New Hobbies

I was so excited today when I got home from a class and saw that no one was home downstairs.  I quickly took the dogs out and ran back in to get busy on my dad's quilt.  About half way in, I sewed things together backwards and spent most of my time taking out what I had sewn.  Then, I realized that the lady had come home.  I fixed the problem and then stopped sewing for the day.  I only got a few more rows sewn, but it was better than nothing! 


Also this week I have started a new hobby.....knitting.  A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to use YouTube to teach myself how to crochet.  After all, my little sister can do it (she can draw, but she can't do many other crafty things.)  I started making something random.  I don't even really know what I was trying to make.  After a few rows, it started getting kind of wonky.  After a few more rows, it looked like a crescent (because each row got smaller somehow).  I just figured that I did a bad job with the first row and that led to the other rows being off so I started again.  The second attempt started out better, but quickly looked just as weird.  I gave up on this.  I can do a lot of things, but I will go ahead and say that crochet is not one of them.

 
Then one of my favorite blogs, Make It and Love It, started a knitting series with Rebecca Danger.  I saw the first post and knew that I would be making a trip to get some knitting needles.  One night on the way back from Hilton Head, Philip decided to stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things.  I convinced him to walk to the craft and fabric section and there I found my new friends.  They are shiny, gold, long knitting needles (they were out of the shorter ones).  I came home and couldn't wait to try it out.  I got home and went back to the blog post, but I could not follow the pictures for the first step.  I followed Rebecca's link to a YouTube video and I was off!  I waited for the next post about the knit stitch, but again did not understand, nor did I understand the linked video.  I went back to the same lady as the cast on (first) video and understood immediately.  It has been great!  Each night, I just complete a few rows.  This is suppose to make a dish cloth.  I am suppose to continue until it is 8 inches long.  It seems like it will take forever to get it that long.  Not to mention my left hand hurts after about one row!

Since the knitting turned out much better than the crochet, I went to Michael's because I had a coupon and bought all this.  Most of it was on sale or clearance plus I had two coupons! 

Needless to say, I won't be buying knitting supplies for quite a while.  :)  


Now I am one happy girl who can't quilt (even though I miss the quilting).   

The First Real Post

Well, school has gotten really busy.  There is still lots to learn before the beginning of June!  You can tell that the end of the school year is approaching.  I can not wait for Spring Break and summer in Bluffton.  We live about 15 minutes from Hilton Head Island and I am ready for summer and to venture out. 


Also, Philip will be starting a new job tomorrow.  He is gone to a meeting now and I can already tell how different this is going to be.  He will work most nights until about 11:00.  I have been so spoiled having him home every day when I get home from work (sometimes with dinner cooked).  


Anyway, not a lot of sewing has been going on.  We found out that the people in the apartment underneath us do not appreciate my sewing.  The walls seem to be paper-thin and I am sure it sounds like the ceiling is going to collapse.  We are looking to move into a townhouse in the same complex to eliminate this problem.  One thing that I finished up recently is a heating pad cover.  I got the idea from this book by Denyse Schmidt. 

It is full of great ideas.  It also has projects that are smaller and less involved than a full quilt.  I did not use the actual pattern from the book.  I pieced it using some scraps I had of the fabric line Blush.  I love the way it turned out!  I wanted it to be slightly wonky, but had to use the scraps I had.   

One more thing that I have been working on for quite a while is this quilt pattern, Twisted,  from Carolina Patchworks for my dad.  I made it to match his living room, but it is proving to be much more involved that I originally thought.  There are many little pieces.  I am loving the way it looks and I would love to make a larger one for our bed (but that will probably never happen).  

Well, that's about it.  I will try to post more often, even if it's not about quilting.  :)