Friday, December 05, 2008

While visiting Rumplestiltskin, I found some yarn. Boku is very similar to Noro but about $3.00 cheaper. I couldn't put down the Sockina yarn either, although I haven't knitted a pair of socks in ages.



Ravelry is truly a wonder. I can spend hours here browsing patterns. I came across a beret pattern called MERET (for Mystery Beret). So far, I've knitted two already and I want to knit up more. Quite addictive.

Here's the blue, slouchier version.

A smaller version for Emily. (Wait a minute! this one looks like one of those octopus/ starfish thingies from the deep, complete with tentacles) Both berets do need to be blocked.

Monday, November 24, 2008



My little girl, Emily, who just turned eight, is spinning. She's creating these wonderfully chunky, slubby yarn that I'm going to hand dye and knit into a hat for her.

When I started spinning, I got really frustrated because the only yarn I can spin was this uneven, slubby, chunky stuff that I thought was totally imperfect. My teacher told me to enjoy that kind of yarn because once I got better and better as a spinner, my yarns will be the finer, more even variety (which was fine with me). But where's the fun in that?

Now, I crave the funky, chunky stuff. That is hard work.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

apple hat with worm


apple hat with worm
Originally uploaded by SuanKnits
An apple hat for Emily, complete with a worm.

fruit hats


fruit hats
Originally uploaded by SuanKnits
Another set of baby hats that I donated to the Mad Hatters of Sacramento. These hats were sent to Babetta's yarns for donation

Baby cardigan


lornas baby cardi
Originally uploaded by SuanKnits
Here's a baby cardigan with ladybug buttons. I got the pattern from a website that I can no longer find. This is a Lorna Miser pattern.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Pictures from Camp


We went camping last Sept 5-7 to Scotts Flat Lake in Auburn, CA. Up north on Hwy 49 then east on Hwy 20, 60 miles from Sacramento. The last few miles was a long winding road to the lake. The campground was reserved by our church, First Baptist Church of Elk Grove, and there were about 54 families there.

This was only my second time camping and our first time as a family. We forgot a lot of stuff, like a lantern, and a thick tarp underneath our tent, or even an air mattress (we know what to bring next year!). The camp, however, has bathrooms and hot showers. Our church provided the food as well, for 2 and a half days. For the fee we paid, it was a bargain. Fellowship was great and made me appreciate the people who put this together year after year.

This was the view each morning I woke up:



Lakeside view with Matthew and Emily:


The first picture has great potential for a landscape quilt. After watching Nancy Zieman's video, I might be able to tackle this.

On a frustrating note, one of the checks I wrote was fraudulently used to access our checking account. They copied the bank routing number and account number on the bottom of the check and reprinted 3 new checks under their names. They then proceeded to write checks totalling $1,900 all over Sacramento, Modesto and Turlock. I didn't find out until 5 days later when they zeroed out our checking account. Fortunately, the bank accepted that it was fraud and we were able to get our money back.

Two lessons I learned from this:

1. When buying from a new, small, relatively unknown store, like Anna's Linens, use cash. Don't use a check or even an ATM. I've never been to Anna's Linens but when I wrote a check on the 18th of Aug, the fraud started happening on the 22nd.

2. Overdraft Protection is not really a good thing. The 3rd and last check this guy wrote was an $1,100 check to Home Depot. Even though he has already zeroed out my checking, Overdraft Protection covered it and transferred the money from my Savings account. What the heck!

I filed a Police report but still have not heard from the cops. I don't blame them though because of their severely depleted personnel and the fact that this is not a violent crime (although I feel very much violated).

So, Ladies and Germs, do be careful!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

I did some charity sewing in the month of August. Back in August, 1998, I had a miscarriage. I same across Newborns in Need and donated some knitted and crocheted burial gowns, blankets and hats. I lost track of my contact person at NIN, Anita, who used to work at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione, as teacher, seamstress, and head of the CA NIN branch. She might still work there but there isn't a NIN branch in CA anymore (that I know of).

Anyway, here are some items I've sewn and donated to the Methodist Hospital here in Sacramento:


My little Emily says they look like little angel outfits (they are!!)


preemie hats (stretchy, knit fabric)


Preemie blankets, about 18" square, no batting, flannel backed.


Preemie isolette shirts, lined.

The patterns from all of the above are from the Newborns in Need website (for sale).

Most of the fabric I got at the remnant section at Joann's. Even a small piece of fabric can make several outfits. Most were discounted and marked down.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I'm burnt out on sewing bags (-lol) so I'm back to making quilts and sewing stuff.

