Quilting camp

I'm just back from spending the weekend in a camp with 18 other lady-farmers, learning the stain glass quilting technique. It was awesome, and not only because I got to learn a lot of new things.

First, I got to spend the weekend out of the city. 3R is not a big city, but it is a city nonetheless. So I got to spend 2 days in a camps in the woods, where I could hear a waterfall from my room and take long walks.

It was also wonderful to be with 18 other women, all passionate enough by textile arts to spend 2 days away from their family! (I was the baby of the group...and my man spent half of the weekend in Québec city for a course he is taking for his masters' degree, so it was easier for me...). Most of them had a lot of experience, and a lot of generosity in sharing their knowledge.

The other reason why it was so great is that it was relaxing. We worked hard, but without rushing to get our things done. There was a lot of knitting and playing in pyjamas, and we even took an impromptu break to go yarn shopping in the next village in the afternoon.

I was going there hoping to learn basic techniques that would help me with any sewing; I did not have a particular interest for the stained glass quilt, but I am very happy by what I was able to make, and hope to be able to use it.

cutting the different pieces and sticking them to the background

adding the pieces one by one, making sure there is no space between them

adding the bias tape

 

It's not finished; I was able to sew the bias around the flower only, and I also have to add the batting and decide what I want to make with it. Some ladies made a mural, some others made a cushion. I'm thinking of a bag, because I love craft that is useful. If anyone else has an idea, please leave a comment! 

Other crafty news

Weaving: 

So, after I warped my loom to make dishtowels, I started to weave and I keep seeing a bag appearing in front of me (I have something with bags...)

Knitting: 

I'm currently knitting a little cardigan for a colleague who is expecting. I hope to finish it before the baby arrives! Somehow, I have a hard time to get into it - maybe I just have too many things to do as well, such as the morning echo cardigan that I started over a year ago and that I still have not finished...But I am determined to wear it in the plane I am taking on July 20th to go to Romania, so I better finish the baby cardigan if I want to get back to it ASAP! 

the back and one of the front piece - but I'm almost done now

have a great week!

Publish Post

Weaving news!

I'm not really good at writing often, but the past few weeks have not been very inspiring, and has been very busy with end of contracts running late, new contracts being offered to me (I was not going to say no!), a supervisor in Italy and another one in Brazil. So, my expected 2½ days off a week have not started yet.

Spring was also supposed to arrive back in March, but our last snow storm happened last week. I love winter, but when it's over, it's over.So, as I was saying, a rather uninspiring month, until yesterday,

Yesterday was the day I FINALLY warped my loom. It had been there behind me, nagging me since I bought it a few months ago. Lately, all the threads I bought had joined in. Even my parents, who can see the loom each time we talk on Skype were asking me every week, when they saw it still empty: not yet?

Yesterday was the day. And it was a long day. My weaving teacher arrived before 10:00am, and didn't leave until 7:00pm. And we worked all day, without really taking breaks, except for a short lunch. And I was lucky most of the bobbins I needed were ready, because I think otherwise, I would still be at it. I'm also lucky I had finally decided last week what design I wanted for my first dishtowels, because my teacher arrived with a clear idea of what to do.

Warping a loom is a very long, tedious and precise job. We spent most day without talking much, both totally concentrated on what we had to do, but still managed to make a few mistakes that we hopefully all corrected before it was too late.

At the end of the day (and when I woke up this morning) my whole body was aching from spending so much time bent on the loom. Basically, we had to warp 24 threads per inch X 23 inches = 552 on the spool rack, then on the warp beam, then through the draft, through the beater and we finally attached them to the cloth beam.

But it was all worth it, we warped 15 yards of thread, so I should be able to get 14 dishtowels out this. Many more hours of fun ahead of me!

I love the fact that I can just spend a few minutes in front of the loom, and see beautiful patterns appearing.

But, today was too nice to stay in and weave. It was the perfect day to knit outside instead.

Have a great weekend!

Awesome weekend

This weekend has been just perfect. The only thing that could have been more perfect would have been to be either in Hungary for the 30th Tanchaztalalkozo (annual Hungarian folklore festival where you get to meet EVERYBODY who has anything to do with Hungarian folklore). I usually go, but this year, with the move and acquisition of lots of new furniture and the new job, I decided to go in the summer instead (more details to come).

But still my weekend was awesome.

It started on Thursday - I went to Winners, and found 2 sets of sheets and duvet cover on sale. Hurray, what  a better time to change our linens than spring?(Or what a better way to celebrate spring than by changing our linens?)

Thursday was also my last day at work for Equitas in Montréal. Another change, but I got used to it and we already celebrated my departure, so I am ok with it. And anyway, I'm not completely done with my work because of my week off for the back pain, so I'm staying for a few more days, working from home. And my favourite colleagues are all on Facebook, so I will keep in touch. But I do miss our pot-lucks and the goodies that always awaited us on the kitchen table!

On a good note, my contract at the university is being renewed for a year, so that's a stress that is relieved. So far, it is only for a part time contract, but even that should allow me to live well. And there is potential for more days to be added, so all is good.

