Happy New Year

I wish you peace, joy, love and lots of craft time!

Something Old, Something New -- part II (with button and grab code)

Note: This post is almost identical to the information in the tab at the top of this blog so you may have already read it. Please leave a comment if you're thinking of joining the party! ;-)
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Nearly all the crafts-people I know are like me. We all have UFOs that we "should" be working on but the lure of the new beckons us.

In 2014, I want to concentrate on learning new techniques across many of the crafts in which I am involved. However I also want to get some of those UFOs out of my craft room and into use.

Hence: Something Old, Something New. I am challenging myself to finish (at least) one UFO a month and, at the same time, learn (at least) one new technique a month.

How do I define UFO? Any project I haven't worked on in the last three months is a UFO. If I've done some work on it in the last ninety days, it's a WiP and doesn't really qualify! But that's the boundaries I've set myself. You can set any boundaries/rules/guidelines -- whatever works for you!

Maybe you are unlike me and have no UFOs but would like to learn some new techniques.
Or maybe you've dozens of UFOs and no plan (right now) to learn new techniques -- you just want to get those UFOs done!

You've come to the right place.
For me it will be "old" and "new" but for you it might be either "old" or "new".

Won't you please consider joining me for this year's challenge?   
Any craft, any project, any technique is welcome.

I'll put up a linky party on the second day of each month (there are many other linky parties happening on the first of the month! LOL). In that post, I will share my progress from the previous month and list my goals for the month to come.

There will be no prizes, no give-aways; just the joy of sharing and perhaps meeting some new blog friends. 

I'd love you to join me -- parties are much more fun when other people come along! Here's the button for your blog if you accept my invitation!

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<br /><a href="http://2hot2knit.blogspot.com.au/" title="Never too hot to Stitch!"><img src="http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a607/ellebee57/85d98e30-e984-4b34-925f-027fc19b8dc5_zps40bbf708.jpg" alt="Never too hot to Stitch!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
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knitting "grab bags"

Over the last couple of years, maybe longer, WM has been bringing home yarn as an elderly friend slowly de-clutters her home. Knowing that I have no more storage space in the wardrobe where I store yarn, he has been quietly storing it in the garage.

On Boxing Day (26 December, a holiday here in Australia), I wondered whether there was any dark coloured 8ply (DK) acrylic in the bags to add to my current project (rather than buying more yarn unnecessarily). WM accompanied me to the garage and, to my surprise, began hauling out bags and boxes from all over the place. I had no idea that there were so many!

Just as well my car was out of the garage. The space was quickly filled with two cartons, six large garbage (trash) bags and several smaller bags.

Two of the bags contained fleece (one straight off the sheep's back with bits of vegetation included!); these were obviously intended for DD because I don't spin.

Yesterday, while WM was at work, I hauled those bags and boxes into the living room and started going through them. The first thing I found was a beautifully knitted and obviously much loved blanket that had been repaired over the years but was now beyond repair. The far corner in the photo is just about hanging off! The blanket was in a bag labelled "Mrs Walker's rug". I have no idea who Mrs Walker was but I love the intricately knitted blocks and the colourful ruffled edging makes me smile! I have ear-marked this one for the local animal shelter -- I'm sure the dogs won't mind the holes!

The process of emptying each bag took several hours, deciding what was worth keeping, what could be given to the charity shop (thrift store) and what should just be thrown away (very little as it happens; I am a child of a "Depression" baby and we learnt to recycle, reuse or make do long before it was fashionable. I am also a hoarder, and believe that most things will be useful "one day"!) As I went, I added the yarns I was stashing into my Ravelry account.

During the sorting, I found two partially-made blankets. The "Christmas" one (thus named because of the colours) was crocheted and was already very heavy. I will rip it out and knit the yarn into something else. The second photo is closer to the real colours but the green is even more vibrant!

The one-day-I’ll-be-a-tartan rug I will discuss with my mother-in-law (she has made at least two of these tartan blankets in the past) and I’ll probably finish it. Seems a shame to waste all that hard work, although I could just give it to the animal shelter (it’s acrylic) after I sew all the ends in!

