Strick-ly Socks and 36 Hippos

Recently while browsing around, 

I joined a

Rav group Knitters Brewing Co  Sock-aholics

You know how it goes

 one click lead to another

and I found myself reading

Knitter's Brewing Co. blog

I don't know whether it was this podcast

Episode 8 involving Blue Finger Nail Polish and Hang Ten

but as soon as I saw these blue nails and then the blue sox

I knew those sox were destine to get cast on my needle.

Several days late it was announced that Hang Ten was this month's KAL

I was IN!

even if I do have four pair actively on needles

Hang Ten socks

I cast on right then and there.

[photos later]

Would you believe 

the next day I received a note from socalknitgal - Wendy.

Wendy is the Moderator for the Rav group

Wendy wrote to say

I had WON ! ! ! ! 

Knitters Brewing Co. monthly giveaway draw

Looky, looky,  look what I won! ! ! !   

Just as soon as this book hits my mailbox, yahoo ! ! ! 

More sox, here I come

Strickly Socks by Candace Eisner Strick.  

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Okay, alright.  I hear you.  Enough about me

EXCEPT

to say

I WANT 

TO DO

A 

GIVEAWAY ! ! ! !

What say, the thirty-six 6.5" tumbler blocks in this print

[these were cut with my Accu-Quilt GO! cutter die, by the way]

and

the thirty-eight 6.5" tumbler blocks in this Kona solid

also cut with my GO! die cutter

and

two yards of the Kona solid

is going to make up The TUMBLER BLOCKS GIVEAWAY

wow! isn't that an imaginative title ...

I really want to call it the 36 Hippo Giveaway

but in truth, not each block has a hippo   : >( 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Just to be fair,

let's call the cut-off date for Comments for this you-do-the-work giveaway

Saturday morning, whenever I get up and around to read my g-mail.

Hubby will dip his hand into the basket of names 

and will pick

the winner ! ! 

I'll do a quick blog post letting everyone know

then

I'll e-mail the winner so that I can have a mailing address.

THE package will be on it's way to YOU Monday morning.

Oh, yes, the Saturday morning in question is

Saturday, May 14th.

If you are truly interested in winning this giveaway

be certain to have your Comment

include a link to your email.

No Link, No Chance.
Comments are now closed.
Hubby will draw the winner right after we eat dinner.
Who's it gonna be ! ! ! ! 

-  -  -  -  -  -  -

Guess what Hubby just brought in from the mail box.

It's the Strick-ly Socks book ! ! 

Wendy just notified me of my winning on the 4th

and here it is the 7th

AND MY BOOK IS HERE.

Thank you, Wendy.

Hugs to every one,

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥   ♥

Another Row

Before dawn's early light this morning

I added a round to the entire six socks.

i.e., a round means one round.  

Doesn't sound like much

but

one by one by one does make headway - - - -

eventually.

The heel flaps are finished and now it's 

Gusset Time.

Once the extra stitches that were picked up on each side of the heel flap

are decreased away

it will be smmoooth sailing for the foot section.

Keeping the yarn organized is taken care of by

keeping the yarn ball inside each sock.

Oh, Rats, my lovely Pink has an orange tinge here on the blog.

Trust me, it is Pink.

hugs

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

Another Finish

Here's another finish !

When our Fancy threads Art Quilt group meets at the library

I find the chairs there are too low for me to have a comfortable fit 

since my machine sits atop the table.

I am soooooo short to reach -

my chin just about reaches the table top.

Well, maybe not that bad, but it is not a great height to use my machine.

I was browsing The Internet when I came upon a great idea! ! !

It's an Amy Bradley design on Sew WE Quilt

The very thing I need ! ! ! 

SEW I downloaded the pattern

found stash fabric

and I began to sew.

It's a Tush Cush ! ! ! !

It's easy to tote and now I'll be able to sit at a comfortable height - - - oh,

wait - - - -

mid-way though sewing this baby it was decided to gift this to

a friend of

Daughter Debbie's and mine.

We'll be seeing her at the next Thimbleberries Club meeting.

SEW it's back to The Stash for makings of another

Tush Cush.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now to keep the orange thing going  .  .  .  . 

Last Tuesday evening at our monthly Knit Nite get-together

I was gifted these gorgeous dishcloths

by a very generous gal.

Didn't she do a great job on these!

Aren't these just too fun.

Makes washing dishes joyful.

Hugs

♥ * ♥ * ♥

Kaleidoscope Pattern - now Sunkissed

Same Kaleidoscope pattern by Malka

this time made with

Moda Sunkissed I won from Cyndi's recent giveaway.

I used the pinks from the FQs  

and added some Bright Pink Kona Cotton

For the back, I used yet another fabric from my stash.

This time spiral quilting was a little easier.

Was able to keep my mind on the task and

hardly wavered.

That does not mean that these are great circles.

If subjected to close inspection you see that these are not circles -

but merely wandering lines going 'round and 'round and 'round.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

dizzy hugs

♥ ♥ ♥

I am Celebrating ! ! !

I am so happy that I have the proof to show you.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Pointelle is a done deal ! ! ! 

Need proof, do ya?

Well, here they are in their Goldenrod Glory

The first day this pattern was cast on using another yarn

was January first of this year.

The second time this pair was cast on with the Goldenrod

was ~ the tenth of January.

Finished the toe decrease and

finished off with the Kitchener Stitch to close the toe

last night.

These Goldenrod Pointelle have taken me

109 days to get them right.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Now to continue with 

6-on-a-40"-circular

hugs

Kaleidoscope Table Topper

You've read all the hoop-la going 'round blogland.  

WHY NOT SEW?  is handing us opportunity of win some of Denyse Schmidt's fabric.

  

It's a Charm Pack that'll go pretty good in my new re-stashing program! ! !  

