Friday, April 3, 2009

lesson learned

quilt in progress

since i'm more pleased with this project and the pictures are prettier. i'm going to share this first.

i've started piecing my kelly mccaleb baby quilt kit! its only been a year since i bought it - i figured it might be time to start it. i dont know what is up with me and baby stuff, but i just loved this kit so i bought it. hopefully we have a little girl some day.

quilt in progress

aren't you in LOVE with the fabric that has the sleeping baby?? so sweet.

quilt in progress

it took me a long time to decide where all the pieces should go, but i think it like what i ended up with. i'm in love with the random but cohesive look of all these fabrics together. i dont know if i would have been able to pick them and be convinced they would look good. i've sewn the first three rows together and hope to get the whole top together this weekend. should be a great distraction from studying...

seed stitch baby shoes in progress

in other news...i've been working on the debbie bliss seed stitch baby shoes. i am still drooling over seed stitch. its my new fav. i was really proud of myself while i was making this first one - the pattern is the most complicated i've tried and i did it! i don't even think i pulled out any stitches!

only problem was that i was trying to make the smallest size, 0 to 3 months and as you can see mine is as big as the example in the book! you would think that would have been a clue that somehow mine weren't going to be the intended size. nope. i was totally pleased and ready to seam them up. 
that is when i realized... i should have checked the gauge. i convinced myself i didn't have to because i wasn't going to buy special yarn for this project and all i had on hand was 100% cotton.

seed stitch shoes

poor choice. they are huge! like they would fit a 3 or 4 year old. i'm annoyed because in the book doesn't specify the weight of the yarn they are using just the kind of debbie bliss yarn they used - a ploy to get you to buy her yarn. i know if i had checked the gauge i would have overcome that, but really! how annoying!

i'm struggling with whether i should make the other one. the idea of the shoe is cute and it probably would be cute if it were tiny, but i'm not loving these big ones - the seams are lumpy.... what do you think? make the other one or not??

center pull ball!

i also thought i'd share that i made my own center pull ball . aren't you impressed?? for some reason i was so tickled that i could do this! i don't know why but knitting from a ball is so much better than knitting from a skein or hank, don't you think?

3 comments:

Holly and Everest said...

dbliss yarn is usually dk weight which is about the same as sport weight. What size needles were you using?

jenni said...

Love the quilt! That baby girl also has some socks too I think ;)

I had the same problem with cotton yarn and the crochet baby booties I did. The perfect size came from caron simply soft. Those skeins are only 2 or 2.50 and I think they have 300+ yards. But the cotton will shrink so maybe they will fit once you wash and dry them?

Philigry said...

i love that quilt. it is beautiful. i would go ahead and make the other shoe and put them away. you may use them someday, or give them as a gift. they are a neutral color, so that is good. they are so cute. i never check my gauge either.....