I also found two bags of very small knitted pieces, perhaps they were tension squares (gauge swatches). I think I’ll join these to make a blanket for the animal adoption agency. If I rip them all out, I ‘d only have to re-knit them into something else!

I found the pieces of a baby's cardigan, which I will finish if I can match the yarn to do the button bands.

I found several balls of wool made in Australia that weighed “one ounce”. That may not be too remarkable if you're not an Aussie knitter but the wool industry which, for many years, was the most important primary industry in Australia (we grew up hearing that "Australia rode on the sheep's back") has all but gone -- most commercially available yarn may be grown here but it is processed overseas. Additionally, the Australian wool industry changed over to the metric system in 1971. That makes those balls of yarn at least 42 years old!

The six balls of mohair are showing their age -- hard as steel wool. I'm thinking that a good soak in hair conditioner will restore their softness; if not, off to the charity shop they go! Speaking of mohair, I also found an acrylic/mohair blend that was being reclaimed from a commercially knitted garment, made in Indonesia! It's a pretty coloured yarn so I finished the ripping out (a slow process with mohair).

I found some good quality pre-1971 variegated Paton's Totem yarn. Most of it is knitted up into what would have been, in my opinion, a very ugly garment. I have ripped it all out and will think of another use for it. No, the photo is not out of focus – the yarn is just hard on the eyes! Way too much of that brown!

There were a few kilos, that's several pounds to my non-metric friends, of very brightly-coloured yarn which was too thick and too harsh to knit with. I'm assuming our dear friend had done some rug making in the past! That is all going to the charity shop, along with a bag of odds and ends and several balls of eyelash yarn -- life's too short and I have too much yarn to knit things I really can't stand!

All the 8ply (DK) acrylic (it just keeps coming) has been put in the box I reserve for that yarn. Yarn taht was too good to throw away or give away but which I cant figure out what to do with has been put in one bag labelled “miscellaneous – to be sorted”. I think most of it is wool or wool blends but, since there is only one 50g ball (or less) of each type/colour, I have put it aside for now.

All the other yarn I plan to keep has been packaged up and labelled. I have never done this before but it seems like a good idea! I am going to put all the bags in the drawer under the spare bed (where we used to keep spare clothes for the Grandsons when they lived nearby and visited often). It seems to me that, instead of knitting big projects like blankets (I started another one on Christmas Eve), I should knit lots of smaller projects and use up some of this yarn. It would be more useful keeping someone warm this winter (June to August in Australia) than taking up space in our house!

So, I'm calling these "grab bags"* and I'm going to make it both a game and a challenge for myself. Either WM or I will open the drawer, grab the first bag that comes to hand, and I will knit the contents of that bag into something useful until the yarn is used up. That shouldn't take too long considering the small amounts of most of each type of yarn.Then I will repeat the process until all the "grab bags" are done! If I enjoy the challenge, I will go through the boxes of donated yarn and old UFOs hiding in the bottom of the wardrobe, rip out where necessary, and make some more "grab bags"!

*This idea was partially inspired by Carol over at Fun Threads who makes quilts from challenge bags which I think are provided by her guild. It is also reminiscent of the sock challenge that was popular on the "knitternet" a few years ago where knitters put sock yarn and an appropriate pattern in bags, one for each month of the year, and randomly pulled out a bag each month.

Stay tuned for lots of smaller knitted objects!

Now what should I do with the blanket that’s in progress…?

And so that was Christmas!

Christmas is all but over for WM and I. All that's left to show for it is a tree that was still growing in a paddock last Friday, a fridge full of left-overs, a tray of untouched lollies, about a kilogram of cashew-nuts, half a tray of glacé fruit, most of a large Christmas pudding, about ten mince pies…

And a very bad cold (and infected sinuses) which has knocked me right out of action -- an unexpected and unwanted present from my grandsons!

For the first time in thirty-six years of married life, WM and I will spend Christmas Day without family.

For the first nine years we had Christmas lunch with my family and spent Christmas evening with his -- I am very blessed to have in-laws who didn't expect us for Christmas morning and lunch!

