AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Blog has a new address DATE: 1/20/2007 12:28:00 AM ----- BODY:

Hey there, I've changed to the very user friendly typepad. my new blog is at http://knittingcrochetingquilter.typepad.com/ Thanks! laura

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Knitting Quizes DATE: 1/16/2007 02:51:00 PM ----- BODY:

These tests were making the rounds on the various knitting groups I'm a part of. They're cute.

You appear to be a Knitting Purist. You are an accomplished knitter producing beautiful pieces with a classic feel. You sometimes lament losing half of your local yarn shop to garish novelty yarns. Perhaps you consider fun fur scarves the bane of knitting society and prefer to steer new knitters towards the wool and cotton blends. Some might call you a bit of an elitist but you know that you've been doing this craft long enough to respect the history behind it and honor it with beautiful piece that can last a lifetime. http://marniemaclean.com What kind of knitter are you? and here is a second one What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are pink aluminum. Retro, straightforward and fun, you love classic things. If they're 99 cents at Goodwill all the better! You are moved by striking colors and tasty morsels, and you like a stitch-n-bitch session in the sun. Just remember, while you're being kitschy cool, don't get too cold. Ice cubes are best kept in your cocktails, baby! And Finally, What kind of yarn are you??

You are Mohair. You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Victorian Lace Today DATE: 1/14/2007 09:00:00 AM ----- BODY:

My mom and I were on our way to Knit+Stitch=Bliss in Bethesda to get the yarn for her wedding shawl...only we didn't have a pattern. She then saw this picture in one of my knitting magazines.

Ironically, this book was in my Amazon.com wish list. We get to the store and I was thumbing through the book falling really hard for it. It's hardback and I'm sure folks would pick it up and assume it's $50 because it's got about 170 pages and has wonderful photography. No...it was $25. Mom bought it for me for an early birthday present. YAY. There are so many patterns I want to tackle in that book! It'll keep me plenty busy. This is a picture of the yarn for her shawl. Would you believe that's 100% BAMBOO?? I would have NEVER have guessed!!

laura

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: ramblings DATE: 1/08/2007 02:03:00 PM ----- BODY:

There is a time to be born and a time to die. A time to laugh and a time to cry, but there never seems to be enough time to knit.

Knitting is a boon for those of us who are easily bored. I take my knitting everywhere to take the edge off of moments that would otherwise drive me stark raving mad. ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

I can't help but agree with that a million and one percent! I am a part of a million yahoo groups. Of late, I've been on this huge knitting craze. Does it mean that I'm not crocheting and quilting? Oh no...I just go through phases. So to coincide with this knitting phase, I've joined all these yahoo groups. Two general knitting groups, some DC ones, some groups where the moderator announces new additions to their site and some more specific knitting technique ones like Fair Isle, Lace and Scarves. I dont do a ton of replying while I'm at work but I still think about my current projects all the time (they're usually under my desk TAUNTING me). I wonder what kinds of careers I could possibly find that can relate to my obsessive hobby. I would love to work at a knit shop but let's be real--that won't pay the bills (poo! :((

) and let's face it--i wouldn't bring home any money anyway because I'd spend it at the store! :))

But I wonder if there is a way I can possibly work for a magazine or something. They're ideas I'm just contemplating :-?

Some people suggest that while it's a great hobby to have that it might loose its fun if I turn it into a career but I really don't think that would happen because I just love my crafts that much. I love talking to people..I'm a little on the shy side but if we have a common ground of a shared craft then I would love the opportunity to meet people and explore my crafts even more.

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Laura Hit the JACKPOT DATE: 1/07/2007 05:11:00 PM ----- BODY:

So Dad and I found ourselves in Bethesda when we came across Inez's Stitchery in the antique area of Kensington. Someone on the Fair Isle Knitting Yahoo group suggested it for the Clover Yarn Guide. I found it and can not WAIT to start using it. The one thing I have against fair isle knitting is that yarns keep getting tangled. This will prevent that and, for that, it's probably the best four dollars I spent! I got out some books at the library with Fair Isle patterns in it so I'll be able to post this bad boy in use a little later.

