crocheted shawl

My grandma taught me how to crochet when I as about 8 years old, which means I have about 30 years of experience...but saying it that way makes me feel old.   It's been something I've loved for many years, but would phase in and out of projects, mostly making afghans, scarves, and the occasional toboggan.  For some reason, I've always been scared of intricate work.

I decided earlier this year that the time to be "afraid" of stuff like this was over.  O-V-E-R, over.

So, I present to you my first, non-afgan, non-granny-square, non-scarf-or-hat crocheted project.




The pattern is Gathering Leaves by Lily Go and the yarn is Malabrigo sock. {You can find more details on my ravelry project page.}

I love shawls and have gazed on them wistfully for years.  The thought of warm, soft yarn wrapped around my shoulders is so cozy.  I'm so cold-natured that I keep blankets in my office.  Yes, blankets.  If anyone is going to be cold at a function, it's me.  I hate cold, but hardly get the chance to escape it.  Now you know why I love summer so much.  :)

Although the pattern looks very complex, it's super simple.  Repeating patterns of double crochets and chain stitches.  More than once I beat myself up for not trying it sooner.  Exactly what was I afraid of?  Who knows.  Oh, and it only took about two weeks  - and you know about my overbooked, overstressed schedule already.  Not bad.

I've received comments galore, both online and in real life, and it's just made my day.  I'm so glad I finally jumped in - 30 years later. 

I see many more of these in my future.  :)

spring break!

Two midterms down and a week off.  I swear I felt the stress physically falling off my shoulders yesterday as my classmates gathered for drinks after stats class.  I've been counting the days for this one as classes seem to be at a much faster pace with a heavier workload this semester.  I feel like I've always got my nose in a book, journal article, or other miscellaneous work.




So tired of constantly having a to-do list.  But for the next 10 days, I don't.  Not a school-related one, at least.

Given the increase in class intensity, and the corresponding decrease in time with my family, my hobby projects have shifted more towards yarn work because it's something I can do while watching TV, etc., with the boys instead of being holed up in a sewing room....despite the fact that I'd *rather* be holed up in my sewing room.

I've had several finishes this month, though none of them are sewing or quilting projects.  I started and completed two cowls, two sets of fingerless gloves, a scarf and a doggie sweater.  It feels so productive to say that!  The scarf and one of the gloves sets were knit...a new hobby that I'm quickly falling in love with.  Here are a couple of photos of the crocheted projects. 










The cowl at the bottom is my favorite and I get tons of compliments each time I wear it.  It's a simple half-double crochet stitch done in the round.  I used two strands of Malabrigo worsted as the pattern called for a chunky yarn.  Two skeins and two evenings later, I was done (and that included pulling it out once halfway through because I didn't make it long enough!)  So.  Very.  Easy.   In fact, the pattern is called "Effortless Cowl" and the name certainly fits.

With my break finally here, and having Monday and Tuesday off from work, I have all sorts of pie-in-the-sky ideas about the many things I'd like to work on.  Truthfully, though, I'm seriously considering spending all day Monday in bed.  Yes, all day.  An alternative may be to spend the day at my best friend's lake house...but even then I may not get out of bed, unless it's to go sit on the boat dock for a while.  Doing nothing sounds so heavenly.

Other than that, though, I hope to cut several more Oh My Stars sets so I can organize them for some quick sewing once classes start up again.  I'm also starting to receive some TwitterB blocks (last month was my month) and I want to play with them a bit.  So fun to receive happy little packages.  I need to get some things painted for my sewing room, too.

Regardless of what projects I end up working on, I'm going to relish this time off, catch up with my online (and real life!) friends, and just sit and enjoy life a bit.  Spring break looks a lot different at 39 than it did at 21.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Finished it Friday and a Friday feature

Hi everyone!  It's time for our weekly link party, but first, I have a little announcement... I'm being featured!

AnneMarie from GenX Quilters, who I got to meet in person at Sewing Summit, is featuring me today as part of her Follower Friday series. I'm so honored and excited!  AnneMarie is a wonderful person and I'm so glad I got the chance to get to know her a bit better in Utah.  Her blog is a wonderful resource of tutorials, quilt blocks, patterns, website links, and more.  So, for those of you who haven't seen it, go check it out. And for those visiting from there, welcome!   I'm so glad you're here.  :)

Every week, my friend Kimberlee and I host Finish it Friday, to showcase your quilting, crafting, and sewing finishes.  So it's your turn to toot your horn and shout your finish to the world!