Then along came DD; and my family came to us for Christmas. That lasted until my sister started having children, then we alternated who was hosting.

After her second divorce, my sister moved away, closer to our parents, but we continued the alternating years until WM started working shift work and we couldn't get away. Then began many Christmases with just the three of us. Mum and dad would join on 27th December and stay until 2nd January.

Now DD and family have moved away and we had to find new ways to be together. WM had to work today (Christmas Eve) and be back at work on Friday so we can't travel to them for Christmas.

Instead, we've had three family celebrations where DD and the family have been present.

The weekend before last we went away to Ebor, in northern NSW, about two-and-a-half hours from where DD now lives and a 1600km (1000 miles) round trip for us. We went there to share Christmas with my sister, her children, her sons-in-law, her 8-month-old grand-daughter, and my mum. What a great weekend we had. My sister booked accommodation for all fourteen of us and we had a wonderful time.

L to R: Sister, OG, N2H2S, SIL, DD, YG, Boyfriend #2, Niece #2, WM, great-Niece, Niece #1, Boyfriend #1, Mum, Nephew

On Tuesday, DD and family arrived here. Mum arrived on Thursday. On Saturday, WM and I hosted Christmas (ham and turkey with salad followed by a choice of Christmas pudding or fruit salad) here with my brother and his family, mum, mum-in-law, DD and family. Hence the fridge full of leftovers mentioned in the first paragraph. The photo shows my youngest niece (mum’s youngest grand-daughter, aged one month younger than my Older Grandson) opening the first present of the day.

L to R: DD (under hat), YG, OG, SIL, niece, DSIL, N2H2S, DB, MIL, Mum (WM is taking the photo)

Yesterday WM and I took mum to Strathfield station to make the trip home, went to church then went to WM's extended family get-together. He's the eldest of six and his mum has seventeen grandchildren (all but one with partners or spouses) and thirteen great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, a lot of them weren't able to make it. It was extremely hot and incredibly noisy. The cold my grandsons shared with me had hit with a vengeance (colds in summer seem worse than those in winter) so we only stayed about four hours. I hope I didn't share too many germs, I tried to stay away from as many people as possible!

a sweaty boy reads a new book

one of the best places to be when the temperature is 40°C (104°F)

four of my mother-in-law's six great-grandsons; she also has seven great-grand-daughters

DD and the family left at 10:30 yesterday morning. There were so many things that I should have been doing and so many things I could have been doing but what did I do? Went to bed and slept for another two and a half hours!

It's bizarre sitting here looking at the tree. I'm still waiting for Christmas feelings to arrive but they seem to have gotten lost even more so than usual! I haven't felt at all like Christmas, despite all the hoop-la we've been through! It's also bizarre seeing ads for Christmas on television because, in my head, Christmas is already over!

So how will we celebrate the day itself?

We were going into the city to see the Christmas lights but I’m not feeling well enough to brave the crowds. WM is secretly pleased, after all the excitement of the last couple of weeks he’s looking forward to a couple of quiet days! Tomorrow morning we will go to a low socio-economic suburb not too far from here where we've volunteered to help serve lunch to homeless people. After that, we've been invited to afternoon tea at our friends' house.

Boxing Day will be spent quietly at home before WM heads off to work on Friday and "normal life" resumes for us.

January is summer vacation time in Australia but WM won't have his annual leave until next October. With all my classes and most of my other activities (quilting group, Bible study) closed until February, I guess I'll have plenty of time for my own crafting activities!

Whatever you're doing, and whoever you're spending it with, I wish you a peaceful and joyous Christmas. There’s only one reason why we’re having this holiday (holy day): “peace on earth and good will toward men”.

the scene above our garage

Something Old, Something New

2013: The Year of the Finished Project was not as successful for me as I would have liked although it was very successful for other participants.

