Ribbon Rose

I’ll be teaching my fabric covered box class at Quilty Pleasures next month.  If you enjoy hand sewing, join me on two Fridays, October 17th and 24th from 10 a.m. to noon and I’ll show you how to make one.  The small, hexagonal box pictured above is about 4 inches deep, and 7 inches wide, measured between opposite sides.  The class fee of $35 includes precut cardboard support pieces.  I do that so we can spend as much time as possible on sewing, and I will also give you instructions for cutting your own pieces so you can make more boxes later.

I use mine for holding sewing supplies, but they make great gift boxes, and look lovely covered in Christmas fabric.  If you’d like to see one in person, there’s a box on display at the store.  They have an amazing selection of quilting fabrics and supplies, too.

It seems to be a popular blog pastime this week.  See what Kathleen Taylor’s blaming her for here.

I have never met Karen Irving, but I often stop by her blog to see what she’s knitting.  She’s a much more disciplined blogger than I am, so there’s something new and interesting there almost every day.  Recently, she’s been working on a lovely laceweight version of Evelyn Clark’s Swallowtail shawl.  That reminded me that I finished a worsted weight version months ago and never blogged it, so here’s a pic:

The yarn is a silk and cashmere blend that was a closeout steal at yarn.com.  It ended up being a bit fuzzier than I like, but its softness has won me over.  And the colour was exactly what I wanted (a bit more burgundy than in the picture).  Okay, so I can’t blame Karen for that, but this is all her fault:

I finished this sweater for my husband over the weekend.  I don’t usually love knitting sweaters, but the cabled (!) cotton and silk sweater I knit him years ago is a little the worse for wear.  One of Karen’s blog posts planted the idea in my head that I could maybe try to knit a whole sweater again.  Turns out it’s way easier when I’m knitting for someone else.  A cardigan for me is still in the swatch stage and may remain there for months.  But I am not deprived, I have these:

The Halcyon socks are done!  In Fleece Artist merino 2/6, they are soft and fit like a glove.

With all this finishing of projects, there were a few minutes on Sunday when I had nothing on the needles.  While I was pondering what to do with the Melody superwash wool I acquired a couple of weeks ago, I remembered Karen’s lovely Clapotis.  Guess what I cast on yesterday?  Karen, when I am snuggling under a soft, warm wool shawl, it will be all your fault.

I haven’t been a full-time student for 10 years now, but September still feels like the beginning of a new year.  September is when I look back at the goals I have achieved, and make plans for the future.

And I will be going back to school in a sense.  I’ll be teaching my favourite class at Quilty Pleasures in October…fabric covered boxes.  If you’re available on a couple of Friday mornings next month, and you enjoy hand sewing, why not join me?  The class details weren’t available on the web site last time I checked, but should be posted there soon.  It will be October 17th and 24th, from 10 a.m. until noon.  The box is a six-sided construction, about 4 inches tall and 7 inches wide.  The fee is a very reasonable $35, and includes pre-cut cardboard pieces for the box frame.

I know a visual would help here, and once the batteries charge up for my camera, I’ll post a photo of my favourite box.  I’ve also finished the Halcyon socks, and am eager to show them off.  They’re the best-fitting pair I’ve ever knit, due entirely to switching to the 2-circular needle method of knitting them, which allowed me to try them on at any point during construction.  Neat!