Sewing and Knitting?

I am the type of girl that loves technology and all the new doors it has opened for me! I have a really nice sewing machine, yes it's a manual one but hey, it works! I have been in such a "crafty" mood lately, I have been buying up every skein of yarn I can get my hands on! I must put a "halt" to that and actually start knitting down my stash. I have been collecting Malabrigo Arroyo, a gorgeous superwash sport weight yarn. My favorite color is Plomo. Hold your breath, here they are!

I am so in love with this yarn and of course the color! It's breath taking to behold and even more so to pet! I am gathering a sweater quantity to make a lovely sweater from one of our own Ravelry designers! I purchased the pattern and will be casting on as soon as the holiday's are over. I feel guilty knitting anything for myself and truthfully, there is no time! The pattern is Pauroxo by Jennifer Dassau which you can find on Ravelry! She really has some amazing patterns!!

Back to technology! I have been debating over new sewing machines. I am not an "avid" seamstress, even though I would love to be! I have been sewing since the tender age of 13. Do you remember "home ecc" classes? I learned to sew and fell in love with it. I had visions of creating quilts and quilted bags. I am creating new Christmas stockings for my family. I chose black burlap with muslin lining. I will post photos of those in the next blog entry. I did some research and of course I can't afford a Janome machine at this time. That would be my pie in the sky machine! I settled for a very nice Brother Project Runway machine. It was on sale and I had a coupon which was good for $75.00 off! I brought it home and before I knew it, my fiance Richard had it out of the box and set up on the dining room table for me in nothing flat! He was fiddling with the attachments and booklets and accessories, I was anxiously watching and waiting for something to get misplaced or thrown out. Neither of those things happened, and I appreciated his help! After I peeled him away from the table so I could "get" in there and look at my new machine, I loaded a bobbin and threaded the machine. I did some practice sewing using a couple of the 80 different stitches she offers. I can tell we are going to become vast friends! I am happy so far and will keep you posted. Here is her first photo debut!

As much as I love and adore my knitting, it's very slow going. I am really hoping that sewing will give me the instant gratification I am seeking at this time!

Spud and Chloe Yarn

A few months ago I purchased two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn to make something for my granddaughter Madison. While prepping the yarn to wind, I hit knot after knot and twists that were amazing while I had it on the swift. I have never had such an issue before with winding any yarn! I thought wow I must have done something wrong. I ended up losing half the skein to unbelievable knots that I could not for the life of me remove. I tried, in vain. The second skein, sitting there begging to be knit up, also needed to be wound. Again, I took the yarn out, popped it (kind of a "snapping" motion) prior to placing it on the swift and cut the bindings. Started out smooth as silk until I got half way down to the middle of the skein! I ran in to the same issue. Lost half of that skein also. I asked people on the Ravelry Spud and Chloe site if they had issues with this yarn knotting while trying to wind it. It's not a very common phenomenon but it can happen with ANY yarn. I was told sometimes when they are winding the yarn at the factory. The binding ties are placed wrong or is not tied off properly and can create knots. Just as my faith in human kind was waning, and much to my wonderful surprise today, there was a small package sitting on the door step! It was two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater in the beautiful colorway of Igloo!! Here is what I am making and now I will also have enough to make the Hello Kitty Mitts!!!

Imagine these mitts about one half this size! Maddy will be so excited! She is all about Hello Kitty these days. Hello kitty jackets, tops, shoes, backpack, you name it, she has it. This will complete another "phase" for her!

Both of these patterns are free on Ravelry!