Deb at A Simple Life Quilts asked recently what one word described this year. My word was "unexpected" -- I didn't expect my DD and her family (including both our grandchildren) to move several hours away, I didn't expect to spend three months renovating a house I don't own, I didn't expect to get shingles, I didn't expect horrific bush-fires so early in the season, I didn't expect to be so moved by this horrible event that I just had to do something to help, I didn't expect to spend weeks sewing knitted squares into blankets (with more still to be done). Most of all,  I didn't expect to find a deeper, more wonderful relationship with my husband which is the direct result of returning to fellowship with other believers after several years isolation (of my own choosing) and a closer walk with my Creator, my Saviour and my Friend.

As far as my linky party was concerned -- I didn't expect not to meet my goals each month, or to have so many excuses/reasons for not meeting them.

That being said, I have decided to take a more relaxed approach next year. (Perhaps "simplify" is rubbing off on me, Deb.) I still have UFOs I need to complete but I also want to spend 2014 learning and/or practising new techniques.

So I'm inviting you to join me for a year of "Something Old, Something New". The "old" will focus on finishing just one UFO each month (you could finish more if you wish). The "new" is not starting a new project -- there's already a linky party for that over at Cat Patches -- it's challenging yourself to intentionally learn one new technique or skill each month, related to the craft of your choice.

Will you join me?

 I'm already thinking about things like foundation piecing, trapunto, Bargello, piecing curves, FMQ (although that's not really new for me, I just need lots of practice), candlewicking, shadow knitting...

With all four bedrooms (including the sewing room where my PC is located) occupied until next Monday, I can't access my computer to make a linky party "button" and I haven't thought of any guidelines/rules for playing along but hey, if there's anything else you need to know, just ask!

And, because I can't finish this post without any photos, here is Knitted Patchwork II, which I finished on Tuesday. I started with thirty-five half squares, so I had to knit 35 half squares, sew them all together, sew in the ends and add the single crochet border. 

Not bad for seven weeks work (if I do say so myself)! I would prefer it was flatter but the blocks are not square and it was hard to join them in this pattern! I live and learn! Older Grandson likes it -- the first thing he asked was "is that for me?" And he spent a lot of time yesterday dragging it around the house. I need to wash it to soften up those fibres so it isn't a big problem. Besides, I have plenty of yarn, I can always knit a new one; if that one gives him so much pleasure, he can have it!

another finish

Diagonal Strings is done. It probably shouldn’t have taken as long as it did. The blocks weren’t made by me. They were already quilted. All I had to do was cut and add sashing and cut and add binding.

But you know what it’s like when you’re not feeling the love for the project. It waits. It occasionally growls at you as you walk past.

And eventually you have to get it finished if only to silence that “so close and yet so far” feeling.
 
Anyway, it’s done and it’s even got a label (I often forget those on the quilting group quilts). This is the first label I have added while attaching the binding – what a great time saver; and the label is less likely to come adrift too!

Isn’t that sashing fabric pretty? A whole metre of that fabric was donated; some people are so generous. I also found about half a metre of the brown fabric I used for the binding in our store cupboard; I wasn't expecting to use brown, I was looking for a burgundy, but the brown works perfectly. Don’t look too closely at my corners; I must have gone too close to the corner with my machine stitching while attaching the binding (I’m still a newbie, remember!) – I didn’t have enough fabric to turn properly!

Now it’s ready for next year’s Airing of the Quilts in April. I’m halfway – I promised myself I’d make six and I’ve done three The fourth is nearing completion so I’m not too far behind.

And in just twelve days, Christmas will be behind us and I can look forward to some solid crafting time.

This weekend, WM and I are off to a little village called Ebor in the New England Ranges (approximately 570km, 355 miles from here)  to share Christmas with Mum, my sister, two nieces and their boyfriends, my nephew, my 8-month-old great-niece (this is my sister's first Christmas as a grandmother), DD, SIL and our Grandsons!

It’s these two I’m most excited to see! Aren’t they handsome? (a child at pre-school produced that scar on Older Grandson’s face – we’re praying it’s not permanent!) The best news is they’ll be here for a whole week and their parents will be here too so we can just be grandparents!

There won’t be much crafting time but family is way more important, right?

