Friday, August 28, 2009

Drifting

I'm working on a beautiful wool/silk cardigan* and nearly finished a gorgeous alpaca shawl**, but I find my knitting fantasies drifting towards winter hats and mittens. Is it because the days are getting shorter and cooler? Or because I'm bored of having the same two WIPs for the whole summer? In any case, I spent the last half hour trolling the finished Ganomy Hats on Ravelry. (The pattern for Elizabeth Zimmermann's Ganomy Hat was published in the latest Vogue Knitting.) (Come to think of it, all those hats in the fall VK probably have something to do with my tuque dreams.)

Last week, my crafting urges left the knitting world altogether, and I spent my evenings hand quilting! Remember the Scrap-X quilt? I'd gotten as far as making the quilt sandwich, so I pulled it out and started stitching. It's exciting. I'm pretty in love with it.


Once I stitch around the inside of each white square, I'm not sure how I'll quilt the scrap areas. It's a little tricky because there are so many seams, and so many spots with a double thickness of fabric. Anyway, so far so good.

* Pattern: Featherweight Cardigan / Yarn: Blackberry Ridge Wool/Silk Laceweight

** Pattern: Lightweight Mountain Peaks Shawl / Yarn: Misti Alpaca Laceweight

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My great-grandmother, Delilah, would have quilted the scrap area in diagonals that ran from one corner of the quilt to the other (skipping the white squares, of course, and picking up again on the other side). The next line would be an inch over - with today's batting, it could be 2 inches - and parallel to the first diagonal.

Your stitches look very nice!

Jodi said...

The quilt's looking great! The Featherweight Cardigan pattern is so wearable -- can't wait to see what yours looks like.

Janet said...

I'd love to see how you quilt through the various seams. I love hand quilting but don't know how to approach patchwork quilt tops.

Knittripps said...

Your quilt looks really nice! I like the variety of pattern and color.

Anonymous said...

I share your tuque thing!! I love in Mexico but am going to Canada for the autumn. I searched in books, ravelry, internet, etc. The days I spent searching I could have made many from my mother's tuque recipe of p2k2 on 96 stitches which I did end up doing (I omitted the pompom). They are still the warmest and most comfortable hats in the world even if they are not the most fashionable.
Your quilt is beautiful.
Ron

Anonymous said...

There is a quilt shop here in town (not much else in this tiny town) and I've been avoiding it in pure self-defense- if I start quilting, I'll never get anything done. I don't think that avoidance is gonna last much longer...

Will you make it to Rhinebeck?

Holly said...

I think it's a good idea to have a hat project to work on while you're in the midst of a long sweater project. That's how I'm getting through Wendy Bernard's Slinky Ribs! When I run out of steam, I cast on for a quick hat and feel productive when it's finished. Then it's back to the ribbing grindstone! The Featherweight cardi is in my queue too. I even bought the yarn for it! I can't wait to see yours!

Anonymous said...

The quilt looks like fun. I also alternate between quilting and knitting. I have a quilt basted and marked - ready for cooler evenings and quilting! I enjoy your blog.

Nebraska Knitter, Jane

alana said...

I don't know what it's like in Montreal but Kingston was feeling worryingly autumnal today. I like autumn really, it's the dark hints of winter that worry me.

Hat-ish weather to be sure.

Seanna Lea said...

I loved quite a few of the hats in the latest VK. Other than Ganomy, what others caught your eye?

I haven't done anything but my current socks in what feels like forever. I've been cooking and I have yet to find a yarn that goes with chocolate mousse.