Bank Holiday Bits

I often feel guilty that I have so many half-finished quilts stuffed in bags. Usually I reach some point where I need something I don't have and I just put it away and forget about it for a while. So I decided to try and finish off a few loose ends before I embark on a totally new project.

I finally put some borders on the Broken Dishes quilt I made a while a go, but stopped when I ran out of material for the borders. I looked in a Patchwork book of my mum's and learned how to piece a few bits together and it worked perfectly. In fact it looks better than it would have if it had been one whole piece. Of course now I realise I have no backing material for it so off it goes back in the cupboard.

Quilt Show

So Rachel and I decided last Saturday to pay a visit to the impressively titled: 'Festival of Quilts' in Birmingham. I don't know how we plucked up the courage really, but suddenly we were in the car eating bacon McMuffins and on our way. It wasn't quite the squash I was expecting. I thought it would be more like The Business Design centre in Islington, but no! More than one loo per 1000 people, air con, lots of wide walkways and benches and cafes everywhere! Every bum had a seat!



There were mass classes going on with sewing machines going for England. I liked the little flags they all had. It made it seem like the Grand Prix of stitching! You go team!



There were loads of stalls to buy stuff from. Loads of quilts on display AND Amy Butler was there! Oh it's too much sewing madness to take in.



So I woke up on Sunday and it was pouring with rain. look! There is my view in front of my old desk where I used to do my homework and study for all my exams. Not a day to be doing much outside you'll agree. But there was the oldstyle Science work book Rachel had given me the day before... just sitting there.



A shaft of light fell on it and I thought 'hey! I could be like those super-quilter women who carried folders of swatches around with them!'. So I got the glue out and decided that now was a good time as any to start recording bits of what I buy so I can be thinking about stuff. well maybe I won't think about it, maybe I'll just glue away as I am a Virgo and we dig that shit.



My first page finished. Everything I bought catalogued. Ahhh... it feels goood.

Totoro!

Hoi Ling made me a cushion! There was a lot of begging involved, but finally I am the proud owner of Totoro. ACE.

Olympic Monkey

So in honour of the Olympics I am going to make my grand olympic monkey out of some football socks I bought in Nike Town. There's a mini Making Things night in the local Reggae pub across the road and I for one plan to make a monkey. I am making some matching badges for my socks. Here are some rough ideas.

Knitting in the Dark

So reading Annie's blog made me decide to brave town today. It rained which kept most people away. I went and indulged myself in Liberties and bought some new stuff for a new project. Check out my new TV needles! I only got them so I could feel like Tron. Hopefully now I won't need the really bright, hot spot light on when the TV's on as it annoys the Pony. Oh what domestic bliss.

I also bought this great pack of flower buttons from The Button Company. Liberty's had a huge glass sweet jar full of them; a treasure trove! I like this
slate button, but it does look a bit lethal. So now I am already for project knit no. 3, just as soon as I get on with no. 2. So it's off to lie in bd listening to the rain, watching cheap TV... ROCKIN

It's So Hot

So I thought I'd catch up. It's been so hot lately that I have been listless. Sometimes I find the only way to shake myself out of it is to go and buy something else that I don't need. Here is my second attempt at knitting the scarf, the right way this time. I took it to work thinking I would sit in the sun at lunchtime and do it, but there were so many people in the park that I felt like a bit of a knob. In the end it has sat in my drawer all week, but I AM doing it right at least.

As Pippa so rightly pointed out, it wasn't that the last one was wrong so to speak, it just wasn't following the pattern. I hadn't done alternate rows so it came out ribbed and it just keeps curling inwards. This new effort is the right stitch and on smaller needles which is better, but it still doesn't have the same quality as the original pattern, probably because the knit is tighter now.

I just need to get back to it.