Our most visited link from last week was the one for Belinda's Christmas pillowcases. They were so cute and I'm trying to figure out how to work them into my already overloaded to-do list.  My boys would love these.  If you didn't see them, be sure to check them out.

I don't have any finishes to show just yet, but I'm steadily working towards one.  How about you?  Do you have a recent finish?

Finished it Friday

Hi everyone!

Another week in the books...and boy, am I glad.  Except for class days, I've been home sick every day this week.  And I even missed three classes on Tuesday.  Whatever it is that has me simply won't let go!  Hopefully today will be my last sick day for a while.  I'm fortunate that I don't get sick often, but when I do, it's a doozy.

So - finishes this week?  Believe it or not, I did have a couple.

The first is from Saturday, when I finished this tote bag using an online sewing class by Trish Preston.  (Don't forget about the giveaway - comments are open 'til Monday.) 




Next up is a quilt top. And, yes, I count quilt tops as finishes.  I say we celebrate every step.   :)




The pattern is Alice, by Rita at Red Pepper Quilts and it's for my niece, who turns 16 in January.  I think it is a perfect fit.  I'm debating straight-line quilting on this one, but still a little undecided.  Would love to know your thoughts on that...

Don't forget to link up your finishes below...and here's the new button for your blog!  Just copy the HTML in the box below the button and paste it in your blogpost or sidebar.  Let me know if you have questions!  :)




<a border="0" href="http://www.stitchingbystarlight.com/search/label/Finished%20it%20Fridays"><img src="http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u326/jeepmama_nc/FinishedFridays200.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Finished it Fridays!" /></a>

Have a wonderful weekend!

Finished it...um...Saturday?

I feel like a goober.

The past two days have been nuts and, well, I simply forgot to create this week's Finished it Friday post.

I was at a work conference all day on Friday, from which I went straight to a wedding rehearsal and dinner.  Then, of course, today was the wedding.

Remember the Flipside quilt? The most wonderful babysitter ever? Yup - her wedding. We've been at the church since eleven this morning. The wedding was spectacular and the bride was gorgeous. Just like we knew she would be. :)

All that to say... I hope you'll forgive my lack-of-posting. However, there is good news!


If you remember from last week, Kimberlee over at Spunky Diva has started co-hosting with me. This week is her first week to play hostess and she was right on time! The link party is still open, too...so head on over there and show us what you finished!!!

Finished it Friday! (and some changes)

Good morning from wonderfully beautiful Tybee Island!  I'm down here for a long girls' weekend, and we are having a blast.  I hope you'll excuse the late post...but I couldn't resist the urge to sleep in this morning.  :)

Today is the first day of the "New and Improved" Finished it Friday.  A few weeks ago, Kimberlee from Spunky Diva contacted me asking if I'd like to have a co-host for Finished it Fridays and I gladly accepted.  She has a wonderful blog (you should definitely go visit her soon) and I'm happy to partner up with her.

Kimberlee will be the FiF hostess on the 2nd and 4th Fridays, and you'll find us here on the 1st and 3rd.  We plan to have special events on the 5th Fridays - so keep an eye out for those.  In the meantime, here's a new button you can use on your blog when you link up.  :)




As of right now, I don't have any finishes to post - but I'm hoping to have one later today.  I've got one in the works and am desperately hoping to link it up to Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival, which ends today -- eek!!  ETA - I got it done!!!  Be sure to check out Jane's Black and White Quilt post.


In the meantime - show us what you finished!!!

Finished it Friday

It's a cold, rainy Friday here - too cold. I'm a summer girl at heart and I'm already longing for warmer temps. It's going to be a long, hard winter. *sigh*

I have two "reportable" finishes this week.  The first - and most impactful - is baseball. 




Both boys had their final games last night, and I for one am glad to see the season end.  Don't get me wrong - we love it.   We love our league, our friends, our coaches.  This season, though, we averaged four nights a week at the fields.  That's four week-nights.  Plus Saturday mornings.  It was getting to be too much.  It's the price you pay when you have two playing, and it's just the luck of the draw to get schedules like that.  Maybe the spring will be easier.

Two sewing finishes - but only one to share.  The first is my Misfit Quilter's Hoop Swap.  It goes in the mail today.  The only thing I don't like about it is that I won't be there to see my partner's face when she opens it.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall!  Don't worry - once it's received I'll have plenty of pictures to share.  :)

The finish I can share is my iPad case.... I finally got it right (by my standards, at least).




