Happy Friday

So what have you been up to this past week or so?  I’ve been taking a little break from work to play with an assortment of things.

This is what’s up on my design wall today . . .

Aren’t these just the happiest prints?  They are called OZ by Sanae.  The pattern is named Hopscotch and it can be found in my Fat Quarter Five book.

Here’s the original colorway from the book –

 

I’ve got lots of other piles around the studio and I’m just trying to decide what fabrics should go with which pattern . . .

I’ve been doing a little reading also.  The book club that I’m in met last night to discuss this book –

 It’s about a Harvard professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.  I was so tragic, yet so interesting that I couldn’t put it down.  It’s definitely a must read for those who want to understand this disease better.  It made for a good discussion and I will definitely be passing this one on for someone else to read.

I’ve also been watching lots of TV lately, which I don’t normally do that much of.  The reason is the Olympics.  Last night the female ice skating competition wrapped up and the performances were stunning.  All this TV watching has led to lots of knitting being done – This sweater is blocking, but I have to finish up the sleeves yet.  I’ll tell you more about it as soon as it’s finished.

This sweater is finally completed!  It’s called the cable hooded jacket and can be found in the Debbie Bliss book “Cotton Knits for all Seasons.”  I made it out of Rowan Denim yarn, which is a yarn that is made to fade and shrink, just like your pair of favorite jeans.  It is supposed to shrink up about 14%, but mine only shrunk 11%.  Maybe the other 3% shrinks over time.  That’s what seems to happen with my jeans anyways.  Either that, or I have eaten too many brownies.  (I think we all know which of those too things is the actual reason).   Anyways, all that shrinking had me worried about the fit, but good news! –

It actually fits – and I didn’t even have to tear it apart to alter anything (like I usually do).  The only thing I altered was making it a raglan sleeve, but that I did ahead of time and didn’t require any “tinking.”  For those of you who are not knitters, that is knit spelled backwards.  In the knitting world, taking something apart is also known as frogging.  I guess knitters have more creative words for “tearing out” than the quilters do!

Here’s the back –

And a closer look at the hood –

That’s all for now!  I hope you all have a good weekend –