Knitting on the Road

Oh poor blog... I've come thisclose to paying attention to you over the past 3 months. I can't believe it's already 10 weeks into clerkship - it's been a whirlwind indeed. I'm currently on a 9-week, three city electives tour, away from my cozy, crafty nest of an apartment. Of course, one could not hit the road without packing a few compact knitting projects, namely a new Ishbel, and two pairs of socks. Clearly I overestimated the amount of time I have to knit!

Here are a few projects leftover from Christmas:

Crispy-white quilt top... before wreckage

This quilt was started in August, with the top finished just before school started. I was really pleased with how the quilt top turned out - everything seemed to be going well. Then I made mistake #1 - after frequenting the local fabric store to find material for the backing, I could not justify spending 11$/m for plain broadcloth. So, I scrimped and bought 3$ worth of red flannel. Oh man. It fell apart like paper both when I cut it, and when I had to rip out a seam after sewing parts of the backing backwards.

I meticulously taped the layers to the floor, pinned it within an inch of its life, hoping that better basting would eliminate my puckering problems while quilting. Not so. It puckered like crazy, to my disappointment, despite using a walking foot and solid basting.

Crinkled, pinkish finished quilt

Dissappointment #3 - being a cheap student, I had not spent the 4$ to wash the red backing before sewing the quilt. After excitedly putting my finished (yet puckered) quilt into the wash, I was left with an antique pink and red quilt top. I wanted to cry. Fortunately, my parents still liked it, and if you use your imagination the colors sort of work.

Christmas project #2: handmade sheep and yarn stitch markers. These were really fun to do, although somehow making a dozen turned into making 50-60, and it took a lot longer than expected.


And some beginning-of-clerkship knitting: traditional thrummed mittens made with Briggs and Little Heritage wool and roving. I love love love this yarn, it is so rustic and wholesome. The bits of vegetable matter in the wool, and lanolin smell bring it all home. These were gifted to a friend for her birthday.

Mmmm, thrums!

I've got one week left in Ontario before heading off to the Maritimes for elective #3. It will be nice to be closer to home!!