Once I finished it the first time, I found out (1) it was too big and my iPad slid around in it and (2) the zipper opening was too small.  The teeth of the zipper would rub against the iPad as it was taken in and out and even though I have screen protector on it, I just didn't like that.  So, it was back to the drawing board.  I ended up taking it completely apart.  I added batting to the back, which I had left out the first time, trimmed it up to be more snug, and tried a different zipper technique.




Now, it's perfect.  Nice and snug, but the zipper opens larger than the pouch, so no scratching.  Love, love, love.

I'd thought about doing a tutorial on this but, truthfully, there are so many case tutorials out there that I'm not sure I'd be adding to the collective wealth.  I scoped out quite a few for measurements and found that Fresh Lemons' worked best for me.  I also frequently referenced Flossie Teacakes for the initial zipper insertion, but having the extended part outside is all my work.  I just went with trial and error on that one without looking up anything.  Maybe I'll do a tut on that with a little pouch or something.  I really like the extra zipper space and it comes in handy for things like this.

And, again, the design is Lee's Kansas Dust Storm block, which I love!  Fabric is Joel Dewberry's Heirloom and a sand-colored linen (forgot the name, sorry!). 

So, there you have it - my two big finishes.  Feels nice to have them done.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now it's your turn... but I do have one little request, first.

If you are linking up here, please link back to me on your post or in your sidebar.  About half of the linkups last week didn't have my button or a text link back here.  I don't want to be mean and start deleting links, but it's a little quite disheartening to see when I'm helping others spread the word about their blog, but they don't do the same.  Including a button/link lets others know to come here, which in turn will build up the party and send even more traffic out to future links.  I want this party to grow, but I need your help!

The HTML is always at the top of my blog, but I've added it here also to make it easy.  If you're not sure how to insert the HTML, shoot me an e-mail and I'll be glad to help.  :)



<a border="0" href="http://www.stitchingbystarlight.com/search/label/Finished%20it%20Fridays" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/5981223031_62a711ab2a_m.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Finished it Fridays!" /></a>


So, with that said....tell me, what did you finish??

Finished it Friday

Seriously? Another week? My word.  Where does the time go?

This Friday is a big one for me - well, in my own little sewing world, that is.  Tonight and tomorrow, I'll be helping out Karen Gray at her Flaunt event here in Winston.  I. Can't. Wait.






I've been wanting to meet her for months and now I get the chance to actually work with her.  (And she mentioned me by name when asking a friend of mine for help!)  <--eeek!

If you are local, be sure to check out the event.  If you're not, you can head on over to Karen's Blog and drool over all the luscious fabric yumminess that I'll be surrounded by this weekend. 

I did manage one finish this week - a clutch bag that my friend Michelle started as part of an impromptu class at Sewing Summit.  (And, yes, once again - please excuse the phone pic...)

Don't worry - my car was not in motion when I snapped the pic.  :)

This little bag has become an absolute favorite of mine.  Hubby and I have had nearly two weeks without the kids, so we've been eating out a lot (I *swear* it's cheaper to eat out than cook for two!).  This has been my go-to bag each night, as I'm tired of lugging around my clunky handbag.  :)  You really should try one of these....easy and fabulous!

So now - it's your turn!  What did you make??  We had some wonderful entries last week...can't wait to see what you've got in store today.

Happy Friday!!

Finished it Friday #11

Good morning, everyone!  It's Friday!!!!

After a long hiatus from my sewing machine, I finally had the chance to sew last night.  Oh, it felt so good!!  I have a couple of finishes to share with you.  First is my first-ever zipper pouch.

My new friend Claudia taught an impromtu class at Sewing Summit and showed us just how easy these little pouches can be.  To say the least I'm hooked... and to prove it, look at what I got yesterday...



Fifty ... that's right ... FIFTY zippers.  And some darling little zipper pulls.  Can't wait to dig into them.

I also finished up my 3x6 blocks last night.

These blocks were a lot of fun, and I'm glad I joined the group.  If you're looking for a good swap to join, now is the time.  Signups for the fourth quarter are active right now.  :)

So - now it's your turn..... what did you finish??

Finished it Friday #10

Morning everyone!!






Coffee is slowly kicking in and the brain is coming back to life - sort of.  By the end of every week, I'm so foggy-eyed in the morning that I can hardly function.  So glad I get to sleep in tomorrow!!!

