Friday night I focused on hats. I've been knitting these out of some of my own dyed slub Yearn to give as Christmas gifts. It's one of a select few hats that I've ever tried on that doesn't look ridiculous on me, so I'm really hoping that it works for some of my friends, too. I had a couple of hats that needed ends sewn in and the tops pulled together, one that had been cast off with only 7 sections instead of 8 (duh!) that needed an extension, and one still one the needles. I now have a happy pile of 6 finished hats.
Saturday morning I decided to tackle some revisions to Henry's Pomegranate. I had used it a few times and it had travelled quite a bit stuffed into various luggage. When I was putting it away the other day, I questioned why I haven't used it more. Then I discovered the handle needed some additional stitches to hold it more securely in place. So I cut out the lining, re-secured the handles (by not only adding a piece of fabric to the back side, I also crisscrossed the stitches from side to side at the top), sewed the lining back in place, added a couple of snaps to one of the pockets (attaching one side right through the lining, to the hooking), and I also added a few anchors to the tops of the pockets (securing the lining in these places to the backing behind). Thesse anchors really help make it easier to access the pockets and find what I am looking for - I can't believe I didn't think of it before!
I also fixed up my February Lady Sweater on Saturday. I had finished the knitting weeks and weeks ago. It was blocked for the first time before I went to Nova Scotia -- but it was waaaaay too big. My mum tried blocking it again, but smaller.....and while the body was a better fit, the sleeves were still too long. I ripped back several inches on both arms and re-knit the binding. Another job done -- and I can finally wear my sweater!
Other things I did on Saturday included: parceling up some patterns, tidying up my hooking closet (so the door shuts again! ;-) ), writing my Christmas crafting and shopping list, catching up on missed episodes of Supernatural, organizing my pantry, getting rid of an old sewing machine and table, aborting an old rug project (started 7 year ago - and keeps popping up like a bad penny to haunt me. I have no desire to finish it....and it was time for it to go. Straight to the curb!), making a few over-due phone calls....and around 8pm, I started hooking. It was great to get back to rug hooking -- and I just love my new frame and both of my new hooks.. With any luck, I'll get a few snow chicks hooked in time for Christmas.
On Sunday I headed up to my parents to help my mum start work on my Christmas present – she's making me a quilt! We had bought a couple of different Bali Pops on our travels, and wanted to supplement them with some of the other favourite batiks from our boxes. We pressed our other fabrics and cut more 2.5" strips. Choosing which prints made the cut (sorry! ;-) ) was a challenge - they all look so pretty. Once I started laying the strips out on the dining room table, I was initially diappointed with how they looked together....until I realized what the problem was: too many different colours and values. It was a rainbow. After eliminating all of the lightest pieces and all of the gold pieces, the remaining fabrics (purples, reds, blues, greens – in a range of values) looked much better. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's sewn (and I hope I don't have to wait until Christmas!)
I also spent part of Sunday doing boring housework, grocery shopping and laundry....but it was kinda fun to fold my newly washed wool (from our recent visit to Dorr). I am really enjoying small-scale textures these days - especially those I can use as-is.
It sounds like a crazy busy weekend, but I was really quite relaxing -- and what a relief to get all of those tasks done. From my long list of jobs for the weekend, the only thing I didn't get done was my book work. As I'm already a couple of months behind, I don't thing a few more days will make much difference.... ;-)
