Sky Blanket, Update. . .

loungin' on the couch

I really do love the sky blanket, but I've found over the past few months that it has spent more time decorating the back of the couch than on my lap.

It is the perfect lap size, and it is the right amount of warmth for one's lap. But it has not been happy to be just a lap blanket that mostly decorates the back of the couch. It certainly was not receiving the appropriate amount of love and attention it deserves (although it did get plenty of attention last year).

I did a quick measure of the dimensions while folded in half, and, of course, it is a funky size that does not exist in the world of regular pillows, or even pillow forms one can by from a craft store. Sigh. I figured I could find something that would work, or at the very least could buy fiberfill stuffing and go that route.

Sky Blanket, Complete!

The blanket is complete!

December Sky Blanket Square

And done. 

december

November Sky Blanket Square

I had to play catch up with the November square; my grad research project wrapped up at the end of November/beginning of December so "free" time was at a premium.  

november

October Sky Blanket Square

October's square.  Lots of gray at the end of the month; we were lucky that Sandy skirted us, just rain and wind for several days. Thinking of those who were in the affected (and devastated) areas.

october

September Sky Blanket Square

on top of the world
in the southern hemisphere

September was a super busy month; just over a week into the month (and three weeks into school), a majority of the kids all shipped out to Chile for alpine camp and Italy for nordic camp. 

I hopped on the plane to Chile and spent two weeks at Valle Nevado with the 'piney's, proctoring study hall, getting the kids to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and playing nurse to the sick and injured (watching someone get stitches - not all that fun). 

August Sky Blanket Square

Had to do a little catching up on the August square as I missed a few days of knitting.  That's what Saturday and Sunday mornings are for!

 

august

July Sky Blanket Square

July square complete:

June Sky Blanket Square

The six-month mark in this project/endeavor passed nearly a month ago, and if I hadn't just arrived in Boston for the second summer session for my grad program I would have posted the June update. . . so here it is now:

june!

May Sky Blanket Square

Another month gone by, another sky blanket square:

five down, seven to go

The end of May also brought the end of the school year.  The seniors graduated on June 2 (with a spectacular entrance via tractor & wagon, and heartfelt speeches by each graduate) and today (Monday) is my first official day of summer break. 

April Sky Blanket Square

Not much crafting in the month of April aside from sky blanket square.  Grad school is nearly over, and teaching winds up at the end of this month.  Hopefully I'll find some more time throughout the summer to fit some crafting in!

april showers bring may flowers

March Sky Blanket Square

Took a little break from grading and grad work to snap some pictures of the march square and preceeding months. Hard to believe that 2012 is one-quarter over already.



march

Make Something Monday: (almost) No-sew Braided T-shirt Collar

finished braid, with rouching effect!

I came across this fairly simple idea for updating/fancifying a t-shirt: creating a braid around the neck opening using the fabric of the shirt itself. Her inspiration came from a picture she'd seen on pinterest of a Banana Republic shirt with two rows of "braid" around the front of the collar.

G came over on Monday night with Odin to hang out so we decided this might be a low-key craft to do, and it seems to be follow our current theme of t-shirts.

Make Something Monday: T-shirt produce bags

. . . and other updates.

A while ago, my sister and I had decided to establish a weekly crafting routine on Monday nights (my last class ends by 5, and I have the evening free from dorm-parenting duties). This weekly crafting idea comes from my friend Nicole from ME, who has been holding "Too Cute Tuesdays" off and on over the past several years. She started after she moved off the island, so I never got to be a part of them. She and her crew have made a lot of cool things over the years that I keep meaning to try my hand at (the Fabric To Go boxes I made last spring came from a craft she had posted about). Winter being winter (and colds, and lack of planning) has kept us from actually starting up. Last night (yes, Tuesday), however, we decided to get the show on the road.

old t-shirts, mostly from G

Last week I'd stumbled across a t-shirt repurposing project: turn old t-shirts into produce (or other) bags with a seam or two and some snips through the fabric to give it some extra stretch. One take on the project is here, another take is here. We mostly followed the former example.

2012 Knitting challenge

I've decided to take on a knitting challenge for 2012. Inspired by a fb share from a grad school classmate, I'm knitting at least two rows per day on what eventually become a blanket.

At thirty stitches per row, two rows per day, and three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, it's going to be a lot of stitches (21900, to be exact. Oh! It's a leap-year, so that would be 21960).