A Cowl for a Friend

I'm baaaaack! Whew! The fast, short trip to Florida went well. I have decided that even though it was beautiful there this time of the year, a visit to the beach in February or March is much, much, more precious! I guess I love autumn too much to really want to miss any of it! Except the leaves....just spent two days helping to rake our leaves at the cabin. On top of a sore throat and earaches imported from Florida. Don't feel too sorry for me...with the leaves off the trees and at the yard waste dump, I have an even better view from the studio. Sparkly water, blue sky, and still some rust leaves to tease me with their dropping. Perfect. While on our trip, and a few days since I have been home, I managed to knit a cowl for a friend. She sweet talked me into making it for her because she said her hands hurt...hmmm...I fell for it. Only because she is a good friend from my old neighborhood. We had a short chance to catch up before I left and it was fun thinking of her and old times while knitting. Isn't that a fun thing about making something for someone? You think about that person the whole time. I hope you haven't lost interest in Jerisew(s) over the long break. I have a quilt to show you tomorrow! Jerilynn

Jerisew, What Have You Been Doing and Where Are You?

Walking on the beach, looking at sunsets from front balcony, looking at sunrises from back deck, and watching dolphins and manatees frolic. Believe it or not, I miss Beaver Dam Lake! Jerilynn

Clothesline Bowl

Indygo Junction did a blog interview with me on clothesline crafts that you can read here. Head on over and make a comment or two! Above is a fabric covered clothesline bowl. I used 1 1/2" strips that I cut rather than tear and I decided just to leave the other side of the bowl with the raw edges. It actually looks pretty cool! It is pretty big and currently houses my extra knitted dishcloths. I need to get back to my sewing machines and do some new sewing. I will be away from the studio for a few days and the knitting is much more portable than the sewing...I will probably bore you with more knitting shots in the next few days....Jerilynn

Funky Funfetti Bibs

I have been using the dishcloths with the exposed knots and must confess I like them a bunch. So, I had the idea to add the "funfetti" look to baby bibs! I realize that it might be hard to distinguish between chunks of food and the knots, but it all comes out in the wash, right? I like this bib pattern: the strap has three buttonholes so you can adjust the bib to fit. I used two buttons for each bib - layered them for more color. You can find the instructions for the basic bib here . Jerilynn

What All the Lamps are Wearing this Autumn

Finished Bandana Cowl. I tried it on almost every lamp in the house to get a picture. Heaven forbid I put it on and take a picture of me looking in the mirror. The first lamp is in our condo living room and I think it is a good stand-in for me. The second shot is the lamp in the upstairs guest bedroom. I think the scarf looks like a crazy long shore fisherman with a pointy beard. Don't you agree? Jerilynn

Roseanne Bandana Anna

I would love to claim this as one of my newest knitting projects, but, alas, I cannot. It is the Bandana Cowl from Purl Soho, and you can find the pattern here. I had a great ball of yarn, multi-colored, and made one! It is being blocked as we speak. Stay on the edge of your chair for the big reveal. The pattern uses short rows, and in the Purl Soho tutorial they reference another tutorial on how to do short rows. Of course, the first time I did them, I misunderstood exactly how to do it and discovered waaayyy into the knitting that something was not right. Good thing about yarn, all I wasted was a few hours. I ripped out the goofy knitting, re-read the instructions, and was happy to see it looked good this time. I should find some multi denim blue yarn and make one of these...a good nod to the traditional bandana. As much as I love color, however, the pictured neutral yarn is calling to me. It looks like the kind of accessory that you could throw on when you are having a bad hair day and get tons of compliments on how stylish you look. Understated chic. Classy. Okay, maybe I can't pull it off, but I still like the color. Jerilynn

Triangles

I found some leftover stripey sock yarn and decided to knit a triangular scarf. I started with three stitches and increased one stitch at the beginning of each row. Toward the end of the project (aka beginning to run out of yarn), I increased three stitches at the beginning of two rows to make the tie ends a bit longer. I blocked the project, and I think I will look very jaunty with it tied casually around my neck and under my chin(s). Quite oddly, I read that there is a big bandana revival going on...who knew??? A couple of posts ago I showed you the mess of buckaroo bibs made out of bandanas and washcloths that Ellen made for a craft fair. Am I picking up a random triangle vibe out there? I will keep my eyes open for other bandana-type spottings. Prior to now, the big scarf fad was with long scarves...I just may get to pull out my old square scarves, fold them diagonally in half, and be on the cutting edge of high fashion. Jerilynn

