This poor little quilt top has sat untouched for what feels like (and probably is) months. As you know, I've had a bad patch with my health and it is only now that the increased painkillers have left my brain free enough of fog to contemplate the next stage of sewing.
I intended to get a single piece of fabric to use as backing so I could just get on and make this into a quilt, but the fabric was just a couple of inches too narrow to be used. So I chopped the bottom off the fabric and inserted a panel in the back with the remaining piece of my favourite fat quarter, surrounded by strips of white, echoing the blocks on the front of the quilt.
You might also note that the back and the front are now sandwiched around the wadding/batting and pinned together. My lovely friend Clare came round yesterday for a chat and offered to baste it for me. She knows how hard crawling around on the floor is for me. I nearly wept with gratitude! Just cutting the pieces for the back of the quilt nearly killed me, because they are such large pieces of fabric to manage. I really don't want to give up quilting but I think that the large pieces of fabric and the putting it together is something that is almost impossible for me. Clare has offered to help in the future if I want help putting blocks together and I may just take her up on it.
For now though, I have a quilt sandwich and I am planning on sewing it together soon! It will be my first attempt at actual quilting on a machine, even though it will only be straight lines with a walking foot, I'm stupidly nervous!
Whilst this quilt was waiting to be put together I decided to start a new knitting project to occupy me whilst watching the tennis and British Grand Prix over the weekend. I had a craving for simple but elegant stitches that entertained and soothed at the same time. I found this wonderful pattern, Favorite Scarf Ever, by Lisa Bruce, recommended by Crea in the City. I knew this pattern would be perfect for a multi-hued yarn and it seemed to have the perfect blend of simple and interesting to suit my current needs. I even had the perfect yarn for the project. Posh Yarn Daisy 4ply in 76 Trombones.
Sorry for the pink background but this photo was taken in a hurry so I could get it stashed away. The yarn is 80% merino and 20% bamboo, just like one of the yarns I used in my second Color Affection Shawl that I recently finished. I love this balance of fibres. It results in a smooth and bouncy yarn that slides through the fingers with ease. This yarn and pattern was a perfect match in my head. It turned out to be true in reality.
I started this project on Friday and I am about 80% of the way through the yarn. I split the yarn into two equal sections, as instructed in the pattern, and decided to knit both sections at once, the way I would knit two socks at a time. It means that both sections will be equal in length and it feels like I'm knitting the scarf faster somehow!
It certainly involves less turning of a piece during the knitting process, which I suppose saves time. I love the way the yarn has pooled in this scarf. The zig zagging colours seem to echo the chevrons being created down the length of the scarf, despite the zig zags being at 90° to the knit pattern.
I love how bouncy the stitches are, and how well this pattern shows off the changes in the yarn colour.
I think the back is almost as pretty! I adore how even my stitches are, since taking up Combination Knitting. The back of stocking stitch never looked this neat before!
So these two projects are the ones that have taken up my time over the last week or so and I am really happy with both. I'm pretty sure that the scarf will be off my needles in the next day or so, if I keep up my current rate. I better start investigating my queue for my next knit!
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