Studio Storage Set-up

 

I had to move all of the boxes out of the studio and into the office temporarily so I could set up the shelving. Who needs the gym when you can carry one box at a time across the house over and over? One box is about all I can lift, but it was good exercise. Then I took a nap. Here is how it looked this morning:

 100 boxes.

I still have room on top for 20 more boxes, as the space is exactly 2 boxes high, which I will arrange later. I was worried about the light, but the window near the sewing machine and ironing board provides plenty of eastern light much of the day, even in this snowy weather. I may have to protect the fabric on that side with some curtains, although I enjoy being able to look out at the trees. I may put UV-blocking film on the window. I am pleased that the storage capacity is what I envisioned, but probably over time I will need to take all the fabric out of the boxes and organize it as I use it and rummage thru searching for just the right piece for projects. The design wall will be the next thing to set up. Peter scored some pinnable office-cubicle panels from work ( you can see a small one leaning against the wall) and we plan to construct a pinnable design wall on the opposite side of the room from the shelving. Meanwhile, I have gotten very inspired by The Tentmakers of Chareh El-Khiamiah . Fantastic! Here is the link: http://www.chareh-elkhiamiah.com/
   They are a group of Egyptian artists making amazing appliqued works. A film about them is in the works, and you can help fund this fantastic project here: http://www.pozible.com/project/14350 . Several of the artists will be coming to AQS quilt shows in the USA this spring ,and I hope to be able to meet them and see their work . Well, back to sorting and organizing! I hope you are enjoying this day.

Making stuff

 

New year, new yarn and new ideas! I was inspired by a friend to start collecting some more Noro yarn, and had a gift certificate ( thank you Margaret and Debbie!) so I had to use it .I had the idea to make another circular sweater after re-knitting my chenille sweater, so I thought I would play with the idea to use a raglan construction for the yoke and then pick up stitches around to make the circular body. I'm using a couple of colorways of the Noro silk Garden to make it more interesting ( and add more blue!) , and it is fun to watch the colors emerge. I'm inspired by the book "Knit, Swirl" by Sandra McIver, but I prefer to knit from the inside out and I wanted to be able to adjust sleeve length and try it on as I go, so I thought this might be fun to try.  I can always rip it out and re-knit if it doesn't work the way my calculations seem to indicate...Also I don't love the octagon look, preferring a smooth circle, so I'm scattering the increases. Should be interesting.

 

Meanwhile, my mother has a friend expecting twins, and as I already made a blue baby quilt, she wanted a girly one to match, so I dived into my stash and came up with this bold pink , purple and orange jelly roll race idea. The green squares provide a bit of contrast, don't you think? Here is the back first:

 

And then the front:

 

I quilted it with free-form flowers and swirls in the squares :

 

My studio is rudimentary now, with all the fabric in plastic boxes from Container Store. I wanted to put some sort of cabinets/shelving along the north wall for storage, but could not find anything the right size to store the boxes.I decided to go with Ikea's Billy system shelf units, which are 15 3/8 inch deep ( the boxes are 15 3/4 inch deep and 13 1/2 inches wide), and probably will have to take most of the fabric out of the boxes to store behind doors of the shelving.It will be a big project to sort and organize that when the shelves arrive, but it seems like the best way to deal with it.At the moment I can sit at the sewing machine and gaze out at the woods and backyard behind the house, so I think it will be nice.

 

I'm using the dining room and living room of the house for my studio, and while it is only 12 1/4 ft wide, it is a long space.Very different from my previous huge studio room, but as we have a big eat-in kitchen anf family room, there is really no need for a dining room or living room! So, I am glad to be making stuff again!

Grafting Garter stitch

 Two winters ago I knit my Garter stitch Circular sweater, and I loved the yarns, the fabric and the colors of the sweater. It was made from various rayon chenilles, ribbon yarns and other cotton or rayon yarns that I had collected over many years. There were a whole lot of ends to weave in, of course, and it took a long time to knit, but I loved the resulting sweater. I wore it once, and realized it was too long in the back for my short self. So, on to the next project. Yesterday I unpacked  a box and there it was. Because of the non-wool nature of the yarns, it had stretched and so my lovely sweater was making me unhappy.

 

If I were
6 ft tall, it might be lovely, but alas, I am 5 ft 1. So I decided to rip out the body and re-knit it with a shorter back section. I still had a box of yarn left from that project, so I first knit a shorter back section, 10 inches instead of 15 inches, and then started ripping out the circular portion which went surprisingly easily, after I picked out the bind-off which was in fluffy chenille.

