Monthly Archives: July 2013

Amber’s Blaithin — Casting On and Beyond

a ball of Juniper Moon Farm Cormo Rusticus

Since my last post, I have been happily knitting away on my Bláithín whenever I had a spare moment. And despite the fact that spare moments haven’t been so plentiful as of late, I do have some progress to share.

Getting started meant doing a provisional crochet cast on, which I may or may not have just fudged in past projects due to my complete lack of crocheting ability. Crochet and I have had a tumultuous relationship since about 1999, when I first attempted to learn the basics. It did not end well, and for many years I called crochet late at night, crying into its answering machine and writing countless, tear-stained letters that never got sent.

But some time in the past few months, something clicked! And after butchering a granny square and proudly doing some extremely crooked edging on another project, I decided I couldn’t possibly fail at a cast on. Luckily, that turned out to be correct and I am now 100% in love with crochet cast on and will use it whenever I can.

crochet cast on is my new BFF

The idea behind the provisional cast on is to do an I-cord bind off with the live stitches upon the sweater’s completion, but I am toying with the idea of adding a 2 1/2 – 3  inch colorwork section before the bind off if I have enough yarn left after doing the yoke. I certainly have plenty of time to think about it, and thanks to this particular cast on, I can decide after I see the rest of the sweater if an added colorwork section will fit with the overall design or detract too much from the yoke.

The hidden pocket construction was an absolute breeze — and so refreshing after the last pockets I did on another project which were downright fussy and fiddly. All I had to do (without giving away any vital pattern details of course) was move some stitches to waste yarn,

pocket flap stitches on waste yarn

then knit up some quick and easy pocket flaps,

pocket flaps

and easily join them right back in with the body (shown here after binding off the pocket openings).

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The length I have now needs to be almost doubled to get to the underarm area, and I need to get started on my sleeves. That ought to keep me busy for a little while until my next post!

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Amber resides in sporadically idyllic Berks County, PA with her husband and three children.

She can most often be found knitting, making soap, sewing, or puttering around in her garden. She should probably leave her house more often.

Ivy Covered Cottage …

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Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard

- by Joan -


The Gay Head Cliffs Mosaic …

My creation

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My creation

Martha’s Vineyard

- by Joan -


QUILT!!!

I finally finished a quilt!

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I started this quilt at least a year ago as a way to use up all of my cherished (and discontinued) Heather Ross scraps.

It has probably the crappiest binding and top quilting of any quilt ever, but I don’t care.

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I wanted it to be a summer quilt, and I finished it in the summer.  While there is still summer left in which to enjoy it.

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The backing fabric is a king sized sheet from Walmart.  I couldn’t believe I found one that matched so well.

This was my first attempt using the free-hand quilting foot for my machine.  I’ve got an even-feed foot now as well, so I’ll be trying that out next.

Finished quilt!

Squee!!!!


Tagged: Sewing

A teensy bit of trellis progress

the front view, trellis frame

It's not much yet, but the ends of the trellis are up now and waterproofed to match the beds. I couldn't resist a few cheesy embellishments, forgive me.

oh my stars!

And from the back (facing the grass alley),

the back view

It's more of a plea than a command really.

Grow! (please)

I have some more studs to cut down to size for some horizontal supports, and then I will run some twine up and down for now, but as soon I have the money for it, I'll be buying a short length of that square opening fencing and tacking it up and over. (And preferably the coated stuff so it won't rust.)

But really, what's one of my projects without another project nipping at its heels?

I have decided to make a path between the beds with the pieces of the path that failed up at the other end of the yard. It just got too overrun with stupid crabgrass and really, it needed to be widened anyway. I will revisit that one some other time, but for now, I'll just let it grass back over up there.

So the current plan is for a brick-edged path (as seen below) with bluestone slabs down the middle, but maybe set with a little concrete so it doesn't immediately sprout a weed and crabgrass garden of its own.

the "plan" for the path

It should be noted that every single one of those bricks was carried from one end of the yard to the other by the boys. How wonderful is it to have some kids old enough to really start helping now? I'll tell you: So wonderful.

So now the sod's all removed and after this weekend's rain I'll be putting everything in place and getting the trellis supports up.

sod removed and bricks stacked

And that ought to keep me busy for a few days I guess...

Solitary Snapshot …

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Martha’s Vineyard

- by Joan -


See-ya supper

I forgot the bread. I forgot the insalata caprese. But I bought the oysters. And the neighbors came.

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My farmers market had its monthly visit from Ruby Salts Oyster Company that Saturday, and those babies were indeed "fresh, plump, salty, juicy and good." We ate some raw and some off the grill. I don't know how this toddler could have spit out the sample he gamely tried! 

Adults kept cool with beer, while the kids were a blur of water balloons. 

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Then, from the grill, hot dogs for the kids, salmon for the parents. I forgot the watermelon, too! 

