Grayson Andrew - Quilt #4

This is the fourth quilt, and it's the last of the quilts for the next generation! With this one done, I was able to gift all four to the kiddos on Christmas!

This was the completed version of Grayson Andrew's quilt top. Again, I used a jelly roll, and bound it with extra strips. I quilted in the ditch again.

Here's all four hanging outside my parent's house. So exciting! And the best part is that they all loved them!

Pattern: Jitterbug from Pam and Nicky Lintott's "Layer Cake, Jelly Roll, and Charm Quilts" book, with an adapted border. I made the border 2" squares, mostly patterned, instead of 2x4" rectangles, alternating patterned and white.

Christmas Soap

While at the Mister's family Christmas, we had a Yankee Swap! It was great fun, with 27 of the 33 individuals participating. I contributed six bars of a Christmas Soap I had made for that express purpose.

I also gave about a dozen bars to my local Stitch-and-Bitch group for a set of holiday gifts we made for the restaurant that hosts us.

Here's the Recipe:

Essentially, this batch is made using two separate batches of hot process soap. First, you make the green, and then the red.

Ingredients:

• 6.5 oz water (x2)
• 2.5 oz lye - 9% superfat (x2)
• 8.25 oz olive oil (x2)
• 5 oz coconut oil (x2)
• 2 oz cocoa butter (x2)
• 2 oz shea butter (x2)
• 1.25 oz castor oil (x2)
• 1 oz jojoba oil (x2)
• green soap coloring
• red soap coloring
• Essential Oils (recommended): Pine, Treasure of the Season, Cinnamon Bark, Nutmeg, Christmas Spirit
• Crockpot, gloves, apple cider vinegar, scale, eye glasses, immersion blender, wax paper, pyrex baking dish, soap spoon, and glass tools/jars

Directions:

1. Measure out the oils and put the first set of oils in the crockpot to melt
2. When the oils are mostly melted, add a dash of green soap coloring. Stir it in until mostly disolved.
3. Measure out water and lye in separate glass dishes. Slowly add lye into water, stirring as you go to dissolve lye. Be sure to follow safety procedures.
4. When the lye is dissolved and slightly cooled, add it to the oils, and blend with the immersion blender until the mixture reaches trace (about a minute).
5. Put on cover and wait an hour or two for the cook.
6. Stir in one teaspoon of Pine Essential Oil and one teaspoon of Treasure of the Season Essential Oil.
7. Line a glass baking dish with wax paper and pour the first mixture into the mold. Place it in the oven at a low temperature to keep warm.
8. Repeat steps 1-5 with the second set of oils and the red coloring.
9. This time, add one teaspoon of Christmas Spirit Essential Oil and a half-teaspoon each of Nutmeg and Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil.
10. Take the first batch out of the oven and pat down the soap mixture. Pour the second batch on top and stir/swirl the two together.
11. Let the mixture sit for at least 24 hours before removing it from the mold and slicing it into delightful bars of soap!

Pickle Harbor Socks

Like the Dragon Egg Dice Bag with my family, this was another gift that I finished up simply so the Mister would have something to open on Christmas with his family.

He picked out this yarn himself quite a while ago, but when I went to order, they were out of stock. Later, when making another KnitPicks purchase (for my Sophie's Universe CAL), I discovered that Pickle Juice was back, and so I snagged a couple for his socks.

The majority of these socks were knit in August. In fact, I entirely finished them while driving from Boston to North Carolina on his family vacation.

And then I discovered something quite upsetting.

They were top-down socks. And the cast-on didn't go over his heel.

I wasn't about to rip this all out on the plane, so I set them aside and forgot about them.

Then, while brainstorming little things I could have the hubby open, I stumbled across these. I quickly ripped out the cast on, picked up all the stitches, and bound off with a yarn-over bind off.

I will tell you, the stitches were half a stitch off, since I was going in the other direction, but it didn't make a huge difference.

This was also my first double-forked short-row heel, and it was a great success. It gave the mister all the extra room he needed for his weird foot shape, and it certainly caused less strain on me!

Ravelry Project

Insulate!

My brother-in-law is a huge Doctor Who fan, and so when I found this pattern, there was no question that it would be his gift. I ended up adapting the pattern quite a bit to make it fit.

• I increased the amount of stitches in the top quite a bit
• I increased sooner on the thumb and made one extra row
• I went longer before switching to the brown/yellow lines

Overall, he loves them. When he opened the box, it was covered with an image of a Dalek yelling "INSULATE!" which, for you Doctor Who fans, was just the icing on the cake.

Ravelry Project

Little House QAL - Block 6 - The Long Winter

Today I bring you Block 6 of the Little House QAL. As has been the case with all the others, I've actually been making multiple blocks, and we'll see how they all get put together at the end, but I'm delaying a mention of more details for the sake of the pattern designer.

Mom's Foot Cozies

My Mother-in-law also gets cold feet, and so, continuing with the Christmas theme, I knit her a little pair of Foot cozies! They look a little weird when off the feet, but once on, they fit quite nicely.

After selling the cabin in the Adirondacks, they bought a house on the Cape, and I'm told these go with her Cape-Robe. So yay!

Ravelry Project

Little House QAL - Block 5 - By the Shores of Silver Lake

Today's post brings you Block 5 in this journey of the Little House QAL.

However, on an unrelated note, happy Stitches West, everyone! As this is published, I am likely finishing up my purchases at the amazing Stitches West, to be detailed in a later weekly post!

Brantingham Tree Rings Blanket

This is a project that I finished in April. I saw the pattern November of 2015, and I knew that I had to make it for my father-in-law. You see, his favorite place in the world is the porch of a beautiful cabin on a lake in the Adirondacks. He sits there with a cup of coffee and a book every morning, and it's often just brisk enough to need a blanket.

He also likes practical gifts. Gifts that can be used. And so when I saw this pattern, there was no choice: I had to make it.

I bought the yarn at Stitches West, and got started immediately when I got home. It's so soft, and so perfect.

And then they decided to sell the cabin. To be honest, I was heartbroken. But I decided I had to give him the blanket anyway, and thankfully, he still likes it. 

Ravelry Project

Little House QAL - Block 4 - On the Banks of Plum Creek

As we move along, I present to you this week Block 4
of the Little House QAL!

Dragon Egg Dice Bag

The mister recently bought a role-playing Star Wars game with the express purpose of playing it during our many Christmas car trips. And so, when I was looking for a little something he could open (I had already bought him big Christmas gifts that he had picked out), I stumbled across this pattern for a dice bag.

I used some stash yarn from my Bay Area Block, and used exactly everything that was left of it, to create this shimmery Dragon Egg Dice Bag. The dive fit perfectly, and the mister loves it. And it was Cold Sheep! I'd say it's a win all around.

He's requested another (bigger) one for his other Star Wars game, and I'm hoping to find a more Star Wars themed pattern!

Ravelry Project