And the Bead Goes On

This is the final piece of jewelry that I made a few days ago. It is Jasper, I think Leopard Jasper. Three different sizes of round beads. I have been in a round bead mood lately. Maybe because I have been seeing more pearls on people, especially worn with casual clothes. This necklace also has some subtle autumn coloration. I wonder if autumn is my favorite season because of the weather or because I like autumn colors. Mostly the red maple leaves, of course. Jerilynn

Sunflower Maze

I got the components for this necklace in a great little bead shop in Taylors Falls. MN. I think I got them all on the African Trade Bead table, but I won't swear to that. They had so many cool beads that I lost track of where I actually bought what. They give designers a good discount, which really is very helpful! That is also where I bought the trade beads for the bracelet/necklace combo I showed you a couple of days ago. Tonight I am a bit pooped. Moved my dad from the condo to an apartment today. I think I have lost track of the moves we have made so far this year. He seems happy there and I hope he won't be quite so lonely. I did manage to do a little knitting, but that was about it. Tomorrow we help him do some more settling in. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful for the move! Thank heaven for such little miracles! Jerilynn

I Spy a Cute Quilt!

I finished this I Spy quilt yesterday. It is going to be for our grandson's second birthday. The front is 6 inch squares cut from a huge variety of "conversation" prints, some of which came from old friends over the years. The back is a map of the world that I ordered from Etsy. The size of the quilt was determined by the front needing to fit the back map, so it turned out to be about 36" x 52". The map was actually a bit smaller than the front when I was done sewing all the squares together, so after quilting I just brought the front to the back, turned under the raw edges and zigzagged into place. The binding now looks "pieced" from the map side and I think this type of edge is a good, sturdy one for a toddler quilt. I think it has endless opportunities for conversations and play time. At some point I had read a poem about an I Spy quilt, but when I tried to search for it on the internet, I didn't find anything that I remembered. If you know of a good I Spy poem, let me know! Jerilynn P.S. The quilt looks crinkly because I like to wash and dry my quilts that are made from unwashed cottons after they are all done. It makes it look soft and worn in. I also turned the squares every-which-way so there is no right side up.

A Fine Mess of Buckaroo Bibs!

My daughter, Ellen, and a friends of hers and the friend's mother came up on Friday for a few days of sewing in the Studio (aka Heaven). Ellen is in a gift fair in Milwaukee in a couple of weeks and she decided to add the Buckaroo Bib to the items she will be selling. Love her colors and I thought after they were all done that she made a fine mess! You can learn how to make them here. She also took pity on my huge pile of knit dishcloths and potholders and took them along. I am sure they will be a very popular draw to Ellen's table! Jerilynn

What are These?

Not much sewing today. Record high weather, helped take one of the boats out, watched the dock taking out procedure. Endless waiting on hold on ATT to change phone service for my dad. Darned a hole in one pair of jeans. Shortened another. Didn't get the "I spy" quilt basted or quilted. But, I did get a little spot of time to do some beading. I made three necklaces and made two longer African bead necklaces that I thought I would use for glass tile pendants. On a whim, I wrapped them around my daughter's wrists and snapped a shot. She said "How Jennifer Aniston!". Hmm. Not sure if that was a compliment or not, but I like them. Necklaces or bracelets? Jerilynn

Done!

It is finished and I like it very much. A little smaller than I thought it was going to be...I know, I own a million measuring devices...you would think I would know in advance the size! Anyway, it will be a nice bit of color for the blue bedroom. It did take a very long time to get the quilting done. After doing all the rows in the middle of the quilt, I still had to do all the rows around the outside border. It is a bit hard to see but there is one row of a wavy stitch, next to the inside colors. Breaks up the lines a bit. I think I may make a pillow case to match. Tonight I have been working on an "I Spy" quilt for my grandson's second birthday. Simple and fun. Jerilynn

Jeri Sews and Sews and Sews.....

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING, JERISEW??? The last few days I have been making the quilt that I talked about back in September. I got all the pieces sewn together, and, just as I feared, those 1/2" finished strips between the blocks were a bit tricky to keep straight. The original pattern had all the blocks lined up and you could really see my slight variances. So, I got the idea to offset every other row...looks good. Well, THEN I got this idea to channel quilt it using the side of the presser foot as a guide. Turns out the rows are 3/8" apart. Soooo, I have been sewing slightly wonky straight lines (I used a very slight zig-zag so the stitching isn't so harsh) over and over and over and over....still not done. Of course I do other things when I just can't take it anymore, but mostly I have been sewing rows. I should finish this tomorrow and then it's binding time. Jerilynn