Marie Haigh

Knitting Sleeves

April 16, 2007 Marie HaighLeave a comment

Now that the pillow is done (both the star pillow and the pattern to make it are listed in my Etsy store), I have no excuse to ignore my striped sweater. I have tried to implement the policy that if one dedicates a few minutes to a project everyday, at the end of the week one has dedicated a full two hours to it. Of course, at this rate, this warm wool sweater will be finished just in time for the dog days of summer. Clearly, I need to step it up a bit.

Another bit of advice I tried to implement was the following: one should always knit sleeves at the same time. This advice seemed logical. It even seemed like it would save me time by not having to count rows and measure every few minutes. I’ve decided it is not advisable when working with more than one color. The colors keeps twisting around each other. I have spent more time untwisting the balls of yarn than I have spent knitting. I caught myself wishing I could burn the sleeves this morning. When one starts thinking such wicked thoughts, it is time to conquer and divide the sleeves.

And, so, I have done just that. Well, I divided them. The conquering part still waits to be seen.

Can I boast that I am a quarter of the way done?

With no baseball to watch tonight (Phillies have been postponed again due to all this rain), I hope to make some headway on these sleeves.

Supper time! Potato soup … mmmmm. On a cold, wet day like today, I think it’s just what the doctor ordered.

Happy Knitting!

Phills lost, but the pillow won

April 13, 2007 Marie HaighLeave a comment

The Phillies lost. Lee murdered us with all his home runs. This season isn’t starting well at all.

Some good did come of it. I finished my pillow while watching the game. And here it is.

(Yes, I stole my husband’s camera!)

Woo! The pillow is posted on my Etsy store. The pattern still needs some fine tuning. It won’t be posted until Monday. As a reward for all my hard work, I get to dedicate myself to all my painting projects this weekend. I have a dresser drawer to finish painting white. It’s the last one. Then, there is the frame around a mirror that needs to be painted dark brown. Lastly, I’m on to practice my stenciling skills. Having never stenciled before, I imagine I’ll be plain awful.

Pillow lining

April 13, 2007 Marie HaighLeave a comment

The pillow lining is making its way through the wash right now. I tested it in the knitted pillow and it fits like a charm! Since I’m having leftovers for dinner, I should have the pillow completed tonight. I’m always looking for a mindless project to do while the baseball games are on. (Go Phillies!) This should fit the bill.

The only trouble is – my camera is on the fritz. I managed to take a pic of the pillow lining as you can see, but I lost the rest of the pics I took earlier today. I really wanted to post a pic of my golden retriever. He is so handsome. =) I hope to have better luck later. If not, I’m stealing my husband’s camera from him.

Pillow Lining

I even made some progress with my hedge today. I’ll estimate that it is 75% completed. My speedy progress is mostly attributed to my neighbor’s kindness. He let me borrow his heavy-duty pruners. It makes mean work of the hedge! I think I have to get me a pair. I would hate to be the neighbor that never returns the tools. What is that show where they chatted about that problem? Tool Shop? I can’t remember.

Cooking tragedy

April 12, 2007 Marie HaighLeave a comment

Well, last night I tried to slice off my finger. It wasn’t by one of my knives as you might think – my knives wouldn’t dream of doing something so traitorous. No, it was my vegetable peeler. I think it might be getting dull. I was having trouble peeling an Idaho potato (for potato soup), so I pulled harder. Well, it cut the skin off of the potato alright and then took a nice chunk out of my finger. Thankfully, it’s the middle finger on my left hand. Typing is a little uncomfortable. Knitting is a little uncomfortable, if it wasn’t for all the years I learned to keep my left hand perfectly still while knitting so I didn’t jab the person next to me on the train. Oddly enough, washing my hair was the biggest challenge today. =)

I did start on my pillow lining. With a little luck and motivation, it’ll be finished for tomorrow morning. This blog acts as a huge motivation factor. It’s as if Big Brother is looking over my shoulder making sure I complete exactly what I said I would.

It’s miserable looking out today. I was hoping to get more of my hedge row cut down. The whole row is leggy, not to mention half of it is dead. The goal is in two years to have a nice, bushy hedge. We’ll see who wins: the hedge or me!

Happy knitting (or sewing or quilting or cooking)!

Seaming a knitted pillow together

April 11, 2007 Marie HaighLeave a comment

Woo! I weaved three sides of my 4 pointed star pillow today. On a good day, I don’t like to weave my seams together. Fluffy yarn and diagonal seams did not warm my heart to this task today. Yet, it is done! I didn’t even dip into our port stash. I feel very proud. Next up (tomorrow … for tomorrow will be a better day), making the pillow insert. I plan to make the insert a little bit bigger than the knitted pillow, allowing for stretch of the knitted stitches. (I learned this lesson from a pillow gone wrong).

Other projects on the table: Sleeves for a Striped Woman’s sweater, XandO baby blanket, design of a shawl, and design of a fabric postboard

All my pride is going to wash down the drain when my sister calls me and asks me how the Disney plans are coming along. Um, right. I’ll get right on that. =)

First things first. Time to play with Jake, my 3-year-old golden retriever.