Oh, the Retreat!

I forgot to write about the retreat I went to recently. Every year in January my knitting group from church goes on a retreat. We are a very small group, so we fit in where the retreat center tells us to go. The first two years it was very, very cold, and other groups cancelled. That meant we got to move into a nicer building, which we loved. We had a great time.

Last year we were on retreat as the same time as the quilt guild from Hudson, WI. They told us we should come at the same time again this year, and request housing in their same building. So we did, and it worked out, and we had fun visiting each others' spaces and seeing what we all were working on. Plus, of the places to stay, we finally made it into the newest and nicest building. That was fun. We hope to do that again next year.

As a quilter who sometimes knits, I couldn't stand to do four days of just knitting, so I took along my sewing machine and did a little of both.

Below is L., our super-talented member. Aren't those lambs just the cutest? Next is A. who is willing to try all kinds of new techniques and learn all she can.

We knit and crochet prayer shawls for the prayer shawl ministry at church. I'm such a slow knitter, I decided to try a quilted prayer shawl. I don't know.. what do you think? I hope the minister likes it and that a recipient won't think it's too tiny as a quilt. It's about the same size as a yarn shawl, but doesn't drape the same way.. so maybe it should be a tad bigger? I'm not sure how it will go over.

My knitting/crocheting friends made me this lovely prayer shawl in honor and memory of my mom. How nice of them! I love it. It's red, my mom's favorite color.

Below -- most of our completed items; there were only four of us this year! I went to the quilt guild's Saturday night program which was a funny skit and then Show and Tell. My camera battery died, but I did snap a few beauties before that happened.

Next year we hope to be on the retreat at the same time as the Hudson quilters again. I expect I will take along my sewing machine again, in addition to my knitting. I hope I finish my current knitted prayer shawl before then. I have been working on it for about three years! That is long enough, don't you think?!

Living in the Deep Freeze

It has been so cold here, I think my blood is frozen, and therefore I can't move quickly. That explains the lack of posts here at my little blog. I didn't have a book to report on last Friday, plus I was out of town.

The yarning group from my church went on a retreat. We had another wonderful, relaxing time and got a lot done. I mostly worked on hats, and tried to make progress on my prayer shawl which is taking forever. I've now been working on it for a solid year. It's about two-thirds done.

There was a group of young people staying at the camp, also. They had a blast inner tubing down the snowy/icy hill outside our lodge. It was great fun watching them. They have such energy and can do such things without breaking bones. It looked like so much fun, we were almost tempted to join them, but all of us are in our 60s or 70s and thought we'd rather keep our bones intact. Not to mention that the high on Saturday was two below zero, Fahrenheit.

This is us:

When I came home, I was eager to sew again. I put together this top for Quilts Beyond Borders:

Today the high is going to be all the way up to nine degrees F, so I guess it'll be warm enough to venture out. Stay warm, everyone!

More Than I Remembered

We have a church boutique once a year; this year's will be on Wednesday of this week (tomorrow). It takes place during a big turkey dinner. The boutique is a small, add-on affair that provides a bit of fun in addition to the dinner. It's not a big event that requires a huge inventory, but I never seem to finish all my ideas, mostly because I wait until the last minute to make them. However, when I took an inventory of what I've made, I have more than I remembered! I'm happy. I'll be even happier if the things sell.

Fabric-covered journals; I only made three. Wish I'd had time to make more. On the other hand, who knows if they will sell?

two pillows; the embroidery work was done by the mother from a family our church "adopted" last year for Christmas. She gave us several embroidered pieces as thank-yous. I still have more. If I start now, maybe I can get all of them made into something useable for next year.

a small table or dresser topper

Here is a knitted hat and scarf set that I made with yarn I was able to buy at a super-bargain price (that always makes me happy):

Bookmarks:

I even will attempt to sell a quilt! Selling a quilt at the boutique is doubtful, because most people are looking for small, inexpensive items. But one never knows. (To my surprise, I did sell a quilt at the boutique a couple years ago!) This is a good toddler/young kid size quilt. This photo was taken before it was quilted. If it doesn't sell, I have plenty of other possible destinations for this quilt.

I have a few other odds and ends which I won't photograph (home-made note cards and knitted dish cloths). Hopefully these will make a good addition to the inventory and will help make it a successful boutique again this year.

P.S. Here's a photo of that quilt, completed. I forgot I had photographed it.

