Works in Progress as far as the Eye can See!

Seriously, I feel like I am in the middle of everything! It's nearing the end of the semester (thankfully!) and I'm in the midst of writing a 20 page paper (7 pages down, 13 to go). As soon as I finish it, I have another 15-20 pager to start. I'm also sick with a cold. Even with all of the end of the semester flurry, I haven't let that stop me from working on my crafty projects.

Item 1. Rolled Brim Hat.
I'm amazed how quickly this knits up. I am the only student in this knitting class so I get plenty of one-on-one attention. Of course, I somehow got the needles turned around between the class and coming home that evening so that when I worked on it again, I was going in the wrong direction for four or five rounds and there was a weird bump across it. I tried to fix it but it was taking so long that I just started over. I think that is probably my biggest obstacle in knitting. I feel like I never quite know how to fix my mistakes or it seems as though it will be impossible to do. Somehow, quilting mistakes (so far) have seemed less insurmountable (or I just get over them easier?).

While knitting this up again last night, I caught up on my favorite podcast, KCRW's Bookworm. Michael Silverblatt is an amazing interviewer of authors because he is such an incredibly astute reader. I don't necessarily think all of the books featured on book worm are incredible (Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana was torture!) but hearing their authors discuss them is really interesting.

Item 2. Baby Quilt for MadisonThese squares are awaiting their conversion to half square triangles. My sewing, cutting and pressing have been less than stellar on this project so we will see how it turns out. I guess I need to work on the elementals a bit more. I have high hopes that these will soon become pinwheels.

Item 3. Kitty Cross StitchAfter following Margaret's A Sampler of Stitches blog for a couple months, I was inspired to pick up my discarded cross stitch project and work away at it. This design is by Margaret Sherry, called Pot-Purri. It is a fluffy cat sitting in a flowerpot holding a daffodil.

And although it is not a work in progress, per se, my attempts to use it and learn about it seem to be a process. Item 4. Presenting my new sewing machine!

I learned a lot at my owner's class and am looking forward to using it. Right now, I've been using the Janome since I've just been piecing and I wanted to make sure that the seam allowance was consistent on the baby quilt so I haven't switched machines. My first plan for it is to make a label for my mom's quilt. I love that it has letter embroidery (and a few other designs).

Have a great weekend!