Contrary to the old saying, "In like a lion, out like a lamb," March
arrived yesterday with wonderful, spring-like weather. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the loveliest March 1 in the history of Alberta! HOWEVER, the forecast for tomorrow is a heavy snow warning!
Our local quilting shop, part of the IDA, was running its semi-annual fabric sale this past week. I don't usually buy much fabric then, just perhaps some batting, because I like to buy for specific projects. But on Thursday I decided to buy for two summer projects coming up. The poinsettia fabric to the right is a Christmas fabric and the matching green and purple will be used in the same project. I don't want to say what the project is right now, because it will be used for a gift to a regular blog reader. But don't these fabrics have real "pizzazz"!
This knitting project is whizzing right along, but I'm finding that I can knit just a few rows before I need to give my hands a rest. The double strand of cotton yarn makes it kind of heavy going.
So I started another project on the other end of the scale:
A new pair of socks begun. This yarn is a Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Fine. Its composition: 50% Peruvian Wool, 20 % Super Fine Alpaca, and 30% Nylon. The wool makes it warm; the Alpaca makes it soft; and the nylon makes it strong! The colour is a very deep blue, perhaps a deep Prussian blue, with shadings of a purple, almost black blue.
The label claims 7.5 sts. to 1" on 3 mm needles. It looked finer than that to me, so I did a swatch on 2.5 mm needles and found it closer to 8.5 or 9 sts. to one inch. I've started the socks on that basis, and since they are "toe up" I can adjust to fewer or more stitches per round when I reach the end of the toe. I'm planning to incorporate lots of the same cables on the knitting project just above for the instep and the ribbing. These will take a bit longer to knit than other recent socks as the yarn and needles are finer, but I'm thinking they will turn out to be wonderful socks. (Of course, I think that at the beginning of every project I make!)
And here are some 1/2 meter cuts of batik that I also purchased at the fabric sale. These batiks look a little washed out in this photo, but the colours are just scrumptious. There are 8 1/2 meter cuts here. They will be 4" half square triangles on two corners of each 6" block in a light weight quilt I plan to make this coming summer. I need another 6 or 7 half meter cuts to make enough squares for a really large queen sized quilt. Then I need about 10 meters for all the background 6" squares. Couldn't find what I wanted today, which is the last day of the sale, with all fabrics priced at 50% off. But I have lots of time left before summer to finish off the quilts I am working on and to shop for background and other batiks to complete this quilt.
arrived yesterday with wonderful, spring-like weather. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the loveliest March 1 in the history of Alberta! HOWEVER, the forecast for tomorrow is a heavy snow warning!
Our local quilting shop, part of the IDA, was running its semi-annual fabric sale this past week. I don't usually buy much fabric then, just perhaps some batting, because I like to buy for specific projects. But on Thursday I decided to buy for two summer projects coming up. The poinsettia fabric to the right is a Christmas fabric and the matching green and purple will be used in the same project. I don't want to say what the project is right now, because it will be used for a gift to a regular blog reader. But don't these fabrics have real "pizzazz"!
This knitting project is whizzing right along, but I'm finding that I can knit just a few rows before I need to give my hands a rest. The double strand of cotton yarn makes it kind of heavy going.
So I started another project on the other end of the scale:
A new pair of socks begun. This yarn is a Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Fine. Its composition: 50% Peruvian Wool, 20 % Super Fine Alpaca, and 30% Nylon. The wool makes it warm; the Alpaca makes it soft; and the nylon makes it strong! The colour is a very deep blue, perhaps a deep Prussian blue, with shadings of a purple, almost black blue. The label claims 7.5 sts. to 1" on 3 mm needles. It looked finer than that to me, so I did a swatch on 2.5 mm needles and found it closer to 8.5 or 9 sts. to one inch. I've started the socks on that basis, and since they are "toe up" I can adjust to fewer or more stitches per round when I reach the end of the toe. I'm planning to incorporate lots of the same cables on the knitting project just above for the instep and the ribbing. These will take a bit longer to knit than other recent socks as the yarn and needles are finer, but I'm thinking they will turn out to be wonderful socks. (Of course, I think that at the beginning of every project I make!)
And here are some 1/2 meter cuts of batik that I also purchased at the fabric sale. These batiks look a little washed out in this photo, but the colours are just scrumptious. There are 8 1/2 meter cuts here. They will be 4" half square triangles on two corners of each 6" block in a light weight quilt I plan to make this coming summer. I need another 6 or 7 half meter cuts to make enough squares for a really large queen sized quilt. Then I need about 10 meters for all the background 6" squares. Couldn't find what I wanted today, which is the last day of the sale, with all fabrics priced at 50% off. But I have lots of time left before summer to finish off the quilts I am working on and to shop for background and other batiks to complete this quilt.
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