I also got this pile of yarn too. Galway's 100% wool yarn.

Please pardon the kitty. The lower part is a hunter green color. I want to make mom this Garden Path Shawl from Elann for her birthday. Since I knit slow, working on it ten months in advance really isn't all the unheard of! She love green so this will be great! The other colors, pink teal, voilet and navy blue will probably be used for a fair isle something or another

I did discover an interesting discovery today about needles. Bamboo and aluminuim to be particular

I got a pair of the Addi Turbo Size 9 40 inch circular needles today while at Inez's Stitchery. They were a little on the pricey side but man, when I started using them (in the car...didn't wait too long now did I?) they felt so smooth. There was no added stress on my hands and as someone who spent ten years playing the flute and developed tendonitis, that's very much appreciated!

I also bought a pair of Clover Bamboo circular needles. That was just as smooth too.

With both these needles the amount of stress on my hands dramatically decreased. While they might be more pricey, I will definitely be using these brands in the future.

Labels: inez stitchery, lace, shawl

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: what in the hell has laura been up to?? DATE: 1/02/2007 09:46:00 AM ----- BODY:

When I first signed up with blogger, the handle's original name was laurasquiltcreations.blogspot.com then it occurred to me-- i do more than just quilt.

Now please, don't get me wrong, I LOVE everything about quilting! But my mother, as a teenager taught me how to crochet then few years later, knitting got the best of me and I taught myself how to knit using pencils....what can you say--i got excited!!

Since then, I've always said crochet is my favorite, quilting second and knitting a distant third. There was just something about knitting that I didn't get. You know how in high school people said "If you love algebra, you'll hate geometry...if you love geometry you'll hate algebra." I thought knitting and crocheting were like that and I just so happened to like crocheting more.

I don't know though because around October my mind started to change regarding knitting and whatever I didn't like about it started to go away. I love it! I've been knitting a lot lately. This Christmas I didn't have a whole lotta money so I made a lot of my gifts.

This is the first of many. This is for my bro, William. Typical Dude Hat. I used the Two Movie Hat Pattern. It was the first time I use double pointed needles. Noooooooooot bad!

William has a small head (he's a 6'3 toothpick) so he'll be fine in it. He has a job at Pop a Lock where he is sometimes asked to go out in the middle of the night so while he's in South Carolina doesn't mean he won't get chilly.

Wait...he has a uniform hat. whatever. He'll still use it!!

And this is for my sister in law, Cathy. I'm nervous as hell about it. :-SS

It might be too big for her...I hope it doesn't slide off her head! :-SS

Here is a picture

I used Magknit's Fake Isle hat for this using Mode Dea's Tweed yarn (purple/pink color) and Debbie Bliss Donegal Chunky Tweed for the teal.

I hope they like their presents.

laura

Labels: hats, knit

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Shelia's Row Completed DATE: 12/05/2006 09:45:00 PM ----- BODY:

Here is Shelia's row robin. The theme was stars so of course I was in heaven. I did the center row using Carol Doak's 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars. God I love that book!

Anyway, the stars seemed to be all uniform by rows so I thought I'd keep that consistent.

laura

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Where have I been?? DATE: 12/04/2006 09:34:00 AM ----- BODY:

Hey there

I have been knitting up a storm!!! It's Christmas time and folks need scarves. Plus I've been on a knitting spree so quilting has taken a backseat. I get like that from time to time.

Anyway, I want to post the last of the Round Robins.

This one is for Ronii in Kentucky. It's for a future grandkid. Obviously since it was for a future grandchild, she wanted it non gender specific. There was square patchwork done in the intial block so I wanted to bring it back together in the end. She liked it too when she got it. That made me feel better because I'm not really a pastel person. Though I should get over that as two of my friends are expecting!!

