http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits (and does a little sewing) Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:27:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Home improvement projects take quite a bit of time when you really only have one full day per week to dedicate to them. Maybe that makes it all the more satisfying though. When we bought Eugenie (the name of our little Victorian house), there was much wallpaper from ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=65 For those of you who haven't heard, Adam and I have joined the homeowners' club! Hooray for having a mortgage! The house is a little Victorian with a Mansard roof, a style inspired by the Paris of the Second French Empire. We've named her Eugenie for the wife of Napoleon ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=64 Alright, so it's been a VERY long time since I last posted. This is my excuse: Instead of making Christmas presents (as mentioned in one of my last posts), I got an eye infection and the medicine they gave me resulted in about 6 weeks of walking around with one ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=63 I'm teaching a hand sewing class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education next semester. It's once a week for 6 weeks, and we're going to make several small bags. I'm very excited. It should be great fun. If you want more info about the class, it's under fiber arts ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=62 Here are my latest two projects. Tammy! Nothing really new here in terms of lessons learned. I can't tell you how much I enjoy knitting these. The wool I bought last fall on a shopping trip to Webs in Northampton with Kirti. If anyone wants to learn how to knit these, ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=59 Here are two weeks worth of projects and the lessons learned: A little pouch (hand sewn): I never though I would have interest in fussy cutting, but I found this great brown fabric with long leaves that begged to be cut out. Notice the tip of one on the little snap flap. A ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=55 Friday night Marika said to me "Project-a-week, eh? August 6th, eh?" and I stared at my feet and said apologetically "I know, I know," because Marika (like all Mediteranean woman) has an amazing gift for making people feel they need to excuse and justify their actions (or lack thereof). Now ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=47 Here's this week's project (although admittedly I made it over the course of several weeks). Lessons learned: 1. I'm finally getting comfortable with the quilting stitch. It's still slow going, but my stitches are getting more even and more than half of my stitches are making it through to the backside ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=45 FAILURE! I missed this week's deadline. Damn. I wanted so much to be disciplined about this and make every deadline. I know one should never offer excuses in these moments, but... First I picked a project that is more involved than the others Second on Wednesday I had a date with my ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=44 Here is this week's project. It's another pattern from Kumiko Sudo's Omiyage. This bird is a little pouch. I'm going to fill it with jelly beans and give it to my niece for her birthday. Lessons learned: 1. Even within my own stash, I can find color combinations that ... http://www.balderdash.org/KathleenKnits/?p=42