an exciting start

I spent far too many of the wee hours on Sunday getting this project started. To be fair, I had Monday off so there were very few repercussions aside from a circadian rhythm blip and one less night of solid sleep. But! I cast on my Coloring Book Raglan. I have wanted to make one of these since I saw a favorite YouTuber talk about it this fall - the boxy look plus stripes was quite appealing to my current sense of style. I showed adult restraint, though, and finished up a few things (including a new project bag for it) before caking up the yarn. 

This will be my first time working on a top down sweater (just my fifth sweater) and I am looking forward to seeing if I prefer it to bottom up. I expect the bonus of being able to try on as you go is pretty significant given my dive in and ask questions about gauge later habits. The fit also looks like it would be very forgiving in the I-don't-like-to-swatch department.

I'm using a yarn I discovered (but did not purchase) on Bay Area Yarn Crawl last year. I can remember seeing a black version, which was gorgeous, picking it up and thinking "ooh that's really soft wool. I bet I could wear a sweater out of that". This shade of dusty robin's egg blue is just beautiful and I love working with the yarn so far. I'm about halfway through the raglan increases at this point, and then it's smooth sailing down the body. I'll be combining it with some alpaca for the stripes. I'm really looking forward to seeing if that works out. 

bohemian ponies, finished

I made 10 yards of binding for this quilt. That is a lot! Though, I am amazed that 10 yards of binding can come from less than a yard of fabric. Magic. Or math. You know, same same. I was so motivated to finish this up that I spent a late evening sewing the binding on. I debated doing my usual zig zag to tack it down, but two things: 1) I was running out of bobbin and 2) I think I'm starting to prefer hand stitched binding. 

The sheer number of linear inches around the quilt did give me pause, of course, but once I started it zipped along pretty quickly. I even managed to enjoy it. Basically it's pre-snuggling under your quilt, right? I'm so glad I had enough of the border print to do the whole binding. It's not my usual approach, but I do like that it blends in on the front, and the back is framed nicely. 

Speaking of the back - that is an eye wateringly bright print from Anna Maria Perry's Welcome Home collection called London. I happened upon it online when I was cruising around Missouri Star's sales and I am grateful for the serendipity and the risk I took. It's bright and bohemian hip in a similar way to the front just like I thought it might be. I really enjoyed it while I was tacking down the binding. 

As I mentioned when I finished the top last January, the mix of fabrics was collected over time and worked out feeling very "me" with flowers, horses, and some of my favorite colors. I am most pleased about that, to be honest. Some of the fabrics come from the same collection (the mustangs and arrows) but otherwise they are all me-curated. I can't actually believe the luck that so many of the prints have the exact shade of mustardy greenish gold. It nicely ties everything together and it's a really unusual shade that I quite like. How lucky. 

I will say, it was totally worth having someone else quilt something as big as this. I am STILL working on hand quilting a queen sized quilt (and questioning my life choices) and even if I did quilt it myself in my machine, I would have put it off so long it would be another year before it was done. It was a real treat to be able to drop it off and pick up such a wonderful thing a month later. I'm sharing another closeup of the rather perfect quilting pattern. As I was piecing the top I remember feeling like the vibe was very tribal and geometric, plus horses and this quilt pattern captures that completely. 

As predicted, it did not take me long to get this finished after picking it up. I was so looking forward to sleeping under it as soon as possible! I am really proud of how this one turned out and tickled that it turned out to be the perfect fit for my room. 

it's back!

OMG. I got to pick up my quilt from the quilt shop this weekend, and I have to say it turned out even better than I imagined. The quilting pattern they helped me pick is pretty much perfect! This little cave painting horse motif gallops along and isn't too small, as I was fearing in my worst moments. To be fair, I had no idea from the drawing in the book how big or small it would be. I wonder if they adjust it based on how they think it will look? Either way, it's awesome. 

It took only about 4 weeks from drop off to text notification that it was done. I put off going to pick up until yesterday just because of logistics. The price was also not as high as I thought it would be. I don't need to longarm quilt all of my quilts, but - 5 stars, would do again. Especially for a large one!

I am really excited to have this finished up, hopefully this week. I just trimmed all of the extra batting and backing off and have measured around the edge to see how much binding I will need (lots). I also found my extra bit of the floral border fabric and, if my late evening math is correct, confirmed that I have enough to make the binding for it with a bit to spare. How lucky is that! Cannot wait. More to come. 

firefly totes, finished

These are fun to make! I finished up a couple more Firefly Totes, one for mom and one for me. I probably have at least two more in my near future, a small one for me and a large one for mom so we'll each have a set. 