Linking up with Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday which is being hosted by M-R Charbonneau over at Quilt Matters.

2013: The Year of the Finished Project -- December edition

Well, here we are -- the final post for 2013. There will be one more post, on January 2, to rap up the year. But, for now, we will focus on November goals and publicly state those we have for December.

Because of my commitments to making (or helping make and distribute) blankets and quilts for victims of the bush-fires in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, I actually put my own projects on hold for seven weeks so didn't have any goals to work towards in November.

I attended Caring Hearts Community Quilting Group's final meeting for 2013 today and learnt that, as a group, we distributed 168 quilts to children who lost everything in the fires. Our group didn't make all the quilts, many (the majority) were donated by good-hearted quilters from all around the metropolitan area. I also know that so many blankets were donated that requirements were exceeded and one large, well-known charity had their delivery refused!

A friend and I got together during November and sewed 28 squares into a blanket which I have called "Scarlet Diamonds"

My own personal crafting time during November was spent knitting this blanket:

Knitting is time-consuming so I don't have anything else to show for the seven weeks of my absence from 2013: The Year of the Finished Project.

December will be even busier for me than usual. My sister, who became a grandmother for the first time this year, had an idea to get the extended family together on Saturday 14 December. Although its likely to be a seven hour journey for us (after WM works all day Friday), how could I refuse to attend? On top of the other madness that December brings (including our wedding anniversary two days ago), a weekend away is not really want we had in mind.

DD, SIL and our grandsons will be there for the weekend and then coming back here to spend a week with us. The following weekend we have two family Christmas parties -- one for my side of the family and one for WM's extended family (about 60 people if they all attend)!

What does all this have to do with 2013: The Year of the Finished Project, you may ask.

Simply this, my crafting time this month is to be severely limited so my December goal list is necessarily short.

1. Knitted Patchwork #2 blanket -- get it finished

I have 12 half squares to knit then a large amount of seaming and sewing in of ends to do, followed by a border of some kind. I plan to have this one done before we go away for the weekend.

2. Scrappy Diagonals quilt -- get it finished (photo shows one row) 

I started the month with all the rows done and sewed into pairs (and one triplet). I'm pleased to say that, at the time of writing, I have only to cut fabric for the binding, make a level, attach the binding and label and hand sew the binding down. I hope to have this one done tomorrow!

3. Hearts quilt -- get it finished (the photo shows two of the thirty blocks)

I have completed all the blocks and am now considering whether to turn it into a "quilt as you go" project, or to make a flimsy, baste and quilt in the normal fashion! There are, as I'm sure all you quilters know, pros and cons for both!

4. Westall Cardigan (for me)

I would love to see this finished but it's a low priority compared to the other projects I have in progress.

5. Notebook Covers (Christmas gifts for my class mates)

I always seem to leave this till the last minute as I can never decide what to make. I'm almost settled on notebook covers as seen on Samelia's Mum blog. I will make them all on Saturday -- or something else I can do quickly because I need 12 by Monday 16th!

Once DD and family go home on 23 December, I will have the rest of the month except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the weekend, to myself because WM will be at work. If I complete all my other projects, I plan to work on these:

• Rainbow Blocks from 2013 (I have four-patches, nine-patches, strings, and improv blocks - like the ones in the photo, all 6"); I'm considering something similar to Dancing Nine-Patch by Bonnie Hunter

• join more knitted squares into blankets -- my friend and I are slowly working through these piles; thanks D!

• Country Houses Quilt -- this was my third quilt project, which was started in May 2011, and therefore is my oldest quilting UFO;I just can't make up my mind what I really want to do with it (apart from get it finished)!

• Socks for Someone #4 -- I stalled at the heel of the first sock because turning heels requires concentration and I haven't had that kind of knitting time (the photo is a pair I k it ted for WM in the same colour way - they are actually much brighter and that "black" band is actually burgundy!)

That should keep me busy enough!

What about you?

How did you do with your November goals?

What, if anything, do you planned for December?

Please link up here with the URL of your specific blog post so we can all visit and see want you've been up to and want plans you have for this final month of 2013.