Friday was fabulous. It started with 2 of my farmers friends (including my weaving teacher) coming over for breakfast. I got the confirmation that the plum jam Elizabeth and I made in September was delicious, judging by the speed at which it disappeared. We then left to go shopping for weaving thread, but stopped on the way in a wonderful gardening and spa store. I had seen it, and never went in, because I do not have a big garden, and I'm not a spa person, but I was so happy to discover a place with so many useful, cute things that are different from the usual gardening supplies we can get at either Canadian Tire or Ikea. I loved it and I can't wait to eventually buy a house so I can go and shop for bigger things.

Then, the "piece the résistance", the goal of our trip: Brassard, the weaving store. I went there for the first time back in January, and spent about 3 hours touching every single thread, not being able to decide which one I would choose if I had to. (Thank God I was not there to shop for myself!).

This time, having an expert with me, we went straight to the cotton, she asked me to pick the colours, told me how many I needed in 16/2 and in 8/2 (not sure what it means yet...). I picked a book I had heard about from enough weavers to know I needed it and a shuttle, and 45 minutes later, we were out.

So what is this? Future dishtowels. Why dishtowels? It is easy to make, it is a good practice, and I can keep a bunch to give out a presents in the future. With the same warping, I'm also planing on making napkins for a table cloth I will make later (I was told I should use synthetic fiber for that, which means another trip to Plessisville).


Back home, I got to attend a party in Budapest! One of my dear friends always organises a big party at his place on the Friday night before the tanchaztalalkozo. There is always a lot of music, lots of good food, and lots of alcohol, of course! This year, since I could not be there with them, we organised that I would have a drink on Skype! So at 6pm my time (midnight their time) I went on skype, and they put their laptop in their kitchen, where I had the chance to have a drink with everybody who was there. Awesome, I know I am repeating myself, but it was AWESOME to see everybody and to be almost there! 

After that, my man took me to a Thai restaurant to celebrate the renewal of my contract. It was by far the best Asian food I've had in 3R so far, so that was also awesome.

Saturday morning, 9:00am, another farmer friend picked me up to go to our weaving teacher's place, where we spent the day working weaving projects, me spending most of my day on the bobbin winder. I also went for a tour of the region, looking at houses for sale, in case I would find my dream home...

My Sunday has been as great, although less crafty.
It started with a nice brunch not far from our place, and then continued with a little gardening.

This is an urban-garden. My man designed these containers using recycling bins, geo-textile, and a central vacuum pipe. We will put these on our balcony this summer, and should be able to eat fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini all summer long. If summer ever comes back.

Baby presents

This week, I experienced the health care system of the region after a low back pain left me unable to do anything but cry. Lessons learned:

1. Walk-in clinics here require that you already are a patient of this clinic. 
2. Hospital emergency means walk-in clinic. 
3. Chiropractic is very well seen by the medical staff here: as soon as I told the sorting nurse that I had chiro treatments that didn't help, she answered that then it was most likely an infection, and she was right.

I quite liked my emergency experience, all together, it was was less stressful than in Montreal, where you have to wait much longer because of ambulances coming in. I didn't see any in the 6 hours I spent in the hospital. People also looked less tired. The other thing that was amazing is that I was able to take an appointment for a scan for MONDAY. I was there on Friday, and I have an appointment for MONDAY. 2 days later. in the public system. WOW.
On the crafty side of things, I am happy to report that I knitted something and finished it in a little bit more than a week with minimal help from my teacher/mentor! (Of course, since that, I knitted 2 rows of my never-ending cardigan and instantly made a mistake that I cannot fix by myself...).

I have a very nice colleague at work, the kind of person that everybody absolutely adores right away when you meet her. She is expecting, and only became cuter with her belly.

I decided that that would be a perfect opportunity to learn how to knit a fancy pattern that has been in my family for a few generations now. My grand-mother knitted the kit (a cardigan, with a hat and little booties) for her daughters when they were expecting their first child (unfortunately, she passed away before my own mother became pregnant), and my mother took over after her death, knitting "the kit" for her nieces and whoever has been expecting their first born.

you can see is has been used over the years....

 I had my dad (82 year old computer fanatic) scan and email me the pattern. When my parents came over in January, my mother started to show me how to knit the pattern (and taught me a bunch of French knitting terms at the same time!) and even did a few rows of it so I would be well started.

learning with my mum

It is a nice lacy kit, and I tried to do it, but made a mega mistake that I just could not fix without restarting everything. Meanwhile, the baby is coming soon....

So, I took a deep breath (best advice from my teacher/mentor Elizabeth) and decided to do something else. I had already identified several baby patterns I really liked on Ravelry, in case I ever needed them (not for myself!), so 2 weeks ago, after I realised I would not be able to make the whole kit on time, I went to check what my other options were. I found a very cute kimono pattern that I could knit with the left over yarn of the Endre Baba's blanket. I already knew the yarn was baby proof, and I really, really liked the colours we had chosen...So, it took me about 10 days, a few advises from Elizabeth, and here it is:

I like the idea of a piece that can be worn any time, as opposed to being for special occasion. I can totally see Amy's baby wearing this with a little jeans and a white t-shirt. It's going to be very comfortable, and easy to put on.

