close to finished

A couple of things that have been hanging around for awhile have made significant progress towards earning a checkmark on the to-do list.

The Baby Surprise Jacket is what I consider, in my novice knitter mind, to be somewhat of a classic design. Meaning it has been around for a long time, you can find a gazillion examples of it on the web, in fact, on Ravelry alone it has been listed 10,294 times as a project and that doesn't count mine! So I had purchased the pattern and tucked it away for a rainy day, or in this case a snowy day. It uses sock yarn, and I had a skein of Red Heart's Heart and Sole (color 3955 Mellow Stripe) that was going nowhere else, so I decided to tackle it after Christmas. When I try something new like this, just like in designing a new quilt pattern, I tend to want to use my less-than-expensive yarn/fabric, so if it is a total loss I am not out any noticeable bucks. The "surprise" in this jacket is that it is knit all in one piece with carefully placed increases to create the miters, and actually looks like an amorphous blob on the needles. Then, like magic, it twists and turns into a too cute little baby sweater! In my picture, the shoulder seams are just pinned together and buttonholes are awaiting some kind of cute buttons, but in my mind, it's nearly done. Not sure who will wear it yet, but with the multiple young women of reproductive age in my family, it will not have to wait long to go to a good home!

This quilt just came off the frame a couple days ago, after languishing on my rack of projects-in-waiting. It was sewn by Beth, who works with me at Bear Patch, and earmarked for a charitable donation because apparently it was not a color scheme that Beth personally cared so much for after she put it all together. So I'm not sure if there is a pattern to direct you to, nor a source for the gradated hand-dyed fabrics, but I will check on that. I do know that the large floral is a print from Kaffe Fassett for Westminster Fabrics and can be purchased at Bear Patch. I have completed the quilting and now need to track down a suitable fabric for binding and hopefully a person to do that binding, and then it will be used at the store for an upcoming charitable endeavor. By the way, Beth is our Bernina techie/fix it up/repair person who does an amazing job with keeping those machines happy.

This reminds me that I need to get my own machine in for a clean-up, I found a bit of a sticky mess under the bobbin area which I can trace directly back to some wine spillage during my recent getaway. I know it might be shocking to you but yes, I do drink and sew!