Knitting for Speed and Efficiency (the followup)

Dear Shayne,

As I mentioned last month, I took a class in Portland at the Sock Summit with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the esteemed [and hilarious] Yarn Harlot). It was called "Knitting for Speed and Efficiency," but since it involved learning an entirely new way to knit, I was actually knitting for Slowness and Desperation.

After spending a month completing my Practice Scarf, I am knitting almost as fast as I was with my previous method.

Now you may be saying, "But you're still not knitting faster than before -- how is it worth it?" Except for this: I am knitting and purling at almost the speed that I was just knitting at before!

I know you're not a knitter, Shayne, so I'll tell you: Usually, when switching from knitting to purling (for instance, in ribbing), one's knitting speed slows down dramatically. I won't get into the details (boring both for knitters and non-knitters alike!) but I am very happy to be knitting and purling at this speed.

If I keep at it, I really will be knitting with Speed and Efficiency. Someday!

Oh, and here's the scarf I finished:


I struggle with taking an accurate photo of the color of that scarf. Also, scarves are long and prove difficult to photograph in other ways. But you get the idea.

love,
kelly

Lantern Moon ROCKS!

Dear Shayne,

Remember how I told you that I broke one of my beautiful Lantern Moon knitting needles? Well I contacted them to ask if I could buy a single needle from them (seems silly, but they're not cheap, so I figured buying half a set would be a little less painful than buying a whole new set).

They responded by replacing my needles, gratis! Wow! They came in the mail yesterday and I just had to share how totally impressed I am with this company.

I know that you don't knit, but they also sell gorgeous crochet hooks, fabulous tote bags (I especially love this one), and some really lovely accessories. Check them out -- they've got something for everyone.

Lantern Moon, thank you so much for being so great. You've got a customer for life. Nice work.

love,
kelly

Tiny stitches

Dear Shayne,

When I was in Canada in July, I bought this fantastic stitching book. I had looked at it last year and resisted, but then I found it on sale for $5 this time around and had to make it mine. I'm terrible about buying books while traveling -- my back hates me!



But I digress. This is a book I've never seen in US bookstores and I'm guessing it's because it's published in the UK. I have since found it here on Amazon and it says "[IMPORT]" in big letters in the description. Oooh -- fancy!

There are a lot of great projects in this book, but the one that really captured my attention was this sweet Christmas tree:


As much as I love that tree, however, I am hesitant about cross-stitching on linen. Tiny, tiny stitches, Shayne. Tiiiiiny. As a fellow lover of near-instant-gratification craft projects, I'm sure you understand.

I don't know that I have the stamina to complete a cross-stitch project on linen. Even a relatively small one like this. But, oh! Sequins for ornaments! Very enticing.

Can she do it, folks? Only time will tell...

love,
kelly

Shower thank you notes

Dear Shayne,

I just realized that I never told you about my wedding shower -- it was craft supply themed! It was the Best. Shower. Ever. (Thank you, Hollie and Jenny for making it happen!)

I cannot believe I didn't tell you about it, but thinking back, it was a busy summer (what with the getting married and all). I need to post some photos of the awesome loot I got -- fabric, yarn, stamps, books, paper, tools... the list goes on and on. It was awesome.

And now I am waaay late sending my thank you notes, but they finally went out this week:


I cut fabric squares with pinking shears and glued those to the card. Then I zigzag-stitched around the edges. I used adhesive twill ribbon and hand-stamped "Thank you!"

I had originally intended for these to be a lot more complex, but I pared down the design to get them out the door and I'm happy with how they turned out in the end -- the fabric, stitching, and twill tape give the card a nice texture.

Up soon: the awesome goodies I received!

love,
kelly

My sense of humor

Dear Kelly,

Because I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy, today I thought it would be funny to embroider spam subject lines:



All I had to embroider upon was a napkin, which seems wrong, even for me, so later I went to the craft store and bought some linen. I think I'm going to do "Get an omnipotent porksword." next.

Love,
Shayne

Last Change of Address Projects

Dear Kelly,

This is the last Change of Address project, I promise! I made this set for my grandma:



My mom and I went ahead and picked out the pink cards and envelopes from Paper-Source and then found this awesome polka dot paper at Joann's for the liners. (I'm going to use the scraps in the Cricut!) Because Grandma is a popular lady and needed twice as many cards as my mom did, she did not get the hand-cut address labels.

Now I'm working on a super secret project that is probably going to take another week or two to finish up :)

Love,
Shayne

WIP: Lucky Cat Napkins

Dear Kelly,

I decided that I needed themed napkins in case I ever had a little dinner party, so I started embroidering Sublime Stitching's lucky cat on napkins. I have three and a half out of six done and here's a lousy camera phone picture:



I'm wondering if I should embroider something on the little sign he's holding.

Love,
Shayne

Quilt for Kaesea

Dear Shayne,

I have been working for the past week or so on a quilt for our darling kitty Kaesea. I finished it last night!

He's been using another quilt that I'd like to have back (he eats on it and sheds all over it, making it less pleasant for the rest of us to use) so I made him one of his own:


It's not very big -- about 2x3 feet. Basically, I wanted something that would fold in half to make a good "lounge around" quilt for the bed and then in quarters to fit comfortably in his cat carrier.

I didn't use a pattern -- I just cut a bunch of 3" wide strips and then sewed them together randomly. I spiced it up with the bits of orange and red, which I also incorporated into the binding (a first for me):


I probably could have pushed this design further, but I also just wanted to get it done so Kaesea could enjoy it. It's lumpy and weird and far from perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

And so, it seems, is he:


Which is really what matters.

love,
kelly

PS -- If anyone reading this is curious about catching up with Kaesea, he's got his own blog right here.

I want: amazing papercut art

Dear Shayne,

Check out this amazing papercut art by Etsy seller Tina Tarnoff. I am blown away by her work. Shayne, this is handcut. From paper.


I love these stripe-y tights!

I also love this sweet piece. Check out her shop -- very drool-worthy. I am amazed with the the talent, patience, and precision this work takes. I'm useless with an Exacto knife.

love,
kelly