Marie Haigh

A X and O Washcloth

March 10, 2008 Marie Haigh9 Comments

I was rooting through my WIP basket last week and found a half-finished washcloth. It was more than a quarter of the way completed. I had enough yarn to finish it. I could think of no reason to leave it sulking in UFO land.

Then, I started to knit on it and remembered quite clearly why it had ended up in the UFO basket in the first place.

Remind me to never double knit anything ever again. Ever.

Well, maybe not ever.

I might double knit again as long as the following rules were enacted: one yarn only (no switching between colors) and one side knit at a time (slip stitch technique rather than knit two sides at once technique).

I do love the way double knitting looks.

This is the back side of the washcloth. It has been knit in all reverse stocking stitch and plain stocking stitch. As you can see, there is no curling. It lays perfectly flat.

So, the dirty secret behind this washcloth is that is wasn’t supposed to be a washcloth at all. It was simply going to be my swatch for a X and O baby blanket. Unless the blanket knits itself, it will never be. I’m exhausted just trying to complete the “washcloth”.

Here’s a pic of the front side and the reason it’s titled X and O.

Showing off my Completed Sewing Projects

March 6, 2008 Marie Haigh4 Comments

I’ve taken a mini break from my knitting time to sew.

Part of the blame for this diversion rests on my sister’s shoulders. She called me last month to say she found this fun Transformer fabric at Walmart. Why she was in the fabric section of the store is not clear. She doesn’t sew and she has no desire to learn.

It was decided that we (and by we, I mean I) would make each of the children pillowcases for Easter. The kids would love it; Transformers is their new favorite movie.

Well, I have one done.

As mentioned in a previous post, I decided to make the pillowcase reversible. This isn’t the first pillowcase request I’ve received. Every year it’s a different character. This year, I decided I would be tricksy. To make sure this pillowcase can be used until the children are grown and out of the house (and to hopefully reduce the number of pillowcases requested), I lined it with plain red fabric. When they no longer like the Transformers, it can be turned inside out.

Not happy with just blaming my sister (she’s too easy of a target), I’ll blame Jo too. Her recent projects of embroidery, dressmaking, and button rings have inspired me to keep the sewing machine on top of the desk rather than on the floor underneath it.

My latest project – just hung up this morning – is … well, can you guess?

How about now?

It’s a fan cover. The old fan cover (a white plastic dome with magnets to adhere it to the metal fan) was thrown out by somebody who didn’t understand what the point of a fan cover was. That person has since learned the chief role behind a fan cover: to keep the *%$#! cold air outside where it ought to be. Yeah, so it was me. Who knew?

To make yourself a fan cover like mine: First, go to Panama and purchase a traditional appliqued piece of fabric. Or do what I do. Have your dear friend bring you back an appliqued fabric from Panama during her trip to visit family. Trim the edges to remove any fraying. Cut out a piece of flannel fabric the exact same size as your appliqued fabric. Put right sides together. Stitch a 1/4 inch seam all the way around, leaving an opening large enough for your hand to fit through. Turn the fabrics right side out. Press. Hand stitch opening closed using a slip stitch. Set aside.

Root through your fabric stash until you find a complementary fabric to your appliqued fabric block. Measure your fan. Cut out a square from your complementary fabric, adding on one inch for seams (my square measured 14 inches). Then cut out another piece of flannel the exact same size as your complementary fabric. Put right sides together. Stitch a 1/2 inch seam all the way around, leaving an opening large enough for your hand to fit through. Turn the fabrics right side out. Press. Hand stitch opening closed using a slip stitch.

Lay the appliqued block on top of the complementary fabric block. (The wrong side of the appliqued block should lay against the right side of the complementary block). Move the appliqued block around until it is centered. Baste the two blocks together. Use a slip stitch to secure the two blocks together. Remove the basting stitch.

Cut four one-inch sections from both the sewing tape and the adhesive tape of Velcro Brand Fasteners. Machine stitch the sewing tape sections to the the wrong side of the complementary block in each of the four corners. Mount the adhesive sections on the wall next to each of the corners of the fan. Hang your fan cover with the Velcro strips.

Four layers of fabric should be enough to keep the cold out outside. Gosh, I hope.

A Contest and 2 Tags

March 4, 2008 Marie Haigh8 Comments

I love contests, especially when they involve yarn!

Anne is giving away Malabrigo yarn. Have you heard of this yarn? (Please tell me I’m not the only one who didn’t know about it until last week!) It’s 100% wool from Uruguay. Up until a week ago (when I started hearing the Malabrigo drum), the country name Uruguay immediately made me think of Manos del Uruguay. Manos is lovely wool. I was super excited to receive it for a bday present last year from my MIL.

According to Karyn at Knotty Stuff, Malabrigo is better than Manos. Much better. “It knits like butter”.

