Seriously, I haven't made anything that wasn't a gift in almost a month. As much as I like making things for people, I a) am afraid of getting so out of the swing I can't get back and b) feel vaguely guilty posting them here...it's not exactly exciting stuff I'm the first to admit. But forgive me, here are some gifts to come out of the Havinghorns factory recently.
The diagonal scarf for my mom is finished and blocked. It's nice and long and quite soft, so I think (hope) she will like it.
Also for her (well, for the house, so I guess for both of my parents) is a little table runner. I bought a pack of christmas fabric and made up
this pattern, which was fairly easy. I'm terrible at cutting things out accurately, so quilting not made of strips or single shapes gets a bit hairy.
Machine pieced, hand quilted because I don't really trust this machine to quilt. It bugs out and breaks threads even while piecing.
Also been busy with ornaments, I've made 6-7 of the little granny square stockings, they're my favorite so far. The I-cord wreath was a bit of an experiment
These wreaths came out better--a sort of improvised crochet over an ornament hanger twisted into a circle. The fabric balls were made out of leftovers from the table runner. I remember having a ball like those on my tree growing up.
And last, but not least, for my Something Awful Secret Santa, a needle point 'smug' emoticon. Just because.
Pattern is Can-Cans from Ravelry. Knitted in Knitpicks Palette yarn, which was really nice to work with and inexpensive. I bought three balls just in case, and didn't even use a whole one. And I did add to my practical knitting knowledge--now I know how to work a thumb gusset.
Went back to work on quilt blocks. I added one round to the blocks I already had done. They were honestly a little small (6") and I didn't feel like joining a million blocks together. So I have 30 finished blocks and 20 half finished. I probably need 100 to get a good sized quilt.
Best of all, the tape lace is off the backing, and beginning to be turned into a garment! It held it's shape fairly well, though next time I will make sure to have more points of connections on the tape itself, I think that will help reinforce it.
And just a little bit of relevant Christmas loot--Seamus's father got me an Amazon giftcard, with which I scored some new textile books (as well as a few science books and novels) The black work and whitework books are mostly design inspirations (not all that clear on technique, which is fine) the Fashion in Detail is my second, and one of the best series of books! And the Art of Manipulating Fabric we had at my school, and I always meant to purchase it. More pleating, quilting, smocking and cording how-to and images that you can imagine.
