but being a good dog he does as he is told. No more pesky flying quilt! Thanks Tatonka.

This is a quilt for my Dad. It's about 10 years in the making. Smokey is currently working long hours for a show so I downloaded an Elm Creek Quilts book from audible and I listen to it and quilt after the dog park/dinner hours. Last night I got to move the frame over a section. I hope to finish the flying geese border some day too. One side is on and the other is about half done.

Tatonka now lays under the frame on my feet since the roll at the end is smaller.

Necklace for Kyle

Turns out I can do simple beading with one hand, so I made a necklace for my nephew, Kyle. He's a Jesus freak and I love him for it. Smokey had to help me with the knots. He's a knotting guru. Don't hold your breath for any knitting posts, cause you might turn blue.

Sandi's Necklace

This is a necklace I bought last summer for my step-mom, Sandi. It is mastadon ivory with a teardrop of baleen. A forget-me-not is carved onto the baleen. I added a jump ring to the baleen so it would lay flat and another one to the ivory to connect it to the chain.

Stripey hats for mother daughter

And here we have a very cute stripey hat for my niece, Meshayla. I got the pattern from a book I got her for Christmas, Shall I Knit You a Hat? It's a story about bunny rabbits knitting hats for their woodland friends. I have a couple ends to weave in yet, but it should be in the mail shortly. The yarn is a hodge-podge of scraps I had laying around.

The mother hat was actually my second attempt on Meshayla's hat. It was still huge, so I decided to line it with a wind proof earband.

Here's the big picture of the mother hat. It's nice and toasty and should work well for keeping ears warm while using those snowshoes she got for Christmas.

Horsin around handbag

Christmas 2009 gift for my horse loving super tall sister. I made her a vest for her birthday the previous summer with the same fabric. It's always a joy to make gifts for people who are wowed by your work - which means you keep making them! The outer fabric is a super light ultra suede with machine embroidered horse heads; lining is super soft brown; one inside pocket; ribbon button loop and wide ribbon handle with accent stitching. I was very pleased with the results of altering a pattern from a bag lady class taken on the island.

Blue Island Socks

Yesterday I finished weaving in the ends for these socks. I finished one sock this summer and then I stopped and made Christmas presents.

These are for a lady on the island who bought the yarn and picked this pattern out of the same book I made Mom's socks out of. They were really fun to knit and I look forward to finishing another pair in the same pattern I started a long time ago. Why can I knit one sock fairly quicly but it takes me forever to finish the pair?

Red Red Vest

I cut this pretty number out a couple months ago. In my exuberance over finding this fun fleece, I didn't pay very close attention when I was cutting and I cut it out a couple sizes too big. Rather than cut it down I decided to finish it and give it to my aunt who just got a new shelter dog and lives where it's cold. As soon as I finish a couple hats I will be sending this out to her.

Green Apples is the Place for Me

Lookey what I finished this weekend, another dress for Meshayla.

A close-up of the bodice, complete with ribbon and wooden (and washable) buttons.

And a close-up of the trim along the bottom reveals that just like the last dress, I ran out of trim. So I added a short piece of brown velvet ribbon I had left over from a pair of drawstring pants I made for myself. I think it works, even adds to the funkiness.

Here's a close-up of the skirt. Can you see the camoflouged pocket?

This is what I added along the back to increase the length. Recall I had the same problem on the cherry dress? I'm sure her dog will love this equally well.

Here's the best zipper I've installed to date. Look at that beautiful overlap of the fabric. And the zipper even works and everything! No one is more shocked than me.

Details: the bodice lining is organic cotton.....from a pillowcase I got for dirt cheap. The coordinating sheets will be quilt backs. Pockets are lined with the same fabric; it is silky. I decided the inside needed some additional finishing, so I added the ribbon to the bodice/skirt seam. I also added some length to the straps as she already needs the cherry ones uncrossed.

Sisterly Love

I was just uploading some photos and ran across these from August. This is a close up detail of the quilting on a wallhanging I made for my sister's birthday. Her roomate agreed to pack it in his suitcase and present it to her on her birthday for me. She loved it and has it hanging on her wall in California.

I bought this as a kit from the Sewing Expo I attended with my aunt just before I moved to Alaska. I also bought a kit to make a quilt for my mom, but I took two others with me to make her and I'm not done with them yet so I haven't gotten to it. One is close though, I press another piece for applique every night.

Here is a view of the back. The quilting was done by my dear accomplice in stitching, Jeanne. She owned the quilt shop on the island. And the cafe. They live nearby now, but I manage to not call them enough. She also quilted a queen size quilt for my sister (pictures are MIA) and one for my aunt (also MIA pictures), and a smaller quilt for my niece (you guessed, MIA pictures, though I have faith my girlfriend who lives near her will get some for me). And she did a couple for me, the animal print one I discussed in an earlier post, and one that is patiently waiting for me to go buy some binding. That one I started in Idaho. Anyone remember back when I lived in Idaho?

Windproof Camo Vest

Winky dog (aka Percy) loves to model for me. She patiently sits on my feet while I sew and happily complies with dress up time.

Percy felt this vest made her look fat since it was so large in the torso. So she agreed to let me try it on someone else and see how it looked on them.