After finishing up my first one in November, I quickly cut out the pieces for this second one for mom. I didn't have enough more of the gray canvas I used, but I do have a bit of this classy brown tweedy weave on a roll, so I decided that was a good option for the outer fabric which is meant to be more sturdy. I love the green zipper with the pink polka dots - it's giving Wicked! We are both big fans. I also found an incredibly cute gnome charm for the zipper pull while out shopping for webbing for the handles. The colors were serendipity. 

  

I wish there were more options for the webbing, but I ended up coming home with a navy as a neutral because the brighter colors wouldn't quite color match. Alas, but the drawstring top done up in this bright hippy bird fabric and the shock of pink and orange inside makes up for it. I used the same thick cord for the drawstring as on my original effort. 

I was planning on making myself a project version next, but I have my eye on a sweater I want to start and I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't start it until I had this bag done for toting it around as I work on it. How's that for motivation? I also had this lightweight canvas I wanted to experiment with (spoiler alert, it worked out great using interfacing) and having made the second smaller version reminded me enough of how it went to feel confident working with a new size.  

It turned out super cute, and I definitely want to make mom a bigger one also because it's a really good size. The combination of the mushrooms with the little snails is just awesome. The colors are kind of off my usual island, but it looks very spiffy and I know I'm going to enjoy using it. I had a bit of an adventure in my stash trying to find a lining fabric. I auditioned lots of things from orange to green plaid, neither of which I had enough of, but I landed on this great Halloweeny fabric with unicorns and moons on it to add even more quirk to the whole thing. I also found a fun charm for this one, it's a little turtle with a shell made out of yarn balls and on the back it says 'slow your roll' - words to live by! 

I have already wound some of my yarn into cakes and they're tucked in this bag ready for me to start. I'm really looking forward to toting this around, I just love it. I am already planning the next ones! I have fabrics picked out and partially cut for my small one (more of that brown tweedy weave), but not sure yet what I'll use for the second large one. More fireflies to come soon!  

two new cast ons

Bay Area Yarn Crawl is coming up in March and I'm happy to say that with these two latest starts I have projects going or done with nearly all of the yarn I got last year. (The exception is my doodle cowl kit that I am still planning patterns for.)

This is a rayon/acrylic yarn that is going to be a summery top. I was intrigued by the mushroomy shade of brown and am hoping I end up liking how it looks on me. I may or may not get gauge here, the yarn is both slippery and not stretchy, so I am making the XL and will feel ok frogging it and starting over if it doesn't fit. For now it is a very satisfyingly mindless knit - just a tube in the round for many rows! 

And this. I am so pleased with how this Shift is coming out, I took a chance on the colors and it is turning out just beautifully. This is another use for that same rayon/acrylic yarn (in a different color way that is beige with pops of pastels), a surprisingly rainbow second yarn that is similar in texture, and a solid color cotton. It has gone faster than I remembered my first one going, but now that I am in the section with long purl rows I'm losing speed. That's ok, though I am hoping to be able to wear this one in the Spring sometime so I'll keep trying to make progress here and there. 

a thousand pokes

Last night I picked up this quilt again and got back to hand quilting. It's not going to finish itself! It has been draped across the end of this couch for the whole winter not because it was being used, but to remind me that I have to work on it. I had one row of blocks quilted and last night I finished another row and a half. 

Today my forearm hurts a bit presumably from the many many times I gripped and yanked on the needle. I stayed up waaaaay too late working on it, but the progress is fun to see! I have 9 rows to get done, so I'll need to pace myself while still keeping some momentum going. My goal is to be done with this in 2026!

redwood hat, finished

Here's another quick finish. I actually finished it twice. I got this gorgeous shade of rust (aka redwood) at my favorite yarn shop down in Pacific Grove. I had knit a hat last year using the same yarn and wanted one for myself. What I didn't realize though was that I got the DK weight instead of the worsted weight. Ooops! 

That's ok, I thought the original was a bit big on me anyway, so I went down just one size on the pattern and then knit it as-is. I finished it in 3 days and it turned out pretty good. It blocked out even better. I was relieved to see that it grew quite a bit. Of course, the fabric is a lighter weight than the worsted weight version, but I've decided that's ok. What was kind of bugging me though was that it was just a smidge shorter than I wanted. I wore it one day to see how I felt about it and I was motivated enough to go back and rip back the crown to add one more repeat of the slip stitch pattern to the body. What I didn't realize there was that I was actually adding two repeats of the pattern because of the way the crown is worked, but in the end my mistakes still led to a hat that I love nearly as much as the original and that has been on my head pretty constantly since I finished the fix. 

I love this color and I love that I had the gumption and skill to adjust what I wanted. It's giving me some optimism about that sweater I am currently mad at and ignoring... I also really like that this pattern is out of a book I have on my shelf. I definitely have plans to air out some sewing patterns from the shelves; I'll have to find some more fun small knitting projects to tackle from that stash, too. It feels good to use what I've got.