Something New

Knitting will always come first, but there is a new love in my life.  Sewing!  Since the August renovation of the sewing room I have been sewing fast and furiously.  Currently I have arm hole facing and buttonholes to do and the 2^nd shirt will be finished.  I have a replacement zipper half sewn into a pair of Bill’s trousers and a fleece ruana that requires two seams before moving on to the “something new.”

I have never done any real quilting, only the ready-to-sew quilts that JoAnn’s sells by the square.

So I bought a huge quantity of fat quarters, batting and backing fabric to make some real, lap sized quilts as Christmas gifts.  I was standing at the big craft table yesterday with fabric squares spread all over and wondered, “What am I doing?”  You see, that’s the problem, I don’t know!  I would guess that when you start a project you should know a little bit about how to proceed.  

The answer came to me when I realized that at some point many, many years ago, I held knitting needles and yarn in my hands and asked myself the same question.  With a lot of help from my friends, a lot of research in books, and a lot of really big mistakes I learned to knit.  If I turn out a reasonable facsimile of a quilted lap throw I’m sure the chosen family members will be forgiving and appreciative.  Maybe they will at least say, “Pretty colors mom.  Good job!”  That’s enough for me!

Also along the Christmas gift lines, there are dishcloth and hand towels to knit.  I know I said I would be moving on to other knitting projects after the last dishcloth, but as I said, I can’t knit them fast enough to please all the family members who want them.  It occurred to me, isn’t that what I want to do for Christmas—make everyone happy?  Then why not knit them and gift them.  They don’t make sparkling blog subjects, the same project over and over again, but it looks like the next three months are going to be filled with little squares—both knitted and quilted.

Darling daughter sent me this by text a few days ago.  She was among one of the last classes of nurses who were capped at graduation.  We have always called her cute little cap her crown, even though she doesn’t wear it.  Work was tough that day because they lost a child and when I read this I was touched and honored!!

 

 Life is really good!