It was a very, very easy pattern to knit, but yet, it has details that makes it very pretty, such as the lacy collar here. 

And Amy is part Japanese, which makes it even more meaningful. 

I really liked this patterns, even if most of it is made of stockinette stitch, I was able to learn new stitches for the lace part (ssp) and a few new techniques for the sleeves, the cords, and the binding off. I would suggest it to any new knitter! ( I also really liked that I was able to see the result of it really quickly!).

As I said, Amy is the type of person that everybody loves, so when one of her old friend contacted one of us at work to ask us if we wanted to contribute to a quilt, most of us answered positively. The theme was : things that fly. I didn't see the finished product, because I could not make it to the shower (the joy of living 150 km away from Montreal...) but here was my square:

Sorry, very bad image of it taken with my iPod right before I mailed it to Montreal, because I keep forgetting to take pictures of things I make...That was actually the 2nd square I made, because the first one bled...I used embroidery tread that I bought several years ago in Hungary, and some colours were not stable. I bought new tread and redid the square at the speed of the light. The pattern comes from an image I found on internet on a blog, I modified it and embroidered it, instead of doing an appliqué. (I have no idea how to do appliqué, and had no time to learn how for this, but I am keeping the image for when I learn, because I really like it!). 

Meanwhile, I also started taking a quilting class with the Farmers' Circle. We are actually going away for 2 days in May to a camp where we will make something using the stain glass style. I'll be happy if I can just learn how to sew a little more properly.

have a great weekend!

Done!

I've been waiting for our new computer to arrive to write more, but it is late, so if I keep waiting, I will never ever write again.
And I wanted to say that:
I finished something!
Yes, I knitted something, and finished it, and it was nice enough that I could even give it out as a present (which hurt my heart, but only for a second).

It is the beautiful Fisherman's wife beret, made with Lana Grande yarn from Cascade (wonderful yarn that an be knitted and unknitted countless times...)

I learned a lot while knitting this hat:

1. My "knitting maths" improved (knit 2 together + yarn over = same number of stiches)
2. You might still end up with a wearable piece even if you do not follow the pattern perfectly. However, you should always have experts around to reassure you about that. 
3. Mistakes are not so terrible, as long as you remember to breath when stressed (thanks Elizabeth for regularly reminding me)
4. I love markers, and cannot knit without them
5. Unknitting parts to fix a mistake is difficult in a lacy pattern
6. I'm really not at a point yet where I can knit and talk at the same time
7. I can finish things!!! (That's really the most important lesson learned !!!)

I started to knit a 2nd one for myself, and one of my friend asked me to knit her one as well. I should be an expert by the time I finish that one!

Meanwhile, I'm also working on a baby piece for a colleague who is expecting.That patterm, so far, has been very easy and pleasant to knit, and helped me learn several new things. My man is away to school today (I am a grad studies widow) so I hope to be able to finish it today - more in the next post!

Have a good weekend!

some pictures

I am working from home today so I was able to take a few minutes to take pictures of the dishtowel I weaved. I also found some other pictures on my camera of something I embroidered a while ago and gave to my mum for her 70th birthday in May. My friend Kim also took pictures of the hat I finished this weekend, and promised to send them to me. That will be for the next post.

So, first, the dishtowel ( I still need to finish it):

my first woven piece!

What I am the most proud of is that I went from these bumpy edges:

to this:

Much better, no? I can't wait to start all over again on my loom.


Now, the embroidered piece...I bought this in Prague back in ...1999...I also bought the thread, and I even started it then. And then I stopped for a few years...and I went back to it...and stopped again...and then decided that that was ridiculous! (I also needed something very quickly for my mum!)

I really like it because it is simple and elegant.

It's not the oldest thing I  started and finished late. I still have a monster Kalocsai multicoloured tablecloth I bought in Budapest in 1992...I really don't seem to be able to finish that one. I get sick of it every time I  go  back to it, to the point where I almost decided once to cut it in 4 pieces, so I could at least finish one. I didn't do it, and it is still waiting for me to get back to it. I did some embroidery not long ago for the present of an expecting colleague, and it was not too bad. I think I will feel like going back to this one soon.

So many things to do, so little time...

so many things to talk about

I'm not very consistent in my writing. It's mostly because I am not very good at taking pictures during the day. When I think about it, it's too dark to get something nice, especially that I have been taking them with my ipod (too lazy/busy to charge my camera's batteries and download the pictures), although I just got a new memory drive that should make it much easier to keep my pictures in a kind of organised way.

So, I'm not even home now, and of course I forgot my ipod and I have no camera with me, but, I will very soon come back with pictures of:

• semi-organised office (which means: room was made for the loom, clean up will come soon)
• first finished woven dishtowel ever! (well, I still need to finish it..I mean, sew its hems)
• first finished knitted thing (I mean, that was more than a square in stockinette stitch). It's a hat that I started a month ago after I went shopping in Montreal. Someone who saw the finished product already asked me for one...I can't believe it. I'm a knitter!