What better way to get your hands on some than to win it – free! All you have to do is leave a comment on Ann’s Contest post naming an unpublished designer. Easy. You do know an unpublished designer, don’t you? Of course, you do. Well, to remind you, there’s me (though I hope to change that later this year), Tracie (though she will be published later this year), Sharon (who just got word that she will be published in Interweave Knits – yay!), and Katinka. So, now you have no excuse.

Onto the tagging.

Vicki of Knitting Dragonflies tagged me with a meme on Feb 7th. (Boy, am I a slacker!) Thank you!

I’m to share 7 random/weird facts.

My bicycle is my main form of transportation during the work week, since we are now a 1-car family. Dan takes the car to work. I run any errands with my trusty red bike. Yesterday, I piled two big boxes on the bike rack and pedaled down to the post office.
My favorite gardening task is pruning. Jake’s favorite gardening task is breaking up the pruned sticks into kindling for our fireplace. He’s extremely quick and efficient.
There are only 3 candles in our entire house and they are kept behind glass doors. Since I quit smoking 6 years ago, candles, perfume, smoke, and other strong smells give me an instant headache. I avoid them like the plague. Around the holidays, I carry Ibuprofen with me and drink a lot.
My favorite fruit is apples. I wait all year for the fall harvest. Then, I go batty. Apples are cooked into everything for a solid 2 months. By the end of it, I am sick of apples and won’t touch them again until next year’s harvest.
I fell in love with cooking when I was 9 years old. I would wake up early in the morning and cook my sister breakfast. Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day. I eat two breakfasts; one before I take Jake on his walk and one after while he is eating his only breakfast.
There is lotion and chapstick in almost every room of our house. Dan doesn’t touch the stuff. It’s all for me.
I am not a big fan of fresh cut flowers. I would prefer them to be planted outside in my garden. It would never occur to Dan to bring home a vase of flowers. Instead, he keeps my chocolate supply well stocked and drives me to the garden center for seeds and starter plants. He’s a good husband.

Jo of Blissed Out tagged me with a You Make My Day award. I’m so glad to know that she doesn’t view me as a stalker.

Now I am to tag 7 people for the meme and 10 people for the YMMD award. That’s 17 blogs and/or websites. I’m not sure I have the stamina. We’ll see how far I get.

Amby – Fantastic sewer and knitter. I love seeing her new creations. She’s a bit crazy about her cats, but I try not to hold it against her.

Creative Apples – Perhaps my favorite card seller on Etsy. I started out with her cupcake photo cards. Now, when I want a new pack of bday cards, I go straight to her Flickr album and pick out the photos I want her to print.

Letterary Press – My next favorite card seller on Etsy. I gave this card to Dan on our anniversary.

The Dip Lady Knits – The Dip Lady has undergone surgery on both her hands for tendinitis and still she knits. She was actually chomping at the bit the day after her surgery. I’m not sure I would jump back into it quite as fast.

The Knitsy Bitsy Spider – Though it’s supposed to be two friends blogging, it’s really just Marti. It started out as a knit blog but has morphed into a needle felting, dog loving, and travel bopping blog. Oh, and Marti is hysterical.

Sew Spun – A new blog I just found. She’s a spinner and a sewer. If my MIL is reading, this is for you … Sew Spun posted a tutorial on how to get great corners on your quilts.

Kitty Grrlz – Long have I read her blog. Well, truth be told, I’m not sure how much I read it as I just scroll down and drool over all the beautiful yarn she spins up. I’m an avid fan of her Navajo plied yarns. Exquisite.

Glorious Hats – I love hats. There are no hat shops around me. The last one I went to was 9 years ago. So, it’s wonderful to see and read Jane’s blog. Not only does she make hats, but she’s quite the sewer too. I suppose the two do go hand in hand. I feel like I should stress that Jane’s hats are amazing. We’re not talking bucket hats. We’re talking fancy hats.

OK. I’m sorry. I ran out of steam. I made it halfway. That’s good, right?

If you are still looking for blogs to read, check out my Blog I Read list. It’s updated (well, it was two weeks ago).

Thanks again to Vicki & Jo. I truly appreciate it even though I’m slow as molasses in January.

Mailing the Afghan Today

March 3, 2008 Marie Haigh3 Comments

I talked to Dan about just keeping it. And kept it I did for a week, nicely folded, in our guest bedroom. It sat there all week long. It was never used. I never even touched it, except to occasionally pet it.

I thought of all the people I could give it to. It would make a great baby blanket until I realized that it would have to be hand washed and air dried. The chances of either my sister or my SIL hand washing a 36-inch afghan are not good. If I were a betting woman, I’d put a good thousand on it becoming a felted afghan.

