Expectations

That, by the way, is what E is for. I struggle with expectations as I suspect everyone does. I expect myself to post on my blog more, way more, than once a week. But here I am; it's Friday and this is the first time this week that I have put fingers to keyboard. Part of that is beyond my control. This is a very busy time in the Jewish calender. Having just celebrated Rosh Hashanah and survived(not an exaggeration) Yom Kippur, we set up our sukkah for that holiday. On the one hand, I really like Sukkot. It's definitely a holiday best celebrated with lots of people and copious amounts of food. On the other hand, prepping for the multitudes who will come over to help in the merrymaking takes a fair amount of work. And the completion of that work is not helped by digressions(that was last weeks post?).
I felt compelled this week to replace our already existing, handmade challah cover with a new, handmade challah cover. Why? I'm not sure, but I think using up the ric rac had something to do with it.My expectations that I add new items to my shop every week meant that I had to finish dyeing and boiling out these fabrics. Could this have waited until next week? My suspicion is yes.
Getting it all done, plus home schooling my kids, and allowing for a few digressions that had me sewing a new top for myself and working on Abi's much delayed ripple blanket, all while trying to get ready for Sukkot was pretty stressful. But, like I said, I've got these pesky expectations. And little to no self control. It all adds up to a head to head match up between what I want to do and what I need to do.

Twinkle

It's been a while since I posted the first work in progress image of my discharged circles quilt . Well, I've finally finished the top and I'm ready to start quilting. Here's a view of this quilt:
From the beginning, I knew that it's name was Twinkle. I usually struggle to title my quilts , but this one was different. From the first discharged circle, I knew what the title was going to be.
I have a new stack of commercial fabric that I've just started to discharge and overdye. I'm thinking about making some twinkle pillows and this:
Made like Twinkle, but using a different shape and obviously inspired by all the ripples I've been seeing lately.

Ripple Progress

I've made a lot of progress on my ripple blanket this past week. I had a big chunk of time to work on it. That's good! I had the time because my wonderful eldest daughter broke her collar bone and it needed surgery. So, I spent a lot of time sitting by her bedside. That's bad. Happily she's feeling better and I have new pictures to post. That's great!

I'm Ready to Ripple

OK. I'll confess. I can get totally sucked in by other people's enthusiasm. The latest evidence of that is that I've joined the "No-End-in-Sight-Ripple-Along". The blanket I'm currently working on is my first-ever crochet project, but this is my third time to start it. First, I had problems understanding the pattern. Hey, I'm a newbie and it was all Greek to me. Then, after I got the hang of the pattern, I decided that, despite my intention to work exclusively from my stash, I didn't like the way the blanket was turning out. So, here I am at my third attempt(the charm,right?). I'm using Lion Brand cotton ease. It's a 50/50 blend of cotton and acrylic. Usually, I'm a real snob about all natural fiber, but when I saw the colors that this yarn came in, I was sold.I bought it in eight colorways and added a few cotton yarns from stash. This weight of yarn is a much better choice for Texas. Also, since this blanket is planned for use on my youngest's bed, I think it's machine washability is a real plus. This is where I am with my ripple today.