Here are some baby booties (for my hubby's nieces who are having babies soon).





Can you imagine the hundreds of tiny pieces of fabric (no smaller than 2 inches) I sewed together to make this quilt? Most were leaders and enders, scraps, leftovers from past quilts, etc. It was a long but fun process. This will serve as a floor quilt for my kids to lie on while watching TV.


and this one's a rug. I'm painting a non-slip rubber backing on its back (available at Michael's).


And finally, my watercolor quilt, started months ago, just now finished. It's a quilt-as-you-go type, done with strips sewn diagonally. I don't know if I will do this again. There are just way too many other patterns to go through in this lifetime that I don't see myself repeating patterns. Way too many.

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Friday, June 27, 2008

Some finished bags



Here we go...



another one, brocade this time



and two, in Oriental prints





this one is a little taller


and this one is for Emily, her Bratz fabric. She added the embellishments.


The designs are my own.

Saturday, June 21, 2008



I've been sewing summer tops. This is from Simplicity pattern 4589. Very easy to make and I love the way it fits.





The August 2008 (issue 93) issue of American Patchwork and Quilting has this pattern for a tote bag using dishtowels. What fun to make!

and here's two more, using different dishtowels from Target. These bottom two are not from the same pattern. These are my own.



Monday, June 02, 2008

Finished Project



I was a little apprehensive about this project, this being quite large and not my usual purse or handbag sewing. I've had this loveseat for quite a while. The foams and springs are fine. It's just the covers that are getting ragged and pilled. Then, I read about going green and making slipcovers. I borrowed some books from the library, found a couple I "needed" to buy and keep, and went from there. I still waited a few weeks and finally, jumped in. I finished it in one weekend. The usual slipcovers go from $60 to $90 depending on size. I spent $29.95 on the home decor fabric (from Ebay, of course). The labor, though, would have cost me $400 (that is, if I was to pay myself, he, he).

BEFORE


AFTER


Yellow walls and yellow sofa... YUP! I love yellow, what can I say ;-)

My mom, who's an excellent seamstress, and my husband, Joel, were quite impressed.

I also taught myself to sew dresses, using patterns ( I like Simplicity). I've since made several summer tops for me and a dress for Emily.




And of course, the usual purse or two:





and Flowers:
A rose from the backyard

some Columbine.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Just Pictures



My front yard



Tiny 1.5" squares!


9 patch scraps


2.5" strips

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Here are some of my recent knitting:







The baby sweaters were knitted from the top down, the designs from Mary Rich Goodwin's books. Her website is HERE. Her patterns are very well written, easy to follow and written for a wide range of sizes, from infants to adults, well, depending on the book you buy. I love her books.

The baby booties pattern is from one of those little books by Vogue Knitting. This one was an easy pattern but the Vogue books are littered with errors. I once sent them an email pointing it out but they seemed unconcerned. Thus, I stopped buying their books.

Monday, March 24, 2008

My books came in



SOFTIES KIT : This is the same as the book except it has pieces of felt, floss, needle and a different format. The patterns are in laminated card format.



Luckily, I didn't buy the book in the first place. Why do they do that? They did the same thing with Amy Butler's In Stitches Book, and Denise Schmidt's Quilt book. You would think that you're buying a different book. Waste of money.

AMIGURUMI WORLD: Excellent book by Ana Paula Rimoli. Well-written patterns, beautiful pictures and cute stuffies.



PLUSH YOU - LOVABLE MISFIT TOYS TO SEW AND STUFF : Now, there's the keyword - MISFIT! My style is those cutesy-huggy-pretty stuff. That's why I did not like the book. I'd hate to say that the book is bad. Others might like this style, even enjoy making them. This has gotten 2- star reviews on Amazon (2 out of 5 stars). I'd say, to each his own.



My kids saw the stuffies inside the book and they found some quite disturbing. Some made me laugh. There are zombies, an ugly purple thang, a blind penguin, cannibal bunnies and this stuffie with a piece of wood sticking out of its eye. This one freaked out my kids:



I found some cute ones but no patterns. There are the amigurumi cupcake bears, Ami dolls, Woolyhoodwinks (with pattern), flapper dolls, Sewing stars owls, candy corn doll (with pattern), Mommy and Baby owl by Ana Paula Rimoli (and with pattern too!), and a Family of whales (Blairpeter).

This book is a collection of patterns by different designers. Photography is excellent though. Fortunately, I borrowed the books from the library before buying it outright.