The second one was a fall theme. I've been having problems with some of these round robins because I dont really know of a lot of border ideas. Plus when I get them, they tend to be 13.75 inches so that makes things a little difficult. Anyway, here it is. I hope she liked it.

laura

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Ann's row is complete... DATE: 10/19/2006 06:05:00 AM ----- BODY:

...finally! These past few weeks I've been experiencing migraines :((

I didn't have peripheral vision in my right eye on Monday!! :-O

So, needless to say, there wasn't much sewing going on. I feel better now and I'm really thankful that I have a doc appt today! Anyway, I've completed Ann's Row. Let's go block by block, shall we?? ;;)

Well, what Ann wanted was for each person in this row robin to do something that reflects them. So I did stars of course because that's my most favorite thing in the whole wide world

(Note-With an exception of the black white and red one, all patterns were from Carol Doaks 50 Paper Pieced Stars) Block Number One:

These are my most absolute favorite colors--blue purple and green. I hope you can see the blue portion of the star. Didn't come out as I had hoped. When you see the actual row though, you do see it. Block Number Two:

I love wildflowers. Especially daisies (As you can see in the block above). So I used some daisy fabric in this block. I like how the colors contrast in this block....if I do say so myself

Block Number Three:

Don't ask me why but I looooooooooooooove black white and red. My row robin in the Stashbuilders group was this theme. In fact, I was going to use this particular block for that quilt when I was adding a new row to it but I decided, instead, to use it on Ann's. I got this from www.equiltpatterns.com Block Number Four

Take any ten people and as them what they prefer--to be cold or to be hot. I betcha 8 or 9 of them would say they would prefer to be hot. I'm the one that would prefer to be cold. Call me crazy 8-}

but I'd take winter over summer any day. Plus, Ann's from Texas....thought I'd send her some form of snow. ;))

Anyway, here's the final product Ann. I really hope you like it!

:D<"/>

laura

ps--just saw the picture of my foot!! like it!?! SORRY ;)) =))

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: October Round Robins done DATE: 10/09/2006 02:25:00 PM ----- BODY:

Hey there, I know it's been a while since I've posted but I've been doing quite a lot. I'm actually quilting two quilts. <:-P

But here are the rounds. This one is Christine Rival's. The theme was Christmas in Blues. That was a little difficult for me but I found some fabric that looked like snowflakes and I appliqued scallops on the sides. Now Christine, I'm so sorry but as I was taking a picture, the battery in my camera died. #-o

So I know this isn't the best picture in the world. Here is Katherine Magee's anime center. I used Asian fabrics in the four patch blocks and used marbles as the setting triangles.

Finally, this is Kathy Sextons. It's a blue/mauve

log cabin theme. Since the mauves made a circle, I thought I would make a square frame in mauves and blues.

-------- AUTHOR: Laura TITLE: Mini Round Robins sent out, September 1 DATE: 9/01/2006 12:56:00 PM ----- BODY:

Hey there! Here are my round robins for September. Because I'm in three groups, I decided to post the rounds in one entry. Dawn's Center for Group 3 in Stashbuilders

Ms Dawn's theme centered on the bonds between women I just cut 2 1/2 strips by 1 1/2 and tiled them around her center. At first, I was going to fuse fabrics that spelled "PEACE" in other languages around it but I think that would be too busy.

Michele's Center, Group 5

Michele's theme was batiks. I was terribly nervous about this one. :-SS

I used the Quilter's Cache Geometry pattern and I thought it was too busy but Michele likes it so I feel better #:-S

Stashbuilders Group #7

The center is a mother's day card that Katherine's son sent her.

:D<"/>I used the Quilter's Cache Braided Border. It was very difficult to see the middle to cut it but I think it was done fairly well. Since it was her son's card, I got a little symbolic. I used a majority of blue to represent her son and reds represent Katherine's constant presence in it. Anywho...I really enjoyed adding the borders. Now I'll be watching the mailbox for the next three packages.

laura

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