Washed out sewing room

Although I didn't get time to sew last weekend (or pay taxes) it probably would have been hard to do given all the rain we had. Check out my sewing room!

Yes, that's water. My sewing machine and serger are located in our unfinished basement, which gets little rivulets through it when it rains. This happens despite the fact Chris has worked hard to water seal our foundation.

And it rained yesterday and is again today. It's days like this (or when it's bitterly cold) that I wish I had a sewing room on the main floor of the house! Then I'd have more time and days to sew because my equipment would be in much more hospitable environs. Oh, well. It is what it is. :)

I probably won't tackle the knit shirt again this weekend because I have to work Sunday. But that means I'll have a 3-day weekend next week! I may designate next Friday as Sewing Day. Yippee!

Until then, I'll continue to work on Chris' cardigan. And watch episodes of Battlestar Galactica on Netflix. :)
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Amazon has the complete Battlestar Galactica series! We're watching the 4th season and are pretty addicted to the show.

FO and cardi

I finished these gloves earlier this week. I've sent an email to my friend and hope to have these in the mail in the next few days.

I made the fingers longer than the pattern called for in my Hubby's Fingerless Mitts pattern. Hopefully these wool mitts will keep my friend's husband warm in their much colder climate!

A quick update and pics of Chris' cardigan. I'm knitting the back now and will start on the left shoulder next. The sleeves are knitted in the same pattern and then sewn on later.

The right shoulder is already completed, as you can see.

I really like this pattern and the shape of the stitching. I have yet to get bored! The pattern repeats every 16 rows.

After the cardigan is finished Chris will be able to wear it inside or out, showing the lattice (right side, which is facing) or the hollows (wrong side, seen on the left). I like the lattice-side the best.

Chris picked out a blue yarn for the collar. I can't wait to see what the color combo looks like when I've got them all stitched together.

As a side note, I really want to get a new wide-angle lens for the Nikon D50. Chris passed down this camera to me a few months ago when he bought a D200, but the glass on the D50's lens falls off! So I've been afraid to use it and it's been sitting in its case.

I really prefer the D50 much more than the Canon PowerShot I've been using. Case in point, check out these horrid photos I also took today of the gloves and cardigan.

Now, I know a good photographer can do just about anything with any camera. But I've never professed to be a good photographer -- only a decent one. And, darn it, I take photos as part of my job, but you wouldn't know it by these horrible photos! (I use the Canon for work.)

Having a good camera really does make a world of difference. :)

Quick update and other randomness

Hi, folks! Sorry I've been M.I.A. for a few weeks. Some things came up (i.e. work, sick grandpa), so I've been busy dealing with things other than blogging .... or even crafting!

But I started hitting the needles again earlier this week and I plan to finish those pair of gloves this weekend (Sorry, Chelsey!) I don't think I'll get Chris' cardigan finished by next week, but that's fine. I got a late start on it anyway and some of the other projects for the 2011 Sweater Challenge will be fairly quick.

I also plan to work some more on my knit top I talked about here, but I'm not promising myself I'll finish it this weekend. That's just setting the bar too high since I've still got laundry to do, taxes to pay and other things to do that I've gotten behind on. I'm starting to pick up the pieces, though, and get things back on track.

Though I haven't done anything crafty in the past couple weeks, I have made some killer recipes (I've gotta eat, yo) and planned out our spring and fall gardens. In fact, we dropped the onion sets into the ground Valentine's Day weekend.

Next up we'll start seeds for broccoli and spinach. We can start those inside as early as next weekend.

To plan out the garden, we're using this book and I love it (thanks, Mom)!















Mom gave it to us for Christmas and I've flipped through it many times since December. It gives tips on how to plant seeds and/or plants, when to apply side dressings, how to prevent disease and pests and what are some good companion plants. It's all organized in a user-friendly layout and easy to read and use. I'm looking forward to referring to it several times this year.

As promised, I'll snap a few pics of the cardigan and post these on here sometime later this weekend or early next week.