A Little Knitting

I have done very little knitting this year, but tonight I finally finished this scarf. I'm also working on a prayer shawl that is regular size yarn with smallish-size needles. That thing will take me forever. I like it, but I'm a slow knitter, and it has been in progress for six months and is about half done. So you can guess approximately when I'll finish it. I'm persisting, though. Next one I make might use some chunky yarn so it goes faster.

Did you visit my blog on Friday, hoping for a book report? Sorry I didn't have one ready. I'm re-reading Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a long book; I have to have it done by next Sunday for a book group discussion. Hopefully I can tell you about it this coming Friday. (I read it years ago, but couldn't remember much detail, and I knew I wanted to re-read it anyway. I was glad my book group chose it. Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors.)

Have a great week! I get to have a tooth pulled on Wednesday! Ewww.

A Little Bit of Knitting

Here is a knit panel that I completed. A member of our yarn group at church has cancer, so we each quickly made her panels which we will sew together to make a prayer shawl for her. When it gets completed I will show you a photo of the whole shawl.

Today I worked at the little store that we run during the quilt show. One of our display units had collapsed yesterday. No one saw it happen, and the viewers claim they didn't touch anything, but ... how else would it have fallen? Never mind, though. I sent out an e-mail distress call and a few people showed up. We had to be the Tool Gals for the day. Luckily one person there knew what she was doing. I would have been lost without her. It must have taken a good hour to get that back up. I'm happy to say our show is once again complete. Just don't breathe too hard on some of those displays, please! *smile*

Easter Prep

Today my knitting/crocheting group met at church. There was a lot going on, with the bell choir having practice, and flowers being hauled in to decorate the sanctuary for Easter Sunday, and another group meeting further down the hall. There was even a little dog wearing a jacket running around for a while. I like to see the church buzzing with activity.

Here is how the sanctuary looked after they arranged all the flowers:

I managed to make one block today, to bring my total April blocks for Sunshine to eight. I will send these to Tammy, and she'll use them to make some lovely Sunshine quilts. [I know I casually throw out these terms, Sunshine, Lotto blocks for Tammy, etc... if you ever wonder what I'm talking about, just ask. I'll be happy to explain.]

Happy Easter! We'll be having a quiet day - church and then home. Maybe I'll sew! (I'm feeling much better now. Hooray!)

Pajamas

In 2014 I donated 22 pairs of pajamas (mostly kid sizes) to our local social service agency serving families in need!

It was fun buying pajamas on sale after the holidays a year ago. I found some GREAT deals. This year I am not doing pajamas. I'm trying to concentrate on my quilts. I have so many that are half-started, half-done, half-dreamed up. I might as well make them my life focus.

I know... you thought they already were my focus. Well, you were almost correct. This year I'm just trying to whittle down my other distractions, which I enjoy, but that take time away from my quilts.

It's tough to choose between projects, all of which I enjoy! For example, having just announced that I'm going to concentrate on quilts this year, I will contradict myself and tell you that I want more time for knitting this year as well. AND I want some time to READ. Now that I've done quilting and knitting retreats, don't you think I should go on a reading retreat? I do!

Too much fun to be had, and not enough time. I think this might be one of those First World problems.

My Knitting Weekend

Last weekend the knitting/crocheting group from my church went on a retreat. It was our 2nd annual. Such fun! We had a lot of time for laughs, talking, and getting lots of projects done.

I finished this prayer shawl. It is VERY warm!

and my first-ever completed pair of mittens! These fit a child age 8-10.

Here is our table of completed projects and WIPs (Works in Progress)and below that, our gang of yarners.

It was a beautiful weekend. We'll book one again for next year, too!

Do You Knit or Crochet?

There is a collection of baby hats and socks going on... and it needs our help! They were expecting to be inundated, but so far the numbers are low. Can you quickly make a few baby hats and socks (see guidelines below)? Babies in Afghanistan need our help. Forwarded e-mail is below this photograph:

Dear Knitters and Crocheters for Afghanistan,

We're having a bit of a drought here in California ...

Our Baby Shower for Afghan Babies is on the dry side so far ...

As of last Friday, the count was about 100 wool pairs of baby socks
and 40 baby hats (in sizes newborn to 1 year). All gorgeous, top-
quality garments that any mother would be honored to receive for her
new baby.
kn
We know that more baby socks and hats are on the needles or in the
mail -- THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We're fretting, though -- this seems like a bit of a drought so far
based on our experience.

The Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul delivers about 85 babies each
day -- we want to send a few thousand hats and socks so that the
hospital is supplied for a full year. These garments were specifically
requested by the medical personnel as needed items.

A wool hat is one of the most cost-effective techniques for ensuring
survival at the beginning of life. Hat-makers ... this is your time!

