knitting kitchen

I could mark the passage of time by the trips that I’ve taken, the meals I’ve cooked, or the laundry I’ve done. Or I could be certain that this week is not last week by the movement of the piles of projects that litter my house.

I bought this yarn at The Mannings in Pennsylvania this past April. I had a difficult time finding just what to do with it. It has too many colors for knitting into a patterned sock and the yarn is deceptively fine. I ended up using size 0 needles and 72 stitches to make these women’s socks.

Despite the fact that it took me months to get the stripy socks done, it was only a matter of hours before I was winding up some Mountain Colors and finding another pair of socks to begin. These are on the needles with a recipient in mind. I find that making them for someone has definitely heated up my motivation.

Last weekend, my sewing machine got a work out. Our house is old and drafty. The chief function of the door from the laundry room to the outdoors seems to be keeping the cat inside. We’ve tried many ways of keeping the cold out, but the only one that seemed to work is hanging a blanket in front of the door. I had some fabric in my stash that I thought would make a great quilt to cover the door. It’s not gorgeous, but it is better looking in person. I haven’t yet finished quilting it, nor have I put the binding on it, but I plan to finish it soon because we’ve had a few mornings where the back hallway was almost cold enough to set ice cubes.

Jessica was home for a few hours this weekend. We made a stop at a quilting store and came home a few yards of Amy Butler fabric richer.  Jess has taken up knitting and needed a bag to take her projects around. The bottom corners are to be tacked up toward the opening, but she whisked it off to college before I could get there.

There’s plenty of room for all her knitting and I love her fabric choices.

I liked her bag so much, I decided to make myself a bag with some of our Amy Butler haul. Jess and Olivia tried to fight over the bag, but I’m not ready to part with it.

When I first read about Amy Butler fabrics on a blog somewhere, I didn’t really understand the obsession some people seem to have. Now that I’ve touched them, worked with them, and spread a few yards around my house, I feel differently. Her prints make me smile. They seem to hold happiness so despite the fact that the quilt I’m planning is completely the wrong style to integrate into any room of my home, I can’t wait to spend many hours up to my elbows in several yards.

And as a final end to the weekend, I made myself some flannel pajamas. In case I ever forget what I’m supposed to do next, I can look at my pjs and remember: coffee and donuts! Chloe approves.