Sewing has been minimal this week.  With travelling, catching up at work, baseball games/practices and additional homework, I just haven't had time.  I did start a few things - but I'm going to save those for my next WIP linkup.  :)

So - what did you finish??????????????

Finished it Friday #9

Another Friday has rolled around...can you believe it?



I've been out of town this week at a business meeting, but I've had one very important finish...

 

In fact, my term ends today...and while some of you are reading this, I'll be in the middle of handing over the reigns at our annual conference. SoCRA - The Society of Clinical Research Associates - is a 13,500+ member volunteer professional organization and I've had the honor and priveledge to be their President this past year.   I still can't believe it.

And I can't believe it's over.

I'm so sad to see this one go.  I've learned so much...about leadership, teaching others, staying calm, and when to step up.  I've sat through many lectures on leadership in the past, but this past year I was able to put them into practice.  It's been fun and it's been busy.  This week, however, is all about relishing it.  As a thank you during each annual conference, the outgoing President gets the red-carpet treatment.  This is my year.  My family is with me in San Diego, where we enjoyed a limo ride from the airport (a first for my boys)...


And the Presidential suite.



Still dumbfounded over this one, and I've been here three days!  Three bedrooms, three baths, a living room and dining area with a bar.  Fabulous.

So, quite obviously, on the sewing front, not much happened this week as my sewing machine is about 3,000 miles away.  I finished some bee blocks that were long overdue last weekend, and was able to get them out on Monday.

Both the August and September blocks were Wonky Stars based on this tutorial by the Silly BooDilly.  I think I can count myself as a "pro" on these now.  And I have to admit, they were quite fun and quite easy.  My favorite combination!  :)






Of course, I'm itching to get back to my sewing space and get going on a few things.  Summit is coming up and I'm so excited!  I've got most of the things I need for my sew-alongs gathered up, just need to pack them.  While there I'll be working on a tote bag, a clutch pouch, and a zippered pouch.  I'm also participating in a charm-square swap.  Can't wait!

But enough about me!!  It's your turn - I'm missing my machine, so I need to live vicariously though you!  Tell me, tell me...what did you finish?

Finished it Friday #8

This week has been another crazy week, but I'm so excited to say that I have some finishes to report!!




In truth, I must admit that one of these finishes was actually completed on September 3rd, so I could have posted about it last week... I simply forgot.  See??? - I told you my brain was mush!

After some stress, a lot of love, and an astonishing amount bit of angst over having to part with this beauty... I'm happy to report I finished my version of Flipside.

(More pics on Monday.)

I also finished a couple of blocks for a super-secret project I'm working on.  Unfortunately I can't give you pictures on that one, yet, but I promise to post soon.  

Finally, I worked on a new way to do a signature block, using a bit of embroidery.



I'm new at embroidery - despite learning to cross-stitch at age 9 - and I like it.  Never thought of using it in a signature block until I saw Angela's on flickr.  As with most things, her version is better, but I claim deadline pressure for this one... LOL!

So tell me - what did you finish??  It's time to link up!!!

Finished it Friday #7 - and a question

Another week.  Another crazy week.  And this one, unfortunately, had no finishes.  Unless of course, I consider my Biostatistics homework.  It only took me all day Sunday.  All. Day.  I even thought about taking a picture and posting it here.  :) 

Hardly any sewing happened here this week.  I did get started on a couple of blocks, but not finished.  Grad school is taking far more time - and brain power - than I imagined. By the time I do get everything done, I have nothing left for my sewing machine.  My solution for now is to set a timer for 30 minutes.  This way I don't get behind on my swap obligations, but I don't feel guilty about losing track of time. I've found sewing is important as it helps me to engage the creative side of my brain and take a break from things like cummulative incidence, disease prevalence, relative risk, normal distributions and the like.  (Ok, ok...I'll stop.)

I will say this - it's interesting to see what can and can't get done in that sliver of time.  Sometimes a block, sometimes binding strips.  Another learning experience, I suppose.  Pretty soon, I'll know exactly what to say when someone asks, "how long did it take you to do that?"... I'll just count up my 30-minute blocks of time.  Thankfully, no stats will be needed for that!

I do have a question for you... I'm thinking of making Finished it Friday a once a month deal. What are your thoughts?   Maybe the first Friday of the month?  It's hard for me to keep up right now, and I think once weekly may have been too ambitious.  Please let me know what you think - this is for YOU, so I want it to work for you.   :o)

In the meantime....let's celebrate!!!  Show us what you've finished!




Happy weekend!!