Fall Quilting in the Hoop

When I completed my year (2007-2008) as President of Springfield Chapter of Quilters Unlimited my two vice-presidents, Beth and Cindy, presented to me a beautiful quilt top consisting of blue and white snowball blocks made by many members of our guild.  Beth did a stunning job of putting the blocks together and adding the borders.  The quilt is a reproduction of a much admired antique quilt another member of the guild, Loretta, owns.

A quilt top this beautiful must be hand quilted, and so I have begun doing so this month.  This will be my quilting project this fall. 

Summer Knitting Challenge Complete

You may recall my post in June about my self-imposed summer knitting challenge - to knit all this yarn into warmies for others less fortunate.




Here are the completed items, finished just one day before the official last day of summer ... seven hat and mitten sets, three additional hats, and two pair of child's socks. All these items will be sent to an orphanage in Romania. I want to thank "themadknitter" for giving me the yarn.

Knitting in Anchorage

During the early morning hours when everyone was asleep and I was wide awake still on east coast time, during Caroline's nap times, and in the evenings when Caroline had gone to bed I fit in some knitting time.

For Caroline I knit a cardigan in Sirdar Baby Bamboo, a sweater which should fit her this winter. I finished the cardigan on our last day there, so I left it drying on the towel!

For myself I knit a pair of sock in the Lichen Rib pattern by Nancy Bush, using Fortissima Socka, a cotton and wool blended yarn. And for the Anchorage Stork Project I knit two sweater and hat sets of Lion Brand worsted weight acrylic. (The first sweater was knit on the trip from Virginia to Anchorage which included an unexpected four hour airport layover.)

If you ever have the opportunity to travel to Anchorage do not miss going to one of the best yarn shops I have ever visited - Far North Yarn Co. The ladies there are the nicest and most helpful, and they love to have visitors come sit and knit for a while. The shop is my "home away from home" when I'm in Anchorage.

August in Anchorage

This August I visited with our daughter and granddaughter in Anchorage, Alaska. Of course I took pictures of Caroline modeling some of the sweaters I knitted for her over the past several months. It is so much fun to knit for such a cutie! Here she is:

Pattern: Buzy Lizzie by Louisa Harding ... Yarn: Botany by Rowan

Pattern: DROPS b18-25 Jacket in Garter Stitch ... Yarn: Cara by Zitron

Pattern: Butterfly Baby Hat by Melisa Darniedar ... Yarn: Cara by Zitron

Pattern: Frilly Edge Bolero by Sirdar ... Yarn: Kraemer Little Lehigh Pebbles

Pattern: Bias Baby Cardigan by Knitting Matters ... Yarn: Cornucopia by Kollage

And a few extra pictures from the trip:

Rebecca and Caroline at the Botanical Gardens

Julia, Caroline, and Denny

Moose in Rebecca's neighborhood!

beautiful Fireweed blossoms