I thought about keeping it myself. I wouldn’t use it; that’s for sure. I would want to display it, but we have no room for such displays.

Since I can’t think of a good home for it, I am sticking to my original plan. It will be shipped off to Syracuse, NY where it will join 800 other panels on an abandoned gas station. It can serve a purpose rather than sit in my cedar closet for months.

A final picture of it:

At the last moment, I crocheted a border around the outside. It was my neighbor’s idea. She recommended that I single crochet a border on all the edges. I inquired about doing a double crochet, but she was hesitant to agree. Not because she didn’t think it would look good, but because she is a one-crochet-stitch-kind-of-a-woman.

It appears I am too. I could only remember how to do a single crochet stitch. So, that’s what the afghan got. I should know better. I was taught how to crochet by both my MIL and my Aunt. It’s just different from riding your bike. You do forget if you don’t use it.

3 Ties Down …. 6 to Go

February 29, 2008 Marie Haigh5 Comments

I finished my 3rd tie to the Christmas Tree Skirt last night.

I have one more tie to make out of this hand spun yarn and then 5 more white ties. The goal is to finish it by August – well in advance of Christmas. In order to make sure I don’t fall off the wagon, I have made myself a strict schedule. One tie must be completed each month; no excuses.

This schedule thing is working well right now. The best laid plans always do start out with a fine flourish. I just hope I can keep this going in the middle of summer when it’s hot and the last thing I want to work with is wool.

Well, I’m going to try not to think about that now. It’s still winter and hopes are high.

My First Zoe Paper Birthday Card

February 26, 2008 Marie Haigh7 Comments

I cleared off my sewing table last night, relocating my sewing machine to the floor, so I could roll out my new ice cream wrapping paper. I cut out two small sections from the paper to play with. Coupled with my huge stack of cardstock paper (recently purchased with the gift cards I received for Christmas), I made my first birthday card.

I am pretty pleased with how it came out.

I only made one because the Transformer fabric was calling my name. It informed me that there are only 3 more weeks till Easter. My sister has requested pillow cases for each of the children. I plan to make them reversible, so in a year when they hate the Transformers, I won’t get a call for more pillowcases. It’s a brilliant plan … I hope.

A Sunday Stroll in Brooklyn

February 25, 2008 Marie Haigh5 Comments

Thanks to our first real snow storm on Friday, I spent most of the day relaxing and knitting. Poor Jake didn’t even get his morning walk. Surprisingly, he wasn’t upset at all. Rolling, sliding and romping in four inches of freshly fallen snow is just as good – maybe better.

The relaxation did me good. Not only did I made good progress on my 3rd tie, but I was f

inally able to kick the cold I had and enjoy a weekend out on the town. Saturday was spent celebrating my godson’s 3rd birthday. I’m sorry to say that Dan and I are lousy godparents. We didn’t take one picture while we were there. Hopefully, his mother will share the 5 million pictures she took soon.

Then, on Sunday, Dan and I spent the day in Brooklyn with my SIL. More accurately, we spent over seven hours traveling to and fro Brooklyn and about the same amount of time in Brooklyn, but who’s counting?

Once we arrived, we got to check out my SIL’s studio apartment. It’s small, but the huge bay window overlooking Brooklyn and the large kitchen off the main room more than make up for the lack of space. Afterwards, we had lunch. Well, they had lunch; I had blueberry pancakes made the correct way with the blueberries mixed into the batter and cooked together. Any other way is just plain wrong. Then, we strolled the streets of Brooklyn, making our way towards The Brazen Head. The Brazen Head was hosting their tri-annual real ale festival. (Real ale to a Brit is a cask conditioned ale to an American.) My SIL has learned how to woo us into agreeing to a 7 hour round trip to visit her: good beer. It works almost every time.

I asked before we headed out if we could shop along the way. Dan insisted that we keep the prize (good beer) in mind and not dally too long. I was persuaded by his gentle nudging until we came across a little store named Zoes Papers filled with beautiful papers, cards, stationery, and pens. No way was I passing this store up. My SIL and I both came away with goody bags.

It’s supposed to be wrapping paper. The clerk and I decided that it was

absurd to use such pretty paper to wrap a present only to have it torn and ripped into shreds in a matter of seconds. Instead, I plan to make birthday cards out of it.

I spent the rest of the night showing off my pretty paper to Dan.

Jake Loves his new Etsy Purchase

February 20, 2008 Marie Haigh8 Comments

Jake & I went shopping on Etsy last week. Can you tell what’s different about him?

He’s not helping much, I know. I took these pictures directly after Dan had called for dessert. Jake wasn’t breaking his perfect Sit or his attentive monitoring for anything. Chicken strips are tasty.

Here’s a better pic.