I'm not sure what he calls this model look, perhaps 'Mountain Man'? This is actually the second time he has received this vest; the first time he took it, unfinished, on his goat hunt trip in SE. You know, the one where I thought I would get the brakes done on my truck while he was gone....

I believe this is his 'Blue Steele' look.....

And this would be 'Magnum'. This is my second time making this vest. I posted about this previously on my other blog; the first vest was for my dog sitter on the island as a thank you for watching Tatonka when Smokey and I went home for Christmas last year.

Super Warm Smokey Quilt

Smokey's birthday is Valentine's Day and last year I made him this quilt from a pair of his jeans that he wanted to discard. Because they were too big on him. Yeah, kinda makes me sick too.

Lest you feel deceived, I feel the need to clarify things a bit. This project was for his 2007 birthday. As you can see from this angle, it isn't done yet. I did however, sew on the brown flannel border so it is currently awaiting funding to purchase the additional black polar fleece for the backing. Hence, the warmness of the quilt. After I piece the back it will go off to live at my quilter's house until she can work her magic on her long arm machine. I hope to send mom's bear quilt with it to keep it company. It has been waiting for birthday from same year (new year's eve). What can I say? That's actually not too bad for a delivery time for my work.

Machine Quilting Small Project

Here we have an assortment of lovely potholders made entirely from my stash. I made these for my cousin when she moved into a new place. She got one pretty quickly, but these other five have lingered in my apartment for some time now. When I finally completed them this summer I decided we were closer to the next Christmas than the past one and so I sent them (late) to her for Christmas 2008. I used a batting specially designed for handling hot materials and I quilted these on my machine.

This was my first experience trying to quilt on my machine and I didn't have the proper foot for it until a few weeks later. I think it could have gone much worse; the print hides the mistakes nicely. I think they will be very utilitarian and will serve their purpose well and provided a great learning platform. How's that for a PC way of saying "Wow, I'm not good at that at all yet."?

Stripey Americana Socks

I finished these this summer and hung on to them to give to my Mom at Christmas. I think I'm just going to send people things I finish for them when they are done from now on. These were super fun to knit and though you can't really tell from this picture, they are really textured with ribbing and funky cables. I knit them from some yarn my aunt sent me, following a pattern in 'Knitting on the Road', a book I got from my aunt. I have knit a few other patterns out of this book, so stay tuned for more project pictures!

Warm Enough for a Different Bear

Here we have Smokey helping Bear cat model a scarf I knit for one of my girlfriends. She will likely see this post before she gets the package, but I can't stand to wait any longer.

*Note: Smokey is growing his hair out for locks of love and is almost there. He says he can't wait to shave his head. Here he is sporting the act of breaking his own rule: long hair OR beard, because he is too lazy to shave and it's super cold here now.

I originally tried to knit this as a birthday gift, but the pattern and yarn were uncooperative. I unknit this piece several times in an effort to get a good balance of width and length. I actually think it is going to work better as a headband than as a scarf. Luckily the giftee has lovely hair that will look great tied back with this. The piece is loosely based on a scarf (worn as a headband) in a fantastic book, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, that we both own.

Ms. Melissa Goes to School

Not this Melissa, but the Other Melissa. This is currently somewhere between Anchorage and Renton. I believe I machine pieced this, but it was hand quilted. Melissa is a science teacher. She has way more patience than I do. I added the dark blue piping to hide the inacuracy of my piecing. And I bet you would have never known if I hadn't just told ya!

I quilted around the major pieces and put zigzags on the cream inbetween. And blue stars around the borders, of course. Can you believe I had this sweet label in my stash? Neither could I; it is perfect. I didn't put any hanging devices on this piece as it is small and can easily be pinned to a wall.

You Are What You Wear

I feel like I'm cheating a little bit here because this isn't a newly completed object. But I lost so much documentation when my camera was stolen that I find myself grasping what I have left with both hands. I made the sleeveless top underneath the outer pocketed sweater (from my Grandma Linn) for a wedding I attended. It is a pattern from Knitty and I used Calmer to knit it up. I generally think that without the outer sweater the shortness of this piece makes me look short and chunky, but I think that illusion dissolves with the outer sweater.

I also made the pants. They are a dark green wool from the Pendelton outlet shop in Portland. I have the same fabric in blue and black and hope to complete those pairs of pants shortly as they go together very quickly and have little finishing. They have full, straight legs that look great with my Danskos. What has been holding me up on these is that the first time I made these pants I made them in a nice medium brown and made them according to the size on the pattern. They ended up too big. I made these green ones the next size down. And I think I still need to go down a size. This takes the effort level up a notch as I will need to trace the pattern again. I think it's only three new pieces. But sometimes I'm really lazy and pattern tracing for me means clearing off my whole sewing table (including cat bed and food dishes and sewing machine).

Warm Enough for a Bear

I made this scarf for Smokey's mom for Christmas. Too bad his parents decided to visit her brother in Texas for a month. I doubt she will feel cold enough to wear this there. I used the same yarn to teach my friend in town how to knit. It's slow going since she has a darling little girl to look after and a real job too. The yarn is super soft and almost the color of daquiri ice from baskin robins. And the bear is what Smokey made his little nephew for Christmas. I know, can you believe it? Almost as good as the stick horse I made for my niece. Hmmm..... I wonder if I have a picture of that?

Here's a more complete picture of the rocking bear. It disassembles for shipping.