Commonplace

Neck Warmer Tutorial and a Quilt Block

Some of you wrote that you would like to have the pattern for the heated neck and shoulder wrap that I posted here. Well, here you go! I've made a few of these lately in an early attempt to keep the holiday gift making rush under control later. I always start early and end up in a mad rush anyway.

I find these fun to make and I really love using them. I heat mine up almost every morning while the coffee is brewing and drape it over my shoulders to help shoo away the early morning stiffness. Unless one of the kids gets up first and then all bets are off on my slow-waking rituals.

Here is the first block for the SewConnected swap. It was really fun sewing with someone else's fabric (except for the moment when I thought I had made the wrong cut and ruined it) and I hope Rita likes it.

P.S. If the .pdf thing isn't working for you, feel free to email me and I'll send you the instructions.

Blueberries for Quinn (and a New Bib)

Bibs in my house disappear mysteriously with gym socks. It doesn't much matter how many I'm sure I bought, there's never one where I need it when I need it. This morning I sat down to make some and I've posted here what I did in case any of you have the same problem. Please be gentle as this is my sewing tutorial.

Materials:
WASHABLE fabric scraps and velcro

Instructions:
Trace your favorite bib.

(Perhaps I should have washed this one before snapping this photo.)

Draw 1/4" (don't worry about it being exact) around the outline for the seam allowance and cut along the outer line.

Trace the template onto the back side of your fabric or, as I did here, pin the template to the fabric. For this example I was using a batik that doesn't have a 'wrong side'.

Cut along the template and repeat with contrasting fabric for second side of bib. (I used the same fabric for both sides here.)

With the right sides of the fabric facing each other, using a 1/4" seam allowance, and beginning at a straight(ish) part of the bib, back stitch a little and then stitch the sides together. Stop stitching about 2" from where you started and back stitch again to secure.

Turn bib right sides out using a knitting needle or a dull pencil to poke the pesky seams outward. Press, taking care around the opening.

Top stitch as close to the edge as you are comfortable, closing the turning opening and making sure to secure the ends with a few back stitches.

Cut the stiffer side of the Velcro into a small rectangle (about 1" long) and the softer side into a larger rectangle (about  2 1/2" long). Stitch the Velcro onto opposite sides of the neck opening - this allows the bib to be both adjustable and reversible.

Now make many many more and stash them all over the place!

Magic Loop

Dear Natalie,

I'm sorry that I've let you down by not posting more often. I'm thrilled to find out that you actually read my ramblings and that you enjoy them enough to look for more. Due to my current creative dry-spell, I'm reaching into the archives of my brain (and iPhoto library) to find something worthy of your time.

Here's what I've got:

Quite possibly my most favorite socks I've ever knit. Notice the perfection of the stripes starting at the top of the leg and working all the way down to the - oh, never mind. Anyway, I'm kind of predictable about sock patterns. For me, the beauty is in the yarn. Usually I go for hand dyed tone-on-tone stuff, but there is something about this fun bright self-patterning-yarn that spoke to me.

When I had the yarn shop (that is a story for another day) one of the most frequent requests I had was to teach people how to knit socks without using double pointed needles. For some reason folks seemed scared of those tiny pointed things. Now, I could go on about how they aren't really scary but truth is, my preferred method of making socks is one (32" Addi Turbo, and yes, it matters) circular needle. This method is often called the 'Magic Loop' because of the shape of the needle once you have joined your round. So, without further adieu, please click here if you would like the tutorial for making the switch from 'dpn's' to circular.