A-pickin' and a-knittin'

Good morning! 

It's a bright and beautiful start to the day....but cold!!!

I had a very early start to my day, so I had extra time to sit and pick out my swan block for the Animal Album quilt. 

If you remember from last time, I explained that I am changing up the background fabric before going any further. I decided that picking out the applique and re-using the pieces would be less trouble than making up new templates and picking out new fabrics and fussy-cutting again! 

Here is the original block....

.....and here it is now, almost all picked out...it will be worth it in the end!...

I was on a quilting retreat last weekend. It was held at Camp Trillium and was one of the best retreats I've ever attended....a lot of "extras" and I'll definitely go on this one again.

One of the demos we saw was about a site called Savor Every Stitch. If you were to go to that site and click on "patterns", then go to "Haphazard", you will find a super cool way to design your own quilt.

You go through the steps, which lead you to choose your block size (I chose 6"blocks), how many blocks (I chose the 6x6 layout), colours, and the ratio of how many large HST's to small HST's.

You then see a layout of what your quilt will look like. Then the really cool part....if you don't quite like the layout, you just keep pushing the button until you see one that you fancy.

Here is my little quilt...it measures 36" square and I think it will perfect for a lap quilt during my morning slow-stitching!

(Thanks, Stephanie, for introducing us to Savor Every Stitch!)


Back in the day I used to knit socks....a lot. I've wondered recently why I don't knit socks anymore. I realised that I stopped after my days of being a hockey mom ended. Most of my sock knitting was done at the arena...and, in the summertime, at the baseball diamond.

I'm determined to pick up sock-knitting again. We took a drive this week to Needle Emporium in Ancaster. I haven't been in a looong time and felt like going to what is, in essence, a candy store for knitters. 

I came away with three yarns....so this knitting-thing better stick!

 I also bought a circular needle to give "magic loop" knitting a try. I'm not sure what the deal is with magic loop, except for the fact that you can knit two socks at a time (will try that next time), and it's not as easy to lose stitches when carrying your project from place to place. 

I'll keep at it and reserve judgement for now.

This one is a Schoppel yarn called Zauberball Crazy in Colour # 1701, Papagei. I am using my favourite brand of circular needles, Addi.

Here are the yarns that are waiting in the wings...

With the Uneek Sock yarn I will try the two-at-a-time method.

That's all for today! I will be spending time in the car today, which means I can work on the knitting that is kept in the car. 

Today I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?.