Playing Yarn Chicken

The first sheep's fleece I bought at the wool market was a huge 5+ lbs of corriedale/CVM.  I question whether it was a covered fleece, but it wasn't the worst I have seen since.

I cleaned it, and carded it. I knitted a big infinity scarf, hat and mittens from it. I knitted a cabled vest from it...

and determined to finish it up with a simple oversized sweater. I still had plenty of yarn.

DSis came for a visit which was finished with us taking a roadtrip to visit our elderly aunt.  This was the perfect travel knitting - nothing but stockinette in the round except for some waist shaping. I figured to get through the body on the trip with the yarn I had, and maybe a sleeve. I would finish the other sleeve and the neckline when I got home with the last of the yarn.  On the flight home, I reached the length of the body, which is tunic long, with most of the rest of that ball and one more left.  Ribbing, and two sleeves, and the neck ribbing left.

Well. Guess what? No more yarn. Well.  No more of THAT yarn.

No sweat really.  I put the body on a stitch holder. I picked up the first sleeve, which is now finished.

I think I will get the 2nd mostly done with the yarn left.  I will unravel from the bottom to finish sleeve #2 and the inch of ribbing around the neck.

So it won't be a booty covering sweater to wear with leggings.  Maybe I am too old for that anyway. And there won't be anymore of this yarn in the stash!

Quilting In These Modern Times

Back in the day, when the day was about 9 years ago, which is when the oldest grandgirl was born, my dearest sis and I embarked on the tradition of making the grands quilts. I had learned to quilt in 1978, and was all about the scissors and templates, hoops and hand quilting. That stuck until the the fifth quilt. A few things happened.  The quilts started stacking up.  DSis bought a Bernina, helped found the Modern Quilt Guild in Las Vegas, and subsequently retired.

I will be honest here.  I didn't know modern from schmodern. Quilts are quilts are quilts...and are mostly for covering up with. So anyway, back to DSis retiring and leaving Las Vegas and moving into the hot bed of America's quilting heartland. Her mad skilz took off like a rocket, and she was all...maybe we should look at some of the more recent innovations in the quilting industry.  I was all...this was how I learned to make quilts and this is how I am going to die making quilts.

Variation of Card Trick with 30's reproduction prints

And then I got laid off again, and picked up a part time job at a LYS that was opening an fabric side. I needed to let go of the past, all be it kicking and screaming, and let myself get dragged into these modern times. I had fun for the few months I sewed for a living. My mother's legacy lives on, and I am truly grateful for the life skills she taught me. Also, I honed those rotary cutting and chain piecing skills!

"Sisters" with 30's reproduction prints

Grandgirl's six and seven quilts were cranked out lickety split! I even machined quilted, although it was simply quilting in the ditch.  The intricacies of free motion still elude me, but as many things, I am sure it's just a process of learning.

16-patches from FCMQG block bee and hour glass block

I still sew with my mid-century Singer (the Rocketeer) but I bought myself a Janome, too.  (By the way, save yourself embarrassment.  Jay No Me.  I asked the man in the store about the Jaynoms.  Oops.) I joined the local MQG.  I even met DSis at QuiltCon in Austin for fun, amusement, and education in what the heck Modern Quilting is.

The photos are of a few of my recently completed quilt tops.  The top two are throw sizes, the bottom is now larger than the photo shows, more of an oversized queen. I cranked these out in the last week.  Fast as lightening! Quick as winks! Goodbye to the olden days!

I am not starting by making excuses. Life changes. Life happens. Life evolves.

I have updated the layout.  I haven't been reading any blogs for a while so deleted all the 'what I have been reading'. Maybe I will add some back, if that changes. Seems since retirement, I have been doing more and more, and on the computer less.  Somehow there is this pull to the blog, and I am not sure what that is about. So I am going to give it a go and see where it takes me.  That is all.

First things first.  I am retired, for over a year. Work is done and that is that.  It is good to done with work and that is that. I love having my time be my time. I do whatever I want when I want to do it. Like I haven't EVER. I spend my time in the yard, creating fibery things, trying to stay fit, traveling a bit, with the grandgirls (which number seven now) and with the husband (who is still a wonderful guy).

Right now I have a pair of socks, a pair of mittens on the needles. I also have 3 quilts in process.
I am loving life.

I won Reserve Champion at the Estes Park Wool Market for some llama.

Hello Again

I might be back...