 

I decided to keep the sleeves, as they were the right length. The whole sweater body ended up in 3 neat balls.I had to figure out how to graft  1/2 of the sleeve stitches to the back so I could  continue with the shrug construction. I put the sleeves on circular needles and managed to successfully graft them to the back:

 

I found my formula for

Grafting in Garter stitch:

Front: K off, P leave

Back: K off,P leave.

It was easy and went very smoothly! Now I am ready to knit the circular portion, and marked 7 sections around the circumference where I will be increasing every other row.Because this is circular garter stitch, I only need 7 increases every other row, so I increase on the knit rows and work plain on the purl rows. I probably will need to cut the yarns to make it line up, but having would them in sequence it should go easily.

If I had stitched it in Seed stitch, the grafting would be:

Front:opposite off, same leave ( as you see the stitch)

Back:opposite off, same leave

If ribbing:

Front: same off, opposite leave

Back: same off, opposite leave.

For the sake of completeness:

Stockinette stitch grafting is 

Front: Knit off, purl leave

Back:Purl off, knit leave.

In a month, I should have a new sweater! The new moon is a good time to begin a new project, don't you think?

Snow Day

 I woke up this morning to 7 inches of white stuff! It made the backyard a fairyland of snow.

 I love the view out the bathroom window, with all the trees edged in white.
Meanwhile, a few days ago we made a wall of boxes downstairs to create a make-shift guest room so my mom and brother could visit for Christmas dinner. I ended up sleeping here and it was fun. There is a bathroom on the left, so it is a comfortable space. Eventually we hope to make it a regular room, but it works fine for the moment.

 The Riggs family was together for dinner, and it was delightful to share our new kitchen/dining area/family room with my mom, brothers, nieces and sister-in law, as well as having my kids and husband all home..

 

Meanwhile I finished a sweater I've been working on, so that was a nice warm way to end the year .It is a version of "Medallion Cardigan" done in Noro sock yarn.

 Happy New Year to all. I wish peace, success, joy and happiness to all of you this coming year!

Home for the Holidays

It has been a very busy month of moving and unpacking and organizing. I moved the entire contents of our condo except for the furniture while Peter was in Maui on a business trip.Using a shopping cart, I would take a load of boxes to the elevator, down to the parking garage, load the car, go back up to the condo, repeat, then fill a huge suitcase and put that in the trunk. Then drive out to the house, 1/2 hour away. Unload the car, unpack and arrange stuff, then drive back to condo and collapse. Repeat. Finally, Peter returned, and movers moved our furniture, and now we are mostly moved in. Luckily, the weather was cooperative, I got enough sleep, good food and my fibromyalgia was painful but not overwhelming, for a change. I was running on adrenalin and coffee! Yesterday  the kids arrived for their month-long college break, so we can all continue to unpack and get ready for the holidays. Here are some photos of the state of it now:

Living room

Kitchen nearly done. Still missing oven, hood and dishwasher

Front half of studio

Back half of studio. Sewing machine is set up!

My office. Central vacuum system is so wonderful!

Slowly things are getting organized, and it is a huge job. My heart goes out to those affected by Hurricane Sandy and Sandy Hook, and I can only hope the new year brings a measure of peace and comfort. I realize how fortunate I am to be able to do all of  this. May you all have a peaceful and loving holiday, and hold those you love close.

Progress!

The family room is painted!

Kitchen cabinets are almost in place.

The hardwood floors are laid down, and covered now with paper, painters are almost done with painting the whole house, the cabinets are almost finished, but we are waiting for the counter tops and the appliances ......( which should come tomorrow!). The house is starting to feel like mine.When our stuff is delivered and moved in, and curtains are up, the fun of arranging, sorting and decorating begins...it is a huge amount of work, and I am so grateful for my husband,who is coordinating this big job himself. His knowledge of house construction is coming in very handy.I am very pleased, although it feels rushed because of the holidays approaching...Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for! And thank you for following along!

And to think that I saw it on Newbury St

For my birthday, my dear friend Laura treated me to a glorious afternoon in Copley Square,  lunch, and a stroll down Newbury St. The weather was a balmy 65 degrees, and the buildings shone in the sun.

We stopped in at all the churches, particularly

the Trinity Church and the Church of the Covenant, which is finally on the National Registry of Historic Places. Built in 1865 in Gothic Revival Style, the church has stained glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany from the 1890s and spectacular details which delight the eye.

The baptismal font is amazingly beautiful

I wish I had a telephoto lens to capture the intricacy and beauty of the stained glass windows

We also saw a display of antique crank sewing machines which were fantastic at Sanford Brown College.

We tried to find Tappas to have lunch, but they didn't open until 5, so we stopped in at a bistro and had a delicious lunch nearby. It was a great way to celebrate!