It’s the blue ID tag. His old brass tag was getting tarnished. I suggested that we simply polish it. Jake vetoed that idea. Varnish smells bad. He wasn’t about to have some smelly thing dangling from his neck all day. He already has to endure ear drops once a week; that’s bad enough. Besides, he needed a tag to match his handsome blue collar.

We received it in the mail yesterday and made the swap immediately. Jake wasn’t so sure at first and then he shook his head. It made such a lovely sound against his other two tags!

Oh, boy, oh, boy! He spent the rest of the hour jingling his tags at every opportunity.

When Dan came home from work an hour later, Jake tried to show off his new tag. Dan didn’t seem to notice. Jake was undeterred and kept bouncing around him. With a few hints from me, Dan finally figured it out.

By the way, Jake wanted me to inform you that he did get his chicken strip for dessert while we ate our inferior cheesecake. mmmm, chicken strips.

A Long Walk to the Frog Pond

February 19, 2008 Marie Haigh6 Comments

I feel the time has finally come for me to frog the sweater jacket I made 6 years ago. It never looked right on me. It was never long enough. Rather, it was too long in the front and not long enough in the back. Two of me could have fit in it. The cables were way too big for my frame. I’m only 5 feet tall (let me convert that for the rest of the world – 152 cm). Each cable repeat measured 3 inches (7.6 cm), 5% of my height.

Do you see the size of those sleeves? They measure 18 inches (45.7 cm) wide!

It has taken me 6 years to frog a sweater jacket that did nothing but sit in storage all those years because it is more than just a jacket. It was my crowning achievement to the early knitting years. I was proud as a peacock that I knit something so large and so beautiful. I can also tell you exactly where I was when I was knitting it: in Tennessee attending Dan’s grandparent’s 50th anniversary. I was sitting in a glider chair in Dan’s Uncle Scott’s house on picture day, the day we all lined up outside to take pictures of the whole family together. I was younger. Dan and I had only been married for approx 2 years. I was still uneasy around his family – his father’s side of the family to be specific. I can’t ever remember being uneasy around his mother’s side.

There is a big difference between Dan’s mother’s side and Dan’s father’s side. His mother’s side welcomed me into the family with open arms. I felt loved, totally comfortable, and an integral part of the family within a month. Only now do I feel like I am a part of Dan’s father’s side of the family. I truly enjoy spending time with his father and fam where before I dreaded going down to TN or over to his father’s house. Partly because time has worked its magic, but mostly it is due to the fact that I no longer the anxious, wanting-their-approval, naive girl. OK, I’m still a bit naive, but I’m ten times more confident and have no need for anybody’s approval.

My marriage with Dan has blossomed over the years. My sister now loves to tell me that we’re old married people. Part of her teasing comes from the fact that her marriage isn’t as strong or as happy. It pains me. Long have I wished for her to have the happiness I have known.

So, this sweater is a testament to our marriage. It is a gauge of how much I have grown into a woman. It is still a crowning achievement of my FOs.

My mind is made up though. I am frogging it. I plan to make it into the sweater jacket I have always wanted it to be.

Visit from my MIL and other updates

February 18, 2008 Marie Haigh4 Comments

No, she didn’t pop in unannounced over the weekend. She lives in Maine. It’s virtually impossible for her to pop in for a visit to her son’s house in Pennsylvania without making some advanced planning. It’s a good thing too; I don’t think I would have been good company yesterday. I was under the weather and still don’t feel 100% today.

Alright, I’m going to get to the point here. …. My MIL has been visiting my blog.

I’m tickled pink that she has been stopping by and sneaking a peak into my knitting WIPs and ramblings. Yet, all of a sudden, I have a desire to run around and clean everything. Except, this is a blog. There are no closets to shove things into. So, instead I have been fretting. I keep thinking that I said something awful about her son lately. I haven’t, have I?

OK. I went back and read a few posts and couldn’t find anything negative written about Dan. I feel better.

So, let me tell you what I am knitting now that the Ode to Quilting afghan is completed. I have started knitting the 3rd tie in my Christmas Tree Skirt. If you remember, I made myself a schedule to knit one tie each month until all 9 ties were finished and sewn together. Since one project is never enough, I am also knitting on my mystery project. Why is it a mystery? Well, I would like to submit it to a magazine once completed. Rules state that you can’t post pictures anywhere prior to the publication.

Other bits of good news, yesterday I received my prize from EtsyGreetings. They were running several contests as a way to celebrate their 1st blog-versary. I won the 7th contest.

I received 8 cards and a stack of business cards of other EtsyGreeting card sellers. My favorite card is the one in front, a Christmas card by BBesigns. The snowman is painted in water colors and then adhered to a stack of homemade papers.

Other contest news: I won’t know if I won the Lion Brand Yarn Slideshow Contest until February 27th. Thank you to everyone who stopped by! I truly appreciate it.