Saturday, May 9, 2009

Finished Projects

I finally woke up my sewing machine from it's winter hibernation (I hadn't sewn anything since mid-December). I always have plenty of ideas for things I want to sew, I just haven't had the energy or motivation to start something. Besides which, my sewing machine is in our basement, where I don't really enjoy being during the winter.

For Christmas I made my parents each a fleece keyhole scarf; my Mom's in a Chicago Bears fabric, and my Dad's in a golfing fabric. My Mom requested another in Chicago Cubs fabric (now you know something about my parents!) and that was good motivation for me to sew something again, little as it may be.

I had seen and liked patterns for knit keyhole scarves (sometimes called neck warmers), where you pull one end of the scarf through a small hole on the other end, to keep it around your neck. But I thought fleece would be softer, and easier and quicker to make, so I searched all over trying to find a sewing pattern. Having no luck, I decided to wing it and make up my own. They actually turned out okay! This is the newest result:


this is a short scarf; it's great to even wear around the house during a cold, midwest winter, report my parents


close-up of the keyhole - like a huge buttonhole


modeled by Isaac, because he's a much cuter model than I am!


My newest favorite knitting and crocheting projects have been cotton dish cloths. They're the perfect type of project for me - quick to make, practical, and a good way to learn a few new stitches.



crocheted - and in real life is more red than pink
; didn't get the light right for the photo



These were both made from Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn. This yarn is inexpensive, easy to find, and comes in tons of colors, but I've decided that I don't really care for it. It's a little rough, not very soft to work with. So I began a mission to find 100% cotton yarn that I like better and isn't horribly expensive. I found a couple options, and am working on two new dish cloths. I'll post those when I finish them.


knitted - this one took much longer to make, but I like it better

3 comments:

Mom said...

Yes, Dad especially wore his golf scarf around the house in the cold weather, many times. I love both of mine and use them a lot myself!I like the dishcloths on the bottom better than the others. One of the girls I used to work with many years ago made some of the other ones, and I didn't really care for those much either. The off-white ones (or whatever color they are "supposed" to be) look much more useful. Thank you for sharing. I also like your new picture at the top! :)

Chris said...

Thanks, Mom! I like my new picture too! I took that photo of the tulips at Meijer Garden.

Nadine said...

Dear Chris,

Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind words about the tea cozy! It looks like you are doing good with sewing & crocheting yourself!
I like to crochet dishcloths for my family & friends and for around our house. A neat way to give a gift of jam is to put a dishcloth on top and tie a ribbon around it - it makes a usable & pretty gift!