We have not had a campaign for babies in a few years -- which excites
everyone -- but we need to reach more volunteers to increase participation. We're
not reaching enough people via our email list or website.

Can you please spread the word to your fiber friends, online and off?

Please feel free to forward this whole email message intact. Please
post the campaign link on your personal blogs and social media.

The Baby Shower campaign details, including where to send, are here --

http://www.afghansforafghans.org/currentcampaign.html

A baby hat or pair of socks can be whipped up in an evening (use up
some oddballs) -- one item can easily be placed in an envelope to our
AFSC Collection Center in San Francisco. Even just one hat or pair of
socks makes a difference -- invaluable to the new baby. We just need
to reach more knitters and crocheters.

We have a deadline in early July, but we're going to get an extension
-- we will email you as soon as we know and also update the website.
Part of the issue is that we have a hard time if we are flooded at the
last minute - we need to have enough time for the local *volunteer*
crew to open packages, inspect, and sort, and then we have to arrange
trucking to the staging area before our cartons are aggregated with a
larger load of humanitarian supplies that are inventoried and then put
in line for transit overseas. Lots of steps along the way!

Thank you for giving this some thought and for sharing this message
with interested fiber friends. It does take a village.

Much appreciation,
Ann and colleagues XOXOXOOXOX

I actually made a hat for this campaign, but there is a big mistake in it, and I'm not even sure it is big enough for a baby, so I hope to start again and make a couple more that are done correctly. Can you join me?

Note: they plan to extend the deadline, so there is still time.

Flowers, Sewing, and Knitting

Hooray! I finally got my summer flowers purchased and planted. And my irises are blooming! We've had some beautiful days. How lovely to sit outside and read and to have my flowers arranged. Now I need someone to come do the weeding.

I made this quilt top from scrap blocks and pieces that other people made (for the most part). The sashing is a Nigerian fabric I was given. I now have several tops that I need to quilt. I ran out of batting but plan to buy some this weekend while it's on sale. (Great timing!)

I made six blocks for Sunshine. I thought they were for June, but I realized I made them according to the July directions (novelty fabrics). Harumph. I still have June's blocks to make (pink and green).

I finished knitting this hat. The yarn was a little bit hard to work with, and my hands got really tired. I'm glad this one is done. It's summer time: a good time to work on small knitting projects such as hats and mittens, because they don't drape into a person's lap to make her hot. So I hope to get more small projects finished in the next couple of months.

Giraffe-Birdies

I don't have many sewing finishes to show you. Just two knitted bird nests, and one pot holder.

Someone at Facebook posted a link to a request for knitted bird nests. They actually use these with real baby birds that are orphaned and rescued. The nests help keep the babies warm. So cute! I had to give it a try. It was fun. I am modeling them with a couple of giraffe tub toys that are about the size of real baby birds, I think. I don't think I'll make any more right now, but I might make a few over the next year and have them ready to send in the spring. They mostly need these in May and a bit into June.

Here's the pot holder:

And that is it for the exciting adventures in Carol's sewing room!

Knitting and Other Stuff

Recently I decided that most of my day-time hours (when I'm home) will be for quilting, and evening will be saved for knitting. This is a flexible rule which I can break as I see fit, but having it in my mind gives me a nice routine to follow, which I am enjoying.

I finally finished a prayer shawl for my church. I'm not crazy about it, but it could be worse, I guess. At least it's done. I have started on a pretty red one now, which I will enjoy working on much better.

Here are three dish cloths I have knitted. I want to have a bunch of these ready for Christmas 2014, and at the rate I'm going, I won't have very many. Better increase my production rate!

While I sew, I save scraps and put them into a home-made bag such as this. When it is full, I sew up the final end, and it will become an animal bed for the Humane Society. A woman at my new guild will deliver it for me. This one, being small, will be for a cat, I assume.

This is a pillow that I sewed a long time ago, and finally hand-sewed the closed end together. I'm not sure what this is for.. maybe for my own sofa, or maybe I'll donate it somewhere. It's not gorgeous but is utilitarian and will last forever (strong fabric).

And there is even some quilting to add to this post. Yesterday I spent the day machine quilting and binding this quilt which I only made last weekend. It is rare for me to finish one that quickly, though I wish I would make a habit of that. It feels great to make one from start to finish in a short time! This one will be donated through the Hands 2 Help Challenge for which I have a button in my sidebar. Read about it and tell me which of the three charities you think I should donate this one to! Here it is, front and back. It measures 39" x 54".