Retirement Quilt Redo

{Lady of Crafts}

My mom retired last month. For the last 15 years or so she was an Extended Day teacher. Extended Day is what our local school districts call the before and after school care held at the school. At her retirement party they gave her a satin sash with "Lady of Crafts" in glittery letters. And she is the First Lady of Crafts in my book. She has an entire room *filled* with different crafts, craft materials, craft supplies, craft books, etc., etc., etc. Tubs and tubs, shelves and shelves all meticulously organized. Need 500 safety pins? She's got them and won't even feel like they are gone. Need an I-can't-find-it-anywhere color of embroidery floss? She has 3 spools of it and you can have it. She's a crafter and a giver. They do go hand-in-hand.

{Before}

As a retirement gift, her Extended Day family made her a wonderful quilt on which each of the 200 or so kids traced their hand print and wrote their name. Really a great gift. However, it was kind of a last minute idea and her friend didn't have the time (because it needed to be done in 3 days) to make it the way she would have with an appropriate amount of time. (After they gave it to my mom, her friend whispered, "See if your daughter can fix it.")

It may be hard to tell from the photos, but this quilt was about 10' by 3'. Wonderful, but not really practical. My mom and I sat on the floor and picked out the seam around the outside and split the quilt in half. I restitched it together side-by-side resulting in a usable 60" x 60" large lap/perfect picnic quilt.

{After}

The back is blue and yellow square patches. Really cute, but I didn't get a picture of that side.

{Quilted}

I just made some simple quilted grids to keep everything in order. It was pretty fun to transform this quilt to super long and skinny to big and square. =]

Mini Quilt Wall Hangings in the Shop

{Island Clothesline Wall Hanging}

{K Wall Hanging}

{A Wall Hanging}

I should have another shop update soon! =]

Schwartzy in the Shop

{Available here}

Schwartzy bags are now available in my Etsy shop! I found two great vintage (or vintage-y) fabrics and was able to produce two bags. Both are listed now.

{Available here}

I also have just the pattern for sale here.

Anne of Film and Thread won the last giveaway for the pattern. She made a super cute Schwartzy of her own--including some great alterations. See it here.

=]

SSS ~ June for Anne

I'm still catching up on my over due bee blocks. Anne asked us to make a map block for her month in Snip.Sew.Send. and that was about it. I really enjoy the general directions as it allows every one's creativity to show through a little.

My map is a road trip route from my house to visit all the other bee members. A little more of the design and inspiration details are here.

This was the last block for the first round of SSS. The second go round has already begun and I plan to actually keep up on them now. Famous last words. =]

http://snipsewsend.blogspot.com/2010/07/sss-road-trip.html

Mouse's Steelers Striped Leg Warmers: Knit Pattern

{Mouse's Steelers Gear}

Living in a warm weather climate, my dogs find it difficult to show their team spirit (Steelers spirit, that is) during the football season. The season starts in August (it is hot here) and continues through September (hot), October (still hot), November (warm to not that hot) and into December and January (sort of cool, except that one week that is it pretty cold). Needless to say, those cute doggie sweaters are out and a simple little collar and leash combo just doesn't cut it.

Mouse --she's a dog--requested a pair of Steelers striped leg warmers she can wear during the games and on walks when it starts to get chilly. Who am I to deny my dog Steelers gear?

{She says, what other colors are there?}

Thus the Steelers Striped Leg Warmers pattern was created. We (Mouse and I) decided on a classic black and gold stripe with 2x2 ribbing at the cuffs. Mouse says she supposes that the leg warmers could be made in other colors, but she doesn't know why you'd want to do that. ;]

{I'm ready for some football!}

The leg warmers are made from two colors of acrylic yarn for the washablity and longevity acrylic supplies. Additionally, our climate doesn't necessitate wool or wool blends for 99% of the year and I didn't want to cause overheating issues. Sweaty paws, yuck! If we lived in say...Pittsburgh...I would definitely make another pair in a superwash wool. I used size US7 dpns to get a nice fabric.

{Mesmerized by the game}

The pattern was written specifically for Mouse's legs. They measure 8" in circumference just under her elbow joint and taper down to 6" in circumference at her wrist. The total length is about 10". Mouse is what I consider to be a medium size dog bordering on largish. She's a 65 pound American Bulldog. I say medium because she isn't the largest or smallest dog we've had. The pattern (below) discusses gauge and has an equation for customizing the size to different leg circumferences.

{Steelers Striped Leg Warmer}

Steelers Striped Leg Warmers (for dogs)

Ravelry Pattern Page Link

• Suggested Yarn: I Love This Yarn! (available at Hobby Lobby) or other aran/worested weight yarn (2 colors)
• Yardage needed: Specifically, not much. I don't have the exact yardage calculated. I'm a slacker.
• Materials: US 7 dpns (or size needed to obtain gauge), tapestry needle
• Gauge: 5 stitches and 7 rows over 1 inch in stockinette stitch
• Finished dimensions: 8" around top cuff tapering to 6" around bottom cuff and about 9" in length

The written pattern is for the measurements listed above. However, this equation should help you resize the pattern for other sized pets.