So, I think I should warn you I just may win this one! ! !    

But go ahead take a peek at WHY NOT SEW?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~   ~

Laundered the Kaleidoscope Table Topper

The reverse really shows the quilting

good thing I used Teal colored thread

so now I can use either side.

Look how rippled it is, isn't this the most fun!

#  * # *  # * #

Here's what Deb and I accomplished on our Sew Day.

Used up ALL OUR GO! CUT 6.5" TUMBLERs ! ! ! 

There were only two tumbler pieces remaining when we finished the afternoon.

Those we tossed ala Eleanor Burns.

These two are awaiting to be sandwiched, then free-motion? quilted.  

These will be gifted to some one  .  .  .  .  

Two more runners/toppers need borders then we worry about quilting.

All-in-all we ended up with four table toppers, not too bad for an afternoon's fun. 

MWMWMWMWMWMWM 

I'm enjoying the eMags from Interweave 

that I've download onto my NookColor.  

I was able to purchase a 75 minute demo by Lyric Kinard on surface embellishment for a dime

and a 45 minute demo on dyeing by Malka Dubrawski for another dime.  

That's two hours of demos for twenty cents.  Best bargain I've gotten in ages.

Lots of inspiration! ! ! ! 

Hugs

'round & 'round I go

I went 'round this topper at least a thousands turns,

or so it seems.

Used almost two bobbins worth of thread.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here it is squared 

and now ready to cut the binding

looks like it'll give it a little zing

I used a bobbin thread close to the color of the binding.

# # # # # # 

Last night those pesky GOLDENROD sox had my attention long enough to add a couple more row.

Those in addition to the row I finished the night before there is definite progress - that can be seen.

Okay, I post a photo next time.

HUGS

Kaleidoscope Table Topper - - - - - so far

This topper is fun ! ! ! ! 

Sure happy that I decided to go along with Malka's tutorial

and

to buy the kit from MarmaladeFabrics.

We all know that the cut pieces on the design wall look bigger 

than what all these pieces look like when they're sewn together.

Here's a pic of my topper in just the beginning stages of construction.

The corner pieces at the bottom are a bit wider than

the partially sewn top sections.

It always amazes me how much of a size difference there is

between the original layout on my design wall 

and the final project.

Hey, the top is finished and ready for batt and quilting ! ! ! !

I tried my darnedest to keep the centers of each kaleidoscope as much on point as possible.

I'm happy with them

. . . . . . it's a table topper, after all.

Here's the very center.

And, I know we all want to see the back side

of a piece

so - - - - - - - -  

Malka suggested that the pinwheel sections be pressed in one direction.

The bulk at the very centers is very manageable and lays flat.

I continued using this construction method when sewing the sections together and find that the centers will be really flat when I sit down to quilt this baby.

I'm so pleased with this table topper project! ! ! 

#  #  #  #  #  #

We've all been asking,

 "When is Spring coming?  We're tired of this cold weather."

Well, it's here in mid-MO.  

Yesterday temp was 90+ degrees F ! ! ! ! ! 

Today it's a bit milder - - -  at 80+ ! ! ! 

Boy, oh, boy, I don't want to have to turn on the AC.

HUGS 

♥♥♥

Do you all sign up for Malka's and MarmaladeFabric's 

wonderful giveaway?

I think there's still time.

Things in Three's

Three things I've been working on.

Today I am following Malka's Kaleidoscope Table Topper Tutorial

 Malka blogged Friday on her blog, a stitch in dye, that she was going to share her tutorial for her great looking table topper.

I jumped at the chance especially when she told us that 

Tammy at Marmalade Fabrics 

was going to bundle the topper's fabrics.

Friday afternoon I ordered my Kaleidoscope Bundle and, eegads, they arrived Tuesday afternoon.

I've begun cutting my triangles this afternoon.

These are the fabrics we're going to use.

Kinda Mod-ish don't ya think?

X O X O X O X O

Now, for the last time

my Knitted Vintage Hand Towel.

Bought a button, sewed it on, and here it is

in all it's vintage glory.

What a loverly addition!

And now for the FIRST time - - - - -

taaa-daaaa ! ! ! 

insert drum roll here

Six sox on one sixty-inch circular needle

using Merino superwash wool

and cake icing dye.

The white pair in the middle is the yarn's original state,

I L♥VE the Green

The White is sooo sexy

The Pink, oh, the Pink makes my ♥ sing ! ! ! 

That is six sox, THREE PAIR AT ONE TIME ! ! ! ! 

♥*♥*♥*♥*♥

Hugs

Updates to yesterday's post

The edge around yesterday's D4P border left much to be desired

if a satin stitch was the intent.

As I mentioned, my Viking Lily 555 has a dedicated Satin Stitch.

My Bernina 440 does not.

However, after consulting a not very clear or concise Bernina Instruction Book

I was able to do this lovely Satin Stitch this morning by shortening the length of the zig-zag stitch.

Here's my first attempt at Satin Stitch with my 440.

The design of these letters is taken from an

Amy Bradley design.

I cut the letters out last night and

Satin Stitched this far this morning before we went out for lunch.

I'll finish the last couple in a bit.

@ $ @ $ @ $ @ $ @ $ @ $ @ 

I noticed yesterday after I posted that the color on the front side of the D4P was off,

but let it pass.

however, some one [you know who you are] mentioned the color.

So here it is as it should have been posted yesterday.

I hope this appears closer to the original color.

However, the zig-zagged edges still aren't satin stitch.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After yesterday afternoon's high temp of 93 degrees F

the difference between it and

today's temp of 42 degrees F 

is over FIFTY DEGREES.

Every one I encountered while out and about today

were commenting 

" - - - it's sooooo cold ! - - - -"

Spring is still out there some where, but where ??????

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Hugs