And now our beloved neighbors have left the block; luckily, they've gone not much more than a mile. The kids will still be Little B's schoolmates, but no longer her virtual siblings at the house next door, where she hung when I drove Wee C's middle-school carpool these last two years, and so much more often. When C and I came here eight years ago, they were a family of three instead of the five that need larger quarters. Look how these two have grown:

Neighbors
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Dana was probably my first close friend who is significantly younger than I am; it's my turn to be on the other side of that equation, and I always felt honored when she came to me for advice. They're the most fit family I know, and I appreciated the afternoons she served as my personal trainer. Our cats are their honorary pets. Her man Jeremy kept the bushes pruned, and was my emergency-medical consult when I thought I'd sliced my finger half off (not a doc, but an adventure racer!). We will still bike and bowl and blueberry pick with you! Come back for a snowball fight next winter, and pick us up on your Slurpee run! 
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Seattle Mariner’s Stitch and Pitch

I’ll cut right to the chase. Susie did a great job throwing out the first pitch. I know it was incredibly nerve-wracking for her, but she really did an awesome job. Think I’m just saying it because she’s my boss? Video Proof (blink and you miss it):

We had an amazing experience that I don’t think we’ll forget. We have to thank Pacific Fabrics & Crafts for sponsoring the event and our trip out here. Without Annette, Sharon, and the whole Pacific Fabrics & Crafts team, it just wouldn’t have happened! It seems like the whole staff are just friendly, pleasant people and Susie and I are both tempted to just settle down right here in Washington! Cherry and Karin were so amazingly helpful. Well, onto the pictures. There are a lot!

S&P01 S&P02 S&P03 S&P04 S&P05 S&P06 S&P07 S&P08 S&P09 S&P11 S&P12 S&P13 S&P14 S&P15 S&P17 S&P18 S&P19 S&P20 S&P21 S&P23 S&P24 S&P25 DSC_0387 S&P27  S&P29 S&P30S&P28 S&P31 S&P32 S&P33 S&P34 S&P35 S&P36 S&P37 S&P38 S&P39 S&P40 S&P41 S&P42 S&P43 S&P45 S&P48 S&P44 S&P46 S&P54 S&P51 S&P47 S&P49 S&P50 S&P52 S&P53S&P56S&P57S&P58 S&P55

We really had an amazing time. Everyone at the stadium was fantastic – Maureen, Mandy, the bat girl, the Moose mascot! We were well taken care of for sure! The Mariners have only won one other Stitch and Pitch game, but tonight makes TWO. Clearly Susie is their good luck charm.

My Possible Dreams Event …

The Possible Dreams Auction is being  held this year on Sunday, July 28, 2013 at the Winnetu Oceanside Resort in Edgartown.   The auction is held to help raise money for the Martha’s Vineyard Community Service organization.  This fundraising event supports a wide range of human services to more than 6,000 Island residents and visitors each year.

Let’s back up to 2001, the one and only time I was at the Possible Dreams auction, which was then held at the Harborside Inn in the center of Edgartown.

Guests of the inn didn’t need to purchase a ticket which worked out nicely for my family as we were staying there. Many of the Island celebrities donate an “auction” such as a sail on a yacht, or behind the scenes at a TV show, or tickets to the Super Bowl, or dinner with your favorite author or actor. Walter Cronkite, Norman Bridwell the author of ”Clifford the Big Red Dog” books, Patricia Neal, Ted Danson, Mike Wallace… along with the late Art Buchwald as emcee are just a few of the names to donate their time and talents.

But the biggest name was always Carly Simon…

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…  I staked out my seat on the deck over looking the gardens hours before the auction was to start. There were 50 or so auctions and Carly was #34. Her auction was:

“NOBODY DOES IT BETTER… If you’ve ever wanted to WRITE A SONG… let CARLY SIMON help…co-write it and sing it with or without her at her home – in her private studio. CARLY will burn a CD for you to take home. This is for one lucky music-lover and a guest”.

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The bidding began at $20,000. Three times she sang snippets of songs … she messed up the lyrics to “Jesse” which the crowd laughed at. People started yelling out requests and it turned into a short and sweet mini concert. The final bid was around $55,000.

Clifford the Big Red Dog below  waving at the crowd as the sun disappeared and fog began rolling in.

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If you’re on the Vineyard Sunday, July 28, 2013 go and be part of a fun afternoon and help the people of the Vineyard.

CLICK HERE for a list of the Possible Dreams.


WIP’s quilting, knitting, and sketching

What am I working on?  Ah, I always have lots of stuff going on, don't I?
Time to share.

Firstly, Blue quilt is still in progress, but I now have 6 of 20 squares FMQed.
In the quilting world, I've finished the quilt top for this NYC Mod Quilters Challenge.


The challenge is to do a double wedding ring and I'll be entering this li'l beauty once it's quilted and bound...

I'm really excited about it!
In the knitting design world, I'm currently testing this lovely camisole.


And finally, I wanted to share with you all some of the rough drawings I did for a recent open call to submit illustrations.  Before I settled down and entered in my own pen and ink style, I experimented with some digital illustration.  Sometimes when I go digital I get all crazy and can't work my way out.  With these tests, I loved the palette and the main horse, but I couldn't find a way to adhere to all the guidelines which were really focusing on the "playground" theme in general.  Limiting it to the spring horse left me a bit wanting.  Love the form, but couldn't get past the limitations I had placed on myself.  Ah well, I seem to work best in graphite first, then digitally.  Here are some of my digital experiments...