Customizable Equation

From your gauge swatch: ____ stitches per inch _____ rows per inch

From your pet: _____ circumference of leg just under the elbow joint (I'll call it upper leg)

_____ circumference of lower leg just above wrist (above the side nail thing)

_____ length of arm from elbow to wrist

Cast on amount:

___(stitches per inch) x ___(circumference of upper leg) = ____* Make the total a multiple of 4

Number of decreases needed:

___(stitches per inch) x ___(circumference of lower leg) = ____* Make the total a multiple of 4
(upper leg total) - (lower leg total) = ____ number of decrease stitches / 2 = ___ number of decrease rounds Space the decrease rounds between 2-4 rounds of stockinette depending on the length of the leg and how drastically it tapers.

Pattern

Loosely cast on 32 sts in color A. Separate over 3 dpns. Needle 1 has 8 sts, needle 2 has 16 sts, needle 3 has 8 stitches. Customized sizing instructions in (red). Divide cast on stitches over 3 dpns with 1/4 of the total stitches on needle 1, 1/2 on needle 2, and 1/4 on needle 3. I decrease at the beginning and end of needle 2 thus the extra stitches on that needle.

Rows 1-6: (Color A) *k2, p2*

Rows 7, 8, 9: (Color B) Knit all stitches

Row 10: k8 (all of needle 1), ssk, k12 (to last 2 stitches on needle 2), k2tog, k8 (to end of round)

Rows 11, 12: Knit all stitches

Row 13: (Color A) Knit all stitches

Rows 14: k8 (all of needle 1), ssk, k10 (to last 2 stitches on needle 2), k2tog, k8 (to end of round)

Rows 15, 16, 17: Knit all stitches

Row 18: k8 (all of needle 1), ssk, k8 (to last 2 stitches on needle 2), k2tog, k8 (to end of round)

Rows 19, 20, 21: (Color B) Knit all stitches

Row 22: k8 (all of needle 1), ssk, k6 (to last 2 stitches on needle 2), k2tog, k8 (to end of round)

Rows 23, 24: Knit all stitches

Rows 25-30: (Color A) Knit

Rows 31-36: (Color B) Knit

Rows 37-42: (Color A) Knit

Rows 43-48: (Color B) Knit

Row 49: (Color A) Knit

Rows 50-54: *k2, p2*

Bind off loosely. Weave in ends

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As expected, Clicky the Moose and Black-Eye Pea have asked for leg warmers of their own. Moose has requested leg warmers to replicate the socks from the team's throwback jerseys, while Pea wants to represent for her favorite player Troy Polamalu. The patterns to those designs will be added as they are completed. =]

FO: Charity Cowls

{Cowl'd and Frosting Morning by Kelly Herdrich}

{My Ravelry project}

The Knit Black and Gold Ravelry group I belong to is centered around Steeler football and knitting (obviously). During the off season we've had monthly knit-a-longs (KAL) for different projects. Hats, socks, pet stuff, etc. June was charity knitting. One of the members is collecting cold weather wear for the homeless and suggested we make items for that. I thought cowls would work perfectly for this. So I made two. Cowls may be my new favorite thing to knit.

{I love seed stitch}

This was knit from left over Lion Brand Jiffy in Indigo. It is knit on US 13 which made it go super quick! Started and finished in the same day. This cowl looks much better on Dirty. It is a little on the big side for me. His beard really sets it off.

{The Guy Next Door by Devin Fredrickson}

{My Ravelry link}

Poor color accuracy, but the stitch pattern shows much better in this photo. This is leftover Caron Simply Soft in Autumn from the Lacy Hat knit as a gift for one of our nieces. See, more knitting stuff I made and happily gave to others!

{Better color accuracy here}

I had to put on an a t-shirt for the photo shoot. I tried with the tank top I was wearing but it looked ridiculous. In case you were wondering:

t-shirt + cowl = roasting

The things we do for good photos. =]

FO: Shelves Upon Shelves Socks

{Shelves Upon Shelves sock pattern by Erica Lueder aka Dreams in Fiber}

{Ravelry link to my project}

Whew! What I thought would take 2 weeks and would make a great birthday gift for my friend Susan actually took 2 months and won't be on any feet but mine. I know, I am awful. I'll make her something pretty soon!

{With Eye of Partridge heel. Love it.}

I just can't give them up. And, I think they are a little to out there for her. She is more classic and subtle. Sure, I can spin it a million ways, but I am still awful. I have made socks for other people and happily gave them away, but I didn't like them near as much as these. Just awful. Shameful!

{Side by side}

Anyway, when we were kids she pushed my down while roller skating because I wouldn't share my ice cream cone. I have a scar on my knee to prove it. Now were even. =]

{Pea agrees with me. See, she's guarding them.}